Entries in the 'Holidays' Category

Get Secured By The Chief Guarantor’s Signature

Dr. Michael LaitmanFirst of all, I have to commit myself to bonding with others in order to reveal the property of bestowal. But it takes a long time to reach this need, which is called “the time of preparation.” At this stage, I reveal the extent to which I am unable to connect with others, do not desire, and hate it,

This is where I find the hatred. In truth, it’s not hate for another person, but for the property of bestowal itself. Rejecting another person is rejecting the Creator, His property of bestowal. That’s why I have to arrange the support of my environment, of that very friend with whom I want to connect by asking for his help: “I hate you, and I need your help!” After all, there is a very special force called the “mutual guarantee“, as it is said: “So help a man his neighbor.”

That is how I get the support that is deposited in my account since I drew it from another source. And to the extent I achieve this mutual guarantee, where I support him and he supports me, we try to get closer to one other and cannot! Then we discover that the mutual guarantee does not help either because the One who maintains it is absent. We need the Creator to be a witness, a guarantor who signs our contract.

It’s as if we are lacking the “head of the bank” and therefore our guarantee is invalid. It has to be supported by capital and power. That force which can unite us is the Light! And the Light is revealed through our reciprocity. This is what sets us apart from all other cases of guarantee, such as between criminals who have united in order to steal. After all, they did not bond to implement mutual bestowal.

This is a profound discernment which shows why we are able to realize ourselves in this way, although bonding did not help everyone else who pursued material goals and did not draw the Light that reforms to them. There must be a mutual guarantee which contains the force of the Creator, the force of the Light inside of it.

This is described as: “Israel (aiming straight to the Creator), the Torah (the Light of correction), and the Creator are one.” This is the only way to connect: When we (the Creator, the group, and me) are together. Otherwise, it won’t work. There won’t be a force that can engage the engine, and then we will simply get off track. We will not be able to examine ourselves, as if we are in a dead circuit with no electricity in it.

But if we work in a way where one supports another, with the Creator’s power unfolding between us, this is the only way we will arrive at the correct system where the Creator is revealed. That is how the quality of bestowal is revealed among the creatures. We create spiritual vessels out of ourselves, and within them the Light, the Creator is revealed.
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From the lesson on 8/15/11, Selected passages on the Day of Love

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A Worldwide Action Of Love Dissemination!

Dr. Michael LaitmanKabbalists left us clear instructions on what to do with the hatred that becomes revealed to us, telling us that it should be viewed as a means of work by continuously correcting it. Above this hatred, we should constantly build a bridge between us.

That is why a general, global crisis is being revealed in the world today—a global lack of connection between us. And it is being revealed precisely in order for us to create this connection!

This is so simple, and the picture that emerges is so clear. I don’t see any difficulties here. We just have to explain it again and again in order to open a person’s eyes. What is happening in front of us right now is a clear revelation of the broken vessel, whose parts are unable to connect with one another and therefore, they suffer.

We want to lovingly inform all of these broken parts that we won’t feel better unless we glue our broken vessel together. A few years ago I already said that there is a crisis ahead of us, and now it has happened. Soon we will reveal newer and newer problems, and it will only keep gaining speed.

We have to understand that what’s happening is the revelation of our breaking, and we have to arm ourselves with the remedy that prevents the illness. Then we will accept every blow with understanding and will immediately correct it.

This way, we can transform the evil that becomes revealed to goodness, increasing it by 620 times! After all, the Light of NaRaNHY is “620 times” greater than the Light of Neshama of the still level. And if I now turn hatred to love, I earn 620 times more Light!

Imagine how wonderful it would be if goodness 620 times greater than the force of evil was now revealed in the world !? What else would the world lack? Everything would be present in abundance, including sources of energy, good ecology, tranquility, and harmony.

Besides, inside of this we would reveal immortality and eternity because upon this bridge between us, we reveal a connection with the Root and rise to Its level! All forms of connection are present inside of us, and we have to start working on them: on the virtual, global, integral connection. We have to correct all of these destroyed connections and turn them into good ones.

