Audio Version Of The Blog – 3/2/20
Posted on March 2nd, 2020
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This is mutual guarantee! Noam Elimelech. Collection “Rose”: One should always pray for a friend because a prisoner (of egoism) cannot rescue himself from imprisonment, but asking for a friend he quickly gets an answer. So everyone asks for another until everyone receives an answer—light.
This is mutual guarantee!
Rabash, Letter 77: There is no emptiness in spirituality, the Creator is hiding to allow us to advance without waiting for the falls but by feeling our lowliness, to raise the desire “even before you have lost.”
Rabash, Letter 24: You must keep the connection between the friends day and night—when it feels like “day” and when it feels like “night.” You must awaken the friends’ hearts so that the flame rises by itself—by doing so you will merit to awaken the love of the Creator.
If we unite into one soul as before the breakage of Adam, we will return to perceiving the upper world, to the spiritual state, become Adam once again. A person has no other work in this world besides seeking out the ways of connecting to others so one can rebuild the soul.
Spirituality is revealed through unity of egoists. We remain in the spiritual world but perceive ourselves instead of it. We must transition from the individualized perception of ourselves in this world to the perception of us through the force of love and bestowal, which unites everyone in one desire.
Through the science of Kabbalah we reveal the cause of the disease, which comes from human egoism, and its cure: if I suffer from egoism, I need to break free from it. The science of Kabbalah helps: we must be in a group and attract the light that reforms, it gradually changes us.
A man is an intention. The physical body is our animal. Through our relationships we are able to raise ourselves from the animate degree to the Human, “Adam,” meaning “similar to the Creator.”
All misfortunes and problems are sent on purpose for us to accelerate bringing the world into balance, to draw near and work on the ego. From the level of Adam, man, from the highest level of nature, we will cause all of its forces to come into balance, the world will find peace and happiness!
Baal HaSulam, Letter 2: You should evoke within you fear of the coolness of love, although the intellect denies this possibility. If there is a way by which to increase love and one does not increase, that too is considered a flaw. Our job is to reveal love every day as a gift.
The rule that helps to protect oneself from breaking off the connection with the Creator is unity with the friends within the ten, which obligates one to develop love in one’s heart for his friends until a person will become one with them and with the Creator between them.
Kabbalah calls for adherence to minimalism in everything in order to concentrate your efforts on the only thing that’s important—to create a constant desire in yourself to reveal the Creator in all that surrounds us. This also ensures environmental consciousness, optimality.
One can serve the Creator only in joy. But the Creator purposely made it so that you can’t. So that you would ask Him for the power of bestowal! Don’t stop until you receive it. Once you get the power of bestowal, you will see how much the whole world needs your help, and you will rejoice at each of your actions.
If I work shedding tears, it is not counted for anything because what is important in spirituality is the intention, not the action. Intention is measured only in joy according to my desire, whether I want to work or not. If I work reluctantly it is not counted as work.
The only desire created by the Creator on the level of Bina, “Future World,” upon breaking fell to the level of Malchut, “Our World.” We have to gather the broken pieces and raise them to Bina, “Garden of Eden,” through unity. We will see everyone as perfect within the force of love and bestowal toward each other.
From Twitter, 3/2/20
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The Times of Israel published my new article “Why Sanders’ Lead in the Democratic Race Should Concern American Jews”
I met a chief psychiatrist in New York during a joint conference years ago who said he was of Jewish descent. When we started a conversation about Jewish traditions, the only connection he recalled was his grandfather’s name, Chaim, a Hebrew name. This kind of episode is common in people who have distanced themselves from their Jewish roots. Some decide to revive connection with their roots only for personal gain and to make their anti-Semitic views appear kosher. Bernie Sanders is a case in point.
Why should this worry American Jews?
In the last few weeks, particularly after winning New Hampshire’s primary and Nevada caucuses, Sanders appears to be the Democratic frontrunner in four out of five polls designed to determine who is the preferred candidate to challenge Donald Trump in the next election. Since his presidential ambition has been recently invigorated, Sanders has conveniently shifted his political strategy from indifference about his Jewish background—as highlighted by multiple American publications, including The New York Times—to embracing and highlighting his heritage, portraying himself as potentially the first Jewish president in US history.
His new image as a liberal Jew sympathetic toward minorities, and as an old-but-skilled politician, is helping him gain popularity among the Democratic party’s left-leaning base, many of whom still think socialism is the solution to American inequalities. The Jewish card is also useful for advancing his anti-Israel agenda more freely in a similar manner to George Soros, who is accused of being behind multiple organizations against Israel.
