Question: Is the European group of Bnei Baruch also to blame if the world experiences a disaster because of a lack of connection within Israel?

Answer: Today, everyone is responsible for this, meaning each one who studies the wisdom of Kabbalah and feels a connection inside Israel. When I refer to Israel, I am referring to all of our friends and groups all over the world.

All of us have received an awakening from the Creator, just as the group of Abraham received it in ancient Babylon. And so we are found today in the same situation of Israel (Yashar-El – straight to the Creator).

It is not important that one received an awakening 3,500 years ago in Babylon, came with it to this day, and another received this awakening in South America only a few months or years ago. According to the spiritual world, there is no meaning to these physical years.

All of us are already related to Yashar-El , directly connected to the Creator, and so must convey the Light through us to the world. If we do this, it will be good; and if not, it will be very bad. I hope that we will succeed.
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From the 5^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/28/14, Chosen Topics on: Holocaust Memorial Day

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The beginning of this post can be found in: Passover Is A Reminder Of The Future

Abraham’s group moved to Canaan.The ego then grew from one generation to the next, but the main thing was to keep the general connection, the spiritual brotherhood.

Later, the disputes and conflicts grew to such an extent that even Jacob’s sons, the brothers, couldn’t overcome them. This process is described in the Torah as the beginning of the famine. The brothers sell Joseph into slavery in Egypt, (Mitzrayim), which symbolizes one’s evil nature (Yetzer-Ra). When they fell from the level of brotherly love, they found themselves under the domination of the ego, Pharaoh.

At first this domination was good: Pharaoh raised Joseph and life was full of different pleasures, but then things changed and people began to feel that corporeal benefits and pleasures were not everything in life.

They felt a deficiency for a spiritual connection, which Pharaoh, of course, objected to and resisted. Now all the ego’s efforts were not to allow them to maintain even one bit of inner unity.

It seemed as if there was no way out, but it is actually the despair that generated the force that pulled them to unity—Moses. He was brought up in Pharaoh’s home, the ego, and was therefore ready to confront the king of Egypt. This spark that kept the essence of the Jewish soul lives in each of us. It is the general, inclusive perspective of a united world in which there is no room for separation.
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Question: The Jewish nation has gone through a special transformation, the transition from slavery to freedom, to which the feast of Pesach (Passover) is dedicated. What is the meaning of this transformation?

Answer: The meaning of liberation from slavery is acquiring the power of love due to exiting from one’s egoism. We are under the control of the system that advances us, especially given under the power of our egoism, which is called Pharaoh.

First, we feel good in this bondage, but then realize that we are in exile and are slaves to the egoism that rules over us absolutely. We do not agree with this authority and wish to escape from it, from the bad attitudes towards each other, because we see that in this form, it is impossible to move on and exist.

After many failed attempts, we become convinced that nothing can be done and only a miracle can save us. Indeed, egoism is killing us to the extent that we do not see success in anything in our lives in any way. In this way, Pharaoh’s rule between us is manifested.

That is the situation we see today in Israel. There are 23 political parties in a little country, huge gaps between different layers of the population, crisis in the education system, an increasing divorce rate, and growing use of drugs. Half of the citizens would be willing to move to another country if given the chance.

Our unkind attitude to each other can be seen from the behavior on the roads and elsewhere. We are divided by indifference to others and pride. Egoism reigns within us and makes us act in this way. It is not our fault, but it is our nature that plays with us.

One must realize that our nature is the evil inclination, which enslaves us. If we do not get out of it, then our lives will be over and we will not leave behind anything good for our children. Life will become worse and they will not have even those crumbs of happiness that we once had.

This is slavery, and the Passover Haggadah tells us how to escape it to reach freedom. But above all, we need to understand that we are in slavery. After all, while you see yourself in the darkness of egoism that separates us through mutual hatred, it is impossible to understand the reality of freedom from this angel of death.

We have to desire to become a free people in our own country, independent of our desire. We need to wish to achieve love, connection, mutual guarantee, and unity between everyone above our egoistic nature.

The people of Israel once escaped its egoism and rose to a height of unity and love, which is called the building of the Temple. But then we were not able to remain at that height and fell from it.

