Question: I understand that it is necessary to annul yourself. And what if one of the friends criticizes and continues to do so? This complicates the work. What should we do?

Answer: We must understand that nothing happens in vain. If there is a person in the group who does not yet accept this, show him or her an example of how you annul in front of each other.

Awaken envy in him of how connected you are with each other, understand each other, how close you are to each other so that he sees it from the side, in his egoism. And then he will understand that he has no other way, that he must also annul himself like everyone else.

Play on egoistic properties. Our egoism is created in such a way that we can—with its help—re-educate it into altruism, because it is envious, looks at others, wants to be better than others, higher, stronger, and so on. Egoism can be played with.
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From the International Convention “Rising Above Ourselves” 1/7/22, “Annulling before the Friends” Lesson 2

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Question: Some biologists claim that the purpose of research is to understand the program of life. What is the real program of life according to the wisdom of Kabbalah?

Answer: The program of life is to enable every level of nature to gradually develop from one level to another and to reach the highest level on the evolutionary ladder until the human level, the level of Adam (Man), who resembles the upper force. The animate level in him doesn’t change in its essence, but the human level in him develops so that he becomes like the upper force. He only resembles (Domeh) the upper force, which is why he is called Adam.

This means that a person doesn’t become the upper force, the Creator, but only becomes similar to the upper force, becomes a partner in his attitude, including the levels of nature inanimate, vegetative, and animate. A person cannot ascend above the human level. He can only acquire the attribute of bestowal from the upper force, which means that he develops this quality in his intention but not in his actual nature.
From KabTV’s “Conversation with Journalists” 12/2/21

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Question: Are there any means to reveal the Creator besides love for one’s neighbor?

Answer: No, because love is His only property.

Question: There is nothing simpler?

Answer: Simpler? I don’t know what could be simpler than love.

Comment: But love for one’s neighbor is not easy.

My Response: Of course. Therefore this is how it was created: love and hate. We hate each other and are distant from each other. As soon as we begin to engage in rapprochement, we immediately begin to reveal it.

This is all our work: to get closer to others through mutual feelings, mutual influence, and mutual assistance until we begin to feel such a force of attraction and reciprocity between us called the “Creator.”
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 12/14/21

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “When will the world become disease free?“

It is impossible to rid ourselves of disease without correcting our egoistic attitudes to each other.

Diseases are demonstrations of our inner egoistic attitudes toward each other, which is our very nature that we cannot escape. In other words, diseases are external expressions of our inner problems that exist on a spiritual level, which is why no technological or medical innovations will be able to make them disappear.

We find and create Band-Aid solutions to diseases, cosmetic fixes, that ultimately fail to make us happier or healthier. Even if we had pills that would prolong our lives, we would not find happiness by doing so.

Until we heal our core problem by correcting our egoistic attitudes to each other by inverting them to their opposite altruistic form, then we will achieve nothing positive in its outward appearance.

Based on KabTV’s “Close-Up: Anamnesis” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on February 19, 2010. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Preparation to the Lesson

Lesson on the Topic: “Faith Above Reason,” Lesson 4

Writings of Baal HaSulam “The Peace,” Lesson 5 

Selected Highlights 

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My new article on Linkedin “Texas Synagogue Siege: Still Something to Pray For”

Explosions and gunfire were heard before the 10-hour hostage ordeal at Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville, Texas ended. Four hostages were released unharmed in yet another attack by a gunman on an American synagogue, which is happening with greater frequency in recent years. Although the standoff ended safely, this time, with the FBI Hostage Rescue Team freeing the rabbi and his congregants, the Jewish people will need to activate special forces from their unity and solidarity to be safe in their places of worship and everywhere else.

Unfortunately, the threat will not stop and fears will only increase. The trend of Jew-hatred has not changed for centuries, it is only getting stronger, especially in America. Every antisemitic incident, small or large, should remind us that there is an eternal reason for this phenomenon that needs to be investigated.

“Prayers answered,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted after law enforcement stormed the synagogue to free the hostages of a gunman who had disrupted a service to demand the release of a convicted terrorist. The incident is a powerful reminder that Jews cannot even feel safe in their places of worship. Although the motives were different, the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh in October 2018 and Poway Synagogue in California in April 2019 were both struck by deadly attacks while Jewish congregations were praying.

Since then, Jewish institutions have tightened security measures, but this does not seem to be enough. In coordination with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Jewish Federations of North America announced a $54 million plan to install secure doors and surveillance cameras and hire security personnel at Jewish organizations, schools and synagogues.

Unfortunately, the threat will not stop and fears will only increase. The trend of Jew-hatred has not changed for centuries, it is only getting stronger, especially in America. Every antisemitic incident, small or large, should remind us that there is an eternal reason for this phenomenon that needs to be investigated.

Antisemitism is a strong and deep feeling of hatred towards Jews, a natural and burning feeling that cannot be dimmed in any way. Our attackers see in us, the Jews, the causes of all human suffering, and it is rooted in nature.

All of humanity is connected in one network, in an integral natural system within which the people of Israel are the innermost part; it is a small nation that reflects within it all of humanity. Rav Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam), wrote in his Introduction to the Book of Zohar: “Bear in mind that in everything there is internality and externality. In the world in general, Israel, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, are considered the internality of the world.”

That internal force can be activated in the Jewish people through our connection. It is what the nations of the world subconsciously want from us and it is what dwells deep within as the core reason behind every expression of antisemitism.

