If I do not integrate with the group against my desire and do not demand the friends to accept and hold me to free me from my egoistic prison, then I will never succeed. Even if I succeeded in integrating with my friends for a while, the time will surely come when I lose all the desire and want to be left alone. I will hate them and will not even want to look at them.

Then again, a time comes when I manage to overcome myself, and then, at the call of the point in the heart, I come to the group again and want to connect with it. We receive such opportunities from above and can only reduce the time between the attempts.

Again, I join the group and fall out of it again, moving from one polar state to another. Sometimes I don’t want to think about the group or even about the wisdom of Kabbalah at all. Then, suddenly I realize that spirituality is only within the group and I need it. Such polar states indicate progress.

At first, it seems that there is one desire in us called Joseph that pulls us toward connection and there are his brothers who protest against him. Later we will understand that there really is no separation between Joseph and his brothers; these are the very same desires that are raised by the reforming Light and then fall.¹

All the corrections, all the 613 commandments, can be kept only through global connection both in general, connection of the people of Israel and throughout the world, and in the ten, the minimal cell of correction.

The rule “Love thy friend as thyself” says that even my initial, individual correction cannot be done outside the framework of the ten. It is only through mutual integration that one can build a system in which at least some connection is manifested or its absence is revealed in order to correct it.

All corrections happen not in each element separately, but in their connection.²

Each friend makes every effort to integrate with the others and by receiving strength from the other nine, he connects with them. And so one fulfills one’s personal commandment of “Love thy friend as thyself.” When all ten friends reach such a state, their individual corrections connect together into one collective “Love thy friend as thyself” inside of which the Creator is revealed. Love of friends leads them to the love of the Creator.³

None of us can keep all the 613 commandments, corrections. This is possible only through integration of each one with all the others. Each one contains 613 desires within, but one cannot correct them without connection with the others. It is only in this connection that we can fulfill all 613 commandments.

Each requires a new connection, as if on a telephone switchboard where operators once used to manually connect the lines. A person is always at such a switchboard station where he must activate various properties in the friends and put them to work. They incorporate his properties in their work, and thus eventually the ten Sefirot are formed—a mini model of the entire universe.⁴
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/16/19, Writings of Rabash, Vol. 1, Article 5 “What Does the Rule ‘Love Thy Friend as Thyself’ Give Us”
1 Minute 39:35
2 Minute 47:00
3 Minute 50:00
4 Minute 59:55

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Rabash, Writings of Rabash, the article “The Agenda of the Assembly 2”: Accordingly, when one comes to the assembly of friends, he should always see whether or not the friends have the goal that he craves, that each of them has some grip on that goal. And he thinks that by everyone bonding together for one goal, each will have his own share, as well as the shares of the whole of society. It follows that each member of the society will have the same strength as the whole of society together.

In spirituality, it is clearly seen that if we are included in each other everyone gets the sum of all the forces from the rest. No one gains this at the expense of others because the total power they accumulate and combine in themselves is gained by each of them.

This is an amazing law of spiritual balance when everyone can dispose of all the forces, all the qualities and corrections made by the group.

Question:  Rabash writes: “And he thinks that by everyone bonding together for one goal, each will have his own share.” What does this mean?

Answer: Everyone will have their full part of the goal since union is distinguished by the fact that the Creator exists inside of it. Therefore, it cannot be that what you receive is at somebody else’s expense.

Question: In the article it is written that a person should be on guard when he comes to the assembly of friends. What does it mean to be on guard? In relation to whom?

Answer: You must clearly understand why you are coming, what you should bestow from yourself, and what you get from others. The assembly of friends is very serious work.
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From KabTV’s “The Last Generation” 6/27/18

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New Life 1075 – How To Find Your True Self
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Yael Leshed-Harel

The true, inner part in a person is called a soul. By discovering one’s inner point called “I” or soul, a person reveals the higher, eternal, and perfect stabilizing power called the Creator. Today we are detached from the essence of life, the soul. This is particularly noticeable with younger generations. We remain unaware of our true selves while being shaped by innate characteristics, education, and environmental factors. We continue to develop in this way from generation to generation until we finally come to the question: “Who am I really?” and search for the higher power that provides an anchor in life. This is the goal of human evolution and each of us must attain it. We all belong to one root and are all connected with one another there. When a person is connected to this innermost root, he feels that he has come home to a good, warm, and full house.
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From KabTV’s “New Life 1075 – How To Find Your True Self,” 12/6/18

