Entries in the 'Group Work' Category

Kabbalah Is The Wisdom Of The Upper Reality

Dr. Michael LaitmanFrom Baal HaSulam, “The Teaching of Kabbalah and Its Essence”: What is the wisdom of Kabbalah? As a whole, the wisdom of Kabbalah concerns the revelation of Godliness, arranged on its path in all its aspects—those that have emerged in the worlds and those that are destined to be revealed, and in all the manners that can ever appear in the worlds, to the end of time.

There are many definitions for the wisdom of Kabbalah, but they all come down to the fact that it teaches a person how to reveal the upper force, the one force of nature. It is called one because it includes all the other forces of nature within it. It is the general force that includes all of nature together with everything that exists within it.

The wisdom of Kabbalah reveals the general system to a person, the general force in all the different manners and influences that it has on what is under its control.

We must distinguish between the part of the force that belongs to us that we can reveal, and the part that doesn’t belong to us. We don’t even know what else is going on in another reality that isn’t ours.

This means that the wisdom of Kabbalah is a practical wisdom like physics, chemistry and all the natural sciences, and it can therefore help us discover only what is accessible to us. We cannot imagine, or call by name, a reality that we cannot feel.

We can understand the fact that the upper force also exists externally to us and that we cannot feel it using our senses. But our attainment is only what is and can be dressed in our vessels, in our senses.

The wisdom of Kabbalah develops new senses within us in addition to the five corporeal senses we were born with: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. We can call these five senses animate, since they belong to the animate level in which our physical body exists.

But we can also develop new senses in addition to them, which are called: Keter, Hochma, Bina, Zeir Anpin, and Malchut. These senses don’t work in the form of receiving and absorbing, but in the form of giving.

The force of bestowal doesn’t belong to us at all and we cannot perceive it, but we can develop in us such an attribute to receive it from above. It is then we will have a second force, a force of bestowal in addition to the force of receiving.

The force of bestowal is actually the upper force. We acquire this upper force of bestowal from the Creator and are then given the ability to work with two forces. We can resemble the Creator by using the force of bestowal, and then we can understand, feel, and begin to discover reality in the attribute of bestowal. This is the goal of the wisdom of Kabbalah.

We then rise above the still, vegetative, and animate levels in which we have developed in this world and transcend to a new level that is called the next world. We begin to perceive the new reality of the next world in the attribute of bestowal to the extent that we acquire it.

This opportunity is given to people who are attracted to it. Eventually, all of humanity has to reach this state, which is called “you shall see your world during your lifetime.” Then a person will be able to perceive and feel, in his senses, everything that happens in the whole reality.

This is the reason that Baal HaSulam says that “as a whole, the wisdom of Kabbalah concerns the revelation of Godliness,” the upper force of bestowal which sustains all of nature, “arranged on its path in all its aspects—those that have emerged in the worlds and those that are destined to be revealed, and in all the manners that can ever appear in the worlds, to the end of time.”

Therefore anyone who receives just a touch and an attraction to such a revelation can reveal all of reality in every way and by every possible means, above time, motion, place, and above all the limitations. It is because the force of bestowal is limitless.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/12/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Brothers For A Cause

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What is the meaning of the commandment: “Thou shalt not hate your brother in your heart?”

Answer: The Torah commands us not to hate our brother since brothers naturally hate each other, which is revealed naturally.

A brother is your reflection on the next level and therefore you shouldn’t hate him since he shows you what you must complete in order to become whole,

Question: Does this mean that it is my reflection according to which I prepare my ascent?

Answer: It is a whole system. Why does Jacob have twelve sons, for example? Abraham had only one son Isaac, because Ishmael is a totally different system. They didn’t complement one another mutually. This will only be discovered later at the end of times.

Having many offspring indicates the incompleteness of the parents. Jacob had twelve sons because he wasn’t perfect. In order to attain the level of Israel he had to make all twelve levels perfectly adaptable, since they were still separated.

These mutual relationships apply to the whole family, to all the seventy souls. The twelve sons of Jacob are the twelve attributes that stem from him that have to merge into one integral whole. Only then will they become Israel (Yashar El), straight to the Creator, aimed at the Creator. Thus they discover what and who they have to correct along the ascent up the many levels of correction.

Jacob must have the hatred appear between the brothers, and Joseph must go down to Egypt. Then Pharaoh will appear between them and will keep them apart, and despite their ego, they will have to connect above it. As a result of the connection of the twelve tribes, the one general soul will be corrected, although we are yet to witness that.