Let us hope that we will attain love on this “day of love,” which is celebrated today. This is a good sign, and the perfect time to enter all of the virtual networks and explain what is love. Let this be our act of “love dissemination.” With this appeal, I turn to all of my readers and students all over the world!
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From the lesson on 8/15/11, Selected excerpts on the Day of Love

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The Day Of Love After The Day Of Destruction

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Why are we taking about hatred if most people don’t feel hatred for each other, but just indifference?

Answer: When I think that the grass is greener on the neighbor’s lawn or I envy his new car, this is called hatred. That’s because I assess my well-being in relation to my environment, and if the comparison is not in my favor, this causes me to feel hatred for others.

With their successes, they force me to feel bad and to suffer. And naturally, I hate them for that. You may not be aware of it, but it’s so.

It’s impossible for me to be indifferent to others because we are connected within one system and I undoubtedly assess my state by what others have. That is how we are by nature, wishing to see everyone else as lower than us and to have everyone serve us. If you don’t understand this, then you simply lack awareness.

When do I reveal that I want everyone to be my servants? When I try to serve them! This lets me see just how much I want the opposite!

It’s not simple revealing your hatred. One reaches Mount Sinai (the mountain of hatred) and the reception of the Torah only after a very lengthy preparation, the Egyptian slavery and the journey around the desert. As long as you don’t reveal your hatred, you do not need the Torah.

There are many people in the world who deem themselves righteous and think that they don’t wish bad for others, that they love others. But they simply don’t feel their hatred. If they really tried loving others, they would reveal just how much they hate them. One has to go through the Egyptian exile in order to reveal hatred.

This is why the “day of love” (Tu B’Av, the 15th of Av) happens after the day of destruction, the 9th of Av. After we reveal the evil, the enormous, horrible crisis, the hatred between us, this is followed by 5 days (5 levels) when we correct ourselves and reach love. It happens only in this form!

Therefore, in our regular lives, if a husband and wife don’t quarrel, then they don’t reveal their love. Sometimes people pick a fight on purpose, doing it instinctively in order to feel sweetness and the taste of their relationship by making up. Indifference is the worst possible thing.
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From the lesson on 8/15/11, Selected excerpts on the Day of Love

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“Spiritual” Practices: The Final Revision

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Egoism shrewdly and inventively depicts various pictures before me. How can I discriminate the lie in them, which appears like love for others? After all, all kinds of religions and methods also talk about love.

Answer: In our world “love for the neighbor” is a simple, primitive game of small egoists. Can you really find real, exalted love for the neighbor anywhere, which is really practiced on an ongoing basis?

True, people create separate settlements in order to live in love with one another: There is a village like that in Italy, one in India, and an entire city in Asia. But if you look a bit closer, you will see that they are still the same egoists who just decided to introduce more comfortable social customs. This is more comfortable and pleasant for them, and therefore, they have united in order to make their lives nicer.

Once upon a time kibbutzes flourished in Israel—agricultural settlements with collective property similar to a collective farm. People decided that it was worthwhile for them to live together because this brought them more benefit. “Let’s give up some of our egoism and then we will feel good.” Everything’s clear about this, but is this really altruism?

Humanity supposes that conceding to the neighbor makes a person an altruist. However, people who are slightly more informed about human nature or who study the science of Kabbalah know that any concession has to come with a profit. No matter what a person is giving up, you can find what he is gaining by that. Even if the profit is concealed, it is definitely present.

For example, I am willing to live in a kibbutz because this removes my worries about how to arrange my life. Is that not a profit? I have no worries. I simply do what I am told. But development follows its course and with time kibbutzes became outdated. As a whole, these kinds of communities have no future.

We already see that all forms of interconnection between people have to change due to the egoism that grows in them. Changes continue to take place, and this inner dynamic has to be realized in some way as there will be an explosion otherwise.

This happened over the course of history to various religions, faiths, and methods. Today they are undergoing a worldwide outburst because man has set out on a search once again. He is conducting the final revision: Can these methods offer anything real?

After this analysis these practices will fall for the last time. After all, today we are checking them in relation to the integral mechanism that nature places before us. We have never had this criterion yet. People are once again turning over the pages of all sorts of practices, confessions, and mystical teachings, trying to understand: Can they help us in the new, integral world?

