Audio Version Of The Blog – 2/25/21
Posted on February 25th, 2021
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World Kabbalah Convention, Preparation to the Lesson 1
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World Kabbalah Convention, “The Joy in the Gathering,” Lesson 1
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My new article on Linkedin “The Purim Holiday: The Emergence of a Renewed World”
Every new state is born only under the condition that the former state completely exhausts itself. The holiday of Purim symbolizes the turning point the world is immersed in now as a result of the pandemic. Thus, this year’s celebration is particularly meaningful, not only to the Jewish people, but to all of humanity.
The events described in the Purim story are hints at the corrections the world needs to go through. The global virus outbreak has marked a deep transformation in all levels of our lives; it makes evident how interdependent we are and the pressing need to change our selfish attitudes and more considerate behavior toward others, that is, a shift from our egoistic approach to a more altruistic outlook. It will help us close the gaps between us and will unleash a positive common field, a unified and integral reality. And in order to achieve this goal, the people of Israel can play a pivotal role.
Haman represents today’s divisive mindset we need to tackle, the social division caused by the desire to seek money, honor, control or power in spite of everyone and everything. This shuts us off from each other, separates and harms us. Today’s tumultuous social atmosphere is a calling for us to seek our common voice as a humanity that shares common values and purpose. If we use this calling to connect, we can create a much more peaceful and friendly society for us all.
The traditional reading of the Megilat Esther (Scroll of Esther) during this celebration describes a time in ancient Persia when Jews found themselves under existential threat. The leader who inspired these persecutions was the personal assistant of King Ahasuerus, Haman.
Haman knew that the Jews were in a state of division and that this weakness would enable him to eradicate them, as it is written “There are certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples” (Esther 3:8). Haman said that in his view, the Jews could be destroyed because they were separated from one another.
However, Mordechai, the hero of the Purim tale, worked to bridge the Jews’ division, which is what eventually saved their lives. “The Jews gathered themselves together to stand for their life” (Esther 8:11). The moment they began to get closer to each other, a great force appeared among them. They began to feel their upper goal; they became confident, had power, and managed to destroy their enemies and rid themselves of all their troubles.
Haman represents today’s divisive mindset we need to tackle, the social division caused by the desire to seek money, honor, control or power in spite of everyone and everything. This shuts us off from each other, separates and harms us. Today’s tumultuous social atmosphere is a calling for us to seek our common voice as a humanity that shares common values and purpose. If we use this calling to connect, we can create a much more peaceful and friendly society for us all.
Whenever the Jewish people were at risk of ruin, unity proved to be the only possible means to be saved. We can use the example of the Purim story as an eternal reminder that our cohesion can extricate us from the worst situations, and that by uniting, we set a constructive and positive example for the rest of humanity.
The Jewish nation has an innate commitment to set the standard for choosing unity over separation, but this call is for humanity as a whole to make the same strides toward unification before heading into greater turmoil and crises. Our good destiny depends on us, on the choice we make.
Happy Purim to all!
My new article on Linkedin “The Hypocrisy of Sex Scandals”
Every once in a while, and today more often than before, a sex scandal explodes in the media and everyone is shocked to hear that this or that celebrity, who used to be a role model we all grew up on and admired, is really a monster in disguise. When this happens, moralists click their tongues in disapproval, and quickly turn to social media to express their righteous indignation and disbelief that this person, the idol of our youth, was actually a sex predator, a villain of the worst kind.
When we talk about climate change, pandemics, power outages, or even a traffic jam, we don’t realize that these are manifestations of our connectedness. The only reason they are here is that we are unaware that our thoughtless and careless attitude to one another causes them.
I think they’re hypocritical. First, when such a scandal blows up, you will always find people who knew about it but kept silent, or would have known about it had they not tried so hard not to see the obvious. Second, there is nothing new about this phenomenon; sex perversions have been an inseparable part of human perversions throughout the ages. In ancient cultures, such as in Egypt, Greece, or Rome, some perversions were permitted and acceptable, and others were regarded as an abomination. In more puritan times, such as the Middle-Ages, one could find oneself tied to the stake for having done the same thing others did in antiquity, without anyone making a fuss over it. It is not that the condemning puritans did not commit the same “crimes” they had accused others of committing; it’s just that they hid it better, and were mainly better connected to the authorities in charge of exposing such “immoral” behaviors.
