Question: There is a well-known story of Rabbi Akiva, the great teacher of generations, when he and three sages stood amidst the ruins of the Second Temple, and suddenly a fox ran through the place where the Holy of Holies stood. All the sages wept, but Rabbi Akiva suddenly laughed. They asked him, “Why are you laughing?! Wild animals are already running where the Holy of Holies stood!”

He said, “One prophecy has been fulfilled, the prophecy of the prophet Uriah, that the Temple would be destroyed, and this means that another prophecy will also be fulfilled, the prophecy of Zechariah, which says that Jerusalem will be rebuilt.” And so on. In response, the sages said, “Akiva, you have comforted us!”

Rabbi Akiva understood that the prophecy of the future Jerusalem and the Land of Israel would be fulfilled.

How would you comment on the words of Zechariah in his prophecy?

His prophecy relates to the period of the final redemption, which is called “the end of times.” He lived 350 years before our era.

Zechariah predicted, “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of staggering unto all the peoples round about. And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will make Jerusalem a stone of burden for all the peoples; all that burden themselves with it shall be sore wounded; and all the nations of the earth shall be gathered together against it“ (Zechariah 12: 2-3).

What is the “end of times”?

Answer: The end of times is when the time has come to hold righteous judgment over all people.

Question: How can we Jews become a “cup of staggering” for all nations?

Answer: Because the nations will see that in our hands lies the ability to correct ourselves and thus correct the world, yet we fail to do so.

Question: Is this what it means to become a “cup of staggering”? It feels like this time is approaching. I see how people are beginning to treat us.

Answer: Yes, it will come in waves, sometimes rising, sometimes falling, and it will reach a point where the entire world will want to destroy us.

Question: So will it truly become a cup of staggering?

Answer: Yes, but our actions must be the opposite. We must show the world that only by uniting among us can we save the world and then a force called “Messiah” will emerge within us.

It will pull all of humanity out of egoism and elevate them to a spiritual level. “Messiah” comes from the word “to pull out.”

Question: Further, Zechariah writes: “And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem“ (Zechariah 12:9).

So far, today armies and diplomacies are fighting. In what case does the Creator engage in battle? It is written here that He, the Creator, fights for Israel.

Answer: He does not fight for Israel as it exists today. He fights for the manifestation of faith in the Creator in the world and the need for Him to teach all humanity how we truly should live.

Question: Here it says, “I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.” What does it mean?

Answer: Jerusalem represents the fear of God. It is Ira Shlema, complete fear, before the Creator.

Question: Then it continues: “And there shall be no more extermination; but Jerusalem shall dwell safely” (Zechariah 14:11). How do you understand this?

Answer: I understand that from then on, people will no longer attack each other. They will try to live in peace and fully follow, as much as they can each time, the laws of the Creator.

Question: Are you referring to all people in the world in this case?

Answer: Yes.

Comment: Although it is said that “Jerusalem shall dwell safely.”

My Response: Jerusalem represents the whole world.

Question: Moving on. Zechariah predicts: “Jerusalem shall be inhabited without walls” (Zechariah 2:8). When there is no need to build walls anymore, what kind of state is this?

Answer: This is already the common redemption of people from their egoism, from all prejudices, beliefs, and so on, and the revelation of the Creator to all nations.

Question: Are you again talking about the world?

Answer: Yes.

Question: “Yea many peoples and mighty nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to entreat the favour of the LORD (Zechariah 8:22). …in that day shall the LORD be One, and His name one “(Zechariah 14:9).

What does it mean “mighty nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem”?

Answer: Because He must be revealed in this city, in this place. But Jerusalem is in the heart of each person, the most central, secret place. They will strive to feel Him there: “Is there a Creator in me, at the center, in the depths of my heart?” And everyone will seek like this.

Question: Do I have this point of fear before the Creator?

Answer: You do. Every person does.

Question: Will they find precisely this point? Then what does “shall the LORD be One, and His name” one mean?

Answer: Then they will connect all these points in the heart, and God will be one and His name will be one.

Comment: This is very beautiful! If we say, “the LORD is one,” then all religions, all beliefs…

My Response: All of that will be abolished. There will be one aspiration.

Question: When we say “The LORD is one,” are we talking about the quality of the Lord? Love, bestowal,  is that what we mean?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Moving on: “Thus saith the LORD: I return unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and Jerusalem shall be called the city of truth” (Zechariah 8:3).

This phrase I return unto Zion always goes after the Jews, after the people. Poets and Psalms talk about this. What does the return to Zion mean for the world, if we are already talking about the world?

Answer: Zion, or rather, Tzion, comes from the word “Etzia,” exit and distancing. That is, through distancing from Jerusalem and coming as if to Jerusalem, through these small steps, the Creator creates a real desire in us to reveal Him.

Question: If you said that this is the point of fear before the Creator within us, then we lose it, find it, lose it, and find it again. Does it become stronger as a result?

Answer: Yes.

Question: So, by doing so, do we come closer and closer to it?

