Preparation to the Lesson
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Zohar for All “Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” “The Letter of Rav Hamnuna Saba”
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Writings of Baal HaSulam “Introduction to The Book of Zohar”
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Selected Highlights
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Today the world is in such a state that it is preoccupied with itself and needs to sort out what is happening with it.
When with every day there are more and more destitute, and in developed countries, when all kinds of groups rise ready to destroy everything and everyone even for unknown and incomprehensible reasons, then the main historical currents and all kinds of ideological streams are being obscured.
Moreover, it happening everywhere and is developing more and more every day. What is happening in every country today is virally transmitted to other countries, which are having corresponding problems.
And it moves not only spontaneously, but also intentionally, with the help of all kinds of technologies. We know that. The world is moving toward a state where problems will be everywhere.
Through them, people will begin to understand each other more. And then it will nevertheless be easier for them to make decisions; everyone has the same disaster, the same problems. Each, based on what he feels inside himself, will understand the other better; otherwise, “the one who is full does not understand the hungry.”
By suffering from the same problems, we will no longer look down on each other, but from on our common problem. And although it is not common, but simply the same for everyone, based on this, we will think of it as a common problem, and this will unite us.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. The Land of Israel” 12/16/13
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Any receiver of a present is ashamed when receiving it due to the disparity of form from the Root since the root does not have that form of reception.
In order to correct this, He created this world where the soul comes and clothes a body. Through engagement in Torah and Mitzvot [commandments] in order to bring contentment to his Maker, the soul’s vessels of reception are inverted into vessels of bestowal (Baal HaSulam, The Study of the Ten Sefirot, Part 1, “Inner Observation,” Chapter 4, Item 20).
With the help of the mechanism of Torah and Mitzvot [commandments], we evoke the light upon ourselves, and it changes our intentions from reception to bestowal. This brings us closer to the Creator, and then shame disappears.
Question: Why?
Answer: If we become similar to Him, where would shame come from?
Question: But nevertheless, the Creator remains the giver and we are receivers. Why does shame disappear?
Answer: If you transform the will to receive into receiving for the sake of bestowal, then you become a giver, and you do not have any feeling of shame. On the contrary, you experience a feeling of pride.
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From KabTV’s “The Study of the Ten Sefirot (TES)” 12/4/22
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Question: Alexander writes: “There has been no good news at all in recent months. I can see from my family, relatives, and friends how they turn off empathy. They just do not look at anything, do not listen, and do not start conversations if they are dangerous for their peace of mind. And I understand them. A person cannot live in stress all the time. But if we stop worrying and empathizing, what do we become? What are we turning into? What will happen to us, to the world? Please explain.”
Answer: I think the world is beginning to see the light. The world is beginning to realize where it has driven itself or where it has allowed itself to be driven. And I think next year will be a year of real epiphany. The turning point. When even America and especially Europe will change.
Comment: Everyone is awaiting the next year with horror, with great fear.
My Response: On the contrary, I believe that this will be the year of awakening, the realization that there definitely cannot be a nuclear war. And there can be no war at all. We have already seen this, and we are seeing it now. In general, we have reached a good finale.
Question: But Alexander asks about empathy: will we lose it or will we not lose it? What will happen to it, to empathy?
Answer: No empathy is needed. We must just understand that we have to do everything to give the world the right idea of what is good and what is bad. Everyone should realize that no one has the right to raise their hand against each other. No one has the right to threaten with force. That is when we will see the real world.
Question: What feelings will prevail in humanity, in men, in this new world to which you are going? What will a person think about?
Answer: A person will think only about one thing: how to develop in the direction of good, how he can show kindness to everyone.
Comment: I want it so much! And it seems that it is so far away.
My Response: No. They will come to this, of course. We have nowhere to go. But we need to talk about it more. And try to make it come true faster.
Question: But this point of goodness, connection, and so on, can it awaken in a person in whom it did not exist? He, on the contrary, was completely different, he was a hawk. Can this point manifest itself in him?
