Audio Version Of The Blog – 7/14/22

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“Neither Biden nor Obama or Any Other Leader – There Is Only One Superpower” (Linkedin)

My new article on Linkedin “Neither Biden nor Obama or Any Other Leader – There Is Only One Superpower

Contrary to the hype surrounding the landing of Air Force One with President Joe Biden on board, I am not excited about his arrival in Israel. I never had any faith in him, much less in Obama, and the same is true of any world leader. However they perceive their leadership, I know their hearts are governed by the same singular power that exists in the world: the power of connection.

Because Israel feels dependent on the United States for its security, there is some concern that the evident decline in US global power and dominance will have a negative impact on Israel’s position in the world. In my opinion, this is the wrong approach. We are Israel, the nation that coined the terms “mutual responsibility” and “solidarity”; we owe our strength to our unity, and to nothing else. When we are together, we are invincible. No one will defeat us when we are united because no one will want to fight against us. On the contrary, everyone will root for us as long as we root for each other.

While the leaders of Israel and the United States are making their statement during the official reception at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel-Aviv, reaffirming their mutual commitment to Israel’s security and to the collaboration they intend to deepen, I know that there is only one thing to which Israelis must commit: to one another. There is only one superpower in the world: the superpower of connection.

When the Jewish people first united into a nation, their only adhesive was faith in unity. But with it, they had achieved all that they had achieved. When a nation is united, they learned, nothing can overcome it and no mountain is too high.

Therefore, I place my faith in our unity. If we restore the solidarity and mutual responsibility that our ancestors had cultivated among them, we will achieve greatness. Our economy will thrive, our enemies will disappear, and the world will want to learn from our example. It will be just as it was in the days of the Second Temple, before the conflicts tore us apart. In those days, writes the book Sifrei Devarim, people from other nations would “go up to Jerusalem and see Israel … and say, ‘It is becoming to cling only to this nation.’”

As then, so now, if we want to achieve greatness, we should not look to foreign leaders to assist us; we should open our hearts to one another and let the superpower of unity prevail.
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“We Will Regret Boris Johnson’s Leaving” (Medium)

Medium published my new article “We Will Regret Boris Johnson’s Leaving

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visit an exhibition of destroyed Russian military vehicles and weapons, as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, at Mykhailivska Square in Kyiv, Ukraine June 17, 2022. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS

In a spectacular show of accord, Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s entire government resigned leaving him in an untenable position which forced him to step down. On the face of it, the conservative party did the ethical thing and ousted its mischievous leader, who made a mockery of the Covid rules that he himself had legislated. However, I think that at least to a point, we should judge rulers more by what they do for their country, and less by how they behave as individuals. In the case of Boris Johnson, I think his leadership was good for the UK, good for America, good for Europe, and good for Israel, and I believe we will regret his departure.

For years, I had been saying that it is in the best interest of the UK to break away from the EU. Finally, after many years of hesitation, Britain found in Johnson the resolute leader to deliver Brexit. When the dust of minor scandals settles, this feat will remain as Johnson’s legacy, and I believe that Britons will hold it in his favor.

Ukraine is already lamenting Johnson’s departure, as he was a staunch supporter of it in its war against Russia, but there are those who say he might still return as head of NATO. I am not “in the know” when it comes to politics, but if this were to happen, it would benefit Europe.

Johnson’s views on how the world should run were advanced and constructive. Now that he is leaving, there is no doubt that the next prime minister will be less assertive and not as strong, and I think it is bad news for the UK and bad news for the world.

The problem is not only the ousting of Boris Johnson. Many people, and not only in the UK, feel disenfranchised and disillusioned with politics. They feel powerless and have lost hope in their ability to influence how their country is run, even though they are ostensibly living in democratic countries. As a result, people are losing interest in politics altogether. In my opinion, the media and politicians have a lot to do with it. They are deliberately confusing the public to the point that regular people, who could otherwise make educated decisions and draw serious and intelligent conclusions about their leaders, find it impossible to understand what is going on and simply give up.

I think that if people want a political system that works in their favor and does not exploit them, they need to focus on themselves rather than expect politicians to be attentive to their needs. If people focus on the connections between them, on enhancing their solidarity and cohesion, that mindset will percolate upwards. Politicians, in the end, need the people’s favorable views. If they see that people appreciate solidarity, they, too, will embrace it.

As I said above, Boris Johnson was good for Israel. Whether or not his successor will continue his policy regarding Israel remains to be seen, but it is clear that whoever comes next will have to reexamine the UK’s relationship with Israel. There is no doubt that Israel will continue to be a point of interest to the UK, as it is a point of interest to the entire world, but the policy of the UK’s next PM remains to be seen.

