Question: Is it easy for a Kabbalist to live in the physical world?

Answer: It is very simple. A Kabbalist understands his deficiencies and the deficiencies of other people, he understands everything that is portrayed as a burden on them and on him; so he forgives people.

A Kabbalist sees his own reflection in everything that is found outside of him, which are the inanimate, vegetative, animate, and human. These are the four levels of his egoism, which are portrayed in front of him.
[181995]
From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 2/21/16

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In the News (Science Daily): “An international team of researchers led by the University of Granada (UGR) has demonstrated, for the first time, that depression is more than a mental disorder: it causes important alterations of the oxidative stress, so it should be considered a systemic disease, since it affects the whole organism.

“The results of this work could explain the significant association that depression has with cardiovascular diseases and cancer, and why people suffering from depression die younger. At the same time, this research may help finding new therapeutic targets for the prevention and treatment of depression.”

My Comment: Of course, the entire body is affected because the body, as well as the whole of creation, is a complete system, ten Sefirot, according to the general rule, “There is no partial in spirituality.”

The more that research of this type will become known to us, perhaps people will understand more rapidly that depression is clear sign of the demand by the body to attain fulfillment of the desire for pleasure in any way. In our day, fulfillment of the desire for pleasure is possible only through discovering the meaning of life. This is possible only by discovering our next level of development, which is the revelation of the upper world with the help of the wisdom of Kabbalah.
[179716]

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New Life 723 – The Holocaust In A Kabbalistic Perspective
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Tal Mandelbaum ben Moshe

Why was the Nazi’s hatred aimed mainly toward the Jews? What should we learn from the growing anti-Semitism today, and how does the wisdom of Kabbalah explain the duty of the nation of Israel to the world?

The nation of Israel should bring the method of correction to the world as “Light unto the nations.” If it doesn’t do so the evil force will arrive. If it doesn’t connect the world in love and goodness, the evil force will force it to connect just as the Nazis did during the Holocaust. The Nazis attacked us as part of an ideological war. They wanted to destroy our spiritual dominance. We have brought the blow upon ourselves because we didn’t do our job and didn’t listen to the Kabbalists who called us to start the correction of the world.

When a person suffers greatly and doesn’t feel that he can overcome what is happening in any way, the only thing left for him to do is self-annulment. He accepted what happens, and thus the point of truth in him awakens, the human spirit. Rabbi Akiva was saved from drowning in the sea thanks to self-annulment when he held onto a log and lowered his head every time he a wave washed over him. After the blow, the human spirit remains in order to allow a person to recover and correct himself, and so it is less important to speak about what happened and more important to understand how to prevent another blow. Nature requires all of humanity to become one bundle as “First Man,” so in order to prevent another blow, we have to work on our connection and thus connect the whole world.

We, the nation of Israel, have the method of connection, which is the wisdom of Kabbalah. Nazism isn’t a German notion but another phase in the development of society following socialism, and it might spread throughout Europe and the US. The whole world might unite against us because its good future depends on us. We have received the Torah, the wisdom of Kabbalah, the method of correcting human nature from evil to good.

Unfortunately, the nation of Israel still lives according to values that are incompatible with its spiritual root. The fact that we have a state today is no guarantee in preventing another blow since the whole world might unite against us, and so the only solution is to work on the connection between us. The Holocaust Remembrance Day is a time for soul searching.
[182690]
From KabTV’s “New Life 723 – The Holocaust In A Kabbalistic Perspective,” 4/28/16

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Preparation for the Lesson

Topic of the Lesson: “Preparation for the Congress” 

Writings of Baal HaSulam “One Commandment”

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Question: The State is Israel is celebrating its 68^th independence day, a country was built on the desert sands and has fought many wars in the struggle for its existence and independence. What do you think of the accomplishments of the State of Israel in such a short time?

Answer: It depends on what you consider an accomplishment. If we count the accomplishments by the technological innovations and other inventions, then they are truly great.

We have built a wonderful agricultural infrastructure; we can feed ourselves and we export many agricultural products; we don’t depend on rain water or on ground water, we desalinate sea water. We have built wonderful roads and railroads; we have a strong army and advanced weapons.

But all that does not guarantee our independence. A state’s independence today is not based on its power, on its inner technological, economic, or political strength. Today every country depends on the whole world. The modern world is round, global, a small village, and so if we want to be independent, we don’t need to be independent of others, but rather to be in good relations with everyone.

It is impossible to hold on to a certain position today and say, “I have a nuclear bomb so I don’t depend on anyone.” It is very easy today to isolate a country and to make it fall to its knees. Therefore, a state’s independence should be measured only by its good relations with other countries and not by its power.

The concept of independence does not refer to individual independence anymore. This concept now refers to global independence.

We can speak about being an individual country but the State of Israel is not independent yet.

Question: So what do we celebrate?

Answer: We celebrate the state’s birthday and nothing more than that.

Question: But the world we depend on is, in most cases, against us.

Answer: Unfortunately it depends on us. We are the only state in the world whose independence depends on us alone, while all the other states depend on each other and, at the same time, also on us. This is the most amazing thing!