Question: You say that the separation between the brothers stems from the fact that the parents are imperfect.

Answer: Of course, otherwise there would only be one single continuation. But it can only be fulfilled along the middle line. This is where the right unity takes place each time that it is aimed straight at the Creator.

The twelve tribes will establish their common basis called the land of Israel to the extent that they begin to connect correctly. This will include all the human attributes and all the parts that are distant from one another. They will gradually begin to connect until they reunite again at the one point of connection with the Creator. But this point, in the third phase, will be on the Creator’s level.

There is an initial hatred for others in people that was given to us by nature. Ask any person who has sons whether they always get along, whether they are always together, and you will get a negative answer. Brothers always compete, whether knowingly or unknowingly.

They can be together only when there is a great force, a great reward that pulls them forward and for which they connect. This reward nullifies their natural hate.

In our world there can only be strong unity between brothers for a cause. If the cause disappears, they separate again since the internal hatred always exists. So, the Torah isn’t wrong.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book”

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The Right to Choose, Part 2

Dr. Michael LaitmanIf all of us are parts of one mechanism, a smooth circle, then everyone is equal. Therefore, any person defines the state of everyone as if one is a king. Absolutely any one of us!

Perhaps we do not yet feel it, but this is how nature is. If we move toward the discovery of the integrated community in which all are interconnected, then we cannot continue with our selfish protectionist nature, which causes us to neglect others and care only for our ourselves.

We cannot become a part of an integral humanity with such a natural egoistic approach. Meanwhile nature pressures us more.

A person wants to be independent and to be left to one’s own devices where one would not be obliged either to the nation or to other people. These are two opposite processes running in parallel. The world connects by increasingly closer ties, inside of which we all become more callous and egoistic.

There used to be shame if one were caught stealing. There was even shame to divorce. Today people feel completely free to marry and divorce several times and the younger generation does not want to marry at all.

We cannot exist in the integral form in our civilization within our current nature. After all, we are not integrated but quite the opposite. There are no more horrendous contradictions than trying to connect us terrible individualists to each other. Nobody wants that connection, and all  run away from it as sheep shy away from wolves.

The people of Israel are especially opposed to such unity despite the fact that they are in such a difficult situation and under pressure from a hostile environment on all sides.

Therefore, a politician who is going to win the election and arrogantly expects to achieve improvements in the country should understand that he cannot do it. No matter what wing he belongs to, either the right, the left, or the middle, none of them can succeed.

After all, they do not know the basis upon which the Israeli society rests, thinking that it is no different from the usual Western democracy. They do not know what nature has prepared for Israel and for the whole world, the mission of the people of Israel nor the purpose of the whole world in this long battle through which we all must go. What is of special importance in our time is their lack of knowledge of what is going on during this period of development.

They do not know anything about it. They think that if they toughen up laws and lower taxes everything will work out fine. These are not the tools you can use to manage the country.

The general law of nature, the law of integrality, influences our government. This law comes down to us from above, and the mechanism acting towards the people of Israel commits our nation to become one interconnected entity. People of the world also require the same of us, because on the next level, they will also connect to the same form of society.

They are required to achieve it but cannot, because no one can teach them to do so. Only Israel can become a light to the nations of the world and teach them, since Israel has undergone this level in the past. If we do not fulfill our mission in relation to the rest of the world, then we will suffer from it immensely.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 12/09/14

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Discovering Your Creation

Dr. Michael LaitmanWe learn how the creature deteriorated from one point of unification to separation, to gradual fragmentation, to the discovery of greater and greater forces, to building a system of connection between the parts. Even before the shattering, there existed various characteristics and the forces between them.

In such a way we learn about the whole system of connections between the future creature and the Creator, between the characteristic of reception and the characteristic of bestowal, and about the cooperation between them. This is the system of higher forces, higher worlds. And to make it possible for us to truly exist, despite and in contradiction to the Creator, a shattering happened and our present state was created. From that we began to advance towards trembling.

It must be understood that this fear, this awe, and concern, this anxiety are the measuring tools with whose help I feel the level, the world in which I am found, and whether I am concerned about myself in our world or I am concerned about others in the higher world.

