The beginning of this post can be found in: Passover Is A Reminder Of The Future.

Pesach symbolizes the birth of the Israeli nation, which was born out of unity and despite repulsion. As long as we are divided and separated, we are not a nation, but are in exile. Only the good connection and unity between us makes us one community, which is rightly called “Israel.”

When we prepare for this ascent, we clean our homes and we break away from disputes and from being divided. The Seder symbolizes the order of the renewal of our corrupt mutual connections.

When we rid ourselves of this egoistic sourdough, we eat Matzo (unleavened bread) for seven days as a symbol of our ascent to the level of mutual bestowal, which in Egypt was perceived as tasteless. We start off along this path as slaves of separation, as slaves of our nature, and we end the journey as free people, freeborn, and as one nation.

It isn’t at all surprising that we have to relinquish our worship of the values that separate us, no matter where we live. Every such urge becomes a phase of the exodus from Egypt, since Pesach symbolizes our “step over” (Passover) the dispute and the separation towards the level of love.
[156462]

Related Material:
Pesach: Brothers In Spirit
Passover Is A Reminder Of The Future
Short Stories: Crossing The Egyptian Border

Filed under: Egoism, Group Work, Holidays, Inner Work, Israel, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Question: The Jewish nation has gone through a special transformation, the transition from slavery to freedom, to which the feast of Pesach (Passover) is dedicated. What is the meaning of this transformation?

Answer: The meaning of liberation from slavery is acquiring the power of love due to exiting from one’s egoism. We are under the control of the system that advances us, especially given under the power of our egoism, which is called Pharaoh.

First, we feel good in this bondage, but then realize that we are in exile and are slaves to the egoism that rules over us absolutely. We do not agree with this authority and wish to escape from it, from the bad attitudes towards each other, because we see that in this form, it is impossible to move on and exist.

After many failed attempts, we become convinced that nothing can be done and only a miracle can save us. Indeed, egoism is killing us to the extent that we do not see success in anything in our lives in any way. In this way, Pharaoh’s rule between us is manifested.

That is the situation we see today in Israel. There are 23 political parties in a little country, huge gaps between different layers of the population, crisis in the education system, an increasing divorce rate, and growing use of drugs. Half of the citizens would be willing to move to another country if given the chance.

Our unkind attitude to each other can be seen from the behavior on the roads and elsewhere. We are divided by indifference to others and pride. Egoism reigns within us and makes us act in this way. It is not our fault, but it is our nature that plays with us.

One must realize that our nature is the evil inclination, which enslaves us. If we do not get out of it, then our lives will be over and we will not leave behind anything good for our children. Life will become worse and they will not have even those crumbs of happiness that we once had.

This is slavery, and the Passover Haggadah tells us how to escape it to reach freedom. But above all, we need to understand that we are in slavery. After all, while you see yourself in the darkness of egoism that separates us through mutual hatred, it is impossible to understand the reality of freedom from this angel of death.

We have to desire to become a free people in our own country, independent of our desire. We need to wish to achieve love, connection, mutual guarantee, and unity between everyone above our egoistic nature.

The people of Israel once escaped its egoism and rose to a height of unity and love, which is called the building of the Temple. But then we were not able to remain at that height and fell from it.

Rabbi Akiva taught that you cannot leave the principle of love for others as oneself; otherwise, we will again fall back to unfounded hatred. Egypt is the state of causeless hatred between us. After the destruction of the Second Temple 2,000 year ago, we returned to this state of hatred, which is called Egypt.

After thousands of years of living in unity and connection, the Jewish people again went to Egypt, to unfounded hatred. But today the whole world must realize that we are in Egypt.

Once, a small group led by Abraham left Babylon and became united into the people of Israel. But then it went back to Babylon and mingled with all the Babylonians. Today, we again find ourselves facing the same Tower of Babel and are confronted with hatred towards each other and the unwillingness to know and understand others. This is called a confusion of the tongues.

Once again, we have to make the same action as was once performed in ancient Babylon. It is said that acts of the fathers are an example for their sons. Today, we once more need to exit from Egypt, but this will be the last exile before the final liberation.
[156760]
From KabTV’s “A New Life” 3/22/15

Related Material:
Pesach Is A Holiday That Is Always With You
Is A Person Free Or A Slave To His Nature?
A Slave Cannot Understand Someone Who Is Free

Filed under: Ancient Babylon, Egoism, Group Work, Holidays, Inner Work, Israel, Israel Today, Nations of the World, Spiritual Work, Unity, World - No Comments →

In the News (from Maariv Online): “I saw a study on a television program that until recently the United States imported 25% of the global oil exports. It was dependent upon Saudi Arabia and other nations. Today everything has changed.

