Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What is a dreidel and what symbolism does it have?“

A dreidel is a spinning top, which has an inscription of Hebrew letters around the sides. The letters signify, “a great miracle happened here.”

Spinning a dreidel is one of the Hanukkah customs.

The dreidel is spun in order to see what letter it lands on, and while spinning, the dreidel symbolizes our lives: we “spin” our lives around and around, and eventually reach the awareness that only when we all spin ourselves together around a common center—a common goal to unite as one—will we achieve true happiness, harmony and the purpose of our lives.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What is the Menorah and what does it symbolize?“

The Menorah (lamp) symbolizes the manifestation of the spiritual light, i.e., the quality of bestowal, which illuminates in the souls, i.e., in the human ego that has become corrected with an intention to bestow.

A Menorah is physically hard to make because it is traditionally a single piece of gold that has to be molded in order to support seven cups for the candles. Likewise, molding our ego—our human nature, which is a desire to enjoy at the expense of others—so that it assumes a form of bestowal upon others, is quite a complicated feat.

Each of the Menorah’s cups, i.e., each of the human egoistic qualities, have to assume a specific size and shape so that the Menorah’s features will form a worthy vessel upon which the spiritual light of bestowal can illuminate.

The seven cups represent seven kinds of illuminations, which in the wisdom of Kabbalah are called the Sefirot of Hesed, Gevura, Tifferet, Netzah, Hod, Yesod and Malchut. When the light reaches the final Sefira of Malchut, then Malchut becomes like the other seven qualities, assuming a form of bestowal. In other words, the human ego, represented by the Menorah’s gold metallic body, gains a certain level of equivalence of form with the spiritual quality of bestowal, and thus also becomes the means by which all the seven candles on the Menorah can light up.

Therefore, the Menorah symbolizes the human ego that has gained a certain level of resemblance to the spiritual light of bestowal and love. In addition to the Menorah, there is the oil and the wick necessary to create the candles in every cup, and all these qualities operate in tandem so that the human ego can acquire an intention to bestow, and thus form a spiritual vessel that can invite the spiritual light to illuminate from above.

Within this entire structure, the Menorah’s magnificence is in its manifestation of the most egoistic component—Malchut, the gold—attaining similarity with the most sublime spiritual quality of bestowal.

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Question: In our world, there is an interesting possibility of smiling at a person and pretending that I like him when internally I may hate him. Therefore, he does not even know how I feel. Is this not so in Kabbalah?

Answer: If we are talking about purely spiritual processes, they do not involve any external, distracting, and concealing signs.

Question: To love means to fulfill the other, to live according to his desires. What does this give to a person? After all, this is against our nature.

Answer: This is against our nature, but if you can rise above your nature and remain in this state, then you are getting closer to the other. Despite your rejection of him, you fulfill him. Then, you really perform the action of bestowal by getting closer to the other altruistically.

Question: What does this give to a person? Why should he act like this? Besides, you say that nature pushes us to do this.

Answer: Otherwise, we will not be able to get closer to others. I must always rise above my rejection, hatred, or something unpleasant that comes from another person to me and get closer to him.
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From KabTV’s “Communication Skills” 10/23/20

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Question: What are the differences between face-to-face and virtual methods of teaching?

Answer: Today, my teaching is also education. In principle, it has always been like this. Our study is based on mutual communication between everyone; me with students, students with me, questions and answers, and all kinds of discussions.

Therefore, I, from the beginning, warmly welcomed the Internet that has given us this opportunity. Back in the 90s, we created the first Internet site for the wisdom of Kabbalah in our region.

Question: What do you personally consider to be the advantages and disadvantages of virtual communication?

Answer: I see only advantages in this. After all, as a teacher, I can communicate with many students directly in real time and thus have the opportunity to teach thousands of people whereas, at one point in time, I could only teach a few dozen.
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From KabTV’s “Communication Skills” 10/7/20

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In the News (University of Oxford News and Events): “Anthropologists at the University of Oxford have discovered what they believe to be seven universal moral rules.

“The rules: help your family, help your group, return favours, be brave, defer to superiors, divide resources fairly, and respect others’ property, were found in a survey of 60 cultures from all around the world. …

“Dr Oliver Scott Curry, lead author and senior researcher at the Institute for Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology, said: ‘The debate between moral universalists and moral relativists has raged for centuries, but now we have some answers. People everywhere face a similar set of social problems, and use a similar set of moral rules to solve them. As predicted, these seven moral rules appear to be universal across cultures. Everyone everywhere shares a common moral code. All agree that cooperating, promoting the common good, is the right thing to do.'”

