Entries in the 'Kabbalistic Sources' Category

Kabbalists On Spiritual Work In The Group, Part 8

Dr. Michael LaitmanDear Friends, please ask questions about these passages from the great Kabbalists. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

Unity of the Friends

Exert in unity of friends as much as you can for it can compensate for all deficiencies.
– Baal HaSulam, A Sage’s Fruit, Vol. 1, “Letter no. 10”

I hereby instruct you to begin to love one another as yourselves, share your friend’s sorrows and rejoice at your friend’s delights as much as possible.
– Baal HaSulam, A Sage’s Fruit, Vol. 1, “Letter no. 49

The delay in revelation of the Creator in a corrected desire happens because of laziness in exerting effort in unity of friends since it is sufficient to complement for your every deficiency.
– Baal HaSulam, A Sage’s Fruit, Vol. 1, “Letter no. 13”
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The Whole World Is Standing Beneath Mount Sinai

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn order for the study to become an “elixir of life” rather than a “deadly poison,” it has to start with the intention to attract the Light that reforms. We have to study and open the book only for the sake of our correction.

Kabbalah and all the other holy books, regardless of what language they are written in (for example, the Talmud and Mishna use the language of hints and allegories) are descriptions of our connection with the Light, our spiritual states. All of these books, written by sages, Kabbalists, over the course of our entire history, talk about the spiritual world, our higher states.

If a person studies with the aim of attaining the states and spiritual degrees that the Kabbalists tell us about, like a child who wants to grow up, then first he reaches the revelation of his own evil. It is written, “I created the evil inclination and in addition, the Torah, the means for its correction.”

As long as we were “in exile,” all of that was concealed, but now we are starting to come out of the final exile. And just like during the exodus from Egypt, today we are again standing before the reception of the Torah if we desire to become “as one man with one heart,” to attain mutual guarantee just like by Mount Sinai.

A mountain of hatred is being revealed in front of us (Mount Sinai comes from the word Sinnah – hatred). But even despite that, we unite with the help of our points in the heart, the upper quality, the Moses in us who pulls us upwards and leads us through the desert, through the “preparation period” towards entering the “land of Israel,” meaning the desire for the sake of bestowal.

That is how all of humanity is standing before the mountain of hatred today. It is becoming revealed to us as one for all and is called the global crisis. We are all in the same state, but not everyone understands it fully yet, similar to how that crowd of people included different people as well—men, women, the elderly, and children who barely understood what was happening.

Yet, everyone is already starting to feel this state. It’s just that some already understand that the cause of all of it is our ego and the hatred that divides us, whereas others still experience it as a bad financial situation. Every person feels some kind of lacking depending on his qualities, his environment and needs: one person lacks an apartment, another cottage cheese, a third something else, and so on in all of humanity, every person.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/11/11, Writings of Rabash

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Kabbalists On Spiritual Work In The Group, Part 7

Dr. Michael LaitmanDear Friends, please ask questions about these passages from the great Kabbalists. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

Unity of the Friends

There are many sparks of sanctity in each person in the group. When you collect them into one place, they will be sufficient to create a high spiritual level for everyone.
– Baal HaSulam, A Sage’s Fruit, Vol. 1, “Letter no. 13”

Each of them had a spark of love of others, but the spark could not ignite the light of love to shine in each, so they agreed that by uniting, the sparks would become a big flame.
– The Rabash, Rabash—the Social Writings, “One Should Always Sell the Beams of His House

The power of love of friends defines our spiritual existence and is the measure of our success. Therefore, turn away from all the imaginary engagements and think only of the connection of hearts into one heart.
Baal HaSulam, A Sage’s Fruit, Vol. 1, “Letter no. 47”
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Kabbalists On Spiritual Work In The Group, Part 6

Dr. Michael LaitmanDear Friends, please ask questions about these passages from the great Kabbalists. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

Obtaining the Greatness of the Creator through the Environment

And while one sees how one’s environment slights His work and does not properly appreciate His greatness, one cannot overcome the environment. Thus, one cannot obtain His greatness, and slights during one’s work, as do they.

And since one does not have the basis for obtaining His greatness, he will obviously not be able to work to bestow contentment upon the Creator and not for himself. This is so because one would have no motivation to exert…. And one’s only choice is to either work for oneself or to not work at all since for him, bestowing contentment upon the Creator will not be tantamount to reception.

The measure of the greatness of the Creator comes from the environment which cares about the greatness of the Creator. Only then will everyone have the energy to act for the sake of the Creator.
– Baal HaSulam, “A Speech for the Completion of The Zohar

The friends should primarily speak together about the greatness of the Creator.
– The Rabash, Rabash—the Social Writings, “What to Look For in the Assembly of Friends
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Dr. Michael LaitmanDear Friends, please ask questions about these passages from the great Kabbalists. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

Obtaining the Greatness of the Creator through the Environment

The greater the number of the collective, the more effective is the power of the collective. In other words, they produce a stronger atmosphere of greatness and importance of the Creator. Each person feels that he greatly values anything that he wishes to do for the Creator. At that time, every little thing he does fills him with joy and pleasure that now he has something with which to serve the king.