“It has developed a technology for attaining cheaper gas and oil from shale (a type of mineral), and presently the United States is standing at the top of the market of the principle suppliers of energy.

“Now the United States is facing the opposite problem, finding markets for the sale of its resources. The preferred direction is not the Middle East, but the nations of Europe and the Far East region. This factor explains the loss of interest of the United States regarding Israel. For the allies of the Jewish nation, the main asset is technology, but the United States doesn’t need this and can get along without the Israelis.

“Russia, China and Europe need technology, but the Chinese steal it, and the European Union replaces it with immigrants. Russia has itself defined extremist Islam as a threat to security and on a background of geopolitical changes a situation could be created whose signs are already sprouting up today; its interests will be identical to those of Israel and it will become its ally.

“In order to establish an alliance with Russia, a two-term Republican regime in the White House is required. This will gradually change the character of the mutual relationships and will not bring about a conflict with the United States, that in turn was expressed in the prohibition of supplying ammunition, weapons and spare parts. In a general view it is possible to say that the United States has decided to leave and go away, and what will Israel be for them? It will not have any importance. The time has come to search for new allies.”

My Comment: The strength of Israel will not be in the force of arms and technologies but only through a connection with the upper force that can be increased and expanded endlessly through unity between us according to the method of the wisdom of Kabbalah.
[156184]

Related Material:
The Salvation Of Israel Is In Its Mission
Which Way Will The World Scale Tip?
The War From The Middle East Will Move Through The World

Filed under: Crisis, Israel, Nations of the World, News - No Comments →

The basis of the Jewish nation is not an ethnic but rather an ideological basis. We have to start from way back, ages ago, when humanity was concentrated in ancient Babylon and people lived a simple life but in brotherhood. However, there came a time when conflicts broke out, and neighbors who used to be close and friendly began to feel suspicious of one another and gradually became strangers.

Imagine this situation in the perspective of our time: the neighbor’s grass is greener; he has a modern washing machine, and yesterday I saw a new refrigerator being delivered to his home. His wife is like a thorn in my wife’s eyes since she wears a new dress every day, his children are disrespectful, and what is more, he now has two new pure bred dogs who openly look down at my mutt with contempt…

In short, the ego grew in ancient Babylon and people ceased to feel themselves as one nation. It is as if they began to speak different languages.

Then Abraham, who was a great sage, discovered the inner essence of what was going on and found a true solution to the conflict. He discovered that they had to overcome the ego that had grown in order to maintain the warm and friendly relations between them.

But the majority didn’t accept that approach and it ended in a general break up. The tribes and peoples scattered all over the globe.

Very few followed Abraham and they were the ones who laid the foundations for the Jewish nation and the Jewish people. They established a society that despite the continuously growing ego, kept the feeling of closeness to one another and the warm family relations between them.
[156252]

Related Material:
Passover Is A Reminder Of The Future
Revival Of The Chosen
Where We Come From

Filed under: Ancient Babylon, Holidays, Israel, Nations of the World - No Comments →

Question: What is the difference between the Kabbalistic explanation of our world and Pesach (Passover), and the usual explanation we have known since we were children?

Answer: There are several levels that explain reality, existence, creation, development and the goal of man in it. When we speak about Pesach, for example, we can speak about:

1. The historical period of slavery our nation spent in Egypt.
2. A person’s enslavement to his ego in Egypt, to his Pharaoh.
3. The development of the created being, of the desire, under the influence of the Light, the Creator, and under the influence of darkness, Egypt, and Pharaoh.

At the same time we can speak about different levels:

1. The technical fulfillment of the rituals that in our language are called Mitzvot (commandments),
2. The psychological fulfillment of the commandment of “love thy friend as thyself,” as the general commandment and order of the Creator, which includes all the other commandments and orders as it says in the Torah: Love thy friend as thyself is the great rule of the Torah,
3. The Kabbalistic influence of the Upper Light on the worlds and through them on the souls that undergo different phases of development and their spiritual correction.
   [156182]

Related Material:
The Daily Cleanup In The Heart
A Clean Home And A Clean Heart
Meeting On The Bridge Above Hatred

Filed under: Holidays, Israel, Nations of the World, Q&A - No Comments →

Question: Was there ever a miracle that the Red Sea parted and the Israeli people went through it when they fled from Pharaoh?

Answer: The Torah doesn’t talk about events of our material world. It talks only about what happens between our souls. In this sense, we pass through an inner spiritual state called “Crossing the Red Sea.”

The exodus from Egypt and the freedom from the slavery of Egypt is freedom from the control of our ego, from the “Angel of Death.” In principle, on the way to this freedom, we move through some kind of passage called crossing the Red Sea. It symbolizes the end of Egypt, the end of our ego, after which we can become a free people.