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Lesson Preparation

Lesson on the Topic “To Bestow Contentment to The Creator” (Preparation for the Convention in Arava 2019)

Talmud Eser Sefirot,  Vol. 6, Part 16, Table of Answers for the Meaning of the Words, Item 311

Writings of Baal HaSulam, “The Future Generation” 

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From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 1/27/19

“Never again.” A powerful statement with deep personal meaning to me since childhood when I started asking questions about why most of my family perished under the Third Reich and what the future would look like for my people, I was compelled to get to the bottom of why the Holocaust happened. On the 74th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, we need to face the reality that, in spite of all the suffering the Holocaust brought, hatred against Jews is still alive, strong, widespread, and on the rise.

How can we make sure history doesn’t repeat itself if we fail to understand where the hatred of Jews comes from? While we commemorate Holocaust Remembrance Day around the world, I suggest that there is something deeper about our history as a people that we must remember so we can assure ourselves and our children that “Never again” truly means never again.

A recently uncovered book from Hitler’s personal library revealed his intention to extend the Nazi tentacles to include North America in the grip of his Final Solution plans, which were prevented only by the victory of the Allies. If such a thing nearly happened then, how hard is it to imagine the potential for a similar operation in today’s globalized world?

Every year, we remind ourselves that history must not be repeated. However, truth be told, we are witnessing very similar conditions to those before World War II, this time with rampant bigotry and hatred against Jews across the entire globe, basically everywhere. According to a survey recently released by the European Commission, nine out of ten European Jews report feeling that anti-Semitism has increased over the past five years and almost a third of them avoid attending Jewish events or visiting Jewish sites because they do not feel safe. In the US, the FBI reports a rise in the incidence of anti-Semitic acts since 2016. Out of all religion-based hate crimes, 58% targeted Jews or Jewish institutions.

The trends show that history is not necessarily a good teacher and we have failed to learn our lessons well. There is still time to correct our mistakes in this test of life. The clock is ticking for us, and until we scrutinize and internalize the reason for the constant pressures against us, we will not be able to make a course correction to eradicate anti-Semitism.

Over many centuries, our ancestors fought to maintain their unity above their growing selfishness. But two thousand years ago, they succumbed to unfounded hatred and were exiled from the land of Israel. Since then, Jews lost the ability to be a light unto nations because we lost our unity. This was the starting point of anti-Semitism as we know it.

Our unity determines the state of the world and its fate. Through our unity, we allow the world to connect as we let the positive, uniting force of love above differences stream into this need of the world. Conversely, our separation denies humanity such a soothing power and invokes within it hatred toward Jews when they are deprived of the calming force. The failure to deliver the ability to unite above differences causes the nation’s aggression toward Jews and is the subconscious reason why they perceive us as the root of all evil.

Our sages explain the phenomenon of such hatred toward us with these words: “No calamity comes to the world but for Israel” (Yevamot, 63a). Jewish leaders throughout the ages have circulated this message widely. They did so as a reminder that the only remedy capable of protecting us from trouble is the power of connection which we Jews can provide.

Rabbi Kalman Kalonymus wrote in Maor va Shemesh (Light and Sun): “When there are love, unity, and friendship between each other in Israel, no calamity can come upon them.” Similarly, Rabbi Shmuel Bornsztain wrote in Shem mi Shmuel (A Name out of Samuel): “When Israel are as one man with one heart, they are as a fortified wall against the forces of evil.” The Midrash (Tanchuma, Devarim [Deuteronomy]) states likewise: “Israel will not be redeemed until they are all one bundle.”

In a nutshell, “love your neighbor as yourself,” brotherly love, and mutual guarantee are the keys to the security and prosperity of the Jewish people. When we unite above our conflicts and disputes, we unleash nature’s positive force. It is the force that maintains the balance of creation, and its absence among us causes human society’s decline. In his “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Rav Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam) called this force “reforming light,” and explained that it can balance our self-centered nature and thereby heal human society.

Only if we rekindle the brotherly love we cultivated centuries ago and share the method for achieving this with everyone, will the world stop hating and blaming us for all its troubles.

