Two questions I received on art and its purpose:

Question: What’s the role of arts and culture in the modern world?

My Answer: The methods and vehicles of art and culture should be used to explain the purpose of life and the means to attain it. After all, there is nothing more to our lives in this world other than achieving life’s inner purpose, the Creator.

Question: The times are changing and the situation is forcing us to limit ourselves to just the bare necessities. What do Kabbalists say about the role of artists and art in our world?

My Answer: The only things that will remain are those necessary and essential for the “new humanity,” or in other words, whatever is needed to reveal life’s cause, purpose, and the best way to attain it. Art will be Kabbalistic – aimed at the Creator, rather than the animalistic existence.

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Two questions I received on the arts and spirituality:

Question: In a previous blog entry, in response to the question of whether works of art are spiritual, you said: “All art was brought about by man’s desire to express himself, or in other words, by the desire for glory, to stand out, to prove something (even if it’s to himself), to express his way of seeing things.”

But you have also said that “A desire cannot be bad if it is accompanied by the intention to bestow.”

My Answer: In order to acquire an intention of bestowal, a person has to study Kabbalah for at least three years. Then, as a result of the Upper Light’s influence, the quality of bestowal will appear within him. There is no other means to correct your original egoistic intention and transform it into a spiritual one.

Question: An actor is connected with the audience and they understand each other. He gives fully of himself to them, and in return receives applause (fulfillment). The audience applauds with great emotion, giving all of their feelings to the actor, and in return they receive fulfillment from his performance. It is a mutual, yet egoistic connection. Should our adhesion with the Creator be something like this?

My Answer: In the example above you’re exchanging different types of pleasure. However, when it comes to the Creator, you must become similar to Him through the quality of bestowal, and this will determine the degree of your connection with Him.

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Two questions I received on the arts:

Question: I know that the arts are a manifestation of the ego. But being a person who dabbles in poetry and music, I can’t help but ask: What is the spiritual root of poetry? Can I (a person who hasn’t developed a spiritual Kli nor crossed the Machsom) write poetry and songs about Kabbalah and the Creator? After all, I don’t receive the Light into my soul yet. Should I try it anyway?

My Answer: Actually, the root of the arts is power and ambition. It doesn’t matter over whom – it may even be yourself. Follow the example of the great Kabbalist King David: the Psalms he wrote are still recited today by the entire world. Do as he did!

Question: Kabbalah fights egoism. But at the same time you reject philosophy, history, and the arts. Why?

My Answer: I do not reject anything. I only want to arrange everything according to its level of importance. Since Kabbalah speaks about man’s correction, connection and union with the Creator, eternal existence, and how to replace suffering with pleasure, hence it is incomparably more important than anything else in our lives. After all, what else can compare to Kabbalah when its purpose – and its capability – is to deliver man to a happy existence in this world, and to add an eternal and perfect existence on top of that?

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A question I received: In a previous blog entry you wrote, “Everything relating to the body’s desires (such as food, sex, and family) that exceeds the normal needs, is superfluous. Hence it is harmful for the body and the soul, as well as for all of the surrounding nature, and it makes man imbalanced with nature. These excesses usually appear under the influence of society. Besides the bodily desires, there are additional desires that emerge in man because he lives in society. If he lived alone in the woods, then these desires would never emerge in him. There are the desires for wealth, fame, power, and knowledge.”

But what about man’s desire for beauty and the arts? Is spending time on the arts also harmful? And if there is nothing spiritual in this world, then how do you explain the masterpieces of art?

My Answer: Everything man creates in our world comes from his desires, whether physical (food, sex, and family) or social (wealth, glory, power, and knowledge). All art was brought about by man’s desire to express himself, or in other words, by the desire for glory, to stand out, to prove something (even if it’s to himself), to express his way of seeing things, and so on.

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