Entries in the 'Group Work' Category

A Group Of Ten As A Tool For Adhesion

laitman_934If you want to explore the upper force, the wisdom of Kabbalah says that you must create a tool appropriate for this. This is just like scientists who create measuring instruments: microscopes, telescopes, particle accelerators, and the like. But they are appropriate only for physical substances. So how can we explore the force that works within us, in our essence?

For this the Kabbalists recommend building a structure of ten people (Minyan) who try to create complete interconnection between them. They stabilize the characteristic of Light in their environment, whether they are ready for this or not, by wanting to make a single whole of themselves above their egos.

Such a structure already contains two forces within it: our natural egoistic force and the general force of bestowal, meaning the Creator. And the calculation here is simple: The more we overcome the force of separation with the help of the power of unification, to this degree we match, resemble, and equalize with the Upper Light.

Even when bestowal rises to a value of one percent, to that degree we resemble the Light and feel it. We feel it to the degree that the desire to bestow dominates the desire to receive.

If we try making an effort, in spite of our inability to overcome our egoistic desire, we begin to pay attention to where there is a shortcoming, how weak we still are, why we don’t succeed. And then a scream, a request, a prayer develops in us for the Light to help us, give us strength, and then we connect. Certainly we don’t have the power to connect on our own. It comes only from the Light.

That is how we advance: The Light acts and influences us according to our request; we overcome our desire to receive, absorb more of the desire to bestow; we connect between us more strongly again and again…. It is written about this: (Baba Batra 9b) “A penny and another penny accumulate into a great sum.”

And then the moment comes when we truly can unite. Then everyone feels how he disappears into the common connection between us.  “I” and the “friends” no longer exist; all merge into one. And at the moment in this state of “togetherness,” we feel fulfillment, the Upper Light, the Creator dwelling among us.

And then we can investigate Him. In other words, we have built and activated a device called a “group,” a “group of ten,” (a Minyan); and we can now advance forward by stabilizing ourselves more and more in various forms of connection. And the Creator, in accordance with our mutual connection, will be revealed more and more.

Through its influence, the Light will also awaken us to deeper and deeper layers of ego. We feel resistance, descent, and all kinds of disturbances, that makes it possible for us to turn towards the Upper Light with even greater force so that it will come and acquire the power for us to see our defects and the methods for their correction.

This is the way, 125 levels, that by ascending through them we ultimately reach “equivalence of form” with the Creator. And in this way we discover how important the characteristics of fear and anxiety are to us. After all, it is only concern and fear, “Am I capable of bestowal?” which pushes us forward.
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From the Convention In Los Angeles “Day Two” 11/1/14, Lesson #3

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It Is Not The Wise Who Learn

Laitman_165When we read books of Kabbalah, we are able to attract the Upper Light that Reforms. So it is very important at the time of the lesson to keep the right intention at every moment by remembering what one wants with each and every word that is read.

It could be that I don’t understand anything in these words about the subject itself. I came to the lesson and heard that it was necessary to open some book. I open it, read, and don’t understand anything because the things written there are completely new to me. But this is not important, I think only about my intention: What is it that I want to attain by sitting and learning?

Baal HaSulam writes in the “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot” Item 155, that the Kabbalists also designed their books for people who are not yet on spiritual levels and don’t understand what is written. But precisely thanks to studying texts they don’t understand and not for the sake of understanding but to receive the Light, they advance.

It is said, “It is not the wise who learns.” During the lesson, it is important to decide that I don’t aspire to knowledge.  “Knowing” means connection, rising to the appropriate level. “The Study of the Ten Sefirot” talks about such high levels that it will take me a long time to achieve them.

But I demand the Light that Reforms, the higher power that will influence me and correct, elevate, purify, and connect me. I ask it to differentiate between desires that are possible to correct and desires that are impossible to correct within me, so that it will be clear to me what I must work with.

This is because there are such desires and thoughts that are worthwhile for me to distinguish and not touch them. And others, on the contrary, must be awakened and discovered. By means of them, I can communicate with the group and with the Creator.

