From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 10/23/19

I met with Joshua Goldstein, Chairman of the US Division of Herut North America, to discuss the origins of anti-Semitism and the essence of being Jewish.

The wisdom of Kabbalah states that Jews have a specific role—to reestablish and reveal to all humanity the method of building positive connections between people above the constantly growing human ego, and by this reveal the upper force of love and bestowal.

Why should we believe it? Is there any practical proof that this is what Jews are obliged to do? What if they don’t want to do it?

The laws of nature don’t ask anyone to agree with them. They just exist and function. The states laid out in nature unfold, and according to natural development, today we face a deep and comprehensive crisis of human relations caused by the tremendous growth of the human ego. If it keeps going this way, we’ll destroy ourselves.

Therefore, the only way to deal with the current situation is to implement the method of connection revealed by Abraham to the group of people collected out of 70 nations living in ancient Babylon 3,800 years ago: the Jews. This means that the Jewish people have a specific place in the structure of nature giving them an explicit duty, and if they refuse or fail to perform their role, the whole world will react with extreme pressure and forceful demand for Jews to bring the system to balance.

Therefore, indeed, the role of the Jewish people is that they have to develop a sense of a single unity and drive the whole world toward connection.

Filed under: Anti-Semitism, Facebook - No Comments →

From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 10/20/19

What is the Essence of Simchat Torah?

While We’re Far from the Real Simchat Torah, Here’s a Good Reason to Celebrate the Joy and Happiness of Simchat Torah Right Now

At its core, the Tishrei holiday cycle expresses our shift as a divided, egoistic society to one of connection, altruism and balance with nature’s quality of giving. Its final day, Simchat Torah, celebrates the favorable outcome of this shift.

Although the basis of Simchat Torah is far from where we see our society heading today, it’s an opportunity for us all to think about where we are as individuals and as a society in relation to this harmonious state. We can rejoice in our recognition of the real cause of all our problems—our egoistic nature—and that we have the means at our disposal to redirect this nature to a positive direction. That’s already a major step towards the reformation the Torah speaks about.

Therefore, we have a very good reason to be happy this Simchat Torah. Let’s use the opportunity to consider how we can train the light’s quality of giving, love and connection among each other, and show that there is indeed a positive alternative to the escalating divisions, struggles and conflicts around the world.

May it be a happy holiday to all!

Learn more here

Filed under: Facebook, Holidays - No Comments →

From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 10/16/19

What does it mean to follow the Feast of Tabernacles, or Sukkot?

It means agreeing to erect a Schach, a thatched roof made out of plant scraps, which connects us under a single idea of unity, “as one man with one heart,” above differences.

By sitting in a Sukkah, a temporary dwelling, under its Schach, and wanting to enjoy from the Ohr Makif (surrounding light)—nature’s positive influence that emerges when we try to resemble its perfectly unified form—it is considered as enjoying in the shade of the Sukkah.

We respect the shade, i.e., our egoistic desires that detach us from each other, together with the understanding that we can be united only above our egos.

Therefore, we cover our egos with the Schach, i.e., concepts of loving and caring for others, concepts that are as scraps to our egos, holding zero egoistic importance. In the wisdom of Kabbalah, the Schach is also called a “Masach” (“screen”).

Below the Schach are our egos. Above it, we unite.

The Schach represents our common desire to love, bestow, and connect positively to each other, to be as one with everyone.

The Sukkah resembles the place of our unification, our common soul of Adam HaRishon where we all connect as one.

Therefore, following the Feast of Tabernacles, or Sukkot, means engaging in a common effort to erect a Schach roof, which gives us the confidence to be held together by nature’s unifying force, which turns our temporary dwelling, the Sukkah, into a sturdy, safe and secure structure.

In our organization, the Bnei Baruch Kabbalah Education & Research Institute, we learn the inner processes connected to festivals such as Sukkot. With the method of Kabbalah, any person can undergo these processes independently of calendar dates and times, discovering their true meaning together with the revelation of higher perceptions and sensations of reality. We invite anyone interested to get started with our introductory materials and courses.

Filed under: Events, Facebook, Holidays - No Comments →

From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 10/15/19

1,000 Square Meters of Love: The World’s Largest Sukkah!

