Question: What is Pesach?

Answer: “Pesach” is from the word “passover, Poseah, stepping over”. It means stepping over from a world in which egoism operates to a world in which altruism operates.

Question: Four questions are asked on the eve of Passover. What are those questions?

Answer: Those four questions refer to the four levels of egoism that are in every person. They symbolize our desire to exit the power of general egoism, which is divided into four levels.

Therefore, the youngest in the family, that is, the smallest one who is starting to grow, asks questions about his spiritual growth. It is such an allegory.
[297585]
From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 4/19/22

Related Material:
Passover
Questions About Pesach
Pesach Is A Special Holiday

Filed under: Holidays, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “On the Eve of Passover – No Sign of Unity”

Passover is the most festive of all the Jewish holidays. It is a celebration of freedom, when the people of Israel became liberated from the yoke of slavery in Egypt. Back then, the Hebrews united around Moses, and despite internal disagreements, maintained their unity. The reward for their insistence on staying together despite their disputes was not only their freedom, but the declaration of their peoplehood by God.

Today, on the eve of Passover, I am sad to say that we have none of the unity our ancestors had fought for; power struggles reign supreme, and everyone wants to be king. This is a recipe for inviting a modern-day Pharaoh to come and rule over us.

Israel has many enemies. Iran has sworn to destroy it, its proxy terror groups incessantly try to maim it, international movements such as BDS try to cripple its economy, and countries that pretend to be friendly finance anti-Israel movements. Yet, none of these entities pose an existential threat. The only existential threat to Israel is its social division.

Two thousand years ago, we lost our sovereignty due to baseless hatred of each other. For the past two millennia, we have not healed that hatred one bit. If anything, it has only intensified.

Therefore, before we begin to work on “improving” the political situation in Israel, we must understand what it is we must improve. Today, almost everyone takes sides in Israel’s political altercation. Everyone thinks that the country’s deterioration is the other side’s fault.

But the country is not deteriorating because of the Left or because of the Right, if we even know what these words mean today. The country is deteriorating because the Left hates the Right, and vice versa, the secular hate the religious, and the other way around, the rich despise the poor and the poor hate the rich, and the only winner in these—and countless other divisions in Israeli society—is hatred.

Back in Egypt, Pharaoh loved Joseph. He entrusted his entire kingdom in Joseph’s hands, and at that time, the people of Israel were happy in Egypt. When Joseph died, the Israelites became divided and wanted to disperse among the Egyptians. This is when “a new” Pharaoh, who did not know Joseph, arose and began to afflict Israel.

Division also caused the coming of Nebuchadnezzar, who sent Israel to the Babylonian exile. Internal hatred intensified even more during the time of the Second Temple, and brought upon us the Roman general Titus, who destroyed Jerusalem and exiled the relics of the people of Israel in Judah. Even before the onset of the Inquisition, Spanish Judaism experienced an extended period of growing disunity, and the same trend was visible before the rise of Hitler to power.

It is convenient to believe that our enemies appear without cause, but if we ever want to break the vicious circle of periodical expulsions and extinctions, we must begin to search our souls and find where and how we contribute to the empowerment of our haters. If we do so, we will find that our sages have been telling us since the inception of our nationhood that we empower our haters with our hatred of each other.

If we realize that Pharaoh is alive today, governing our hearts and pitching us against each other, enslaving us to his whims and making us think that we are working for ourselves, when in fact we are working for him, then we might choose to follow Moses, the voice of unity within us that says, “No matter how we feel about each other, we are one nation.” It is our choice whom to empower. If we keep empowering Pharaoh, our internal slavery to him will become an external destruction. If we empower Moses and choose unity above all else, our good future is guaranteed.
[311160]

Filed under: Holidays, Israel Today, New Publications - No Comments →

“Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt.” We go through two states: a period of descent and a period of ascent. The descent comes first because this is the time of the revelation of the evil inclination, of all egoistic qualities, and our separation. This is why we will have something to correct later.

First, we plunge into our egoism, and then we correct it and plunge into even greater egoism, and correct it again. Thus, step by step we are getting closer to a complete correction.

We must remember all this—the fact that the Creator does everything. There is none else besides Him! He gives us an evil inclination and He gives us a good inclination, and controls the entire process of correction, changing us state by state. There is nothing that does not come from Him.

We need to cling to the Creator, as a baby clings to the mother, sitting in her arms, and then he is calm and not afraid of anything. We also need to hold on tightly to the ten, within which there is the force of the Creator because it connects. This is how we will move forward.