Likewise, I need to discover in what way it is possible to help the group: It is not for my desires but for the desires of the friends. So I turn to the Creator and specifically ask for strength regarding these desires, to bring the Light that Reforms to the group.
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From the Convention In Los Angeles “Day Two” 11/1/14, Lesson 4

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Two-Sided Work

laitman_942Our connection with each other indicates that we have established a covenant that requires us to be concerned in general about the whole group, or at least in the meantime about our group of ten.

According to this criterion can I examine whether I am disconnected from that concern or not?  Do I think about them all the time or don’t I? How much I am attracted to them and holding onto my thoughts about them shows where I am.

Thanks to our being able to carry out physical actions within a small group (a group of ten), spiritual work becomes simple physical work, visible and accessible for scrutiny, analysis, and examination. I can count how many times per day I have thought about the friends, how I have been concerned about them, how I have lifted their mood and have given them upliftment and excitement about the goal, and have nourished them with confidence and happiness.

I need to examine myself as to how much I adapt to the principle: “The end of the action is in the initial thought.” The final state is connection with the Creator. For this I connect with the friends now. So I need to check whether I am truly thinking about my connection with the Creator or have I forgotten about Him completely?

If I forget about the Creator, then my entire connection with the group of ten is not good. It doesn’t lead to anything except harm. This will be the regular egoistic connection where there is no spirituality, like between soccer fans or a military combat unit.

So I must be concerned about this enough to speak about it, at least, if I have no feelings about it in the meantime. I must remind myself that I am ready to connect with the friends in order to attain adherence with the Creator. This means that I am connected to attain the characteristic of complete bestowal.

And so already now, from the start, I show the friends how much I want this; I am ready to invest lots of energy in them; to inspire and serve them, I am ready to do anything for them, the main thing being to reach the Creator.

On the other hand, I can turn to the Creator with a request to help me to work with the friends so that I will be able to help them, to connect and elevate them. For it is clear, that I myself don’t have the strength for this, I can only ask on behalf of the friends.

It means that this is two-way work: through the group to the Creator and from the Creator to the group. In work through the group to the Creator, I am the bottom, for me the group is a higher level, and the Creator is above that higher level. The difference is who serves as a conduit that connects, the transmitter.

If I want to reach the Creator through the group, I use the group as a channel that connects me with the Creator. And If I get energy from the Creator to bestow to the group, then I am that conduit that connects the group with the Creator.

I must constantly imagine this scheme, to see most correctly and precisely where I am found, especially during the lesson.
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From the Convention In Los Angeles “Day Two” 11/1/14, Lesson 4

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Being Like Everyone Else Isn’t Our Nature

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Is the current return of the Jewish people to the land of Israel a natural phase?

Answer: Of course.

Question: Why should they return to this land in particular?

Answer: We don’t understand it yet. However, people who are on a spiritual level understand the differences and the uniqueness of the spiritual root in each of the created beings, including animals, and moreover, of the different regions of the earth.

So despite the fact that the land here is not fertile and there is nothing “holy” about it, it is still dominated by certain spiritual forces, just like a branch that grows from a spiritual root.

Question: What should we do about the strong Arab resistance?

Answer: It is perfectly natural. After all, if we have returned to this land, we have to return to our spiritual roots. In other words, we have to fulfill the condition of love thy friend as thyself. It is on the basis of this condition that we came here ages ago. Moses brought us to the borders of this land and passed away on its border. Then his disciple, Joshua, led us.

We reached this land and when we settled here, we had to set an example for all of humanity, and to show what a nation that lives correctly in its land should be like. Then we began to build the Temple and fulfill this mission.

However, our actions today are totally opposite from what we have to do and consequently, of course, we are constantly confronted with troubles from our close and distant neighbors.

Question: Why was the Arab environment given this role?