The world’s largest Sukkah can be found on the roof of Kabbalah.Info in Petach Tikva. The giant thatch spreads over 1,000 square meters, and is built according to the guidelines of Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag (a.k.a. Baal HaSulam).

Hundreds of people from Israel and around the world gather every evening in our Sukkah to celebrate together under one roof. Over 10,000 people will celebrate in the “World’s Largest Sukkah” throughout this holiday.

Thousands of miles may stand between our hearts as everyone is stuck in their own worldview, but once a year we come together and a thatch of peace covers all our differences, revealing the beauty and splendor of the connections between us.

Happy Holiday!

Filed under: Facebook, Holidays - No Comments →

From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 10/10/19

Yehuda Leib HaLevi Ashlag is known as Baal HaSulam (Owner of the Ladder) for his Sulam (ladder) commentary on The Book of Zohar. Baal HaSulam dedicated his life to interpretations and innovations in the wisdom of Kabbalah, disseminating it in Israel and throughout the world. He developed a unique method to the study of Kabbalah, by which any person can delve into the depth of reality and reveal its roots and purpose of existence.

Baal HaSulam was born in Warsaw, Poland on Sep 24, 1884. At the age of nineteen he was ordained as a rabbi by the greatest rabbis of Warsaw, and for sixteen years he served as a Dayan (Jewish orthodox judge) and a teacher in Warsaw.

Baal HaSulam’s teacher was Rabbi Yehoshua of Porsov. In 1921, Baal HaSulam immigrated to Israel and settled in the Old City of Jerusalem. The word of his coming quickly spread among Jews who emigrated from Poland, and he soon became known as an authority in Kabbalah. Gradually, a group of students formed around him, attending Kabbalah lessons in the wee hours. Later on Baal HaSulam moved from the Old City and settled in Givat Shaul, which was then a new neighborhood in Jerusalem, where for several years he served as the neighborhood rabbi.

Baal HaSulam spent the years 1926-1928 in London. During his time in London he wrote the commentary to the Aris Tree Of Life Panim Meirot uMasbirot, which he printed in 1927. Throughout his stay in London, Baal HaSulam conducted extensive correspondence with his students in Israel, which were assembled in 1985 in a book titled Igrot Kodesh (Letters of Sanctity).

In 1933, Baal HaSulam published the tractates Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah), HaArvut (The Bond), and HaShalom (The Peace).

Baal HaSulams two major works, the result of many years of labor, are Talmud Eser Sefirot (The Study of the Ten Sefirot), a commentary on the writings of the Ari, and Perush HaSulam (The Sulam Commentary)on The Book of Zohar. The publications of the 16 parts (in six volumes) of Talmud Eser Sefirot began in 1937. In 1940 he published Beit Shaar HaKavanot (The Gatehouse of Intentions),with commentaries to selected writings of the Ari. Persuh HaSulam on the Zohar was printed in 18 volumes in the years 1945-1953. Later on Baal HaSulam wrote three additional volumes containing commentaries on The New Zohar, whose printing was completed in 1955, after his demise.

In his Introduction to the Book of Zohar, Baal HaSulam writes as follows (item 58): And I have named that commentary The Sulam (ladder), to show that the purpose of it is, as with every ladder, that if you have an attic full of goods, then all you need is a ladder to reach it, and then all the bounty of the world is in your hands.

Baal HaSulam wrote a series of introductions that prepare the student for proper study of Kabbalistic texts. Some of these introductions are Preface to the Book of Zohar, Introduction to the Book of Zohar, Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah, Preface to the Sulam Commentary, General Preface to the Tree of Life, and Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot.

In 1940, Baal HaSulam published the first and, as it turned out, the last issue of the journal HaUma (The Nation). The journal was shut down by the British Mandate authorities after having received malicious information that the journal propagated communism.

Baal HaSulam encountered enormous difficulties printing his books. We can learn of the importance he ascribed to printing and disseminating Kabbalah from the 2003 Israel Award laureate Prof. Shlomo Giora Shohams description of his meeting with Baal HaSulam in the early 1950s.

“I found him standing in a dilapidated building, almost a shack, which housed an old printing press. He couldn’t afford to pay a typesetter and was doing the typesetting himself, letter by letter, standing over the printing press for hours at a time, despite the fact that he was in his late sixties. Ashlag was clearly a tzaddik (righteous man) – a humble man, with a radiant face. But he was an absolutely marginal figure and terribly impoverished. I later heard that he spent so many hours setting type that the lead used in the printing process damaged his health.”

