A man in our world exhibits “macho” behavior towards a woman to show her that he is bigger, stronger, and more successful than her. This is natural behavior, although in spirituality it works the other way around. Since a woman gives birth to a new state and compels a man to advance, she is bigger and more significant than him. Similarly in this world it is the woman that gives birth to a new generation, in spirituality she creates the new step that brings us closer to the Creator.

Who makes a stride towards the Creator? Man’s role is to bring the power into action, but it is woman who actually makes this step; she is the one who gives birth to the next level. In this world, a man doesn’t give birth to anyone, he has more freedom and therefore can do whatever he wants. In spirituality, a man possesses freedom only to “serve” a woman’s ability to originate a new generation and together they approach holiness. A man contributes everything he has to help a woman originate a new “stage,” identically to our world, which is a natural projection of the spiritual world where a man contributes his semen and a woman develops it and gives birth to the next generation.

Question: What is it that a woman possesses that allows her to get semen and “develop” it?

Answer: She is empowered by two forces, the one of receiving and the one of bestowal. A man is granted only one power, bestowal, he is weak; this power alone is not enough to endure. A woman possesses both powers: receiving and bestowal.

Question: Does it mean that she symbolizes creation?

Answer: Yes, she symbolizes creation and at the same time creation is made for her sake; she is Bina, the higher mother. The father (Aba) only possesses the power of Hochma, the mother (Ima) has both Hochma and Hassadim and she knows how to organize these two powers to give birth to both parts (male and female) and then develop both of them. Conception, breast feeding, and adulthood, all these stages originate from Ima.

Question: Is this somehow projected into our world?

Answer: We have to understand that if we “draw” correction into this world in accordance with spiritual laws, we’ll observe a totally different world. Completely different family relationships between men, women, and children will emerge. They will acquire an entirely new shape, as it is said “I saw a reverse world.” And the other way around, if we don’t use the wisdom of Kabbalah, we’ll keep sliding down even more, it doesn’t matter how much we invest in new schools and social networks, nothing will work and eventually our world will reach complete degradation.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/14/10

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Baal HaSulam, “Thou Hast Hemmed Me In Behind and Before”: …Although it seems that the horse leads the rider by its base desire, the truth is not so. It is the rider who leads the horse to his destination. However, it is not apparent in the present, but in the future. Hence, that way there is contact, as well, but it is back to back, meaning not by the will of the dresser or that of the dressee.

Question: What does “present” and “future” mean?

Answer: The perception of the difference between them gives us the sensation of time (incompleteness).

However, this is not time in a generally accepted form, but the sensation of the extent of my alienation from my future form. This is why we say that there is no time in the spiritual world.

After all, the spiritual is the extent to which I identify myself with the Upper Light, and then the sensation of time disappears. Other changes start happening in me.
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From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/22/10, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Question: You said that a person must use all that he has in order to fulfill the friend. But what is there in me?

Answer: If you have come here together with all of those people sitting next to you in the lesson and with another few thousand from all over the world, this is a sign that you are connected to them. The Light illuminates the general desire to receive, penetrates into some stratum of this desire to receive, and to the degree of its intensity, to the degree of its power, it awakens all of us. So we are awakened from this “slice” of desire that the Light illuminates and penetrates through us and awakens us. Otherwise we would remain beasts.

In this “slice,” we are connected to each other. Therefore all of us are called “friends” because there can be a connection between us; according to the mutual understanding, feeling, attainment and help. This is the difference between friends who belong to one layer of desire and our connection with the highest and the lowest. Among us we are equal.

So my correction is connection with all of those who are found in this slice of desire. This is because I understand that if we don’t connect this level, this slice, we will not continue the correction. Before us were the previous slices of desire, from Adam HaRishon forward. And we are in a new, very unique slice that from now on begins the correction of the true Malchut.

Question: But what is there in me?

Answer: What is in you is a connection to all the rest of the parts that were revealed together with you. And you must be in connection with them, to the degree that this is possible. There are those that you don’t identify with at the moment; there are those with whom you have a close, strong, and good connection. You have to know that your correction is to be connected with them.

Imagine to yourself: We are all found in one slice. Our correction is to be connected between us. There is nothing besides this! It’s impossible within this slice to think about myself. For here we are talking the slice of desire that has been revealed. The next generation will already be a lower slice or level and so on. So my personal correction is in this, that I will cause all of those who are within my slice to be connected into a single whole. And this is all.
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From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/24/14, The Zohar

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Question: Is Israel bringing Shefa (abundance) and Light to the World? In the meantime everyone is blaming us for bringing harm to the world.

Answer: In the meantime, we are stopping up the conduits of the Light and are not letting the Light and Shefa to pour through them to all the worlds. We are in the lowest world, in the center of all of creation, and we are stopping up the passage of the Light, of the abundance from above to below, by not letting it rise back from below to above.