Answer: This was written ages ago when Abraham fathered Ishmael and sent him away with Hagar. From that time onwards, there is a kind of “competition” between the two brothers Isaac and Ishmael. There is nothing we can do about it; the conflict will be even greater, but it should be fulfilled on the spiritual level.

This means that as a nation we have to ascend to the level of love of others, be in good relations with one another, and set an example for all of humanity. In that case, we will immediately see how everything around us calms down. First our cousins the Arabs and then the whole world will quiet down and the anger and hatred in the world will cease.

The nations of the world will then understand that there is something that they really need here and that they can receive the method for the revival of the soul from us, which is the knowledge that can make them eternal beings. They will begin to realize that we can lead them to a better life, not just in this world, but to exit it to a totally different dimension, beyond the frameworks of this world. It all depends only on us and I think that we will reach it.

Question: Does this mean that there is one meaning to all the complaints we hear against us?

Answer:  They are only meant to unite and connect us. If our neighbors didn’t pressure us, we would destroy one another and never unite, even on the level we are on today. The external pressure on us, the rigidity and hatred, all depend only on the mutual repulsion we feel towards one another. Generally speaking, we actually determine the level of hatred that the nations of the world feel towards us.

Question: So unconsciously the nations of the world want to oblige us to be the teachers of humanity?

Answer: Yes. This is how all of humanity relates to us. All their hatred is only so that we will eventually understand that we have to do something and that wanting to be like them, like everyone, is a silly “trick.” This philosophy, this approach, takes us completely in the wrong direction.

Spinoza’s origin, the rebellion against the independent uniqueness is not our root. Of course, it was forbidden to remain on the previous level in those times, since the time had come for the spiritual development, spiritual not in the sense that humanity imagined but according to our roots.

Comment: But on the other hand, you spoke about the fact that the Jews also led the conceptual development of all of humanity in Babylon.

Answer: They should have led it a long time ago, during the exodus from ancient Babylon. If everything had gone smoothly, spirituality should have spread widely after the First Temple, and gradually all the nations of the world would have accepted the method of the revelation of the Creator. They would have united and everything would have ended there. But that was impossible because the Babylonians didn’t yet have the root that humanity needed. They had to receive it and it was possible to receive it only when the Jewish nation was shattered and dispersed among them.
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From KabTV’s “Babylon Yesterday and Today” 9/24/14

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How Do We Transform The Way Of Suffering Into The Way Of Light?

laitman_938_02From Shamati #1, “There is None Else Beside Him”: Namely, he is sent thoughts and views, which are against the work. This is in order for him to see that he is not one with the Lord.

The person is not prepared to overcome the thoughts and desires that are aroused within his mind and heart. He is not prepared to overcome them alone without the support of the environment. He needs other people like him who will show him a good example related to his condition.

A good environment is the friends who are more or less going through the same state, each one according to his personal Reshimot (informational genes). But for all of them there is the same intention, the same goal. Everyone understands what must be done. And even if they don’t understand, the main thing is that they try to present a good example to each other.

When we go through the next stage of spiritual work and gain strength, then the environment will treat us differently, it will demonstrate contempt for the goal. This is just as it was with the famous group of Kabbalists from Kotzk.

If I have a screen, the Light, and vessels, then the environment can help me without waiting for the next obstacle on the way. The environment will set up an obstacle in front of me that I must overcome. This is called, “I will hasten it” instead of the path of natural development.

Why should I wait until I receive a burdening of the heart from above if the society can cause this? The friends will show me that they seem to despise the spiritual path. And I will justify them, even though this is not the truth; I don’t see the truth, because I am damaged.

In this way we transform the path of suffering to the path of Light, each time placing a new obstacle in front of the friends and thus accelerating them, forcing them to demand vessels of bestowal and to advance. But this is appropriate only for great Kabbalists. In the meantime we need to show the friends inspiration for the greatness of the goal until they pass through the Machsom (barrier)and transform the way of suffering into the way of Light. Today we must be the force that pulls the entire society forward.

