Question from Facebook: Your stance is to proceed via the path of suffering. You say that when we are backed into a corner, we will see the Kabbalists are right. Is there another way? Can you convince us without scaring us.

Answer: If my position were to “proceed via the path suffering,” I would not say anything or giving public presentation. But I really want humanity to develop in a good way.

I am against the path of suffering. I am in favor of our path being illuminated by the upper light and it leading us forward. Please do not take my assessments as scare tactics.

I simply take a sober look at the prospects of humanity, at its “starting condition,” and see that we are in free fall. Egoism is growing within us, yet we are not compensating for this growth and we are not correcting our trajectory.

I really hope we can pull ourselves together and not sink into suffering before starting our ascent. The best thing that can happen to humanity is the timely recognition of egoism and the correct self–realization that rises above it.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman,” 5/19/23

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Question: They say that the Ari was Mashiach ben Yosef. What does that mean?

Answer: The correcting force called “Mashiach ben Yosef” carries out the preparation before the “coming” (revelation) of the correcting force “Mashiach ben David.” Yosef points to the Sefira Yesod, and David to Malchut. Yesod prepares its influence on Malchut in order to correct it.

The Mashiach is not a person, not the Ari himself, not his physical body, but his teaching, his method, his force. It is a soul that operated in the common system of souls in such a way as to open a path for the light and illuminate all souls with it.

It stands on the path of the light from above downward, connects the higher corrected souls of the Kabbalists of the past with those souls that are still uncorrected, receives the light in its higher clothing and clothes it in a form suitable for our souls, distributes it by degrees, and brings the light closer to our souls.

Therefore, starting from the Ari and onward, souls began a mass correction, as in the times of the Baal Shem Tov, with the emergence of Hasidism. In this way humanity began to advance spiritually.

If not for the Ari with his method, there would be no Baal Shem Tov with his Hasidic movement (which gave rise to numerous Kabbalistic groups among the people). And without the Baal Shem Tov there would be no Baal HaSulam, and without Baal HaSulam there would be none of us today studying Kabbalah.

These stages are called the “steps of the Mashiach.”  In other words, it is the development of the method and practice of correction toward its final completion. We are the first to implement the final stage of correction, because we use the force of Mashiach ben Yosef in order to attain the revelation of the force Mashiach ben David and to correct Malchut itself, the general assembly of all souls with a common screen.

Question: Will a person with a special soul appear in our world who implements the method of correction and who will be called Mashiach ben David?

Answer: It is possible that Mashiach ben David is our common desire, which in the end will carry out this action, and not a particular individual. We are not interested in the people who lived in this world—the Ari, Baal HaSulam or even Rashbi—but in their influence within the system of souls. We are speaking about a soul that reveals the light of correction to us.

And we act in the same way. Together we create a system of souls in order to draw the light from above and pass it on to all the uncorrected souls. We perform an action that already belongs to the Malchut of David.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/22/11, Baal HaSulam, Preface “Introduction to the Book Panim Meirot uMasbirot”

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Question: Is humanity actually lacking a tiny ray of light in this dark realm?

Answer: Yes. I think that we will gradually break through this foolishness.

Question: What would it take for the Creator to shine a little light? Just a tiny bit?

Answer: He cannot. He has no right! The Creator has no right! Otherwise, He would violate the fundamental law of nature: egoism is completely opposite to Him!

Question: What does this law of nature provide?

Answer: It allows a person to become equal to the Creator at the end of correction. Otherwise, they would not.

Question: So, if He did that, He would suppress the person? The person would simply run after that little ray and keep chasing it forever?

Answer: Yes. In a sense, they might reach something halfway there, but to become equal to the Creator, to be free in one’s actions, to choose (by free will) likeness to the Creator, and to attain this similarity despite all problems—and to achieve that likeness despite all problems—to become independent, that is, to create another image of the Creator from all the laws and properties of the universe, that is what a person must do.

If the Creator were to do this, there would be no point in it. He does not have the right to change anything in these conditions; not even by an iota.

Question: So, according to your words, can we say that after some time, a
complete darkness will come?

Answer: Yes, naturally! The greatest darkness will come before the final correction.

Question: Before the ascent?

Answer: Yes! We have not yet seen it.

Question: So, this is not the end yet?

Answer: No. There will be a universal descent into savagery. As it is written, the nations of the world will rise against the people of Israel, and so on. In general, these will be terrible things.

Comment: You speak of “terrible things” and a “universal descent into savagery,” yet, you still seem to have some inner joy.

My Response: I have joy because this is a necessary stage that we must go through, and we can navigate it successfully by countering the darkness with light. That would truly be a massive leap forward.