The problem is that although we are all in a sea of Light, of Shefa, it is coming from above to below and pressing on us through those systems that we must activate but yet. The Light is pressing on Israel through nature, through the nations of the world.

Israel feels the pressure from below, from those to whom it needs to transfer the Light, and also pressure from above, from the Light that must pass through it to all the nations of the world and the nature of the still, vegetative, and animate. Israel is found in the middle and feels the pressure from both sides.
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From the Preparation for the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/23/14

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Question: In the sources we are told that the Creator manages all the wars for us; He fights for the children of Israel, expels them from their land and returns them to it, provides victory and defeat. Is this correct also in the twenty-first century?

Answer: Actually it is not that simple. Indeed, we don’t know exactly what happened in ancient times so it is difficult to make the comparison today. First of all we must understand the concept of “the wars of Israel.”

In fact, all of the wars of the children of Israel happen within them, against the “evil inclination” that disturbs their connection. Because of their inability to connect and to convey the method of correction to the whole world, external problems are added to their inner disturbances and we must invest effort in them also. That is how many wars were fought.

On our way from Egypt, we passed by way of Mount Sinai and the Sinai desert; there we fought not just once against Amalek and against other enemies. After that the wars of the conquest of the land of Israel began; seven nations dwelled there and we were compelled fight against them to expel them from the land.

But these were internal wars. The seven nations lived both in us and in our world. And in general, what happens within the soul is also copied outside; our world is a copy that is a reflection of our soul.

So the foundation of all of our wars is internal. It is up to us to fight against our ego that separates and distances us. And according to the Torah it is up to us to be as one man with one heart. We always need to fight for connection.

Question: This means that there is a goal that is determined from the start for all of these wars?

Answer: Right, there is one goal: to reach connection according to the present level, the present period. The picture that we see outside is found within us. This means that all our haters, all the anti-Semites, and in general the people, humanity, all of reality, everything is within me. And only so that I will have the possibility of relating to all this correctly do I see this external reflection that makes it possible for me to differentiate and recognize what is happening, and thus fight. But the war is internal: to connect my good characteristics and to advance with their help, to rise above my bad, egoistic characteristics. That is how I am victorious over my enemies, my defects. And then, on the outside, I also defeat the external enemies.

But the victory is only by means of the Light that Reforms. It is written, (Kiddushin 30b) “I created the evil inclination, I created the Torah as a spice, for the Light in it reforms.” This refers to the power that separates us and also the power of the Light that helps us connect and win.

Question: How does this mechanism work in a nation in a state of war? More precisely I am referring to the nation of Israel that is engaged in a war with Hamas?

Answer: We are not making the corrections, we have not connected between us, we have not connected with the nations of the world, and we have not helped them to unite with each other. We are to blame for their present situation because only through us does the Light reach the world; we must be a “light to the nations.” And if we don’t do this, then we have a war. Those characteristics that we haven’t corrected through connection seem to us like our enemies and our haters.

Have we succeeded in correcting them? Have we succeeded in winning this war? The true hero is the one who “transforms his haters into his lovers.”

Question: War always inflames passions in the people; there are those who agree and those who don’t agree, each one has his own opinion. Are these signs of separation that we must correct? Is it worthwhile to stimulate debate to try to connect all the extremes together?

Answer: Yes, nevertheless, the war is designed to awaken us. War in itself cannot correct anything. Only through a chain of troubles can it push us to a compulsory understanding of the situation, until we understand that it depends only upon us. But this is not with the armed forces or our military strategy, rather only with connection, with the Arvut that we attain among the people and become an example of the right connection that makes it possible to overcome the crisis and reach general harmony.

Question: So how can we wage war after it has already broken out?

Answer: Without a choice we are fighting an external enemy and yet we clearly understand that, in fact, we are fighting with an internal enemy. Along with the military operations, it is up to us to strengthen, expand, and increase the connection between us because this is the main part of the war. The troops who are in Gaza, the “Iron Dome,” all of these are imperative only to gain time for the internal corrections.

Question: Every moment is precious! Our friends are falling on the battlefield. So how can we become wiser while we are immersed within the endless maelstrom of the news?

Answer: There is no need to disconnect from the flow of news, although most of it is not correct and not accurate. But nevertheless I would suggest being involved with connection. This means coming to workshops that we are doing all over the country, entering our website and learning what connection between people is. Even mental effort, even reading some article, is already a big correction, and through this the Light is extended through us to all of the people of Israel and through it to all the nations of the world. That is how everything will calm down.

Come, let’s do this with all of the people of Israel, and then we will see results throughout the world. Everyone will suddenly support us, including our uncompromising neighbors.

Question: This means that to have a breakthrough it is enough to open the doors and go towards one another?