The truth about these scandals is not that such misdemeanors are burgeoning, but that they are used more often than before against their perpetrators. In other words, today, accusations of sexual misconduct are a weapon that politicians use in order to destroy their rivals. Exposing sex crimes will not prevent the next crime or make potential victims safer. It will, however, affect the accused, even if the accusation turns out to be false. Therefore, the next time a sex scandal breaks out, check who benefits from its exposure.
If we want to prevent sex crimes, we needn’t focus on punishment, but on educating the public. I’m not saying we should not punish sex offenders; I am merely pointing out that if we want to prevent such crimes, the way to do it is not by intimidation but by education to consideration.
We are brought up in a social environment that teaches us nothing but to focus on our own wants and needs, and ignore those of others. With such a narcissistic upbringing, people are bound to be inconsiderate and apathetic to other people’s suffering; they will not cringe at the thought of hurting other people.
But the truth is that such behaviors hurt the offender too, and not only the victim. In truth, we are connected and dependent on each other even if we aren’t aware of it. We could become aware of it; we could know how to conduct ourselves in a way that’s satisfying to us and to everyone around us, but we must first be taught to see ourselves within the bigger picture of humanity.
When we talk about climate change, pandemics, power outages, or even a traffic jam, we don’t realize that these are manifestations of our connectedness. The only reason they are here is that we are unaware that our thoughtless and careless attitude to one another causes them.
If we were educated about our interconnections, we would know how to conduct ourselves so as not to inflict pandemics on ourselves. Moreover, there would be countless benefits to such awareness: We wouldn’t hurt each other since we would feel, not just intellectually, but truly feel it in our hearts that we are all connected. And just as I wouldn’t hurt myself, I wouldn’t hurt anyone else.
Can you imagine how living in such a society would feel? We wouldn’t have to worry about sex crimes, or any crime, for that matter, since people wouldn’t dream of hurting other people; they would feel connected!
It turns out that the true knowledge we all need is not the next tech gadget, but the awareness that we are all connected and affect each other in myriad ways. If we knew this and lived by this awareness, we would treat each other humanely, the way human beings should treat other human beings, and there would be no scandals of any kind.
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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What are the defining characteristics of being Jewish?“
Anyone who agrees with rising above the egoistic human nature in order to positively connect with other people—according to the phrase “Love your friend as yourself”—is considered a Jew, which comes from the word for “unity” (“Yichud“).
It is not a matter of having Jewish ancestry in the physical and biological sense, but everybody—all humanity—will eventually have to reach such a state. In other words, everybody will reach a state of unification above the divisive ego, as it is written, that then the Land of Israel will spread to the entire world, which means that all people in the world will live according to the tenet, “Love your friend as yourself.”
I am certain that we will reach this state. The only questions are when and how we will aid it to come about.
Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
New Life 1298 – Creating Connection In A Team
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and NitzahMazoz
True connection within a team is established when each member cooperates internally and emotionally by complementing others so the group actually feels as one. Each one gives their heart to the others, which forms an entity that is above everyone and wraps everyone. By connecting in this way, each member of the team will feel the additional power and energy of nature, which will heal everything. If a dispute breaks out, the team ascends above it in order to be as one again and covers everything with love. The purpose of the pandemic is to teach us that we are, in fact, one team that is taking care of one patient: humanity, which needs to unite.
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From KabTV’s “New Life 1298 – Creating Connection In A Team,” 2/14/21
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Question: How can we feel the Creator’s control over the entire creation? What can we do about corporeal hobbies that suck us in?
Answer: The desires for corporeal pleasures do not disappear. It is said that since the destruction of the Temple, only Kabbalists have the desire for corporeal pleasures.
A person, who reaches the wisdom of Kabbalah is swallowed by the method of study at first and is caught up by it, but after a while all this disappears and one is drawn in different directions.
