We should be happy that we have the opportunity to disseminate the wisdom of Kabbalah all over the world; like Baal HaSulam once said: “I am happy that I was born in a generation in which it is possible to publicize the wisdom of Kabbalah.”

From the moment we have the opportunity to fulfill the method of correction, we should treat the whole world as a means in order to correct. Then we will feel happy about the opportunity we were given in order to work and to correct. Eventually, we will receive all the good reward that we have created, built, and earned ourselves.

We have to be happy when there are two components at the same time: the corruption that is revealed and the accessible method in order to correct it. This is because we only have to make the right effort and all of the world of Ein Sof (Infinity) will be revealed in us.

We have to show the world our joy, hope, elation, and confidence instead of the fear that engulfs the world today: joy rather than fear, confidence and a clear knowledge of what is happening and will continue.

It isn’t the suffering of the world but joyful labor pains. When a newborn baby cries, everyone around him is happy; our body, our ego is crying, while the human part in us is happy. We have to explain this to everyone and to draw them to us by our high spirits.

We have to improve in this since the world continues to deteriorate lower and lower into the abyss, into the feeling of despair, powerlessness, and hopelessness. We have to feel the joy very powerfully, the hope, the clear knowledge, the confidence, that everything that is revealed is only in our favor, since everything is ready for correction, for the “King’s meal.”

Everything depends on how we fulfill our mission, by understanding that the time has come for the inner correction and for the widespread external dissemination of the wisdom of Kabbalah. It is very important to what extent we will be able to radiate the joy and confidence externally to the world by acting patiently and carefully.

We should understand that a person who is not one of us finds it difficult to perceive this attitude. It can irritate him and make him mad that we are in a state opposite from the one he is in, not sharing his problems and worries, that we are happy while everyone else is crying. We have to be considerate of people and gradually, gently, and patiently explain to them how to come out of this crisis.

We should explain to people that the moment we change our approach, we will already correct our attitude to the Creator a bit and be closer to the upper Light. Therefore, we will begin to feel this reality; we will feel that it isn’t just empty words but that there is something behind them.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/5/12, Writings of Rabash

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In the News (from LifeScience): “Microbes possibly feeding on the remains of an ancient forest may be generating billions of tons of methane deep beneath Antarctic ice, a new study suggests.

The amount of this greenhouse gas — which would exist in the form of a frozen latticelike substance called methane hydrate — lurking beneath the ice sheet rivals that stored in the world’s oceans, the researchers said.

“If the ice sheet collapses, the greenhouse gas could be released into the atmosphere and dramatically worsen global warming, researchers warn in a study published in the Aug. 30 issue of the journal Nature.

“’There could be tons of methane hydrate beneath the Antarctic ice sheet,’ said study researcher Jemma Wadham of the University of Bristol’s School of Geographical Sciences. ‘If you start to thin that ice cover, that hydrate starts to become unstable and turns into gas, and that gas can go into the atmosphere.’ …

“The team suspected that icy, silt-laden sediments trapped beneath the continental glacier could house such extremophiles. That’s because the sediments, possible relics of an ancient Antarctic forest and ocean, could provide a carbon-rich food source for methane producers. But drilling up to 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) through the ice to find out was extremely expensive and difficult.

Instead, Wadham and her colleagues sawed chunks of sediment from the fringes of an Antarctic glacier, where the ice was much thinner. They melted the ice and identified the methane-producing microbes living in the sediment.

“They also placed the slurry in a cold, dark, oxygen-free environment for two years, and measured how much methane the microbes produced at several points in time.

“Combining that information with models of Antarctic conditions and geology, the researchers estimated how much of the greenhouse gas could form over millions of years under Antarctica.

“Hundreds of billions of tons of carbon may lurk in methane reservoirs below the continent, the study found. That dwarfs the 600 million tons of carbon released through natural methane emissions like wetlands, livestock, burning of biomass and agriculture every year.

Methane is a potent global warming gas, capable of trapping 20 times more heat than carbon dioxide, though it lingers in the atmosphere for much shorter periods of time. …

“But if the ice sheets crack and disappear, which may happen due to climate change, the methane could slip free from that watery cage and enter the atmosphere rapidly.”

