Question: Is it correct to build an intention while studying The Book of Zohar and to think about those who have been hurt by the fires in the north of Israel and those who are fighting the fire?

Answer: This is not a matter of the obvious and latent problems people are facing. By bringing the Light closer to Malchut de Atzilut, we enable Malchut to shine in her nine lower Sefirot, meaning in all of reality that lies beneath her, including our world.

We raise MAN, a plea for correction, to Malchut, which is then transferred higher, all the way until Arich Anpin, the source of abundance. By virtue of this, the abundance starts descending to Malchut and she provides this Light to the lower ones: the Worlds of BYA, our world, all the souls, and the still, vegetative, and animate levels of nature.

Of course, we thereby bring life to all the creatures below. This includes the inhabitants of the north of Israel, who are the same as all the people and all the creatures that continue to suffer.

We understand that they are suffering due to a lack of connection with the Upper Force. When we add the right intention to their suffering, we raise their desire upwards together with our intention. Then we receive additional abundance in response, which becomes transferred to the whole world.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/5/10, The Zohar

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Question: What should we actually do to counter nature’s blows, such as the fire in the north of Israel that’s happening now?

Answer: The only thing we need is the common intention, the unity of our thoughts. We need our friends all over the world to think about how our unity with one another will help eliminate all the disasters in the world, including the horrible fire that has broken out in Israel.

You have to include your personal plea into the common plea for the whole world and unite with all of the world’s suffering. That is the only way it works: If you think about everyone, then at the end you can also add “us” – but not yourself! This is the only thing that can help.

It is impossible to fight catastrophes or a crisis using the old methods if you find yourself facing the Upper Light that acts against you. We are yet to see how the financial crisis will come back, even though people have tried to extinguish it using all the possible means. In fact, it will explode much more powerfully than before. And the same thing will happen with everything else. We cannot cope with these problems using the usual methods. We can only suppress them temporarily, but later they will break out even stronger.

Correction is possible only through bringing hearts closer, only through unity. The world has to become global. The force operating on us from Above surrounds us, shutting us in from all sides and becoming revealed as one global force. Therefore, we feel how humanity is becoming as one organism where everyone is connected with each other.

We are yet to see that these very catastrophes will force humanity to unite. Now fire-fighters from all over the world will come to Israel to help fight the fire, and tomorrow something else will happen in another place and the whole world will come rushing there, and later it will be a new place. In this way, through disasters, nature will force us to unite and understand that we need each others’ help.

Nature will become so hostile that we won’t have time to think about how to fight with each other. If we don’t agree to it the good way, the Creator will force us to it. The situation will become so serious that not one nation will be able to single-handedly fight the natural catastrophes. Everyone will have to help each other. And suddenly, everyone will understand that they have to be together; otherwise we simply won’t survive,

Everyone will unite in the face of a deadly threat. But why should we wait for it if we can advance by the good path?
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From the lesson on Baal HaSulam’s article “Freedom of Will” on 12/3/10

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From ancient times and almost to our present day, the Kabbalists walked parallel to philosophic thought, until its flame died out. Throughout all our history we have been propelled by our growing will to enjoy which pushes every new generation to accomplish increasingly greater deeds in the field of the ego. By actualizing our desires, we utilize our sound egoistic reason in order to acquire, amass, capture, develop, and so on.

But today egoistic development has come to an end; the time has come for correction. The ego in our world has exhausted itself, having been revealed to its full measure as was needed.

Now, looking at the world enclosed in this “wrapper,” we cannot find anything else with which to fill our lives. And when this renewal ceases and there is nothing else to enjoy, man finds himself in trouble.

This is the present situation in the world. What direction do we develop in? Should we fly to Mars or at least to the Moon? What for? Submerge to the ocean floor? What for? Look for species unknown to science? What for?

These days we don’t need anything anymore. The egoistic desire has been fully manifested, and no new whims or aspirations emerge in us. The game is over. This signals the end of philosophy and, in general, the end of the entire rational consumer approach which calls for us to use our reason so as to fulfill our desires. The desires fade, and the mind, which is their direct consequence surrenders its position.

Soon we will see humanity grow increasingly dumb. Looking at it from the standpoint of Kabbalah, it will be downright shocking to see what people are saying, what they’re writing, what TV shows they’re watching. We will come to a point when people will turn into little kids, playing “games” the likes of which would have been considered demented 50 to100 years ago.

