The Third Temple will be corrected through our efforts. Obviously, we do not need to build it from wood and stone because it is impossible to build it in such a way on the degree of light of Yechida, which is complete perfection.

The Third Temple includes in itself all corrections. The First and Second Temple must be built and destroyed according to the upper program, according to the order of the degrees, which corresponds to the shattering of the “kings” in the world of Nekudim (shattering on the degree of Daat-Chesed-Gevurah-Tifferet corresponds to the First Temple, and on the degree of Tifferet-Netzach-Hod-Yesod-Malchut – to the Second Temple).

On their ruins, the Third Temple will rise, which can no longer be destroyed because it is positioned at the highest degree, at the level of the light of Yechida. This Temple exists only in spiritual form and it exists eternally.

Today we live in the period of the beginning of the construction of the Third Temple and are starting to lay its foundation. Therefore, our role is very important and elevated, and it is worth studying and understanding it in order to build a Temple that will unite all souls and all people.

All of humanity must unite with all their heart and soul in order to build this spiritual vessel (Kli) within their hearts, which is called the common “soul” or the Third Temple, which will never be destroyed.

The Third Temple is being built through our efforts, our prayer, and therefore, it is eternal; it is built from our desires. Therefore, the First and Second Temples were destroyed, and the Third Temple will stand forever because it is built from the desires and intentions of bestowal from the very bottom, that is, from the people themselves.

The First and Second Temples were destroyed according to the program of the cascading the worlds from above downward, that is, according to the shattering in the world of Nekudim. By this the shattering of the entire Partzuf ZON was completed. However, we are rebuilding it from scratch and to the very end in the world of Atzilut.
[268519]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/29/20, “Tishaa BeAv (Ninth of Av)”

Related Material:
Narrow Path “Between The Straits”
Building The Third Temple
The Third Temple And A Solution To The Global Problem

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Holidays, Spiritual Work | Add Comment / Ask Question →

We are honored to have had such a teacher Baal HaSulam who was the next incarnation of the soul of the great Ari. It is said that the Ari was Mashiach ben Yosef, that is, he connected the entire previous Kabbalah with the current state of the end of correction, with the generation of the era of the Messiah, for us.

Therefore, as soon as the Kabbalah of the Ari was revealed, the Kabbalists left all other streams of Kabbalah and accepted his method. This was not due to the fact that the method of the Ari was more understandable or that he rose above others in his comprehension, but because of the connection of his soul with the end of correction.

The soul of the Ari is directly connected with the end of correction, and therefore, through him and his teachings, we can also establish a connection with the final corrected state and correctly realize ourselves, all of us together and each one of us individually.

Baal HaSulam writes in the “Introduction to the Book Panim Meirot uMasbirot“: “You have not a generation without such as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” Indeed, that Godly man, Rav [teacher, great one] Isaac Luria [the ARI], troubled and provided us the fullest measure. He did wondrously more than his predecessors, and if I had a tongue that praises, I would praise that day when his wisdom appeared almost as the day when the Torah was given to Israel.”

Indeed, we are unable to measure the height of the Ari just as an infant cannot measure the actions of adults. But everything that we have today came from the Ari, and through his soul, we receive the highest impact and corrections. Baal HaSulam and Rabash stand behind the Ari in this chain.

The Ari himself did not write a single book—they were all written by his students. Some of the records were hidden in his grave and some were secretly kept in a chest, and thus, they came down to our time. Of course, a higher power and a higher design were at work in all this.

Otherwise, how is it possible that a higher desire would suddenly awaken in a merchant such as the Ari who traveled between Egypt, Israel, and Damascus and engaged in trade, and force him to settle in Israel and devote himself to Kabbalah.

All information about the Ari is very inaccurate: there are two synagogues in Safed named after him, and it is not clear which one he belonged to. Everything is very vague as if we are not talking about a person. There is no information about his family, wife, children, whether he had any descendants. Nothing is clear. Of course, no one has freedom of choice and everything that happened to the Ari was dictated from above, by the Creator.

Before the Ari, only a few select individuals were secretly engaging in Kabbalah. And after him, Kabbalah came out of hiding. The life of the Ari in Safed was not easy due to the many opponents of Kabbalah. After all, he began to reveal Kabbalah and to organize groups.

He was helped by the fact that Ramak, Rabbi Moshe Cordovero ,who had great authority in Safed, interceded for him, and he understood that the method of the Ari came from true, deep comprehension.

The Ari is unique in that he revealed the science of Kabbalah in a completely new way. It was he who introduced such concepts as the ten Sefirot, the direct and the reflected light, Malchut, the Masach, and precisely determined the structure of the worlds and Partzufim. All this is described in the book The Tree of Life written by Chaim Vital from the words of the teacher.