And if the group constantly maintains in itself the greatness of the Creator, it evokes the same feeling in everyone, and everyone can always be filled with joy and pleasure from work of the Creator.
– The Rabash, Rabash—the Social Writings, “The Agenda of the Assembly
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Charges Against Laitman!

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: I never could have thought that Kabbalists would go out to protest demonstrations. And I didn’t think they were so right-wing. You stand on a high pedestal talking about the need to educate people. Who gave you the right to do that?

Answer: If you read what Kabbalists say about the correction of the world through the dissemination of Kabbalah, then you would not be surprised (see the book Gems of Wisdom: Words of the Great Kabbalists from all Generations and Kabbalists Write about the Wisdom of Kabbalah. If you knew more about Kabbalists, about Baal HaSulam and his meetings with Ben Gurion, about the need for integral, national education (see the newspaper “The Nation”), then you would understand that Kabbalah is the method of man’s correction, the method of educating man until he reaches the level of today’s global, integral world. In fact, without knowing it, we won’t survive.

That is exactly why we are going out to the streets—not in order to explain our opinion to people, but to explain the laws of nature of the new world in which we have found ourselves. Kabbalah has already talked about this many years ago. And it tells us what will happen to the world.

I am not right-wing or left-wing. I am in the middle, a Kabbalist, is not “for” anyone, but only for unity. Therefore, it turns out that I am against the left-wing, who aren’t left-wing at all today, but are “for” terminating the existence of the nation of Israel. And I am fully aware what this entails not only for my nation, but for all humanity, which is why I am against it. I am left-wing and not they, because I am for solidarity and unity. I am for an all-national discussion, whereas they are against any discussion because their objective is to destroy the “Zionist education.”

Upbringing is man’s preparation for a new world, which he has to enter and where he has to exist successfully. Today, as we see, none of the world’s rulers know what to do. The G8 and G20 get together and then go their separate ways without reaching any agreement because they don’t know what to do and neither do their advisers. Look at what I said in my lecture at the “World Wisdom Forum” in Arosa, Switzerland six years ago: That the most important thing is upbringing, meaning to teach people the laws of nature that are being expressed in the world today (and see what scientists are saying about this today!)

Kabbalah is a practical science about the new world. It waited precisely for our time to become revealed and to help people understand how to keep on living. I believe that people do need this. And I believe that they will understand this is the good way, before suffering forces them to it.
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Kabbalists On Spiritual Work In The Group, Part 4

Dr. Michael LaitmanDear Friends, please ask questions about these passages from the great Kabbalists. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

Obtaining the Greatness of the Creator through the Environment

There is one point we should work on—appreciation of spirituality.
The Rabash, Rabash—the Social Writings, “The Agenda of the Assembly

“Make for yourself a rav (teacher) and buy for yourself a friend.” This means that one should create an environment for oneself that would help him obtain the greatness of his rav so that…bestowal upon one’s rav will become reception and give one energy to act for the sake of the Creator. An individual alone cannot do a thing about it whatsoever.
Baal HaSulam, “A Speech for the Completion of The Zohar

We can receive delight from bestowal only to the extent that we appreciate bestowal. Hence, only the greatness of the Creator will give us strength to bestow. …Hence, he should seek out like-minded people, who are also seeking to enhance the importance of any contact with the Creator, to receive assistance from them, perform acts of bestowal, and sense the Creator.
– The Rabash, Rabash—the Social Writings, “The Agenda of the Assembly”
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Dr. Michael LaitmanDear Friends, please ask questions about these passages from the great Kabbalists. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

The Purpose of Society

Each of us has but a single goal: [to unite] for Divinity [revelation of the Creator, the property of love and bestowal] to be among us.
– The Rabash, Rabash—the Social Writings, “Purpose of Society (1)

We must remember that the society was established solely on the basis of achieving love of others, and that this would be the springboard for the love of God.
– The Rabash, Rabash—the Social Writings, “Concerning Love of Friends
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Kabbalists On Spiritual Work In The Group, Part 2

Dr. Michael LaitmanDear Friends, please ask questions about these passages from the great Kabbalists. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

The Purpose of Society

We gather here [under the guidance of our teacher]—to establish a society [a connection above our egoism] where each of us follows the spirit of bestowing upon [love of] the Creator [through love of friends]. And to achieve bestowal upon the Creator, we must begin with bestowal upon man, which is called “love of others.”

And [unselfish] love of others can only be through revoking of one’s self [the intention “for oneself”]. Thus, on the one hand, each person should feel lowly [in relation to the members of the group], and on the other hand, be proud that the Creator has given us the chance to be in a society where each of us has but a single goal: for Divinity to be among us [to reveal within ourselves the Creator, the property of absolute bestowal and love].
– The Rabash, Rabash—the Social Writings, “Purpose of Society (1)
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Dr. Michael LaitmanDear Friends, please ask questions about these passages from the great Kabbalists. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

The Purpose of Society

We [those who sense the point in the heart] have gathered here to establish a society [a connection between us above egoism of each] for all who wish to follow the path [towards the revelation of the Creator] and method of Baal HaSulam, the way by which to climb the degrees of man [“Adam” from the word “Edame” or similar to the Creator] and not remain as a beast [if one remains in one’s natural egoistic property].
– The Rabash, Rabash—the Social Writings, “Purpose of Society (1)
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