Audio Version Of The Blog – 10/19/22
Posted on October 19th, 2022
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Joseph is called the righteous, and the righteous is the foundation of the world. It is Joseph who leads a person inside his egoism and establishes his connection with Pharaoh. Then, with the help of Joseph, a person connects with higher qualities such as Moses.
Through Joseph we begin to get acquainted with the upper system, and thanks to him we can connect and try to find spiritual qualities in order to come closer to the upper force and attain the Creator. Every spiritual quality is attained through Joseph, through the Sefira Yesod, and through our connection.
Joseph is righteous, the foundation of the world, because only through connection, through Yesod, do we attain all other upper spiritual qualities. In our work Joseph is the most necessary and closest feeling to us, a connection in a group. Through the point of connection, we begin to recognize the quality of Joseph.
The Torah tells how the brothers sell Joseph into slavery. They do not understand this quality yet because they are higher than him and are not yet familiar with the quality of Joseph. They consider Joseph a younger brother and do not agree that he should stand out.
The main thing about Joseph is that he brings us to connection. Joseph does not have his own individual quality; he combines all other qualities in his yearning for connection, and through it, to the Creator. Joseph is a common quality in which all the other brothers are included, and they are clarified due to the growing will to receive, that is, Pharaoh.
Therefore, from the quality of Joseph, from Yesod, comes sustenance, the force of life, and the force of attainment. The revelation of the Pharaoh also happens through Joseph. At the beginning of the Egyptian slavery, the Pharaoh was kind and it did not feel like slavery at all. On the contrary we developed, and all this with the help of Joseph. Joseph is the beginning of the attainment of good and evil in our whole life, and therefore he is closest to us.
The quality of Joseph is implemented through our connection. He is called “everything” because all the qualities are combined within him and through them connect us with the Creator. Attaining Joseph is attaining unity, the essence of our connection. This is the first step that takes us out of this world and leads to the attainment of the Creator, the upper, spiritual world.
Joseph is like a tree that brings us all the fruits of life. This is a connection with the upper root, from which all good flows into the world. We eat from it; thanks to it we live, breed, and multiply. This is the place of our connection with each other and with the Creator; that is, it is the place of exiting the feeling of this corporeal world and entering the spiritual world. All this is performed through the quality of Joseph, the degree that is closest to us.
It is known that in order to advance at least one step forward, we need to connect into tens. Joseph is called everything because he combines all our qualities together. Each of the ten people has their own qualities that differ from others, but once we rise above ourselves, we can be together. If we rise above our egoistic differences, each of us above his egoism, then we become similar and equal and can connect and complement each other.
We attain this to the extent that we attain the Sefira Yesod, which is called everything. When we rise above our egoism and come to faith above reason, to connection in the ten, we create a new spiritual quality common to all called the Creator. He is born out of the connection between us and says: “You have made Me!”
It turns out that through our connection we have created the Creator; this is how He is revealed with regard to us. The first acquaintance with the Creator, with the upper force, with the upper world, occurs through the quality of Yesod.
Honored guests, Ushpizin, who come to the Sukkah, organize the right environment for us. Joseph is the last in this chain as if instead of Malchut.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/8/20, “Sukkot“
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Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “When Power Is the Ideology”
The protests in Iran have not abated for several weeks now, despite reports of hundreds of casualties. The determination of the Iranian people is admirable, as is their willingness to rise above fear. I have said several times that the Iranian people are a unique nation. The area where Iran lies today was the cradle of civilization; Iranians are highly developed in the spiritual sense, but it is not the same as the religious sense.
The religious fanaticism that has taken over the country in the last fifty years or so is regrettable, but it does not take away from my respect for the people. I believe that if they direct their current awakening in the right direction, they will be a thriving and prosperous nation.
Israel used to have very good relations with Iran because there is no fundamental conflict between the two nations. The current regime is fanatical and does not allow such relations to continue, but in principle, I do not see any fundamental disagreements between us.
The reason I am pointing this out is that even among enemies, there can be respect. In fact, respect can be the first step in building closeness.
If we aspire to draw closer but see that the differences between us are currently too deep to bridge, we can begin by respecting each other’s spaces and trying not to disparage one another. If we can restrain ourselves from venting hatred, we will be able to think about more explicit acts of rapprochement.
Relationships that are built through mutual respect can eventually become even closer than relationships that did not have to go through a preliminary phase of building mutual respect.