Question: What does Kabbalah say about the moral code?

Answer: Kabbalah says that all of the above points are rules of egoistic human interaction. Of course, they must be observed, but they have nothing to do with the upper laws.

At the animate level, they are observed automatically. And a person, since he or she is an egoist and capable of harming others much more than any animal, needs these principles. It would be nice if they were observed.

However, this is neither the task of Kabbalah nor its domain. Kabbalah calls for observing other principles: the principles of love, when we do not need to be told to act one way and not another.

For a person who feels love for his neighbor in himself, all these codes are natural and one cannot act differently. You cannot write a book of laws on how to deal with a baby for a mother. She does not need it; she feels, understands, and does everything purely for the benefit of her child.

Question: Do you think that it is possible to summon such a force of nature that would trigger the mechanism of love in a person, like a mother to a child?

Answer: Yes. That is what we must do. And then there is no need for any moral codes. One should not have to constantly refer to a book of laws to see if he is doing something right or wrong, something he may be convicted or punished for.

Question: We consider the criterion of moral education to be people’s actions and their motivations. Do you think there are any other moral criteria?

Answer: I would say that the real criterion for morality is the existence of the upper force and its highest principle of love for everyone.
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From KabTV’s “Communication Skills” 10/9/20

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Question: Do you consider yourself a confrontational person?

Answer: I don’t know. I express my opinion, stick to it, and that’s it. But I can accept someone else’s too.

Question: How often do you get in a conflict and with whom?

Answer: Very rarely. Basically I have no one to disagree with. There are disagreements with opponents of Kabbalah, but I would not call them conflicts.

Question: What type of conflicts do you have more: interpersonal or internal?

Answer: Neither this nor that. I do not live in conflict. I know what should happen according to the plan of nature, and I try to explain it to others. I work, so to speak, in one direction.

Question: How do you feel about conflicts in general?

Answer: I believe that a reasonable, correct conflict develops people, and is a very good stimulus for development.

Question: What, from your point of view, is the solution for conflicts?

Answer: It is when opposing parties make a decision or a person who is in conflict within himself makes a decision that brings them closer to the higher force of nature.

Question: Do you prefer a strategy of resistance or a strategy of withdrawal in conflict?

Answer: I don’t think withdrawing is a good thing. There must be a reasonable resistance that leads to a result.

Question: Do you consider yourself an expert in the field of conflict resolution?

Answer: Absolutely not. They do not come to me for solutions, and I try not to solve anything.

Question: Would you create a conflicting situation if it were necessary for achieving the goal?

Answer: Yes.

Question: How would you personally get out of a conflict? Do you have any rules of your own?

Answer: I would try to stick to my personal rules.

Question: What do you do when a student is angry with you?

Answer: I understand his condition. Maybe he is unhappy with me and, quite possibly, not without reason. I try to explain the situation to him.

Question: Is there anyone with whom you are currently in conflict?

Answer: No. There are a few people in the world who would really like to annoy me. But I think that I need to have such people.

Question: Can you agree to give in to a conflict situation in order to maintain a relationship, for example, in a family or with a student?

Answer: It is quite possible if the conflict cannot be resolved at that moment. We need to step back and wait until we can solve it.

Question: Would you communicate with an obviously confrontational person?

Answer: I don’t mind. I don’t see any problems or obstacles in it.

Question: Have you had conflicts and arguments with your teacher?

Answer: Practically no.

Question: For you, does the end justify the means in resolving conflict?

Answer: The end justifies the means.

Question: With whom should one be angry with or whom is there to clash with if the Creator is nature and those around one have no freewill at all? Onto whom could we pour out all the accumulated anger?

Answer: Only upon your “donkey”— the egoism in us.
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From KabTV’s “Management Skills” 7/16/20

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Question: What are the signs of a healthy growth of the ego in corporeality and spirituality?

Answer: Healthy growth of the ego takes place when I ascend above it and perform spiritual actions. By doing so, I force the ego to grow to my level.

Suppose I perform a certain spiritual action. As soon as I ascend to its level, my ego also ascends to its level. I yearn to advance, perform the next spiritual action, and ascend to the next level, and my ego ascends further from that level too. This means that to the extent that I grow in spirituality, my ego also grows.

This is how they follow each other, as it says: “He who is greater than his friend, his desire is greater.” It turns out that when you grow to be a good Kabbalist, you become a great egoist.

But then the ego is controlled by the spiritual attribute that you have acquired, which means that you work with the intention in order to bestow, and you push your spirit, your spiritual state, which in its turn pushes your ego upward.

