In the News (translated from Rossiiskaya Gazeta): Over the past month, the number of loan defaulters being sued [in Russia] increased by 150%, reaching 730 thousand people and totaling a debt of 117 billion rubles. However, this number includes only those debtors who were sued by the banks through court. In reality, the number of debtors is much higher, and many of them are families with children.

The banks are not willing to make any compromises since the massive defaults can leave them bankrupt, and problems in the banking system pose a real threat to the economy and the society.

My Comment: What can you take from a person who’s broke? The government should step forward on behalf of the people and assume write-offs, delayed payments, or even deals with the banks. There is no other solution. After all, all the money in the treasury came from the taxes paid by these people, or from selling the natural resources of the land that belongs to the people!

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We are at a very special stage, which is taking place for the first time in human history. Today human egoism is being revealed on a global scale and the connection between us is being revealed. This shows us how interdependent we are and how the desire to receive fills the entire “space” between us, leading us to a crisis in all areas of life: culture, economy, education, science, family life, and one’s attitude towards himself and others.

All the connections that unite us into a single system of souls are being revealed to us in their egoistic form, which is unfit for use and causes us suffering. This is taking place in order to force all of humanity to rise to the next degree – the spiritual degree. Out of hopelessness, people will desire to change their relationships from egoistic to altruistic. Therefore, Nature itself is revealing to us that the egoistic connection between us is evil, that it destroys our life and even threatens our existence.

The spiritual degree is now being revealed in our world. However, we are seeing it from the opposite side. What we lack is the recognition of our evil in order to draw the Light that will correct our egoistic desires to ones of bestowal for our neighbor. In order for this to happen, we have to discover that we are in exile. The Shechina is in exile – the collection of all the souls, inside of which the Creator, the Upper Force that connects us to each other, is revealed. We must raise the Shechina from the dust in order for our desires to unite into one common desire, as one man with one heart. This is called the revelation of the Shechina and its exodus from exile.

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In the News (from WFP): “UN Food Agencies Join G8 Ministers in Treviso” In order to feed the nearly one billion hungry people, the world needs political leadership and well invested resources. WFP (World Food Program) estimates it needs to feed more than 100 million people.

My Comment: Fish in an aquarium grow depending on how much food they receive and how big the aquarium is. The same happens everywhere in Nature. We are now at a stage where the Earth’s population growth has ceased, and moreover, it must decrease back to its “natural” size. This means the population will have to be reduced to one-half billion or one billion people, since this is how many the planet is able to feed without destroying itself. This is the opinion of the scientists, in any case. We’re ravaging the planet and its resources, and as a result, we’re destroying it.

However, if we shift to a new type of interpersonal relationships, where everyone will consume only what they need in order to exist, and where everyone will be connected through bonds of mutual support, mutual guarantee, and love, then Nature will treat us differently. When we create this connection between us, we will be in balance with Nature. And then the Earth’s population can grow without a limit!

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In the News (from AFP): “Asian summit canceled after protesters storm venue” Thai protesters smashed their way into a major Asian summit Saturday, forcing the country’s embattled prime minister to cancel the meeting and evacuate foreign leaders by helicopter. Premier Abhisit Vejjajiva declared a state of emergency in the beach resort of Pattaya after thousands of demonstrators stormed the summit.

My Comment: This is how all the world leaders will soon feel, because the furious, hungry masses will not only demand “bread and entertainment,” but also answers about the world’s situation. This is what they’ll want as they become more united.

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A question I received: Yesterday I was watching the news and saw an economic forecast by Ben Bernanke, the person heading the development of the entire US economy. He said that if the banks will use the government-issued bailout money and pass it along to other businesses, the country can come out of the recession over the next year. What do you have to say about his forecast from the standpoint of Kabbalah?

My Answer: I believe that his predictions will not come true. What he said may happen for just a short period of time, because if you start giving out billions of dollars to people, and these people decide to purchase goods, this will create a deficit in the stores. The deficit will lead to new orders for the manufacturers, which will stimulate production for a short period of time. This will create new jobs and put money in people’s wallets.

But this won’t last long. After all, the problem is the lack of connection between people and our loss of control over the system of human relationships. These things cannot be corrected by infusions of money or the use of force.

Of course, everyone is free to speak their mind. However, the fact is, we exist in a new system of laws, where we cannot succeed by using the old methods. And whoever plans on using them is doomed to fail.

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A question I received: When a person is under someone else’s authority, he strives to become free. But when he acquires freedom, he doesn’t know what to do with it. Why does this happen? Where does this come from?

My Answer: This is precisely what happens when we experience hardship and breaks between periods of hardship. In between the difficult periods, everyone gives out a sigh of relief, saying, “Thank God!” It is human nature to feel this way. This is how our ego works, since it needs to understand what is happening, layer by layer.

But a break in between the hardships does not mean that the hardships are over. We have no choice: we have to go through this difficult stage, which is called the Egyptian exile and the ten Egyptian plagues. These changing states will enable humanity to begin to understand that it has to implement a new program if it is to advance. It has to run as fast as it can from the former program – the ego, and completely discard its previous form of existence.