Answer: He will get this feeling that this is the way humanity should live.
Question: Where does it come from to him—to such a person?
Answer: From the environment. Through the air.
Question: He will wake up one day, there will be a snap, and he will say: “How did I live?”
Answer: Yes. That there is no other way to live. That you can only live by giving, as it is no longer possible to prove to people that you will not achieve anything by “With a stick to happiness.”
Comment: It usually happens like this: when you try to pressure someone, humiliate someone, it comes back to you like a boomerang, and then a person starts to think. But you are saying that it is also possible in a different way. It is possible that there will suddenly be such a revolution in a person.
My Response: I think there is a very strong accumulation of all kinds of negative feelings in humanity, and they should eventually give their result.
Question: Will they change? Will they become the exact opposite?
Answer: Yes.
Comment: God willing!
My Response: We must have hope!
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 11/3/22
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Question: Why are family workshops or workshops for people who know each other well much stronger than for random people?
Answer: Because people who are interested and mutually connected take part in them. In such circles, there is a complex structure of relationships: between friends, between girlfriends, between spouses, also between interactions of couples, and between the general relationship in a group, in a community.
There are a lot of levels and different systems of relationships and styles; that is why it is very interesting. All this jumps from level to level: personal, family, social, and spiritual relationships, and so on.
We can see amazing combinations between the five degrees that exist in nature: animal, human, emotional, and so on, according to Maslow’s pyramid. Meaning both psychological and Kabbalistic.
Question: Is it worth letting people without a partner into such events?
Answer: No, then there will be no synergy, only with similarity so that everyone experiences the same opportunities.
Moreover, if you put several friendly couples with a couple who is in a bad relationship, you will see that it will come out of there like “God’s little dandelion.” The rest will show an example of their interaction so that they will have to get closer to each other.
I have seen it, how they come out holding hands and they could not look at each other before. And this happens literally in thirty to forty minutes.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Family Happiness” 12/7/13
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Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “Symbols of Tradition Becoming Symbols of Disobedience”
Traditional and religious holidays in Israel are usually times of national unity. These days, Israel is celebrating Hanukkah, a holiday whose essence is the triumph of the Jewish spirit of unity over the Hellenistic spirit of exalting the self. Yet, precisely now, prominent elements in Israel’s society, including the (still) incumbent prime minister, are calling for civil disobedience to protest the policy of the newly elected government before it has even been sworn in, and they are doing it by advancing displays of Christian symbols instead of, or more conspicuously than the Hanukkah Menorah. Despite being a primarily political initiative, this disobedience symbolizes the level of division spreading in the nation, and a divided Israel is a short-lived Israel.
Not only politicians and opinion leaders are pushing for prominence of Christian symbols over Hanukkah symbols in Israel. Santa Claus, elves, deer, and of course, the Christmas tree can be seen in some shopping malls in Israel, and no trace of the Menorah. Universities also place large Christmas trees at the entrance to some of the buildings, either with a small Menorah next to it, or with none at all. Even the Tel-Aviv municipality has asked visitors to its Facebook page which holiday they like better, Christmas or Hanukkah.
Having different political agendas and maintaining diversity of views are the essence of democracy. It is a precondition for the advancement and development of society. Countries that maintain diverse opinions thrive, while countries that allow only one narrative to dominate, whether from the Right or from the Left, become degenerate and sink.
In the case of Israel, diversity is not only a matter of evolution or devolution. For Israel, smothering diversity poses an existential threat.
The essence of the Israeli nation is unity above diversity. The ancient Israelites came from many nations, held different ideas about everything, and were very adamant people. When they came across Abraham’s teachings (or those of his descendants Isaac and Jacob), they learned that if they do not suppress other people’s views, but unite with them despite the differences, they form a bond that makes them stronger and wiser than any biological nation. When enough people had adopted that principle of uniting without suppressing disputes and disagreements, they became a nation, the nation of Israel.
