At the end of his new book, economist Paul Krugman writes:

“One can safely claim that the role of today’s ‘capitalism,’ regardless of what one might call it, as the optimal method of combining individual freedoms, democracy, security, social and economic human rights, economic efficiency and social justice – must be reanalyzed as to the extent in which this system lies at the very foundation of our problems.”

Paul Robin Krugman – American economist and political writer. Holds a PhD from MIT, currently a professor at Princeton University. Awarded a John Bates Clark medal. He is a famous columnist for The New York Times and a laureate of the Adam Smith (1995), Recktenwald (2000) and Prince of Asturias (2004) awards. Honorary member of the Muenchen Economic Research Center (1997) and Group of Thirty. Awarded a Nobel Prize in Economics in 2008 for his analysis of the trade theory and problems of economic geography.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Time of Capitalism Is Over
Laitman.com Post: How Will the Society of the Future Begin?
Laitman.com Post: Nature Will Soon Force Us to Happiness
Laitman.com Post: The World Is Round

Filed under: Economy - No Comments →

In the News (translated from MIGNews): Economists are more often talking about alternative economic systems. One of the alternatives is an Islamic financial system that is supported even by the Vatican.

My Comment: All proposed systems are egoistic and therefore, they won’t pass the test. As of today these systems are still operating within a confined scope, and they are able to exist because of the limitations imposed upon them (whether religious limitations, the fear of punishment, or others).

However, as soon as they are implemented in a great scope – in the multi-dimensional, multi-religious, integrally connected world, they will reveal how inadequate they are. Attempting to implement them may be the easiest and shortest way to see that none of the egoistic systems designed to regulate human interaction will work.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: We All Have the Flu
Laitman.com Post: It’s Impossible to Run Away from the Global Egoism
Laitman.com Post: New Crises Emerging Under IMF’s Leadership

Filed under: Economy - No Comments →

A question I received: How can a business survive without making a profit? This sounds like a utopia.

My Answer: The economic condition is very simple: a business will survive economically-speaking if it is aimed at benefiting the whole of society to the maximum. For example, a supermarket should sell products whose prices differ from the wholesale purchased goods only as much as necessary for the business to cover all of its expenses. The calculation is made to ensure that one consumes only what is necessary for one’s existence, like a cell or an organ in a body, which is part of an integral mechanism.

Thus, the profit that the business makes is there only for ensuring that the whole business can lead a normal existence. Any profit beyond this is harmful, like excessive food for the body. There should be no accumulation of money and no additional income.

Of course, every manufacturer keeps a safety margin in case of unforeseen circumstances, similar to how our organism creates a reserve of energy in case of sickness, in order to be able to compensate for the fluctuations. But in general, this is how every business should make its calculations today.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Reason for Our Suffering, and the Alternative Path
Laitman.com Post: Japan’s Top Science Prize Awarded to Researcher Dismissed as “Alarmist” 40 Years Ago
Talk: “The Reasons behind the Financial Crisis”
Baal HaSulam Article: “Building the Future Society”

Filed under: Economy - No Comments →

In the News (translated from Interfax): The Archbishop of Yekaterinburg said, “Two entrepreneurs came to me asking me to be their guarantor. They were afraid to sign a deal because each feared the other would cheat him. If we have come to such a point of distrust, then what we can say about our economy?! We have numbed our hearts so greatly that people desire unlimited wealth without making any effort. The lack of integrity no longer allows us to do business.”

My Comment: This situation won’t last long either: the businessmen still believe that the Archbishop is an authority for the other. But what if this is not true, and one of them decides to cheat the other and disappear? Will the Father step up and assume this person’s responsibilities?

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Crisis Is Systematic and Global
Laitman.com Post: The Present Crisis Is a Crisis of People’s Trust in the Egoistic System of Relationships
Laitman.com Post: In the Modern Era, the Psychological Support of Religion Is No Longer Enough
Navigating through the Financial Crisis

Filed under: Economy - No Comments →

News Report (from The Economist): The cimarrón is one of at least ten alternative currencies in different parts of Venezuela. … But none of these tokens can be exchanged for the bolívar, the country’s legal currency. Their use is limited to “prosumers” – you have to bring something to sell before you can actually buy anything with them. … ‘It’s magic,’ says Pablo Mayayo, an Argentinian who is advising Venezuelans on these schemes. ‘When you take away money… people relate to each other in a different way, by co-operating, not competing.’”

My Comment: Kabbalah states that progress is programmed by nature and determined by the egoism that continuously grows in us. Our egoism cannot be stopped, but it can be corrected. Then, instead of using it to harm others or for illusory self-benefit, we will use it to benefit everyone. This is the principle of a closed system, and today we are revealing that human society is just such a system.

Therefore, any movement backwards, our attempts to reverse history, are opposite to nature and will inevitably bring about an even greater crisis.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Is the Global Market About to Turn Into a Global Flea Market?
Laitman.com Post: How to Overcome the Global Crisis
Laitman.com Post: We Must Cure the Crisis by Any Means Possible
Kabbalah Today Article: Rising Above the Ego to a New Level of Consciousness
Attaining the Worlds Beyond: “Eradicating Egoism”
Introduction to the Book of Zohar: “Items 60-71”

Filed under: Economy - No Comments →

News Report (translated from 7KANAL.com):“The Study of Economics in the Spirit of Judaism.”