Among his other anti-Israel positions, Sanders stated that he would condition military aid to Israel upon Israeli changes in policy toward the Palestinians. But the future of the US relationship with the Jewish nation is not of primary concern if Sanders is selected as the Democratic presidential candidate since, in the end, Israel’s future should depend on no one other than the people of Israel.
The problem that I foresee, should Sanders be elected, will be for American Jews. Undoubtedly, Jews will take the heat—as always happens when economic crises occur—for the certain failure of his populistic approach based on socialistic principles.
As history has shown, when populist socialist regimes fail to fulfill people’s expectations, National Socialism—Nazism—emerges. This certainly could happen again and the atrocities we thought were gone for good could resurface—a nightmare for American Jews.
At the outset, socialism appears to have the solutions Americans seek. The government lightens the load on the people’s shoulders, taking care of their basic needs. However, socialism falls short because it fails to take the egoistic quality of human nature into account: the fundamental need to fulfill oneself before any other person.
People innately lack motivation to truly benefit one another. As explained by Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam) in his article “The Peace,” written in the 1930s, but just as relevant today as in the past: “Where would the worker or the farmer find sufficient motivation to work?’ For his daily bread will not increase or decrease by his efforts, and there are no goals or rewards before him.”
The Trump administration might not be the final panacea for all American problems, but its pragmatic economic approach of boosting the financial and industrial sectors is aimed in the right direction for today’s world. This is because, while we are still egoistic beings each aiming to benefit ourselves at the expense of others, and currently make no strides to correct the human ego so that a sincere desire to benefit others would become a leading value in society, then a pragmatic economic approach to grow financially and industrially provides a clear measurable foundation by which a country can sustain itself, both from within, and in connection with other countries.
In contrast, the socialistic view, which depends on ideas of equality and kindness being upheld by society and the government, might be pleasant to agree with in theory, but in practice, personal benefit at the expense of others will remain as top priority, eventually shattering such a setup. The government could never impose on people a true motivation to contribute to society with an earnest desire to see everyone fulfilled and secure. A prosocial and altruistic desire to benefit others among society can be achieved entirely via regular engagement in connection-enriching education. The basis for such a form of education can be found in the wisdom of Kabbalah, a methodology that provides in-depth understanding of how nature operates, including the egoistic human nature, and how to rise above the human ego in order to attain a genuine desire to benefit others.
Jews, who long ago received this method at the foot of Mount Sinai, can spark such a learning process in society by first refreshing their knowledge of the principles of connection, and then implementing positive connection among themselves by rising above internal differences. By so doing, Jews would become a positive example of how to build relations of mutual support, consideration and altruism as a launch pad for a better world. Such an elevation above the ego of a critical mass of people within humanity will hold the power to unify society above its myriad differences, thus erasing any totalitarian threats. Moreover, this forward-looking shift is independent of any politician or regime. It depends on our desire for positive change and our commitment to apply ourselves to educational programs aiming to unifying us above our differences.
From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 3/2/20
The Times of Israel published my new article “Panic Over the Coronavirus Reaches Israel. Here’s What We Can Learn from It”
The coronavirus made Aliyah to Israel. Israelis are now panicking over the virus filling its media headlines. Nobody knows how the virus spreads, whether through water or air, migratory birds or a group of South Korean tourists. Until the root of the virus is found, any and all answers are “right.”
However, some of the responsibility is with us, i.e., humanity. We are all under special pressure requiring that we somewhat contribute to the toil with this phenomenon. Therefore, in addition to the Ministry of Health’s guidelines and recommendations, we must balance judgment, and look to diagnose the root cause behind the spread of the threatening virus, the general cause of all our troubles.
According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, human nature is a desire to enjoy. This desire grows and requires maximum enjoyment for minimum investment. The more it grows unrestrained, the more it wants to enjoy at the expense of others. Thus, the egoistic desire, where we each want to enjoy at others’ expense, counters nature’s general desire: the desire to give pleasure.
When we exit balance with the harmonious nature, which operates altruistically, we receive feedback signaling that we need to revise our direction and realign ourselves with nature. Such feedback can appear as a viral outbreak, a protest in society, a mass shooting, a hurricane, a terror attack, i.e., any number of forms on personal, social and ecological scales.
All the ups and downs that humanity has experienced, including market turbulence, crises between individuals and countries, and even the breakdown of the family unit, occur as a result of an imbalance between the desire to receive, the individual nature, and the desire to give, the global nature.
