Audio Version Of The Blog – 07.27.17
Posted on July 27th, 2017
Listen to an Audio Version of the Blog
Download: MP3 Audio
Listen to an Audio Version of the Blog
Download: MP3 Audio
#HISTORY is pure invention, depicted in us by our ego—and only so that the ego could affirm itself!
Today’s greatest challenge is to recognize the #crisis, and realize it’s not destruction but the birth of a new humanity.
The world doesn’t have its own #reality—our #perception warped by the ego (black ego against a white background) depicts the world to us.
We stand before a consciousness revolution, whether we want it or not. As #consciousness changes, we’ll perceive/attain world in a new way.
We lose neither the past, the present or the future. We examine the states we find ourselves in, and change. And so changes the #world!
As civilization develops the union of all its parts becomes > any individual part. Each one’s existence is egoistic, their union altruistic
From Twitter, 7/27/17
Related Material:
My Thoughts On Twitter, 7/26/17
My Thoughts On Twitter, 7/25/17
My Thoughts On Twitter, 7/24/17
The largest portal Breaking Israel News published my new article “UNESCO Reflects Not the Nations’ Antisemitism, But Our Own Self-Hatred“:
In April 2016, when UNESCO adopted a resolution denying Jewish history on Temple Mount, I wrote that this was only the beginning of a campaign to deny the history of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel, a campaign whose final purpose is the elimination of the Jewish state. In December last year, the campaign accelerated when the UN Security Council adopted a resolution that opened the door to indiscriminate sanctions and boycotts against Israel over its settlement policy in the West Bank and Jerusalem. A few days ago, UNESCO took yet another step in its campaign to deny Jewish rights to Israel, denying the nearly 4,000-year history of the Cave of the Patriarchs.
Everyone, including those who voted in favor of the resolution, knows that there are no historic or scientific grounds to the Palestinian claim for connection to the site. But facts, we all know, are the least important factor in this story. All that matters is that the campaign to eliminate the State of Israel and revoke UN Resolution 181—which warranted the establishment of a Jewish state in Israel—is gaining momentum.
This latest resolution is a warning sign to the entire Jewish people, and especially to those living in Israel. It tells us that we must reassess who we are as a nation, what we currently stand for, what we would like to stand for, and how we can accomplish this.
A Cesspool of Hatred
Some two weeks ago, in his first public address, US ambassador to Israel, Mr. David Friedman, said, “I have a great speech prepared about the breadth and the depth of the relationship between the United States and the State of Israel. But I’m not going to give it tonight.” Instead, Ambassador Friedman dedicated his entire speech to Jewish unity, or more to the point, the lack thereof.
However we look at it, the current level of division among Jews is unsustainable. We are poisoning our relationships with so much hatred that the world never sees anything good emerging from the Jewish people. We are vying over the Western Wall prayer areas and blacklisting certified rabbis’ decisions on determining the Jewishness of people who need their Jewishness confirmed. We are campaigning against our own country through the UN, BDS, the academia, and in myriad other ways. We segregate Jews based on ethnic background and culture, and we associate only with politically and religiously like-minded people.
Israel, which was supposed to be a role model melting pot, has become a cesspool that emits nothing but hatred of our coreligionists. This is the exact opposite of the essence of our faith, and contradicts what we are meant to project to the world.
Why the Ceaseless Persecution of the Jews?
Throughout the generations, the leaders of the Jewish people—from the most orthodox to the most secular—have stressed that our redemption, salvation, and even survival depend only on our unity.
“All of Israel is responsible for one another … only where there are people who are responsible for one another there is Israel,” wrote Zionist thinker A.D. Gordon. “We are called upon to unite the world. But before we unite the material world, we are called upon to reveal the spiritual unity. This is our innermost secret,” stated Rav Kook (Letters of the Raiah), the first Chief Rabbi of Israel. “Everything depends on the children of Israel. As they correct themselves, all of Creation follows them,” asserted the book Sefat Emet. “We have yet to open our eyes and see that only unity can save us. Only if we all unite … to work in favor of the entire nation, our labor will not be in vain,” mused Eliezer Ben Yehuda, reviver of the Hebrew language. “‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ (Leviticus, 19:18) is the superior commandment in Judaism. With these few words, the eternal, human law of Judaism has been formed… The state of Israel will merit its name only if its social, economic, political, and judicial structure is based upon these three eternal words,” concluded David Ben Gurion, the first prime minister of Israel.
Shortly after the establishment of the State of Israel, Rav Yehuda Ashlag, author of the complete Sulam (Ladder)commentary on The Book of Zohar, wrote in his composition, The Writings of the Last Generation: “Judaism must present something new to the nations. This is what they expect from the return of Israel to the land!” Indeed, continued Ashlag, “It is the wisdom of bestowal, justice, and peace.”
Despite these oft-repeated statements, we have not listened. Since the ruin of the Temple and the exile we have inflicted on ourselves through our unfounded hatred of each other, we have not learned how to overcome our loathing and unite. As a result, the persecution of our nation has not stopped since. “When Israel is ‘as one man with one heart,’ they are as a fortified wall against the forces of evil,” stated the book Shem MiShmuel. But when was the last time we were “as one man with one heart”?
