Today humanity finds itself in a new completely unknown system. In order to understand it better, we will give an example of how half a century ago, a person who was accustomed to certain familial, societal, and economic relations suddenly arrived in a foreign country, let’s say from America to Russia, somewhere where everything was different and he simply did not understand why everything is arranged and structured in such a way.

Americans wonder why in Russia it is so difficult to implement a certain project. Since with them there would immediately appear some entrepreneur who would take the new idea, execute it, and profit from it. And in Russia, it was impossible, and therefore all remained in a very poor condition.

Conversely, when you a Russian comes to America, he sees huge individualism, competitiveness, and all in all no one caring about each other, each one is a narrow individualist who is only interested in his “I.” And this is the social norm.

Thus, this misunderstanding of each other amazed people, who found themselves in a different system.

And now, all of humanity is “entering” a new system, as if they are riding a train that rolls on and suddenly enters a huge unfamiliar park, a completely new civilization based only on mutual understanding and mutual cooperation. Together with this, the nature we were born with its movements and yearnings is not taken into account, only this reality that was prepared for us. But we don’t immediately find ourselves in this rigid system that is completely, mutually connected where we can only succeed by grasping the integral perception; nature gradually brings us to this in that it presses on us along the way of evolution.
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From KabTV’s “Professional Secrets” 2/5/13

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Question: I have a growing business, a chain of shoe stores. I don’t try to save money on training employees because it’s very important to build relationships with customers. But so far, no coach can help me teach most of the staff just to smile. What can I do? How can I teach them to smile, be friendly, and customer-focused?

Answer: About 30 years ago I came to America for the first time, and I was surprised to see a smile on every face, but in most cases artificial. But in recent years, all this is gone. I often go there and see that people stopped smiling. The American image of the past is gone. People are tired, depressed, insecure, and unreliable inside.

In the world, smiles are disappearing. This is due to the growth of egoism that demands for itself or may not demand anything at all. We are not in the mood to smile. A smile is the result of at least a little bit of excess energy in a person. And today it doesn’t exist in the world.

What can we do? We search for resources, reserves. And precisely here integral education gives a person a sense of the overall system, general dependence. You inevitably become kinder, happier. People not only begin to smile; they feel the need for each other, understand that one can’t live without it and that there is no existence without it! We find ourselves in such an environment where only our combined strength, mind, and thought can bring us to a good, kind state.

In the beginning, it’s realized against one’s will because of the need to be connected with each other with good ties, and then you become aware that this good interconnection has a special feeling, a miracle that is capable of creating something.

After all, good relationships don’t just cheer you up, they heal, they give you a different perspective on the world and life. They shake down all of the problems around you, the world suddenly starts to become smoother, and everything is settled and arranged. Life becomes easier and lighter. This is why modern employees must be taught good relations with each other first, and then, within these good relations, develops professional skills.
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From KabTV’s “Professional Secrets” 2/5/13

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Baal HaSulam, “Speech for the Completion of The Zohar“: Thus, even though the Creator has delivered the land from the hands of the nations and has given it to us, we have not yet received it. We are not enjoying it. But with this giving, the Creator has given us an opportunity for redemption, to be purified and sanctified and assume the work of God in Torah and Mitzvot Lishma.

Question: Humanity is entering a new era of evolution when the desires are changing and people are beginning to look for meaning in life, does that happen in Israel too?

Answer: It is hard to say. In the Torah it says that the Jews are a “stubborn nation.” This nation does not develop like the other nations. Today according to external factors, you cannot say that it is bothered by the lack of meaning in life. But it is actually the other way around: It is indifferent to current problems that relate to our security, health, and the economic situation. There is a lot of talking but no real involvement. As long as this continues, so will the indifference and the imperviousness grow. If two years ago we could bring hundreds of thousands of people out to the streets to demonstrate during the social protest events, we cannot do that today, not even if things get worse.

Question: So why did Baal HaSulam say that the current era is our chance for redemption?

Answer: It says in Jeremiah 12, “It is a time of trouble for Jacob and from it he will be redeemed.” Even in the worst situation, when the door is totally sealed, it suddenly opens. But for that to happen there has to be enough pressure, which for the time being does not exist. It is a sign that the fruit is not ripe yet and still needs time to ripen.

Here everything depends on us. On the whole, the nation is never ready for an ascent until Moses, who will pull (from the same root in Hebrew) the nation upwards, is ready. Even the troubles and the blows called the “plagues of Egypt” are not felt by the Israeli nation, but those who feel them are Pharaoh and the Egyptian people. It isn’t by chance that it says that the Creator has passed over the doors of Israel. The plague of the death of the firstborn came upon Egypt but did not touch them.

