Question: Why is it written in Part 8, Item 29 of Talmud Eser Sefirot that the lower one corrects the upper one? What does this mean?

Answer: The lower one (the world of Atzilut) corrects the upper one (the world of Nekudim). That’s because the world of Nekudim broke instead of attaining the full correction

It is necessary to reveal the evil inclination, the ego, as it is written, “I created the evil inclination and I created the Torah for its correction.” But the evil was not revealed in the world of Nekudim, and therefore it becomes revealed during the breaking. It then becomes possible to build the world of Atzilut, “the Torah for its correction.”

The entire world of Atzilut and its entire apparatus is Atik. Arich Anpin, Aba ve Ima, and Zeir Anpin in relation to Nukva of the world of Atzilut is called the system of “Torah” that brings the Light that returns the souls ascending into Malchut to the source of goodness. Therefore, after the breaking of the world of Nekudim, the lower one corrects the upper one.

Likewise, in our souls, which are fragments from the breaking of the common soul of Adam HaRishon, we also correct the body of the broken Adam. We are the surviving parts of this system and we have to correct it. Adam HaRishon, the upper one in relation to us, broke, and we, the lower ones, correct him.

The same thing happens in our world. The next generation has to correct the mistakes made by the previous generation. The children correct what the parents did, first with the help of the parents, and later ascending above them and taking everything that the parents left behind uncorrected in order to continue the correction. In other words, the children correct the parents, meaning they correct what the parents revealed.

The same thing happens in the world of Atzilut: On one hand the lower one corrects the upper one, but on the other hand the Upper One provides the instruments for correcting Himself.
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/21/10, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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If the world provided correct upbringing to the growing generation today, then in 15 to 20 years, we would live among new people, a new humanity. We wouldn’t have to worry about what to do with the adults. Beginning at the age of three or four, we would methodically educate a child to have a new perception, an aspiration to bestowal.

Up to the ruining of the First Temple, the entire nation of Israel was raised and lived by this idea. It is written that from Dan in the north to Beer Sheba in the south, meaning across the entire country, there wasn’t a child who would not know what “in order to receive” and “in order to bestow” meant. In those times, they were following the method received from Abraham upon his departure from Babylon.

We will have to do the same with time, but the opportunity is presented to us even now. In the end, we will teach our children how to get along with each other, how to establish a connection, be friends, interact, and love.

In the present conditions, it is very difficult because children are subject to the modern system of education and all the problems it entails. Yet, we are trying to explain to them that love of others as themselves is a universal law of nature. There is no way to escape it. Resist or fight as you might, in the end, you will only hurt yourself. History demonstrates to us how empires fell, and the victorious nations, after all their triumphs, ended up in the gutter.

Blindfolded egoism thinks that success in a competition brings profit, trophies, and power: “Watch me be a hero!” However, looking farther or even closer ahead, it turns out that this attitude doesn’t pay off. We are bound by nature, and we need reciprocity.

This is why we add to modern, professional education the rule of love of others as we love ourselves. To achieve this, we utilize various forms to present it such as games, songs, talks, debates, and discussions in order to lead children to the new perception of reality.

We find ourselves at the very beginning of the journey. Let’s hope that this year, we will manage to arrange an international educational network that will encompass all our groups around the world. We will produce films, books, and educational brochures, work with psychologists and other specialists, and, in a few years, we will see how our children will benefit from it.

Today, it is simply necessary to develop and expand healthy upbringing so that our children won’t grow up with the laws of the jungle and become misanthropes as it is at present. While growing up, our children will be successful in all areas such as in the sciences, professional preparation, behavior, and in their attitude to society and the world. It will be so because they will internally be equivalent to the Creator.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/5/10, “What to Look for in the Assembly of Friends”

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The problem is not that we break a person’s character and spoil something in this world. Rather, by disregarding his or her individual properties, we pull certain parts out of the common correction, and without these parts the whole system will not be perfect.

In spirituality, everything has to be perfect. If the entire huge system is missing one little cell, this makes the whole system imperfect. It presupposes a total mutual inclusion, meaning each one in everyone. Each person includes himself into everyone else and contains everyone in him.

This means that even if one is uncorrected, there isn’t one single corrected soul. If one soul is corrupt, this is felt in all the other souls and in the system as a whole. Each defect is accumulative because, being inside one soul, the defect multiplies by spreading onto all the other souls and influences each soul by multiplying due to their mutual inclusion.