This is where the spiritual work begins. A person needs to understand that this is how one is drawn to develop spiritually and that now you must constantly keep your goal in front of yourself, find out how to increase your spiritual advancement, how to get closer to the goal, and how not to be distracted by other things. If you are distracted it should be only for a short time and then you should immediately return to the spiritual path again.
Like a person who must eat, but does not stretch it out for two or three hours. Or, for example, feels that he needs to do a little exercise—so he runs for 15-20 minutes and will immediately return to his spiritual work. It is the same with all his other engagements.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah” 12/9/18
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What Is A Kabbalist’s Attitude To Everyday Life?
A Kabbalist Is A Regular Person
A Kabbalist Is A Person Who Lives In Two Worlds
Question: Psychologists have one common point for all problems—pure music, without words. Music is a remedy from stress, from pain, from depression. What is there in music that heals and cleanses and raises?
Answer: Music affects the ear. This is the most sensual thing in a person, not smell, not touch, not taste, but hearing. When harmony is properly tuned, it affects you almost immediately. A few beats, and a person is already in it.
Music is able to lift and lull and heal. But these are all such small, weak, earthly means.
Do not be seduced by this, because the fact is that it depends on the preparation of a person, on his upbringing. He must understand this music. The Papuans will not understand Bach. And the classics will not understand contemporary music.
But no matter what kind of music it is, it is still a very strong accompaniment to the entire history of mankind, because it is at the level of Bina, and this is the sense of hearing.
Music is very powerful.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 1/18/21
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Music Untangles The Strings Of The Soul
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How To Feel Perfection?
Dreaming involves serious work on the part of our brain, it processes and stores all available information accumulated over a day or several days. The information is then allocated and stored in the archive of our minds. During this process, many random connections take place, so dreams frequently appear illusory.
In fact, during our dream state, serious decisions and actions take place. The mind works very intensively, but on a deep, inner level, which we have not yet explored. When this information has been stored and internally processed on the subconscious level, a person is ready to awaken.
We always see dreams. They constantly appear before us, for these processes are erratic inside our minds.
A person is now ready for the next day, for the following correct perception of information based on the previous day and the dream that he experienced, i.e., for a re-evaluation of the information that occurred during sleep. Therefore dreams, while disconnecting you from reality, allow you to correctly reset yourself and arrive at a new state with a different take on reality.
It is the same in spirituality since our world is a reflection of the spiritual world.
In spirituality, without falling asleep or disconnecting from reality like in our world, we consciously raise ourselves to the next level as if to the next day. Having broken away from the previous degree and not yet risen to the next one, we remain between them and wish to consciously transition from one to the other. This is the night between two days.
Between two realities we can feel such states that we are not internally ready for. We can feel what is not yet part of our understanding and see things that we are seemingly not supposed to see yet. We are still not ready for them.
Therefore, dreams are a very special, beautiful state from which you can draw far-reaching conclusions and find new aspirations.
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From KabTV’s “The Power of The Book of Zohar” #5
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Question: How can corporeal egoistic actions like studying, for example, extract the absolutely heavenly spiritual force of bestowal from the upper world?
Answer: Indeed, if our world is not connected to the upper world in any way, how can I do something through my physical actions, through my egoism?
The point is there is nothing I can do. However, we have been given the opportunity to gather in tens and try to unite between us despite our egoism, above it. And although I cannot do that at all, to the extent that I try to connect with the friends, I invoke the upper light unto me. That is, there is a so-called branch-to-root connection, and I can do it.
If I behave in a certain way with the friends in the group and we study Kabbalistic sources together, create connections between us, and imitate the images and actions Kabbalah writes about, then even if I am in my egoism, I still feel an internal inspiration to summon the impact of the upper surrounding light unto me.
This light surrounds the ego on purpose, and to the extent that the ego yearns for it and seemingly wants to resemble it, the light impacts the ego and changes it.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah” 12/23/18
Related Material:
How Can You Attract The Most Upper Light?
How Can We Avoid Ill Fate?
How Can We Draw The Upper Light?
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