It is hard to tell what will unfold in the short run, but in the long run, the rule is that countries succeed and prosper when they maintain good relationships with Jews in general, and with Israel in particular, and do not prosper when they turn against Israel and Jews.

In the UK, the Conservative Party has been more favorable toward Israel than the Labour Party. This was particularly evident while Jeremy Corbyn was head of the Labour Party, as the party leaned heavily toward the Palestinians and against Israel. It is therefore only natural for me to hope that in the next general election in the UK, the Conservative Party will win again and the next PM will come from its midst.

Additionally, in recent years, it has become evident that by and large, Conservatives lean toward more traditional views concerning diplomacy, society, and family. The Left — most of whom vote Labour — advocates “progressive” views which increase the social instability and the confusion that people feel, as I mentioned above. For this reason, I believe that regardless of Israel’s interests, it is in the interest of the UK that the Conservative Party remains in power also after the next general election.

The Creator Operates In the Entire World

222“There is none else besides Him” is the very first law that determines the attitude to nature, to the Creator, and speaks about the fact that there is no other force in reality. And a great number of different and, as it seems to us, opposing forces, actually come from the same source.

Although we are in very different relationships with each other, getting closer and moving away, all this love and hatred are born in us because we are guided by that one upper force, which is called the Creator.

A Kabbalist tries to see that in all of nature, behind all the events and actions of people, there is only one upper force. Such correction takes a long time, but as soon as a person starts working on it, he already feels a special attitude to the world, to reality, and to the upper force, and quickly begins to feel how the upper force influences him.

In practice, this work is carried out through a group, preferably no less than ten people, who try to establish between them relationships that are similar to the nature of the Creator, that is, to build such a system of mutual connections that exists in the upper force. In this way, they build a network from their connections, like a locator capable of catching and revealing the Creator.

Everyone can come to this and is even obliged to do that. Sooner or later, in this life or in the next one, a person will develop to a state where he will be able to reveal the Creator to the fullest.

Today’s world, with its wars and rapid growth of inflation and social problems, pushes us in this way to reveal the Creator as soon as possible, to get to know Him. Then all these troubles and misfortunes will turn into their opposite, into a good and happy world.

The main thing is not to forget that we are inside the Creator and there is none else besides Him. This upper force controls all the processes of our life, all our feelings, desires, thoughts, and all our relationships between people, countries, all inanimate matter, plants, and animals. The Creator operates in everything and fills everything with His force.

Instead of unconsciously obeying this concealed control, as is happening today, we can reveal the connections between all parts of creation explicitly. This will be the revelation of the Creator to the created beings.

To reveal the Creator means to reveal the love between all parts of creation. Now, instead of love, we see only hatred and hostility in the world. But this is done on purpose so that we will want correction, and instead of all these evil forces, we will reveal that only one force of good operates in the entire universe.

We just need to try to see the Creator behind each person, and you will see how the entire picture of the world begins to change.
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From KabTV’s “The World” 6/28/22

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Why Does the Creator Reject Us?

962.3Why does the Creator reject us? It is because He wants to show us a place where we can come closer to Him. And due to these rejections and rapprochements, we begin to feel our relationship with Him more and more and really come closer. It is impossible to feel coming closer if there was no distancing before.

After all, we, the created beings, are not able to feel any separate quality unless we compare one quality with another. Therefore, we perceive everything as “the advantage of light from darkness,” from contrast, from the opposition of distancing and coming closer, rejection and proximity.

If the Creator is good that does good, then why does He send us suffering? To hurry us to come closer to Him. Coming closer to the Creator is the best cure for all diseases. But you can come closer to Him only through the similarity of qualities: as He is merciful, so you become merciful.

That is, I must become kind and do good in relation to all created beings, like the Creator, and then I will reveal that the Creator really treats everyone with absolute good. In the meantime, I judge everything to the extent of my corruption, and therefore, the attitude of the Creator to the world seems evil to me because I myself am in the state of evil. If I correct myself, then I will reveal that the entire world is absolutely good, the Creator is present in the entire world and fills everyone, embraces everything.

I will see that everyone is absolutely happy! How can this be if now I see it in a completely different way, that evil is all around me? Correct yourself, and you will feel the Creator and His good attitude toward everyone because you yourself have achieved such good qualities.

