Audio Version Of The Blog – 12/22/21

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“Trump Calls A Spade A Spade” (Times Of Israel)

Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “Trump Calls a Spade a Spade

The anger of many American Jews over Donald Trump’s remarks about American Jewry comes as no surprise to anyone. In a recent interview with an Israeli journalist, Trump quoted his father’s words that Jews used to have “a great love of Israel” but it had “dissipated over the years.” To this he added his own words: “I must be honest. It’s a very dangerous thing that’s happening. People in this country that are Jewish no longer love Israel.” He has said it before, and I think he is absolutely right when he says that the chasm between the State of Israel and American Jewry is very dangerous, not only for Israel, but also for American Jewry.

Many American Jews support anti-Israel movements such as BDS and Jewish Voice for Peace not only because they believe in the values that these entities purport to stand for. They support them because they are anti-Israel, and they are anti-Israel because they are ashamed of their own Jewishness. Every day, they move further away from Judaism until eventually they lose all connection to it.

When I say that they shun their Judaism, I am not talking about Jewish customs. I am sure many of them observe those, and still shun Israel. The shunning of Judaism has to do with rejecting the core of Judaism—the unity and mutual responsibility that Israel is obligated to show the world. Instead of caring for their brothers, they show concern for the enemies of their own tradition thinking that by doing so they are showing true Jewish values. Someone should tell them that their Muslim “friends” are not buying that. Muslims will not love them any better when they decide to wipe out the Jews.

This is the same type of Judaism that aroused the most intense hatred in the Nazis, and today’s American Jewry is going to great lengths to form a sequel. The few who understand this are moving out, some to Israel and others elsewhere. However, unless we unite above the chasms in our nation, there will be no safe haven for Jews.

When it comes to anticipating trouble, we have never been wise. We tend to bury our heads in the sand or sink into hubris and complacency. When trouble starts, it invariably gets worse and worse until there is a cataclysm. Only afterwards is there relief. It is all too bad that for all the times we have been through this scenario, we never seem to learn.

Is The Peak Of The Pandemic Over?

294.2In the News (apa.az): The WHO believes that humanity has passed almost 60% of the way in the fight against COVID-19.

“Chief researcher of the organization Soumya Swaminathan, said that it is premature to predict the timing of the end of the pandemic, APA reports quoting freenews,

“Humanity will soon pass 60% of the way in the fight against COVID-19. However, unexpected obstacles may still be ahead, so it is premature to predict the timing of the end of the pandemic.”

Question: What percentage of the way do you think we have already covered?

Answer: We have not entered this path! In our attitude to our condition, to the pandemic, we have not entered it yet.

Question: So you consider that the beginning of the path is if we at least gradually approach the root?

Answer: The beginning of realization of the source of our problem, for example, the pandemic, and other problems, lies in us generally treating nature incorrectly, absolutely negatively.

We must realize that otherwise nature, which is the Creator, cannot push us to His goal except in this way.

Question: Through viruses?

Answer: Yes. Such terrible, ugly creatures like us can’t be pushed otherwise.

Question: So you are saying that we haven’t even entered this marathon yet?

Answer: No, of course not. We do not know the reason why we feel such blows from nature. We do not know the consequences of this. We do not know how to turn to nature, to the Creator. How can we control our condition, how can we say that we have made it 60% of the way?

There must be a revelation of evil, that we feel bad. This is not evil yet.

Evil is when I realize that it comes to me because I am an egoist, I communicate incorrectly with people and with nature, and therefore I cause such blows to myself. The realization of the way I am is the realization of evil and it is the realization that it is bad for me. We have not uncovered the cause. And without uncovering the cause of the disease, no WHO will help here.

We just need to realize this and start correctly demanding our correction from nature, and not its correction or changes.

Question: And this is the beginning of healing?

Answer: Yes. The medicine is in us.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 10/11/21

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The Main Thing In The Life Of A Kabbalist

963.1Question: What are your values in life?

