Baal HaSulam, “Building the Future Society” Chapter 3, Item1: Communism is an ideal, meaning it is moral. The goal “to work according to one’s ability and receive according to one’s needs” testifies to that.
If we live in an absolutely harmonious society of the future, where everyone is mutually connected, then everyone thinks about what he can give to this society. He must understand its needs and how he can make up for them.
There must be a serious connection between the members of society so that they do only what is necessary and do nothing in excess, since by doing so they harm nature.
That is, I do everything that others need, everything that is required of me. Every member of society does the same. Thus, we achieve complete harmony between us.
Question: Is the principle, from each according to one’s ability, a manifestation of the quality of bestowal? I use all my abilities for the sake of society. Then does to each according to one’s needs mean that I measure my needs and receive only what I need?
Answer:Or society measures them. What’s the difference? In this case, I completely trust the society. [257213] From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 2/7/19
The Bible (or Torah) is sublime and spiritual, but, frankly, it can be a bit long on history with its lists of relations. You read about people marrying, divorcing, cheating on each other, and killing one another. A fair question might be: what’s so spiritual about that?
In the framework of Kabbalah, however, the Bible doesn’t tell stories of people. Instead, it presents relations between spiritual forces.
“First, you must know that when dealing with spiritual matters that have no concern with time, space, and motion, and especially when dealing with Godliness, we do not have the words by which to express and contemplate. …For that reason, the sages of the Kabbalah have chosen a special language, which we can call “the language of the branches.”—Yehuda Ashlag, Talmud Eser Sefirot (The Study of the Ten Sefirot), Part 1, Histaklut Pnimit (Inner Reflection).
The Bible shows the process of the correction of souls through higher forces. This takes the souls on their path of ascent as they rise in their ability to bestow. Characters such as Adam, Noah, and Abraham are not thought of as people who lived somewhere and wandered (or floated) around. They are considered forces that operate over desires that have to be corrected, within each and every one of us. For example, the story of the exodus of Hebrew slaves from Egypt represents not their freedom from physical bondage, but the acquisition of the first Masach (screen), the crossing of the barrier.
Some stories may seem to have no rationality or sanctity in them. When reading them, remember that these are not events, but stories of forces. They are not to be understood or justified in earthly terms.
Nature is a developing Ego-organism. People must compensate for the Ego-force by having a good attitude to its 4 Ego-levels: still, vegetative, animate, and human. In the absence of compensation of the Ego-force, natural disasters manifest on all 4 degrees. Level 3 is viruses, level 4 is #Antisemitism #HolocaustMemorialDay
Nature is the perpetually developing egoistic desire. Man must balance it out with a good attitude toward the still, vegetative, animate, and especially human nature. Kabbalah explains how to do this. #Jews are responsible for carrying out this rule of nature.
Schoolchildren in #Germany will have to visit concentration camps where they will learn about what was perpetrated in that country at the hands of their parents. But why it happened—that is something no one will be able to explain to them logically! But this is the manifestation of growing egoism on the “human” degree. It must be compensated! #HolocaustMemorialDay
Nature’s unified system is undergoing constant EGO-development. People must consciously balance the EGO by good relationships. Otherwise signs of imbalance manifest in the form of wars, viruses and #Antisemitism—hatred for those who are able to remedy the imbalance. Although they don’t know that! #HolocaustMemorialDay
We are facing a unique, inspiring mission: entry into the spiritual world, into the first sensation of the upper reality that is beyond our current thoughts and desires. This is a very exciting anticipation, an unearthly aspiration that is not from this world since we are entering nature’s true state.
The egoistic force doesn’t disappear, but gets balanced by the altruistic force that is added to it. We will operate with two forces of nature: the negative and positive, the egoistic force of creation an the altruistic force of the Creator, which dresses in us.
The Bnei Baruch group has discerned the last stages before entering Lishma (bestowal) and is standing at the threshold of spirituality. It is not easy to take the last step of Lo Lishma, and the first step of Lishma —this is the Machsom, the boundary of the upper world from the authority of egoism to the desire to enter the authority of the force of bestowal.
The Creator pushes every person forward, but only till a certain boundary, beyond which pressure is impossible. Otherwise it wouldn’t be a person, but an angel. One must place oneself in rigid, iron boundaries and not allow himself to step out of them.
That is how we give the Creator an opportunity to work with us.
When a person frees himself from inner isolation and wants to come out of himself to the friends, the group, the world, he acquires a new perception and feels that outside of him, there is a force, the Creator, who fills everything. To do this, he needs help from the group, the friends, since he is unable to come out of himself on his own. From Twitter, 1/28/20
It all depends on how much the spiritual message is more important for a person than corporeal feelings. I, as Israel, must overcome my egoism and prefer coming closer to the Creator to all corporeal problems. For other nations, this happens differently. Everyone, according to the root of one’s soul, has an obligation to rise above corporeal disturbances, which are not disturbances but conditions for the development of the soul, and to aim toward connection despite the fact that we hate each other. Believe me, the anti-Semitic hatred of the Jew is much less than the hatred of the disciples of Rabbi Shimon to each other. We have yet to discover real hatred.
