Audio Version Of The Blog – 01.17.17

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Just Ask More Of The Creator

laitman_528_02Question: What does it mean to practically treat the friend or the teacher as the Creator? Do I have to implicitly justify them like the Creator who cannot be perceived or understood?

Answer: The student should absorb what the teacher says and teaches him and accordingly behave with the friends to establish a connection in which the Creator is revealed. Everything depends on the type of the connection between them. You have to melt among the friends and become an embryo, a drop of semen in the womb, in order to attain the first spiritual attribute between us, the level of Nefesh, which is the smallest Light.

This is what everyone has to do with regard to others in the group of ten, which will create the precondition for the revelation of the Creator.

But it is impossible to do that on our own and so there is no need to yearn for that, since it is like wanting to fly without wings.

This is not the work we should do, and it is a problem if people wish to attain it physically. There is no need to put pressure on each other and to insist on physical actions such as hugging more, reading together, etc.

All you need to do is to ask more and more that the Creator do it for us since all our other requests and expectations are merely egoistic. When you turn to the Creator, the altruistic element is inevitably activated.
[199518]
From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 8/7/16

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Ynet: “The Right In Europe—A Ticking Time Bomb”

From my weekly column in Ynet: “The Right In Europe—A Ticking Time Bomb”

The last referendum in Italy and the resignation of Prime Minister Renzi announce the strengthening of fascist movements and prove that it is time for Europeans to unite. Currently, the winds of nationalistic protests are targeted at the establishment, but they might soon be targeted against millions of immigrants, and later, as has happened in the past, against the Jews. Rav Laitman explains how to defuse the ticking nationalistic bomb that threatens the fate of the Jewish people.

In my latest articles, I have gone into great detail discussing the current global changes and have explained that it all stems from the laws of nature, which the wisdom of Kabbalah teaches. The world is changing, the economy is taking on a new form, regimes are changing before our very eyes, and the voice of the British people who chose to leave the EU and the voice of the Americans who lead Trump to the White House were echoed in the voice of the Italian people who said no to the referendum and strongly opposed reforms in the Italian constitution, a real rebellion in the faltering EU.

The winds of nationalistic protest in Italy are now targeted at the political establishment, but they may change direction and target the millions of foreign immigrants and later, as always, the Jews. This dangerous fascist, anti-Semitic trend could affect the fate of Europe, the fate of the Jewish people, and the fate of humanity as a whole.

The Collective Is Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts

Fascism is part of the Italian DNA. In 1919, about a year after WWI, fascism as a world view led to the emergence of a dictatorial regime in Italy, which replaced liberal democracy. Italian fascism attributed great significance to the idea of the eternal state and demanded the mortal individual to sacrifice himself, his aspirations, and his goals for the greater good: there are no social classes, there are no individuals, and the nation is a live and breathing body.

Through coherent nationalistic ideology emphasizing hatred of foreigners, the purported founder of fascism Benito Mussolini rallied his countrymen to extricate them from poverty, social problems, and unemployment—the same issues Italy faces today.

Mussolini himself came up with the term “fascism,” which stems from the Italian world “fascio,” meaning bundle or unity. It is an ancient Roman symbol of a bundle of wooden rods as a representation of strength through unity in contrast to the weakness of the individual. It is an egoistic and exploitative connection whose sole purpose is to gain power and control, and it eventually lead to the destruction of the “united nation.”

A hundred years after it faded away, the nationalistic parties are reawakening and indicate the real need for unity. It is perfectly clear that the unity that stems from narrow egoism is concerned only about its own nation. The question is whether there is another option. Is it possible to lead the growing need for unity onto a new track and, if so, how?

The Jewish Logo

Unlike the fascist logo, hundreds of years ago, the large Israeli force unity of the Jewish people was likened to a bundle of reeds: “If someone takes a bundle of reeds, can he break them all at once? If taking them one by one, even a baby can break them” (Tanchuma). The story of the unity of Israel goes back to ancient Babylon about 3,500 years ago. In those days, the primitive society was like one family where everyone understood each other “Now the entire earth was of one language and uniform words” (Genesis 11:1). Suddenly, man’s egoistic nature erupted. The same desire to receive pleasure which motivates us through pleasure or suffering demanded greater pleasures at the expense of others. The mutual exploitation led to a deep social crisis that split the Babylonians and led to a civil war.