This is why philosophy is dying out. Over the past several decades it has been desperately trying to save itself, having been left on the roadside of history. It is no longer being taken seriously since our supply of desires has run out.

We’re no longer seeking any great achievements. Hence, we don’t need human reason, and so the majority are quite happy limiting themselves to the level of the animal one. The cycle is complete and now we must give a faithful account of the “work completed.”

So, while the philosophers were “on top,” the Kabbalists kept quiet, waiting for the egoistic development to conclude. And now that it has, we find ourselves at a breaking point: With the old behind us, we must now reveal the next stage.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/24/10, The Zohar, Introduction, “The Night of the Bride”

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Today, we have reached the limit of our egoistic development concluding our thousand year old history, and this is why humankind is experiencing crisis in all areas of life. We do not see where to go further and what else there is to do; hence, the world is falling into depression and drug abuse.

And this is where the wisdom of Kabbalah comes in. It was awaiting to be revealed precisely at the end of the 20th century, as described in The Book of Zohar and other Kabbalistic texts. This is taking place namely today when everybody understands or begins to feel that they have come to a dead end since our egoism has no direction to grow in.

If egoism continued to develop, we would be running after it without a thought as we have done during all of the previous lifetimes, all our history, each new time trying to attain something, win, improve for the sake of home, family, children, career, and so on. Each generation is like a row of soldiers moving from life to life, from incarnation to incarnation.

Over the course of these life cycles, we did not get tired of running after our ego because our desire was pushing us to do so. It doesn’t matter that it was worthless and we had done it all before and many times. We kept running and did what the ego wanted us to do.

But due to the fact that this egoistic desire has reached its final, highest level, we have started to feel that the road has ended. People don’t even want to bear children any more since they are losing hope that the next generation will live better than the present one.

This is where the wisdom of Kabbalah comes in and says: You can join the good! This is the good future for all humanity. But this good is not in our egoistic ideas and the dimension of this world at all. Here, there cannot be anything good any more.

If everybody wants to receive something into their egoism, they will never be filled. The moment a person starts getting filled, his pleasure disappears. Pleasure and fulfillment are opposite to each other, and fulfillment subdues the desire. And if I don’t feel lack any longer, I don’t feel pleasure from receiving and have to look for a new one.

Thus, all my life passes by in pointless search. But for those who feel that they must find something above this material life, Kabbalists tell us how to join the good.

In truth, I already feel that this world has exhausted itself and I need to find something above it in order to understand “what for?” and “why?” Where is the source of life, and what is its purpose? What was before it and what will follow? I want to know what is beyond, outside of these borders that lock me in this world.

I must know the reason of all that is taking place and see around this world: How each thing begins and ends, how everything is interconnected? Without it, I don’t feel well. This is the way our soul, which is beginning to unfold now is built.

And this is the reason why Kabbalah, the method of finding the soul, has arrived. After all, everything we have experienced thus far was being perceived in the animate body with its five sensory organs. We used to fill the body with tastes the body was enjoying or we suffered pain in the same body.

We have finished with this world; we have filled ourselves with it and felt disappointment. Now we have to go on! Ego keeps growing, but in another dimension: above the body. This is called the evolution of the soul, an inner part that will develop in you, and thanks to which you will attain the Upper reality.

And this doesn’t cancel your current world; it will continue to exist. But you will also attain what is above it, meaning all of the forces that descend from Above and govern our world. You will understand everything that takes place here, below, since you will ascend to the higher roots and uncover the relationship between the root and the branches.
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From Lesson 1, World Kabbalah Convention 2010, 11/9/10

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Man has always clung to religion and all sorts of beliefs because he had to somehow catch hold of spirituality, like a child that calms down by hugging a favorite toy or a familiar blanket. A person needs such "props" his or her entire life. Today, however, when our ego has reached such proportions that it won’t be satisfied with a toy, a person loses it and doesn’t know what to hold on to.

Then, everything becomes acceptable, and nobody cares about anything; notions of good and evil, religion and morality, no longer bind. That turns into a huge problem for society.

That’s when we need to circulate the wisdom of Kabbalah as quickly as possible to replace the disappearing bridle, a function primarily filled by religion which used to keep humanity at bay.

Kabbalah does so by giving humanity a purpose and revealing the Upper Governance to it. A person shouldn’t think that there is no higher authority; there is! However, instead of a system of morality that intimidates people with punishment in the afterlife, we need to actually discover the true Governor. Without it, it’s impossible to get along in the tumultuous transition period when mankind is freed from everything that binds it.