Rabbi Akiva taught that you cannot leave the principle of love for others as oneself; otherwise, we will again fall back to unfounded hatred. Egypt is the state of causeless hatred between us. After the destruction of the Second Temple 2,000 year ago, we returned to this state of hatred, which is called Egypt.

After thousands of years of living in unity and connection, the Jewish people again went to Egypt, to unfounded hatred. But today the whole world must realize that we are in Egypt.

Once, a small group led by Abraham left Babylon and became united into the people of Israel. But then it went back to Babylon and mingled with all the Babylonians. Today, we again find ourselves facing the same Tower of Babel and are confronted with hatred towards each other and the unwillingness to know and understand others. This is called a confusion of the tongues.

Once again, we have to make the same action as was once performed in ancient Babylon. It is said that acts of the fathers are an example for their sons. Today, we once more need to exit from Egypt, but this will be the last exile before the final liberation.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 3/22/15

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The basis of the Jewish nation is not an ethnic but rather an ideological basis. We have to start from way back, ages ago, when humanity was concentrated in ancient Babylon and people lived a simple life but in brotherhood. However, there came a time when conflicts broke out, and neighbors who used to be close and friendly began to feel suspicious of one another and gradually became strangers.

Imagine this situation in the perspective of our time: the neighbor’s grass is greener; he has a modern washing machine, and yesterday I saw a new refrigerator being delivered to his home. His wife is like a thorn in my wife’s eyes since she wears a new dress every day, his children are disrespectful, and what is more, he now has two new pure bred dogs who openly look down at my mutt with contempt…

In short, the ego grew in ancient Babylon and people ceased to feel themselves as one nation. It is as if they began to speak different languages.

Then Abraham, who was a great sage, discovered the inner essence of what was going on and found a true solution to the conflict. He discovered that they had to overcome the ego that had grown in order to maintain the warm and friendly relations between them.

But the majority didn’t accept that approach and it ended in a general break up. The tribes and peoples scattered all over the globe.

Very few followed Abraham and they were the ones who laid the foundations for the Jewish nation and the Jewish people. They established a society that despite the continuously growing ego, kept the feeling of closeness to one another and the warm family relations between them.
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Question: The celebration of Passover is a special opportunity to learn something new about oneself, about our people, about our society, and make a qualitative change in our relationships to each other.

Rav Kook wrote that if the people of Israel once had not made this transition from slavery to freedom, the whole world would have never been able to make such a change. Is it true that the people of Israel affect the whole world so much?

Answer: The people of Israel are a special group of people that were selected from the entire world and came out from ancient Babylon in order to unite.

Today, the whole world is in the same mutual hatred, which once was revealed only between the Jews during the destruction of the Temple. Due to this hatred, Jews fell from the height of unity to the level of this world, and that means going into exile.

Today, the Jewish people are mixed with the entire world, and we all are in the same state, which is called Egypt or the slavery of mutual hatred.

Since the Jews have already exited this slavery, we have memories, the genes (Reshimot) of that previous state. This is why we must lead everyone else in exiting this terrible state the whole of humanity exists in now and in setting an example to everyone, meaning, being “a light to the nations of the world.”

Now this task is for the people of Israel who are living in the land of Israel. This is why we were able to come back here. We must realize our mission for the benefit of the whole world. After all, the purpose of creation is that all of humanity become one people, one family, as it is written in the Prophets.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 3/22/15

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In order to come to the state of “Passover,” we must reach such a level of development where we are unable to work with egoism; we need to rise above it.

The outburst of egoism happened for the first time in Babylon. Against this eruption that took place when the population was not large, Abraham, a priest of ancient Babylon, discovered the system of ascent above egoism.

Several thousand people accepted this method, and they went together with him to the land of Canaan, present-day Israel. Abraham taught his followers what it meant to be in love with each other, rising above the ego and constantly stepping over one’s ego—Pesach (from the word Pasach, to pass).

Our ego is growing constantly, and we are growing above it, covering it by the law of “… love covereth all transgressions.” Transgressions remain, but, the greater they are—up to immense hatred—the greater love appears between us.

We do not hide our hatred, are not ashamed of it, because we understand that it comes from human nature, and our task is to identify in nature the next, positive force that will give us the opportunity to cover hatred with love.