All this is included in the conditions: you want to rise spiritually and the Creator and the meaning of life are more important to you than your claims against others, then you will rise. If not, you will remain here, in your animalistic existence.
All nations, all of Babylon, must rise above their egoism and perform the work of correction. This is the condition today. Here we are acting as Abraham, who said: “Whoever is with the Creator—is with me!” This is that same Babylon and the same challenges that were in the time of Abraham, only in the modern form.
Imagine that you are living in Babylon and suddenly there is a group of Abraham, claiming that you need to love others as yourself. You hate them so much that you are ready to kick them out of Babylon.
However they, feeling this hatred, understand that it is necessary to leave Babylon. What would you do then? Are you ready to join them and make your way through Iraq and Syria to the land of Israel, of course not in corporeal terms, but as a spiritual ascent? The choice is yours. From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/9/20, ”The Jewish Choice: Unity or Anti-Semitism,” Chapter 6 Minute 1:59:00
In the near future a whole generation of Holocaust survivors will join the annals of history. Around 15,000 people who escaped the atrocities of the Third Reich and made Israel their home passed away last year, while only 190,000 remain. Their legacy and the memory of the six million Jews who perished in the Shoah will be commemorated by over 45 world leaders gathering at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem on the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
The question thus arises: Do such diplomatic gatherings have any impact on avoiding similar future catastrophes?
With many organizations and countries dealing with anti-Semitism, and robust budgets assigned to tackle this worldwide problem, one might expect concrete positive results. Yet, in spite of all the suffering the Holocaust brought and millions invested in summits and sponsored trips for entire delegations to Israel, as well as for concentration camp renovations, anti-Semitism has neither vanished nor diminished. On the contrary, anti-Semitic incidents are becoming more frequent and intense.
Therefore, we will truly preserve the memory of all victims only when we can ensure that the phrase “Never again!” is not merely an empty slogan. How? We can eradicate the eternal hatred of Jews and Israel through a deep investigation into its origin and processes.
Combating Anti-Semitism at Its Root
In order to invest in a real and lasting solution that obliterates anti-Semitism completely, we require an educational program that explains why the Shoah happened and how it is possible that Jews continue to be fiercely attacked and persecuted after so many decades, particularly in Europe and the US.
The wisdom of Kabbalah explains that there are two forces that operate nature: positive and negative, and a lack of balance between them results in the disruption underlying anti-Semitism.
The purpose of these opposites is in order to let us consciously build a bridge that connects us above the contrasting forces—a balanced state in which humanity can eventually find safety and calm.
As the world becomes increasingly interdependent, humanity is inescapably enclosed as a single unit where two conflicting states prevail: interconnection on one hand, and deep division on the other. Under such pressure-cooker conditions, hatred toward Jews becomes increasingly vicious as society experiences intensifying negative effects from the contradictory forces.
Jews are targeted because the world feels that the Jewish people have a certain role that is currently not being implemented: to serve as “a light unto the nations,” and to pioneer a process of global unity that can correct society’s imbalances, ultimately bringing about a good life to all.
The more we Jews hate each other, the more the world will want to eliminate us. That is, if we fail to see a unifying purpose to our own lives here, then the nations of the world will likewise feel that there is no purpose for our living here in such a state.
Jewish Unity: the Goal
Our nation was forged upon the ideology of mercy and brotherly love, where strangers agreed to unite and bond as equals above all differences. We became a nation when we pledged to be “as one man with one heart.” Since then, it has been our duty to safeguard this connection and lead the way to its realization among humanity. This role is to be fulfilled not out of pride, but in the spirit of service to the world. The duty of Jews to the world is to execute and set an example of love of others.
As the foremost Kabbalist Rav Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam) wrote in his essay “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”:
“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, any Holocaust remembrance must be more than a commemoration of the millions who died. We must seize it as an opportunity to face the future with a firm conviction to carry out our designated function, as well as to remember the consequences of not doing so: to unite above our differences and share our method for connecting the world. This is the means to prevent such atrocities from recurring.
Many of our sages have marked the safe path for us to follow. As 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.” [259056]
Baal HaSulam, “Building the Future Society”: An antagonist might still claim that I have thus far only demonstrated that one must serve one’s fellow person, but where is the practical proof that one must adhere to this precept for the sake of the Creator?
Question: We can still understand what the fulfillment of the law of nature “for the sake of people” is: “you are for my sake, I am for your sake,” and together we are building a good society for the future. And what does it mean to fulfill this law for the sake of the Creator who is in concealment?
Answer: If I strictly follow the instructions of the Kabbalists, then I feel like I am in a state where the Creator is in front of me and I can work in partnership with Him.
Question: But the Creator is concealed from me. How can I do something for His sake if I don’t feel His actions?
