Audio Version Of The Blog – 4/25/26
Posted on April 25th, 2026
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Question: The national anthem of Israel, called “The Hope” (Hatikva), contains the following lines: “Our hope is not yet lost, the hope that has lived for two thousand years: to be a free people in our land.” What does it mean to be a free people?
Answer: Genuine independence does not mean having the possibility to do whatever I want without considering anyone. We exist within the framework of nature in which two forces operate. The general force of nature is positive and giving; it created the entire world and it created the second force in opposition to itself: the negative, egoistic force.
It is precisely between these two forces that the created being can exist and feel itself as independent. The positive and negative forces rule over us, and therefore are considered the upper forces of nature. A person who is between them possesses freedom of choice as to which force to join.
This is called the middle line, when I know the positive and the negative forces, and freely choose which of them to regard as good and evil and which force will rule.
At the very moment I establish balance between these two forces, as if on the pans of a scale, I can be considered independent. For now neither the good nor the evil force, neither plus nor minus, is acting on me, and I myself determine the middle line.
Freedom is the dream of all nations, of all humanity, of all creation. It is only for the sake of striving for freedom that all electrons move, trees grow, flowers bloom, and beasts roam the forest in constant search.
People, animals, plants, and even stones all seek to attain such a balance that nothing will press upon them. Only then can one feel oneself living freely.
Of all the created beings—inanimate, vegetative, animate, and human—only the people of Israel have the key to this freedom and balance, that is, to independence. This is the key to that point toward which all parts of creation are directed.
This key is found in Kabbalah, in the inner part of the Torah. The people of Israel are capable of taking this key and, with its help, finding the equilibrium desired by all, the zero mark on the scale, in order to feel themselves independent and to show this path to all humanity.
Then the people of Israel will reach their proper realization. For this the state of Israel was created, and this is exactly what all the nations of the world are waiting for from us. And if we do not bring them this feeling of independence and freedom, this feeling of balance, then they feel their sharp dependence on us, and therefore hate the Jews and accuse us of hiding the possibility of a happy life from them .
Therefore the independence of the people of Israel is the basis of objective, true, and complete independence. And all other forms of independence that exist among the nations and among all other parts of nature depend on the people of Israel. We must understand to what extent the realization of our true freedom lies in our hands and obligates us to attain it for the sake of everyone.
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From KabTV’s conversation “New Life 551 – What Is True Independence?,” 4/12/15
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A person is born and exists in this world in order to attain independence from his nature, to break away from the inanimate level, from the desire to enjoy, and to build a form opposite to it.
This is what it means to become independent of the previous degree. The next degree does not exist in a ready‑made form that one can see and study to take an example from. There is no one for us to imitate. We can only strive for opposite qualities, and in this way we will build the next degree.
Each time desires and thoughts change and grow, and a person can work in order to build himself as independent of them. He develops more and more on the animate degree. This is no longer the simple animal he was born as. More and more egoism, the evil inclination, is revealed in him. But the evil was created so that above it we would build the opposite, spiritual degree, the good inclination, the human.
The human degree is characterized by the fact that it demands connection with others, in contrast to the animate degree where everyone feels himself ever more separate and distant from others. And at the same time, on the animate level it seems to him that by distancing himself from everyone he attains independence.
But in order to build myself on the human degree, I must annul myself and connect with everyone. And the question arises: where then is independence here? On the contrary, I neglect myself for the sake of others. This is the complete opposite.
We must realize how insignificant the animate independence to which we strive by the orders of nature is. And independence on the human degree is the striving to carry out the instructions of the higher force. We build our likeness to the higher to the extent that we can rise above our animate nature.
It is said: “Man and beast You save, O Creator.” Both these degrees rise, support one another, and together build independence from nature, from the desire to enjoy. In this way we attain the goal of creation, for the sake of which the Creator creates everything with an egoistic desire—so that above it we will build the human degree, Adam, similar to the Creator, in adhesion, in mutual support, in connection between all desires.
Everything that Baal HaSulam said about the people of Israel almost a hundred years ago is relevant even today. We really are like “nuts in a sack” because we hold together by compulsion, under the influence of external negative forces. No one knows the great mission of this people, which still has to be revealed. And therefore we envy all the other peoples who have the right to exist on their own land, which no one disputes.
But the Jews are such a special people to whom no other people in the world relates positively. This is a special phenomenon. And the people of Israel themselves, within themselves, are not able to unite naturally; they feel inner disunity.
And even non‑Jews in whom the point in the heart has awakened, the aspiration to connect with the higher force, which brings them to the study of Kabbalah, also reveal how different and far from each other they are. They have no desire to come closer to others.
It does not matter to which people they belong in the material world, but as soon as they unite in a group engaged in spiritual advancement, they immediately become similar to the people of Israel: just as disunited. Each group is like a sack of nuts, which grind against one another, and do not want to unite.