Answer: Yes, “We open the doors of the heart”.

These are the “wars of Israel” and not battles against external enemies that we still conduct. The true battle is waged within the heart, within the yearnings of Yashar-El, when we fight to connect our hearts into one whole heart, to be as one person with one heart.

Indeed, the people of Israel at Mount Sinai were standing before an immense ego, a mountain of hatred (Sina), under conditions of connection. And the land of Israel (Eretz Yisrael), is a desire (Ratzon) directly yearning for the Creator (Yashar-El), the desire to bestow, for “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

To reach the land of Israel we had to accept the conditions of Arvut, connection, to be as one person with one heart, and after this to pass through a correction of forty years. But modern Israel has already existed for 66 years and we have not neared one another by even one millimeter, probably it has been closer to the opposite; apparently there is no people of Israel and the land of Israel doesn’t exist as an internal spiritual concept in which we must live.

And there are no wars of Israel in the true sense, for we are not fighting to become the people of Israel in the land of Israel, rather we are just a bunch of exiles.

Question: If the war is a “battle” to connect the people, so how exactly does the Creator manage the battle?

Answer: If we succeed in breaking through the current orientation and succeed in attracting the Upper Light, the power of connection, then it will fight for us.
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From KabTV’s “Kabbalists Write. The Wars of Israel” 7/21/14

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It is up to Israel to be the first to discover, show the way, and lead all the others. If Israel doesn’t carry out its task, it will feel pressure from all those who are detained behind it. The general system pushes everyone from behind, and then they press the pioneering force that lost its way and forgot about its mission.

This is the picture that we see today in the world. Most of the people of Israel have no idea of its special mission. Even though this is written in our books, the people don’t see this and don’t want to read it; they don’t understand that this is connected to them. Likewise the leaders of the people don’t show this to them.

Consequently, after having moved further and further away from our mission, we deteriorate more and more. We make our situation more severe and feel a growing negative attitude from the nations of the world in regard to us. The nations of the world are that part of humanity that is said to follow us on the way that we have paved.

Without us, humanity will not succeed in paving the way for itself. The order is that Israel is obligated to go first. We hope that we can explain this both to the pioneering force itself and in general to all the rest, not only the people of Israel, but also to all the peoples of the world.

In ancient Babylon Abraham spoke about creation, about the way that it must traverse, about the task of the person on this path, that he must be concerned about all of nature.

When Israel corrects itself, it also corrects the nations of the world, and through them it corrects the still, vegetative, and animate nature. It is up to us to be concerned about everything. The more we delay our correction, the more we cause greater chaos in nature, in the ecology.

It is up to Israel to feel the pioneering force itself and carry out its mission.

King David writes in the Book of Psalms: (Psalms 23:6) “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” The pressure that is activated on us from all directions is called “goodness and mercy,” which follows us throughout life, for without it we would forget about the exalted mission that has been imposed upon us.
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From the Preparation for the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/23/14

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Question: What are the ways of adding the intention to the seminars that are conducted for the general public?

Answer: The common thread of any seminar should be the thought that if we want to feel good there is no other way but realizing that we all are a part of one unified system and are totally interconnected.

It means that if we act as equals, as if we were members of one family, we’d be able to lead good lives because we’d be compatible with nature.

At this time, nature doesn’t require us to be “anti-egoistic,” nor does it want us to elevate above our ego. So far, nature wants us to realize the fact that we are all “tied” to each other, depend on each other as gears in one mechanism, and have to “rotate” in mutual harmony. This is what nature demands of humanity as a whole

However, humanity that now numbers seven billion has an internal part in; the role of this internal part is to serve as a conductor of the mutual force that can synchronize our moves in a “common dance.” In fact, it is the power of the Light. Only the Light can arrange all seven billion to consider each other and interact in a harmonious manner. It is the Light that creates coherence and originates reciprocal, mutual sensations in us; the Light influences everybody in an integral and unified way, thus bringing the entire system to act.

However, in order for the Light to descend and do its job, we need an “adapter” between it and humanity. The part that fulfills this job is called Israel. Our role is maintaining connection with the Light. It means that among us, in our little Bnei Baruch group we need to establish not just a family type of connection, but something much broader than that.

We have to be similar to the Light in our intention to bestow to each other so our friends become more important to us than we are to ourselves so that all our actions benefit and serve our friends. It is not enough to live as a common family in an “ant hill.” I exist only to bring benefit to all of Bnei Baruch. This is the real work for the sake of bestowal.

This is how the Light manifests itself; it happens because our joint desires are similar to the Light in their qualities, then the Light reveals in us and through us to the rest of seven billion.

However, the Light acts quite differently in the rest of humanity. First, only on the principle of bringing people together: “Don’t do to others what you hate for yourself.” Then, the Light gradually people reach “loving their neighbor as themselves.” So far it is due to mutual interdependence. Only after this level is attained do people approach the level of “loving the Creator.”

