Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “If We Do Not Recognize Jerusalem as Our Capital, Why Should Australia?”

This week, Australia’s center-left government reversed a decision by the previous, conservative ‎administration, to recognize West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Australia’s Foreign Minister, Penny Wong, said the city’s status should be decided through negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian people, and that Australia “will not support an approach that undermines” the chance of a two-state solution in which a Palestinian state exists alongside Israel.

Israel condemned the Australian government’s decision, and the Israeli Foreign Ministry has summoned the Australian envoy to lodge an official protest. But if we do not know what Jerusalem stands for or what its name means, can we expect others to recognize it as our capital?

I am not surprised that the new, left leaning government, reversed the previous decision, which was made by a conservative administration. These days, the Left is on the rise all over the world, and it has always been more antisemitic and anti-Israel than the Right.

Also, considering how Israel treated Donald Trump, perhaps Israel’s best friend since its founding, I think it is fair to say that we “had it coming.” If we do not appreciate our supporters, can we complain that our critics are emboldened?

Instead of reproving foreign ambassadors, we should focus on ourselves and do what we must do. The second part of the name Jeru-salem comes from the Hebrew word shalem (whole). Jerusalem should be a city of unity, where all Jews, of every culture, ethnicity, and denomination, come together in a celebration of unity. Jerusalem must be a symbol of unity. It will not be whole before we are whole inside, among ourselves.

In the days of the Second Temple, particularly during the 3rd century B.C., there was a period when Jerusalem was indeed a model of unity. At that time, people from all over the world flocked to it during times of celebration to derive inspiration and to learn how to unite. The book Sifrey Devarim writes that people would “go up to Jerusalem and see Israel … and say, ‘It is becoming to cling only to this nation.’”

Even Henry Ford, an otherwise rabid antisemite, advised his readers to learn from the Jews. In his compilation of antisemitic essays titled The International Jew: The World’s Foremost Problem, he wrote, “Modern reformers, who are constructing model social systems … would do well to look into the social system under which the early Jews were organized.”

When we begin to nurture our solidarity and cohesion, when we stop worrying about what this or that government does, we will discover that this is exactly what the world wants us to do, including our Arab neighbors. We will not resolve our conflict with our neighbors or the hatred from the world before we rise above the inner conflicts that divide us and stop hating one another.
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Question: Well-known psychologist Mikhail Labkovsky shares that shame is a discreet emotion, an emotion that a person tries to hide, and therefore it is toxic and harmful. He  gives the analogy of shame as a potted plant that given the constant feeding and fertilizing and resources a person gives it (the shame), it grows into a huge tree. He advises that you need to work with shame or it will consume your entire personality.

How can a person work with it?

Answer: Only the relationship between a person as a flower with other flowers, with other people, in mutual restriction, in mutual assistance, etc. will help everyone organically develop and collect a good flower bed.

Question: Where is the place for shame here?

Answer: It is inside between them. There is shame, pride, joy, sadness, and everything else.

Question: Should I relate to it somehow? What should I do with shame?

Answer: Manage it! If there were no shame, who would we be? We would be animals.

Shame is what distinguishes man from an animal. This is the difference between these two degrees. If I am not ashamed, then I am like an animal. It does not matter why and how.

Shame is from the fact that I am not like him, not so smart, etc. Shame is what keeps me from losing at least the degree I am at.

Question: Do I need to nourish it?

Answer: It is absolutely necessary. It is imperative to make sure that shame corresponds to the degree I want to rise to each time or it will not hold me.

Question: So, it turns out that it is shame that pushes me to this degree?

Answer: Yes, it is a restraining force and a pushing force. It restrains from falling and pushes to rise.

Question: Why do psychologists usually say don’t nourish it, crush it?

Answer: I don’t know. For them, there are qualities in nature that they consider negative. And for me, there are no negative qualities; they are all positive, and everything must be used correctly.

Question: So the correct sentence here would be, “We need to properly use this shame that exists”?

Answer: Of course!

Question: And to know that it is a positive quality?

Answer: Yes. I asked about it and talked about it a lot with my teacher Rabash. And he said that shame is a special creation of the Creator. A special invention of the Creator to make people ashamed. This is like an indicator for them that they are moving away from their path.

You imagine you have a compass guiding you to a goal that you cannot see, which is far away, and you are in the dark, in bad weather. How do you advance? Shame keeps you in place, you can always direct yourself to the Creator, and shame will help you in this. Neither to the right nor to the left, it will hold you.

Look at how a person even in our ordinary world can be so egoistic, pragmatic, rude, and so on. They are still trying to keep themselves relative to each other in some decent condition. It is a shame! Moreover, it is at every degree, at every moment. That is what keeps us going.