Nothing happens in order to cause harm; everything is just in order for us to hold on to each other and the Creator more and more tightly. Therefore, we must remember that everything comes from one upper force to help us to grow more and more. There is no evil, everything is for the good.
[310875]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/27/23, “Pesach (Passover)”

Related Material:
“Remember That You Were A Slave In The Land Of Egypt”
Are We Slaves?
A Slave Cannot Understand Someone Who Is Free

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Holidays, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

In our world, there is a certain cyclical change of time, days, weeks, and so on, because the perception of a person is divided in this way. Everything happens relative to him. The person who began to build the upper world in himself revealed it in certain measures of attainment: day-night, week, that is, six days, and the seventh state is called Shabbat (Saturday).

Then he began to determine that his sensations depend on some special light source called the “moon,” and relative to it he is in a state of four definite steps called “weeks.” Then he felt his dependence on another source of light called the “sun,” relative to which he is in a state of twelve or thirteen degrees. These degrees change every four years.

This was determined by Adam, the first person who attained the spiritual world. Everything comes from him to us.
[310227]
From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Days When Miracles Happen” 10/7/12

Related Material:
The Eternal Calendar
The Origins Of Time
The Spiritual Calendar

Filed under: Holidays, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Question: There are certain periods when a person awakens by himself, and when he is awakened by the system. Holidays and Saturdays (Shabbat) seemingly come from the system. Surely something happens to a person after all, right?

Answer: If a person is in the spiritual world, yes, and if he is in our world, then this is psychology. Let’s send you to a desert island and see how you will distinguish the days of the week there, you will count the days and nights like Robinson Crusoe.

Question: As a result, does everything depend on a person’s opinion?

Answer: Of course! No more than that. Because in the spiritual world, these are just the stages of your personal spiritual development. Let’s say you are in your spiritual attainment on Sunday, I am on Thursday, and he is on Tuesday. That’s all.

The corporeal part of holidays is determined by people in our world! If they think about the same thing, they attract a certain light upon themselves. That is, they express light in themselves, a general movement that already influences everyone else. Just as in our world, we know that if a great number of people think about something, it influences the rest, and they will also think in the same way.
[310340]
From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Days When Miracles Happen” 10/7/12

Related Material:
In The Cycle Of The Holidays
Holidays—Stages Of The Correction Of The Soul
A Happy Union With Nature’s Holiday

Filed under: Holidays, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Comment: In our world, there are manifestations of spiritual roots in the form of holidays or Sabbaths.

My Response: The special states that a person goes through as he attains stronger and stronger connection with others are called Moadim (Holidays). Moed is a temporary stop on the way, like a station or a waypoint, meaning a state in which you radically change your inclusion into the common system.

Comment: But the same Sabbath exists also in the corporeal world.

My Response: It does not mean anything. Was there no Saturday or other days of the week before Adam?! There were days and nights, but no one celebrated anything.

Comment: However, it seems that Saturday (Shabbat) is a specific day, even in corporeal perception.

My Response: This is just our psychology! If you are in spiritual ascent, then during the day you can experience all seasons and all days of the year.

During the holidays, we experience some feelings only because a large number of people are celebrating and they create a certain atmosphere and certain force around them, and that is a different matter. But it is not because such a state comes from somewhere above.
[310299]
From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Days when miracles happen” 10/7/12

Related Material:
Holidays From The Perspective Of Kabbalah
Jewish Holidays: A Cycle Of Correction
Kabbalistic Holidays

Filed under: Holidays, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

And they built Arei Miskenot (to Israel), and to Pharaoh, Pithom and Raamses. This is because all the work of Israel fell into the Klipot, and they saw no blessing in their work (Baal HaSulam, Shamati No. 86, “And They Built Arei Miskenot“).

There is only a person and the Creator. If we have thoughts that are alien to spirituality, it means that we are among people who live in this world with their various egoistic desires and plans.

But if we purify our thoughts and desires and direct them more toward connection, it turns out that it is only us who remain in the world and all the others as if disappear and turn into the people of the Creator, that is, they merge with the Creator, become included in Him, and reveal the upper world, eternity, and the perfection of nature.

Therefore if we stop building something for ourselves like the cities of Pithom and Raamses, which were beautiful for the Egyptians, and instead build Kabbalistic groups, one world group, and one united humanity, then this will be one home for everyone. And in this way we will reach the goal.
In the end the building that was built for the sake of egoism collapses, and the building built for the sake of bestowal is restored at its expense, and so we come to the final correction, to the perfect Kli.