Accordingly, there are three steps that are defined by the Torah as commandments:

1. Do not do to others what you hate for yourself.

2. Love thy neighbor as thyself.

3. Love the Lord your God.

All of the above refers to unity among people within one spiritual system.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/13/14, Shamati #60

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In every integral system each one influences the entire system. If there exist general mutual connections and everyone depends upon everyone in a system, it is clear that each smallest part, component, and organ in this system can disrupt or destroy the work of the entire system and serve as a bad example to all the rest.

However, the integral spiritual system differs in this. That same principle also acts positively in it. One destructive part can destroy the entire system and one part that acts correctly can fill it entirely. This is particular addition exists in a spiritual system. Each one absorbs the entire system and therefore can correct them all.

In the meantime, we cannot digest these things. When we begin to feel the structure of the spiritual system through the Light that Reforms, we understand that the whole and the part are equal there. In the meantime, we all have an influence on the importance and dependence of each one on equality.

However, in fact, this spiritual principle, “The whole and the part are equal,” means that there is no whole and no part. Rather, there is only one thing: one Kli (soul) and one Light.

In order to reach the corrected state, we are in a situation that is its opposite. First, through our efforts, we must discover our evil and, after that, reach a state of “Depart from evil, and do good” (Psalms 34:15), and then we discover the lack of the unity that we must attain.

In the process of attaining unity, there is a difference between two parts of the system. One part is called Israel, Yashar El (directly toward the Creator), that has a relationship and connection with the Upper Light, with the higher power, and it can attract it for the purpose of correcting itself and the entire system. This means that Israel must correct itself for the sake of the entire system.

The second part of the system, which is called the “nations of the world,” cannot attract the Light that Reforms by itself and in addition, cannot unite, even though it wants this. So, the part called the nations of the world feels dependent upon Israel negatively because it doesn’t receive nourishment, fulfillment, from Israel. Israel doesn’t reveal unity within itself, and, so, it doesn’t influence and radiate this unity to the nations of the world. This is even though it must be an example to the others and a “light to the nations” (Isaiah 42:6).

This is no ordinary example of good human relationships because it is operating on a spiritual level, not on a human, physical level. The moment Israel unites, it becomes a system through which the Light that Reforms can pass to the nations of the world. Then, they also will be connected, and then their lives will be filled with Light.

So, everything depends upon that part of humanity called Israel, and this is what we see according to the attitude of the nations of the world toward it.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/21/14, Writings of Rabash

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If all of us were integrally connected, each of us would define our self-perception by our attitude toward others. The bottom line is that everything returns back to us like a boomerang. If we wish good to ourselves, we should be good to others. The question is how we do it.

At this point, the parable about a frog and a scorpion comes to mind. Once, a scorpion had to go across a deep river and asked a frog to take him there on his back. The frog answered: “Do I look crazy?! You will sting me and I will die!” The scorpion promised not to bite the frog since if he did so they would drown together.

The frog believed him and put him on his back. When they reached the middle of the river, the scorpion stung the frog and he died. The scorpion drowned together with the frog, but before they died, the frog asked the scorpion: “Why did you sting me? Now you will die.” The scorpion answered: “Because I am a scorpion.” He couldn’t restrain himself from stinging the frog because it was his nature. It was beyond his power not to sting.

This is a common human problem. We don’t even realize how strongly our nature forces us to calculate everything we ever do in a primitive and rough way to benefit only ourselves. We are unable to consider the fact that we are connected with others. From morning till night we talk about our mutual involvement and overall connection on the radio, on TV, at our lessons. It is the same situation we previously saw in Russia. However, we all know that it doesn’t help a bit! It is impossible to change our scorpion-like nature.

If we really wanted to change ourselves and peacefully transition from capitalism to the next developmental stage, to a more beneficial social structure, we would understand that it will be possible by correcting ourselves, i.e. by replacing our nature.

But mankind does not have the means to change their nature. The only possibility is to use the force hidden inside nature: the Returning Light. This force is also called “the Torah”; however, people understand the word “Torah” incorrectly. The Torah is the Light of correction, as it is said: “I created the evil inclination and the Torah as a spice to correct it, since the hidden Light inside the Torah returns to its source.”

In other words, we have a chance to change our nature to so that we will feel in harmony existing in a perfect system. We feel such a complete mutual interdependence so that there is no difference in taking care of ourselves or taking care of others and fulfilling ourselves through them.

Even our egoism will acknowledge that bestowal works to its benefit, since “I” and the “others” are in fact the same and together we constitute an indivisible whole.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/13/14, Shamati #60

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Workshop

Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to the Study of theTen Sefirot“

Writings of Baal HaSulam, “The Peace” 

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