Question: What is the meaning of life and why are we here?

My Answer: Imagine that everything happening now is happening in a dream, that you are dreaming of this, that you are at a congress, and that I am speaking with you. But soon you will awaken and realize that you are at home.

This is what our entire life is like – it’s a long dream, followed by awakening. But while we are sleeping we feel like our dream is reality.

The meaning of life is to realize that this is a dream and to want to wake up as soon as possible. If we wait for the dream to end on its own, we will never wake up. We need to awaken ourselves and this can only be done if your friends and a ray of Light from within arouse you from your sleep.

Once we awaken, we will find ourselves in a beautiful world without boundaries that is one large, delightful adventure. The meaning of our life is to wake up to this  new world.

(From the Children’s Lesson at the North American Congress  10.17.09)

Filed under: Children - 2 Comments →

Question: Why are we all connected?

Answer: The Creator created a single desire and then broke it into pieces.

In reality we are all connected on the inside, and we only feel as if we are disconnected.

I feel like others are separate from me. I lie to people, steal from them, hit them, and hate them, because I do not feel that they are also me. The entire world is all me!

The Creator has confused me on purpose. The fact that others are me will be revealed to me, and then I must ask myself, “How could I have treated myself this way? I took things from my own self, hit myself, stole from myself. I took so many good things away from myself.

I constantly hurt myself, my own health,  my comfort and my peace.  I do bad things to myself. What was I thinking? How could I not see the obvious?”

It is only in the egoism’s distorted mirror that the other parts seem to be foreign to me, even though we are one whole.

This is an unpleasant feeling, but the good thing about it is that it leads to correction.  It pushes us towards interconnection and motivates us to become closer and love our neighbor.

(From the Children’s Lesson at the North American Congress  10.17.09)

Filed under: Children - No Comments →

Question: Why is there a point in the heart?

Answer: We are given a point in the heart so we are not be left in this tiny world, sick, hungry, poor, and mortal. By holding on to this point we can ascend from this world into the Upper World, which is so fair and good.

A point in the heart is like the end of the rope for those who feel like they are drowning in this world, and who want to be saved. Use this rope to start pulling yourself out of this world into the Upper eternal World – you can do it!

Whether you are big or small, the point in the heart is your chance to feel like you live in a big fair world here and now. This is why we need to rejoice when the point in the heart appears in us, because it is a sign of a wonderful adventure, a journey into a wonderful land.

(From the Children’s Lesson at the North American Congress  10.17.09)

Filed under: Children - No Comments →

Children are an ocean of desires. Children ask questions with simplicity, but there is a certain depth in this simplicity that puts you in disarray.

This is because in reality there is no answer to their questions. All the answers lie beyond the other side of the Machsom where people see and feel for themselves.

This is why children are told fairy tales and stories – the deepest things can be presented this way.

Adults do not need this multitude of layers.  They are more confused and their souls have sunk under the dark cover of our world, while this has not yet happened to a child.

Question: Why do we need to unite?

Answer: I have only one enemy – my egoism, and I am not able to fight it alone.

My egoism is like a big, strong boy from school, who I constantly need to run from so he won’t beat me up.

I look for help to defeat my egoism, and I find it amongst my friends. They have the same problem –  the evil beginning, egoism, won’t let them be.

So together we decide to give it a good beating so to keep it away from us. We need to become friends in order to kick this “bad boy” and make him never want to deal with us again.

This is why we unite –in order to defeat a common enemy.  Life will simply become wonderful if we are able to get rid of him.

(From the Children’s Lesson at the North American Congress  10.17.09)

Filed under: Children - No Comments →

For as long as the amphitheater park “Hayarkon” in Tel-Aviv has existed, it probably has never seen so many glowing faces. Never before has the park been filled with as much Light and happiness as on the evening of the. Bnei Baruch International Children’s Festival , “Grow Up Happy”

[Show slideshow]

1 2 ►

In attendance and celebrating together from many different countries were 1300 children, parents, and those just wishing to submerge themselves in this atmosphere of happiness and unity.

This festival is a shining example of the kind of the programs we strive to provide for the children who attend our Congresses.

Filed under: Children - No Comments →

Question: How can we educate children today, when they are surrounded by so many temptations? How can we help them avoid the influence of the environment on their small egos, and give them an education that will make spiritual development become the most important thing in their lives?