Once, everything used to fit into a clear pattern. Everyone knew how to dress based on his or her social standing strictly instilled by society. Now is the time of complete freedom when everything is allowed. And it’s just a beginning. Soon, all shame and morality will go out of the window.

Instead of being controlled by religion, faith, fear of punishment in this and the future worlds, the promise of Heaven and Hell, and the opinion of society, which puts everyone (be it a slave, a peon, or a lord) in his place by dictating the norms of life, even clothing, instead of all that, we will suddenly find ourselves completely unbridled. That has been done intentionally to replace this control with conscious, willing self-subordination to the Upper Governance.

The transition itself, however, is very problematic. Only when a certain part of humanity finds the connection with the Upper Governance, with the Creator’s "whip and bridle," and allies itself with it, serving as an example to others, then it will be easier for the rest to accept it.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/22/10, "The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose"

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Question: How does the science of Kabbalah say I should relate to the things that threaten my life, such as war, a terrorist attack, falling rockets, or just a regular criminal attack?

Answer: While we are still uncorrected, we have to live in this corresponding, uncorrected world of ours while correcting ourselves and thereby correcting the world. In the meantime every person should behave according to what is accepted in society and the world.

At the same time, each of us must correct himself and thereby reveal the Upper Force, the quality of bestowal and love inside him and in the world. To the degree he makes this revelation, our enemies will gradually become our friends and all the bad things will disappear.

However, for now we have to behave in accordance with our uncorrected qualities. All my haters and enemies are the evil that’s inside me, which becomes revealed on the outside in this manner. I project them to the outside and that is why they exist.

However, if instead of them I see the Creator standing behind them, then they suddenly become inseparable parts of me. Therefore, we shouldn’t be afraid. What we have to do is perform corrections.

I am certain that nothing bad can happen to a person if he is always aimed at “there is none else besides Him.”
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From Lesson 7, World Kabbalah Convention 2010, 11/11/10

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All everybody talks about nowadays is finding “alternatives”: alternative energy, food, education, another planet to live on, and so on. Everyday we observe that our egoistic approach to this world and society has “expired” and has already demonstrated its complete failure and downfall.

In spite of individual egoism (“consumer society”) we have gradually arrived at the understanding that the whole world is globally interconnected. We also realize that we are not yet well adjusted to it and have no knowledge of where to go further. The world is mutually dependent and thus forces us to connect through common interests and be considerate towards each other. Hence, we gradually begin to regard our habitual egoism as the enemy.

The exploration of ways to get out of our ego leads us to methodologies of “reduction” of our egoism; they simply return us back to previous levels of development. All such methods are based on suppression of or diminishing the ego.

Conversely, the human ego continues to grow. Its suppression goes against nature, and that’s why we won’t be able to diminish it. Such an approach is totally unnatural, and I don’t see how supporters of alternative medicine could accept it.

This is where a genuine alternative to all egoistic world sciences steps in, the wisdom of Kabbalah. As we reveal that egoism is truly the reason for all the evil that currently exists in this world, Kabbalah offers a method of its correction and the construction of a whole new world. Kabbalah represents a real alternative since it shows how to build an altruistic world instead of an egoistic one.

In any case, in the integral and global world, we have to start observing the laws of connection between us and establish balance between humans and nature. We have to become completely united in the system called “love thy neighbor.”

Kabbalah studies the entire system of the universe and explains that by self-correction we manage to cure ourselves and make the whole of nature (still, vegetative, and animate) healthy. We can eliminate all problems and illnesses because affliction and diseases are triggered by our imbalance with Nature.

We are absolutely egoistic by nature, and thus do not possess any freedom of choice and/or any other modes of behavior. Therefore, we entirely conform to the laws of nature. A person can obtain freedom only by rising above the oppressive domination of our egoism. This becomes available to us only by re-shaping our environment because for our egoism, the opinion of our environment is more important than our own.

That’s why Kabbalah suggests creating a society in which we have to “pretend” that we are already in bestowal and love. We understand that it is just a game, but it can still compel us to act so on the surface, as if we have already achieved this state.

These efforts will instigate the hidden natural power that holds all parts of Nature in balance (the life force of any organism), and this energy will alter our egoistic intention into that of bestowal and love. This is how we can reach complete connection of all parts of Nature: people, society, nature, and its Upper Force. Nature pushes us toward this state, and we are empowered to reach it consciously and easily.
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Whether we want it or not, we need to learn how to become similar to the Creator, to come closer to Him, and be like Him. The Creator is the Upper Force of nature, and it operates everywhere in the lower nature, affecting all of its parts.