Question: What must humanity do if it suddenly faces complete chaos and total darkness?

Answer: We must first grow to that state. Complete chaos and darkness will not be revealed unless we also have the possibility of revealing the light.

Question: Does the Creator give us only what we can endure? Will we be able to bear it and rise to our feet?

Answer: Of course. But for now, it is still dragging on, and on, and on. The more we tell the world about who and what it is, the faster the problems will arise, and the faster we will solve them.

Question: Then why do you keep urging the world to come to its senses? If that is the case, why bother? Let it simply be driven to that state of complete darkness.

Answer: That is exactly how it will be brought there! The more we know, the faster we will be brought to it. But we are obliged to go through it.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman,” 5/25/26

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Question: You say the rest of the world does not possess the key to solving problems. How can we convey this key to the world?

Answer: I think that even if we all started shouting about this from every corner and I continued writing articles about the threat of annihilation, the people will still not wake up. After all, we know the stage of development the masses are at. Even in a developed society, people are unable to perceive the spiritual idea embedded in this. We cannot expect any response from them.

In other words, I must act regardless of the reaction. After all, I am the one acting, not them! I am activating the law of advancement according to which all mankind must make its qualities resemble the qualities of the Creator and attain His level. I activate this law because I have received this knowledge from above. A few dozen other people here also received it.

Why do they possess this understanding and awareness? Because they have reached this level in their own development. If a person has not yet developed to the necessary level, no matter what we tell him, it will be a meaningless mantra to him, one of many.

Even if such people hear about it, write it down, and repeat it, what good would it do? There is nothing more foolish. Can they possibly act in this direction? Of course not! If they are psychologically attracted to it, that is great. On an ordinary human level, this is a good thing, just like many other things.

Therefore, although we undoubtedly need to work on dissemination, our primary work is internal rather than external.

In that case, one might say: “If so, let’s curtail our dissemination efforts and pour all our energy into working in the group!” But the fact is, we cannot do without external support or without drawing in new forces from outside. Therefore, we cannot do without dissemination. In addition, lifting all the students of the outer groups by just one millimeter is equivalent to lifting ourselves by ten meters!

Therefore, we need both components of our work. Baal HaSulam writes about this that we need to spread Kabbalah among the masses. But, of course, in this environment, we cannot expect the specific reaction we desire from that environment. Things unfold there according to the laws governing the masses; whereas we operate under the laws that apply to the individual. Therefore, it is our responsibility to act.

From the masses, there will only be support; they will follow you, but to make this happen, you must distribute our material among them. Yet it is you who must lead the way. You yourself must constantly adjust and refine the direction of the goal, and pull everyone along with you! There is no other way.

Therefore, you should not shift the responsibility onto someone else. It is written that those who deal with the external aspects of the Torah instead of the internal are to blame for everything, but what difference does it make to me? Can I afford to wait for them? They will not do anything, they are incapable of it. I am duty-bound to act! That is how everyone must think.

We must also teach this in external groups: a person who receives knowledge becomes an active participant in the work. Therefore, we must lead them to sense the obligation that rests upon them.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/7/26, Rabash, “What Are the Times of Prayer and Gratitude in the Work? ”

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Question: Can we say that the new generation is further distancing from studying of The Study of the Ten Sefirot, The Book of Zohar, and authentic Kabbalistic sources?

Answer: No, it is not distancing further. People simply cannot exist on the same spiritual heights as exceptional individuals such as Baal HaSulam or the ARI.

We see the same thing happening in our world. A person uses an enormous number of scientific and technological achievements without understanding anything about them. He simply knows how to plug something into a socket and press a button for the device to work. What does he actually know besides two buttons on an air conditioner, twenty buttons on a computer, and so on? He has no idea what is really happening inside!

When using a mobile phone, he may be familiar with only two or three functions, while having no idea whatsoever of the other two hundred functions it contains.

The same applies in spirituality: there are people who engage with it slightly and solely for their own benefit, in some limited personal way, while others want to attain the inner connections between objects, dimensions, and forces—to know everything. This depends on the nature of the soul, its inner qualities, and its root. If a person has such a need, then he will fulfill it.

Question: So the fact that we are moving away from the original sources does not necessarily mean that we are getting worse?

Answer: We are not moving away from the sources. We are simply studying them not to the depth that exceptional Kabbalist scholars do, but rather, to the extent appropriate for the masses, the ordinary people who make up 99% of the world’s population.

Question: But wouldn’t that require a completely different method of interacting with the light?

