Question: What does sight symbolize in the wisdom of Kabbalah?

Answer: Sight in Kabbalah is the level of attainment when you clearly see your actions from the beginning to the end through all stages. This level is called Hochma (“Hok-Ma“) when you understand all the actions and all the metamorphoses of light in your desire, that is, everything it goes through and everything it does.

Question: What can I do when I feel the pain of the whole world? How can I help myself and others?

Answer: Just disseminate the condition of bestowal, which can attract the upper light upon our world and fill it a little. The world will then stop suffering.

Question: How can we determine that the group and its members are really a Kabbalistic group and not impostors?

Answer: You by yourself should make efforts to connect and then you will see the consequences in our world. To the extent that you connect, the world will be better, and if you disconnect, it will be worse.

Maybe the world will not feel it that way because it is not focused on this, but you will certainly see the results of your efforts. This is what we need to reach. This is practical Kabbalah.

Question: What can one do when constant yearning for the Creator fatigues you and it becomes dull?

Answer: You need to be clearly connected with the friends and then there will be no dullness. Communication with friends can always give a person new feelings, new opportunities.

Question: Is final correction when all of my thoughts are only about the Creator?

Answer: The final correction is when all of your thoughts will only be about bringing contentment solely to the Creator and only by doing good for others.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 12/22/19

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Remark: We know that the age of mass consumption has passed.

My Comment: Yes, humanity has already realized that endless purchases do not satisfy them.

Remark: The time of clothing rentals is coming. Both designers and fashion houses are now developing a tendency to rent designer items. Instead of paying a few hundred pounds for owning a thing, you can pay 50-60 pounds and rent it. Thus, you can consider your wardrobe as a source of income.

My Comment: Then no one will buy anything at all. Nobody needs anything. How many rags do you need? People will go and buy something for themselves “on the go” and that is it. And they will not make a big deal out of it. It all goes away.

Humanity is changing from the inside. Once upon a time, a king would wear something, and he was considered a king. We judged a person by his clothes.

Today, this is no longer the case. That time has passed.

Question: You say that humanity is now striving to change from within. What is inner beauty?

Answer: It is our desire. It gradually transforms by various external conditions.

Strength—see how all kinds of active programs for physical education and other things are developing today. This is still not something we are doing; it is all being done to us in order to somehow sell something.

So it is everywhere. But it will not help. Another 10, another 20 years. All the same, humanity is moving to new states, to new, more internal desires. And they will not pay attention to appearance. They will pay attention to beauty; it will disappear last. But in the end, it does not determine anything.

Question: And what is this inner desire that you are talking about?

Answer: It is to embellish yourself—an inner desire to embellish oneself externally. After all, inner beauty is invisible. So, I will embellish myself externally, and everyone will think: “Look at how smart he is! Look at the special glasses he has on!” We want to pass off the external as internal, so we mock ourselves and others in this way.

We need to reach the point where we value the inner beauty in a person: kindness, participation, sympathy, and separation from oneself toward others. We neither feel nor value this, but it is what we need. It would be a completely different matter if we had the fashion for this.

Question: And how can we make that inner beauty you talk about noticeable and popular?

Answer: Education. There is no other way. It is so that I would look at a girl in class and evaluate her according to her correct attitude to everyone. A man should choose his wife similarly and not according to the length of her legs.

Remark: You say that beauty will be the last to depart.

My Comment: That is, it will leave our attention. When we stop giving it attention, it will be the last to leave. I will appreciate a person for a different reason. I will not see this ugliness; I will see inner beauty.

This, of course, is not easy and not yet within this world, which constantly attunes us to external evaluations. But I am sure that at the pace we are moving, with all these operations to remake faces, figures, and everything else, it is all a matter of the very near future.

The fashion of the future will be directed only toward a beautiful manifestation of the inner world. And there is no need to create any enterprises that exchange rags among themselves.

Question: And what will this beautiful society be like?

Answer: A beautiful society thinks only about the inner content of a person and lives by it. Everyone in it understands and feels the warmth of one toward the other. This is what people will be valued for. It will happen soon.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 12/10/19

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “As an atheist, what do you think about Kabbalah?“

Kabbalah differs from atheism and religions in general in that it facilitates a clear attainment of the Creator, so that you will feel Him like you feel a friend of yours, and even more. There is thus no room in Kabbalah for belief in something others have told to you. Instead, you have to attain yourself, the entire world, and all the souls, and inside them – the Creator in His entirety.

Atheism is a belief that the Creator does not exist, whereas religion is a belief that the Creator does exist. In contrast, Kabbalah is the revelation of the Creator, through researching Nature inside yourself or inside your perceptions.