Chaim Vital studied with the Ari for only a year and a half before his teacher’s death. And during this year and a half he managed to obtain sufficient knowledge for twenty books. It took three more generations to collect and print these books. It is obvious that there is some kind of higher, superhuman power behind all this.

After the Ari, Kabbalah was revealed because he brought a special inner, spiritual strength to the world. And besides, his teachings began to slowly spread. It does not matter that he taught only in a small town in Safed. This spiritual power, which he brought closer to our world through his soul, began to be felt all over the world.

Thanks to this, a Kabbalist such as Baal Shem Tov appeared in Russia, who continued the work of the Ari and began to speak of the same concepts: worlds, Sefirot, Partzufim. It is customary in Hasidism to call this the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov, but in essence, the foundation was laid by the teachings of the Ari.

Baal HaSulam wrote that he was the next incarnation of the soul of the Ari, that is, he had a direct connection with him and was able to directly comprehend everything that the Ari had attained. The next reincarnation of the soul is like the inheritance of the entire spiritual attainment of the father, which is passed on to the son.

Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to the Book Panim Meirot uMasbirot“: “There are not enough words to measure his holy work in our favor. The doors of attainment were locked and bolted, and he came and opened them for us.” Restriction, Masach, reflected light, the Ari describes not only how the light spreads from top to bottom but the specific development of the desire, its stages of coarsening, the connection of this process to the power of the screen. Therefore, he belongs to the generation of the correction and is considered the Mashiach (Messiah) Ben Yosef, after which the correction of Malchut herself begins, the era of Mashiach Ben David.

Maybe even before the Ari, Kabbalists reached the same heights, but they did not receive explicit understanding in the form of connection between the lights, the Kelim, and the screens. Their understanding came as a revelation from above and not from within their own Kelim, allowing them to build the world through their comprehension. Therefore, after the Ari and beyond, everyone can study Kabbalah and gradually comprehend what was revealed to him.

Without explaining how the desire works with the Masach and the reflected light, it is impossible to implement the correction. Therefore, the Kabbalists before the Ari made only preparation for correction, while the Ari revealed the work from the bottom up and revealed the method of correction, practical Kabbalah, to us.

The day of the departure of a Kabbalist is the day of his ascension. Therefore, on this day we want to be connected with the Ari, with his soul and his technique in a special way, even more than before, and we celebrate the day of his memory. In fact, this is a joyful day because his soul has realized itself and has risen to a higher level. Therefore, Kabbalists never grieve for the departed.
[250527]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/4/19, “Memorial Day of the Ari”

Related Material:
Ari – The Turning Point From Darkness to Light
The Day The ARI Departed
Ari: The Beginning Of Ascent

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Dissemination | Add Comment / Ask Question →

My article in Newsmax: “Hate Causes Viruses”

We really don’t understand why COVID struck. People blame it on China, blame it on the Jews, blame it on bats, minks, deforestation, corrupt pharmaceutical companies, and so on and so forth. But no one blames himself. No one blames the eruption of COVID-19 on our own mistreatment of everything and everyone around us.

It’s understandable; we don’t see the overall system. Although scientists have known for at least a century that the world is interconnected and that all things are built from the same few particles, we don’t experience it in our daily lives so we behave as though it isn’t true. But behaving as though we’re unrelated to each other is just as responsible as drinking water that we’re told is contaminated with listeria, but not believing it because we can’t see the bacteria. By the time the symptoms show, it’s much harder and more painful to recover.

Not only are all parts of reality connected, they are connected correctly. The mineral, flora, and fauna in our world function according to the natural laws imprinted in them and have no freedom of choice. Wolves are not bad because they eat other animals, and deer are not good because they feed on plants and not on other animals. In fact, were it not for carnivores, herbivores would become unhealthy, overpopulate, deplete the plants they live on, and eventually suffer and die out since nature would find another way to balance their population. When you look at nature, you realize it keeps a perfect balance where every element guarantees the integrity of the entire system.

There is only one exception in all of nature: man. Humans are the only element in nature that can behave as though it’s unrelated to anything and get away with it, for a while. Until now, we have fought against nature, grew in strength, and for the past two centuries or so, we thought we almost beat it. Worse yet, we fought against each other, and our hatred for each other made us ruin nature even more in our race to mine, pump and cut off nature’s treasures in order to outdo human competitors.