Answer: The Creator is a condition that the wisdom of Kabbalah sets before you, and a teacher explains to you how to behave.
If you fulfill these conditions, you begin to feel that there are positive and negative forces in nature, and they constantly act on you: the positive force on one side, and the negative force on the other, and there is contradiction or agreement, etc.
Question: That is, the Creator is the goal and the neighbor is the means. If I find the strength or ability to put the needs of my neighbor above my own in myself, then the quality of the Creator is manifested in me?
Answer: Of course, the quality of bestowal. At the same time, you begin to feel that you exist at the level of the Creator according to the law of equivalence of form. [257196] From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 2/7/19
The principle of a Kabbalistic group is a special attitude toward the friends.
Comment: One of the principles of working in a group is valuing each of the friend’s individuality.
My Response: It is necessary to give everyone the opportunity to show their abilities, to help them in this, so that when identifying all the abilities of the friends, we come to the maximum development of a common desire, intention, effort.
Comment: The principle is as follows: Constantly exalt your friends and feel the lowliness of your egoism.
My Response: That is, as an egoist, I must always lower myself in relation to the group, to relate to my friend with an increased desire to help and support them in everything. There are two forces within me, positive and negative. Maximize the positive and minimize the negative.
Comment: Another principle: Try to see the friends in a more corrected state than what my egoism is showing me.
My Response: I should try to see my friends as more corrected than I am. Then I will have a desire to get closer to them, to lower myself before them. My admiration for them will give me the strength to advance.
Question: The next principle: annul yourself before the friends. What exactly needs to be done here?
Answer: This arises naturally in a person. When one works in a group, whether one wants to or not, a person begins to feel lower and lower than the rest. He or she sees strength and goodness in the friends, but not in oneself.
Moreover, we are not saying that this happens on its own, but that a person can annul themself before the friends by one’s own effort. That is, to artificially lower oneself before the friends and to see oneself as worse than them, lower, less advanced. This will give a person the opportunity to raise them, raise the Creator through them, and thus, advance. [258080] From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 3/6/20
The science of Kabbalah is unique in the way it talks about you and me, about all of us. It doesn’t deal with anything abstract, only with the way we are created and how we function at higher levels of existence.
One of its sections talks about the descent of the higher forces from the world of Ein Sof (Infinity). The world of Ein Sof is our initial state, and there we exist as a single, unified system of souls, completely interconnected. Then, from the world of Ein Sof, we study the sequence of worlds, Sefirot and Partzufim as they descend to the world we live in.
Many Kabbalistic books have been written about it, starting with Abraham the Patriarch around 4,000 years ago, who wrote a book called Sefer Yetzira (The Book of Creation).
The next important work is The Book of Zohar, written in the second century CE. The Zohar is followed by the works of the Ari, a renowned 16th century Kabbalist. And the 20th century saw the appearance of the works of Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam).
Baal HaSulam’s texts are best suited for our generation.
They, as well as other Kabbalistic sources, describe the structure of the upper worlds, how they descend and successively bring lower worlds into existence, and how our world came into being, the universe, our globe, and how life evolved. Studying how that system was created and how it descends to our world allows us to master the method of entering this system and governing it.
We, for the most part, study the six volume textbook Talmud Eser Sefirot (The Study of the TenSefirot), written by Yehuda Ashlag. It is designed as a study aid with questions, answers, materials for repetition and memorization, explanations, graphics and drawings. This is, if you will, the physics of the upper world, describing the laws and forces governing the universe.
This material gradually transforms the students, because when searching how to enter and begin to live in the spiritual world, one gradually adapts oneself to the material.
The science of Kabbalah does not deal with life in this world. Instead, by studying this system we re-attain our level before we descended, the same level where we will be at the end of our ascent from this world. During this ascent, the study of Kabbalah builds within the student a system equal to the higher system.
This system begins to organize and manifest itself in the person who wants to achieve it, and who studies it for this purpose. Just like a drop of semen can potentially evolve into an entire human being, and subsequently grows into a mature grown-up, the science of Kabbalah develops our desire to attain a higher level of existence.
At first this is a tiny desire, called “a point in the heart.” This point is like the embryo of our future states. By studying the structure of the upper world, we develop the “genetic” information within it, and as it grows, the structure resembling the higher levels forms within us.
This is why studying is so rewarding. Even if we do not understand a single thing about what we are reading, simply trying to understand the Kabbalistic texts nurtures the point in the heart, the desire for the higher force, and the point begins to grow. The more it grows, the more we feel the appearance of a new creation, a new and different feeling of a world within ourselves.
In so doing, the science of Kabbalah gives us the opportunity to feel the upper worlds, to understand everything that happens to us, and most of all, to control this process for ourselves.
I recommend that before approaching the aforementioned books, to take a introductory course, so that you will be able to get guidance on how to approach the books to reap the most spiritual benefit. I have added links to various courses you could choose to start from in my Quora bio.
Understanding the Needs of Society
Michael Laitman, On Quora:
