How Can You Enjoy Learning Kabbalah?

laitman_567.04Question: How does one enjoy learning Kabbalah?

Answer: Only by understanding the greatness of what you are doing. After all, you are studying the greatest science not only in our world, not only in the universe, but in all the worlds. This science reveals the structure of the entire universe to you, introduces it to you, and gets you into it.

At the same time, you lose the sense of life and death and you can be simultaneously in all properties and at all levels of the universe.

When you understand this, think about it, and do it, you see that you are dealing with the greatest thing in the worlds and you become acquainted with the only governing higher force—the Creator. What could be better? This should fill you with pride and joy.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 4/26/20

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Patience Is Needed

laitman_622.01Question: Why have my feelings become inoperative? Previously, feelings came involuntarily, but now I have to ask the Creator even for love for my relatives.

Answer: It is very good. You are being taught what it means to feel right. So you can’t be like a child either crying or being happy.

Now you are beginning to collect other feelings that are more subtle, different. And then it all comes out. Patience is needed.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 4/26/20

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Human Zoos

laitman_624.03Question: There was a phenomenon known as human zoos even in the 18th and 19th centuries where indigenous peoples inhabiting Africa and the interior of America were brought to Europe and America, and “civilized” European or American society came to observe what they termed “wild barbarians.”

In France, more than 20 million people visited such a “zoo” within a few months to observe such a curiosity.

In the places of their permanent residence, the indigenous peoples could wear loincloths and eat raw food, and in Europe and America, of course, there were other conditions, but they were forced to wear loincloths, eat raw dog meat, and more. This caused wild delight in the audience.

So who are the savages?

Answer: These are the French people who went to look at those who were brought from Africa.

Question: Why does such a bestial, savage desire arise in a civilized person?

Answer: It is natural for a person to learn and wonder about other forms of life.

Question: Do you think that this is acceptable?

Answer: No. I believe that we should bring, for example, Africans to Europe, pay them normally, feed them normally, give them everything they need, and they can work for half a day or for a day as primitive people who live their own  African way of life.

Question: What does a person learn from observing primitive forms of human life?

Answer: I think it all depends on how you present it to them. The indigenous forms of life are actually the healthiest, most natural ones. They make a person feel close to nature. They are built on very good principles of mutual respect, trust, communication, and consent, not at all like the ones that existed, for example, in France.

Of course, the way they present it: “Look at the barbarians that we brought you so pay your money,” this is of course the wrong approach, and there is not much to talk about. This is a barbaric approach.

However, to show a way of life and explaining how it is closer to nature, to what extent these people are closer to each other, how they understand each other, how they communicate, and how it is nice and good for them could deeply impress Europeans and show them the life they once left, what they have come, and what they ultimately benefited from with what they have with today’s lifestyle with all the modern chaos compared to the simple primitive community, which gives us inner freedom, comfort, and confidence.

Question: Can modern people apply the relations that exist among indigenous peoples to themselves?

Answer: How? They have absolutely no society!

When I was in Paris, there was absolutely nothing natural about their relationships. On the contrary, everything is very practical and primitive. I do not want to criticize, but compared to a simple African village, which also has several thousand people, the relationships between people is, especially now—I am talking about the way it was 20 or 30 years ago when I was there—of course, very different, not in favor of Paris.

Question: Where then can children who are brought to such artificial conditions get the natural ways of life, natural relationships, and learn something?

Answer: We know that modern people nevertheless gravitate to what was once in their families, among their ancestors. So it all can be done, but not in order to teach modern people what primitive societies were; rather on the contrary, to show modern people this so they would see how primitive they are.

Question: Can a modern person see the value of indigenous relationships if he does not have a point of perception of correct relationships?

Answer: A modern person sees nothing. He sees only what is currently on sale, where something is cheaper.

He sees only what is shoved before his eyes, nothing more. You have to put something in front of him, rub his nose in it, and that’s what he sees. This is all done by the media, advertising, and so on.

Question: At the beginning of the last century, a secular person, an anthropologist, brought an African pygmy to the United States and put in a cage with other animals, chimpanzees and orangutans, and presented him as “the missing link in man’s evolution,” thereby implying that these tribes were closer to apes than civilized white people.

Naturally, the public expressed their indignation and the man was released. But six years later, he committed suicide because he could not integrate into American conditions.

What distinguishes the person close to nature from the civilized people so that he cannot integrate into the iron conditions of the city, of civilization?

Answer: It’s hard to say. We cannot understand it. We can only see from the results that our life in the past centuries—after all, it was our life too—was so different from modern life that we cannot perceive this system of relationships, the system of values, and the implementation of plans compared to what it was before.

It is very strange to combine a gap of several hundred years in this way. Imagine that you invite, say, King Arthur here. We have completely different concepts and values. So, it is not possible.

This cannot be compared. But, on the other hand, our entire civilization, in principle, is moving away from the natural one. It turns out that we are moving away from our nature. We have created some kind of artificial shell for ourselves, that we exist in . And this is not natural; it does not lead us to a good life.

We see how much we are suffering, but we cannot do anything about it. We become included in this same nature, in this race, in this artificial machine, and we must run along with it.

Question: The other day, you were asked if a person has ascended or descended in spiritual development throughout our entire history. You said that in absolute value one has ascended, but in fact, a person seems to have descended as he reveals the truth within himself.

What is the difference between the initial development of a person when he lives in natural conditions, he is all open, and trust and mutual understanding reign in his tribe, and our point when a modern person descends, in fact, in his development? What are their differences and similarities?

Answer: In the vector of development. The fact is that, let’s say, a few thousand years ago, we could have gone by a completely different development—not egoistic, but by rising above our nature, contrary to it, where we would have preferred good connection between us, would have been together as one family, would have looked after this, and would have taken care not to separate. If we behaved in this way, we would have gone in a different direction of development compared to today.

We would have come to a completely different state! Today, humanity would be one big, kind family. And we would not have the state as we have now when we only think about how we can earn at the expense of the others, how we can rise above the others, how I compare my life to my neighbor’s, and so on.

We would have no competition, no murders, none of this would have happened. There would be good, normal shelter and there would be normal communication between us if we had followed this path of development.

However, we chose to develop egotistically, the way our wild nature pushes us. That is, in fact, we went on developing as animals, obeying our nature, and here is where it led us. Thus, we have nothing to be proud of, today we are the most wildly developed animals and are living in a big zoo.

Question: How can a person find that primordial, natural person in himself to begin the ascent to a new development?

Answer: To do this, we need to go back to those times and start again. This is impossible.
But we can recognize the evil of our current state and start a new path. Starting now.

Question: What will the modern human zoo turn into then?

Answer: We will take what we need from it. This will be sorted in a natural way. We only need to change our attitude toward each other. That is, to stop being wild animals relative to each other, who only want to destroy each other and try to build relationships with each other using force.

We must rise above this and build relationships based on combing, on the correct involvement with each other. And then we will see that the world becomes different.

This world will be like one family. But not like a modern family. There will be no competition; there will be mutual assistance, and everything will be just to make everyone feel good. Exactly this common care that everyone would feel good is essential for all of us. But we do not have it.

We must acquire it. It exists in nature. At the center of nature, this feeling exists. But how will we achieve it, feel it, discover it for ourselves, and live with this star in our hearts? This must be learned.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman,” 1/14/20

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New Life 1183 – Social Values

New Life 1183 – Social Values
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Nitzah Mazoz

We acquire all of our social values from family life and not through society, nations, or the international community. In the story of the Tower of Babel, we see how everyone lived as one big family and understood one another. Now, we need to feel this way about billions of people. The world is becoming more and more connected, which requires that we learn to live according to the principle, “And you shall love your friend as yourself.” In order to realize this future system of social values based on openness and mutual kindness, we require a new universal education system based on the wisdom of Kabbalah.
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From KabTV’s “New Life 1183 – Social Values,” 12/3/19

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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 6/26/20

Lesson Preparation

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Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to the Book Panim Meirot uMasbirot,” Item 19

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Lesson on the Topic “Concerning Above Reason” 

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Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Matan Torah [The Giving of the Torah],” Item 16

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Selected Highlights

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Is Humanity A Nuclear Power Plant Or A Bomb?

laitman_276.04Today humanity finds itself in a very interesting state. On one hand, the coronavirus made such huge gaps in our lives that it lacks many things to be perfect. On the other hand, we have never been so close to perfection, as if we are separated from it by a thin partition, like a paper screen.

We feel that the spiritual reality is right in front of us behind a thin wall. We are almost in the spiritual world, and this “almost” is in our hearts. If I connect with the ten, I already find myself in spirituality. It seems to me that the spiritual world is far away, but it is right here – in the place where my ten is. If I fall on the hands of my friends and hand myself over to them, I enter spirituality. I bow before them—I find myself in spirituality.

Thanks to these actions we enter the spiritual world; therefore, the Creator created such conditions in this world. And today we see it through the coronavirus, which pushes us into spirituality. We are afraid that the virus wants to kill us, but it puts the spiritual world in front of us.

It seems to us that the virus keeps us apart, forces us to keep at a distance, but this is not true. The distance is a consequence of our egoism, and the desire to bestow to each other will bring us closer together. If we could connect now for the sake of bestowing, caring for each other, no virus could harm us. We would not have discovered any harmful viruses; on the contrary, the virus would have made us healthier, healing us from all ailments.

The coronavirus reveals the evil of our egoism, which has always existed in our world. It’s just that now it has clearly revealed itself so that we will understand what correction we need to make. Everything depends on our intention. If we gather together and we all hate each other, then we have an atomic bomb between us. If we want to connect, despite all the differences, then between us is no longer a bomb but a nuclear reactor that does not explode but generates good, useful energy for us.

It all depends on how we use the internal energy of the will to receive that is embedded in us. Egoism must exist, without it, we will not feel ourselves. However, the difference is in the way we connect with each other. It is like a nuclear reactor that has radioactive fuel and graphite rods that inhibit the chain reaction. They do not allow elements to collide with each other, they put a screen between them in order for the reflected light to appear; that is, they build the correct connection.

As a result, we receive good energy that we can use. And this is how it happens in all of nature.
Humanity will advance to such an extent that it will need an explanation for every detail of its life. Some of the work each person has to do on their own and about the other part they only need to learn about in order to have an idea of how the whole system works.

Israel belongs to the head of the common soul, and therefore it is responsible for bringing light from the Creator to all the nations who belong to the body of the soul and receive light. However, all nations must understand the principle of the operation, like the driver of a car, who knows how to drive it and has a general idea of how it works, but cannot design and create a new car.

The entirety of humanity is like an atomic reactor and the Bnei Baruch group are graphite rods in it. And if we do our job, we can stop the nuclear explosion that is already being prepared, bringing the world closer to the third and even fourth world war. Let’s hope we can stop this explosion.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/19/20, Baal HaSulam, Shamati 33 “The Lots on Yom Kippurim and with Haman“

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A Dynamic State

laitman_934Question: How exactly is the connection in the ten felt? How constant is it?

Answer: If a person feels the ten, he feels that he is connected with everyone as one single body, one single desire, one aspiration. However, this state is dynamic, it constantly changes because it is necessary to develop. That is why he constantly feels himself breaking away from his friends, seeing them differently. He is thrown out, distracted from the goal, and yet he forces himself to return to the connection with others.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 4/19/20

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Who Is Happy During The Coronavirus Pandemic?

627.2Question: The era of the coronavirus is turbulent, tragic, and dramatic. And still there are people who are happy. They are children! Little children who ended up at home with their parents. They do what they want.

Can we say that this is all happening for a good reason? We are shown an island of happiness. For what purpose? What do we need to understand?

Answer: That it is good to be a small child. 🙂

Question: Can we look at these children and begin to adopt the happiness that they radiate?

Answer: Children exist at the level of their initial natural egoism. This is not considered egoism. They do not wish evil to others. They do not have all kinds of plans to harm, to gain at the expense of others: the worse the other person feels, the better for me, which subconsciously exists in us. But children do not have this, and therefore, the virus is not a threat for them.

Question: So the virus is not a threat for anyone who, let us say, has childish thinking?

Answer: It is not childish. It is initial, natural, egotistically limited thinking.

Comment: If we reach such a state that we can live and think this way, without wanting to harm another person, then what will happen?

My Response: If we would keep only this level of egoism in ourselves, and remove all other social egoistic levels where we are connected with each other, which are money, fame, power and are already related to the adult world, then, of course, we would not fear any virus.

Question: So we now have a cure, an antidote?

Answer: No, it is not easy. How can we get rid of social egoism, harming each other, if we are constantly thinking about it and perceiving ourselves in it? We compare ourselves with others so that no one does better than me, so that I always feel that I am lucky, essential, special, etc. This is what exists in every person and subconsciously needs to be resolved.

Question: And we can’t get out of this?

Answer: It is possible, but not by ourselves. Only with the help of the upper light if we are in the correct society and draw upon ourselves a special upper force. Upper, because it is the force of bestowal, the force of love, the force of attraction of people above our egoism. That is why it is called the upper force.

And then we will be interconnected like little children who want to play with each other—they play, but do not seek to harm. They do not have this yet. And then, closer to the age of ten, it begins. By the age of fifteen, they are generally complete egoists. They already think about how to be better than others, and how to make others feel worse than them. Look at how they behave in school.

Comment: You are always talking about the upper light, which alone can change us. We are egoists, and at the earthly level we cannot do anything, no matter how much we want to—not politicians nor psychologists, no one. Only the light that we can draw upon ourselves.