In this regard, Kabbalah is similar to other sciences. However, the other sciences reveal the world within the senses that we already have, whereas Kabbalah does it in an additional sense – the soul, which you first have to develop inside you. In any case, just like any other science Kabbalah speaks only about the things that are present in one’s senses! It is not interested in anything that’s imperceptible and that cannot be researched, repeated, and tested, and considers these things unreal. This approach makes it a science by definition. See the definition of Kabbalah in Baal HaSulam’s article “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah” – “Kabbalah is the method of revealing the Creator to a person in our world” – to every person and to everyone together.

Like all sciences, Kabbalah uses the scientific method or instrument (even though scientists find it difficult to agree with this because they are used to researching the world only through the animate body). The scientific method assumes that:

• Every scientific statement must be proven by experiment.
• Every scientific statement can be proven wrong.
• It is pointless to discuss an idea that cannot be verified in practice. For example, here is a scientific opinion about G-d’s existence: Immanuel Kant showed that it cannot be proven that G-d exists as well as that He does not. The very notion of an unattainable and almighty G-d is not subject to experiment, because if G-d is almighty, then he’s able to control the outcome of the experiment. People don’t accept G-d through evidence, but through faith. Hence, the idea of G-d is beyond science. Any question that asks “Why is so and so this way?” can be answered, “Because it’s G-d’s will.” (This is how religion compelled people to answer all questions, and therefore it slowed down scientific progress.) Kabbalah allows one to reveal the Creator and His actions in practice. However, it is just as indifferent to the things that cannot be verified in practice as the earthly sciences.
• Every scientific statement must be logical and not contradict the laws that are already known. Usually, the old laws become particular cases of the new laws.
• Every scientific statement must indicate its “weak spots”; it should mention which of it constituents are subject to doubt and objection.

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Question: How does Kabbalah make a person change? How does it happen?

Answer: Kabbalah is a wisdom that explains how the altruistic or spiritual forces descend into this world. These properties of bestowal and love are completely opposite to the earthly ones. They gradually come closer to humanity, and that is why we suffer.

One can say that we suffer because the Creator is approaching us. We feel how opposite we are from Him and that is why we feel bad. The properties of bestowal, love, and unification become closer to us while we, in accordance with our nature, do not want it. This is the problem we encounter our entire life.

Because we do not recognize it, whatever happens to us on Earth is not felt like an awakening to spiritual ascent, but like events that repel and humiliate us.

If we realized the origin of our suffering, the fact that we suffer because spiritual forces become closer to us, and accordingly, if we become more and more like these spiritual forces, the qualities of bestowal, love, and unification, we would then perceive them correctly, we would be in contact with them and feel how they help us ascend to a completely different height of qualities, the spiritual degrees.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 1/26/20

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Great insight could emerge in humanity as a result of the Coronavirus: everyone will feel how interdependent we are and how much we need each other, that we cannot be separated no matter how we try to break the ties between us. It’s either a kind dependence or death from starvation.

If we build our environment on the current level, we can rise to the next one. We are ascending in a straight line. As we rise, we build an environment once again, a circle. Once we’ve built the circle we live in it, protecting it as it is protecting us, we raise the prayer, MAN, and ascend in a line upward.
From Twitter, 3/6/20

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The wisdom of Kabbalah respects both forces acting in reality: the force of attraction and the force of rejection. Both come from the Creator and both are equally important in His eyes. We also need to treat them the same way.

The rejecting force is no less important than the attracting one. Of course, we would prefer the attracting force, but that is how it appears in our desire to receive, which is not spiritual. However, it is said that a person should bless for the bad even more than for the good and to relate to good and bad equally. One will then be under restriction, at the middle point, independent of anything, and thus will be able to rise above one’s nature and become free.

Therefore, it is very important that we undergo both bad and good states equally because it is only from this point that can we make correct decisions.

The entrance to the spiritual world is very special. It is as if you are allowed to enter, reject it, and so on, again and again. Therefore, we study our inner psychology, to what extent we want or do not want the spiritual. There are such moments in the study when the entrance is open for us, but we do not want to enter. The Creator has to draw us in.

We must be prepared for such polar states in order to exist in the spiritual world, and first of all, we should pay attention to the middle point that lets us maintain balance, independence, when we are not drawn either to the good or to the bad side, but only to the greatness of the Creator, who determines our correct direction of development.

The greatness of the Creator is revealed only in the middle point, in the middle line. That is, it is most important not to lean either to the left or to the right, but to stay in the middle, above knowledge and reason, so that I do not care whether I feel good or bad. It is important only to stay in this central point and strive for the Creator. If I aspire for the middle line and imagine it, then I can imagine the forces acting on me: left, right, and middle.¹

A person should be completely despaired of one’s own forces. But this despair is in oneself, not in the path and the goal. If you suddenly becomes despaired in the goal, then you must do everything to return to balance; otherwise, you are not in the right reality. The right state is when I do not lean either left or right, but strive only for the greatness of the Creator so that I draw myself to Him.