Thus, our spiritual level actually grows thanks to the ego, because everything that the Creator has created is basically the ego, and everything else is its derivatives.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah” 11/11/18

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Preparation to the Lesson

Lesson on the Topic of “A Time of Contraction and A Time of Expansion”

Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Study of the Ten Sefirot, Vol. 1, Part 3, Chapter 4, Item 1″    

Selected Highlights

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It is written: “You have made Me.” Yet, how can this be if the Creator is the only force that exists in the universe? This force contains everything, and apart from it there is nothing, nothing extends beyond its borders. Everything comes to life within the Creator, including us.

How can we create the Creator? Didn’t the Creator create us, because there is no one else? The Creator faced a difficult task: to create a creation and develop it so that it becomes independent. It is what we do when we want to foster independence in our children. The Creator, however, had a more difficult task because there is no other force beside Him.

Let’s say we grew up and found out that there is no one else beside the Creator and we are inside this force that influences us. Then what can we do by ourselves?

Therefore, on one hand, the Creator fills the entire universe and controls everything, but on the other hand, we do not see this because He is hidden. This is what we sometimes do with our children, we don’t want to help them so we hide so that they can work on their own and learn how to build something. Apparently, the Creator is concealed because He wanted to make us independent.

On the other hand, we need to learn to live in the world as if the Creator is present. And if He were revealed, we would do exactly what we are doing now when He is hidden. This state is called complete faith. First and foremost, we must reach it: faith above reason, bestowal above the force of reception, above the force of our egoism.

It is possible to overcome egoism only if there is something bigger than it, the force of bestowal. We are made of the of the desire to receive pleasure, and it is not impressed by words but bows to power. If my egoism feels the greatness of the Creator, it will do everything that the Creator commands. Yet, if my egoism feels its own greatness, it follows all the orders of egoism. It is obvious that either one or the other force governs: either the force of our egoism or the force of the Creator’s bestowal.

We behave according to the one that influences us. If egoism were openly active in us, we would obey it in everything and would be called wicked, complete egoists. In fact, this is what is happening now.

And if the Creator were revealed and allowed us to see that He fills the world, if the force and superiority of the will to bestow were revealed, we would immediately bow before it and obey its orders in everything. Sometimes it even happens; suddenly the greatness of the Creator is revealed a little, and we are ready to give and love for a while until this miracle disappears.

Such impulses come and go in order to show us that this is possible, but only if we are more impressed with the greatness of the Creator than with the greatness of our egoism. In other words, the question is who will rule: the will to receive or the will to bestow? There are only these two forces in nature.

However, if we behaved in this way, we would either be criminals who follow only our will to receive or angels who act according to the will to bestow. One or the other force would fully govern us, and we would remain animals, either predatory or holy, acting according to inner instinct. In this form, we are not similar to the Creator, we are not human, Adam, because we did not choose to be egoists or saints.

Then how to make us free so that we can choose whether to receive or to bestow, whether to be opposite from the Creator or like Him? The Creator was faced with the task of making man free so that he will choose what he prefers: either to be an egoist like creation or an altruist like the Creator and become His son, partner, ands similar to the Creator.

The Creator thought and found a solution: put an intermediary between the will to receive and the will to bestow, between the two opposite forces, so that the creation can consist of the will to receive, but will be able to shift to the intention for the sake of bestowal. The Creator created a situation where the creation can be impressed with the greatness of the Creator, the greatness of bestowal, but not directly from the upper force so as not to bow before it, but to study this state to the extent of its desire.

If a person really wants to recognize the greatness of the Creator, but not as His slave, then it is necessary to build a special state for him called the group. In the group, he has the opportunity to decide how much to surrender to his friends, and to this extent to be impressed by the greatness of the Creator.

The Creator is always present in the group but in a concealed way. To the extent that a person yearns to feel the greatness of the Creator through the group, he can feel Him. However, he will feel the Creator and His greatness, not directly but through his friends, through his subjugation before them. In this way, he acquires the force of bestowal and gradually becomes man, Adam, similar to the Creator, an independent person and not an angel.

By connecting with his friends, with the ten, a person shows his desire to be included in the quality of bestowal and operate with this quality received from the Creator through the ten, gradually growing in spirituality. He uses the quality of bestowal creatively, not under coercion, and builds himself as an independent individual similar to the Creator.

This will be true love and bestowal, not forced like in a slave out of fear or under pressure, but as a free person.
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From the 3^rd lesson of the Virtual Congress 12/12/20, “You have made Me, building the greatness of the Creator”

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