Answer: I believe that the greatest value for a person is when nothing is imposed on him from the outside.

Question: What kind of sincere beliefs would you like to convey to all the people who watch you and read your writings?

Answer: I would like for them to understand that the most important thing in life is to have a good example in front of them.

Question: Do you have an area of life that you define as work?

Answer: Yes, perhaps for me it is everything.

Question: Can we say that your work and creativity go in the same direction?

Answer: Absolutely together, I do not do anything but work.

Question: Can you single out any values projected in your movement—work, creativity, etc.?

Answer: The most important thing for me is to be ready for work and to realize it.
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From KabTV’s “Kabbalah Express” 12/6/21

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What Does A Fur Coat Have To Do With It?

571.04Question: The founder of the company Toyota Sakichi Toyoda, used  “five whys analysis” for problem solving and is said to also apply it in everyday life.

Here is an example applied to if you want a fur coat.

1. Why do I want a fur coat?—Because I want to surprise everyone.

2. Why do you want to surprise everyone?—Because I want to be noticed.

3. Why do you need to be noticed?—Because I feel insecure.

4. Why do you feel insecure?—Because I cannot realize myself in any way.

5. Why can you not realize yourself?—Because I am doing something I do not like.

So tell me what does the fur coat have to do with it? We started from a fur coat.

What do you think about these whys?

Answer: Whys always lead us on and on. Actually, they lead to the question: “Why do I live, for what, for the sake of what?” And so on. They lead a person either to suicide or to revelation of the Creator.

Question: What kind of why questions would you ask now, to which you would reply “because”?

Answer: I do answer in this way all the time. Why do we feel so bad? Because we are incorrectly interconnected with each other.

Question: Why are we incorrectly interconnected with each other?

Answer: Because we are egoists.

Question: Why are we egoists?

Answer: Because we should go to the Creator with this question.

Question: Why should we go to Him?

Answer: He has all the answers. He has the keys to nature in His hands. He created egoism and created a method for correcting it. Thanks to the method of correcting egoism, we come to the best result.

Question: Does it mean that He is the cause of everything?

Answer: Of course. The root cause and all the causes in general.

Question: If humanity, for example, comes from the question “Why do we suffer?” in five steps to the answer “It is because of the Creator, because He created everything this way,” and then we understand why, then is this the very thing we need?

Answer: This will be the end.

Comment: You also went through those five whys and we have come to the Creator.

My Response: Yes.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 11/4/21

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No Reason At All To Be Offended

960.2Question: Many people write to us that they lead their life feeling offended for different reasons. There are people who cannot forgive their parents for having destroyed their marriage. Teachers are offended by ungrateful students. Parents do not forgive their children who have abandoned them.

According to some psychologists, everything falls into specific categories, and they explain three major reasons for feeling insulted and the implications of this feeling. They say that if you are a clever person, you can control this feeling, and they explain how you can do so. What is your attitude regarding the feeling of being insulted?

Answer: I am never offended by anyone because I know human nature, and the better I know human nature, the better I know that there is no one to be offended by. Kabbalists say that if you are offended by someone, “Go and tell the craftsman who made me,” go to the Creator who has made me the way I am.

Question: Is this a serious attitude?

Answer: It is not about whether it is serious or not—it is the truth. Where can a person’s thoughts, feelings, attributes, or actions come from? There is nothing in him that is his. He is simply totally enclosed in what nature does with him, which means the Creator.

Question: This is a sublime state. If we go back to an ordinary earthly person, then, for example, parents whose children do not help and have abandoned them or someone who has betrayed his friend, how can one work with such emotions? You said that if you understand human nature, it is possible not to be offended at all.

Answer: True. That is what you should do and then you are truly a human being. You are totally on the side of the other person.

Question: Of the person who has hurt you?