We Rise and Fall by the Power of Our Unity
According to the Rav Kook, “The purpose of Israel is to unite the entire world into a single family” (Whisper to Me the Secret of Existence). When a man asked Old Hillel to teach him Torah, the sage replied, “That which you hate, do not do unto your neighbor; this is the whole of the Torah” (Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat, 31a). Just as explicitly, Rabbi Akiva stated, “Love your neighbor as yourself is the great rule of the Torah” (Jerusalem Talmud, Nedarim, Chapter 9, p 30b).
Similar to those giants, the book Shem MiShmuel writes, “The intention of Creation was for everyone to become one bundle … but because of the sin [evil inclination/egoism], the matter was corrupted to the point where even the best in those generations could not unite. The correction of this matter began in the generation of Babylon, when Abraham and his descendants gathered people together into a joint assembly. …Thus, the matter continued and grew until the congregation of Israel was made. But the end of the correction will come when everyone becomes one bundle.”
Israel became a nation when all its members committed to unite “as one man with one heart.” Immediately thereafter, Israel was commanded to be “a light unto nations,” to pass on that solid unity. For this reason, when we are united, there is merit to our existence as a nation. When we are apart, there is no justification for our existence as a nation because we cannot be “a light unto nations.” In consequence, the nations reclaim the land and disperse the Jews, who are not true to their vocation. This is why the book Maor VaShemesh asserts, “The prime defense against calamity is love and unity. When there are love, unity, and friendship within Israel, no calamity can come over them.”
Our Fate Is in Our Hands
In his book The Art of Loving, renowned psychoanalyst and sociologist Erich Fromm wrote, “Man—of all ages and cultures—is confronted with the solution of one and the same question: the question of how to overcome separateness, how to achieve union.” Moreover, Fromm stresses, the more humanity “separates itself from the natural world, the more intense becomes the need to find new ways of escaping separateness.”
Indeed, today’s society is so narcissistic that people overdose by the tens of thousands each year simply out of loneliness. Neuroscientist Marc Lewis candidly summed up humanity’s bane with the title to his sobering piece, “Why are so many people dying from opiate overdoses? It’s our broken society.”
The Book of Zohar writes very clearly in the famous Tikkun No. 30 that when Israel is not united, they “bring about poverty, ruin, and robbery, looting, killing, and destructions in the world.” In other words, we should not be surprised when humanity blames the Jews for their woes. In his seminal essay “Mutual Guarantee,” Rav Ashlag wrote, “It is upon the Israeli nation to qualify itself and all the people of the world to develop until they take upon themselves that sublime work of love of others, which is the ladder to the purpose of Creation.” Why? Because, continues Ashlag, the Israeli nation was fashioned as “a sort of gateway by which the sparks of love of others would shine upon the whole of the human race the world over.”
Even if people are not consciously aware that Jews have been fashioned as a gateway for humanity’s better future, this gut feeling dictates their thoughts and actions. This latent expectation causes academics such as British journalist and historian Paul Johnson to write, “At a very early stage in their collective existence the Jews believed they had detected a divine scheme for the human race, of which their own society was to be a pilot.” This expectation also causes antisemites to cover Holocaust memorial sites with sheets carrying the inscription, “Heebs [Hebrews] will not divide us.”
Indeed, we rise and fall by our willingness to be a light of unity unto nations. As a result, we are the only nation whose fate is in its own hands. If we decide to “take upon ourselves that sublime work of love of others” and thus become “a light unto nations,” our sovereignty, prosperity, and peace in Israel are secured. But if we hand over the reins to our selfish egos as we have been doing for the past two millennia, it is likely that we will see yet another round of ruin in the Land of Israel. Unless we wake up to our task soon, rise above our egos and unite, it just might be too late.
Reprinted with author’s permission from The Jerusalem Post
[210461]
Question: What triggers negative reactions to Kabbalah? Hearing words like “Kabbalah, The Book of Zohar, hidden knowledge, and Ten Sefirot,” many people in the world and especially in Israel, throughout history and to the present day, cringe inside, feel repulsion, resistance, and even hatred. Where does this come from?
Answer: This is a natural reaction; this comes from human nature. Obviously, this is not based on differences in ideology, but on a deeper disagreement rooted in our very essence.
Even the simplest person, a vendor at a market and a university professor feel the same with respect to the word “Kabbalah,” seeing it as mysticism, black magic, or something incomprehensible that may harm and is not worth touching or even going near.
This is a natural human reaction, completely unrelated to Kabbalah. That is, this resistance was originally put into our nature, which completely rejects the wisdom of Kabbalah, even before we learn anything about it. We are repelled by the words “Kabbalah,” “Sefirot,” “Partzuf,” “upper world.”
Moreover, in my own experience teaching Kabbalah for the past 35 years, I can say that many, even very special and unique individuals, who stood out among the rest who are attracted to Kabbalah and come to study it, these individuals really wanted to grasp the depth of it, and in two-three years they suddenly feel repulsion.