It could be argued that pains soften us and make us more adept to come closer to nature, but nobody desires suffering, and there is no commandment to suffer.
Therefore, until we learn to how to positively connect in society above each person’s desire to enjoy for self-benefit alone, we will continue to fall, time and again, in myriad different ways.
The ego’s most powerful expression is in rejecting our connection to each other.
Nature operates in order to bring us closer to each other, and if we fortify ourselves inside our ego, then nature strikes twice as hard.
Blows from nature could increase to a point where humans will have no choice but to understand that only together can we deal with the blows, otherwise we will die.
Nature gradually develops us to a state of perfect connection, and on our way there, we need to deal with the ego that resists connection with others. Eventually, we will reach a state where if we fail to connect, then everyone will fall, and if we succeed in our connection, then we will all rise to a higher level of consciousness.
If we saw the complete system of nature, we would be surprised at how even the tiniest amount of connection or disconnection between us influences nature’s collective system for better or for worse.
Why is nature’s complete system concealed from us, then?
It is because, if it were revealed, we would have no consciousness: we would be like rocks, plants and animals, which all act in an instinctive balance with nature, lacking free choice.
Since the bonds connecting between us are invisible, we need to regularly listen to explanations of how we are connected and how we can discover those connection, to discuss the complete system of nature and our role in it, to acknowledge our egoistic desire to enjoy that is opposite to nature’s altruistic quality, and to amplify our need to come together.
Moreover, we need not wait for crises to connect us forcefully. Instead, we can awaken ourselves to connect simply because we can feel much better by connecting than by being divided. In other words, there is a positive force dwelling in nature that reveals when we connect, and by discovering that force, we experience much higher states of happiness, confidence, love, freedom and peace than we could ever experience if we failed to make any motion to connect.
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Question: How does Kabbalah interpret death? What is the correct attitude toward the death of a dear and beloved person who is close to you? What is this philosophy?
Answer: There is no philosophy here because our body is an animate organism that dies like a body of any animal. It has a certain lifespan, dies, decomposes, and returns to its primary elements.
And our inner part, inner properties, remain. They do not go anywhere and are called the “soul.” These properties continue to exist, just not at the level of our world because they have nothing to dress in, but outside the vestments of the physical world.
Then follows the next reincarnation and the return to new bodies. The soul does not disappear as the body does, it reincarnates into new bodies all the time. This theory and practice has been tested over the course of centuries and has existed for almost 6,000 years. In addition, there is serious evidence of it, a lot of literature devoted to it. The wisdom of Kabbalah examines this question at the physical and mathematical level. There are no problems here.
The problem is different. We can, without dying while existing in our body, start feeling the world of souls. If the body does not interfere (in Kabbalah the body refers to our egoism, not human flesh), if we neutralize it, then we start feeling the upper world, the world of souls. It is as if we died and exist beyond our physical body.
Therefore, the problem is how to neutralize egoism. And the wisdom of Kabbalah enables us to do it.
Question: Does the pain about the deceased and sorrow about loved ones remain?
Answer: There is no pain or sorrow. Those who study the wisdom of Kabbalah clearly feel and understand that this is the reincarnation of souls and there is no room for concern.
By entering the inner state and starting to feel the souls, we relate to our animate body completely differently. There is nothing special about it. It is given to us for a short time only so that we could move on to the sensation of souls.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 1/26/20
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Question: What does connection mean? What is the difference in connection between men and between women? Indeed, over the past few decades, many women have begun engaging in Kabbalah, which was not the case in previous generations.
Answer: Indeed, women began to strive for Kabbalah, and this is correct, this is the call of the time. We welcome this. However, there is a difference between female aspiration and male aspiration.
On one hand, we know in past centuries there were great Kabbalists at very serious levels of spiritual understanding of the Creator. It is said: “And everyone will come to Me from small to great, and My House will be called the House for all the peoples of the world.” That is, to reach the Creator and connect with Him is not only a male duty, but also a female one.
But for women there is a slightly different platform for this since the female egoistic desire is more focused on procreation, on the family, and therefore it is more fixated, clamped, and constrained inside. As a result, it is much more difficult for women to unite in tens. Therefore, we do not insist on this.
In addition, frankly, we still do not know how to work with women’s connection because we are just starting to enter this system. With men, it is more or less clear. Over the several years during which we have been conducting an “operation” to unite men’s tens, we have gained some experience and we already have quite serious achievements.