My Comment: What will the future bring?
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Baal HaSulam, “Body and Soul”: The rest of the concepts, which combine the reason of their method and other methods, are forbidden to us. One who uses them breaches, “Turn you not unto the idols.”

If I imagine something that is imperceptible by my organs of perception, that is called “idolatry.” From this, it is clear which kind of fallacies all of humanity is in.

My analysis must be exact to the maximum. It must be based on real data, on what is in my hands, not in fantasy and conjecture. Only this kind of perception and approach will make me change and see the new world, but, again, in real perceptions, “in my hands.” Everything else is a game of imagination.

Only if I stop fantasizing and accept that there is nothing outside of the five organs of perception, that one can be guided only by what you see, this will oblige me to expand the range of my perceptions, and that is why the prohibition against fantasies is necessary for internal changes. Thanks to this, I will reveal the upper world in my improved organs of perception.

Question: However, no one understands that!

Answer: True, however, there is such a thing as the recognition of evil. Only when man reaches the edge, the limit, when it really becomes unbearable for him, then he is being opened for changes.

Humanity needs to reach the very bottom of all religions and beliefs. This is where modern religious fanaticism is from in all of its manifestations. There is a place for this. People must give an exhaustive expression for all of these approaches to life. Only then will they be able to pass from one edge to the other and reveal the truth—the simple, materialistic truth—based exclusively on the study and the perceptions of the organs of perception.

That is what the science of Kabbalah is. There is no mysticism, no chimeras. In the same way that a donkey stands in front of the feeding trough, either there is food or there is not food. There are no other options.

In the very end, people will discover that all of their beliefs do not give them food; it doesn’t give them anything. You go down with no strength either to live or die. You will not be allowed to provide for your existence in your perceptions, and then you will need to change them.

At first, we imagine this world in perceptions, and we get along here without changing our perceptions. Then, we begin to go down, and the perceptions shrink, contract, push, and limit us. It is similar to the torment of birth labor. The world descends into darkness, into scarcity, into problems and dangers, and then, because I have no other choice, I am forced to run from these perceptions since, in them, I am experiencing death. In them, I am no longer able to carry on with what I do. Here, there is no longer a place for belief in something better “on the other side.” I can’t survive now. The hope for life after death no longer helps.

Today, problems are impacting the wallet, but, tomorrow, they will befall the souls, the source of life’s strength. Together with the science of Kabbalah, all through the entire world, people will be led to understand that it is necessary for them to change their perception.

The most important thing in it is the desire to receive, and people will need to change it for the one to bestow, no longer believing in something that they do not see with their own eyes, what they do not know from experience. Fantasies will stop helping. People will develop to such an extent that they will feel that the only way is to change their own perceptions.

That is the realization of evil, of the evil inclination, that the Creator created together with the Torah, meaning, the methodology for correction with the correcting force of the Light that allows coming to the good beginning. Such are the three states, the three stages of the path.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/31/12, Article “Body and Soul”

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In the News (from The Telegraph): “‘Poverty is returning to Europe,” Jan Zijderveld, the head of Unilever’s European business told the Financial Times Deutschland in an interview

“’If a consumer in Spain only spends €17 when they go shopping, then I’m not going to be able to sell them washing powder for half of their budget.’

“Unilever has already started to change the way it sells some of its products. In Spain, the company sells Surf detergent in packages for as few as five washes, while in Greece, it now offers mashed potatoes and mayonnaise in small packages, and has created a low-cost brand for basic goods such as tea and olive oil.

“’In Indonesia, we sell individual packs of shampoo 2 to 3 cents and still make decent money,’ said Mr Zijderveld. ‘We know how to do that, but in Europe we have forgotten in the years before the crisis.’

My Comment: This is how the crisis will destroy unnecessary production and leave us within the limits of reasonable consumption. Also, the unemployed will force society and the government to find them a useful activity: integral education.
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Baal HaSulam, “A Handmaid Is Heir to Her Mistress”: The Higher Roots, called “Externality,” as we have explained above, are generally called “handmaid” and “slave.” This aims to show that they do not intend to harm at all, as it may seem in superficial observation. Instead, they serve the internality, like the slave and the handmaid who serve their masters.