Answer: Yes, in this way it is revealed more and more in us each time.

Question: Should there always be these entrances and exits in us?

Answer: Yes.

Question: They do exist. You lose, then you find… All the time either in disbelief or in faith, that’s how you are.

My question is: Jerusalem as the “city of truth.” “Truth” what does it mean here?

Answer: Truth is when it will be revealed that there is truth in the world.

Question: Does this relate to the fear before the Creator?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Is this what truth is?

Answer: Truth is to know the Creator.

Question: We constantly say, “We seek the truth. We seek the truth.” Is this what we are seeking? Are we constantly seeking the Creator?

Answer: Yes.

Comment: But He hides behind all the clothing, and so on.

Further, there is a very beautiful phrase, just the song of songs!

It says: “Thus saith the LORD of hosts: There shall yet old men and old women sit in the broad places of Jerusalem, every man with his staff in his hand for every age. And the broad places of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the broad places thereof” (Zechariah 8:4-5).

My Response: Beautiful!

Comment: Very beautiful!

My Response: This is tranquility, this is wisdom that descends upon the city, which represents all the aspirations of humanity, and which will receive all this wisdom and distribute it to all the nations.

Question: It is very interesting here. Why does it speak specifically about the elderly who will sit in peace “with his staff in his hand for every age” and then it immediately talks about boys and girls playing?

There is not some kind of middle, just old age and youth.

Answer: This is because the more a person strives for wisdom, the younger he becomes. The wisest and the youngest in each person will find each other, understand each other, and coexist in joy.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 3/18/24

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We should know what vessels of bestowal mean.

There are three discernments that we find in an act of bestowal:

1) He engages in bestowal upon others…in order to be rewarded for it. But if he weren’t confident that he would receive honor in return for it, he wouldn’t do what he does for others.

2) He engages in bestowal upon others and does not wish to be given any reward for his work, meaning another thing, something else. Rather, he settles for performing acts of bestowal. It is in his nature to enjoy doing good to others and this is his whole pleasure.

3) He is working in order to not receive any reward (Rabash, “Concerning Bestowal“).

Question: Is a person capable of the third form of bestowal where they do not receive anything at all for it? How is that possible?

Answer: We need to understand that this is indeed a form of receiving pleasure. This is what bestowal is. I respect the person for whom I perform selfless actions so much, I love and value him so much, and he is so great in my eyes that I am ready to do everything for him without any compensation.
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From KabTV’s “Practical Kabbalah” 3/28/24

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Question: Is it possible to work directly with the Creator, for His sake, without regard for others?

Answer: No, first, a person must learn to work correctly with the environment, with others, not with just one, but with many, and only then can they achieve similarity to the Creator by receiving or bestowing only for the sake of others.

Question: What does the patent itself consist of? Suppose I wake up in the morning and start figuring out what I need to bestow to others. Do I walk around with these thoughts and just consider what to bestow to them?

Answer: No, you are simply thinking about what actions of yours can bring contentment to the Creator, how you can please Him, and what He would like to feel from you. If these actions are clear to you, then start gradually approaching them.
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From KabTV’s “Practical Kabbalah” 3/28/24

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Preparation to the Lesson

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1st part of the Lesson — Writings of Rabash, “Letters 1 – 3”

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2nd part of the Lesson — Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Preface to the Sulam Commentary”

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Question: If punishment and reward are concealed from us in the spiritual work, how can we work with them and focus on them?

Answer: You must correctly understand the difference between punishment and reward and constantly determine what the level of reward needed to be in order to move forward.

We cannot precisely measure this level, but we must imagine that it is above everything else. The reward in our work is partial or complete revelation of the Creator.

Question: How does the ten help with this?

Answer: It helps with everything because your friends also want to exist in this state, to feel spirituality, and to provide mutual help. Depending on this, you collectively engage in the work.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/13/24, Writings of Rabash “Knowledge and Faith”

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Question: The great Kabbalist Baal HaSulam told a parable about a man who committed a serious crime against the king and was sentenced to 20 years and was exiled to a remote island where there were other exiles.

Once there, the disease of amnesia struck him. He forgot that he had a wife, children, friends, and acquaintances. He began to think that the whole world was nothing more than what he saw, this distant place with people, and he thought that he was born there. That is, all this became true for him.

The question is, can we say that we are exiled to this Earth?

Answer: Indeed, it is not our place of birth and development. That is, we are aliens on this Earth. We have not yet been given the opportunity to know from where and how. But we are strangers here on this Earth.

We are not suitable either in our development or in our nature for what is here. We exist this way because this is how the Creator wishes it for now.

Question: Why do we not treat this Earth as a mother?

Answer: We have no connection with it.

Question: Why are we being punished?

Answer: We are not punished. We are going through a developmental stage. There is no punishment in this.

Question: So did we need to be here to develop? To the point where our connection reaches the level of a higher power?

Answer: Yes, I do not think we will feel it here, in earthly life, but we are moving toward it.