This was all meant so that hearts of Israel will grow even tougher. As a result a person doesn’t feel any troubles although things are not going so well, but it is much more difficult for others.

It is a very big problem, and we mustn’t wait until things in the world and in Israel get worse. It doesn’t go along with nature’s plan at all and doesn’t stem from love of others. We need to do our best, using all the means we have to publicize the method of correction and at least the message that it is now time for the correction of the world. If people don’t feel any need for that, then they should at least know about it, like students who graduate from school and only have a general idea of what they have learned. Later, this idea will become an essential foundation for them.
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From the 4^th Part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/17/13, “A Speech for the Completion of The Zohar”

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Baal HaSulam, “The Peace”: Anyone can see how a large society such as the state of Russia… second to none in wealth in raw materials…and practically abolished private property altogether, where each worries only about the wellbeing of society…instead of rising and exceeding the achievements of the capitalist countries, they have sunk even lower… that all this precious and exalted work, namely bestowal upon others, which they have begun to perform, needs to be for the Creator and not for humanity…

Question: What is the addition of “for the Creator” that they were lacking?

Answer: It is not enough to work for the sake of the society so that it will be rich, beautiful, and good. It is not enough to evoke people to be beautiful and strong so that they can take pride in their achievements before the whole world. Even that didn’t help, although it is very important for the Russians, and they have an innate need to prove to everyone that they are the best. On the whole it exists in every nation, but especially in the Russian nation.

Oppression didn’t help either: hunger, terror, and murders designed to force the people to work for the society where a person didn’t see any profit in his pocket and that he didn’t bring home more than others. One worked hard and exerted himself and another didn’t work so hard, but they both received the same wages. So where can a person get the “fuel” to work harder? No means of oppression will help and not even national pride. What haven’t they tried during the decades of the Soviet Union? It all led to nothing in the end.

If I don’t focus my efforts on bestowal upon the Creator, and get the “fuel” to work against the ego, I have no other sources. Even if I fear that I may be killed, I cannot work without reason. I am basically a “machine” that needs fuel, a filling. Let me be paid for my exertion, or at least given food and a place to sleep, like a salve. But to give up my ego of my own free will? A creature like me cannot do that “by definition.”

But the Soviet leaders believed that it was possible, they didn’t understand Marx who put things simply: In order to achieve such an ascent, there has to be an advanced developed society that has reached technological progress in other fields. If such a society practices what we call “integral education,” then a few people who are connected to the initial idea by their point in the heart can lead everyone else. There is no other way but that. At least some of the people have to aim at “for the Creator.”

But the communists had nothing in common and nothing to do with this, and so they couldn’t hold on to the direction they decided on, despite all their natural treasures…
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/15/13, “The Peace”

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Today the trend that has accompanied us throughout the ages of our development is coming to an end. The ego forced us to climb down from the trees and to start human evolution. We have been through many phases and many forms of life: slavery, fictitious freedom, the Middle Ages, and capitalism. We have constantly worked in order to make a profit, to succeed, and to advance. But today our “partnership” with the ego is coming to an end.

There are several reasons for that and one of them is that the ego itself doesn’t feel satisfied any more. We receive all the goodness, but it doesn’t fulfill us. Even the wealthy increasingly feel they are as if left with nothing, since filling without the deficiency for it brings no pleasure.

On the whole, the elite treat the world as their own property and build a “whole world” for themselves. Through the media, they confuse us, convincing us we should work from morning to night, follow new fashion trends, buy products and services, and then work again. There is constant confusion, wars, and riots like the “Arab spring.” Why? So they can quietly dominate the world and make billions in profits for themselves. This is a never-ending job of governments and other channels controlled by a small handful of people.

However, they already are beginning to feel that they are losing control. According to the laws of egoistic evolution, the world in its current form is coming to an end, facing a global crisis. No one wanted this including the elites who are interested in maintaining and indefinitely continuing the consumerist society. But this doesn’t work.

Now we have to decide where we are headed. So on the one hand, Marx’s books are being reopened, and on the other hand, the wisdom of Kabbalah is revealed.

Today there are talks about a different use of the desire to receive. The next phase is building a united society in which people work about an hour a week because we don’t need everything that we are currently producing. Today unity is the essential model for human society. Without it we will not even be able to receive our daily bread. If we don’t connect, we will not have the basic necessities. But humanity doesn’t know how to connect, although this is what it is required to do. As a result, when faced with a seemingly impossible task, it is going toward annihilation, seeing no way out.

This is exactly where we take the wisdom of Kabbalah out of its hiding place and “wave” it on the background of Marx’s Das Kapital, hoping that we will be heard.

Question: What proof can we bring?