We will then “come out of Egypt,” leaving behind all our previous ways of life, including the systems by which all the banks, industries, and all other systems functioned. We will accept a new program, and we will do so “as one man with one heart.”

This is what the world will be forced to do – to accept the new principle, “love your neighbor as yourself,” to learn it, and to find out how we can all live together by carrying it out.

But how can we do this? After all, we cannot restrain our egos. This is why we require a method, which will allow us to create the proper connections with each other. Otherwise, we will eat each other alive and destroy our entire lives! Hence, we will desire the force that will allow us to unite. And we will then reveal the Light that Reforms – the science of Kabbalah, and this Light will help us to begin to ascend in spirituality.

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Some politicians wish to explain that everything depends on our relationships with each other, but they lack the means to do this. Once you explain that everyone depends on everyone else, you oblige everyone to begin to unite with each other. That means to break all the previously existing systems, including the systems of national defense, the political systems, and all the forces of people’s opposition to one another. After all, until now, everything we did was based on competition, battle, and politics: one bank competing with another, one economy against another, and so on.

We now have to destroy all this, but how could we, if the whole power base of the individuals with authority in this world depends on these things?! Besides, when we break down the old system, we also have to make the connections between people congruent to the laws of Nature, similar to Nature, and this requires great effort on our part.

The crisis is caused by our lack of congruence to the laws of Nature. And if we open up this Pandora’s Box, we will enter the arena with the greatest concentration of power, strength, money, force, and armies. In other words, we will invade the place where the greatest egoism hides. It is particularly these people that must now realize that they are completely opposite to Nature – that they are unnecessary and detrimental.

Then we will come to the kind of situation that Karl Marx wrote about. Can you just imagine how many other problems will have to emerge until all of this will come to the surface?

It may seem that these problems are distant, global, and removed from us, as we ask, “where are they, and what do they have to do with me?” However, it is a fact that they determine our fate and our day to day lives.

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In the News (translated from Russian Newsweek): Western Europe has a strong collective ideology. People are more open to each other and are accustomed to helping each other. In Russia, however, most people live by the principle, “looking out for number one.” Nevertheless, Russia is now adopting the Western style: it is actively developing its social networks, people are forging connections and learning to communicate.

My Comment: This is why the crisis was necessary. But how much more suffering will we have to experience in order to recognize its purpose?! If only we would understand that we are causing suffering to ourselves by behaving egoistically in the closed system of the human society. If we would just realize this, we’d be able to grow closer to each other painlessly. We would experience perfection, because the system of humanity would be working correctly.

In the News (from The Telegraph): “Recession has made us ‘more compassionate’ ” Survey findings show that one in three [people] thinks society will come out of the recession more caring and compassionate.

My Comment: You see, now even a “prim and proper” Englishman feels the need for community. People are sensing that the world has become globalized and that it is necessary to unite and understand others.

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It seems to us that the current crisis has a lot to do with corporeal problems like money, food and jobs. However, the true reason for these problems is the lack of connection between us. This is the only thing we lack. By correcting this problem, we can come out of the crisis and reveal abundance.

However, instead the American President Obama, the Russian President Putin, and other leaders are increasing the world’s supply of money. They think that by providing more money, they will stimulate a new rise in the economy and thus revive the whole system. They are trying to use outdated methods: to stimulate production and trade through monetary injections. This method is like injecting a shot into a wooden leg: It is impossible to revive something that is already dead.

Things will begin to work only when a connection between people is established. After all, there is no shortage of money in the world. Or did something happen to all the money we had before? Why should President Obama have to take cash assets from government reserves? They threw out a trillion dollars – and where is that money now? It vanished, just like water seeps through sand. Yet, this money has to be somewhere. Where did this whole mass of money go, and why didn’t it work to solve our problems? It is because the real problem is the lack of a connection within the system, so the system is therefore not able to function properly.

Therefore, no additional injections will work either. What we have to do is build the correct relationship between us. This is the only way we can overcome the crisis.

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The world is swiftly progressing to the understanding that the source of the crisis is our egoism. People are beginning to realize that the world is integral and everyone is interconnected. No one wants this, but we’re beginning to accept this fact!

Look at what’s happening in America: President Obama is speaking out against AIG handing out bonuses to their employees. It was not long ago that this was considered perfectly normal, but today, this is not acceptable: “People are suffering, and you’re getting bonuses?!”

The general American approach used to be, “What do we care about all these people?! Let them burn!” But today everything’s different. And it’s not Obama that’s leading the revolution – it’s the changing times! Today he can say things he wasn’t able to say before, and this testifies to the fact that this is a new era and a very different situation.

So why is it that we can now tell the people with money that they can’t take more than what others have? It’s because there’s a general realization that we’re all interconnected and that we’re all in the same boat! The fact that this is happening is no accident. It is the revelation of the connection between all the segments of the universe.

Suddenly America has begun to care about the residents of a tent city! Of course, more could be done – a lot more. Nevertheless, this is a brand new phenomenon in its own right. Would anyone have cared about them before? The old approach was, “If you don’t have a house – that’s your problem! No one cares!” But today, this has become a national problem. The world is undergoing colossal changes.

But man can’t change on his own. It is the Light that is changing the people’s perceptions and worldviews.

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