And if I am at this correct point, I will find that I have no strength there, no mind, no means to take even one step forward. It is as if I am suspended in the air, and this is a very important condition in our development. After all, when I understand that I have nothing and nothing will help me, then there is only one thing left for me: prayer. From this state, a true prayer will arise because I have no support, no chance to take even one step myself, and the true prayer is what will help. It is a cry in the desert, in despair from my own forces.

But this is not a sign of weakness as it seems to us today. Right now, we are still relying on our strength. But the closer we get to the spiritual entrance, the more we rejoice, revealing the lack of our own strength, which means that we become more dependent on the Creator.

And at the very entrance, a person sees that only the Creator can save you, help you, and the question is whether you are able to ask for help or not. Prayer is possible only with the support of the ten—this is the first necessary condition in order to turn to the Creator with a prayer.

You can perform a spiritual action, turn to the Creator, praise Him, ask, and associate with Him only in a minyan, in the ten, and no less than that. Without this, a person cannot rise above his egoism in an appeal to the Creator and will not know what to ask for. Therefore, it is obvious that entering spirituality is possible only through the ten.²
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/12/20, Despair from his own Forces
¹ Minute 0:20
² Minute 7:45

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Question: We conduct our main work in a ten, which is considered the main tool for understanding the Creator. Why then do we need prayer?

Answer: You cannot do anything yourself in a ten. You should try to get together with others, check your progress, and see that you cannot succeed in anything. And then you turn to the Creator.

You show Him, “Look, we are in the ten trying to get together, but nothing works for us,” then He helps you. That is, you need a ten for a prayer, for a request to the Creator, so that He helps you, and you, united, come to connection with Him.

You must present this ten to Him saying, “We have done everything, but we see that nothing will succeed without You.” And then He will fulfill your request. This is how it works.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 1/12/19

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The Times of Israel published my new article “Why Israel Needs to Center Its Discourse on the Need for Unified Leadership”

On the aftermath of the third round of elections to elect members of the 23rd Knesset, we need to center our discourse on the need for unified leadership in Israel.

Ultimately, Israel needs a unity government that focuses on unifying above all differing voices and opinions.

The need to unite above our differences is a tendency of utmost importance not only to the government, but to society at large.

If the government could provide a unifying example, especially when faced with a situation that appears as its direct opposite, then such unification would have the power to transmit positive forces of connection dwelling in nature through to Israeli society, as well as to humanity at large.

Why and how this works depends on understanding the role of the people of Israel.

A Unified Leadership Should Assemble the Nation’s Leaders with a Common Unifying Responsibility

As the Hebrew word for “Knesset,” the name of the Israeli parliament, is the same as the word for “assembly,” then the government should indeed assemble the nation’s leaders with a common responsibility toward spreading unity in the nation.

A sense of responsibility toward bringing about unity in the nation should override the leaders’ urges to curse each other and put spokes in each other’s wheels.

There thus needs to be constant dialogue around the topic of how to bring about unity to the people of Israel.

Why Should We Be So Concerned about Unity of the People of Israel?

The current divisive atmosphere in the Knesset is one of many examples we witness around the world, where we see a clear need for more social cohesion, mutual consideration and respect among human society.

Without more connection among human society, and Israeli society in particular, we will let ourselves get carried down a miserable path.

We’re on that path now. And while humanity accumulates more and more blows on personal, social, global and ecological scales, more and more people will subconsciously feel that the people of Israel are to blame for their misfortunes. Likewise, we see the rise of anti-Semitic sentiment, crimes and threats together with the rise of many other problems in the world.

Why Do So Many People Feel Dependent on the People of Israel?

It is due to the original ideological root of the nation of Israel, unity above division, or as it is written, “love will cover all transgressions,” that so many people hold an innate expectation on the people of Israel to unite, and not remain as a divisive example, which is currently the case.

Until we start acknowledging our role to unite above our differences in order to spread a unifying tendency to humanity, we then have no idea as to what being “the people of Israel” means.

What Does It Mean to Be “the People of Israel”?

Being the people of Israel means being a positive example of a unified people above differences.

We are a nation that needs to function in order to correct itself, i.e., to positively connect, and also to pass that unifying ability to the world. Our current behavior, however, is far from being a positive example of unity to the world.

The Uniqueness of Our Time in History

We need only turn our head a little to the side, and see how we are not on a one-way track, but at a crossroad.

Our time in history is fundamentally different to all others in that we have a connection method available at our fingertips, ready to guide our way forward to a harmonious, eternal and perfect existence, here and now in our world.

