Question: What is the crossing of the Final Sea (Yam Suf – the Red Sea)?

Answer: The crossing of the Yam Suf means that only one who is really able to move to disconnection from any personal interest, from any thought about himself, and who wants to detach Pharaoh from himself, and to run away, escape from Egypt, only for these people the sea parts.

Question: What is the “sea”?

Answer: The sea is those waters, that powerful force (Gevura), and that law of nature that with egoistic thoughts and intentions you cannot cross to the perception of reality that exists in altruistic intentions and thoughts outside of you.

Question: Why this sea is called Suf (end – final)?

Answer: Because this is the end of the power of Pharaoh, the end of Egypt. The end of the so-called “this world”; everything else is part of the future world.

Question: What does it mean that the sea splits into two halves?

Answer: It is really a miracle, a miracle of the exodus from Egypt, because the special force, which is called GAR of Hochma in the wisdom of Kabbalah, is operating here. The waters of the sea, these powerful forces, split in the middle; it means that the force of bestowal passes between them.

We are talking about the internal forces of a person. After all, this is not about people standing on the seashore but everything that happens inside a person. He suddenly feels that here he has an opportunity to get away from the control of the Pharaoh, to rise above him, and then the waters that he sees as a powerful force part in front of him.

Waters are not only the beautiful force of Hassadim, meaning mercy. Waters are also a powerful force. For some desires, the waters part, for others, they close and drown them.

Question: So how does the sea “split in the middle”?

Answer: The sea splits by the force of faith when I am ready to go above my knowledge, above my feelings, when I want to go according to universal bestowal, the all-inclusive force of love, the law that operates in the entire system as a counterweight to my current personal egoistic system.

And suddenly a miracle happens when I really can connect to the common system with my small sphere and see the whole system. And in my small sphere I see a real miracle when part of my desires can connect to the universal force of bestowal, to the common soul, and part of them “are drowning in the sea,” meaning, they undergo a special correction when they “drown,” and then due to it, they awake and begin to correct themselves.

Question: Does the strength of man’s faith force the sea to split?

Answer: Yes. If I agree for this to happen, really agree and am ready to pay for it with my slavery and my escape, then a miracle happens. This is called a miracle because it happens to me, not according to the order of degrees, but suddenly and not according to the order of cause and effect. Although when I reach such a state it definitely happens.

There are laws that apply. You come to a point where if you satisfy these conditions, a miracle happens to you as well, like to any other person. So why is it a miracle? Because you can’t imagine how it happens. But you can reach this point where a miracle will happen.

Question: You were saying that we live inside such a program that draws us like laser beams; all that we see around us, in fact, does not exist and there is only a thought that plays a movie in front of us…

Answer: This is our life, the game of imagination.

Question: What is the crossing of the Yam Suf in this movie?

Answer: It is detachment from our egoism and affiliation with a common system that we see, feel, and become included in. Integral desires, thoughts, and capabilities that are common for the entire system are revealed in us. We understand everything that happens in the world from end to end, how we need to behave, and how from this moment on we reach the goal that is common for the entire system where finally we can answer the question, “What are we living for?” The crossing of the Red Sea is a transition to a new vision of the side of this system that is projecting this movie to us.

Question: What is the condition for a person standing in front of the Yam Suf (the Red Sea) to be able to perform a miracle that the sea will part before him and he will enter this upper thought that projects the entire reality to us?

Answer: The requirement is very simple! He must join Moses, that thought and that desire within him. He must listen to his voice and just be adhered to him without scrutiny, criticism, without anything! Just to follow him!

Moses is the quality of bestowal and love, the union between all, meaning the group where we realize this method. Only unity! With its help we escape the Pharaoh who wants to divide us all.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 4/21/16

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Filed under: Holidays, Spiritual Work - 1 Comment →

Opinion (The American Conservative): “A people’s religion, their faith, creates their culture, and their culture creates their civilization. And when faith dies, the culture dies, the civilization dies, and the people begin to die. Is this not the recent history of the West?

“Today, no great Western nation has a birthrate that will prevent the extinction of its native-born. By century’s end, other peoples and other cultures will have largely repopulated the Old Continent.

“European Man seems destined to end like the 10 lost tribes of Israel—overrun, assimilated, and disappeared. And while the European peoples—Russians, Germans, Brits, Balts—shrink in number, the U.N. estimates that the population of Africa will double in 34 years to well over 2 billion people.What happened to the West? As G. K. Chesterton wrote, when men cease to believe in God, they do not then believe in nothing, they believe in anything.