Today, when power is the ideology, it is very difficult to imagine any reconciliation between Israel and Iran. When policy is determined solely by arms and weaponry, it is impossible to reach any agreements, let alone develop mutual respect.
If previously, the Pope, or the king, got respect from other nations or faiths, today there are no values. If I have a bomb, I have respect for no one. Power has replaced all other values.
But power is not an ideology. It brings nothing but destruction and its glory is short-lived. The fact that power is king today means that we will soon understand that having power actually means we have nothing. It will force us to resume our search for values.
Since we have exhausted such values as clerical ascendancy, social paradigms from the Right and from the Left, and wealth and power, too, are losing their allure, I believe we are becoming ready for the only value worth pursuing: love of others.
By “love of others,” I do not mean biological attraction, but love as a value, when people place the other’s needs before their own because caring lifts them to a higher level of existence.
A person who lives for others constantly creates. A person who lives for others constantly engages in giving, and derives endless strength from that alone.
The seemingly endless energy of mothers to give to their young children is nothing compared to the ability to give that a person who loves others possesses. When the sun sets on the ideology of power, love between people will begin to shine.
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The Sukkot holiday is about building a screen (Shach) to cover the Sukkah and creating a place for the soul. We restrict and correct our desire to enjoy, and build a screen over it. With this screen that separates us from the Creator, we create a barrier that will not allow us to receive the upper light from Him directly but only through the screen (Shach).
The roof and walls of the Sukkah and its dimensions symbolize the details of our soul, the rules of its construction.
The roof of the Sukkah hides us from the light of the Sun, which symbolizes direct light. The sun shines on everyone equally without any obstacles. In the Sukkah there are four columns and walls, but the main thing is the roof (Shach), which does not let the light of the sun pass directly to a person sitting in the Sukkah. This is the meaning of the Sukkot holiday—building a common Kli.
The roof is constructed from the waste of barn and winery. You can use branches cut from the trees in the garden. They cover the roof so that rays of the Sun cannot shine directly through it into the Sukkah. In fact, we refuse to receive direct light for our own sake.
Therefore, we build the Sukkah together with the group and sit in it together and enjoy our unity and the fact that we can connect and hide from the rays of the Sun, from the direct light, because we built a screen.
Each supports the other in order to protect them from receiving pleasure, which can come directly into the egoistic desire. Therefore, we hide under the screen and unite to help each other stand against all pleasures and temptations that confuse us at any moment, and we are thus saved from egoistic receiving.
Everyone should have a place under the roof of the Sukkah where he or she can eat during all seven days of the Sukkot holiday. But the main thing is to build an inner Sukkah in our desires, meaning, to build a common spiritual Kli and be under a common screen.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/8/22
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Question: The Creator is the good who does good, and His attitude toward me as a creature does not change. But I have to believe it, I don’t feel that way. What does this principle give me?
Answer: This principle gives you the opportunity to evaluate the attitude of the Creator toward yourself.
Question: Do I have to believe it or can I feel that it is?
Answer: Now you can’t feel it. Just believe it as if it is unfounded. But if you strive for the same actions with respect to the Creator, you will begin to feel Him.
Question: So Kabbalah says that it is possible to feel that the Creator really wants only good for us?
Answer: Yes. This is called the law of similarity of properties. By acquiring His properties, you can feel His attitude toward you.
Comment: Many people believe that the Creator is doing good. And often this belief completely satisfies a person.
My Response: It is quite possible that this is so on the one hand. But on the other hand, we want not just to see it, but to feel, explore, and know.
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From KabTV’s “The Study of the Ten Sefirot (TES)” 10/2/22
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There are three conditions in prayer:
1. Believing that He can save him. Although he has the worst conditions of all his contemporaries, still, “Will the Lord’s hand be too short to save him?” If it is not so, then “the Landlord cannot save His vessels” (Baal HaSulam, Shamati, “Three Conditions in Prayer”).
Question: What does it mean to “believe”?
Answer: A person consists of all kinds of qualities and desires. Therefore, our studies attune us to select from all our desires, qualities, and intentions the ones that will direct all of humanity to good.
To believe means to be sure that if I do this, then eventually I invite upon myself the correct influence of the upper force and gradually correct myself. Thus, the first condition is that I must be sure that the Creator can help me.