Answer: We have two ways to prove this:

• There is rational proof, as it says, “It is the wise who sees the future.” We can convince people that our approach is true and efficient basing it on examples, without waiting for greater trouble.
• Or, instead, the proof can come in the form of disasters.

On our part, we try to reach people before the blows do, but it isn’t easy. We don’t control the media. The elite have built an army of economists and financial experts and other experts whose goal is to confuse people and to cultivate the great lie. This is all so that the people who are at the top of the pyramid will be able to rule. Rule what? Today, even they don’t know exactly. It is not under their control at all…
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/15/13, “The Peace”

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In the News (from Delovaya Gazeta): “During the financial crisis, consumers are not only buying fewer goods, but also returning to barter – the exchange of goods, which allows customers to save money. In addition, social networks influence the behavior of European consumers. Considering the expenses of Europeans, they increasingly resort to alternative ways to get the desired goods, exchanging things. …

“Sharing accommodations, wholesale purchase and mainly purchasing second-hand goods are increasingly helping customers make profit. …

“At the same time, there is a growing awareness of social responsibility. 55% are trying to reduce the consumption of water and energy for the sake of environmental conditions; the demand on organic products is rising.

“These changes in people’s behavior are influenced by the Internet. Today, it plays a significant role in the development of social consciousness and behavior. A quarter of respondents also believe that people’s views are shaped by the social networks (Facebook, Twitter), where they look for reviews before buying.”

My Comment: Under the pressure, egoism will be forced to yield and look for new opportunities for fulfillment. This gradually trains people by pressuring them. It is much easier and faster to become adjusted to new conditions by the method of integral education.
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Question: Humanity has already experienced serious economic crises, but it has always found a solution. It even managed to overcome the Great Depression of the 1930’s. But today we claim that we have to correct man. This doesn’t sound rational…

Answer: I see it differently: the cause for all the problems we encounter today is man. In earlier days there were different external causes of the crises, but in the modern age it has become clear that the source of all the trouble is man who doesn’t find the right way and doesn’t understand where he is. The human is the worst being; he cannot get along with others, and he is the one who blows up this bubble, and it is beyond his powers to fix the system.

It would seem that the flaws of human society are evident, and we just need to correct them, but we don’t know how. New problems keep appearing and when we cannot solve them we feel that we are weak as we confront them. This means that the main problem is in us.

We cannot, for example, unite Europe so that it would become a true united alliance of countries that will not deceive one another or humiliate each other but would work as one unit. But nothing happens; each country pulls the blanket in its own direction instead of giving it to another, and as a result no one gets it and everyone is in trouble.

What is Europe actually missing? It has agriculture, industry, different services, relations between countries, transportation systems, trains, planes; everything is there. For a good life, the only thing missing is the right connection between people and nothing more. Everyone lacks this: the tycoons, the poor, those on the right and those on the left of the political spectrum.

So is there another means for correction besides educating people? With the proper education, Europe could arrange a paradise. But instead, despite the material wealth in Scandinavia, the rate of suicide is higher than in the southern countries fraught with high unemployment and unrest. In Greece the situation has become a humanitarian disaster—people literally cannot feed their kids. Babies are abandoned on the streets so that the state will take care of them, and the poor are so desperate that they break the law so that they’ll be put in jail.

So what can we do? Correct man!

After all, the natural resources are enough for everyone; someone has salt, for example, and another has meat, and another has fire, and someone else has vegetables, but we cannot come to an agreement so that we can cook soup for everyone. Everyone holds on to what he has, and eventually everyone is left with nothing; after all, you cannot be satiated by salt or by raw meat.

This situation will only get worse since this is nature’s plan, until we understand that without the right connection we will simply die.

As for earlier crises, they are not comparable to the current crisis. Today’s crisis depends on the correction of man and is the most difficult with regard to its solution.

In the 1930’s, capitalistic evolution was still burgeoning with ambitious plans and hopes and the sudden collapse did make people feel terrible. Today human beings are disappointed in their own desires and are prepared for the worst in advance. We don’t feel “new heights of consumerism” are ahead of us, only deepening gloom.

This happens so that we will realize the essence of the modern crisis is different than the earlier crises; it is developing on a totally different level, in another field. It develops in man, and so it isn’t about the banks and about other external symptoms of the illness. If we fight the symptoms, we will not be able to cope with the crisis. The only way is to correct the relationships between people.

We will die of hunger unless we unite and “cook the soup” together. This state is profoundly different than what it was in the past. Once people wanted more and were left with nothing, which brought about despair, unbearable sufferings, and often suicide.

Today a person has no such ambitions and he already knows that soon there will be nothing to eat. It’s as if he is shown in advance how he gradually will enter his grave. This is being shown so that everyone will gradually understand where we are headed. Nature teaches us step by step and reveals the current state to us, explaining what we should do.