In his essay, “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee),” Baal HaSulam writes that “the Israeli nation was established as a conduit to the extent that they purify themselves [from egoism], they pass on their power to the rest of the nations.” Therefore, the International Holocaust Remembrance Day can be more than a commemoration of the millions who died. It can also be an opportunity for us to remember that we have a method for connecting the world, a true means to prevent the atrocities from recurring.

At this time when anti-Semitism is intensifying across the globe, we must strive to rise above our differences and draw the positive force that will connect us, unite the world, and uproot all hatred. Now is our time to radiate light to the rest of the nations, the light of unity, peace, and balance through our shining example of reuniting above all our differences.

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Criticism is allowed for only 30 minutes after a person has worked for 23 1/2 hours a day in the right line, that is, he has justified everything.  The work in the right line is to transfer our left line, our discontent, into the right line, through our efforts.

After a person has made the correct preparation during the 23 1/2 hours, keeping himself in the right line all the time and having trained himself to work in it, he should force himself to awaken the left line, the critical attitude. It is not easy for him to do this; he has already become accustomed to being in Hassadim, in mercy, merged with the Creator in the right line, and now he checks how much he can add to this bestowal for the sake of bestowal, to the small state.

One should always strive for a small state (Katnut); a big state (Gadlut) is only an addition, AHP de Aliya (AHP of ascent), that is, a tiny part of the desires to receive that can join the desires to bestow. The main thing is that a person moves to the left line not when he suddenly dislikes something, but only after he has built the right line with his efforts and has the right to awaken the left line.

We are constantly positioned against the Creator: “There is none else besides Him.” But the Creator clothes in outer garments, representing the whole of reality: inanimate nature, plants, animals, and people. We must penetrate through these garments, clothe in them, and accept and reveal the Creator in them. In order to break through these garments, we must first gain the desire for bestowal. Only then, as small additions, do we add the desires to receive to it, which is called the 30 minutes a day.

You can determine this proportion not only by time, but by weight or size. The idea is to strive for the small state, it is important, and the large state is only an addition that must be carefully weighed. We should understand that we do not work with genuine desires to receive, but weigh what desires to receive we can work with to add pleasure to the Creator above our desires to bestow.

The work with the desires to receive is much more difficult, high, and sublime than the construction of desires to bestow, the giving attitudes toward the Creator.¹
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/20/19, Writings of Rabash, Vol. 1, Article 30 “What to Look For in the Assembly of Friends”
1 Minute 24:10

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Question: If there is none else besides Him, why doesn’t the Creator fulfill the lack of something? For example, He does not help a person with an incurable illness.

Answer: He’s the one who sends the illness! Everything is done by the Creator.

Every day, from dawn to dusk, He brings various troubles, and we have to make efforts to somehow run away from them.

We understand that it is impossible to escape, but meanwhile we still appeal to Him and try to find out where He is hiding behind all of it. This is the purpose for the blows we receive. He sends us troubles to attract our attention.

Question: Does it mean that it makes no sense to ask Him to change all of this?

Answer: No, we need to ask only about one thing: revealing His Oneness to the world.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 9/2/18

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New Life 1074 – Social Alienation
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Yael Leshed-Harel

There is a natural, social alienation in each one of us. The human ego constantly develops and produces the feeling that excessive closeness with others is a threat. We feel a sense of foreignness, distance, coldness, and even hatred when we want a person to disappear from the world altogether. Technology has caused us to become more alienated because it makes it possible for us to connect while, at the same time, keeping our distance. As a result, we will live more and more through our phones. The alienation we are experiencing is neither good nor bad but the outcome depends upon how we use it. The foundation of the Israeli nation was based upon a gathering of strangers whom Abraham taught to love one another above the differences and social alienation. Nature will compel us to achieve a state of inner, heartfelt, spiritual connection with one another.
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From KabTV’s “New Life 1074 – Social Alienation,” 12/6/18

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Lesson Preparation

Lesson on the Topic “To Bestow Contentment to The Creator” (Preparation for the Convention in Arava 2019)

Talmud Eser Sefirot,  Vol. 6, Part 16, Table of Answers for the Meaning of the Words, Item 304

Writings of Baal HaSulam, “The Future Generation” 

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