Therefore, if we want to be independent, we have to unite in order to set an example for the whole world. The moment humanity sees that, it will immediately begin to learn how to unite from us and we will become Light unto the nations. In that case, nothing will threaten us anymore.

Now, on the other hand, we only cause the other nations harm according to what we hear on all sides and from all the nations. We are the source of evil for the whole world! Because Israel is the central part of the general system of the world and whatever happens to Israel affects all the other nations.

If the relations between us in our country are bad, we convey the same state to the world and the whole world falls to a state of division, disputes, and disagreements. Unless we unite, the world will not unite and all the nations will blame us for all their troubles.

Since the ego is constantly growing, the nations of the world will treat us increasingly worse with every year that goes by.

I wish our nation would begin to understand who we are and that not only our independence and our prosperity depend on our unity, but also the prosperity and independence of all the nations of the world does as does their positive attitude toward us.

I bless you all and wish all our future true independence day!
[183220]
From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 5/9/16

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Comment: The nation celebrates the memory of the fallen Israeli soldiers. On these days the situation at the border of the Gaza Strip continues to be alarming: renewed exchanges of fire, the discovery of new tunnels all the time. If the latest statement from the commander of the Southern Command, Major General Eyal Zamir is to be believed, Hamas is preparing for the next war. Chances are that events like these will continue. Since the proclamation of this state, 23,447 soldiers gave their lives for the existence of Israel. Can we freeze this number and stop it from becoming larger?

Answer: No, because we haven’t taken any extreme measures to stop not only the wars of the world, but also the lapse of humanity into a new world war. All of this is in the hands of the Jewish people, especially the people gathered here, in Israel. For this we must unite among us. Unfortunately, in this regard we are a very stubborn, stiff-necked people who don’t want to unite. To date, we are behaving like a bunch of refugees from different nations.

Comment: But our army is considered to be one of the most cohesive and patriotic armies in the world.

Answer: This has no relation to the unity we must find and discover between us. It is the unity that is expressed in the Torah as, “And you shall love your friend as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18), which is the great general rule of the Torah (Yerushalmi Nedarim 30:2). We must achieve this level of unification within the framework of all the people, or at least begin to move toward it. If we begin to make some kind of movement toward this, we will immediately begin to feel changes for the better among our people and in the attitude of the nations of the world in regard to us. We can simply check this out for ourselves. And if we don’t do this, then from day to day we will feel more fragmented, rough, and unsafe within our internal borders.

Question: Where to start—the media, the schools?

Answer: With the establishment of a general guideline of nationwide public education in that same spirit in which it was established by Abraham 3,500 years ago in ancient Babylon and existed with until the destruction of the second Beit HaMikdash (Temple), when it fell from love to hatred, in which it has been in until today. It is now up to us to ascend again to the level of love, kindness, and the understanding that we are one family, to be “like one person with one heart,” meaning to return to what lies at the foundation of our people. We are different from the other peoples. For them it is enough simply to be together with each other. We have no common biological foundation, like the English and the French and so forth, for example. So the moment we lose the unity between us, we immediately disintegrate, disperse, and begin to hate each other. Moreover, among our people appear those who become the main anti-Semites in the world. So we are obligated to begin with unification. That is what the wisdom of Kabbalah says, and only in this manner will we save ourselves and stop the increasing the number of soldiers killed.

Comment: Speaking of government policies, it is very difficult to compare those good and wonderful ideas that you talk about with the stern apparatus of government policy.

Answer: Yes, but the government must take this upon itself and the people must obligate it, and everyone together must begin to be involved with education in the spirit of unity, without waiting for government decisions. This must be a very serious network that will be involved with popular education, teaching the entire society to live with good mutual attitudes. This has already begun to exist. We have been trying to create it and have gotten responses from people. Even though we have seen good results, it is still too little. Certainly, we are trying in this way to influence the government, participating in elections, doing all the kinds of activities possible to materialize our idea in life. But without pressure from the people on the Knesset, there won’t be any shift.

Question: Can a person who is reading this do something toward this trend?

Answer: He can, only if he comes to study in courses according to the method of integral education and information. We are inviting everyone. Come, become interested. We will work together and immediately feel changes for the better from the entire world in regard to Israel.
[183214]
From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 5/9/16

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Question: How did people manage to maintain their strength of mind in the concentration camps?

Answer: The upper force helped us maintain our strength of mind because we had to recover after this blow and bring ourselves to correction. If we forget about the past catastrophe and are ready to give up and do nothing again, then by this, we are preparing a new Holocaust.

We need to understand that we are approaching it! Just like the Jews before World War II and before the Holocaust didn’t believe that it could happen, it is the same is today: They don’t want to know about it.

Question: Nowadays people are more concerned about material things, and the spirit isn’t the center of society’s attention. What kind of spirit do we need to raise and develop in people?

Answer: It is unification; there is nothing else besides it. If we help all of humanity unite again into one common system, as one man, then we will achieve the desired state the good way. We still must come to it in any case, but if we, by ourselves, do not advance toward it, we will be driven by suffering.