That’s why by protecting individual freedom, the Kabbalists are not looking for beautiful relationships between people, but come from the structure of creation, seeing it from beginning to end. Hence, they say that we can’t do as we wish at a given moment, but have to proceed only from the true form, the corrected end state (Gmar Tikkun).

If we have to reach the end of correction, then, today, we have to treat everyone most carefully, considering his personal qualities as our collective property which nothing can replace. We just have to help each other connect with everyone else. This is how relationships should be in society.

Next, each person has to be given the opportunity to develop toward connecting with the rest. He shouldn’t be developed personally, expecting all types of egoistic successes and distinctions. This is what today’s schools are busy doing. They are not educating a person, but just giving a “professional orientation.”

Instead of this, schools need to occupy themselves with educating a person in society in particular. Thanks to this, all his natural capabilities will develop properly in him because all his genes, hormones, and innate qualities exist only for his connection with the rest. All this is directed only toward society and connection.

Otherwise, they would be invisible to us. We see them only because we went through the breaking. That is, each one’s personal qualities are the consequence of the breaking of the collective soul and can be corrected only through connection.

Really, a person has nothing else to do in this world apart from connecting with others. By doing this, he can develop all his personal qualities and natural tendencies in their most optimum form. This guarantees a blossoming of the mind and feelings in their most balanced form.

Furthermore, through a connection with others, he can absorb from them any number of additional qualities, impressions, and feelings, everything he needs. He will be nourished by everyone, by the entire system correctly, and that will enable him to develop harmoniously and perfectly himself.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/10/10, “The Freedom”

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Baal HaSulam, “The Freedom”: Know, that this [personal tendencies] is the one true possession of the individual that must not be harmed or altered… Thus, anyone who eradicates a tendency from an individual and uproots it causes the loss of that sublime and wondrous concept from the world, intended to emerge at the end of the chain, for that tendency will never again emerge in any other body.

These are exactly the principles on which the system of education has to be based. Children have to be treated as adults; we shouldn’t try to make them into something we want as if they are dough from which we can form any shape we desire.

A person has to be provided with influence that will let him develop his personal properties. That’s why in education, any suppression is unacceptable.

The Kabbalists write about this, and we have to understand the reason why. The protection of personal freedom is a compulsory law because, at the end of the day, we’re not influencing or correcting any one of us. We’re simply fixing the bonds between us.

We all, me, you, and him, have to connect with each other with the right type of ties. Then, in these ties, we will reveal the Light like in resistors of an electric circuit or in the spiral of a light bulb. The connections that will become revealed between us will be called the spiritual world or the Creator; it’s not going to be each of us individually.

What belongs to me personally does not relate to the spiritual world. Only our bonds are spiritual. That’s why the individual qualities of everyone have to stay. If I spoil any quality in me or in anyone else, the connection between us cannot be absolutely correct anymore because this connection requires a “bridge” from his nature to mine.

That’s why the law of protection of personal freedom is not the requirement of a nice “democracy.” It’s a necessary requirement for reaching correction.

From this, it’s clear how spoiled our system of education is: It imposes continuous pressure on children and manufactures trite individuals according to an adopted standard. The attitude toward rearing and education has to be radically changed.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/10/10, “The Freedom”

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The rule of “educate your child according to his way” does not at all imply permissiveness. On the contrary, it is a very strict approach.

“According to his way” means in accordance with the child’s inclination. If a child has a talent for math, put him into a math school and force him to study using all means possible. And if someone has a talent for dancing, let him take ballet classes and do it seriously. “According to his way” does not mean “whatever the child pleases.” If not, where is “educate your child?”

Children should be given only positive examples. After all, we are born with the egoistic nature, as it is said by the Creator: “I created the evil inclination.” No good inclination was created against it, but rather, only the reforming Light which can be attracted by Kabbalah studies.

Hence, when we show a person something bad and say that it is not good to behave this way, he does not agree: “It’s bad, but I want it!” He does not connect the words with actions: He says that it is bad, but does it.

For this reason, it is not advisable to give children negative examples along with positive ones so that they could choose. They will never choose good. They will follow their nature and always be attracted to bad examples and actions in spite of numerous sermons. On the contrary, by seeing only positive examples and discussing them in various formats, we gradually transition to good. Habit becomes a second nature.