Answer: This is much easier than it seems. If we give children the right examples, then they will copy them onto their relatively pure matter. It’s written that educating a child is like writing on a clean sheet of paper, since he is still not damaged by all the social “garbage,” confusion and egoistical calculations, as is the case with adults.

Obviously, children are also egoists; they want to deceive one another in order to succeed. They make calculations very quickly and act for the sake of self-interest. But their behavior is natural and, therefore, it appears different than ours. With the same natural ease, they absorb our explanations about the system they exist in, about the world and the correct kind of relationships. Such explanations penetrate deep into their feelings, and thus you are able to build their inner system.

It can be compared to a computer system. By itself, the PC is nothing but a piece of metal that is incapable of doing anything. But when you install a program into it, the program determines how all of the computer’s components will connect and how they will function. If you install another program into the computer, then it will cancel the previous one and instruct the components to connect differently.

In the same way, when you install a new program into the child’s “hardware,” he will live according to the program’s instructions. This is called “raising a human being,” and the outcome depends on the spiritual level of the adults that are raising the child.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: What Can We Teach Our Children?
Laitman.com Post: Schools Should Teach Children How To Become Human Beings
Kabbalah on Education
Raising the Next Generation of Children
Kabbalah for Children

Filed under: Children - No Comments →

In the News (from University of Washington): “Screening for childhood depressive symptoms could start in second grade” New research indicates that screening children for symptoms of depression, the most common mental health disorder in the United States, can begin a lot earlier than previously thought, as early as the second grade.

My Comment: And the number of depressed people will rise even higher, because their egoism is increasing, but the possibilities to fulfill it are not. The main question, “What for?” is what leads to depression.

It is getting more and more difficult for people to find something appealing for kids in our world. And thus, they “go away” into their own world…

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Comments about Depression, Seeming Egoistic to Others, and Parenting
Laitman.com Post: How To Help The Vulnerable Young Generation
Article: “Education without Ritalin”
Article: “Don’t Blame It on the Young”
Bail Yourself Out: Chapter 13: “Teach Your Children Well”

Filed under: Children - No Comments →

In the News (from The Daily Mail): “’Condom cards’ for boys as young as 12 so they can get free access to contraceptives” Boys as young as 12 will be handed ‘condom cards’ allowing them to collect free contraceptives without their parents knowing. The taxpayer-funded scheme lets them pick up packs of condoms from football grounds, barber shops and health centres simply by showing the plastic card.

My Comment: Acceleration of development is a result of the growing egoism. Sexual activity is also connected with general dissatisfaction and “non-fulfillment.”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: How To Stop The Violence Among Our Youth
Laitman.com Post: Hyperactive Children – The Result Of Evolving Egoism
Kabbalah Today Article: Tom, Jerry and Our Children
Article: “My Parents are Dinosaurs”
Interview with the Future: Part 4. Contact with the Upper One.”Kabbalah and Education”

Filed under: Children - 2 Comments →

In the news (from BBC): “Music ‘nurtures’ premature babies” Mounting evidence suggests that playing music to premature babies while hospitalized helps them grow and thrive.

The benefits are calmer infants and parents, as well as faster weight gain for the babies and shorter hospital stays.

A Canadian team reviewed nine studies and found music reduced pain and encouraged better oral feeding.

My comment: Music helps because it contains harmony born out of the unity between opposites. It is precisely when these opposites unite that they create harmony which corrects destructive thoughts, desires and qualities. Outwardly, this manifests as relaxation, distraction, etc. However, this quality is only contained within music with huge internal harmony such as classical music (Mozart) and not music that is built on destruction (Rock, Pop, etc).

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Music To Perceive With The Soul
Laitman.com Post: The Rhythm Of Music Makes The World Go Round
Laitman.com Post: Babies – Physical And Spiritual

Filed under: Children - No Comments →

According to statistical data, suicide is the third leading cause of death for teenagers in Russia, after accidents and homicide. If a child with depression or suicidal tendencies feels the support from his family, he thinks about suicide much less often. 62% of all teenage suicides are connected to problems in the family or the indifference of loved ones.

My Comment: The growth of everyone’s egoism leads to a natural increase in child mortality. The solution lies in correcting our egoism in favor of a greater connection between people in general and between children and parents in particular.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Is Modern Society Ruining Childhood?
Laitman.com Post: How To Fulfill Teenage Emptiness
Laitman.com Post: What Can We Teach Our Children?
Article: “Don’t Blame It On The Young”

Filed under: Children - No Comments →