The first stage in preparing for the true spiritual work is to reach the feeling that you are in a Hevrah Kadisha, a sacred society. I must see that everyone is much greater than I am, and that I am not at all worthy of being among such people. But I am not ready to justify them and appreciate their height.

It is up to me to try to identify that the Creator is in them, at least to imagine this artificially, and to search for how it is possible to build my relationship with the group. But the true state of Lo Lishma (not for Her name) begins from the stage where I see everyone as the greatest of the generation. And in this state I have the opportunity to advance with their help. This means that I have placed myself in the right state of Lo Lishma.

Now the society can provide me with the fuel through which I will see all of them as great and will yearn to be with them. I want to adhere to them and learn from them, I want to be the smallest of them all; the main thing is to be together. This is already the right attitude through which I approach Lishma from Lo Lishma. I am already included correctly within the collective soul and I am thankful that the Creator is among the friends.

The only thing that I am missing is adhering to them. This means that I yearn for love of friends and after that from love of friends to love for the Creator.

But until then I cannot awaken a deficiency for love of the Creator within me if the intention is for a spiritual and not a physical egoistic deficiency as it is with everyone. There are very clear signs of this; if we judge according to our attitude towards the society, from this attitude it is possible to examine our state.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/29/14, Shamati #1

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 Short Stories: The Schools Of Kabbalah

Dr. Michael LaitmanFrom the time when a small part of the Babylonians joined Abraham and began to work together on unity between them, the starting point of the Jewish people began.

Although it was not yet a formed people, the group of Abraham’s disciples, who were Kabbalists, received from him the method of unity with the purpose of revealing the Creator and began to move forward.

From a Kabbalistic point of view, moving forward is not the story of their moving from Babylon to the land of Canaan, the descent into Egypt and return to the land of Israel, but the growth of their egoism and their constant ascent above it. Indeed, the ideology they agreed with in ancient Babylon continued to work in them.

In the process of the growth of egoism, the people gradually began to change and became more sophisticated, both egoistically and altruistically. Their unity underwent various metamorphoses, and took different forms.

Therefore, the school of Abraham transforms into the school Isaac, then into the school of Jacob, then Joseph, and, finally into the school of Moses. All of them represent a variety of movements of the people to an ever increasing revelation of ego and the rising above it.

The the school of Isaac represents the people’s desire to break away from its egoism and rise firmly above it. This is the sacrifice of Isaac, when a person is ready to slaughter his egoism. Indeed, at first he thinks that this is the only way to maintain his movement forward.

Then the school of Jacob is then formed, which believes that one should not kill egoism, but balance it with the property of mercy, represented by Jacob. After all, when mercy begins to correctly use the property of Isaac (the ruthlessness of judgment), then it turns into the property of Israel, which means straight to the Creator.

This is a serious movement forward, in which both the egoistic and altruistic forces are coming together, with egoism remaining at the bottom and altruism rising above it. Thus, by rising and falling synchronously, they move together. This is the way people grow, composing the two parts of nature within themselves, and in the correct symbiosis between them, they reveal the Creator.

The spiritual movement of Israel gradually leads the people into Egypt. The development in Egypt means that the people’s egoism rose even more, to the level of Pharaoh, and they were required to rise above it.

Pharaoh represents egoism, which one simply cannot rise above and use. It is necessary to be pulled out if it quickly, to correct it in small portions, transforming it into altruism.

The people of Israel, having finding themselves in Egyptian captivity, i.e., in an extremely egoistic state, discovered that they could not follow the ideology of Abraham. A new leader, whose name was Moses, appeared among them. He was able to organize them so that they understood that progress must be based on detachment from egoism. That meant they had to escape from Egyptian captivity, the captivity of egoism, and slowly begin to correct its parts.

While in Egypt, under the pressure of a huge ego, the people were in the same confrontation as in ancient Babylon. Moses understood that it was necessary to make another effort, to get out of Egypt and go to the land of Canaan, as Abraham’s group once came from Babylon.

The land of Canaan symbolizes the spiritual state that gives people the opportunity to internally unite among themselves, to rise above egoism and move away from it, i.e., to leave Egypt, go into the Sinai desert and head for the land of Israel.

