Behold that before the emanations were emanated and the creatures were created, The Upper Simple Light had filled the whole existence. (The Ari, “The Tree of Life”)

When a person opens a Kabbalistic book for the first time, it pierces his heart.

Finally he finds the answer to all his long searches, the silent cries of a torn heart asking: “Why do I live?” It seems that everything is there, but the main thing is missing: the meaning in life for the sake of which it would be worth living.

Therefore, to find the science of Kabbalah means to find life. And it may turn out later that it takes years, maybe a whole lifetime, for the actual revelation of this life, until a person finds a path, a connection with a higher power, and reveals the Creator. But the most important thing is that he already knows what it is! This life has meaning for him.

Therefore, when I found the science of Kabbalah, I began to write books about it and to talk about it wherever possible to anyone who wanted to hear about it. This continues to this day and it will continue for the rest of my life. Today I have many thousands of students.

What is the point in the heart that makes you cry when you hear the story of man’s first encounter with the spiritual? This story touches the deepest inner desire in a man.

On the one hand he rejoices that he has found a real purpose in life so as not to live like an animal that always only cares about its existence. He finds his guiding light and discovers that this world has a higher source, the Creator who created everything, and that the purpose of this life is to reveal the Creator.

The purpose of creation is for all people to unite, to come out of their egoism and reveal the highest power, the Creator, and thereby please Him.

The point in the heart is really only the point from which the word begins, like the first touch of the pen to the paper. And then there will be a continuation in everything that we want to write or comprehend. But all this begins with a single initial point, which has no width, no depth, no volume; it is only the beginning.

Our heart is a huge desire that includes all of reality. Everything that we can comprehend, understand, and reveal is inside our heart.

The heart is not a material concept; it is not a muscle that is constantly contracting and supplying the body with blood. Through the heart and the point in the heart, we begin to know the true reality.

The heart in the science of Kabbalah is called all the desires of a person of any strength and form from zero to one hundred percent. Everything good and everything bad that is in a person is inside his heart.

And among all desires, there is one that is called a point in the heart. This point is connected with something very high called the Creator. It is He who created the heart through which man perceives all reality. But through a point in the heart, a person can achieve a feeling and connection with his Creator.

This is why it is so important for us to open a point in the heart, and through it open the whole heart created by the Creator. Then we will be able to understand and comprehend why the Creator created all this. On this path we come to know and comprehend the Creator, reveal His plan and how we ourselves can take an active part in it.
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From KabTV’s “Basic concepts in the science of Kabbalah” 2/6/22

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Why are some people so quick to blame Jewish people for everything? Where does this mindset come from?“

Indeed, Jews have received the blame for a lot of phenomena throughout history, from poisoning wells to creating viruses, and from drinking children’s blood to running the world. Often the blame is completely illogical, yet it becomes accepted by masses of people. Why is this the case?

Around 3,800 years ago, in a time of great division in human society, Abraham, a priest, explained to anyone willing to listen to him that the human ego had increased, and that people needed to rise above it. His followers received the name “the people of Israel” (“Israel” from the words “Yashar Kel” [“straight to God”]), and Abraham guided their unity to a state of “love your friend as yourself” above their divisions. Later, this group became known as “the Jews,” where the Hebrew word for “Jew” [Yehudi] comes from the word for “united” [yihudi].

This group detached from human society because they had an opposite direction in life to the rest of the people. In other words, by primarily wishing to reach a state of “love your friend as yourself,” they became detached from the egoistic goals that ran rampant throughout Babylonian society at the time.

Then, around 2,000 years ago, this group separated and scattered in all directions. They lost track of what initially brought them together, and continued to exist without directing themselves at a goal of uniting above their differences. This period is called “the 2,000 years of exile.”