But with women, we do not yet know what to do. The main problem is that a woman learns from men because we only teach men internally and women perceive it all through the virtual channel of our connections. So what they do, how they unite, is a question.
For men, direct connection between friends is necessary when they work together in the ten, and study and disseminate together, etc.
For women, I believe that only education and dissemination is more acceptable. A group association so far does not play any role for them, and, conversely, it can interfere with them.
Question: Are workshops suitable for women as a means of connection?
Answer: Anything but a ten. We see that there are such negative forces that a woman in our world cannot yet overcome. It is quite possible that over time she will succeed because our world is moving toward greater disintegration, destruction, and the emergence of negative properties. And this will have to be somehow restored.
Question: Is it more difficult for a woman to unite because her egoism is greater?
Answer: She has a different form of egoism. It is aimed at oneself, family, children, and so on. Therefore, it is very difficult for her to feel another woman as close to herself. Between women are such partitions that they cannot destroy. And for men, this is practically nonexistent.
[259331]
From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 3/11/19
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Question: How did Abraham teach the tens of thousands of people who gathered around him if there was not yet a Pentateuch that set out the commandments?
Answer: At that time, people were at a level where they understood it from within themselves.
Comment: Abraham wrote several books of which only The Book of Creation (Sefer Yetzira) has reached us. I have read it many times, but it does not say anything about connection.
My Response: In The Book of Creation, Abraham wrote about the upper force that influences people. He wrote this book so that we could understand the upper force the way he described it.
To do this, we must have the appropriate tool. This tool is connection with other people in which the upper laws are revealed.
Question: However, it was not written anywhere specifically about connection. Was it obvious to them?
Answer: Yes. This is called the “Oral Torah,” which Abraham explained to his followers.
Question: Rambam wrote: “Abraham sowed this great principle in their hearts and wrote books about it.” However, these books describe what a person feels in connection with the Creator, with the upper force of nature. Does it mean that communication between people was passed by word of mouth?
Answer: This is a practical wisdom that Abraham passed on to his disciples Isaac and Jacob.
Question: Were they not his children?
Answer: You can call them “children,” it does not matter. However, Kabbalah refers to the disciples through whom the method of correcting human egoism was passed onto the entire nation, to the entire group of people who gathered around Abraham in Babylon.
All this is described in the Torah through one person. First what happened to Abraham, then to Lot, and so on. Where are the other tens of thousands of people that gathered around him?
The fact is that description does not take into account the number of people Rambam spoke about, but only their spiritual level. The spiritual level is already 70, 50, 10 people, and so on—it does not matter because in spirituality we do not count the number of heads, but the strength of their connection with each other.
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KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 6/24/19
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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Is optimism better than pessimism?“
There is a point of view that being optimistic is more beneficial than being pessimistic, that optimists live longer, and that they are more successful. However, this is not what we see in reality.
Naturally, every quality has its opposite, e.g. left and right, light and darkness, men and women, and so on. Each quality balances another, giving it a premise for future development.
Our society is a locked interdependent system. If we want to be healthy and progress in this system, then accordingly, we need to be both optimists and pessimists.
We all have optimistic and pessimistic qualities embedded in different proportions. Some people are naturally more optimistic while others are more pessimistic. Despite being unable to change our innate characteristics, we can learn how to use them in specific ways so as to make a meaningful impact on both our individual lives and on society in general.
The wisdom of Kabbalah teaches us how to do so.
Optimism and pessimism manifest only in relation to something or someone. In order to balance these opposite qualities within us, we have to create a kind of resistor or management tool, which provides us with an opportunity to select when and where each quality needs to be used and in what proportion.
A single person is incapable of doing so. Therefore, in order to create a regulating device between optimism and pessimism, we need to participate in the creation of a society that provides each member with an opportunity to train such a fusion in a common network of interaction, aimed at a common goal of harmonious social connections. I always have a part of a person I have to contact within me, and he has the part of me within him. Interaction between us helps to reveal those properties and start working with them.
In today’s modern society, where various characteristics that are distributed among humanity create rich diversity, we need to understand how to complement one another, and how to use the method of connection that leads us to succeed in building a complete system. If we stick optimistic and pessimistic attitudes and together for a common goal, we will see a perfect picture.
Lesson Preparation
| [media 1] | [media 2] |
Lesson on the Topic “Continuing the Congress With an Ascent”
| [media 3] | [media 4] |
Lesson on the Topic “Serve the Creator With Joy”
| [media 5] | [media 6] |
Selected Highlights
| [media 7] | [media 8] |
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