The frustrated Babylonians looked for a way out of the thicket of the social crisis, and salvation appeared in the form of Abraham, the great Babylonian priest of the time who gathered them around him, taught them the wisdom of Kabbalah and how to be connected and love each other. A group of once-estranged Babylonians connected as one man in one heart and were called Israel because of their desire to resemble the Creator, “Yashar El,” to attribute everything to the one force of nature that is whole and eternal. From the moment the nation of Israel was established, it had one goal only: to serve as an example of unity for the other parts of divided humanity, to be a Light of the nations of the world.

The Jewish nation has undergone many changes. After the destruction of the Second Temple, egoism grew and unfounded hatred intensified. Brotherly love and the sublime value of unity ceased to illuminate the spiritual vision, and the nation dispersed all over the world for two thousand years of exile.

The Jews cannot wander all over the world and assimilate with the other nations forever because they have a great responsibility and an obligation to bring to the world the method of connection. Every time the Jews tried to deny their role, they soon were reminded of it in the form of anti-Semitism, which is the law of nature.

Anti-Semitism in Brief

At the beginning of the 20th century, Henry Ford, a great anti-Semite, published a series of booklets called “The International Jew” in which he wrote, “The Jew has gotten used to thinking that he is the only proprietor of society’s humanism for too long. Society has a great demand from the Jew, that he should cease to be aloof, that he should stop his abuse of the world, that he should stop relating to Jewish groups as the goal of all his profits, and that he should start fulfilling the ancient prophecy, since it is by that that all the nations on earth will be blessed.”

Ford is one of many examples. In 1364, Polish King Casimir III said that the Jews were always scheming, wanting to harm the Christians, to exploit them, and impoverish them financially. In 1885, German philosopher Paul de Lagarde offered the German people a detailed plan as to how to get rid of the loathsome Jewish race living among them. He said that one doesn’t negotiate with “pests and parasites” and one doesn’t educate them, but they should be destroyed “as speedily and thoroughly as possible.” Adolf Hitler, the odious, wrote “For the Jewish spirit is the product of the Jewish person. Unless we expel the Jewish people soon, they will have judaized our people within a very short time.” We all know how his words were made into actions.

But even after the Holocaust that hit European Jews hard, the winds of hatred are blowing again. The French writer and diplomat Jean Giraudoux wrote “that the French racial stock was being threatened by hordes of Eastern and Central European ghetto Jews descending upon France. These Jewish barbarians inclined toward lawlessness, and their corruption undermined the native artisanal traits of precision, perfection, and trust.”

Unity Heals the Wounds of Humanity

Hitler, Ford, and many anti-Semites throughout history have subconsciously felt that the Jewish nation has a meaningful role in the world, and that it doesn’t fulfill it. When unity among the people of Israel weakens, fascism and Nazism grow stronger, so it is no wonder that in this generation all the destroyers among the nations of the world are raising their heads and mainly wanting to destroy and kill the children of Israel. As the sages said, “no calamity comes to the world unless it is for Israel since, as it says in Tikunei HaZohar, Israel are the cause of poverty, killing, robbery, and destruction all over the world” (The Writings of Baal HaSulam).

On the other hand, if we act responsibly and unite as one man in one heart, as the wisdom of Kabbalah teaches us, we use our egoistic nature correctly, spurring the positive force of connection in nature and radiating it through the network between us to the entire world. Baal HaSulam wrote, “the Israeli nation had been constructed as a sort of gateway by which the sparks of purity would shine upon the whole of the human race the world over … until they develop to such an extent that they can understand the pleasantness and tranquility that are found in the kernel of love of others” (Baal HaSulam, “The Arvut“). The unity that spreads through us to the global network softens the hearts of mankind and brings them closer to each other and defuses the evil thoughts they have as to how to harm themselves through fascist regimes and, all the more so, how to harm the Jews.

“When there is love, unity, and friendship, there is no room for any calamity” (Maor VaShemesh). In other words, the choice is ours. We only have to show the world how to properly connect. A loose connection between us will bring the rise of fascism, whereas a tight connection will lead to its fall.
[199219]
 Ynet 12/8/16

Religious Wars

laitman_220Comment: Political analysts believe that if President Trump creates an alliance between the US, China, and Russia, it will be a breakthrough that will pave a new path of development.

Answer: In general, there is no reason to fight today because all that was before, happily is ending.

