Audio Version Of The Blog – 12/10/23
Posted on December 10th, 2023
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Question: I would like to find out the spiritual action of the “thief and robber.” The ten has a diary in which everyone should take notes. Some friends keep records and some do not. Is there a concept of “thief and robber” in this action?
Answer: Yes, if you have agreed to keep a group diary every day and disclose your inner goals, then someone who ignores this cannot be considered a member of the ten. That is very important.
We are already approaching the point where we can make records like this. You do not have to show them to anyone except your friends from the ten. They are intended for internal use, and only need to record what is new that has opened up to your hearts.
That will help you better understand yourself, get closer to your friends, and advance quickly. After all, we take a step forward only after our step toward each other.
Question: How do I write so as not to offend a friend?
Answer: There can be no hard feelings here. You have to be very honest with each other. If you are not yet ready to write openly, do not take it up or each write for yourself. After a few weeks, you may want to keep records in a general diary. But everything needs to be stated very clearly and concisely.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/30/23, Writings of Rabash “Should One Sin and Be Guilty“
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Michael Laitman on the Times of Israel: “Who Is the Biggest Enemy of Israel?”
There is currently widespread sympathy for Palestinians, which in many cases leads to a one-sided stance against Israel. Several countries have taken drastic steps: some have recalled their ambassadors, while certain large websites in China have gone as far as erasing Israel from maps. In Columbia, there were celebrations staged in support of Hamas. There are even instances like Spain announcing a solidarity strike in their education system for Gaza. After an immense display of support for Israel following the tragic attacks on October 7, how did the tide turn so quickly?
Hatred spreads effortlessly. This trend was not unforeseen; it was brewing beneath the surface. The current actions against Israel in several nations thus come as no surprise.
The question on the lips of many Israelis and Israel supporters is indeed how can this negative perception be altered? The answer is in our own attitudes toward each other.
On the surface, the protests against Israel are in relation to Israel’s offensive in Gaza. However, it is not the core reason. They awaken in such a way because of our inadequate treatment of each other.
Something is stirring within them, an awakening not of earthly origin but seemingly from the heavens. It is a call for us, as Jews, to unite, to stand as brothers, to draw closer together.
If we manage to come together, our unity will resonate and calm the opposing forces incited against us. It is not a battle of “us versus them.” It is rather a battle of us against a higher force that seeks our unity.
This higher force, in its intricate plan, desires for us to come together like a single family. If we make no moves in this unifying direction, then adversaries appear as instruments through which the higher force tries to convey this message to us.
One way or another, we will need to realize our unity. The conflict we face is not solely with external threats like terrorists. It is an internal struggle, a battle against our own discord.
Therefore, while we are at war, we need to proceed with what is necessary on the ground. Yet, concurrently, we should focus on harnessing all of our energies to combat anything that divides the people of Israel.
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Michael Laitman on the Times of Israel: “How Can Israel Sustain its Newfound Unity after a Year of Division?”
Since the October 7 attack, we are not expressing hatred toward each other because our pain is much greater. But we are not far from how things were before October 7. We could return to that previous state in a matter of days.
It is also important to note that our divisiveness throughout the year weakened us and strengthened those who wished to attack us. A captured Hamas terrorist who participated in the October 7 attacks stated how the ongoing protests and demonstrations in Israel encouraged Hamas during their preparations for the attack.
When outside influences that pressure the formation of our unity move away, internal feelings of hatred resurface. We might believe that coming closer during tough times lets us develop while maintaining that closeness. However, this idea is incorrect.
We need to undergo a reset and rebuild our unity from scratch, without external pressure dictating our actions but out of our own choice to live in a common connection to each other, with a spirit of unity, support, care, encouragement and closeness dwelling in our relations.
When we are in a conflict of opinions, we need to equally respect those who we are against, acknowledging that they might also be right and have their own opinions, and that their opinions represent other people and citizens. Thus, we indeed should take heed to treat each other with more kindness.
Unity means that we are ready to set aside our own opinions in order to unite with others.
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Question: When a person feels emptiness and internally and almost unconsciously screams to the Creator, how does his request turn into a conscious, clear, vivid appeal?
Answer: A person must constantly seek connection with the Creator. Even in a state in which there is no Creator, he must try to find Him, ask Him to reveal Himself to him, and fill this emptiness. The Creator specifically creates such sensations in us so that we demand His revelation.
Question: Do we need to work out some kind of intolerance to emptiness within ourselves?
Answer: Yes. Every minute of our lives, we must check ourselves on what we spent it: is it getting closer to our friends, getting closer to the Creator? We must asses what we have achieved or what we are trying to achieve.