COVID-19 stopped us in our tracks, stymied the economy on Our hatred and desire to exploit, rule, and humiliate have caused such harm to nature that it generated a natural remedy for human nature: the novel coronavirus. all its branches, stopped the arms race and much of the hostilities that countries were executing or planning to execute against each other, and even distanced us from other people so we wouldn’t have to tolerate the tensions of hostile workplaces or competitive schooling.

But because we don’t see the system, we think it’s not our hatred that caused the virus to appear; we think it’s something or someone else — whom we hate — that caused its emergence. We are wrong. It’s our own attitude to one another that has generated this, and other soon-to-come pestilences that will strike if we don’t reverse course.

E pur si muove (“And yet it moves”) said Galileo Galilei when he was forced to recant his claim that the Earth moves around the sun. Today we know that he was right. But when it comes to truths that concern our hatred for each other, we are as ignorant and obstinate as Galilei’s tormentors. It is a shame, since Earth’s orbit around the sun is important, but not as important as the fact that hate creates diseases. Ignorance of the former fact is a shame; ignorance of the latter fact can cost us our lives.
[268756]

Filed under: Coronavirus, Crisis, Globalization, Health, New Publications | Add Comment / Ask Question →

Michael Laitman, On Quora: “How do I unite the left and the right?“

We need to understand that nature is guiding us to a state of complete unification, and thus we should be interested in seeking how we can unite above our differences.

It is incumbent on such unity that the diversity of differences, all individual characteristics and views, remain in place, i.e., that not one side or view eliminates the other, but that each view is given its duly space to exist.

In order to unite between differing and opposing views, a third source is required—an ability to concede one’s view to accept and even care about the other’s view, which comes solely from unification holding more importance than the details of each of our views.

While it seems impossible in today’s reality, when we understand that nature’s tendency is to unite all of its parts, including humans, and that we are being developed in that direction, then if we implemented such education of this tendency, we would gain the strength to be able to make the required mutual concessions in order to see:

• all differing and opposing views as necessary parts of a single system,
• unity above these divisions is beneficial to everyone, and that
• it is fruitless to resist nature.

That is, we would see that agreeing to remain solely within our opposite sides only increases suffering, and that nature wants us to rise above such tendencies to unite.

Nature ultimately guides us to unite above all of our differences. People who have revealed this tendency in perception and sensation, i.e. Kabbalists, wrote about it that “love will cover all transgressions.”

It means that opposed parties need to discover the negative characteristics that each side holds, and bridge both sides with the help of a method of learning and implementing unity above division.

If we left ourselves to our natural devices, then we would only be led to more hatred of each other. That is, human nature is egoistic, primarily considering self-benefit over everything else, and our worldviews are all constructed on this narrow perception and sensation of reality. As such, they lead us to a crisis where we feel that others need to be changed or eliminated in order for us to be at rest.

Today, we have the ability to identify this problem. We are each individualists who each hold a unique place and view in the system, and we are thus each different from each other.

However, we have to raise our awareness about the single system of nature that we all share and exist within, how this system guides us to unite above our differences, and we thus have to establish connections above all differences and disagreements between us.

It is as if we set out to build a new floor in our building: our first floor contains all of our various views untouched, and on the second floor, we appreciate what connects us above all else.

There is room for everyone in today’s world. The time has come when we need to build a new connection between us, not where one wants to destroy the other. By destroying others, we destroy ourselves. This is a law of nature. Plus and minus need to exist alongside each other, and a new mechanism needs to be placed between them that lets them both work harmoniously as part of a single system.

We thus need to reach a state where we will feel ourselves as existing above the egoistic human nature, which is the entirety of our being, and discover a much greater reality.

Above photo by Sven de Koe on Unsplash.

Filed under: Q&A, Quora | Add Comment / Ask Question →

Lack of Spiritual Connection with the Land of Israel

Question: From the 17th to the 19th century, one more call was added to the standard anti-Semitic claims, which was heard in different strata of society: to ask, persuade, beg Jews to return to where they came from 2,000 years ago.

For example, French philosopher Charles Fourier wrote: “Jews! Descendants of Cain and Iscariot, leave us, leave us! Cross the Red Sea again and go to the desert, to the promised land that awaits you, to the only country that suits you; you evil, rude and dishonorable people, go there!!!”

After waiting in vain for any concrete action from the Jews, statesmen took the initiative into their own hands. The French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, while in Acre, said that the Jews are the true heirs of Palestine, and urged them to admit this fact and return there. A willingness to help Jews was also expressed by American President Abraham Lincoln.

So what did the Jews do? They were in no hurry. Upon getting the rights during the period of emancipation, they rushed into politics, science, and economics and succeeded everywhere. They had no time for the land of Israel.