Can you imagine how different we are from animals! They have this state disabled altogether. They only act according to what makes them feel better at every moment. And we have another system enabled: how I behave and how I show myself to the outside.

And that is what sets us apart. This is what we call a human in us. Shame is what molds a person from an animal.

Comment: Nice, you have created such a monument to shame.

My Response: Therefore, we must use this in schools and in education to tell, explain, show, and psychologically develop a sense of shame in humanity.

There is none of this. On the contrary, the more shameless I am, I can brag about it, flaunt it, and it will be considered that I am special.

This is the difference between an intelligent upbringing, the correct approach to life, to the world, to people, and such a purely open, egoistic one.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 5/30/22

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The key to successful advancement is only to have patience and to not retreat. The Creator checks a person by conducting him through all kinds of states. He is forced to do this in order to properly polish us and make us ready for spiritual attainment.

Therefore, every day (or even several times a day) should be started as anew: despair and start again, and despair again. After all, one is impossible without the other. And so we are move forward no matter what.

Only those who fall—as it is said, “The righteous will fall a thousand times and rise”—will reach the limit when the Creator will say, “That’s enough, I’m revealing Myself to this person.” Just don’t back off, if you can’t, as much as you can; fall-rise; fall-rise. Like a baby, how many times does he fall until he learns to walk! That’s how we are.

Therefore, patience is needed. Life passes anyway, and there is nothing in it worth investing efforts in except to allow yourself to exist and realize the thought of creation.

We have already received a lucky opportunity. We were chosen by the Creator. So let’s continue to the end and let’s not despair.
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From a Conversation at the Unity Event “Unity Tent” 10/13/22

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Everything in life develops from a woman. Men find and conquer new lands, cross oceans, and discover new continents. But then a woman comes and so a settlement arises with houses, children appear, and land begins to be developed.

Therefore we, men, have passed a certain stage of the spiritual path, and then the time has come when women should join in to help us enter the spiritual land and settle in it. Let us hope that this year it will already be realized in practice.
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From a Conversation at the Unity Event “Unity Tent” 10/13/22

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The last day of Sukkot is dedicated to the guest of honor David, the correction of the Sefira Malchut. It is clear that all corrections are concentrated in and end in Malchut.

Malchut is the quintessence and the result of all corrections. Therefore King David, Malchut, signifies the end of the corrections of our soul when we all gather together under the roof of the Sukkah, under one screen, and receive the upper light from above, which is revealed in the corrected Kli.

Thus we reach the state when the entire upper light enters our Kli. Then comes the feast of the Joy of the Torah (Simchat Torah), when we receive the upper light no longer inside the Sukkah, not under the roof, but rather outside of it, and the upper light fills all of reality.

David symbolizes the general Kli, which is all created beings. On one hand it is a state of complete separation from the Creator, from the upper light. But on the other hand, in this state there is a complete work that brings us to adhesion with the upper force.

Therefore King David is woven from opposite forces, from contradictory qualities. If we talk about his spiritual work, his entire life was like this because he fought all the time. But at the same time he was the ruler, the King of Israel.

King David receives from the qualities of bestowal, from Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph. From the qualities of reception, from Isaac, that is, from overcoming, he takes Kelim in order to use them just to the extent that the qualities of Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph can be imprinted in them. This combination of forces takes place in David, and therefore he is called the King of Israel.

After all, Malchut accumulates and collects all the forces within itself and combines them in the correct form.

Therefore David had such a difficult life, as described in the Torah. He was constantly involved in various wars and problems and was forced to hide from enemies and haters. His life was not easy, but he corrected all of Malchut through this. The Messiah is called the son of David because he comes out of this quality.

As long as the people of Israel do not have a king, this means that they cannot build Malchut; that is, they cannot become similar to the Creator in the full measure. After all the King of Israel is that quality of similarity to the Creator that created beings form within themselves, within their connection.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/16/22, “Ushpizin David—Sefira Malchut“

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The Torah doesn’t really distinguish Aaron. He constantly accompanies Moses as if hiding in his shadow. Moses acts as a link between the Creator and the people, and Aaron stands beside him as his assistant, his brother.

From this story, the role of Aaron is not very clear. But just because it is not clear, it is apparently more hidden, which means that it is closer to a person, to you and me, and related to our work.

Aaron prepares the vessels, the connection of the people with the Creator. Moses comes from above, and Aaron comes from below, from the people, all the qualities of a person, the whole group, and the ten relative to the Creator. And that is why the role of Aaron does not stand out so much because a person has to add his work to it. Moses acts as the representative of the Creator before the people, and Aaron acts as the representative of the people before the Creator.

If I am in the power of the Creator (and there is none else besides Him), then I must always be satisfied, in any state. And if I am dissatisfied with something, it means that I am separated from the Creator. Therefore, I need to get back to the connection with Him, and a sign that I have this connection will be my joy from any state whatever it may be.