This excerpt was published on Dec 17, 2004 in Haaretz newspaper, in a story by Micha Odenheimer.

Baal HaSulam did not merely put his ideas on paper; he acted vigorously to promote them. He met with many leaders of the Jewish settlement in Israel of the time, leaders of the Labor movement and many public figures. Among these figures are David Ben-Gurion, Zalman Shazar, Moshe Sadeh, Chaim Arlozorov, Moshe Aram, Meir Yaari, Yaakov Hazan, Dov Sadan and the great poet Haim Nahman Bialik.

According to Ben-Gurion, he met with Yehuda Ashlag several times, and was apparently surprised:

“I wanted to talk to him about Kabbalah, and he wanted to talk about Socialism.”

(Ben-Gurion Archive, Diaries, Aug 11, 1958).
In his essay Three Meetings and In Between (Amot, Tel-Aviv, 1963, p.49), Dov Sadan writes:

“Rabbi Yehuda Leib Ashlag, among the greatest Kabbalists of the time, aimed at turning the fundamentals of Kabbalah into a historic engine of our generation. Through his socialistic perception, which is based on the above, he sought contact with the Kibbutz Movement.”

It might be surprising to think that Baal HaSulam sought connection with the Hebrew Labor Movement and its leaders, considering the mental and educational chasm between them. However, deep study of his writings reveals a fascinating and intriguing figure of an erudite who was very much involved in the events of his time, both in Israel and the world over, a figure whose ideas are considered revolutionary and daring even to this day.

Filed under: Baal HaSulam, Facebook, Spiritual Teacher - No Comments →

From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 10/5/19

In loving memory of my teacher, Baruch Shalom HaLevi Ashlag (The Rabash)

Filed under: Facebook, Rabash, Spiritual Teacher - No Comments →

From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 10/5/19

In loving memory of my teacher, Baruch Shalom HaLevi Ashlag (The Rabash)

Filed under: Facebook, Rabash, Spiritual Teacher - No Comments →

From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 10/3/19

On a cold, rainy night in 1979, I could not sleep, my thoughts troubled me. Suddenly I found myself at the wheel, driving without direction. A large sign cut through my thoughts: “Bnei Brak.” I went in. The streets were deserted. At the corner of “Chazon Ish” Street I ran into a passerby. “Where do you study here?” I asked. He looked at me and answered, “Drive to the end of the street, where you will see an orchard. It’s on the other side of it.”

This is how I came to meet my teacher for the first time, Rabbi Baruch Shalom Ashlag (the Rabash), the eldest son and successor of Baal HaSulam – the greatest Kabbalist of the twentieth century. From that moment on my life was never the same.

For the next twelve years I served as his personal assistant and disciple, and I absorbed from him everything that I know in the wisdom of Kabbalah. Every day he would lock himself up on the second floor and write. This is how his profound articles were born, which paved the way for anyone nowadays to carve the spiritual path most suited to them. No one before him had written in such a simple and practical manner. Like a father who guides his children along the path, he takes his readers by the hand and guides them until they discover the true meaning of life.

“And once I have acquired the clothing of love,” he wrote to his students at the end of the well-known letter “Love of Friends,” “Sparks of love promptly begin to shine within me. The heart begins to long to unite with my friends, and it seems to me that my eyes see my friends, my ears hear their voices, my mouth speaks to them, the hands embrace, the feet dance in a circle, in love and joy together with them…” (the Rabash).

After his departure in 1991, people who felt a burning desire in their hearts to reveal their purpose started coming together. Gradually, the “Bnei Baruch” Kabbalah Education & Research Institute was formed, named after Kabbalist Baruch Ashlag. Every morning we study the writings of the Kabbalists, such as The Study of the Ten Sefirot, The Zohar with the Sulam commentary and the writings of Baal HaSulam and the Rabash. We work to share the method with anyone interested, just as my teacher gave me the wisdom of his father.

Today we mark the 28th anniversary of the passing of my teacher, the Rabash, the greatest of the generation. I hope that we will succeed in following his path faithfully.