In general, it is a great and wonderful fortune that we were given our situation in the world where we feel the ego that separates us, because with its help we can measure how close or far we are from the exalted goal. This is expressed in a comparison of the beastly fear in our world, an apparent concern about the next world, and dread on a higher level, where we depart from the framework of our mundane concern and logic and are concerned only for what is found outside of us. Through this we begin to resemble the Creator. It is precisely here that a person measures his state, the level on which he is found. Clearly when we are in an egoistic state, we are not prepared to come out of it unless a higher force acts upon us, which is the characteristic of bestowal (the Creator) in a form that we call Ohr Makif (Surrounding Light). It illuminates us from a distance, in secret, because we do not have characteristics that are similar to it. We awaken its influence on us, only to the degree of our efforts to approach each other.

This is an internal, voluntary movement. It is as if I am trying to enter into the feelings and mind of every friend. I withdraw from his external appearance, the external problems and characteristics, and everything that touches upon his mundane characteristics. Only his heart interests me, his yearning for detachment from himself towards connection with others and rising above his beastly state. This is to say, it is what raises a person above his donkey. It is up to me to feel what is happening within his heart and connect it with my heart.

It is the same thing regarding the mind. The various characteristics, thoughts, intentions, and problems don’t interest me, only what belongs to our development. In that way, it is up to me to take from my friend, his point in the heart, his point in the mind, and connect these two points with my two points.

In myself as well, I examine and emphasize only my yearning for the Creator (my point in the heart) and my mental orientation towards Him (my point in the mind). That is how all of us connect with one heart and mind to something whole, as if we are building a spiritual likeness from ourselves composed of heart and mind.

So where is our dread? The dread is when we succeed in building our common point, the pure heart that we have assembled and the mind that we have assembled, and we rise as much as possible, as much as we are detached from what we imagined for ourselves in the mundane sense. A permanent dread is awakened in us as to whether we will succeed in maintaining our collective structure.

This happens within every group of ten, and after that in all of the groups of ten together. Later, our convention will be connected with all the mirror conventions that are held in parallel with us in one spiritual space.

We must hold onto all of this within us and be constantly concerned that this structure will be felt more and more as real in every moment. In the beginning, it is only some kind of a hint, but gradually it becomes thicker and more solid. We even find some new characteristics within our united heart and mind.

We truly begin to feel something, and then we feel the division of this perimeter into ten Sefirot, meaning that we reach a spiritual structure within which we feel active forces, the Creator.

In this way we begin to feel Him and how He maintains our inner structure together, which is the ten Sefirot. All of us are included within this structure and each one feels the ten Sefirot within his particular individual perception, within his original spiritual characteristics, within the point in the heart and the mind.

Each one of us discovers his creation without disturbing each other. Our souls are included in each other and become connected so that eventually a general picture of the Olam Ein Sof (world of Infinity) is created.

We are already connected between us on levels that lead upward and the ten Sefirot become increasingly clear. Within them are discovered immense internal characteristics, combinations, coalitions, systems, and connections. Ultimately, all of these together become a Sefira that is composed of infinite emotional and intellectual connections.

In this way we reach attainment of the Creator, meaning attainment of the immense mind and emotion that fills this Sefira. This is the way that we must go together.

So the main thing is the characteristic of bestowal, and so we must fear falling into our mundane scrutinies, into our natural corporeal concerns. In a convention we must limit this to the level of necessary subsistence only.

We are trying to reach the state of trepidation in this manner.
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From the Convention In St. Petersburg “Day One” 9/19/14, Lesson 1

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Uncontrollable Assimilations

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: If the Jewish people begin to implement the Kabbalistic method, what will happen in the world? How will it affect anti-Semitism in the world?

Answer: Instead of feeling anti-Semitism, people will begin to treat us with sympathy, respect, and love. The nations of the world will carry us in their arms because we will provide them with the method for a perfect eternal life.

The wisdom of Kabbalah explains how we should correctly work with our ego so that it will not be just an evil force but a help against us, a help that stems from its oppositeness. When we fulfill this work, we will attain the peak of our evolution.

Question: There are people who offer different solutions to the problem of anti-Semitism, like suggesting that all the Jews should come to Israel or on the contrary, assimilate among the nations. What can you say about that?

Answer: Nonsense. Such plans will not work. It is because nature itself is managing the whole process. Sooner or later we will have to discover the potential hidden in each of us and become teachers for all of humanity.

We will have to discover the wisdom of Kabbalah by which we will be able to restrain the ego so that we will be able to use it correctly. It is very powerful and can be very helpful when used correctly. Thus we will reach the good cause.

As for assimilation, it is useless, and we are incapable of it. On the contrary, we are yet to reunite with the ten lost tribes and we will see that they haven’t assimilated either. They will come from every corner of the world and will proclaim their Judaism.