This is the essence of the school of Moses, the direct follower of Abraham. In the history of spiritual development, there is no brighter personality than Moses. After all, the group of Abraham came from Babylon after rising above the manifested egoism and that was enough, but now its followers, while escaping from Egypt, must not only rise above a huge ego, but also gradually correct it.
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From KabTV’s “Short Stories” 10/22/14

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The Only Ritual Of The Kabbalist

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Are there rituals in the Wisdom of Kabbalah?

Answer: In the wisdom of Kabbalah there are no rituals! It is not involved with anything connected to the material world nor to a person’s physical body.

The wisdom of Kabbalah consists of a person’s inner work, which is directed towards connection and unity with others and through this correction, discovery of the Creator. There are no external actions in this, but assisting to each other toward successful spiritual work. This is work in a group, work in a group of ten (called a Minyan), gatherings of friends, shared meals, etc., in other words, all kinds of external activities that can help us to get closer to each other are welcome.

Here it is possible to immediately see the difference between a Kabbalistic group of ten and a Minyan of people who are gathered in a synagogue who are not moving towards closeness, but simply come to pray. They have no shared task to create a single whole between them and discover the Creator among them.

Whereas for us, connection in a Minyan, a group of ten, is a spiritual activity where we try to connect ourselves into a single whole, the image of one unit called Adam (Man), so our only image elevated above the ego and connecting everyone among them is built upon the characteristic of bestowal and resembling the Creator.

From this unity between us, from the common heart, we raise our request to the Creator so that He will be revealed in our unified desire, our unified heart. This is called a Kabbalistic prayer, a Kabbalistic Minyan, a group and a ritual.
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From KabTV’s “Short Stories” 10/22/14

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Short Stories: The Evolution Of Abraham’s Group—Joseph

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe essence of the Kabbalistic method is working properly with the growing ego by using the altruistic right line, and at the same time ascending the levels of the spiritual worlds. Thus the next phase of spiritual evolution is the revelation of the giant ego inside us.

The question is where will the great ego that can raise us all the way to the Creator’s level come from?

If it appeared in the first stages of the spiritual formation, we couldn’t work with it and would subconsciously escape from our level. Therefore, sinking into the ego and its internal growth is gradual. Such a gradual nearing to the ego, which is eventually revealed in all its huge dark emptiness and in the force that swallows everything, is described in the story about Joseph and his brothers.

At first, the small and non-harmful ego of the brothers who envied Joseph grew to huge disputes called Egypt. Egypt (Mitzraim) stems from the Hebrew word “Mits Rah – bad juice” that means the concentration of evil.

On the one hand, it didn’t seem so bad, but on the other hand, they encountered a problem: If they didn’t come close to evil and accumulate it inside them and seem to quiet down the disputes they had, they wouldn’t be able to go on. Therefore it says in the Torah that there was famine in the Land of Israel.

So what could they do if without the ego there was no way they could advance in spirituality? This is how they began to feel the need for a growing ego and its correct fulfillment. Thus they sank into Egypt, which was in their benefit since it nourished and awakened them.

Moreover, their father Jacob entered the same state as he understood that this is the middle line without which it is impossible to advance and that they needed a great ego in order to later work on it. The building up of the ego is called the seven years of satiety.

During those years the ego seems very attractive because it doesn’t show that it is against the spiritual path. Life in the captivity of the ego seemed sweet, good, and sensible and they became its slaves.

During this time Israel develops, grows and multiplies, which means that the method of the correct use of the ego and its right guidance during the first seven years is very fruitful. It is because the ego, as part of the female nature, is first submissive suggesting: “use me and advance.”

But having absorbed the ego to the fullest during the first seven good years, its absorption came to an end. Seven years is a complete level HGT NHYM, the seven good years are replaced by the seven bad years (of hunger).