This is a manifestation of the same nature, both in the people of Israel and in Kabbalistic groups all over the world who wish to draw closer to the Creator. From this it is clear that the Jews are not a people, but also, in the past, a group of Kabbalists. Once they were on a spiritual degree, and were able to overcome separation and unite. Later they fell from this height, and now exist in an opposite form.
We must study our spiritual state from its opposite, which exists today. For the further we develop and try to be together, the worse we succeed at it. But we must rejoice that the evil is being revealed, our true nature. This nature is not an ordinary one; it is much worse than that of all other peoples because it comes from the breaking.
All the others have an ordinary, animate nature that strives for material well‑being for their body. But the people of Israel, by their attempts to unite and by studying Kabbalah, consciously or unconsciously awaken the upper light that returns to the source, and in this way they reveal the breaking, the absence of unity, of spirituality. And therefore anti‑spiritual qualities that are opposite to the Creator are revealed in us.
We must clarify and understand them, and relate to them with great respect because it is precisely above these consequences of the breaking, of corruption, of separation from the spiritual and from unity that we must build the corrected state. All these states that are opposite to unity and correction, as well as those that support unity, belong to the human degree. Therefore we must value them and work on them.
Correction relates only to the human degree. It demands our unity and closeness in opinions and sensations. Although no one gives up his opinion and feelings, the connection takes place above them, into “one man with one heart,” as in the first man, Adam HaRishon. The last, finally corrected man will be the same. The revelation of the past breaking points to the future correction.
Therefore today we are a special group, a new people, the people of the Creator, who are trying to revive themselves from the dust.
There are nations—that is, such desires to enjoy—that are united on the animate degree. They feel closeness and understanding according to their material qualities, and therefore they feel good together. Each one feels that it is worthwhile for him to belong to this group, to his people.
There are 70 such nations of the world, groups, each of which is characterized by its own spirit, degree of unity, level of existence, character, and physical genes. People naturally feel their belonging to one of the groups. Even if hatred arises between them, it is purely material, and does not relate to the spiritual.
But at the same time a group can exist on a higher degree, thanks to unification by a special goal. This goal is not natural, it is above material nature: to unite above one’s egoism. Here two opposites combine.
On the one hand, there is a negative connection between them because no one feels himself obliged to this group or bound to it. But on the other hand, they are united by a goal that is set artificially.
The common goal creates a common space for them because only by uniting together can they attain this exalted, lofty goal. And then they will be called a special people, not according to material DNA, but according to the spiritual genes (Reshimot) awakening in them.
Such a group, by attaining a new type of unity in contrast to the natural, material separation, is called the people of Israel (Yisra‑El) because it wants to become similar to the Creator (Yashar‑Kel), the higher force. It already possesses a new nature, a new essence.
From generation to generation it attempts to attain the higher force, and for this to create a method, to establish traditions in accordance with the higher force—holidays, special days, physical commandments in accordance with its spiritual attainment.
That is, a unity is formed according to spiritual laws. In history there appears a group of people who establish laws and traditions for themselves in accordance with the higher source.
Every people has its own traditions, but the traditions of the people of Israel correspond to spiritual degrees that were either attained in the past or designated for the future as “a sign for the sons.” These traditions remind a person of the spiritual degrees that he has yet to attain.
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From Daily Kabbalah Lesson on 5/9/19, “Independence Day”
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The ladder of spiritual attainment is within us, whereas my present degree exists externally. In addition, inside me are layers, much like those of an onion that represent increasingly inner states. Each such sphere constitutes a world, a new state, and a higher degree.
Starting from the outermost sphere (which is currently revealed to me and constitutes my present state), all the spheres are nested one within another, ever deeper and deeper, up to the innermost central point, the state of my final correction.
Therefore the Torah recounts the story of the ladder that appeared to Jacob in a dream that depicted its specific form. It is described precisely as a ladder, not as some spheres or other form, although it could have been described that way too. The sages chose to represent this specific state because it corresponds to the relationship between the branch and the root.
Jacob lies on the ground, falls asleep, disconnects from his current reality, and then he sees, the entire ladder rising to the very heavens beginning from the lowest rung. Who is Jacob? He is Abraham, who acquired the Aviut of Isaac and now is able to work with it in the middle line.
This simple picture can be given to everyone; it explains that the only way to transcend one’s present state it to rise to a higher degree. The higher you rise, the better it will be for you. This applies both to us personally and to the entire nation. By what means can this be done? This is what Baal HaSulam explains at the end of the “Preface to The Book of Zohar.” The means is one and the same for the individual, for the entire people, and for the whole world.
And we should not be resent that the Creator placed us in such harsh conditions. Terrible reports are broadcast on television, but has this stirred anyone from their place? No.
One can say, of course, that these unfortunate people simply do not know that there is such a solution to the problem, that no one has explained it to them. First of all we must accept that these Kelim, these states, come to us from above, that they are sent to us by the Creator. And then, in light of this knowledge, a person gradually begins to reveal a possible way out and to understand that, apparently, since the cause lies with Him, then the solution must also be in Him.