Question: Do Jews really have a kind of a protective shield that guards them from complete assimilation?

Answer: Yes. It is because of the profound basic difference that is concealed in nature itself, in the inner Reshimot (reminiscences) that operate the Jews and the non-Jews. The Jewish Reshimo is actually found in the nations of the world as well, but it hasn’t as yet been revealed, and hasn’t started to speak with them as yet.

It isn’t by chance that Abraham turned to all the people in Babel and said, “Let’s live differently and base our relations on a new principle.” But those who followed him were those in whom this Reshimo, this inner element of unity, was already revealed. Those who didn’t hear the message were those in whom unity hadn’t yet awoken, and thus they remained in their ego.

Today however, we are very close to the revelation and recognition of the seriousness of the crisis we are in and the uniqueness of this abnormal global world. People will feel that they have to unite and that they cannot keep on living any other life but the life that is based on mutual unity into one whole.

Question: Can we say that anti-Semitism is a call and a demand coming from the world “to teach us how to keep on living?”

Answer: Of course. This is the real reason for it. The nations of the world are actually telling us openly that we have the key for a good life. We may ask how it is possible to blame us for all the troubles in the world, but this is what they feel and they cannot get rid of this feeling.

The nations of the world are totally dependent on us. Only we have the solutions to the current situation by showing them how to organize and cooperate amongst themselves.

Question: Suppose I agree with you, what should I do now?

Answer: You should join the method of integral education and learn what it means to be a Jew. It makes no difference whether a person is religious or not, whether he is politically inclined to the left or to the right. We should understand what it really means to be Jewish (Yechudi), which stems from the Hebrew word “Yichud” – unity, mutual love, and how to attain it.

Then this wisdom and method should be passed on to your family and to others within your environment.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 11/25/14

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Skipping Over The Breakage

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How do we need to perceive Talmud Eser Sefirot, reading about some phenomenon, concepts, names of Partzufim of worlds?

Answer: Talmud Eser Sefirot describes the system that takes care and manages us from the world of Ein Sof. In the world of Ein Sof is the whole plan of creation from beginning to the end, and the system of the worlds divides it into stages, to the following order of actions through which we grow.

Question: How does it acts on us, how it cleans us so we will be more connected to the group?

Answer: The upper system works on us on the condition that you agree that it works on you in order to bring you to unity with the Creator, meaning you choose the path of Torah, the path of Light, or the path of suffering, one of the two.

But in this system there are not two paths; there is only a sequence of forces that act in an accurate, determined form from the beginning of correction until the end of correction. It all depends on how you receive the influence of these Lights that come to you through all the Partzufim.

The system of the worlds bestows on the creatures in a clear organized manner. But the creatures can receive this bestowal in a correct form and progress in a nice and quick way, and by that bring contentment to the Creator, and if not, they find themselves in the path of suffering. The system always displays orders that are obliged to come from within it.

Question: What does it mean to receive this bestowal in a correct form?

Answer: In a correct form, is for connection. After all we need to connect our general vessel that will skip over the breakage and will take all this breakage inside. At first there was only one desire; later the Light came and divided it to two, by entering between us. Now, between our desires there is Light or the Creator, but with a minus, in a negative form

There is one creature, and there is another creature, and between them the Creator in a negative form, meaning Pharaoh, Light with the sign minus. And we need to reverse it to plus, all the while recognizing and determining in each action that is revealed that there is none else besides Him and He is the good that does good.

Between you and me a big “minus” is revealed and we reverse it to ”plus,” reverse the darkness to light. Finally, between us, in this whole system, the Light becomes revealed. And this means that we clothe in the Creator, that we are in adhesion with Him.

The main thing is not to forget, that all the evil is simply the Creator that is revealed in an inverted form. By the breakage, the Light entered inside the vessel, and if now we will reverse it from evil to good, then we will reach the adhesion of the Light and vessel, about this it is said: “He and His name are one.”
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/8/14, The Study of the Ten Sefirot

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The Right to Choose, Part 1

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: I would like to know your opinion about the unstable political situation in Israel, which led to early elections. It has become a tradition that the Israeli government does not keep its assumed term. Egoistical play and intrigue are at fault, leading to the collapse of the government coalition.

I would like to understand this phenomenon, because it affects all aspects of our lives and affects everyone’s pocket, forcing us to come up with a few more billion for early elections.