This process will take a short time and will quickly come to an end with all the expectations crashing down. Everyone will see that it is pointless to wait for help from them. Any subject that is checked will persist for a few years at most after which it will reveal its inadequacy.

After all, if you don’t change man’s nature so he becomes just as integral inside of him as nature itself, then no recipes will help him. The only method that makes man global, integral, and united with others is the method of attracting the Light that reforms, the science of Kabbalah. Every person just needs to be given the opportunity to realize his evil. Then all the means and their combinations will turn out powerless, and this entire business of “spiritual” tricks will end up non-existent.

Man will not be able to calm himself down because the world has changed and the problem is no longer how to calm down, but a “conflict of interests.” No one will be able to survive in the integral system without becoming fit for it.
From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/7/11, Matan Torah

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Everyone’s Dancing

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Today we will be holding a convention to celebrate the holiday of Shavuot. But when I imagine what will happen there, I don’t want to go. Does that mean I have to rise above reason?

Answer: People will dance there, but you don’t like to dance. There will be delicious food there, but you won’t like it. There will be many children there, and you are not too excited about that. It turns out that there really is no reason for you to go.

Or you can imagine the situation differently: What do I care about the food, the movements people make with their bodies, the songs, the screaming children, and all the people who are there? All of this is the external form of the desire that is being awakened by the Creator. He puts people together who wish to come closer to Him. Out of the entire Malchut of the world of Infinity, He has gathered a group of separate desires in order to unite them in the future. That is why He now gives them this necessity. They don’t even know why things turned out that way. Every person has his own reasons for coming and every person imagines why he is there differently. But I came there in order to join the Creator’s desire, which is hidden inside of them.

You can sit quietly in the corner and constantly try to keep an intention of being connected with their desire. I don’t look for their inner urges, but precisely for the desire that the Creator awakens in them. This is what I need. This need is my soul. After all, I have just the point in the heart and I have to attach these desires to myself, which will give me the volume of the spiritual vessel. Then I will be able to advance.

However, if I don’t make a connection with them, then where will I get the desire, where will I find my soul? Into what will I receive the revelation of the Creator? By myself I don’t and won’t have anything besides the initial point. So should I not go to the convention? Should I let the opportunity go by?

Question: Can’t I watch the broadcast on TV and join in people’s desire that way? Is it really necessary to be physically present?

Answer: This depends on what makes it easier for me to be permeated by their desire and its outburst, and on how many efforts I will make for it. Maybe if I watch it from home, I will receive 50 pounds of desire from them, but if I go there, then even while sitting in the corner, I will experience such great repulsion that I will barely acquire 2 pounds. However, if I prepare ahead of time, and if I start dancing together with them even though I absolutely hate doing anything like that, if I hold the intention inside—why am I doing this?—then it will be very beneficial.

We all work above the desire even though we don’t talk about this all the time. All spiritual work is done above the desire, so the mind will rule over the heart.
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/6/11, Writings of Rabash

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Celebrating The Giving Of The Light

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What do we celebrate during holiday Shavuot?

Answer: During Shavuot, we celebrate the giving of the Torah. It’s the day when all who are regarded as “Israel” (“Isra-El,” meaning “straight to the Creator”) were given the Torah, the method of self-realization through free will, rather than coming to the pre-programmed state of fulfillment under the impact of the Light pushing them to it.

On the contrary, they are able to see themselves, the entire reality, and even the Creator. Instead of Him doing it, they can decide that they truly desire to reach this goal, as if He wasn’t the one who supplied it.

We celebrate that we are able to understand, feel, and attain the upper force that works within us and can identify ourselves with its acts. Clearly, this upper force, the Creator, works either way. However, we attain how He works; we desire for Him to work on us, and even before He takes any action, we already strive toward Him. This is how love is measured.

Question: So, only with the giving of the Torah did we obtain free will, the freedom to accept the method and realize it willingly, whereas previously, we didn’t have any such free will, did we?

Answer: Correct. Hence, it is regarded as freedom from the angel of death, “being a free nation in our own country (our desire),” being free. What does such freedom entail? Now I am able to express my own view of the purpose of creation and our path.