No one understands what it means, but you keep talking about it.

My Response: Was it clear about the virus?

Now it will be clear. We will study it, we have no other choice. By studying such viruses, we will slowly begin to sort out what is good and what is bad. And in this way we will get to the light.

Question: Can you explain what the upper light is and how to attract it?

Answer: It is very simple. There is a negative force and there is a positive force in nature. And they are absolutely equivalent.

A negative force, the so-called egoistic force, is aroused in us, so that we demand awakening a positive force parallel to it, an altruistic one, in us, and that these two forces, egoistic and altruistic, are balanced in us.

And now try to understand what the virus gives us! How it moves us toward this balance! It says very simply: “Lock yourself at home, stay busy with yourself, do not rush to communicate with others. You do not know how to do this, let us study it step by step. Here is a positive force, here is a negative force, and so we will work.”

Question: Does negative force mean egoism?

Answer: Yes. Egoism is a negative force. This is what it is considered with us. But regarding the Creator, there is neither a negative nor positive force. After all, they both come from Him.

Question: What are these positive and negative forces, where do you get them from?

Answer: But do they exist between us or not?! I want to use you, this is a negative force. And on the contrary, I think and care about you, this is a positive force.

It is only about the attitude of a man to a man. If I think about how to rise above the other, this is a negative force, and if I think about how to raise the other, this is a positive force.

Question: I understand what it means to rise above the other person, but can I raise the other person or not?

Answer: No, you cannot. From where would you get this urge?

Question: So only the upper light that I draw upon myself can develop this urge?

Answer: Yes.

Comment: How can I draw the upper light?

My Response: Only if you work in a group.

This is why we have been given a group. Look at our friends, envy them from our egoism, want to be no lower than them, and so on; by this we help each other begin to rise in bestowal, in help.

Question: Suppose a simple person is sitting at home and thinking about his life, and he begins to understand that he wants to achieve such a state. Can he do it?

Answer: Step by step. Start communicating via phone, video, and Internet. And then the opportunity will come to communicate directly, not even at a distance of two meters. And then you will get the feeling that you are in one body, without any barriers. This is already a complete cure for the virus. And then there will be one crown over you.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman,” 3/30/20

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Only The Umbrella Of Love Wins The War

laitman_293There are massive protests against racism all over America, but we need to understand that contradictions and clashes between all four races are inevitable until we cover all our differences with love.

There are four types of people according to their place of origin: the white race (European), yellow (Asia), black (natives of Africa), and red (indigenous peoples of America).

This is how people were distributed on the earth until they began to migrate from place to place after the discovery of America by Columbus and other events. These four types correspond to the four levels of desire to enjoy, because from the root stage, Keter, emerge the first, second, third, and fourth stages: Hochma, Bina, Zeir Anpin, and Malchut.

Conflicts that appear today between races cannot be resolved by ordinary corporeal means. Right now, before the final correction, more and more problems will be revealed. Europe is also in for big disruptions due to the refugee problem.

Hatred between all will grow and spread to such an extent as the prophets wrote about this time: “A man’s enemies are the people of his own household.” That is, closest relatives will hate each other because egoism grows sharply and does not let people tolerate each other.

Man can no longer tolerate even himself. And all this happens so that we can make corrections. A correction is not making pretty gestures, kneeling and asking for forgiveness. None of this will help, only love that covers all crimes will; this is the only correction.

There is a method that leads to the unity of all people regardless of their skin color; apart from this method nothing will work. We are entering a critical period now: the coronavirus pandemic, increasing hatred between all peoples, and problems in economy and trade. There is no field where we will be able to establish a normal life if we do not use the method of building the correct spiritual connection between us, which will raise us to a new level.

The time has come to rise; therefore, all these problems are revealing themselves now. They reveal the need for a higher level, for the right connection between us is revealed.

Growing unemployment, the growing gaps between rich and poor, children and parents, the coronavirus epidemic, racism, clashes between different types of people, many negative phenomena will appear that can be solved only by one means: “Love will cover all crimes.” We need the upper force that will come and settle all these contradictions. Other than that, nothing will help.

In this dispute, there are no innocent or guilty people. It is the egoistic desire revealed in man that is guilty. If the black had been in place of the white hundreds of years ago, they would have acted no better. Therefore, one should not look into the past, but rather, should strive forward toward a good future, toward connection, toward love that covers all crimes. If we do not do it, then we will conduct endless wars without winners. After all, egoism is our common enemy.

We should not look back searching for the innocent and the guilty, but should only move forward and cover all crimes with love. Love is a mutual connection without any conditions. If we do not strive for such love, then the world is done. We will enter into a period of terrible catastrophes that will teach us the proper attitude toward each other.