Then, we will be in a constant state of spiritual elevation. However, hatred will determine the height of the love with which we cover it.

It turns out that we can continue to grow constantly. That is, each transition from stage to stage will become Passover (Pesach), the holiday that is always with you.
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From KabTV’s “Conversations about Passover,” 3/18/15

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The Torah, “Leviticus,” 25:23: The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land belongs to Me, for you are strangers and [temporary] residents with Me.

The Creator gave us a desire (land) so that we should correct it and not use it anyway we feel like. It is as if He rents it out to us.

We don’t have anything of our own in this world, and therefore when we make a deal we have to understand that we buy the land only for temporary use, or to rent. We don’t actually buy the land. We rent the land and so we can work it for a certain period of time. Nothing is eternal and nothing belongs to us.

Comment: It turns out that the nations that settled on this planet are not its owners.

Answer: According to the root of his soul, an owner is a person who is compatible with one part or another of the land he lives on. Therefore, part of this land has to return to its owners. It refers to nations who came out of Babylon and settled all over the globe. The settlement in Israel has to be according to the Torah, and every tribe and  family has its predetermined part and it is eternal. It is because the inner attributes of the family or the tribe match the attribute of that part of the land. This is how the correction of the desire is performed.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 8/13/14

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Our good fortune depends upon establishing good relationships between us. I try to do this in every way, but suddenly there is an explosion and somebody takes me out of balance and away from the right direction. In order to maintain this intention, we must have general agreement, a system of education that is designed especially for this purpose..

This is what must be taught to children at school, so that they will not behave the way they do today. This is a nationwide problem that must be solved on a national scale, and doesn’t just depend on someone’s desire or lack of desire.

No one wants this since it is contrary to our ego and not easy to realize. So we must create a system of education that will bring us closer to one another.

Our entire salvation is only in this. Two thousand years ago the people of Israel lost their land precisely because of unfounded hatred. Today we have again found ourselves in a dangerous situation, so let’s get closer to each other.

Baal HaSulam writes: All of our hope is in recreating a national education that is designed to discover the natural love that is latent in our people so that by all means we will go back and revive the same national muscles which have not operated in us for two millennia.

From the days of our father Abraham, who left Babylon, until the destruction of the second Beit HaMikdash (Temple), that is, for about 1,500 hundred years, the people of Israel lived in complete unity.

Question: What does it mean to live in unity? Does it mean that there won’t be any quarrels with one’s wife at home?

Answer: For this, it is necessary to have education that will lead to good attitudes, including women and children.

Question: This sounds like some kind of utopia. What exactly will happen with people? Will they stop being egoists?

Answer: People will be able to control their ego. You won’t do this to become good and to not quarrel with your wife, but because through quarreling, you are destroying the lives of all people in the world. This is specifically you, and even because you quarreled with your wife.

Imagine that your relationship with your wife influences the relationships of an immense number of men with their wives, because you are a Jew.

Question: So if a Frenchman quarrels with his wife, this doesn’t influence others as strongly?

Answer: No, this doesn’t have an influence in the way that a Jewish man quarreling with his wife does. This is because Jews are the first in the general system who must realize the law of Arvut (mutual guarantee), the connection between everyone. And after that, the whole world must also be included in this law of Arvut, in the general unity. It is specifically towards general unity that nature is pushing us, towards general unity.
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From Israeli Radio Program 103FM, 3/08/15

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The Zohar, Sulam Commentary, Chapter “BaHar,” Item 69: Abraham repented and shattered the idols of paganism and the food that had been placed before them.

Everything that is considered holy and sublime on the previous level that was worth living for, working for, and dedicating myself to, needs to be shattered. All the actions that are performed in our world for the sake of our ego, for our children, for humanity, and for nature belong to that.

Unfortunately, we live simply in order to survive, saying, “Let us live the years that we were given from Above in peace, and I don’t care what may happen afterward.” This is what everyone thinks, not realizing that they deceive themselves that way. Such an attitude is harmful and destructive.

Abraham believed that our world wasn’t created in order to appease the idols—our work, our studies, our children, and the good life, after which we can lay down and die in peace—but that our world was created so that we would reach the next world in this lifetime.