If we do not see the completed building yet, it does not mean that it does not exist. If it disappears from our senses, it is only to give us the opportunity to continue working and building further. All our work is intended to build—from all our thoughts and feelings, from everything that we have in the mind and in the heart—one Kli for the revelation of the Creator.
[310558]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/22/23, “Pesach (Passover)”

Related Material:
The Unfortunate Cities—Pithom And Raamses
Exile Is Separation From Brothers
Between The Creator And Pharaoh

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Holidays, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Comment: On holidays like Passover and Sukkot, everything revolves around a meal.

My Response: Meals come from spiritual roots and embody receiving the upper light for the sake of enjoyment.

A meal is not just a feast where you drink and eat. The fact is that all holidays have their own symbols and there are various customs around them. But in general, they express the consequence of spiritual actions and are absolutely clearly constructed in accordance with them.

There is nothing in them that we are used to: “Now let’s go, sit down and eat.” For example, everything that is served on the table in the New Year (Rosh HaShanah)—carrots, a fish head, a pomegranate, and so on—are hints of spiritual actions or phenomena.

Nourishment means receiving the highest light and abundance, not just the food that the body needs. After all, we mean the spiritual body, not our physical body.
[310114]
From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Food Is the Meaning of Life” 9/27/12

Related Material:
A Meal Is A Time Of Contemplation
A Meal As A Means Of Connection
The Meal That Gives Livelihood To The Body And Soul

Filed under: Holidays, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Pesach (Passover) is the biggest holiday for Kabbalists because it represents an exit from our egoism, from the will to receive pleasure, from the state of separation from the Creator, and from distance from our friends.

Passover is the beginning of the spiritual path, when we break away from the pincers of egoism that suffocate us and do not allow us to breathe.

Therefore we want to escape from such egoism in order to move toward connection between us and to restore the common Kli of Adam HaRishon, one common soul, in order to feel in it one spiritual world, one light, one Creator, and all of us together as one.

This is why this holiday is so important. There is no more important holiday than Passover. “Pesach” means “leap” (pasach). When we make a leap, we move from a state of egoistic reception to altruistic bestowal.

When we exit from our egoism, the will to receive, and this earthly nature that is artificially created by the Creator, it is really a great holiday. A fascinating journey into spirituality begins with it.

A person should feel that he needs a spiritual Kli, that he wants to contain all the parts of the soul so that they fill all his inner desire, and all his thoughts and aspirations would be only about the point of connection with the Creator. If he has reached such a state, it means that he has already prepared himself for exodus from Egypt.

Without a sense of exile, it is impossible to reach redemption. After all, the advantage of light is revealed only from darkness. Therefore, if the Creator wants to lead us to bestowal, to a state of being equal to the Creator, He is forced to lead us through exile.

The difference between exile (Galut) and redemption (Geula) is only in one letter “Aleph” – א, meaning the Creator. When the Creator begins to appear in our life, exile turns into redemption.
[309890]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/6/23, “Pesach (Passover)”

Related Material:
Passover—The Holiday Of The Beginning Of Correction
Exile from Spirituality
Redemption Is Life And Slavery Is Death

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Holidays, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 3/8/23

Dear Women,

On this International Women’s Day, however much I can say “Thank you” to women around the world, I cannot express the true amount of gratitude for your consistent immense contribution.

While gray clouds gather over our world with divisive forces tearing away at every sphere of human relations, it becomes increasingly clear that if the world developed according to the will of women, then we would be living in a completely different world.

The Kabbalistic sources write that it is thanks to righteous women that we succeeded in exiting Egypt. “Egypt” in this context has nothing to do with the geographical location. Rather, it means the egoistic human nature behind our divisiveness, conflicts and wars. Therefore, I sincerely hope that your desire will help humanity overcome its egoistic nature and that you could impact a major positive shift in the world.

You have the special ability to understand what it means to care about the world’s future and the next generation of children and families. For the time being, we fail to understand the full extent of the world’s dependence on you, but the more we transition to an increasingly interconnected and interdependent world, the more we will see how much we all depend on you.

I thus hope that you will wish for everyone’s hearts to open up to one another until we discover how we can all live together in harmony and peace.

Filed under: Holidays, Women, Women's Spirituality - No Comments →