However, anti-Semitism had grown even more. Before, the Jews were hated for their dissimilarity, then they became like everyone else. And yet the hatred did not disappear.

What is the root of the paradox that the Jews waited so long to return to the land of Israel, and when the opportunity arose, they did not use it? Most Jews today live outside the State of Israel. What is the root of this phenomenon?

Answer: The root is very simple—the lack of connection between the people and the land. The people do not feel that their land is here, that they are attached to it. One does not feel any origins, does not see anything special in this land.

The people are divided. A person comes from the other end of the earth, meets people here who are completely different from them, who also consider themselves Jews, and even, perhaps, greater than him.

And a paradoxical picture arises: Every Jew read and was told that this was his land, and having arrived here, he did not find any connection with it. The climate is terrible, the land is dry and scorched; there are no signs of life. What is promised in it? Where is the earth flowing with milk and honey? There is none of this.

Moreover, Jews who come to Israel do not look like Jews. They live in conflict with each other. A person who came here from Europe understands the French, Germans, British, and Russians among whom he lived more; he cannot understand these Jews at all. After all, people come here mainly from the Maghreb, Asia or even more distant places. It turns out that there is nothing familiar here.

In addition, here you have to work with your hands, farm, cultivate the land so that it becomes more suitable for agriculture. It turns out that Jews have to do work that they have not done for many years.

Since the 18th century, they have been employed in industry, business, finance, science, and art. Even in Russia, where there was very strong anti-Semitism, the founders of the Russian Philharmonic Society, scientists, and artisans were mainly Jews. True, they often hid under pseudonyms, but they were all the same. And where can such conditions be found here?

Question: What does it mean to feel a connection with the earth?

Answer: The feeling of a physical connection with the land is no longer the condition that can be imposed on Jews today. This connection is internal, spiritual.

Perhaps the material connection is felt by someone who has received a special religious Jewish education. He was well stuffed with all sorts of stories about the holy land, and therefore just living on this land is already a great commandment for him.

Besides, in the past, Jews were simply paid to come and live here. Thus, several large communities were built in Tiberias, in Safed, partly in Acre, in Jerusalem, and Jaffa.

For more on this topic, read my books Like a Bundle of Reeds: why unity and mutual guarantee are today’s call of the hour, and The Jewish Choice: Unity or Anti-Semitism, Historical facts on anti-Semitism as a reflection of Jewish social discord.
[268254]
From KabTV’s “Systematic Analysis of the Development of the People of Israel” 8/12/19

Related Material:
There Is No Land Of Israel Without The Nation Of Israel
Gathering In The Land Of Israel
What Can The French Jews Do?

Filed under: Israel, Nations of the World | Add Comment / Ask Question →

Principles of Forming a Team: Maintaining Team Spirit

Question: Ninth rule: maintain team spirit.

During the meetings we need to rise above our feelings and interact with the team members regardless of our true state, that is, play the state to which we want to come. Playing a more perfect state attracts forces upon us that change us.

What are these forces? How do we play these states artificially?

Answer: It is necessary to outline such conditions and exercises in order to cause these states and try to analyze them later. This is a psychological group practice.

Question: Can the principle of “habit becomes second nature” come into action here? Can the fact that we artificially begin to cultivate these states and to rise above our feelings and resentments become a habit?

Answer: The habit is good when there are disturbances that are at the same levels, in the same conditions. However, if these are growing interferences and on other conditions, then the habit will not help much. Here you need the influence of the team, of the environment.

Question: Does the method itself consist of modeling the correct connections, describing them, and trying to reach these connections by some means?

Answer: Yes. However, we must understand that in such a team we are constantly growing and constantly generating new levels of integral interaction. Hence, it is not a mechanical job.

Question: Tenth rule: establish a framework of behavior, a system of control, and encourage self-control.

At the first stage, should control be provided by the integrator, or should we choose the responsible individuals from the team itself, and then constantly change them so that there will be no dislike for them from others?

Answer: I think it is better from the team itself. The team must constantly change roles between its members. Then everyone will understand what is required of them and others. And the instructor stands outside the team and sees how they work.
[268331]
From KabTV’s “Management Skills” 6/18/20

Related Material:
Team Building Guide, Part 9
Team Building Guide, Part 8
Team Building Guide, Part 7

Filed under: Education | Add Comment / Ask Question →

Question: How does Kabbalah help in building relationships within the family? Since I have a large female audience, they are interested in how to find a partner and create a family with him?

Answer: Although this is a worldly question that is close to each of us, it is very complex. After all, we are just beginning to touch on the changes that we must go through in our existence from one cycle of life to the other.