Today, we no longer need to unwillingly accept what the world throws at us. We can instead be a free nation, leading ourselves and the world in a positive direction of increasing unification above all differences.

The complex divisive entanglement we find ourselves in today shows us how if we can overcome such differences, we would indeed be a shining example of what the world needs most: unity above division.

By uniting above our differences, we become “a light unto the nations,” the role that made us a unified nation to begin with (the Hebrew word for “Jew” [Yehudi] comes from the word for “united” [yihudi] [Yaarot Devash, Part 2, Drush no. 2]).

Through our unification, we pave the way to a future of goodness, happiness, freedom, peace and love for humanity, balancing our connections with nature’s connected form.

Unity above division will save us from more of nature’s blows. Also, in addition to cushioning us pleasantly within nature, unity above our differences creates a necessary natural balance that lets us experience nature in a pure and harmonious way. Since we enter nature above the human ego that shatters and divides the sensation of nature’s wholeness, we then discover a completely new unified, eternal and perfect reality, all while alive in our world.

Therefore, society’s sheer need for unity today should be enough to make us prioritize the discourse of the need for a unified leadership, which aims at positive unification of the whole of human society above today’s blazing social and political divisions.
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KabNet published my new article: “Benefits of the Coronavirus”

What kinds of benefits could a virus that has killed people and that has offset the world into panic possibly have?

The coronavirus is helping us come to terms with our smallness and weakness as human beings in the face of nature.

Whether it’s a virus, a natural disaster, or countless other blows, we get regular examples of how nature pays no attention to our differences the way that we do.

“Becoming aware of the detriment of the human ego is one major stage in our future development.”

The Main Benefit of the Coronavirus: Global Awakening to Humanity’s Interdependence

We are gradually being led to the conclusion that we are a single humanity, like one big family living on the same planet. Ultimately, all borders and walls we build to fence ourselves off from each other will fall short in the presence of the tightening form of globalization that nature is urging us to realize.

Nature sends us blows to show us how interdependent and interconnected it is, and how we are inescapable parts of its integrality.

The coronavirus can thus be viewed as yet another lesson that nature is trying to teach us: no matter how much we see differences among each other, there is an enveloping nature paying no attention to our labels.

“We have already come to such a degree that the whole world is considered one collective and one society.”

– Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam), “Peace in the World.”

The coronavirus’ benefit is to humanity as a whole gaining awareness of its oneness. It serves to destabilize our egoistic infrastructure, so that we see the need to work out how to operate within our increasingly interdependent global conditions. Once again, nature shows how it penetrates through all kinds of partitions we set for ourselves around the world.

Where Do the Partitions We Set Between Each Other Come From?

They extend from the human ego that wishes to benefit itself at the expense of others.

The human ego shatters the perception of the whole reality into small pieces. The coronavirus corners our egoistic selves, showing how they function oppositely to the altruistically-fueled supreme force of nature, while nature itself gradually urges us to reach awareness of our interdependence and interconnectedness among each other and with nature in its wholeness.

Toward the realization of our total interconnectedness and interdependence with nature, we will have to become aware of our egoistic nature as a negative disturbance. We will have to see how the ego cuts us off from each other and from nature as a whole, and by doing so, the ego prepares us for myriad future blows, whether a new virus outbreak, or other problems on personal, social and global scales.

Becoming aware of the detriment of the human ego is one major stage in our future development.

Either through suffering or through connection-enriching education and influence, we need to reveal the wickedness of the human ego.

The revelation can be a pleasant one if we aim to attract nature’s positive force, which connects perfectly between all elements of nature, on the still, vegetative, animate and speaking levels, and then between the revelation of the positive and negative forces, humanity will be able to work in the middle, clearly observing what it is going through, and acting with clarity in response to nature’s influences.

How Can We Awaken the Positive Force of Connection into Our Lives?

Very simply, our connection evokes nature’s positive connecting force. Then, by attracting the positive force in nature, we reveal the negative egoistic force opposite it, and the awakening of both forces gives rise to a higher and more supreme force, a new level of connection where perfection and balance is sensed.

It is as it is written in the song, “Ose shalom be Meromav, Hu yaase shalom aleinu” (“make peace in His heaven, He will bring peace upon us”): Peace is integrity in our relations, between inverse forces of nature.

We are facing a period of having to learn how to connect with each other, holding positive and negative forces of nature in our reins.

When we start working with these forces, we will see how every finest detail in reality, as well as the world’s major events, all link into a single picture.

The wisdom of Kabbalah guides our discovery of these forces. It provides us with a method to experience harmonious connection, attracting nature’s positive force, revealing the negative egoistic force opposite it, and learning the ways to walk the balancing rope between them.
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