Question: What role did all of the attempts to preserve cultural life, all the theatrical plays, have in the concentration camps?

Answer: This, of course, this helped people in such a dire state survive psychologically. But I am talking about real corrections that the people of Israel are obliged to make in order to destroy fascism completely as a phenomenon.

Unification has a special power, and this is the only thing that nature wants from us. We come to the fact that the development of all of humanity, human society, requires to connect correctly in a certain harmony. The world is becoming integral, as one small village, and only the people of Israel possess the method of connection, which is called the wisdom of Kabbalah.

If we understand this method and are able to use it, everything is wonderful.

However, while having the method of connection, if we don’t want to apply it and even resist our connection by any means, by creating various parties, movements, and schools, then we are arranging a very big problem for ourselves that can drop a terrible blow upon us again. We will again begin to advance by the evil, murderous force.
[182793]
From KabTV’s “A New Life” 4/28/16

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Torah, “Numbers,” 35:26 – 35:27: But if the murderer goes beyond the border of the city of refuge to which he had fled, and the blood avenger finds him outside the limits of his city of refuge, and the blood avenger slays the murderer, he has no blood.

This tells us how a man can protect himself from his internal harmful forces. He has to hide in the correct relationships between people and not leave them in any case.

And if he drifts out of the social framework that supports him in the mutual guarantee, then he loses connection with it and goes beyond the border of so-called city.

Then he is in danger, his egoism starts killing him. And this is the blood avenger that constantly follows him. That is why he must not run away from the city where he can protect himself.

In other words, a man represents a whole universe. There are desires in him that he can correct and then he lives freely everywhere. But in addition, there are desires that he basically corrects, but not completely.

Parts of them are those that are not exactly prepared for correction and he allegedly accidentally kills them. In this case, man should protect himself. This is what type of connection with the environment exists that is called the “city of refuge.”

This is a very complicated system. In principle, the Torah speaks only about how we need to be interconnected with each other.

Consequently, the division of the people of Israel into 12 tribes, by tens, hundreds, and thousands in the assembly of troops, to the cities of refuge, the land of Israel itself divided into two parts, beyond Jordan and before Jordan, the Menashe tribe, half of which is beyond the Jordan and half inside the land of Israel. These are very interesting divisions.

Moreover, it is ordered in advance where each one will live.

Connection between tribes is forbidden. It seems that everything should be the other way around, everything together! No, you are in this tribe, so you can take a wife only from this tribe, live only in this area, you don’t have a right to go anywhere, or to build a house on the territory of another tribe.

On one hand, everything is enclosed by universal love, universal mutual connection, because at the entrance to the land of Israel the state of mutual love is achieved. Can’t we intermingle in this state?! No, each one has to keep his own lot and live under his own roof, under his own palm, etc.

After all, how does our body function? It exists precisely because it has completely different organs in it that work in absolutely different modes. The heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, everything works at different levels. Each of them has their own internal laws.

All the organs secrete various substances, partially incompatible with each other, and only their correct joint work is the key to a healthy living body. One doesn’t interfere in the vital activity of the other, but works strictly according to the certain pattern of connection with all the others.

And the Torah gives this rigid scheme according to which you have to, on one hand, be distanced from others and, on the other hand, be in connection with them. The correctly assembled system functions only on the confrontation between two opposite forces and on their connection above the opposition.
[182428]
From KabTV’s “Secrets of Eternal Books” 12/16/15

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In the News (LeMonde): “At a time when Europe is disintegrating, hanging in the air is a scent of nostalgia, the twilight remembrance of a time we thought immutable. The announced death of Europe, like the end of empires, fell without being beware. The old continent is found in the world of Austrian Jewish writer Stefan Zweig, haunted by the Austro-Hungarian grandeur before 1914. ‘It was the golden age of safety,’ Zweig wrote in Le Monde yesterday. … ‘Everything in our Austrian monarchy, almost a millennia, seemed based on that duration and the state itself seemed the supreme guarantor of this continuity … Nobody believed in wars, revolutions and upheavals. Any extreme event, violence, seemed almost impossible because of an era.’

“A century later, safety flew. Unreason prevails. The European Golden Age is over. Its promise of prosperity, embodied by the euro, the gold standard of the twenty-first century, is belied by the ongoing crises and mass unemployment; its political ambition, to forge a ‘union ever closer between European peoples’, as stipulated in the Treaty of Rome in 1957, smashes the rise of populism and the threat of [Britain’s exit from the EU] and extension of the French ‘no’ in the 2005 referendum; Its message of peace is belied by the return of foreign war (Syria, Russia) and interior, with Islamist terrorism.”

My Comment: I don’t have a malicious joy at seeing the predictions I made more than a decade ago, which were even published in this blog, coming true. I translate what the wisdom of Kabbalah says about what is happening, and the wisdom says there is a different path of development. But it depends on the unity of the Jews in Israel, Europe, and the world.

Because only by the unity of the Jews, as required by Kabbalah, is the unifying force revealed in the world and it enables us to integrate! The more the Jews reject the idea of unity, the world will show a growing hatred toward them, up to a new Holocaust.
[181966]

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