Can you switch to another purpose? You can’t. Can you choose a different path? No. What is so unique about it then? I take my part in it; I make a decision; I choose this desire; I am present in this process. Otherwise, I’m not. The Creator gave us a chance to participate. This means I assert myself and my independence, which happens in the degree I identify myself with the Creator by becoming similar to Him. I am either a beast or a human.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/29/2011, Shamati #40

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Lag B’Omer: The Holiday Of Light

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe holiday of Lag B’Omer (the 33rd day of Omer) is celebrated to honor Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, the author of The Book of Zohar, who died on that day. In the chapter “Idra Zuta,” article “Azinu,” The Book of Zohar describes Rabbi Shimon’s passing in this way: For the Lord bestowed blessing, even eternal life upon him” (Psalm 133). Rabbi Abba said: The holy Light did not finish proclaiming life until his speeches were completed. I recorded it and thought of recording some more, but did not hear. And I did not lift my head because there was a very great Light that I could not look upon. Rabbi Eleazar and Rabbi Abba stood up and took him away from his place. And the whole house was filled with a fragrant scent. They placed him on the bed and no one touched him besides Rabbi Eleazar and Rabbi Abba. When they carried the bed out of the house, they heard a voice. Then everyone entered and gathered together for the celebration to honor Rabbi Shimon.

The Zohar uses these colorful descriptions because it is written in the language of Midrash (story telling). But of course, it is not talking about his physical death, but the passing of the soul which goes on to the state of the end of correction. That is why this is such an important event and why this entire system, which includes his students, receives such a great Light.

This is not talking about a person’s death, but about the thinning out of a spiritual Partzuf. First the Light comes and dresses into a Partzuf, forming inside it Taamim, Nekudot, Tagin, and Otiyot. The clothing of the Light into a Partzuf and its disappearance make the Light fit for being used, and that is how Rabbi Shimon’s soul attains its true action—the last level, the general end of correction. This is what The Zohar describes.

All the other friends, all the souls that depended on him and that resulted from his Partzuf, which became filled with Light and is now freed from it, now receive through it the entire Light that leaves it. They are those who were attached to it, connected to it, and participated in attracting Light when it passed away.

The death of a Kabbalist means that the entire Light he absorbed inside of his soul together with his students, accumulating it with their help for all humanity, is now made free by him and passed to all the other souls. Now this Light becomes like an illumination, like surrounding Light which he gives to others. His passing symbolizes this passage of Light.

That is why we celebrate this day in this way and are happy about receiving this upper Light, which is called “The Zohar,” capable of correcting all the souls, of connecting and elevating every person to the Creator’s level. That is why this holiday is called the holiday of Light—the Light that reforms, the Light of correction. Every person has to ask himself: Does he really use this Light?

This Light has been given to us, but are we using it and are we realizing ourselves correctly? This is called participating in the holiday of Lag B’Omer.
From the program on Lag B’Omer on 5/17/11

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Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What does it mean that each of Rabbi Shimon’s nine students represented a separate Sefira? Can Kabbalists like that exist in our time as well?

Answer: The ten Kabbalists who made it possible to write The Book of Zohar are the ten main Sefirot. Each of them, by attaining the root of his soul, understood that he belongs to one of their main ten Sefirot, and then their inner unification produced such an enormous force that they could fully reveal the upper Light and “splash it out” on us. That is why this book is called “The Zohar,” according to the name of the Light that shines in the upper part of the world of Atzilut (GAR de Atzilut).

I don’t think that today we need Kabbalists of such high stature. They have already revealed everything, have illuminated the entire system of souls, and then all the other Kabbalists joined the same system. This produced an entire corrected net of souls inside of the common system of souls, which are not corrected yet.

Now, if we want to correct ourselves, then it’s enough for us to read The Book of Zohar and as much as we can, with all our might, to try to join its authors, their souls, as well as the Kabbalists who follow them. They became the corrected part in the common system of souls, and if we want to join them, then we will be able to use all of the Lights and forces that operate in their mutual unification. That is how we will be able to use the Light of The Book of Zohar.

Essentially, we have already received everything! There already exists a corrected system of souls inside of the system that still hasn’t corrected itself. We have the book at our disposal and all of the science of Kabbalah in general, which we study by the method of Baal HaSulam. This is enough for us!