In the days of King David there were wars. At that time, they battled hand‑to‑hand, with spears, swords, and bows and arrows, and up to 100,000 people could die in a single day! War is war. Everything depends on how one looks at it.
Of course, for us in this world every killing is a tragedy. But we must understand that above they do not take bodies into account the way we do. From above, the reckoning centers on the intensity of the inner experience one undergoes through that body. If we lose 40 people in a week and this does not shifte our consciousness, then it is as if we have not lost anyone at all.
For what is measured is the degree of your grief, how it awakens you, what the results are; and if it has not awakened you, then it is as though you have lost nothing, as though you have felt nothing. The real system of evaluation is very strict.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/7/26, Rabash, “The Connection Between Passover, Matza, and Maror”
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What is the difference between wanting to receive something good right now in the state I am in and believing it would be better for me if I were to rise to a higher state, to a higher degree? How does the awareness of this difference arise in me at all?
The most essential difference is whether I understand that only by drawing closer to the Creator will I feel good. It is precisely this that we must acquire now.
A person needs to picture a spiritual ladder that raises him from this world to the final correction and to understand that all the rungs are in a constant, stable state. Each rung has its own conditions.
The conditions in which a person is now are bad only because such is the nature of this rung. And accordingly, nothing good can be for him now. Rising to the next rung means being saved from the bad that exists on the previous one.
Then he will already be thinking about how to rise from rung to rung, how to draw the surrounding light, and for this he needs to study and believe that it will help him, and at the same time, seek the support of the group.
Therefore we must diligently study the method of Kabbalah. Without it we might be tempted to define the spiritual ladder merely as a series of inner states within a person rather some structure that rests on this earth and reaches heaven. We must conclude that it consists entirely of my own inner states.
But if I think like this, I can lose all the necessary vital prerequisites: the necessity of drawing the surrounding light, the indispensable need for a group, and the imperative to strive upward in order to draw closer to the Creator. I would no longer have a sharp, clear understanding; instead everything would become vague and indistinct.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/7/26, Rabash, “The Connection between Passover, Matza, and Maror”
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Comment: When someone asks you a question via Skype or in person, that is one kind of energy. But when a crowd is sitting in front of you and they ask you a question, it is a completely different energy, as if piercing needles or a crushing weight.
My Response: Of course, because it is an enormous force, an enormous desire. How can the egoism of one small, insignificant little person be compared with the egoism of such a vast, base, egoistic mass as my students at the lesson?
On one hand, they are coarser, more disillusioned, more empty, and on the other hand, are intensely directed toward the goal. Ultimately these forces combine and reinforce each other.
And most importantly, the questions are asked collectively; all the vectors of desires converge and intertwine.
Naturally, this is a completely different kind of clarification. How can one person be compared with the masses? Next to them, you are an angel.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. Questions in a Lesson” 9/29/10
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We cannot rise above what we feel. If we feel a world full of suffering, it means that we ourselves are actually like that. And inside, we do not really want to see the world differently. We actually want it to stay that way.
Question: So do we want this suffering?
Answer: Yes, we are used to it, we are in it. And this is the problem.
Comment: But this is actually an anti-life.
My Response: That is where we are.
Question: We are not living, are we?
Answer: We are not.
Comment: This is a total revolution—us wanting suffering.
My Response: Our whole history, of all people in general, is just a continuous
stream of suffering.
Comment: But we think we have been led into this. It is even written in the Torah: “Go and suffer.” By and large, it says that you will suffer. That is, we do not attribute it to ourselves; it is not us who want it, we have been launched into this cycle of suffering. It is not our fault. But you say that it lives in us.
My Response: I think it is our fault. We do not wish to rise from this level. We do not want to!
Question: So the whole task is to want to?
Answer: To want to turn it all around, to get out of this knot of suffering.
Question: What should one do to achieve this?
Answer: To achieve this, a person must stop hating others and bring himself closer to them. Then everything will change. I think we just need to forbid people from suffering, because doing so causes suffering in the world. Wake up and sing!
Question: “Wake up and sing.” That is, if it hurts you, wake up and sing. That very song: “Wake up and sing, try it for once in your life…”?
Answer: Yes.
Question: What should we figure out? What is in front of us? What is it?
Answer: The Creator! Nothing else! He makes such scenes and visions for us all the time so that we are constantly afraid and so that we would gradually come to understand these mirages.
Question: So, my desire for suffering should transition into the fact that before me is a…?
Answer: A mirage.
Question: And I have no right to suffer, you say?
Answer: No! As soon as you start suffering, it turns into some kind of corporeal actions or scenes.
Comment: Wars, and so on.
My Response: Yes. But if you do not allow suffering, everything gets better.
Question: And then I slowly begin to see the Creator?
Answer: Yes.
Question: When you say “the Creator,” what do you mean? What is before me, before us?
Answer: The force that controls the world, us, that wants to bring us to the realization of the right state of nature and ourselves.
Question: What is it?
Answer: Joy!
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman,” 3/13/26
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