Every government during the election promises to bring our common ship to a wonderful shore, drawing in front of us a wonderful life. But in the end, we feel that this ship is constructed with many separate blocks, where each block draws to itself.

It faces many conflicting interests, and the ropes tying the whole structure together become torn. Such feelings arise in people by causing a sense of insecurity and instability in us.

And this is not a new phenomenon; it accompanies us from the very inception of the state of Israel. Already so many governments have broken down, each time by bringing us to early elections long before they are due.

According to statistics over the 68 years of Israel’s existence, 33 governments and 19 Knesset assemblies have been replaced. The average time spent in power by the Israeli government is less than two years. This is the ruthless display of statistics.

But we do not want to open any political debates here, which are now well underway on all media channels. We just would like to understand the reason for this phenomenon and how we can fix it. How do we provide a captain for our ship who will lead the ship to the sacred shore? What was the cause for such instability in our government?

Answer: The answer is very simple. In the past there was a king put above all of society and the state government. Even though the king had many ministers, they all obeyed him. It was impossible to challenge the decisions of the king since everything he said was sacred.

How did the king make the right decisions?  He got them from heaven. People believed that the king was placed by a higher power and had a direct link with this power. This is how humanity progressed throughout its history, developing society, technology, science, religion, and education. All countries developed according to some program, with some countries becoming more developed than others. The king stood at the head of society, and under him there was the hierarchy of his assistants and courtiers.

Nature moved us along without asking for anything, yet sent everyone all the necessary thoughts and desires. Of course, we were accompanied by problems and wars, but it was all planned by nature and was supposed to happen. All we had to do was to learn from the experience and gradually move towards an understanding of how to make this a more balanced life.

The force of nature sent the king in the direction in which he lead his people and the people followed him. That was the case in all countries, and the people of Israel also went through many tests, all thanks to the higher power. Everything was planned in advance.

We see that in the days of the prophets, the entire process we had gone through was described by them. For hundreds of years before the destruction of the Temple and the people of Israel going into exile, the prophets knew and wrote about it. The Talmud says that even 70 years before the destruction of the Temple, there were signs of its destruction.

Question: Back then, did the rulers of Israel know that what was going to happen?

Answer: Of course, they knew because it was written in the Talmud and in the books of the prophets.

Among other people, the monarchy remained until recently. For example, a king ruled Russia at the beginning of the last century. People were very religious, no matter what group they belonged to within the society. Everything was organized so that humanity existed and acted at the will of the higher power.

This was ongoing until the time came to exercise freedom of will. Freedom lies in the fact that I myself get involved in the program of nature, study it, and realize how I need to change myself, the entire human society, everyone of us, and most importantly, our relationships with each other.

Now it is the duty of every person. Monarchies began to crumble and eventually we come to the fact that today everyone is king! Everyone is involved in a life of society as a separate, independent person that makes decisions.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 12/9/14

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A People Woven From The Thread Of An Idea

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Recently a new wave of violent riots has swept over us. Stone throwing, stabbings, and vehicles running over pedestrians have become murder weapons.

The level of tension has risen, fear has returned to the streets, undermining the complex system of relationships that connect us with Israeli Arabs. They live alongside us, among us, and we cannot isolate ourselves from them, and their terrorist attacks have literally broken into our home.

Is it possible to say that recent events are the result of a new situation, a new trend, with which we must contend?

Answer: First of all, I would like to note that everything that I will say is derived from an understanding of the general world system within which is the nation of Israel and its population, from the wisdom that I have researched and acquired, and not from social research and analytic reports.

I won’t enter into these areas, I won’t research this population or another, and I am far from the events in the field. Besides that, I am not a psychologist who precisely understands the Jewish and Arab minds.

In other words, I will not express my opinion on the level of this world. So I feel myself free, and, on the other hand, everything that I will say later on is the truth in my eyes and not my personal truth. This is the nature of things; this is how the Creator, the higher power, the higher supervision and management, is behaving towards us. According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, everything is managed by the system of nature that is also called El-okim. In Gematria (numerology), the value of the two words “HaTeva” (nature) and “Elokim” (the divine) are identical.

This system was originally found in a state that was very similar to general chaos. Kabbalah calls it by the name of Shevira (breaking) or the sin of the Tree of Knowledge. Since then, the general system, which is similar to our universe, gradually got along according to laws that became increasingly clear.