We need to look only forward, not backward. There is no reason to delve into the past because we will not find any solution there, and Americans understand this very well. It is impossible to establish harmony between such different peoples living in America: African Americans, Latin Americans, Germans, English, Jews. It is a real Babylon. The only way out is to start learning what are connection and love.

Love means rising above all crimes. Therefore, if there are crimes and mutual hatred, then we have a foundation, a basis, on which love is built.

Love should cover all crimes, and it is good that they exist. The Creator prepared the foundation for us to work, enabling us to build love above it within which we will reveal the real Him, the upper force. So it is of no use lamenting that the Creator created such a world, but it is worth thanking Him for the fact that we can now fill it with love.

The same applies to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine where disputes happen all the time, as is usually the case between neighbors. Although these peoples are so close, it is still impossible to establish good relations.

This may seem paradoxical, but the further humanity advances, becomes more educated, more developed in science and culture, the stronger hatred grows between everyone so as to oblige us to build bonds of love between all. After all, this is what is required of us in the end of correction.

So we live in a world that is getting worse and worse. But this is not because the world itself is falling ever lower. It is the upper light that is increasingly affecting the desire to enjoy that exists in the world, wanting to come closer to the created being. And until the light enters into the desire, their opposition against each other intensifies, which reveals the evil of the egoistic desire.

Therefore, there is no other solution for any interracial or inter-ethnic conflicts. More and more hatred and rejection will be revealed everywhere, and no measures will help until love covers all crimes. And love can appear only from our unity, which we build according to the method of integral education.

America is raging, the European Union is falling apart, but the Creator has His own general plan for correction, which is not revealed to us. We only need to do our work. We do not choose with whom to connect: we need to build connection and common love with those whom the Creator brings to us according to the structure of the common soul of Adam HaRishon.

It does not depend on us in what sequence this happens. When we work on general connection, we gradually reveal how this whole system is assembled in parts. It is not us, it is the Creator who is playing, collecting this puzzle, and we only need to push Him, to demand, and to ask.

It hurts to see the spoiled relations between Ukraine and Russia. And many more other inter-ethnic problems will open up, which will suddenly come up between European countries just as it was in the Middle Ages. We think that we have already formed the European Union, a common market, but this is just a market in which there is no commonality at all. Only the umbrella of love will save us from the third world war.
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From the 3d part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/7/20, Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Peace in the World”

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Is It Worth Crying About The Past?

laitman_961.1Question: Society is divided about how to live and what to do after the coronavirus. Some express concern that we will return to the pre-virus era. And some want everything to return so we can live like before. What should we do and how should we live after the coronavirus?

Answer: I don’t think that we have already passed this period, although many would like to think so. The coronavirus has not yet done what it is supposed to: move us forward toward an integral society. We have not yet felt this desire; we have not felt it on ourselves. Therefore, it is not good if we all forget this and return to the previous state.

Before we thought that there could be a third world war soon, that the Earth would be permanently polluted, its air, water, oceans, etc. And it turned out that either Earth will destroy us or we will destroy it. We had such a hopeless existence that I do not know how good it is to live the way we lived.

We lived without any plan, unclear why or for what, only grabbing as much as possible for ourselves , flying around the world as much as we could, racking up frequent flyer miles, even forgetting from time to time where we have already been.

At the same time, our children remained completely homeless, although each of us has an apartment. And it is not clear what kind of people we are. We do not understand at all, how we exist and for what.

For what? Only to fill our time and be like others. It is as if someone somewhere created some kind of manner of life for us and we are trying to realize it. Poor, unhappy, confused humanity lives without thinking about anything.

Observe the crowds of people at concerts or other mass events and you will not see any difference between a gathering of people in the 21st century and the 1st century of the Roman Empire. The same motivations, the same tastes: “Bread and circuses.”

We have to understand that the previous way of living was not so cloudless and so great that we need to strive for it. What if we have an opportunity now not just to return to the past way of living, but to correct it in some way? Let’s try to do this. Let’s try not to open all manufacturing processes that have polluted our natural environment, choked us, and caused many diseases.

Take a look at what happened now with the atmosphere, with the water, with the flora and fauna. How  everything improved, and with what relief the world sighed when man calmed down a little. Let’s make nature better. This is our home!

I don’t think that we should cry about going back to the past. Do we want to work, create, give birth to children, and develop? Correct. But nevertheless, it is necessary to lead all this to some kind of normal process within the framework in which the environmental and social conditions allow us to really be satisfied with ourselves.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 5/3/20

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