It seems that the world is full of conflicts, wars, hatred, and troubles, and although we could really manage among us by cooperation and mutuality, eventually everything is aimed at one thing: Even in the current situation everyone is serving one another. It is very hard to accept this and yet that’s the way it is. The relations among us may seem unpleasant and awful, but still everyone serves others.

Of course, we cannot accept this form of fulfillment; on the contrary, we can sustain the same thing in a faster, better, and more comfortable manner. Still we have to accept the upper Providence: no matter what happens, everything happens for the purpose of mutual correction.

Question: Today I hear on the news that the Iranian leaders want to destroy Israel. Do I have to say to myself: “That’s good, it serves us?”

Answer: There is no doubt that it serves us, but we could accept the current phase of our development in a more pleasant and comfortable way if we related to what is happening correctly. The problem is in us, in the Jewish people and so we summon upon ourselves specifically this form of external pressure instead of a friendly attitude.

The forces of development are expressed this way since we are not preparing ourselves to accept them correctly. Who else is to blame for that but us? This is where all the accusations of the Jews stem from.

After all, the initiative is in our hands, we have the method and around us are desires that cry out: “Why aren’t you coming with the correction?!” Instead of with presents and signs of love, they approach us with threats since we don’t give them what they need.

On the whole, the world is balanced, and that is the world of Ein Sof (Infinity). If we make it lose its balance by not judging the world to the scale of merit, the scale of guilt rises, of not fulfilling our obligation. Rav Kook writes about it: If it is impossible to blow a kosher Shofar of redemption, the enemies of Israel come, Amalek, Hitler, etc. and blow in our ears…and evoke the redemption. He says that Amalek Hitler, etc, evoke the redemption.

Further on he says: Nationality is also part of the rod of the “Jews’ troubles,” here too we see the redemption, but you cannot bless this Shofar.

“You cannot bless,” but it is also a Shofar…

The whole point is that we are in the world of Ein Sof, and we are the ones who determine how it will appear to us, which of its parts will seem “white” to us and which will seem “black.” So there is nothing to cry about. Ahmadinejad awakens us to reach the correction faster. In addition to that the global crisis pushes us. If it began in some distant place and has reached us, it means that we are lagging behind in our development, in our ability to present the method of correction to the nations of the world.

What is worse is that we subconsciously hope that as a result of the troubles they will understand us instead of having to run to them to explain in every possible way the solution to the problem. We don’t worry about it the way we should. There is a lot we have to do, but we act irresponsibly, not feeling that we are guilty of what is happening, and so the troubles are nearing us. It won’t be as people threaten, it will be much worse than that.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/2/12, “A Handmaid that Is Heir to Her Mistress”

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Question: What should I do if I feel glad that there are crises, since they show that we are right?

Answer: We are right in saying that the world doesn’t see a solution to the crisis, but if we could explain what is happening to the general public, there would be no need for the blows. People would reach a much deeper and wider understanding of the current events, and they know what should be done.

Today people are just suffering from shock. But, we can sweeten his troubles by explaining things, by corrections and mutual incorporation. Now the same level of relief that we could convey to him turns into hatred towards us. People don’t know why they hate us, and the point is that the time has come for the general public to be corrected, especially in Israel and to some extent all over the world. On the whole we feel the blows upon ourselves.

So let’s see if you feel happy when your negligence and inattention will hit you like a boomerang. By the way, it refers to each of us.

Baal HaSulam says in the “Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” item 71: In such a generation, all the destructors among the Nations of the World raise their heads and wish primarily to destroy and to kill the Children of Israel, as it is written (Yevamot 63), “No calamity comes to the world but for Israel.” This means, as it is written in the above corrections, that they cause poverty, ruin, robbery, killing, and destruction in the whole world.