The Jerusalem Institute of Hi-Technology, “Machon Lev” is opening a unique course, which will certify students with a Masters of Economics degree. This course includes the study of economic aspects of the Jewish Halackha based on the commandments of the Torah.

The Torah contains many commandments and instructions that regulate economic relations, such as, “Do not retain a worker’s day wage,” “Do not collect interest or lend out money on interest,” “Do not use faulty scales for measuring weight and volume,” “Do not pressure your impoverished neighbor by requiring him to pay back his debt,” and many others.

My Comment: If they were to take the real foundation of the entire Torah, its general law, “Love thy neighbor as thyself,” and make it the basis of all relationships, then all the other rules would fall right within its margins. But instead, they are just studying how to do business correctly, egoistically.

This is similar to the way people learn to “speak properly” with one another in order to avoid using “Lashon Ra” (bad language), instead of attuning their hearts to love for one’s neighbor. If they did the latter, then naturally everything they said would also be good! However, instead of correcting their hearts, they will learn to do business and communicate strictly “according to the law.” There won’t be anything to pick on, but they will still be opposite to the Torah!

This is the difference between religion and Kabbalah: Religion does not aim to correct man, since it doesn’t have the instrument of correction, the force of the Light. On the other hand, Kabbalah’s objective is precisely this: to correct man and raise him to the level of similarity to the Creator, since only Kabbalah contains this force (see item 155 of Baal HaSulam’s “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot“). This is the difference between their objectives. One’s purpose in religion is to look proper in the eyes of the society, whereas one’s purpose in Kabbalah is to attain approval in the Creator’s eyes.

Appendix: Baal HaSulam. Article, “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose“

Many are mistaken and compare our holy Torah with Ethics. This is because they have never attained the meaning of true religion through revealing the Creator. I call upon them: “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” But still ethics (Musar) is as distant from the true religion (Kabbalah) as the distance between the thought of the Creator from the thought of man. For true religion extends from the thought of the Creator, while ethics (the system of Musar) is produced by thoughts of flesh and blood and from man’s life experience. Therefore, the difference between them is obvious, both in practical aspects and in the final aim.

For the recognition of good and evil that develops in us through ethics as we use it, is relative to the success of the society. With religion (Kabbalah), however, the recognition of good and evil that develops in us as we use it is relative to the Creator alone. That is to say, from a change of form with the Creator, to equivalence of form with Him through the quality of bestowal and love, which is called adhesion.

For the purpose of Musar (ethics) is the well-being of society as it is understood by practical reason, which is taken from the events of life in this world. However, Kabbalah allows one to attain love for others, and thereby to reach similarity and adhesion with the Creator. And along with it man passes from his narrow world, full of pain and impediments, to a spacious and eternal world of the Creator.

Thus it is obvious that true religion (Kabbalah) is only for man’s correction. And the goal is attained during one’s life, while living in this world. However, if one has not attained equivalence with the Creator, one dies just as he was born, having achieved nothing in his life.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: How to Read the Torah
Kabbalah Today Article: Kabbalah Explains the Bible
Article: “The Secret Meaning of the Bible”
Baal HaSulam Article: “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)”
Shamati #66: “The Giving of the Torah”

Filed under: Economy - No Comments →

A question I received: It follows from the articles “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)” and “The Future Generation” that from the economic point of view, a Kabbalistic society is one of collectivism or communism, and that this is a necessary condition for everyone to receive the Torah and reveal the Creator, since only then can people stop thinking about themselves completely. Are there plans being made regarding new economic relations within the framework of the “Virtual State of Kabbalah?” Or is it still to early for it? Maybe we can implement transitional economic schemes and incorporate them into the modern capitalistic global economy? Generally speaking, how do you think the world economy will develop toward the ideal state?

My Answer: We should not change society and its institutions artificially, but rather we should correct the connections between us from egoistic to altruistic, by means of the Upper Light. The wisdom of Kabbalah explains how we can become similar to nature. Hence, by studying it we evoke upon us the Light of correction (the Surrounding Light, Ohr Makif) from above. It changes us, giving us the desires, thoughts, and forces to change everything in us and between us.

If we won’t change under the influence of the Light, but will instead change in whichever way we want to, then we’ll create a big mess all over again, like what happened with socialism in Russia and with the Kibbutzim in Israel. America is now compelled to nationalize businesses, and thus it is becoming socialist instead of capitalist. However, this is not the kind of socialism (or communism) that Kabbalah speaks about.

We, the members of the International Kabbalah Academy (the Bnei Baruch group), must do the following:

1. Provide ourselves with the necessary level of existence;
2. Correct ourselves by studying Kabbalah in the right environment (in our environment – see the article “The Freedom,” which explains what lies in our power of action).

The rest is done by the Light.