Filed under: Facebook, Rabash, Spiritual Teacher - No Comments →

From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 9/29/19

We have been celebrating Rosh HaShanah, the beginning of the Hebrew year, for 5,779 years already. What could truly be renewed this year, and how can we change our perception of reality so that the coming year will be significantly better? Here are 15 mind-changing insights.

1. The World at a Turning Point
In the twenty-first century we have achieved everything. And yet, we can’t shake away the troubles and ailments that plague us both as individuals and as a society. Political instability, social division, terrorism and security threats, climate destabilization, mass immigration, and more – are just some of the symptoms pointing to the global entanglement the world is facing.
For thousands of years we’ve been trying to fix the world around us in countless ways. But the facts on the ground prove that we haven’t cracked the formula to a peaceful and happy life. The silver lining is that people are beginning to question the current paradigm, and look for a new approach to life.

2. The World Is a Mirror of Our Inner World
The Ari, the Kabbalist who described the entire structure of the spiritual reality in great detail, summarized it as follows: “Man is a small world; the world is a great man.” In other words, the entire world is a reflection of man’s inner world, it reflects the consequences of man’s inner qualities. If we learn how to perceive reality correctly, we will find the connection between what happens in the world and what happens within us. Thus, by changing man, we can change the world.

3. Human Beings Are Motivated by Desire
The power that drives the development of humanity is the desire to receive pleasure. This desire grows in both quantity and quality. The ladder of development of human desire begins with basic-physical desires for food, sex, family and shelter, continues with human-social desires for money, honor, power and knowledge, and climaxes at the desire for spiritual fulfillment. At every step of the ladder, the desire shapes our perception of reality.

4. The Egoistic Desire Shapes Human Perception
At a certain stage in the development of human desire, people want to take pleasure at each other’s expense. Kabbalah calls this natural phase of development “egoism.” The increasing egoistic desire in man shapes his perception of reality. As a result, man sees the outside world in an increasing crisis, a world in which man is wolf to man.

5. The Human Ego at a Dead End
The egoistic desire sees numerous possibilities to draw pleasure from the world. It is in constant pursuit for greater pleasure. But time and again, man becomes disillusioned, as the desire is met with dissatisfaction that causes disappointment and frustration. Over time, the bitter experience accumulates in humanity and every generation grows discouraged from the chase faster than the previous one. This is the reason for the meteoric rise in the demand for drugs and the phenomenon of depression becoming the leading cause of disability in the 21st century.

6. To Change the World – Change Man
Instinctively, we want to correct the world around us, as that is where our problems appear. But this is an illusion. The source of our problems is the growing ego in our inner world. Just as a vehicle’s dashboard shows the driver data such as speed, fuel, and so forth, the world presents man with various data to inform him about his inner qualities. Therefore, if we correct our egoism, our negative attitude to others, the “dashboard” will present us with a perfect world – a replica of our inner world.

7. Man Changes in His Relation to Others
Man’s attitude to reality changes when he treats others as he treats himself. Treating one’s fellowmen positively drives a positive attitude to the other levels of nature as well: the inanimate, flora and fauna. That is why the sages of Kabbalah coined the famous maxim “love thy neighbor as thyself.” It’s not about manners or morality, but rather a means for a fundamental change in our perception of reality. In the effort to perceive all parts of reality around us as one whole, we evoke the natural force that builds a new perception within us. In other words, a person who improves himself directly improves the world around him.

8. Every Crisis Calibrates Our Perception
The purpose behind all the troubles that plague us, both as individuals and as a society, is that we will pay attention to the correction of our ego, that we will improve our attitude to each other. As long as we neglect this, reality will press us more and more so as to calibrate our perception of reality.

9. The Positive Path to a Change in Perception
A pleasant, efficient and fast way to change our perception of reality is an educational process of raising awareness. In this process, one learns how to see and feel the world as a replica of his inner qualities. Step by step, one can upgrade his perception of reality consciously and independently – not through crises.

10. The Virtual World Prepares Us for a New Perception of Reality
The transformation of the world into a small global village helps us understand that we are all connected and interdependent. What happens in an individual affects the entire world. Alongside growing interdependence, virtual networks and technologies are developing exponentially. They release us from the chains of the physical world and get us used to the idea that humanity is an inner essence within us. For example, when people communicate virtually, they form an inner character of the person or group with whom they communicate.