A person rejoices in all the troubles in the world: “I have told you that things will be bad, now you see that I was right!” What kind of stinking ego can that be. Of course it is in each of us, but we mustn’t let it hold the reins and agree that this slogan will be inscribed on our flag. We mustn’t sit and do nothing and see how people suffer. Can we treat the world this way? Is there room for such a person among our friends?
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/2/12, Article “A Handmaid that Is Heir to Her Mistress”

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Opinion (Ronald Wright, from About.com): “The film, based on Ronald Wright’s insightful nonfiction book, A Short History of Progress, presents convincing arguments that technology if not used appropriately and in moderation can lead to adverse conditions and the collapse of civilization – if not the actual demise of humankind.

“Wright, who is interviewed in the film, points to ‘progress traps,’ or instances in which human know how, belief systems or technologies that have solved short term needs have actually had adverse effects.

“One example, presented as a dramatic reenactment in the film, is the prehistoric hunt for woolly mammoths – it was progress when our ancestors figured out how to hunt efficiently, killing two beasts at a time instead of one, but when they figured out how to slay the whole herd by driving them off a cliff, they killed off their entire future food supply, and put their survival in jeopardy. That’s a progress trap that anyone can understand. And, that the same sort of dangerous behavior persists today is raised by Jane Goodall, who points out that humankind’s continued exploitation of Earth’s resources and the wasteful consumption exacerbated by ever increasing use of technologies that are deemed as progress, is simply not good for the future evolution — or survival — of the species.

“Surviving Progress is filled with information and presents a wide range of arguments that call for a reconsideration of the notion of progress. The film covers a smorgasbord of concerns that are presented as a nourishing mixed salad of reenactments, graphics and on camera interviews. It is an intellectually stimulating and provocative film that raises more questions than it answers. The essential question is a valid and challenging one: Is humankind sufficiently evolved to be able to handle its know how and not allow the misuse of technology to eventually destroy civilization? That’s a question that should be considered by everyone.”

My Comment: Today, we are outgrowing these errors due to the current crisis. It is hoped that it is understood that the egoistic economy has come to an end, and it should change to the economy of happiness in equal abundance for our bodies and in unlimited development for our souls.
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In the News (from Cornell Chronicle): “Adolescents who grow up in poverty are more likely to report being treated unfairly, and this perception of discrimination is related to harmful changes in physical health, reports a new Cornell study published in the July issue of Psychological Science.

“One of the first studies to explore the role of discrimination as a factor in the well-known link between poverty and poor health, the research suggests that the stresses associated with experiencing social class discrimination have a sizable negative impact. …

“As expected, poverty was associated with higher levels of allostatic load, indicated by increased body mass index, blood pressure and levels of stress hormones. The researchers found that perceived discrimination accounted for 13 percent of these negative effects of poverty on allostatic load. …

“’It is surprising that social class discrimination is so ignored within the public discourse and the research literature,’ said lead author Thomas Fuller-Rowell, Ph.D. ‘There is considerable attention paid to how racial stereotypes play out in daily life and influence how we think about and treat people, but these types of discussions are almost nonexistent in relation to social class stereotypes.’”

My Comment: In an equal society, some diseases disappear due to equilibrium with society, and some due to balance with nature. As a result of harmony with the environment, we will obtain absolute health in the integrally dependent world.
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Question: Why doesn’t the Creator let us succeed in anything, and forces us to turn to Him?

Answer: He gives you this entire world and obligates you to perform different actions, and He trips you so that you will turn to Him. Otherwise, why and in what way would you succeed?

After all, all you need is to turn to the Creator. How else can you correct yourself and become similar to Him? You won’t pull yourself out of the swamp by the hair yourself, or, as it is written, “A prisoner cannot free himself,” since you are only a desire to receive.

So, you go through different states just like the rest of the world. The Europeans, for example, are trying desperately to keep their “union.” Actually, they seem to be blind and stupid, but what can they do?

Nothing will happen until they go through this entire process and finally give up. They will have to recognize their failure, either before the war or after it, saying, “That’s it. We don’t know what to do.” Then, they will listen to us.