What can be considered a positive example? A person sets an example by being strongly connected to the group, inspiring his friends, and acting together with them.

Children should know how to evaluate themselves with respect to the group and their own actions. For this, they need to be given a scale of achievements since otherwise a child does not know how to assess his acts. Bestowing to the group has to have an external form which could be used as a measuring instrument.
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From Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/3/10, Talk on Education

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If, instead of focusing on each child individually (who he is and what he does), we shift emphasis specifically on children’s connection with each other and on their connection with adults, and if in the process of education we facilitate a person’s connection with his or her environment, then he will evolve correctly internally as well.

Indeed, all of our inner qualities, inclinations, and genes are not subject to correction. They are given to us only to be in contact with other people.

This entire system was created completely opposite to its current state. We were merged into one common desire to such a degree that none of us was noticeable or perceived at all. Only after the breaking of this system did we divide into “me,” “you,” and “him.”

Therefore, our personalities do not demand any correction. They will disappear as we create correct ties and become incorporated into each other.

Only these connections or absence thereof define how a person is viewed by the society and how correctly he works and realizes himself in it.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/10/10, “The Freedom”

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Question: Today there are families which do not accept their children because of their homosexual orientation; these children are cast away by their families. After the terrorist attack at the “Bar Noar” night club in Tel-Aviv, one of the injured did not even get a visit from his parents.

You have asserted a number of times that it is necessary to treat children according to their needs and preferences. How should parents treat their homosexual children?

Answer: I cannot impose and tell parents how to build their relationships with any of their children, but I believe that love and understanding must prevail everywhere. Neither society nor mass media explain these things to people, even though specifically in mass media there are many people who understand this problem.
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Shamati #1: It is written, “there is none else besides Him.” This means that there is no other force in the world that has the ability to do anything against Him.

There is a single Upper Force that governs the whole universe. And what man sees, that there are things in the world that deny the Higher Household…in other words, it seems to us that there are many opposing forces operating in the world that overpower one another, and that it is possible to receive help from one force in order to oppose another, using this “multiple power.” …the reason is that this is His will.

This one force, which has total power, wants us to become so confused by the multitude of forces, desires, kinds, and qualities, so that from within this mess we would start to gather the only existing force ourselves. It seems to us that this life is multi-faceted and complex, but we have to bring it to one desire, one goal, and one operating force.

It’s similar to how we teach children by giving them exercises where they have to assemble and fix something that’s broken, not ready, or incomplete. They have to correct it and complete it on their own. That is how we have to act at every moment of our lives.

It seems to us that it is very difficult to work hard in life and to make efforts, but if we did just one thing behind all of these material actions — if we completed the Upper Force in order to see that He is the only one who acts, then we would not need to do anything else!

We work in the material world to produce many things, but in reality we are simply running away from solving the only, tiny problem: to discern that behind all of these problems, details, thoughts, and discernments, there is one force standing opposite me. There is me and Him, and between us He has built all of these decorations that confuse me so that through them I would find my way to Him and feel that they come to me form Him! This is called clarification.

If at every moment of my life, no matter what I do, whether I am talking to someone, someone is attacking me, or on the contrary, someone approaches me in a good way, or something happens to my health, money, or status at work or in my family, if behind every occurrence I try to reveal the Creator, then I will begin to unite everything into one net as if making an embroidery. I will begin seeing and revealing this system of connections: His program and attitude to me through all of these people and all the possible life situations.

I will suddenly understand what happened in the past and will start to see what He will do to me in the future. He slightly lets me see what needs to be done with various problems, teaching me like a small child. I have to accept this life only as a quest for Him — to look for Him and find Him! After all the efforts I make, I should always see that there is none else besides Him and everything comes only from Him!

This has to happen to such a degree that when I am in the most difficult and unpleasant situation, when I reach total despair and exhaustion, and I am completely unable to connect it to the Creator, I nevertheless begin to aim it toward the Creator and to look for the reason why this has come to me in this form and where it came from. Then I reveal how wonderful it is….

I begin to put all of the components of the general picture in order and suddenly discover that He has set everything up only for my own good to help me reach newer revelations! Eventually I reveal that everything around me is one interconnected net of His attitude toward me through the entire universe and through all the Upper Worlds. I am surrounded by a force field of His love, and I am at its center. This is called the revelation of the Creator to the creatures.
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From Lesson 7, World Kabbalah Convention 2010, 11/11/10

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Question: How can we find the strength to advance because as time goes by we feel greater opposition and less strength?