The quality of Aaron is the most important quality in a person. The qualities of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses are just preparation from above. And the quality of Aaron is our work from below, which we realize when we reach faith above reason, which is, mercy (Hesed), which is above all, bestowal, which is above any desire to enjoy.

To study the quality of Aaron means to accept him as a guest in our Sukkah. We want his quality to build our soul, the right connection between us. To clothe the quality of Hesed on all your inner qualities, which are called “the people of Israel,” means to do the work of Aaron, to adopt his quality on yourself, on all your desire to enjoy.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/7/20, “Sukkot”

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The fourth day of Sukkot is dedicated to the guest of honor (Ushpizin) Moses, the revelation of correction in the Sefira Netzach. There is no greater and closer person to us than Moses who brought the method of revealing the Creator and connection between the Creator and the created beings closer to us. That is why Moses is so dear and so important to us.

Moses is called the faithful shepherd. This is not just the force of faith or the force of overcoming but the force of care for the created beings on the part of the Creator that helps bring them to the final correction. Therefore, the entire Torah, which is intended to bring created beings into contact with the Creator, is called the Torah of Moses. This is his main concern, main work, and main purpose.

When we speak about Moses, we do not mean the physical person, but a symbol, a special quality, and the most important thing for us in accordance with the Creator’s program of governing the world. Therefore, it is so important for us to understand this quality and come closer to it.

Moses is like a shepherd accompanying the flock, a guide helping his people move correctly and confidently toward the goal. The common force that takes care of us, protects, guards, and consistently leads us to the goal with love and attention is the force of Moses, which is warm, loving, and caring.

All these forces that envelop us and pull us toward the purpose of creation are called the Torah. This is the upper light that comes to us, clothes in us, and fills each and every one of us together, like a shepherd who gathers his flock and leads it home.

The shepherd has a special mission to take the flock out of the house, bring it to a relatively dangerous place, and return it home in the evening. Due to the work of the shepherd, the herds are nurtured, grow, and multiply. The “faithful shepherd” is a leader of faith because every time his wards move away from home and then return home, thanks to these exits and returns, they gain more and more spiritual strength, more strength of faith that Moses cultivates in them.

Therefore, we need to see ourselves as such a congregation, ready to follow the force of Moses, which takes care of us. As a result of this, we are straightening up day by day and are getting filled with the force of faith above reason. This is the main thing we need, and we can acquire this faith mainly thanks to Moses.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/13/22, “Ushpizin Moses – Sefira Netzach“

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What is calmness?“

Calmness is a state where we feel comfortable, a state that is different for each person. For instance, some people are rampant, and if you try to calm them down, they might explode from the pressure. That is, their wildness is their calmness.

There are different types of people, such as choleric, sanguine and people who are naturally stressed or under pressure. Calmness is thus in relation to each individual. That we each feel comfortable in our current state means that we are calm. And we should understand that some people need high levels of activity in order to feel calm.

I had a friend who managed a theater. He dealt with frustration and pressure around the clock, but when there were periods when there were no requests to put on shows, he felt depressed. Therefore, definitions of calmness are completely personal. We also cannot examine such definitions by blood pressure or other physical measurements. Simply, each person feels calmness differently in their lives. But in short, when a person feels content with their life, they are calm.

A key paradox regarding calmness is that we generally regard calmness as a healthier state than stress, but life itself does not let us remain calm. This is because we shape our lives artificially, out of our ego. We wish to use other people and nature for our own personal benefit, and by doing so, we spoil each other’s lives, leading each other to anything but calmness. Therefore, realizing calmness throughout society today would require correcting the human ego en masse.

Based on the video “What Is Calmness?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Preparation to the Lesson

Lesson on the Topic “On the Verge of Lishma“

Writings of Baal HaSulam “Gatehouse of Intentions”

Selected Highlights

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All the worlds are in the place of that space that has been restricted (Baal HaSulam, The Study of the Ten Sefirot, Part 1, “Restriction and Line,” Chapter 2).

The fact is that the light that comes from the Creator to the creation, that is, to the desire to enjoy, to receive, and to be filled, which was created by the Creator, saturates this desire.

The creation, filled with light and the feeling that shows how opposite it is to the Creator, restricts its desire to receive. This is why the separation between the Creator and the creation takes place.

Kabbalists write that the light that emanates from the Creator, i.e., the upper force, created a desire that was filled with light, then felt in itself how opposite it is to the quality of light and restricted itself to a point. This is the state of the first restriction.

Comment: This, in principle, is similar to the way our universe developed. Scientists say that it was compressed into one point and then an explosion happened.

My Response: ​​Yes. We are yet to see what degrees of development exist here.
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From KabTV’s “The Study of the Ten Sefirot (TES)” 10/2/22

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