In the past, a person wanted to be stronger and aspired to conquer more, but not now. There is no such desire anymore. There are free markets all over the world, goods flow freely from one country to another; there is no reason for war.

Comment: Wars usually had a religious character in the past.

Answer: Religious wars may still break out, but they will be wars beyond nations. Neither President Trump nor Russia want to conquer the whole world, but fundamentalist Islam wants to conquer the world—the old fashioned way, because it is still at the level of the 15th century. Islam is considered a young religion because it emerged about 5 to 6 centuries after Christianity.

Of course it would be nice to create a union between the US, Russia, and China. But human egoism won’t let that happen.

So representatives of these countries should study the wisdom of Kabbalah, which explains how to make the world a better place. They will not be able to become friends without the method of Kabbalah.

According to global trends, Nazism is growing, not decreasing. So today there is no room for nationalist policies but only for international policies. We either advance toward connection with everyone openly or toward division and war, even religious war, which it would seem had long passed. 

I hope the development of Kabbalah will handle all that.
[199070]
From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 12/7/16

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How Should A Student Treat The Teacher?

Laitman_165Question: How should a student who wants to advance in spirituality relate to the teacher?

Answer: A student should relate to the teacher as to the Creator. He should also relate to the friend in the same way since they are the means for attaining the revelation of the Creator. In the spiritual world, the means is identical to the goal.
[198948]
From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 8/7/16

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New Life 797 – The Lost Tribes Among Us

New Life 797 – The Lost Tribes Among Us
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Tal Mandelbaum ben Moshe

There is no connection between the division of the people of Israel into camps today and the division into the tribes of Israel in Biblical times.

• When the children of Israel work on the connection between them, it will be revealed who belong to which tribe and how they will reunite into tribes.
• The central motive for the method of connection is “Love covereth all transgressions” (Proverbs 10:12), i.e., we connect above all differences.
• To connect, we must first learn what human nature is, what the goal of creation is, and how to implement it.
• The connection is similar to the reconciliation process in a couple, beginning with what is good and then adding the bad.
• If we want to live well, we must learn how to connect, otherwise troubles will obligate us to connect.
• Connection will summon a power from nature that will shape us into a desired form, which is unknown to us from the start.
• Nature is the upper force, the system in which we exist, and it moves us forward in our development.
• In a state of “connection,” all are very different from each other, but we seek to complement each other.
From KabTV’s “New Life 797 – The Lost Tribes Among Us,” 12/1/16

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Rising To A New Degree

laitman_233The Torah, Deuteronomy 12:26: “However, your holy offerings which you will have, and your vows, you shall carry, and come to the place that the Lord chooses.

Holy offerings mean everything precious that I have in me: Reshimot (spiritual information records), qualities, forces, and desires. I have to uncover them, bring them to new contact with the Creator, and by doing that, gradually rise.

I have to constantly analyze my highest states and bring them to unification with the Creator. All this is for the sole purpose of discovering that what I have is suddenly transformed from the elevated states into low states. What was an achievement on the previous level becomes a transgression on the next degree.

When I establish a contact with the next degree, with the next revelation of the Creator, all of my best, wonderful inclinations toward unity, toward the love of others, toward everything, is unexpectedly revealed as evil to me. This is constant: holiness at the lower level becomes evil at the upper degree.

Everything I’ve considered unshakable in me becomes rubbish. I see how my preconceived notions, relationships, definitions, rules, and my perception of the world disappear. There is nothing in them, no truth at all, no value, and no spirituality. All of a sudden, I have discovered that everything I considered to be my contact with spirituality is just zero.

At the same time, the new degree is opened to me because I’ve advanced with faith above reason; I am ready to reject everything that used to be “me” and rise above it.

Faith above reason is a state when I accept the qualities of the Creator, bestowal and love, above what exists in me now. I am ready to accept completely opposite values in desires and intentions to my current state and work according to them. Meanwhile, the next degree is completely opposite to the previous level.

Only one law exists: to rise in bestowal above the will to receive. All past is completely erased and I am building a new degree!
[196971]
From KabTV’s, “Secrets of the Eternal Book,” 7/6/16

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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 01.17.17

Preparation for the Lesson

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Lesson on the Topic: “Preparation for the Convention, ‘All As One'”

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Lesson on the Topic: “Mismah Arosa” (Arosa Document)

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