Answer: That is wonderful! If you feel less and less energy, it is help from Above so you wouldn’t think that you can do anything at all. If you feel greater opposition, this is also help from Above so you would see that you will never be able to break through on your own.

This is help! Pharaoh, the Egyptian King, the ego, the evil inclination, is opposite to the Creator – the reverse side of Him. The Creator deliberately creates this image for you. Your entire nature, your egoism, is a reverse mold of the Creator. The Creator inserts Himself inside you and acts in a way that stops you. He does everything! There is none else besides Him.

When we say that “There is none else besides Him,” this does not mean that I exist and someone else exists opposite me. I also don’t exist! All the forces inside me that act for and against, that are good and evil, are all Him. And who am I? I am the point of discernment. I only discern what is for and what is against. From His two forms I discern with whom I desire to be.

The Creator is an actor that plays all the roles; he alternatively clothes into good and then into evil. It is how you play with a small child in different ways so he would learn to differentiate one thing from the other and understand what he should be like. He will learn about good only to the degree he attains evil.

Therefore, if you feel heaviness now, it’s the Creator who makes it happen. If you feel that you cannot do anything on your own, He gives you this sensation. Why? So you would turn to Him.

If I want to teach a small child that he has to turn to me for help, then I deliberately act in a way that prevents him from accomplishing something in order that he will need me. That is how we act in the relationships between us.

Suppose I want you to become my friend and to respect me. In that case I do something behind your back so you would feel that even though you do not desire it, you will not succeed without having a connection with me. You suddenly understand that I am great, that you have to respect me and ask me, and now you know that I am great and you depend on me. I have arranged your life so you are left with no other choice but to come to me and ask for it.

That is what the Creator does to us. Of course, He is not motivated by the egoistic intention to trick us, but the desire to teach us and raise us to His level, the best state, since He is called “Good who Does Good.” However, He acts precisely in this way, creating all kinds of misfortunes, problems, messes, and confusion constantly in the world, in all areas of life and in all the worlds so as a result you would desire to come to Him, to ask for help and this way to come closer to Him.

Then you will desire to become the same as Him. When you look at someone who is great, wise, or powerful, you desire to become the same. It’s not enough for you to just receive from Him; you want to be in His place. This is exactly what the Creator does to us.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/16/10, The Zohar

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Question: Now, when so many people are about to arrive at the Convention, will each of us be able to attain the sensation of the spiritual world?

Answer: This entirely depends on us. I think that we are going through very good, advanced states and the right preparation. Lately there are many drastic ascents and descents happening every day and I am very happy about that.

These states are wonderful because in order to unite correctly, we have to reveal both the evil and the good. Both the evil and the good become revealed one after the other, alternating.

All the states we are going through are the preparation a person goes through with awe and excitement. We should not be feeling rest or a static state, but as if we are about to enter an important event and go through inner sensations.

We have to understand that all the states we are now going through are given to us from Above and each of them is absolutely necessary. In spite of these states we have to carry out everything that is incumbent upon us.

If I place myself under the influence of the friends, if I cancel myself as if I have closed my eyes, and I completely don’t care about what I want and my only desire is to feel their influence, then it is a blessing from Above. This might seem like easy work, but when you do it you are immediately faced with obstacles and worried thoughts. They come to us deliberately and we will have to overcome them and remain under the influence of the environment.

People who know how to work this way will benefit a great deal. They don’t separate from the problems, but “swallow” each of them, and above every obstacle they advance by faith above reason, explaining to themselves that what is happening at the Convention now is more important to them.

Thus they shift “back and forth,” each time entering and exiting various states, tuning out of the Convention and returning, as it is written, “The Torah will come out of Tzion,” meaning the Light will come out of the exits (descents).

The Torah comes out of these kinds of exits and entrances (into spiritual states), when there are obstacles and people constantly analyze their states; eventually, the Light appears inside them. If a person is able to behave this way and at the same time to sing and dance, then there is nothing better. If he holds himself this way, then he will definitely feel the spiritual world.

A person will suddenly feel that the world is eternal, that it is common and interconnected, and that he is inside the flow of a special Upper Force.
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From the lecture on 10/26/10

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