2: He no longer has any choice for he has already done all that he could but saw no cure to his plight.
It means that he did not do everything. There is no other solution but to ask. Constantly address your request to the Creator. This is a single internal force of nature, which is able to correct us all. Therefore, there is practically nothing except for a prayer or request for correction.
3: If He does not help him, he will be better off dead than alive.
We need to come to the next state in which I want to correct myself and be similar to the Creator so much that if I do not achieve this, then it is not worth living for the sake of something else.
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 9/25/22
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Comment: It is very difficult to imagine that a person walks around and thinks from morning to night: “How can I love all my neighbors?! If I cannot love them, it is better not to live. I do not want to live like that!”
My Response: If we start to think about it and understand that the meaning of our life is to correct ourselves from egoism to altruism, then, in general, this is what we do.
Comment: Imagine if eight billion people would sit and think: “How can we love each other”? This would be utopia.
My Response: If they imagined themselves like that for a second, it would be a prayer of eight billion! It would be fulfilled right away.
Question: Do you believe that someday this will happen?
Answer: Yes. Gradually, all kinds of negative emotions, rejections, and disappointments are accumulating in humanity. In the end, everyone will come to this.
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 9/25/22
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Question: For the last 50 years shops have been filled with books in that say a person, with the help of his own internal changes, can change the picture of the world, the world around him. This is indicated by various methods and teachers. The information stream is filled with quotes from the series “Change Yourself, Change the World.”
On the other hand, for an ordinary person, this is still a rather blurry feeling. He seems to understand it mentally and tries to change himself, but does not see any changes in the world. He just does not have the strength to do it. Only a few people out of all mankind can boast of this.
What is it—a big deception?
Answer: No. It is just that a person perceives the entire universe, the entire world, himself, and others within himself.
Therefore, by changing his qualities a little, he feels the world differently and sees everything differently. No more than that.
Question: Can he initiate his changes himself?
Answer: Yes. He is given the initial conditions in which he can change himself. This is the directly proportional correlation: I have changed something in myself and the world has changed according to some formula.
Question: Is it possible to see this?
Answer: Absolutely. For example, let me now fill you with some interesting things, say, anecdotes, no matter what. And you will look at the world in a different way. It is silly, of course, but in principle, it is clear that everything depends on the state of the person.
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 9/23/22
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Question: If we focus on something, we plunge headlong into it and we cannot get out of it. Yet, you say that you are already in everything without sinking into it the way we do.
How do you manage to be in everything simultaneously and at the same time your head is not clogged?
Answer: It is just my whole life. During the recording of any program, the moment when I am asked a question, I am already inside this topic. To do this, I do not need to delve into anything.
When I was at university, we had a professor whom we respected very much. He would come to a lecture, pull out a small piece of paper from his breast pocket, look at what he had to say according to the plan, put it back, and speak for 15 – 20 minutes. He would finish one topic, then again pull out a piece of paper to find out the next topic, and again begin to speak.
That is, on the one hand, he had a clear plan, which is very important for students. On the other hand, we saw that he knew all the material and just needed to remember the order of the presentation. That is all.
I am the same. Only I do not have to make a plan because the students do it for me. I come to the lesson, and they say: “We want to study such and such topics.” And we study them. Then they ask questions, and it makes no difference to me which ones. They ask me about the world I live in. What trouble do I have to talk about it?
Question: It means that you have a clear approach to things, everything is structured, everything is clear, and you do not need to overshadow your mind with some tasks that a person can deal with for years.
Answer: This is called attainment. This is not the knowledge of our world when you know some facts. There is nothing in our world, including even bread, milk, and water with which we have such a connection as happens in the spiritual world.
In the spiritual world, you attain the essence of things, and therefore it is yours. When you are asked about something, you know from the inside what it is, from the moment when it originated, developed, reached its current state, and further goes into the future to its final state.
You know everything about any objects, forces, qualities, and events. Therefore, there are no problems. This is called spiritual attainment because it is above time, space, and movement. It is just common because it is integral.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. A Man in the State of Attainment” 7/21/13
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Preparation to the Lesson
| [media 1] | [media 2] |
Lesson on the Topic “On the Verge of Lishma“
| [media 3] | [media 4] |
Writings of Baal HaSulam “Gatehouse of Intentions”
| [media 5] | [media 6] |
Selected Highlights
| [media 7] | [media 8] |
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