When they were united, their differences complemented one another creating a tapestry of views that did not exist in any other nation. The unity that they had had to form in order to maintain their nationhood above such diversity had to be that much stronger than any other nation.
Nature, too, consists of complementary opposites; this is what makes creation harmonious and evolving. When the people of Israel were united, they were just like the rest of nature, harmonious and evolving, and that was the secret of the success of the ancient Israeli nation.
But when the people of Israel were not united, they immediately split back into the many nations from which they came. This is why when Israel are divided, they strive to assimilate among the nations and not remain Israelis or even Jewish.
However, Israel cannot afford to lose its unity and vanish altogether. The whole purpose of the existence of the Israeli nation is to demonstrate that unity above division is possible, and that it creates a thriving society. If people do not realize that diversity must be nurtured and embraced, they will be embroiled in eternal conflicts, and humanity will destroy itself.
If Israel does not practice unity above division, it disintegrates. At that time, the world hates the Jews for advancing conflict instead of peace. However, it does not blame us because we pit countries against each other, but because the fact that we do not present an alternative to conflict forces the world to engage in the only solution it sees: eternal war. And it blames Israel for it.
Only when Israelis learn that their challengers from within are not their enemies, but their partners to the task of setting an example, they will be able to unite above their contradictions. Until then, Israel and the world can only expect strife and conflict to keep building up.*
*For more on this topic, read my books The Jewish Choice: Unity or Anti-Semitism, and Like a Bundle of Reeds.
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In the News (This Is Finland): “‘Finnish Reading Dogs Help Kids Learn and Grow’
“’Reading dogs’ are no ordinary canines. Reading out loud to a dog can give kids confidence, improve their skills and contribute to their creativity. …
“Reading to a dog can be a highly rewarding experience for kids in need of reading practice. ‘The idea is to encourage children with reading difficulties to read aloud,’ …. ‘Dogs will listen contentedly to a child, not caring if the reader makes mistakes or only reads slowly.’
“Kids who read to dogs experience a sense of fulfilment that boosts the children’s self-esteem and encourages them to pick up books more readily in future. …
“’Some children may normally be hyperactive in the classroom, but when they read to a dog, they calm down,’ she says. ‘They understand that they are the ones in control of the situation, and that they must consider the needs of the listener. They also learn to be empathic and interactive. And when they read carefully, they notice that they can actually read quite well after all.’”
My Response: Of course.
Question: Other countries are now adopting this.
How can we become like these dogs—tolerant of the mistakes of others?
Answer: No, this is very difficult. Only animals can do that. Animals have much more patience compared to us.
Question: What is stopping us? After all, we are intolerant even of our loved ones.
Answer: Egoistic desires!
There is inanimate, vegetative, animate, and human nature. The difference between animate and human nature is huge, and therefore a person has such desires and passions that cannot be compared with animals. An animal just stands on the side of the road. Cows graze.
Question: Why was this point of impatience, this evil, embedded in us?
Answer: In order for us to do a lot in our lifetime. For us to raise this desire even more, higher and higher, up to the level of the Creator.
Question: What desire?
Answer: Desire for everything.
Question: To raise all these egoistic desires to the Creator?
Answer: Yes.
Question: What is the highest desire? To what extent will we grow from this point of impatience for others?
Answer: To want the Creator with the greatest passion.
Question: Does He want this?
Answer: Yes, that is exactly what He wants.
Question: Does He want us to have a passion for Him?
Answer: Yes. “Return, O children of Israel, to the Lord Your God.”
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 12/1/22
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Question: It is said that the Creator has prepared the application of efforts in the Torah and the commandments for us in this world to turn the desire to receive into the desire to bestow. How can we understand this?
Answer: There is a tool with which we can change ourselves from receivers to givers so that we strive to give to another, and not receive from him. This is due to the influence of the Torah and the commandments on us.
The Torah and the commandments are a mechanism that affects us and changes us from recipients to bestowers.
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From KabTV’s “The Study of the Ten Sefirot (TES)” 12/4/22
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