So, we must prepare a letter in advance with instructions for them and send it to them. It is our obligation. It doesn’t matter who receives it or who reads it. It doesn’t matter what wastebasket it might be thrown into or in which file it will be buried. We must do it.

The same goes for each of us, but differently from the Europeans. We must turn to the Creator because He is the source of all the forces. Who else can help us? We need the Light that Reforms and we need the force of bestowal to reside above the force of receiving to stabilize it accurately with regard to it.

All our work comes down to turning to the Creator. All our free will is in doing it as quickly as possible, by preceding the afflictions. Why should I experience my failures year after year in order to break down eventually and then turn to the Creator?

As it is written, “Who is wise? One who sees the future.” So, I want to become a wise man now! Why should I suffer for years? What will I gain from it? This advancement is called the “path of suffering.”

The good way is when—without delays, through the group and by other means—I draw the Light and immediately understand what I have to do, how to ascend. Why should I sink deeper and deeper into the swamp of afflictions, diseases, disasters, depression, and constant threat?

Question: How should I want this if the Creator controls my desire?

Answer: He controls my desire and inserts into it a motivating urge from the next level. Now, this level seems dark. Turn to the group, ask for the Light that Reforms, and it will be illuminated. It is dark because you are looking at it through the opposite attributes.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/29/12, “Exile and Redemption”

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In the News (from The Wall Street Journal): “As Europe’s leaders struggle with a five-year-old economic crunch that has saddled Spain with the industrialized world’s highest jobless rate, young Spaniards are increasingly embracing such bottom-up self-help initiatives [time banks] to cope. …

“Besides time banks, they include barter markets springing up in barrios, local currencies designed to spur the flagging retail economy, and charity networks that repurpose discarded goods. …

“The growth of time banks revives a concept pioneered by 19th-century anarchists and socialists in the U.S. and Europe, who wanted to test their philosophy that prices of goods and services should more closely reflect the labor involved in producing them. …

“The Valladolid Time Bank, started by the city government just before the crisis started, has attracted more and younger members with the crumbling of Spain’s economy. The new unemployed appreciate the bank’s egalitarian ethos, says 32-year-old administrator Juan Manuel Primo. ‘Everyone’s hour has the same value here,’ he says: An hour’s labor by a seamstress is worth as much as that of a lawyer. …

“’Having a network of support like this is really important at a time when you’re vulnerable,’ says Alessandra Melis, 30, who recently lost her housekeeping job after her employers were themselves laid off. She has been using the bank to get rides for her errands around town, in exchange for offering cooking lessons and dog walking services.

“When a hair stylist who belonged to the bank had to shut down his slumping salon not long ago, he was able to count on meals and other necessities from members in return for cuts. …

“Spaniards are also bartering goods—say, books or furniture in exchange for fresh produce—at markets that are being organized in seemingly every neighborhood.”

“Carlos Bravo, a 35-year-old information technician who helped launched a small bank in central Madrid this year, says time banks have a different sort of value: helping urban Spaniards rekindle a sense of closeness among neighbors that facilitates asking for favors and other forms of mutual assistance. …

“‘Some economists worry that the rise of such informal systems of economic exchange is pushing more of Spain’s economy underground—out of the view of regulators and tax collectors, and effectively sending the country back in time developmentally. …

“Others, though, say the measures represent a significant stabilizing force in society. For ‘people who can’t find work, these kinds of possibilities of exchanges and mutual help can help make bearable a situation that otherwise would be unsustainable,’ says José Luis Álvarez Arce, director of the economics department at the University of Navarra.”

My Comment: This is the element of reciprocity, mutual aid, and it will exist as long as the state does not become sympathetic to the people and the entire society does not acquire the form of mutual help. For the time being, the government does not like such a tax-free exchange even if it helps people survive. The next step is to organize one’s own network of buying and selling goods and services without a hundred percent markup and middlemen.

Then, this network will dictate its prices and necessary goods to producers. This can bring the prices of essential goods to the minimum cost. Then, people can become responsible for volunteer service to the population, the city, and thus reduce all the municipal costs and consequently all taxes (levies) on the population, and people can organize studies for schoolchildren in groups, additional classes and clubs, etc.
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