They were not at work previously because the material suitable for scrutiny didn’t exist. For example, as long as there wasn’t any vegetation, relationships between the still and the vegetative could not be discovered. As long as animals didn’t exist, the laws of behavior of the animate and the relationships between the animate and the other levels could not be discovered. And especially, as long as the human species didn’t exist, lawfulness could not be discovered in the life and development of the human species, which also determines its unprecedented influence on the natures of the still, vegetative, and animate.

In other words, we see that at the same time that all materials develop, they are organized within the framework of a most precise system. And this system continues towards balance and a permanent state. All of its parts necessarily get their own place and form of expression. According to scientific data and as far as it seems, in the future this system will ultimately become balanced and reach inner harmony.

Besides this, we have discovered various phenomena in human society that have developed in unique ways and rates in contrast to the nature of the still, vegetative, and animate. While humanity has made a quantum leap within some thousands of years and especially in the last century, in contrast to this, nature hasn’t gone through meaningful changes during that time.

We are generally finding newer and newer phenomena that typify a system that is aspiring towards balance and which indicate its imbalance.

In time they will be revealed in increasingly detailed, subtle, and personal forms. We see how much the general system takes the imbalance between parts of the system into account and takes care of them.

In this way, we observe the process through which all of humanity is passing on the background of the still, vegetative, and animate levels that have scarcely changed.

This is a natural process that is called “in its time” in Kabbalah. In other words, it happens in its own time since everything happens according to a natural rate, like a watch that measures the rate of changes similar to the signal generator in a computer. The interesting thing in this picture is the development of various parts of humanity and the relationships between them. Before us is spread the historical process through which various peoples, groups, continents, and so forth have passed. Development intrigues us, even though we cannot always see the reasons for it. Also, the conclusions we draw are in doubt.

And so, first we watched what was happening, and after that everyone had different philosophical and historical opinions. But a unique phenomenon was discovered here—the people of Israel.

The main uniqueness is its presence throughout all of history. In other words, this ongoing phenomenon is not clear. How can this be? After all, this didn’t happen with other peoples. This is strange, especially considering the troubles that were visited upon this people in the forms of exile, hatred towards it, internal conflicts, and so on.

In particular it should be noted that the whole world stands against the people of Israel. Everyone hates them, wants to annihilate them, and everyone acknowledges that they are not prepared to do this. They declare openly:

  1. We want to annihilate Israel.
  2. We are not prepared to annihilate Israel.
  3. We depend upon the people of Israel.
  4. Specifically, the people of Israel bring us troubles and problems and we are not prepared to do anything to them. We are weak in contrast to this nation.

It is possible to cite many claims and other oddities here. And the strangest phenomenon is the birth of the nation, which was essentially an absolutely artificial birth.

The rest of the nations arose naturally from tribes that populated various areas on the face of the globe on the basis of a common territory, common culture, common education, common and language, and later, on the basis of a common history. Smaller and larger nations appeared, and after that they combined into various religions and faiths, with everything continuing as usual.

On the other hand, the people of Israel appeared in a strange way from a unique organization, from an unprecedented social phenomenon. One person called Abraham threw a unique idea at humanity, which was a thought, an ideal, a vision that was connected to the role and function of the entire human species. He gathered special people from all of humanity for whom the essence of life, the goal of life, and an identity with the higher power and its discovery were important. This means that the idea upon which the nation was founded was very high, unnatural and “out of this world” as it is called. This isn’t saying that we must live in some isolated place, maintain our borders, and defend ourselves from our neighbors, etc.

These were not connections between people based upon material corporeal beastly factors, nor on normal corporeal needs. The people of Israel were founded around absolutely different principles, on another philosophical, conceptual higher level relative to the rest of the nations.

They didn’t even have a dwelling place. Rather Abraham simply said to them that connection around the spiritual idea demanded them to live as one person with one heart, all of Israel are friends, and also to live in fraternity and discover within them the characteristic of bestowal and love. So according to these principles, their place on the face of the globe was in the land of Canaan. So they headed there!

The residence of the nation was determined by its goal and according to its adaptation to the characteristics of the land. The artificial people populated an artificial place. So the connection between the people of Israel and its place is very unique. As long as the people maintain the concept of unity, it lives here [Israel], and the moment that it doesn’t stand on the spiritual conditions of one person with one heart and love of others, it enters into a dissonance to its residence and the place regurgitates it.

Never throughout history have we seen a precedent like this, that a particular territory, meaning something inanimate, reacts like this to those who are dwelling within it.

There are a multitude of other strange phenomena connected to this people. Without being aware of and feeling their character and their place, they will not succeed in understanding what is happening to them. And the role of history is to give a time and a place to the people of Israel to carry out its unique historical mission.