It’s clear that there will still be new revelations, we will explain everything more and will better understand what is written in this book. But from above we have already received everything in order to complete our correction.

Kabbalah is studied in a group. And every person in the world who feels that he has to correct his soul and aspires to reveal why he exists, where the root of his life is and its reason, will eventually find his way into the same net—into one of our groups. There he will begin to reveal what we are doing and how to reveal the root of the soul, how to reveal the spiritual system in which we exist, although we are there in an unconscious state for now. So how can we come to realize this system?

When we come to the group and start studying, then at first we see people in front of us. But then, after we have studied for some time, we begin to understand that these are not people, but an internal connecting net that unites us.

For now this system is dysfunctional, but we are trying to reveal a certain connection in it, looking for a force that could correct us, make us one person with one heart, bring us to love for the neighbor, mutual guarantee, and mutual unification.

This mutual aspiration toward one another in order to reveal the connection between us in the unity of hearts brings us to the sensation of that net. We feel that it exists. We suddenly begin to feel that it is present. And then, inside of this connecting system, we see ourselves and all of the great Kabbalists that enter this net as its corrected elements and support it, conducting Light inside of this system, nourishing it by the Light of unification, love, and mutual participation among all its elements.

It doesn’t matter how we sit together: physically or virtually. The most important thing is that we feel together and want to become part of the same system, to join the Kabbalists. And if we read The Book of Zohar, then we pull nourishment, force, understanding, and spiritual sensation from these souls, from that corrected net, just like children pull it out of adults. This enables us to become part of that system ourselves and attain mutuality, connection, and concessions, canceling ourselves and uniting with everyone.
From the program about Lag B’Omer on 5/17/2011

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Israel’s Independence Day: Dizzy From The “Achievements”

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: I recently read an article that talks about how things that became successful throughout the world did not catch on in Israel, such as fantasy films and complicated media gadgets. Why is that?

Answer: We, the people of Israel, are “primitive animals,” the most backward nation if we do not live in a framework that’s appropriate for us. This is evident from the culture, the upbringing, and everything else happening here. We can’t do anything right, and we’re also proud of that.

We don’t understand that we don’t and won’t have any achievements until we place ourselves beneath the upper force. Compared to the achievements of the Jews abroad, we have practically nothing to be proud of here. Of course, we do manage to do some things well, but considering our potential, it’s a miserable fraction of what we can do.

We have always compared ourselves to other nations, but that is incorrect because our entire potential comes from Bina, not Malchut. So why do we always retreat? In essence, our “achievements” are failures compared to what we are able to do.

Nothing will help us. If we don’t connect to our Source, then we simply won’t survive.

This is why we celebrate Independence Day, when we are happy about the opportunity to do spiritual work and to ascend spiritually. This day is not about “being chased into the pound,” which is what happened to our bodies. We can’t look at life that way.

Independence Day for us is a reminder of the chance that has been given to us. By realizing this opportunity correctly, we will be able to bring the whole world to a spiritual ascent, to eternity and perfection. The issue here is not the state of Israel or the nation of Israel, but the spiritual essence of what is happening. We have been brought to the place of spiritual realization, the place where the spiritual redemption of the whole world begins.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/10/11, ‘Inheritance of the Land”

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There’s A Place For Everything

Dr. Michael LaitmanEven in the material world we don’t have any opportunity to become a nation living in our own country, on our own land unless we first correct ourselves spiritually. Only the forces descending from above build the material conditions for us here.

In general, we must try to understand to the best of our ability what the material world is. It is not a goal, but the smallest, most external means to start ascending. In this extremely flawed material reality that is lying on the lowest level, we must start carrying out the work of unification in order to enter the spiritual world.

After that we will turn to all the other nations and show them this work so they would also unite with each other. As a result, all of us, the whole world will become one single whole, one family, and will then ascend to its spiritual level. That is the only way we will realize our predestination, the purpose for which we exist.

We have to give everything its proper importance: our world compared to the spiritual world, the material nation of Israel compared to its spiritual analogue, the material state of Israel compared to the spiritual land of Israel. Every thing has to have its own place according to the final goal. Precisely this determines an object’s importance and the means to use it.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/10/11, “Inheritance of the Land”

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