Answer: No, because we study Kabbalah only in order to receive forces from it. And after receiving those forces, we must perceive the spiritual world. And we will perceive it to the extent intended for our soul.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. Properties of our generation” 9/30/10

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Question: You say that the situation in Israel depends on us. But no matter how much I have tried to concentrate on this thought, I cannot feel that such responsibility truly rests on me. Apparently, I lack the force of faith?

Answer: This can come either as a result of a positive force, the force of faith given from above, or due to the influence of a negative force from below, the feeling that there is no other way out. One of the two. A person will see that nothing else can be done, that no one has a clear idea of how to emerge from the situation that has been created. Meanwhile, the problems keep growing endlessly; things become worse and worse.

Therefore, to the extent that he is able, a person draws strength from the Torah, but otherwise, such a decision matures within him out of despair because he finds himself in an absolute dead end! Even ending your life will not solve these problems. We will still face eternity: our problems will not end with the arrival of death; they are above that transition!

We will see this wall not only from our world; we will see that this wall rises even in the upper world and separates us from the solution to the problem. For our existence is not only in this world, and a bullet to the temple is by no means the solution to all problems.

A person will feel all these problems above the life in this world as well, he will perceive them in their eternal, spiritual form. Life and death are not such significant concepts, and a person will come to feel something far greater.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/7/26, Rabash, “What Are the Times of Prayer and Gratitude in the Work?”

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Comment: You said that if a person joins our system now, they have a great chance to catch up with those who have been studying for 15 to 20 years.

My Response: Yes, just as a small child entering our world, even though they seemingly haven’t “earned” it, benefits from all the advantages humanity has prepared for them, newcomers will be able to rise together with us as well.

They will benefit from what we have created. After all, they existed in previous generations, in past cycles of life, just as we did. We have all been cycling through existence to reach this very moment.

Question: When describing the over all system, you said that grasping it in the past took 10 to 20 years, but now this period is shortening to about 10 years. Did you mean the experience of a single individual?

Answer: Yes, but since now we are entering this state as one global group, it will be very easy to connect with us.

Newcomers will be able to feel and enter into all of this very quickly. It will be much easier for them than it was for us. Look at how quickly small children master mobile phones and computers.

Comment: But for them, it already exists inside. They seem to be naturally built for it.

My Response: Of course. Nothing appears out of nowhere. It comes from their previous cycles of life. We exist within a system in which everything moves and develops according to a precise order.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. Properties of our generation” 9/30/10

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Comment: When you disseminate Kabbalah to the masses, what attracts people is your inner message.

My Response: This happens because I have this energy. People sense that there is an upper force in me. They perceive it, even if just slightly, and sense that knowledge, confidence, and inner light.

I am not boasting about it, but I also do not hide that they really sense all of this. In many, it provokes hatred; in others, respect, approval, or admiration. It makes no difference. The main thing is that it exists, and it is not merely the spark of a brilliant orator; after all, I do not speak Hebrew particularly well, and my manner is generally somewhat rough, with a strange, often off-putting sense of humor.

I craft my statements quite deliberately, even pointedly, specifically to shake a person up and make them feel uncomfortable to prompt them to engage their critical left line a bit. People simply recognize there is a profound logic here, not mine, of course.

By the way, by nature I am practically without any innate talents. The only thing speaking through me is what I have attained from my great teacher. Through my connection with him, I pass on to you what he receives from his teacher, and further, through the entire chain of Kabbalists.

I have simply been privileged to serve as a conduit, to “pour,” so to speak, information from myself into the common Kli. To the extent that you unite with one another, I am able to pour all of this into you.

Whether I am here or not does not matter. The absence of visual contact serves to give you the opportunity for even greater freedom of choice to unite with one another. If I am no longer present, it will simply mean that you have been granted an even greater measure of freedom of will, even greater responsibility to unite. And when you can do this, you will receive even more from me, just as I receive much more from my teacher than when he was physically next to me.

It is said that the righteous live more in their death than in their life. And therefore there is no difference whether I exist now or will not exist in your eyes. If you unite among yourselves, you will feel a spiritual abundance pouring into you, specifically from me, in an even greater measure.

When you are ready for the stage of uniting with one another, without me in greater freedom of choice, since there will no longer be my pressure or direct guidance, and you are able to bring this to fruition, then I will depart. From that point on, it will be entirely up to you whether you succeed in realizing this or not.

Question: Do you think that those external circles we are currently disseminating information to will continue to be drawn to this in the same way?

Answer: This depends on the extent to which you become a magnetic force, how much inner strength you possess (the kind I currently hold), and on your capacity serve as a source of that strength for all of humanity. If you remain in contact with me and allow this force to flow into you through me, you will begin to attract all of humanity. But all this must happen collectively, as a single, unified entity.