Therefore, such questions can be asked, of course, but the answer to them is both complex and simple. Simple in the fact that no one will tell you anything about it because no one knows the answer. Only you can reveal your inner information, which you must implement either in a good way or in an evil way.

Precisely in how to realize yourself is the freedom of choice and the only opportunity for a person to apply himself correctly in his life.

As for choosing a partner, this already comes from the fact that you know exactly or at least more or less imagine who you are in your information core, the so-called Reshimo (the inner record of your soul, its future state) and whether you can realize yourself quickly, well, comfortably, correctly with this partner. This is not easy because it depends on the vision of his and your fate as something compatible.
[268218]
From KabTV’s “Together about Important Things” 7/14/20

Related Material:
I Am Looking For A Person Like Myself
The Foundation Of The Family
An Ideal Family

Filed under: Man and Woman | Add Comment / Ask Question →

Question: What is the group?

Answer: The group is the boat that takes you on a journey across the sea of life.

Question: Should we always forgive the egoists? Maybe this forgiveness can be a signal for them to stop?

Answer: There is no need to forgive anyone. It will lead to nothing. We need to educate ourselves and set an example for others on how to become better.

Question: How can we get out of our own egoism, out of our comfort zone? What is supposed to push me?

Answer: Try to find an environment that will push and disturb you all the time. Looking at it, you will feel that you are lagging behind others.

Question: Has the Creator given everyone an individual portion of egoism that one must correct?

Answer: Yes, of course. Everyone has their own individual egoism. In addition, we are required to correct it by connecting with all the other egoists.

Question: What is the final result of development?

Answer: To connect everyone by ties of love and for everyone to be absolutely comfortable.

Question: What can we give to our neighbor?

Answer: Nothing except to help him get in contact with the Creator. Only this!

Question: How did you realize that you stopped being an egoist?

Answer: I did not stop. There is still a lot of egoism in me that needs to be corrected. I am not yet a complete righteous nor a complete sinner, but somewhere in the middle.

Question: What should I do with the sense of guilt?

Answer: Stop eating yourself up because it’s not your fault. Only the Creator, who created the egoism, is to blame. And if we use it correctly, we will be very grateful to Him for it.
[268124]
From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah” 5/10/20

Related Material:
Blitz Of Kabbalah Tips – 5/10/20, Part 2
Blitz Of Kabbalah Tips – 5/10/20, Part 1
Blitz Of Kabbalah Tips – 4/26/20, Part 3

Filed under: Spiritual Work | Add Comment / Ask Question →

Rabash, Article 10, “What Is the Degree One Should Achieve in Order Not to Have to Reincarnate?” (1984): The thing is that we have to know that all of the souls extend from the soul of Adam HaRishon, for after he sinned in the sin of the Tree of Knowledge, his soul divided into 600,000 souls. This means that the one light that Adam HaRishon had, which the Holy Zohar called Zihara Ila’a [upper brightness], which he had in the Garden of Eden at once, spreads into numerous pieces.

There is a state called “one general soul” or Adam. This is a desire to receive, to enjoy, to fill one’s self, to be filled with Light.

In such a state this creature feels itself in the most minimal way because it has been filled quite a bit, like a baby who has been fed, had his diaper changed, lies in his mother’s arms, can smell her, and needs nothing else, he feels good.

The Creator does not wish to leave us in this state. He wants us to attain His state, which is the most mature state, and so He shattered this desire into 600,000 parts (souls), which are divided into an infinite number of sparks of the soul.

Each part differs from the others by its egoistic desire, which does not allow him to perceive the desires of others. There is a huge antagonism between them.

There is a particle of the general soul in each of us. Therefore, we don’t understand each other and cannot connect between us in any way. We can only feel that we depend on each other and that this dependence forces us to put up with each other. As long as I receive a filling in an egoistic manner, some benefit from others, I tolerate them next to me. If there is nothing I can gain from others, then I actually suffer from their presence and try to break away from them. That is how we were created.
[238904]
From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah” 9/16/18

Related Material:
Why The Soul Requires Correction
Puzzle “Adam HaRishon”
Analysis And Synthesis Of The World Soul

Filed under: Adam-The Common Soul, Spiritual Work, Structure of the Universe | Add Comment / Ask Question →

Lesson Preparation

Love Covers All Transgressions

Writings of Baal HaSulam,  “The Freedom,”  (Subtitle:  “Taking after the Collective”)

Lesson on the Topic “The Obligation of Bnei Baruch to Humanity in the Last Generation – Selected Excerpts From the Sources”  

Selected Highlights

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson | Add Comment / Ask Question →