Now, the time has come when we as humanity increasingly feel our interdependence, and we likewise need to undergo a process of unifying above our divisive drives in order to realize our interdependence harmoniously. At the same time, humanity has no idea how to apply itself to such a process, and more and more people thus instinctively feel that the Jews are to blame for all kinds of problems in their lives. We thus see surges in antisemitic crimes and sentiment from one year to the next.

Why is there an instinctive feeling of blame and hatred for the Jews? It is because the Jewish people were formed due to their attainment of unity above division, i.e., the attainment of the state of “love your friend as yourself” amid an increasingly divided society, and they hold the method that Abraham once granted them in order to rise above their divisive drives in order to attain the sublimity of unity. Today, however, the Jews themselves have no idea that they hold such a method, and thus they do not implement it. Instead of realizing what made them Jews to begin with, they try to live solely according to the smorgasbord of corporeal goals at everyone’s fingertips.

Therefore, more and more people subconsciously feel as if the Jews are robbing them of something, without pinpointing that what they mostly lack is a harmonious connection to expand throughout human society, which would bring about happiness, peace and love to everyone, and that the Jews hold a method to achieve such a state. Likewise, Jews themselves also do not understand that the method to achieve such exalted unity above division is what brought them together and made them Jewish to begin with. They only feel hated, not knowing why they consistently become the targets of accusations, while they—disproportionately to other nations—make significant advances in fields that seemingly contribute much benefit to humanity, such as science, medicine, technology and culture.

Only kabbalists, which are merely a few hundred from among the Jewish people, exert in trying to communicate the message to Jews about their role, and how it ties in with the cause and solution to antisemitism. Moreover, antisemitism is exponentially rising in our era, and history has shown the terrible consequences that can come about when the antisemitic inclination is left untreated. We have the ability, however, to take hold of the method to unite above the abundant divisive drives in our society today, attain the most magnificent goal of “love your friend as yourself” that has been given to humanity, and by doing so, act as a conduit of the positive force dwelling in nature to reach every person in humanity. It is thus my hope that the Jewish people will awaken to their role sooner rather than later, and that they start making motions in the direction of unity. A good future not only for Jews, but for humanity as a whole, depends on it.

Based on the video “Why Are Jews Blamed for Everything?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Chaim Ratz. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Question: What should we do if we delay a prayer and slow it down? How can we remove this inhibition?

Answer: Set for each other an example even if you do not feel like it. But if you show others that you have what to turn to the Creator with and how, they will take it seriously, even though it will be a game on your part. That is how it is done.

Comment: You say that prayer should come from the bottom of the heart. But with us, when we make a prayer from the entire ten, it appears purely mechanically.

My Response: I am not saying you should do that. This is incorrect. You cannot mechanically take a sentence from everyone and make up the text of the prayer. You will only hurt each other.

You must collect, analyze your desires, aspirations, and goals, and make one common whole out of them. This is called a common prayer. There is no other way.
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From the International Convention “Rising Above Ourselves” 1/9/22, “Asking the Creator to Fill the Place Between Us” Lesson 7

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Question: In 2020, gold was becoming cheaper, but it was the beginning of a pandemic so people were not up to buying it.

But in 2021, prices suddenly shot up and today the price of gold has reached 30-year record high. People are actively buying physical gold in the form of bars, coins, and jewelry.

I want to ask you, as a Kabbalist, what is it about gold? After all, it is all about beautifying…

Answer: Beautifying the ego!

We just want to put our efforts into some kind of material objects that are immutable, that won’t disappear or decay, that won’t rust

Question: What is gold on a spiritual level?

Answer: It’s egoism in its purest form. Gold relates to Keter, and silver relates to Bina.

Question: Can you explain it in a simple way?

Answer: When true egoism is corrected, it is represented by gold, and when it is on the way to correction—in other words, halfway toward correction—it is silver, Bina and Keter.

Question: Let us proceed from the fact that the spiritual affects us one way or another. We are branches, while the roots of everything are spiritual. But then what about gold?

Answer: It remains.