Question: Is it possible that we might fail to become a unified whole?

Answer: In that case the obligation would be shifted away from you and placed upon some other group; alternatively you could be compelled toward this unity through the path of suffering. You will be made to unite regardless, because this is the natural trajectory of evolution, the inevitable path leading to the revelation of that system, that state that exists in the world of infinity.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. In the Union” 9/11/10

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Question: If one entity devours another in nature, yet nature is in harmony, is it possible that our devouring one another is also an absolutely harmonious state?

Answer: Yes, but only on the animate level. The inanimate, vegetative, and animate levels of nature are structured on the principle of mutual consumption amidst a struggle against each other. This struggle constitutes evolution.

On these levels the use of one by another is not considered shameful or blameworthy. One animal, when it eats another, does not feel any pangs of conscience. Suppose a human acts against another human,  he may rationalize in order to justify himself, to somehow explain to himself the purpose and reasons for his actions. But animals do not have this; they have a simple calculation: I must eat the weaker in order to continue my own existence.

All this, on the animate level, is considered the norm. But now we are rising to the level of Human. And here a problem arises. We must begin to move forward, not by devouring one another, but precisely through connection with one another, by rising above our egoism and not indulging it.

I hope that people will begin to understand this because otherwise we will not survive. Of course, we will continue to exist, but in very bad states.

Therefore, we face a monumental task: to spread the message as widely as possible that we must come to a collective resolution regarding how to advance toward the goal of creation. And the goal of creation is to bring human society to a harmonious state, to mutual fulfillment, to the right connection between us.

And then the rest of nature (inanimate, vegetative, and animate) will also come to harmony. Then we will be able to restore our ecology, an issue that causes deep concerns for everyone. If we come to a balance among us, everything will be wonderful.

Since we are on the very highest level of development compared to the other levels of nature, we will compel them to come into balance too. The time of the human level is coming.
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From Kabbalah Lesson in Russian, 1/13/19

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Question: Why is it that our group, which exerts tremendous effort in study and in everything possible, is still not at the level that, seemingly, corresponds to its efforts?

Answer: I look at it completely differently.

We exist within a system called the soul of Adam HaRishon. We are a part of this soul, united across all countries by one goal, which is to lead many people, if not everyone, forward. We have no right to focus solely on ourselves.

If what is currently placed upon me is to lead several million people, then until I have the strength to do so, I, because I am connected with them, will not be able to advance even a millimeter. Therefore, one should not check whether I have advanced. That millimeter of progress will come only when I have the strength to lead all those millions of people, down to the very last person. Then I will advance.

For now, one should measure progress by how much strength I have gained to lead yet more people, and then even more. And although I have still not advanced forward even a millimeter, I am constantly accumulating strength. Those millions are beginning to awaken; they are becoming capable of moving.

If you say, “Where is the progress? Look how much effort I have invested!” you are approaching this with the wrong measure. Indeed, I have not advanced, but what has been invested has remained within me. I have already acquired these forces; they are within me.

There is a vast number of souls ready to join me, and they are joining. This is all the result. You simply do not want to see it; you are looking at the fact that there is still no visible progress. Correct, I would not say that there is.

There is, but it is extremely subtle, and of course, it does not correspond to the level we would be entitled to reach were we acting alone. But what can be done? I do not calculate how I would advance if I were alone. It does not depend on me, and it is not my function.

Should I simply retreat to commune with the Creator, and that’s it? A person does not choose the time or the state in which they exist or the actions they must perform.

Indeed, we see that this is precisely what is happening: every day dozens, if not hundreds, of people around the world join us. The world is moving toward a state where we will soon see the collective stance people adopt and the attitude to life they embrace; they will all become clear. Within a few years, you will see how everyone already understands you, even if you have done nothing for it. Of course, it’s not that you have done nothing; you are investing your efforts today, and somehow it reaches them. This is the tangible result of our efforts.

So, I do not attempt to evaluate our progress by examining some isolated minute sector, it is impossible to measure this that way. On the other hand, we must be sensitive to it; we must not fall into despair from the fact that we are, seemingly, treading water. We are not treading water. The fact that you continue to publish books, produce films, deliver lessons and lectures, and organize more groups—all of this is having an effect.

Nevertheless, we cannot measure the spiritual level that is destined for us, because until we have guided a specific number of people from the global community, until we have gathered a certain critical mass, we will not be able to rise to that higher plane.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/9/26, Rabash, “It is Forbidden to Hear a Good Thing from a Bad Person”

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