Our objective is to create a virtual society, which will serve as an example for the entire world.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Creator Will Become Revealed Inside the Unity of Our Virtual Meeting Space
Laitman.com Post: The Condition of Entering the Upper World Is Mutual Guarantee
Baal HaSulam Article: “Building the Future Society”
“Freedom of Will” – Lessons

Filed under: Economy - No Comments →

Two questions I received on love:

Question: What is “the suffering of love”?

My Answer: There is no love in our world. What we call love is the aspiration for pleasure, or to be fulfilled by pleasure. In other words, corporeal love is one’s attitude to that which gives one pleasure. It is measured by the degree of one’s fulfillment from the source of love.

Spiritual love works differently. It’s when a person rises above his egoism and no longer depends on it. He then begins to perceive the desires of others as his own, and unites with the entire desire that was created by the Creator (with the common soul, Adam).

Once he acquires this property of bestowal and concern for fulfilling desires outside of him, he then finds the Creator – the general quality of love, inside this common desire. In this case, “the suffering of love” is when one suffers because he still doesn’t love the Creator, or in other words – because he is not inside the property of bestowal completely.

Question: If spiritual love can only be felt toward one’s neighbor, then it is probably impossible to love those who are not part of my close environment (spiritually speaking)? And when we say “love for others” this means that we understand the egoistic nature of others and realize that these egoistic qualities are temporary?

My Answer: That is absolutely correct. But in addition, it’s also necessary to provide them with a way to become acquainted with Kabbalah in a form suitable for them, and to put it in front of them discretely, so that as soon as their “point in the heart” (a desire for something other than this world) will surface, they can immediately discover the means to fulfill it.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Don’t Look for Love In This World
Laitman.com Post: Love Your Neighbor As Yourself – That’s Your Reward!
Laitman.com Post: Spiritual Labor Pains and the Future of Kabbalah (Advanced)
Lecture: Unconditional Love
Chapter from The Kabbalah Experience: “Spiritual Work”

Filed under: Crisis, Economy, Love, Mutual Guarantee, Prayer and Intention, Q&A - No Comments →

A question I received: You said that men are polygamous by nature and are always looking for new sensations. In the past every man had several wives, and he would buy a new wife whenever he wanted one. There was no love involved in this, and sometimes men and women did not even know each other before being married. This is also the reason why men today cheat, get divorced, and find new wives.

On the other hand, you speak about spiritual marriage – man, woman, and the Shechina between them. How is it possible to attain the presence of the Creator between a man and a woman in the spiritual marriage if the modern man always needs new experiences with different women (today this is called cheating).

This is very painful and difficult to accept. Please help us, women, understand men’s behavior. Why is it so difficult for us to accept the fact that men are always attracted to other women? Do men do this because of some anomaly? Or is it just natural for them to constantly need new women, and it’s us, women, who are so uncorrected that we simply cannot understand their needs?

My Answer: This is the curse of egoism, which we fell into from the spiritual level. God said to the woman: “Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” So my advice to you is: Don’t look for truth, justice, loyalty, and love in marital relationships. They aren’t there from the beginning, and they can’t be there – the Torah warns you of this. Quit trying to resolve the mess in the physical world, and instead aspire toward correction. As a result of it, your relationships will be corrected as well.

You have to understand that egoistic nature cannot be changed, and everyone suffers from it until they rise above it. You should transfer your worries from the corporeal level to the level where you realize “Why did the Creator do this?” It is in order to push you toward correction!

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Polygamy – a Matter of Culture
Kabbalah Today Article: ” Man, Woman and the Snake Between Them”
Article: “Today It’s Spiritual Relationship or No Relationship”
Article: “The Spiritual Root of Cheating”

Filed under: Body and Soul, Crisis, Economy, Internet, Love, Q&A, Spiritual Work - 2 Comments →

I had a conversation that was recorded on the topic of love. I spoke with Oren Levi, manager of our Hebrew publishing department.

We analyzed how the spiritual property of the Creator, “love for creation,” is expressed in action – “bestowal and fulfillment.” However, since creation is egoistic and opposite to the Creator, it interprets this as love for fulfillment and reception. Creation aspires to use and humiliate others, in order to feel more fulfilled than them. In other words, its love manifests in a completely opposite form than the spiritual quality of “love,” yet we refer to both of them with the same word, according to the law of “root and consequence.”

However, when creation attains equivalence of form with the Creator (when it acquires the aspiration toward the property – “Love thy neighbor as thyself,” which is attained only through the influence of the Upper Light that descends during the study of Kabbalah), it begins to comprehend the true meaning of the Torah’s words and of Kabbalistic notions, including “bestowal” and “love.”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Is It Possible to Love Everyone?
Laitman.com Post: Love Thy Neighbor as Yourself
Laitman.com Post: Does the Creator Have Feelings?
Laitman.com Post: On the Revelation of Godliness
Laitman.com Post: Love Her Like Your Soul, Punch Her Like a Punching Bag
Laitman.com Post: Love Covers All Sins
Laitman.com Post: On Love
Lesson: Unconditional Love
Kabbalah Today Article: Love, Love, Love
Kabbalah Today Article: Love, Deciphered

Filed under: Crisis, Economy, Love, Spiritual Work - No Comments →