Rav Abraham Isaac Kook also emphasizes the importance of our role in his writings Orot (Lights): “Israel is the essence of all existence, and you have no movement in the world, in all nations, which you will not find in Israel.”

When we are divided and in conflict with each other, with every Jew praying his or her own prayer, we ourselves awaken the spirits of hatred against us. Conversely, when we connect with each other, we awaken a positive force that spreads in a unique and hidden way in the integral system of nature so that we neutralize hatred and bring peace and tranquility to the world.

This time “our prayers were answered.” In order to prevent the next catastrophe, we must multiply the connection of good and friendly relations so that a common desire and prayer will crystallize between us, the Jews of the whole world. As it is written, “The genuine movement of the Israeli soul at its grandest is expressed only by its sacred, eternal force, which flows within its spirit.” Rav Kook, (Letters of the RAAIAH 3)
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If we knew how much we lose because we do not have the will to bestow, we would yearn for it egoistically and would search for where to buy the will to bestow in order to profit from it and succeed in life. Therefore, the fulfillment that can be reached through bestowal is concealed from us. Otherwise, we would be chasing it egoistically like a thief who runs ahead of everyone and shouts: “Catch the thief!” In this case, the egoistic desire would never leave us but would run with us to spiritual pleasures.

However, since spiritual pleasures are opposite of corporeal ones, they do not seem attractive to our egoism and this prevents us from reaching them. It turns out that we have to work against our will as if swimming against the current.

The current along which we are trying to swim is the will to bestow, and it does not allow us to move forward with our egoistic intentions. What should we do? We should ask for help from the Creator because from Him comes both the will to receive and the will to bestow. He is the source of both of them.

Therefore, we ask Him to let us feel the great importance of the will to bestow to such an extent that gradually we will stop feeling the will to receive as an obstacle.

And even vice versa, after we make a restriction on our egoism, psychologically ceasing to perceive reception as something good, we begin to turn reception into bestowal.

It turns out that the more I receive, but in order to bestow, the more I gain. After all, I begin to perform actions of bestowal like the Creator.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/12/22, “The Most Important Is the Prayer”

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Question: How can we annul ourselves before the ten if we are part of it?

Answer: So, annul, each one in relation to the others; without this, nothing will happen. You can, of course, continue to be a part of our large international group, but nothing will happen.

All in all, you must realize that there is no spiritual correction except by replacing our animal egoism with a spiritual property, which is the property of bestowal, connection, and love.

Question: Should every desire that appears in us be reduced to zero?

Answer: There is no need to bring anything to zero. We cannot do anything with desires, they are our essence. We just need to understand that desires lead us to correction, to similarity with the Creator, to merging with Him, to revealing Him, and we must use them in that manner.
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From the International Convention “Rising Above Ourselves” 1/7/22, “Annulling before the Friends” Lesson 2

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Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “What Einstein Knew and Jews Refuse to Acknowledge”

“We have no other means of self-defense than our solidarity,” wrote physicist Albert Einstein in a letter to a NY Jewish philanthropist in June 1939, to express gratitude for his help to Jewish refugees who had managed to escape from the Nazis shortly before the outbreak of World War II. Today, as then, Jewish solidarity is the only way to combat antisemitism, but we seem not to have learned the lessons of the past, as division and internal strife prevail.

In Einstein’s thank you letter, recently released, the scientist addresses American businessman Fred Behr and shares with him his deep concern about the rise of Nazi rule in Europe and the impending danger to the Jews: “The power of resistance which has enabled the Jewish people to survive for thousands of years has been based to a large extent on traditions of mutual helpfulness. In these years of affliction our readiness to help one another is being put to an especially severe test.”

Much like antisemitism led to establish the State of Israel, today we are witnessing a sharp rise in antisemitic sentiment, both directly against Jews and disguised as delegitimization of Israel, in many countries—but especially in the United States and Europe. It is now imperative that we embrace the values of unity and mutual responsibility to guarantee our survival.

But today, these values have become less important in the eyes of most Jews, currently we are like a collection of separate groups—left versus right, religious versus secular, Ashkenazi versus Sephardic, to name just a few divisions—engaged in a constant struggle against each other.

Thus, in order to return to our united roots and re-establish ourselves as a united Jewish people, we must place our original values of unity and solidarity at the center of our common discourse. What would motivate us to reunite as a single nation? Why is this even important? It is so because the alternative is extinction. Only a tightly knit model can guarantee our survival. As our sages put it, “All of Israel are each other’s guarantors [responsible for one another], meaning that when all are together, they see only good.” (A Broadcasting Voice). And as it is written in Shem MiShmuel, “When they [Israel] are as one man with one heart, they are as a fortified wall against the forces of evil.”

Solidarity and unity are the most important Jewish values, originally instituted by our Patriarch Abraham and his group some 3,800 years ago. Guided by these principles, this group became the “people of Israel” and learned to live harmoniously as one cohesive nation.

By following the principles of mutual responsibility and cohesion, we can strengthen bonds that transcend people, groups, factions, ages, and genders, and aim to unite all people, without exception, across all differences.

Moreover, by realizing such a vision, we will serve as a model for a perfect society of fulfilled and successful people who share the most important values of life—love and connectedness. As a result, the world will absorb the unifying atmosphere we project, and antisemitism in all its forms will subside.
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