Noah was the first who broke away from the past. He built an ark and hid in it. He realized that he had to be saved from this world and he created his own protection, a shelter from the thoughts and the temptations that surrounded him, and sailed away from them. Therefore, all his egoistic feelings, thoughts, and desires died during the flood.

The point is that we need to perceive the still, vegetative, and animate natures, and mankind as one unique whole. Only a part of this whole, called Noah, survived the flood, which means that this part had been corrected under the influence of the Surrounding Light (the ark is the Light of Hassadim). The part that couldn’t be corrected that way died. However, later it undergoes its own correction in a different manner and is reborn in a new form.

The same thing happened to Abraham. The parts that couldn’t be corrected remained in Babylon, while Abraham shattered, burned, and threw away all the idols and left Babylon. He had a higher understanding than Noah: that everything that belonged to his egoistic state was on the level of still nature and that there was no Upper Light in it. He discerned and distinguished the higher level from the lower and cut off the layer of the still, vegetative, and animate nature and the human level that are inside his soul. He could not be free of the domination of Nimrod (the ego), and so he left.

We see that here, too, the general soul distinguishes and sets aside a certain part that cannot be corrected and follows its own way. Just as Noah detached himself from the entire world, Abraham also detached himself from it. The part of the Babylonians remained and developed following a different path.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 6/18/15

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Adam HaRishon (First Man) is the structure of the only soul that was created and which has undergone great changes after the shattering. First, it existed in the state of Hafetz Hesed, and didn’t receive anything and didn’t want anything for itself.

This state is called the Garden of Eden (heaven) or an angel.

An angel is a force that has no ego at all. He performs all the work that is necessary for the general force of nature. It is said that an angel is part of the Creator.

He is managed by the upper force that operates and advances all of creation toward the goal, toward attaining the attribute of love and bestowal.

Question: Is there a Reshimo (reminiscence) of the state of Adam HaRishon in us?

Answer: There are Reshimot, spiritual genes, of all the states in us. It is because we have descended into our world from the spiritual level of absolute wholeness, and now we must ascend once again by ourselves using the Reshimot that were preserved in us, but we must do it consciously through drawing the upper force and correcting ourselves by it. This force is called the Torah, stemming from the Hebrew word, “Ohr” (Light).

We gradually accept the Upper Light because it arrives gradually, according to our ascent. The upper system of illumination formats and affects us, raises us, and corrects us by reintegrating everyone into one general structure that is the same general soul that was initially created.

This sums up the entire history of our descent from the top down and our ascent from the bottom up. The ascent from the bottom up began when the general soul called Adam was shattered and discovered that it was absolutely egoistic, and that it wasn’t ready for the contact with the Light, with the Creator. This is called Adam HaRishon’s sin and the expulsion from the Garden of Eden.

The Creator disappeared from people’s feelings, and they were left to roam the earth in the corporeal darkness. This is the reason that we all are totally shattered, separated, and distant from one another in this world.

Twenty generations of Kabbalists after Adam tried to correct this situation, but the first ten generations understood their problems and that they couldn’t do anything until Noah appeared. Noah was saved during the flood while most of the people died.

This wasn’t death and loss, but purification because there is no actual death. People who died symbolize the egoistic desires that we cannot use at a certain time.

This is the reason that they are considered dead. However, later, they come back to life in the correct form and, thus, seemingly appear in the next generations.

They are the same desires that underwent phases of purification through death in their earlier egoistic form and then come back to life in an altruistic form. Thus, the ten generations that followed Noah are already generations that are closer to Abraham, to the recognition of the right spiritual advancement.

The last level before Abraham was his father Terach. Terach is the feeling of the ego that we want to use and to enjoy, while Abraham is the recognition that this ego is evil, which means its opposite side.

Abraham and Terach are one single whole, but the part called Terach wants to work with the ego and the part called Abraham already understands that it is forbidden to work with the ego and that it means death.

This is why they break apart. Abraham changes his attitude toward life, toward the world called Terach and becomes Abraham, meaning the father of the nation in Hebrew. This means that he becomes the father of all the desires that eventually will be corrected.
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From KabTV’s Secrets of the Eternal Book 6/18/14

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