In this stage it is up to us to understand what Abraham taught his students. He explained to them a plan exists according to which the people of Israel must reach a particular level of correction, to be like one person with one heart through gathering. In continuation, they will need to pass through a Shevirah (breaking). In other words, instead of a good connection between them, they must discover the opposite state of separation and the internal and mental fragmentation.

According to this they passed through various situations with their neighbors, with the higher power that arranges everything. After that, during a period of exile and mutual distance, the people of Israel scattered among all the nations and did special preparatory work between them. After that they again gathered and again rose up to the level of connection, and with the same tendency, they attracted all of humanity towards connection. This is how history ends, meaning with the general correction of the human species. This is the goal of creation, the goal of existence of the human species in the state of this world.

For this to happen, a period of six thousand years has been allotted, beginning from the moment that a person with the name Adam discovered the program to the last person who will do the last correction and finish the historical process. And then this world will disappear, for it exists in our perception only because it is broken and without the right connections. And the moment that all of the broken parts become connected and the last among them becomes connected to them, the system will become united and circular. Then all of humanity will feel that it exists within a perfected and circular reality, in a state called the world to come. What will fill the people is called the Creator, the higher power, for they will attain it with the help of the connection between them, mutual bestowal and love along the entire path.

And so the historical role of the people of Israel is clear. They must go through various situations and according to this, they must function correctly to guide the whole world to the goal specified from the start. Without this nation it would be impossible to reach the goal. So it must be at the head of the process. It is not by chance that the letters of the word “Israel – ישראל” make up the phrase, “Li Rosh – לי ראש – I have a head.”

There were periods in which it was forbidden for the people of Israel to know its mission, so that they wouldn’t be disturbed from assimilating among the nations of the world in the period of exile. In other words, they were in a state of detachment from connection.

But today, If we want to explore the Jewish people at every moment throughout history, it is up to us to take into account the general program of human society and compare it to reality, to what extent the people of Israel maintain the program or, on the contrary, oppose the program. The range of its historical participation moves between -100% and +100%.

It depends on the people of Israel, it depends on how much they attract themselves towards fulfilling their role and attracting everyone else towards it. And if it doesn’t work correctly and in time, then this delay is expressed in the negative forces of nature that don’t get engaged in connection in the general system of connection, that are not counterbalanced by positive forces.

For the people of Israel, their role is to balance the opposites at all times. If they don’t balance them at every moment throughout history, then both the plus and minus work on them negatively. The minus pushes them from behind and the plus pulls them forward. And when the people don’t agree with either of them, don’t want to take the initiative, and don’t want lead the whole world after it, then as a result of this there will be the many great problems and disasters that continue to this very day.

But a unique time has arrived. After a long exile of two thousand years, we can and must reveal to all the people of Israel and to the whole world what is on the agenda. It is up to us to tell everyone:

“Friends, we are on the threshold of a critical period because the reins have been placed in our hands, which are the two forces of nature, the plus and the minus. They were prepared for us and with their help it is up to us to reach an integral connection between us, to bring society into harmony and rise to the level of bestowal and love ourselves. It is in our hands. The two forces will help us in such a way that even the negative force will become a ‘helpmate against’ (Genesis 2:18). The task is great. So come, let’s begin to implement it.”

In this manner, it is up to us to approach the entire world, ourselves, and also the higher power with the help of all means at our disposal. We have been given freedom of choice; we have been given a program and a process including a script that describes the happy ending in the completion of correction. So we must see the present situation, not from this trend, but from the higher aim of the program and to understand what it demands from us.

By watching in this manner and not from the point of view of the communications media or the point of view of the psychology of our neighbors, I am looking at what is happening today in Israel. What is the reason to go deeply into the Israeli and Arab mentality if this whole picture is absolutely superficial? Analysis like this doesn’t make it possible to extinguish the fire. We must understand the natural trends at work in these processes and it is then that we will truly know how to solve the problem.
[147612]
From KabTV’s “A New Life” 11/13/14

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Prayer At The End Of All Efforts

laitman_236_01Rabash Letter No. 57: “I did not tell you this truth but in order that you will not leave and not despair from mercy. And although you don’t see anything, even at time that the measure of efforts is complete, this is the time of prayer.”

Question: Is prayer a part of the effort or does it come separately?