Question: One may ask, what is the true reality? We take our existence as truth. But it is not true, as you say. Is it not so?

Answer: Correct.

Question: What is it—actual reality, truth?

Answer: The actual reality is that we can move away from our usual ideas about nature, ourselves, and the Creator, and realize our cosmic nature.

Question: But what is it like?

Answer: It is entirely unearthly and has nothing to do with our body, thoughts, or anything. We must rise above all of this. The actual world is what is out there somewhere…

Question: Above all the senses, above everything?

Answer: Above everything! It is what we will comprehend later in our completely new sensations.

Question: And this, in principle, cannot be described to a person? It is impossible. Only one who has comprehended this can feel the actual reality.

Answer: Yes.

Question: Please tell me what we still need to do to be returned from here to there.

Answer: We just need to want to unite.

Question: As I understand it, humanity now wants to wake up more and more because this dream is becoming more and more terrible. Almost everyone has a powerful feeling that something has changed. Is this a search for the truth, or is it just an escape from suffering?

Answer: It is not even an escape from suffering.

Question: What is it? Is a person simply looking for where he will feel good?

Answer: A person is looking for something to adhere to. Otherwise, every second becomes more prolonged and it makes no sense. It is hard for a person and nothing more.

Question: And nothing more? Are there no higher thoughts?

Answer: No! Nothing and nowhere.

Question: Will they, sooner or later, introduce us to the understanding that we must, as you say, take all these steps toward eternity, toward truth, toward our homeland?

Answer: We will get there. I hope we will somehow wake up from a terrible noise, rumble, and see the sky exploding. What will happen to us? That is when we’ll start thinking.

Question: So the whole task is to come to the question one way or another?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Have we not come to this question yet?

Answer: No! Let us come to the egoistic question: “What will happen to us?” At least get close to it, and then these wheels will slowly begin to move.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 3/25/24

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Judging a friend to the scale of merit means exalting each of them and putting them much higher than yourself. In this way we will be able to lift the whole group literally to the heavens. That is, everyone in the group will be able to be a great mediator between all its members and the Creator.

A person who is in a group of like-minded people should always elevate his friends, even if he sees some flaws in them. He must tell himself that he judges them as uncorrected because he himself has such an uncorrected vision. As it is said, everyone judges according to the measure of their depravity.

Question: But the group exists according to some rules. If I and others also see specifically that a person violates the rules of the spiritual work, should I still weigh him on the scale of merit?

Answer: It is necessary to understand this, but in general, yes. It depends on who we are talking about. If this is just an ordinary friend or someone who has recently started studying, then what can be done?

Maybe he does not understand it yet or is in the process of working on himself internally, but we do not see it.

In general, we must move forward. Over time, all members of the group will begin to understand how they should be interconnected and mutually oblige each other, and this will move them forward.
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From KabTV’s “Practical Kabbalah” 4/11/24

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In order to acquire the quality of bestowal of the Creator, which in principle is hidden from us, there is a laboratory in our world consisting of like-minded people. A person must perform three actions in it.

First he needs to initially accept his friends as the greatest. Otherwise, they will not be able to influence him; this is according to the law that spiritual influence can only be obtained from someone who is greater than you.

Second, he must buy them with his attention, with some actions, in order to acquire their spiritual desires and the quality of bestowal of the Creator.

Third, in any case it does not matter what a person sees and how he feels it in his feelings; he must judge his friends to the scale of merit. That is, they are always right.

Performing all three actions will help us to acquire the attribute of the Creator. Therefore, if you have such a group and you are mutually connected with them, then you have already acquired the most important thing.
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From KabTV’s “Practical Kabbalah” 4/11/24

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Question: In the article “The Agenda of the Assembly,” Rabash writes that when friends gather together, they should talk about each other’s importance.

It seems unnatural to me. I have never heard of people invited to a meeting talking about the importance of each other, the benefits they can gain from the meeting, and how significant those benefits are compared to not attending. Why does Rabash give such unnatural advice?

Answer: In principle, there is nothing unnatural here because we are talking about friends gathering in a group. The purpose of this group is to perform spiritual work that can only be realized together.

Additionally, they understand that their spiritual development depends on how well they connect with each other. Therefore, the article discusses what such a group should be like, how friends should interact with each other, and their attitudes toward one another. All these are very important elements of the spiritual work of each member of the group.

Comment: You agree that when a person goes to a meeting, he does not think, “How great these friends are!” If he is interested in being with them, he goes. If he sees them as ordinary, he simply does not attend the meeting. But here we come and have to artificially elevate the importance of the friends.

My Response: Yes, that is correct. Moreover, this may be, as they say, “out of the blue” when a person has no such thoughts or intentions at all. But he begins to seriously contemplate this and gradually develops a desire for the gathering, for his friends, understands how important they are, and realizes that achieving the highest condition of spiritual ascent from the level of our world to the spiritual world depends solely on how the friends unite and aim upward together.
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From KabTV’s “Practical Kabbalah” 4/4/24

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