“As European elites ceased to believe in Christianity, they began to convert to ideologies, to what Dr. Russell Kirk called ‘secular religions.’ For a time, these secular religions—Marxism-Leninism, fascism, Nazism—captured the hearts and minds of millions. But almost all were among the gods that failed in the 20th century.

“Now Western Man embraces the newer religions: egalitarianism, democratism, capitalism, feminism, One Worldism, environmentalism. These, too, give meaning to the lives of millions, but these, too, are inadequate substitutes for the faith that created the West.

“For they lack what Christianity gave man—a cause not only to live for, and die for, but a moral code to live by, with the promise that, at the end a life so lived, would come eternal life. Islam, too, holds out that promise. Secularism, however, has nothing on offer to match that hope.”

My Comment: But beyond the promise of eternal life is the ability to attain in this world something that is not promised, but which the wisdom of Kabbalah offers as a method for the revelation of the Creator to His creatures in this world.
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In the News (aljazeera.com): “The resolution, adopted by the United Nations cultural agency’s 58-nation executive board last week, condemns the Israeli government’s stewardship of Jerusalem and decries the renovation of “so-called Jewish ritual baths” and the alleged creation of ‘Jewish fake graves.’

“Sites are either referred to by their Arabic or English names, or, in the case of the Western Wall Plaza, the holiest site where Jews can pray, are put in quotation marks.

“The Western Wall is in East Jerusalem’s historic Old City, which was occupied by Israel along with the rest of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip during the 1967 Middle East war, though Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, passed the Jerusalem Law, which in 1980 declared the city ‘complete and united.’

“However, the vast majority of the international community – including the United States, the European Union and the UN – do not recognise Israel’s claims to sovereignty over East Jerusalem.”

My Comment: The Jewish people emerged under the leadership of Abraham in ancient Babylon through the union of separate families, clans, and tribes. They agreed to become a single society whose purpose was to attain the relationship of “And you shall love your friend as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18). In such relationships between people, the property of love that manages the world manifests. This characteristic is called the Creator.

As a result of the egoism that dominates us, we exist inside the property of love, as in an impenetrable bubble. Within it, we feel our world, in its egoism. Kabbalah calls to us to unite in spite of our egoism, to break through the membrane of this bubble and discover for ourselves the upper eternal and perfect world.

Humanity subconsciously waits for unification of the Jewish people to show the example (to be a light to peoples of the world) of how it is possible to unite in the integral world. As long as we don’t fulfill this Mitzvah (commandment) to bring the whole world to unity with the Creator, the world will hate us. The more that we reject our mission, the more we will be witness to greater and greater hatred of the world toward us.
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Opinion (brainpickings.org): “Questions like why our world exists and what nothing is have occupied minds great and ordinary since the dawn of humanity, and yet for all our scientific progress, they continue to do so, yielding only hypotheses rather than concrete answers. …

“Alan Lightman points to fine-tuning — the notion that the basic forces propelling our universe appear to be fine-tuned in such a way as to make the existence of life possible — as a centerpiece of how modern scientists have attempted to answer these age-old questions. …

“‘On one thing most physicists agree. If the amount of dark energy in our universe were only a little bit different than what it actually is, then life could never have emerged. A little larger, and the universe would have accelerated so rapidly that matter in the young universe could never have pulled itself together to form stars and hence complex atoms made in stars. And, going into negative values of dark energy, a little smaller and the universe would have decelerated so rapidly that it would have recollapsed before there was time to form even the simplest atoms.’ …

“‘Out of all the possible amounts of dark energy that our universe might have, the actual amount lies in the tiny sliver of the range that allows life. There is little argument on this point. It does not depend on assumptions about whether we need liquid water for life or oxygen or particular biochemistries. It depends only on the requirement of atoms. As before, one is compelled to ask the question: Why does such fine-tuning occur? And the answer many physicists now believe: the multiverse. A vast number of universes may exist, with many different values of the amount of dark energy. Our particular universe is one of the universes with a small value, permitting the emergence of life. We are here, so our universe must be such a universe. We are an accident. From the cosmic lottery hat containing zillions of universes, we happened to draw a universe that allowed life. But then again, if we had not drawn such a ticket, we would not be here to ponder the odds.’”

My Comment: The wisdom of Kabbalah reveals a different cause for the universe and life within it—the existence of a higher intelligence. It reveals the reason and doesn’t put forth a new theory.