Answer: Of the one who has hurt you. I am not talking just about being hurt. I believe that we need to reach such a level in our development at which you begin to understand that all other people around you are like puppets on a string and that the Creator controls them so that you will correct yourself in relation to them and be able to justify them and wish them all the best.
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 11/29/21

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Striving To Reveal The Meaning Of Life

79.01Question: A person is not able to look into himself, it is against his nature, he does not see his flaws.

Self-knowledge is not always pleasant. Suppose I have always considered myself a good person, well-mannered, intelligent, well-behaved toward others. Suddenly, when I begin to study Kabbalah, the exact opposite is revealed to me.

What is this force that allows a person to advance even though he sees more and more flaws in himself?

Answer: It is pressure from within, which is called a point in the heart in Kabbalah.

A person receives a desire to reveal the meaning of life that he cannot stop; if I do not reveal the essence of existence, then life has no worth to me, it has no meaning. I cannot exist senselessly.

That is, I achieve development when I must solve this issue for myself. I cannot put it all aside and go on living. I have no other fillings, pleasures, or needs. I agree to exist, but only against my will. It is better to fall asleep altogether and not wake up.

This is how big my desire to attain the meaning of life is. Precisely this desire is a human one, it is the human inside me.

Everything else—following fashion, following the neighbor so as not to be worse than him, acquiring a profession, giving birth to children—is all necessary, but it does not fill me.

I do not judge other people for their need to enjoy, for filling themselves with something else, but I cannot do it. If I have such an urgent demand, it is precisely this demand that is called human. There is nothing to do about it. It gives me tremendous strength.
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From KabTV’s “Close-Up—Centaurs” 1/15/10

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“How Do I Get Connected With A Higher Source?” (Quora)

Dr. Michael LaitmanMichael Laitman, On Quora: How do I get connected with a higher source?

We can connect with a higher source by inviting that higher source into our lives. According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, the higher source is called the “upper light.” It is an abstract force and informational field.

How can we invite this higher source into our lives? One aspect of doing so depends on the amount of people who aim the concentration of their desires to be connected as one, and to use this higher source for the sake and benefit of others. This altruistic approach to others is the key to connecting with that higher source.

Inside us, we have a desire that we can develop into what Kabbalah calls a “Kli” (vessel/tool/receptacle) for creating a connection with the higher source, the abstract upper light. A central aspect in establishing such a connection is our desire: what do we want from this connection? If we organize ourselves in a group, and focus solely on rising above our self-aimed desires in a common direction to a common form—one of positive connection among us and with that higher source—then we will experience a significant transformation: the reception of new knowledge, forces, qualities and relationships with others. In short, everything that stands between the person and the world will change. Moreover, the more people in the group we work with, then the greater are the forces that we receive in order to implement such a change.

If we wish to be connected with the higher source, the upper light, in order for it to change us, to give us the strength to positively connect above our individual desires, then by our correct yearning, we generate a positive future form within us. We then raise a demand for that transformation, and connect to the field of the upper force with our desire.

Based on the video “How to Connect to the Field of the Upper Light” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

Parallel Birth

562.02Question: What does it mean when not sons, but daughters are born?

Answer: In the Torah, as a rule, there is a parallel birth of both sons and daughters. There cannot be one without the other since intention always comes above desire. The daughter symbolizes desire and the son symbolizes intention.

But in the Prophets, it is said allegorically that one of the tribes had no sons. The daughters came to Joshua and received from him an allotment of land. This means that there is a lack of foundation for righteous deeds. There is a desire to receive, but there is no right intention.

Question: Why is the allotment given only to men?

Answer: The man symbolizes the quality of bestowal. He is given an allotment because he is able to use it correctly. The woman does not even know how to use it. She personifies the desire to receive without any intention to give.

All this happens in one person. The desire to receive is the woman in us and the intention to bestow is the man.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 9/27/21

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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 12/22/21

Preparation to the Lesson

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Writings of Baal HaSulam, Shamati #113 “The Eighteen Prayer” 

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Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” Item 91

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Selected Highlights

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