Question: Nothing can replace it?

Answer: No.

Question: Even in times of hunger? Even when there is no bread?

Answer: No. When there’s no bread, then no. But once we start adding something to bread, gold immediately begins to appear. It is made for the living.

Question: This means that when we talk about necessities, we are talking about bread. But what about when we talk about our world, the world of excess?

Answer: “People die for metal.”

Question: What conclusion do you draw from all this?

Answer: My conclusion is very simple: as long as egoism rules, gold will be the universal, global equivalent of these egoistic forces. But once people trade their egos for good connections between them, gold will simply be equated to an ordinary metal, a regular material, and will no longer be used for trade. Only the value of bestowal to each other will be used as a measure for trading. This is a completely different material.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 1/3/22

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Preparation to the Lesson

Lesson on the Topic “Winning the War (Against the Evil Inclination)”

Writings of Baal HaSulam “Peace in the World”

Selected Highlights

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Listen to an Audio Version of the Blog
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Medium published my new article “Losing Trust in Scientists”

According to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center, trust in scientists and medical scientists has dropped. The survey found that only 29% of U.S. adults have a great deal of confidence in both scientists and medical scientists to act in the best interests of the public, down from 40% who said this in November 2020. Not only scientific and medical professions are seeing a decline in the public’s trust. The share of Americans with a great deal of confidence in the military to act in the public’s best interests has fallen 14 points, from 39% in November 2020 to 25% in the current survey, and the percentage of Americans with a lot of confidence in K-12 public school principals and police officers have also decreased.

As I see it, there are several levels to this phenomenon. On the more superficial level, the public simply does not want to keep funding empty, pointless studies that have no benefit to anyone other than for those who carry them out. We have built institutions, research centers, and laboratories that do not bring anyone any good. It is better to keep away from these “findings,” which only confuse us, and not waste taxpayers’ money on such studies.

On a deeper level, public servants, or anyone whose job is to serve the public and work for the public benefit, are inherently inept for their job. Their own nature prevents them from carrying out their task.

The problem is not with them, but with all of society. It is not as if anyone else would be more trustworthy if they were in their shoes. When all of society is rife with mistrust and ill-will, the representatives of the public cannot be better than the public that placed them in their positions.

The only way to change the public from which its servants come is through education. This is where we must invest our money, time, and efforts. The values at the basis of society determine its structure, and define the level of trust between the public and its officials. Do civil servants really want to serve the society and understand what it means to serve? Do they know where they want to lead society? Do they know what they can contribute? If they can do all these then they are trustworthy. But what public servant is like that?

In order to reform public servants and scientists so they work for the sake of the public and not for themselves, we must transform our entire education system. From the earliest years and throughout people’s lives, they must be occupied in a continuous educational process.

When we are born, we are merely two-legged animals. Education must provide people not only with knowledge, but first and foremost with humane values, with ethics that place unity and friendship above selfishness and narcissism.

If people are not taught that society consists of many people working together to create a better life for everyone, how can we expect them to believe that working for the common good helps them personally? And if people in such a certain society do not feel connected and value mutual responsibility and concern for others, can they expect their representatives to care for them? Can a messenger of the public possess what the public that sent him does not have?

If food and other staples were distributed justly, there would not be a single hungry person in the world. All our basic needs and staples are abundant and cheap. The only reasons they are not accessible to everyone are greed and cruelty. If the world were to produce twice as much as it does today, the have nots would still not have.