In addition, the question still remains in the theory proposed about the cause of matter, energy, and information. So Mr. Lightman, in my opinion, is wrong.
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Blessing and Mistake

Question: What is the meaning of various amulets, charms, or blessings?

Answer: A belief in charms and blessings is a big mistake. These objects do not have any connection with Kabbalah. How can one bless a person with words if the only possible blessing is getting closer to the Creator?

If a person performs acts of bestowal and aspires to love his neighbor, he receives from above additional Light, the Light that Reforms. It is called a “blessing.” However, it is impossible to hand out blessings to others.

Some time ago the Baal Shem Tov had to write a blessing for some person. He did not allow this person to open the note and read what was written. When Baal Shem Tov died this person decided to open this note and he saw that Baal Shem Tov simply wrote his name, Israel.

Among the real Kabbalists it is not customary to hand out blessings. The authentic Kabbalistic books like The Book of Creation, The Book of Zohar, Tanakh do not mention amulets or blessings. A person receives a blessing from the Creator.
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From Israeli Radio Program 103 FM, 103FM, 2/28/16

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New Life 725 – Memorial Day: An End To Bereavement
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Tal Mandelbaum ben Moshe

Why is Israel in a continuous struggle for its existence? How can we put an end to war and and what is the way Kabbalah provides a sense of security for us and for the world?

I was born into the grief of WWII and when I came to Israel I served in the army and in the military reserve forces. Memorial Day is a day of self-searching.

According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, we live in the system of nature in which there are clear and definite laws. As Jews, we are given freewill and our role is to balance the world in which the negative egoistic force constantly grows. The first to balance the world was Adam, and then there was Abraham. Abraham told people how to cope with egoism with the help of the positive force in nature. The nation of Israel that gathered around him learned how to build a connection above the ego and to balance the two forces in nature.

The roots of the nation of Israel, which was built on love of others, are its uniqueness. If we go back to our role and bring the positive force to the world, no one will rise against us. Instead of competing against each other, we have to invoke a new type of competition, competition over mutual help. We have to get closer to the force of love for the sake of all the fallen soldiers, and then we will also feel all the souls among us.
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From KabTV’s “New Life 725 – Memorial Day: An End To Bereavement,” 5/5/16

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Preparation for the Lesson

Shamati #34 “The Profit of a Land”

Talmud Eser Sefirot, Vol. 6, Part 16, Item 52

Writings of Baal HaSulam “The Giving of the Torah,” Item 12

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Question: The Prime Minister of Israel summoned the then Defense Minister  Moshe Ya’alon to explain his comments in front of senior officers of the IDF. Ya’alon stated that the officers should express their views even if they are different from the views and the opinion of the senior command and the political leaders. His words provoked different responses on part of the government and the army, starting from full support to the idea of firing Ya’alon. (Ya’alon resigned from his post a few days later.) How do you relate to such pluralism?

Answer: This isn’t pluralism but indiscrimination that exists only in our army. Military men should engage in their profession. For some reason we are witnessing an unfortunate tendency of military men preparing their political futures. This is totally unacceptable because while still in the army they begin to adapt to certain streams or political parties, whereas the army should be totally indifferent and independent of anyone, subordinate only to the government. No matter what it commands, the army has to carry out its orders and think only about how to do so in the best possible way.

If military officers begin to argue about why politicians think one way or another, it isn’t an army anymore but another parliament. This must cease, stop, and there should be a law that a person who is released from military or police service cannot hold a position in the government. He can engage in any type of administrative work in the free market, no matter where and how, but under no circumstances can he be part of politics.

Comment: In that case we wouldn’t have had half of our prime ministers since most of them were ex-military officers!

Answer: And we don’t need them. What was the benefit of General De Gaulle’s becoming Prime Minister? He lost the love of his people. We should understand that it isn’t the same thing. For some reason we believe that a person who knows how to command will also know how to run a state well. Studies show that it is the exact opposite because the laws in each case are totally different. This is the reason that it should not be allowed.

Question: Why is it that in the Israeli army everyone wants to express himself and to show his independence?

Answer: The point is that all the Israelis have come from different places and were initially organized only in kibbutzes. All the members of the kibbutzes served in the army, they were accustomed to this way of life, and then gradually made their way to politics. This happened because our state was founded at time of war, but today it is simply impossible.