The Creator once broke the creature into the parts in the same way that our world was formed as a consequence of the Big Bang, when a small, upper spark broke through, exploded, and created our entire universe. The same way, the Creator created all the spiritual worlds through the descent of the Light all the way down to our world.

And now an opposite correcting force is beginning to collect all these parts in the spiritual space, and we have no way of avoiding this. Resisting this connection is the same as fighting the forces of nature; it will only bring us suffering until we give up.

If we resist, we will evoke enormous suffering over ourselves, and not just the usual problems with family, life, or health, but horrible epidemics, ecological catastrophes, and even atomic wars as Baal HaSulam wrote about. Everything only depends on our resistance and lack of desire to constantly follow the force of correction in order to better correspond to it.

All of this happens according to a very specific program. When we advance according to it, we feel good and comfortable. When we accelerate the realization of this program and even want to run ahead of it, we feel even better because we attract the Creator with our actions and force Him to do even more by rushing nature, as it is said, “Those who strive towards the Creator hasten time.”

But when we fall behind, our suffering and problems increase to the extent of our delay as they strive to push us to develop. And this is not because the Creator wishes to punish us; rather, this is the way everything operates according to the law of nature!

There is nothing here except the laws of nature, which we can come to understand and see how they push us as if in a force field. The further or closer I get to the place of balance, the force of the field (its intensity) influences me in proportion to the square of the distance, as it strives to return me to balance. For example, I distance myself to one measure and the pressure of force doubles; I distance myself to two measures and the pressure quadruples.

I need to understand that my slightest movement, a tiny step back immediately attracts enormous forces of suffering. This is because any field, whether it is the Light field, magnetic field, or the field of gravity, always operates in a square function. The spiritual field operates the same way. The laws of the Creator are constant.

It is written that the righteous pay double. This is why even a slight deviation to either side causes a huge impact, a positive one or, God forbid, a negative one.
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/7/10, “The Future Generation”

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We do not know in advance what and how to correct, how to assemble ourselves into an integrated system created in the world of Infinity. After all, the Creator wishes for us to be independent so that a person would find the correct formula of mutual integration through his own efforts and experience.

Like little children, we try to connect divided parts, put them together, and take them apart again. Correction and breaking replace one another, and thanks to these efforts we come closer to an understanding that will assure our success.

All in all, four attempts are expected of us because our will to receive consists of four levels of thickness (Aviut). At each of them, we attempt to assemble ourselves, discover our inability to do so, and disassemble the parts in order to start over. Wisdom comes with the experience of errors: First we have to discover the entire depth of the breaking and hatred between us, and then we begin to comprehend what to do with them.

Today, we are facing the last, fourth assembly. We have to find for ourselves the method of correction. But this time, the entire global system is taking part in this process, and we must realize the method on the global scale.

Today, we are unifying over enormous egoism, above the deepest abyss of breaking, hatred, and rejection. According to this magnitude, we discover the power of the method which will allow us to unite again by way of the force that had been planted into Nature and that holds the broken parts together.

It is not we who will link the parts with one another. Our job is solely to be prepared for it and to discern the methods of assembly, the place of each part, and the form of its correct integration in the collective whole.

Our work has just begun. This work is unique, and it leads a person to unprecedented evolution. It is a true challenge.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/8/10, Shamati #161

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The time has come to return to a natural system, to a close cohesion that Nature, the degree of Bina, demands of us. We have to bring ourselves to the equivalence, homeostasis, and similarity of properties and from total brokenness ascend to a level where we will be completely connected as parts of one healthy body.

All forces that affect us do so for a single purpose: to push us to a natural form of reciprocity and love. However, if our egoism has grown while we haven’t yet found the correct interconnection among us, then the discrepancy between the states, the difference between the demanded unification and factual separation, is experienced as suffering.

This is why life is becoming harder. The supplementary systems designated to soften the predicament or scare us can no longer help us since we have entered the final stage of evolution and must assemble ourselves into one integrated global system.

Today, humanity is discovering that we are all connected with unbreakable ties, and that is why it simply must realize the law of nature within itself, the law of correct interaction of all parts of creation.
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/29/10, “Explanation of the Article, Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

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