They begin to recognize the evil in the ego. All the profit they seemingly made before is actually total emptiness. The recognition of evil is also during seven years since these are the same levels of HGT NHYM. In each of them they have to recognize that it constantly leads to negative outcomes.

Towards the end of the seven bad years, they reach the last attribute, the most egoistic one, Malchut. Here they already have to undergo serious blows, the ten plagues of Egypt, in order to give up the previous use of the ego.
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From KabTV’s “Short Stories” 10/15/14

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Short Stories: Crossing The Egyptian Border

laitman_749_01After Abraham’s group worked on unity, they began to discover a new level of the ego and began to draw apart again, just like they did in Babylon.

They were dominated by the power of Pharaoh, a giant ego that pressured them, the relations between them, became “the slavery in Egypt.”

It was at that time that the next leader of the nation Moses appeared. Moses was brought up at Pharaoh’s home from a very young age, but nonetheless, a great desire to ascend above his upbringing awoke in him. He escaped from Pharaoh and turned to the people, calling them to leave Egypt.

The people, however, were very weak. On one hand, they understood that they had to leave the egoistic slavery, otherwise there was not a chance that they would connect and unite to reproduce Abraham’s idea that helps them advance in the connection between them, to reveal the Creator.

On the other hand, the Creator is concealed from their feelings. So the slavery in Egypt is like nighttime for them since they don’t feel the spiritual life at all. But they have already tasted and felt what a spiritual state means: life without any limitations, a feeling of the outer space, a different dimension.

Therefore, they were rather passive at first and Moses had to aggravate Pharaoh (the ego) to such an extent that the people would feel his rigid domination. Only then did they see the afflictions that the ego caused them and were then ready to leave Egypt because they didn’t want to identify with their ego anymore. They had no power to break away from it but they suddenly felt the desire to do so.

By showing them the ego’s cruelty and slyness, Moses raises the people and takes them out of the egoistic state. Now they are ready to overcome all the fights, disputes and conflicts and to ascend above them according to the condition of “love covers all transgressions.” Then they break away from the slavery in Egypt, rise above it, and leave Egypt.

Every whole spiritual level is made of ten sub-levels. Every sub-level should be seen as a source of loss, pain, sufferings, and terrible diseases. Sufferings that gradually accumulate in the recognition of the egoistic slavery and convince people to break away from the ego (even at night, in the dark, when nothing is understood and nothing can be seen); the main thing is to keep the connection between them.

The situation before the exodus from Egypt and afterward is similar to crossing a border. In Egypt we depend on one another, hating one another, but the moment we take upon ourselves the law of mercy, of altruistic bestowal, of mutual incorporation, we can cross the border and break away from Egypt.
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From KabTV’s “Short Stories” 10/22/14

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Soccer And Carnivals Are No Longer A Draw

Laitman_049_01Question: We would like to pass our baton, our love, our heartfelt attitude to our friends from Latin America and North America and ask those friends that have the possibility of being there definitely to come to meet with you and their friends.

Answer: I very much look forward to that; I am flying to the nations of Latin America and North America with the great hope of meeting with my students. I want to see that they are advancing in the same direction as our joint “Russian team” advanced in Sochi. I would want similar groups to be there.

We see with what speed the world is evolving. Just think, the Brazilians no longer want to watch soccer! This says something! Here we are still locked into football, whereas, there this is not so anymore, even though for South Americans the carnival and soccer have been the most important things in life.

This is a very interesting phenomenon. Together with tiredness, isolation, and distance, some kind of awareness appears, and not just something vague and passive. They don’t want it! And especially now, when they have lost, this gives an even greater push towards continued awareness.

See how they are being guided from Above! After all, for them soccer had been their whole life: salvation from revolution, from poverty, from everything! People are beginning to understand that a radical decision is required; daydreams at games are not allowed.

It amazes me that this is coming precisely from there. When people like these seem to know naturally how to break away from all the hardships and be satisfied with little, already feeling that they cannot fulfill themselves through this, it is wonderful!
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From the Convention In Sochi “Day One” 7/13/14, Lesson 1

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