Question: Is the fact that everyone feels that he is the boss related to the spiritual level?

Answer: “Everyone should be happy with his fate and with what he was given! It is the duty of the workers to work and for a brave man to be a warrior,” said Shota Rustaveli. This is how we should advance.
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From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 5/17/16

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There are several levels in the relationship between people and the upper force, the thought of creation.

Some people think the following: “Apparently, there is an upper force that has a great goal. This force demands that we do what it desires in our lives. If we do what it desires in a simple form only, in our material life, and keep the commandments, we will receive a reward.”

For some, the reward can be feeling good in this life, and therefore they consider it worth doing. For others it is that they will have a future world after death.

There are still other people who don’t agree with this and think differently: “The upper force doesn’t want us to relate to this system in which we now exist in such a simple form, meaning just to make this life here better or even to acquire a so-called future world after it.”

On the contrary, this upper force wants us to know it, to reach its level, to become similar to it, to take care of the entire system the way it does, and through this, to become its partners. It wants each small part within this system, each person, to take upon himself the burden of care throughout the common system and influence the entire system from his personal point, the way that the upper force influences and supports this entire system with bestowal and love, because it is good and does good.

Hence, there is a difference between these three types of people. The first two types, who care about their personal life in this world or in the future world, stay in their egoism with Pharaoh and don’t want to leave him. But they are prepared to fulfill the commands of the upper force while staying within their egoism.

Only people of the third type don’t agree with this and say, “The upper force wants us to be like it, to attain bestowal and love of others, because ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ is the main rule of the Torah.” These people are ready to exit Egypt and escape with Moses away from their egoism, are willing to exit control of the ego. This means they exit Egypt.

When they run away—wishing to disconnect from self-care, care for their relatives, and rise a little to care for the common system—they don’t leave their personal concerns, but understand that all of this can exist only in one space together with everyone, and that all of humanity, all the people and all of the souls, are one global system, and a person cannot care only about his personal well-being because it will make him similar to an animal.

Then, while trying to think about great things, to break away from the control of their egoism and thus disconnect from it, they suddenly feel that this egoism comes, grabs them, and says, “No! Why do you need to completely disconnect from me? You can, together with me, earn the future world and a little bit in this world. Please, keep all of the commandments, even ‘love your neighbor as yourself,’ but think about how to make yourself feel good, providing yourself with the future world and everything else!”

It means that forces are awakening in a person that tell him that he needn’t fully disconnect from egoism because, by that, where would you go, into what world, what kind of strange space? Take care of everyone, but make sure it is for your own good!

Then, man sees that he is haunted by these forces, these thoughts that are called “God-fearing servants of Pharaoh.” On the one hand, they seemingly are ready to do everything that the upper force tells them, to keep commandments, but just not to disconnect from self-love and not to move to universal love, to the love of others.

These who go with Moses ask, “So what do we do?” And they answer, “Keep only physical commandments, but without the intention to bestow in order to do good to others. Do it only to do good to yourself, in order to earn this world and the future world. Keep the commandments, but your intentions should stay egoistic.”

This absolutely contradicts the desires and thoughts that go with Moses because what is most important for them is to disconnect from thoughts about self-benefit and to move to thoughts of benefit for others, and from them to thoughts about the benefit of the common system, that is, the Creator.

There is a big fight between them here. These egoistic forces pursue the forces that go with Moses, wanting to catch them, stop them, and return them back to Egypt, meaning to corporeal, purely egoistic work. After all, the Pharaoh was clever. He was saying, “Do you want to perform all of the actions that the Creator commanded you here? Please do!”

It means that the exit from Egypt is exactly when I disconnect from the intention to receive for myself, for self-benefit, and think only, purely, about the benefit for others apart from myself. This is called exiting Egypt and crossing the Red Sea. These egoistic desires called “God-fearing servants of Pharaoh” are not capable of doing it. Hence, they have no other corrections, except drowning in the Red Sea on the way.

The Red Sea is this crossing between Egypt, where I am under control of the Pharaoh, and a place where I am disconnected from him, where I can’t think about self-benefit. Perhaps, I still can’t think about the benefit for others, but I am exiting the control of self-love.

Therefore, there is no other correction for these desires, apart from drowning them in the Red Sea. This way, they sacrifice themselves and then gradually are corrected. Of course, desires can’t die. This is just a way of processing them when they lose, correct them, and then they rise to correct work, completely in bestowal and love, and in power of the light of faith.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 4/21/16

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