In other words, there is no lack of supply; there is an awful lack of the will to supply it. In our global age, the whole world must function like a single unit. Getting there is a gradual process, but it is happening whether we want it or not. If we learn how to utilize it for everyone’s benefit and agree to work as one global unit, we will all benefit from the abundance in this world, and there will be no hunger or wars. If we refuse to accept that we are all one humanity, then the current campaign in eastern Europe will be but the harbinger of many more afflictions to come, and they will come at our own hands.
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My new article on Linkedin “Too Close for Comfort to WWIII”

The war in Ukraine is no longer a local conflict. Chechnya has joined Russia, and Belarus is supporting it. Opposite them stands Ukraine, with the US, NATO, and many other countries supporting it with logistics and weapons. But while the West is trying to choke Russia financially, China has stepped in to its help. Russia, for its part, has put its nuclear arms on high alert. While all this is going on, China appears to be preparing to retake Taiwan by force, and has threatened the US not to interfere, stating that “whoever plays with fire will burn himself,” and that if the US “plays the ‘salami-slicing’ tactics on the Taiwan question, it is its fingers that will be cut off.” In my opinion, we are too close for comfort to a third, nuclear world war.

We must remember that under the right circumstances, even a small spark can start a world war. Remember that World War I began with the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Sarajevo. When Austria invaded Serbia in retaliation, the military alliances of the adversaries dragged all of Europe into the battlefield. And because in those days, European countries had colonies around the world, the war soon turned into a global conflict.

Today’s world is laden with trigger-happy leaders who would gladly set the world aflame. Therefore, we should be concerned and understand that as bad as things are, they can become much worse, very soon.

Notwithstanding, when forces of separation awaken in the world, they are always a clarion, a herald that tells us that we must increase our efforts to connect, to bond with one another and rise above our mutual hatred. The only reasons for the afflictions and the terrible events unfolding in the world are hatred, cruelty, and the craving to tyrannize other people.

Therefore, any injustice is always a call to enhance unity, empathy, and care for one another. Times like these, when we are reminded of what really matters in life, are also an opportunity to form a better world and a more caring society.

This is not the time to bicker over historic justice and old scores. Now is the time to generate love, and we can do this only where there is no love today. If we build love where there was once hatred, it will be true love, our own creation, forged out of the ashes of the enmity we had defeated. We are living in challenging times, so we must rise to the challenge; we have no other choice.
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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “How do you explain emptiness?“

Emptiness is a unique category of desires that are unable to be fulfilled. They thus feel empty of the content that they would like to have.

People who delve into questioning the emptiness that they feel are those who begin to feel the desire to discover the meaning of life. In other words, the feeling of emptiness in our desires coincides with asking questions about the meaning and purpose of life, why our lives end, what happens when we die, why we feel our lives as being so absurd and random, and so on.

Emptiness is thus a desire to attain what is unattainable in the meantime, because our matter is a desire to be filled with enjoyment and delight.

Based on a Kabbalah lesson with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on January 31, 2016. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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You lack nothing but to go out to a field that the Lord has blessed (Baal HaSulam, Letter 4).

This field is called Shechina or the connection between us in which the Creator reveals Himself. But when this field was shattered, the Creator disappeared from it.

All our work is to connect with each other and to restore the network of communication between us, and to the extent we do, the Creator will gradually reveal Himself in it. Such a revelation of the Creator is called spiritual degrees or worlds.

“Peace” – “Shalom (שלום)” is from the word “world” = “olam (עוֹלָם),” “alum (עָלוּם)” – “hidden.” The relative concealment and revelation of the Creator at each degree will show us what kind of world we are in.

Therefore, we need to collect all those flaccid organs that have drooped from your soul, and join them into a single body, – into one connected system. In that complete body, the Creator will instill His Shechina incessantly, that is, absolutely completely without any gaps and reductions.

And the fountain of intelligence (Tvuna), which is that lower part of Bina that transmits the light to Malchut (in us) and high streams of light (Keter, Hochma, Bina) will be as a never ending fountain.

What do we need to do? We need to restore the connection between us, which is called Shechina. It was the Creator who broke it, so that we ourselves could create it from a broken state. This is called raising the Shechinah from the dust. This is what we have to do.
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From the International Convention “Rising Above Ourselves” 1/6/22, “Approaching the Creator Through the Network of Connections Between Us” Lesson 1

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