11. A Tiny Change of Desire—a Huge Change in the World
It may seem that changing our perception of reality requires intellectual scrutiny or deep self-analysis, but this is not the case. Since the desire is what shapes our perception, all that is needed is a genuine shift of desire, that is, a heartfelt-emotional shift. This means that simple actions that increase our sensitivity to unity among people can focus our perception, and thus project a brighter picture of the world.

12. Connecting the Pieces of Reality Leads to Revelation of the Creator
Regular work on “love thy neighbor as thyself,” that is, the effort to grasp all parts of reality as one whole, reveals to us the single force that operates reality. The force that is the foundation of reality, that binds together the still, vegetative, animate and human to one harmonious system. This is how we gradually begin to feel how the same force operates everything in reality.

13. The World Is Within Us: The Next Revolution After Einstein
Humanity is facing a tremendous and profound change in the approach to life and to the whole of reality. Just as humanity believed that the sun revolved around the earth and Copernicus proved otherwise, and just as Einstein redefined reality as a relative picture that depends on the observer – the next revolutionary stage of development will show us that reality is a projection of man’s inner self.

14. The Pioneers in Changing the Concept of Reality
The people who have achieved a new perception of reality are called “Kabbalists.” The first group of Kabbalists who led a social life based on a complete perception of reality, has become “the people of Israel” over the years. Since then, the Jewish people’s role has been to serve as an example for humanity, an example for a society that lives in a unified perception of reality. This is the true teaching of the people of Israel, and this is the reason for the unexplainable feeling of the world towards the Jewish people.

15. Rosh HaShana Is an Opportunity for Change
Rosh Hashanah means the beginning of a change in man, a change in his perception of reality. Therefore, the coming holiday symbolizes the perfect opportunity for us to decide that this year we are changing our minds and hearts to perceive a new reality.

Happy Rosh HaShanah!

Filed under: Facebook, Holidays - No Comments →

From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 9/27/19

“You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. Yet I am one of the lucky ones. People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!” Greta Thunberg

In straightforward, direct-style, stubborn, stutter-free tone, Greta Thunberg, the Swedish environmental activist, spoke at the United Nations Climate Change Conference, the global protest of young people against the neglect of the climate crisis. This girl, who suffered from depression at the age of 11 and stopped speaking; who was diagnosed as having Asperger syndrome, obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD), and selective mutism, is now a 16-year-old leading a global movement of youth against the neglect of the climate crisis.

Greta’s voice has become the voice of environmental activists around the world, and she has been able to drive more than four million people around the world to go out to the streets. But behind the moving naivety, many are using this opportunity to promote their own agendas. This is how things work in the egoistic world we live in. Everything is calculated, interest-based, and pays off to someone at the end of the day. And even the colorful plaque Greta held in the empty squares of world capitals is also part of the campaign.

I have no claim against her or those behind her. Personally, I would have given her the Nobel Peace Prize, of which she is a candidate. After all, due to the positive messages generated from her green protest with a quarter of humanity, the world is beginning to agree that there is a serious problem here, that we can’t escape the forces of nature, that global warming is a result of mankind’s weakness, and that a great deal of the climate crisis is a direct and indirect consequence of humans.

Thus, two types of nature become clear: the globally interconnected nature and the egotistically disconnected nature, with zero interaction between the two. Also, human connections affect the relationship between all parts of nature, which is why we must first and foremost align ourselves with the laws of nature.

The entire ecosystem is integral, and the climate crisis plaguing humanity stems from human activity alone, from our attitude to the world. This is not the result of what things we do with our hands and legs, or what kind of food we put in our mouths. As long as our egoistic nature remains unrestrained and out of control, and no one in the UN really cares for the global ecological balance, except for the sake of appearance, we can say goodbye to planet Earth.

The fundamental solution that will bring us to balance with nature is strengthening positive human connections over the increasingly growing ego. The negative influence of separation between us permeates all the still, vegetative and animate levels of nature. As written by Kabbalists, “Man is a small world, the world is a great man.”

Therefore, dear Greta, the cure for treating the global phenomena begins our relationship with each other as human beings. If we genuinely cry together for social correction to happen, we will succeed. And in that, I am with you all the way.

Filed under: Crisis, Facebook - No Comments →