This process won’t end at once; it will last for another year or two, until people feel that there is no end in sight to their troubles, until they find themselves at a snail’s pace of not sinking into grave conditions.

We aren’t completely aware of the results of the crisis. We don’t pay attention to the plants that are being shut down, to the decrease in business activities, and the collapse in various areas. Gradually, however, the world will fall into a deep dark sleep before our very eyes. Until people acknowledge that the problem is in them, it’s not in their power to “stir” the world despite its great abundance.

“So why don’t we get anything out of it? Here is the meat, the water, the fire, and the vegetables—so let’s cook a delicious soup…” it will take time until they finally agree to that. We haven’t had such a crisis yet.
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From the 4^th Part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/14/13, “A Speech for the Completion of The Zohar”

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In the News (from The Lancet): The 2011 UN high-level meeting on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) called for multisectoral action including with the private sector and industry. However, through the sale and promotion of tobacco, alcohol, and ultra-processed food and drink (unhealthy commodities), transnational corporations are major drivers of global epidemics of NCDs. What role then should these industries have in NCD prevention and control? We emphasise the rise in sales of these unhealthy commodities in low-income and middle-income countries, and consider the common strategies that the transnational corporations use to undermine NCD prevention and control. We assess the effectiveness of self-regulation, public—private partnerships, and public regulation models of interaction with these industries and conclude that unhealthy commodity industries should have no role in the formation of national or international NCD policy. Despite the common reliance on industry self-regulation and public—private partnerships, there is no evidence of their effectiveness or safety. Public regulation and market intervention are the only evidence-based mechanisms to prevent harm caused by the unhealthy commodity industries.”

My Comment: The crisis will sweep away all the problems; people will rise above egoism and choose a new level of consumption—rational consumption for the body and the rest for the soul. In this way they will come to feel a new level of existence, not limited by matter.
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Question: A new form of work has developed, “remote work or telecommuting” when an employee does not go to the office, but stays at home at his computer and goes to the office a couple times a month. Is this good or bad?

Answer: I think that in this case a person will still suffer from depression and emptiness. He needs to feel an integral connection. Working alone will not be effective enough. Today it is relevant because it is convenient for an employee, for an employer, and for a mother with children, but this is a temporary process.

In any case, a person will need to be integrated into a system, either at the place of residence or on the basis of something else. He must constantly fulfill his new desire, feel that he is inside an integral system. After all, the integral egoism that appears in us will still lead us to this. We are not free; nature develops us in this way.
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From KabTV’s “Professional Secrets” 2/3/13

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Opinion (Joseph Stiglitz, professor of economics at Columbia University and Nobel laureate): “The long malaise into which the economy seems to be settling, and the growing divide between the 1 percent and the rest — an inequality not only of outcomes but also of opportunity. To me, these problems are two sides of the same coin: with inequality at its highest level since before the Depression, a robust recovery will be difficult in the short term, and the American dream — a good life in exchange for hard work — is slowly dying.

“There are four major reasons inequality is squelching our recovery. The most immediate is that our middle class is too weak to support the consumer spending that has historically driven our economic growth. …

“Second, the hollowing out of the middle class since the 1970s, a phenomenon interrupted only briefly in the 1990s, means that they are unable to invest in their future, by educating themselves and their children and by starting or improving businesses.

“Third, the weakness of the middle class is holding back tax receipts. ….

“Fourth, inequality is associated with more frequent and more severe boom-and-bust cycles that make our economy more volatile and vulnerable. … The International Monetary Fund has noted the systematic relationship between economic instability and economic inequality, but American leaders haven’t absorbed the lesson.

Inequality leads to political inequality and a broken decision-making process. High unemployment, of course, depresses wages. Adjusted for inflation, real wages have stagnated or fallen. … Since the Great Recession, most of the increase in the nation’s wealth has gone to the very top.

“Meanwhile, as incomes have stagnated or fallen, tuition has soared. … We could have recognized that when young people are jobless, their skills atrophy. We could have made sure that every young person was either in school, in a training program or on a job. Instead, we let youth unemployment rise to twice the national average.  The children of the rich can stay in college or attend graduate school, without accumulating enormous debt, or take unpaid internships to beef up their résumés. Not so for those in the middle and bottom. We are sowing the seeds of ever more inequality in the coming years. …

“Globalization, and the unbalanced way it has been pursued, has shifted bargaining power away from workers: firms can threaten to move elsewhere, especially when tax laws treat such overseas investments so favorably. This in turn has weakened unions.”

My Comment: Inequality is the principle criterion of our world—egoism; it can be eradicated only through integral education which everyone should go through so that humanity can get rid of its evil and survive.
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