To the extent that I become similar to the Creator by correcting my egoism and coming closer to goodness, I am able to justify the Creator. Yet, to the extent that uncorrected qualities remain in me, I see the world as bad and myself as unhappy.
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From KabTV’s “World” 6/28/22

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What Does the Fruit of a Tree Symbolize?

138Question: Why are there trees without fruit and trees with fruit? What does the actual fruit symbolize?

Answer: Look at how much we produce in the world and how little of what we do brings really good results. As a rule, most of our activities do not have good consequences, meaning fruits.

In the same way, all flora and fauna exist. To the extent that we would treat each other correctly, all plants would bear fruit and bear fruit well. They would give us their fruit exactly in the form in which we could use them.

Yet, since we turn on egoism in our interactions and do not want to treat each other correctly in the quality of bestowal, it turns out that only a small number of our actions have, what is called, a coefficient of performance for a good attitude toward others. As a consequence, we see this in plants as well.

In other words, the fruit symbolizes the end result, the pleasure for which we do some action. Therefore, a person in our world makes a lot of effort in order to obtain pleasure.

If we worked correctly for bestowal, for the sake of the Creator, then every action would bear fruit that we would enjoy. But since all this goes into egoism, we get only some small kinds of pleasures.

Baal HaSulam writes about this: And now, imagine that if we were to collect all the pleasures one feels during his seventy years of life and put it on one side, and collect all the pain and sorrow one feels on the other side, if we could see the outcome, we would prefer not to have been born at all.
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 6/14/22

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Inside of Nature

720We do not need proof to understand that nature is intelligent, because we exist inside the laws of nature, inside its rules, inside immutable or changing parameters. We ourselves are the consequences of these laws and rules.

So we do not have to prove anything, we are inside of it. You cannot tear yourself away from life, from the sun, the air, the grass, and the trees, even when you are in other places or on other planets. You cannot take yourself out of the context of nature, because you are an integral part of it.

When we study inanimate, vegetative, and animate nature, we see that they are governed by its general law, which leads them to a certain goal, a certain type, to birth, death, and so on.

If we look at ourselves, we do not feel this law. We can only guess about it, because it is above us, higher than we are. But the fact that this is a single law, the only one that dominates us, almost unceremoniously governs us without asking our consent, is evident at every step.

That is, you cannot speak of nature as something below yourself. Eventually, you are included in it as a small, insignificant unit.
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 5/21/22

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Sleep Is One-Sixtieth of Death

243.03Kabbalistic sources say that sleep is one-sixtieth part of death. This means that the whole Partzuf, the whole depth of a person’s attainment, is measured as six degrees: Hesed, Gevurah, Tifferet, Netzach, Hod, and Yesod. Each of these degrees consists of ten sub-degrees for a total of 60.

Such partial attainment of 60 sub-degrees relative to one hundred full degrees, including Keter, Hochma and Bina, is called “sleep.”

In other words, the human soul consists of ten Sefirot. When the light is in the last six Sefirot of VAK, it is called a “state of smallness” or a state of sleep.

When the light is in the head of the Partzuf, meaning in the first three Sefirot (GAR), this is called the complete state or the state of wakefulness.
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 6/28/22

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The Life Force of Water

549.02Question: Why is old age always associated with dryness of the body? When a little person is conceived, his body composition consists of 95% water; for an adult it’s 70% and by old age this number drops to 45% or less.

Answer: This happens until a person completely dries up and disintegrates into dust. The presence of water indicates the support of life in him from the side of the great information of love. A newborn is closer to this force of love. Nature protects and preserves him.

Question: Scientists even conducted experiments on people from ages 7 to 40 years- old about how water reacts to them and they recorded it in photographs. At the age of 7, water formed very beautiful crystals, at 10-15, the same thing happened and by the age of 44 water acquired an ugly image of negative information.

What is this special milestone that is seemingly crossed at 40 years of age?

Answer: 40 years is a milestone when a person has effectively run through the overwhelming good attitude of the outside world toward him. Before that, the world supports him, provides him with vitality, but after this point the person begins to fade away because he is no longer in the right balance with water. The word “water” refers to the informational revitalizing force with which a person is gradually breaking-up.
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From KabTV’s “Close-Up, The Secret of Life” 7/13/11

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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 7/14/22

Preparation to the Lesson

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Lesson on the Topic “Going Above the Arguments with the Will to Receive”

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Writings of Baal HaSulam, “The Meaning of Conception and Birth” 

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Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Study of the Ten Sefirot, Vol. 1, Part 3,” “Inner Observtion,” “Histaklut Pnimit,” Chapter 3, Item 4

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Selected Highlights

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