Answer: Prayer is the result of all efforts. When you give a complete effort and the measure is complete, then the prayer is born. You need to do all that is in your hands and strength, and after that you will understand that only the Creator is able to implement His plan. And then you will turn to Him!

Question: What does it mean, to finish your measurement of effort?

Answer: It means to finish all kinds of attempts to connect with friends in order to bestow to the Creator. And you despair from truly not attaining the real quality of bestowal, and then you burst with a prayer.

In the beginning you just hear that it is good to come to bestowal, but you need to come to a state that you want to be the one that bestows; you beg for bestowal, as if you can’t live without it.

You can’t measure your vessel, and judging by the fact that is is empty, you decide you have finished your measurement of effort. From a state that is forced on you bursts a prayer, for which you immediately receive an answer, then the change happens. According to these changes you understand that you finished the measure of effort.

The prayer comes after man checks himself and sees that it is impossible to change something by himself; rather, everything is in the hands of the Creator. And this brings him to adhesion with the Creator.

You are not required to create this prayer artificially. But naturally from inside of you will burst your cry, which will be your prayer. Prayer is the work of the heart.
[148922]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/26/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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They Are Tired Of Waiting For Us On The Second Floor, Part 2

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe shattering was on purpose, in order to allow us to prepare our soul for the revelation of the Upper Light within it. When we try to correct the shattering and establish relationships of love and mutual bestowal among us, we discover that we cannot do so.

It is good that we cannot do so by ourselves since then we yearn for the Light, for the force of bestowal, that should help us. We want that force to appear among us and enable us to connect into one network of mutual bestowal.

I draw the Light to the extent that I want to bestow unto others and to love them. When the Light appears, I feel the connection with the friends and I begin to see and to feel them thanks to the influence of the Light. The Light puts us through different states with different connections, and I can thus see and learn how our collective vessel begins to connect and how all its parts are integrated correctly by the Light.

I don’t actually see the Light, but I feel its actions which help me connect with the friends. I see what is going on in the network of the connections that are revealed between us, and thus I study the actions of the Light and begin to understand and to feel it. It is said: “From Your actions we will know You.”

Thus, the network of connections between us is gradually built to the extent that I need it. The friends help me yearn for it, I exert myself and so we draw the Light and build this network.

Inside the network we discover the Upper Light and how it formats us, which means that we attain it according to its actions. But this isn’t enough either, because we have to rise from the love of the created beings to the love of the Creator. Once we reach the love of friends, we rise to a higher level by our desire to be equal to the force that operates in the network of connections between us.

This means that we don’t want to resemble the actual connection between us on the first floor, but the force that operates inside it, which is called the second floor.

This is how three levels are created. The first level is the ground floor, which is where we are during the period of preparation.

We ascend to the first floor when we reach the love of friends. It is only called love of friends, but in fact, these are my efforts to build the network of connections between us with all the complete ten Sefirot since all of creation is comprised of ten Sefirot. It is then that the Creator is revealed within this network.

We actually build Malchut, the Shechina, which is the place where the Creator can dwell and be revealed. Building such a place is called love of friends in the ordinary words of this world, but we should understand that it refers to the building of the spiritual vessels, to the network of connections.

Thanks to this, we actually reconstruct the network of connection, correct the shattering, and begin to understand the Creator’s actions. If the Creator hadn’t shattered this structure, we would never have been able to reveal it, but would have been angels who are in their natural attribute of bestowal.

But since we ask for the revelation of the Creator in order that He will connect us after the shattering and help us, we will thus know His actions and attain “the advantage of the Light in the darkness.” This is how we can imagine the vessel and the Light within it because they become two separate entities, like a body and the Light that fills it.

We shouldn’t think that the love of friends is redundant. Years go by before a person begins to understand the importance of the love of friends as a result of the influence of small portions of Light. We can increase the importance of that by our actions in front of one another. In fact, no one feels the real importance, which is great; in this way we reconstruct the shattered soul. Then we discover our adhesion to the Creator within it.

It is impossible to treat the Creator better than the friends! It is impossible to connect to Him, to bestow unto Him and to love Him more than connecting, bestowing unto and loving the friends. After all, everything is determined by the vessels.

Everyone should understand that eventually there is no choice but to annul before the group, to try to connect with everyone with all one’s heart and soul so that instead of feeling oneself, we will only feel everyone together as one whole.

It is because we want to hasten our development and to help ourselves reach the state in which we will finally begin to discover the spiritual space that we organize a convention of connection and gather in order to make a collective effort to connect.
[148875]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/2/14, Writings of Rabash

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