If we follow this direction, we will always have a clear idea of how the Creator works in us, especially when He creates an emptiness that He offers to fill with Himself.
That is a place to accelerate and a place to make an effort. There can be no neutral states here.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/28/23, Writings of Baal HaSulam “A Pomegranate“
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Question: You said that I should yearn for the Creator not out of the desire to adhere to Him but from the desire to bestow to Him. How can I draw such a boundary internally in order to really yearn to bestow to Him?
Answer: You can generate and develop this desire in you only if you work together with the group. Envy, lust, and honor, this is what you should have here.
Question: What does it mean that I have a desire to bestow to Him and not to adhere to Him?
Answer: To bestow means to be in contact with the Creator. As He is to you so you are to Him.
Adhesion is a passive action while mutual bestowal is an active one.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah lesson 11/28/23, Writings of Rabash “What Is, ‘An Ox Knows Its Owner, etc., Israel Does Not Know,’ in the Work?“
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Question: How can we hate evil on one hand, and on the other hand be happy working with it? How can we combine these two opposite feelings?
Answer: These feelings can be combined perfectly. You will see how evil and good help to recognize each other and increase each other.
Although it seems to us that they are ready to destroy each other, in fact, evil brings out good, and good reveals even greater evil, and thus helps a person hate evil and love good.
Question: How important is it to hate evil? Is it enough to understand that you need to move away from evil?
Answer: No, this is not just a calculation in the head, but a feeling in the heart. Both love and hate, should be felt in the heart.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/21/23, Writings of Baal HaSulam “A Transgression Does Not Extinguish a Mitzva“
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Question: Is it necessary to cause a spiritual craving for adhesion with the Creator?
Answer: Absolutely! But you can only receive it from the friends by looking at them, hearing them, and envying them.
Question: We are supposed to work in joy and gratitude. So why do the sources say: “As is the sorrow, so is the reward”? Why do we have to go through states of suffering again and again?
Answer: It depends on what we consider suffering. If moving away from the Creator even for one minute is perceived by us as suffering, then this quickly brings our thoughts back to the Creator.
Question: How can I not enjoy for my own sake while eating a meal, but bring contentment to the Host?
Answer: Show the host how much you enjoy His food, appreciate the meal, and feel the tastes in each dish so He really receives pleasure from your joy.
Question: We work so much in the ten. Why do we always lose what the Creator gives us?
Answer: We cannot establish the correct connection between us and keep what we receive from the Creator. Therefore, it disappears.
Question: You tell us not to think about the bad. What if these thoughts have become very intrusive, like an annoying fly, to the point of exiting the ten? What can be done in this state?
Answer: Work on yourself. Consider yourself your own enemy.
Question: You say we need to be close but without opening our hearts. What does being close to each other mean?
Answer: Do not open your hearts so as not to interfere with each other. Think about how you can be close without interfering with each other.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/24/23, Writings of Baal HaSulam “Labored and Did Not Find? Do Not Believe“
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Question: In one of the comments to the “Preface of The Book of Zohar” you explained: “In fact, the night is full of light, and only we are not able to see at night. We lack the light of love, the light of bestowal—Hasadim, so, to see it.” How should we understand this?
Answer: Very simply, if we had the qualities of bestowal in us and if we wanted to get closer to each other and to the Creator, then we would light up the darkness of the night with our striving and it would shine.
We see only darkness in our relationship, not light. We do not enjoy giving and caring for each other, but enjoy using one another.
Therefore, our method is to correct the state of darkness where I feel very bad bestowing to others and to turn the night into day.
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From KabTV’s “Introduction of The Book of Zohar” 11/12/23
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The Egyptians despised the food of the Hebrews, since all the bread of the Hebrews, meaning their nourishment, was in order to bestow, and to the Egyptians, all the bread is evil-eyed, namely to receive (Rabash, article No. 13 “What Is the “Bread of an Evil-Eyed Man” in the Work?“).
Question: How can we share the bread of bestowal in dissemination and how can we impress our surroundings?
Answer: Unfortunately you will not delight the external environment with this. They do not have those spiritual roots, and they will not understand you.
With a person who has no connection with the Creator, with spirituality, nothing can be done. And for those who have a connection, you should bring them closer to you, and include them in your work on connection, and from this, they will begin to understand what it means to be closer to each other.
Question: How can we understand and feel that spiritual work is a reward?
Answer: You can verify this only by working in a group.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/24/23, Writings of Rabash “What Is the “Bread of an Evil-Eyed Man” in the Work?“
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