This doesn’t happen in any other science. Studying with original sources, serious students, real specialists in Kabbalah, people suddenly feel that they don’t accept it and don’t want to continue. And so they leave the study and even more so, leave with a negative impression of Kabbalah.
Question: It’s interesting that other forms of Kabbalah, where there is mysticism and magic, draw a great deal of interest from people. Why these forms are liked so much?
Answer: But there are not “other forms of Kabbalah,” they are not Kabbalah at all. Any mystical teachings where they also mention words like “Partzufim” and “Sefirot” dress themselves with the name “Kabbalah.” In essence, all of philosophy came out of the science of Kabbalah as a product of inaccurate understanding.
A person’s own nature resists the science of Kabbalah. Even when he begins to familiarize himself with this science, there are many, the majority, who suddenly discover resistance within themselves, who reject and leave the study. I saw many similar examples, just as it is written, “A thousand enter the classroom and only one exits into the light.”
That is, this reaction is natural; it isn’t a special case and doesn’t mean that the teacher is bad. People leave not because they were taught badly, but because 999 out of a 1,000 were meant to leave and one was meant to stay.
Question: But why don’t people just leave, why do they become hostile to and enemies of Kabbalah?
Answer: Really, why isn’t the science of Kabbalah like physics or mathematics where a person loses interest and simply leaves? The thing is that Kabbalah touches the very inner essence of a person, focuses on his desires, pleasures, repulsions, feelings, and on the fact that he must rise above his sensations, study himself, and perform “open heart surgery” on himself.
He must open his heart, feelings, and reason and begin to dissect himself with a scalpel, as if this is being done by a stranger, examining his desires and thoughts completely objectively like an external observer. These kinds of things are not intrinsic to our nature and that’s why it’s not easy to accept.
[210534]
From KabTV’s “Origins of Negative Reactions to Kabbalah,” 7/19/17
Related Material:
Where Does The Opposition To The Wisdom Of Kabbalah Stem From?
Beyond All The Religions Of The World
Why Are We Criticized?
Question: What do you wish for your students? What is it worthwhile paying attention to?
Answer: My heart aches for my students. I already want to see them great, found in a common, good and strong connection between them, gradually drawn from among all of humanity, choosing those people from it who can yearn for the Creator, work together with us, and expand the world group in a similar manner.
This is what I would like to see, like every parent wants to see his children become more successful people than he has been.
[210082]
From the talk at a videoconference with the Learning Center students, 5/21/17
Related Material:
Feelings Of The Kabbalist
Becoming A Master Of Your Craft
A Kabbalist And His Students
Question: The Book of Zohar was written in a very easy language; why is it difficult to understand it?
Answer: The people who wrote The Book of Zohar were on the highest peak of the ladder of attainment in the spiritual world, and so for them it was simple and easy.
And in truth everything is written in a very soft way, similar to a grandfather who tells his grandson an interesting story, but it is in fact difficult to attain these states. This is the property of the exposition.
Question: Why was it impossible to write it such that everything would be understood and we could read it like any other book?
Answer: We are in this world. How is it possible to understand what doesn’t belong to it?
Suppose that my friend and I know how to read music and I talk with him about musical notes, while you don’t understand anything about it. How could you understand? We don’t have a common language with you; there is not only no conceptual instrument, but also not a common emotional instrument. It is therefore impossible to transmit The Book of Zohar.
[209977]
From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 2/5/17
Related Material:
Why Does The Book Of Zohar Use Corporeal Images?
The “Litmus Paper” Of Spirituality
Zohar: A Means Of Spiritual Development
Torah, Deuteronomy 27:25: Cursed be he who takes a bribe to put an innocent person to death. And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’
From time immemorial bribes were condemned. People were always punished for them. However, punishment by a curse is a very serious punishment.
By spilling the blood of an innocent, the “desire” in myself, I kill the “person” in me, that is, the next corrected state that could appear in me as a “person,” as part of a corrected soul. If I don’t do it, I take a bribe, meaning that I took a pleasure for myself instead of correcting part of my soul. This is the curse.
I went after the fleeting delight that attracted me instead of moving toward the next spiritual degree.
Question: Is it called that I spilled the blood of an innocent?
Answer: Yes. However, this is not just “spilling blood.” What you have done is one thing, but the fact that you also receive a curse in addition to it is something different. Now you are obliged to redeem yourself twice in order to be somehow corrected in the future, because you fall to a great depth.
[208991]
From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 11/23/16
Related Material:
Bribery Blinds The Eyes Of The Wise
You Shall Not Bow To Your Ego’s Opinion
A Contrast That Reveals The True Picture Of The World
Preparation for the Lesson
| [media 1] | [media 2] |
Lesson on the Topic: “Memorial Day of the Ari”
| [media 3] | [media 4] |
Lesson on the Topic: “On the Merit of the Study of Kabbalah, Israel Will Come Out of Exile” Item 48
| [media 5] | [media 6] |
Daily Audio Version-MP3
Get the Weekly eNewsletter
Follow on Twitter