A unique force of unity is hidden within nature that is called the Creator. When we invest in efforts to unite, to get closer to each other against our desire, then through these efforts the higher power creates a state where “splitting the Red Sea” will be discovered. It moves us from the egoistic nature to a nature of bestowal and love.
[155910]
From Israeli Radio Program 103FM, 3/15/15

Related Material:
We Depend On One Another
The Leap Into The “Red Sea”
Under The Yoke Of The Ego

Filed under: Israel, Nations of the World, Spiritual Work - 1 Comment →

Question: The celebration of Passover is a special opportunity to learn something new about oneself, about our people, about our society, and make a qualitative change in our relationships to each other.

Rav Kook wrote that if the people of Israel once had not made this transition from slavery to freedom, the whole world would have never been able to make such a change. Is it true that the people of Israel affect the whole world so much?

Answer: The people of Israel are a special group of people that were selected from the entire world and came out from ancient Babylon in order to unite.

Today, the whole world is in the same mutual hatred, which once was revealed only between the Jews during the destruction of the Temple. Due to this hatred, Jews fell from the height of unity to the level of this world, and that means going into exile.

Today, the Jewish people are mixed with the entire world, and we all are in the same state, which is called Egypt or the slavery of mutual hatred.

Since the Jews have already exited this slavery, we have memories, the genes (Reshimot) of that previous state. This is why we must lead everyone else in exiting this terrible state the whole of humanity exists in now and in setting an example to everyone, meaning, being “a light to the nations of the world.”

Now this task is for the people of Israel who are living in the land of Israel. This is why we were able to come back here. We must realize our mission for the benefit of the whole world. After all, the purpose of creation is that all of humanity become one people, one family, as it is written in the Prophets.
[156994]
From KabTV’s “A New Life” 3/22/15

Related Material:
A Holiday Of Freedom From The Shackles Of Hatred
Pesach Is An Example To All
Pesach Is A Holiday That Is Always With You

Filed under: Ancient Babylon, Group Work, Holidays, Inner Work, Israel, Israel Today, Nations of the World, Spiritual Work, Unity - No Comments →

Question: I think egoism is a positive quality, without which one cannot develop. If a child has no egoism, he does not strive to learn and grow.

Answer: The quest for knowledge, education, culture, to see the world, to fly into space, this is not called evil egoism. The evil inclination is bad relationships between us, the desire to use others, to suppress them.

Just a desire to grow and become a great man is not egoism because by this I may want to bring benefit to humanity. Egoism is a desire to submit others, to enslave them.

Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, is the quintessence of all evil. This special power, inherent in every human being by nature, is called the evil inclination, which spoils our relationships with each other. We are talking only about it, not about the human desire for development.

Pharaoh is called the king of Egypt, because he reigns over us absolutely, without consulting our desire. He just orders us what to do—burdens us with hard work.

Pharaoh commands us to build, that is, to unite. But as soon as we want to unite, he stands between us and makes us quarrel with each other, and enjoys this.

Today’s human being is a slave of a special force called Pharaoh. In nature, there is a force that advances the whole world in the process of evolution. It leads to the overall development of technology, science, culture, and education.

But within this development, there is a force that make us treat each other in a bad, selfish way, to enjoy the fact that we are superior to others, are successful and can harass them.

Everyone wants to be Pharaoh and control others. If he has the ability to put down others so that they have nowhere to escape, he gets pleasure from it. This means that Pharaoh lives within each of us.
[156832]
From KabTV’s “A New Life” 3/24/15

Related Material:
The Daily Cleanup In The Heart
Pesach Is A Holiday That Is Always With You
“Why Is This Night Different From All Other Nights?”

Filed under: Egoism, Holidays, Israel, Nations of the World - No Comments →

Question: Passover begins with the night of the Passover Seder (order)—a ceremony filled with many details. What does the night symbolize?

Answer: The Seder is the order of the exodus from Egypt, the course of action that a person must make within himself to break away from his egoism, to rise above it, and then come back to it in the days of counting the Omer (Sefirat Omer), to correct all his egoistic desires.

Question: If I were your grandson, what advice would you have given me in light of the holiday of Pesach?

Answer: Learn how to break away from your ego.

Question: But what is wrong with my ego?

Answer: It overshadows all your life, and you need to leave it and run away from it. If you do not learn how to do this, you will be getting blows that will nonetheless teach you to escape from it, but it is a very hard, bitter, and long study.

Question: What is the ego?

Answer: The ego is your bad attitude towards other people. You can have ten meals a day, have a family and children, build a palace for yourself, be a billionaire—this is not considered the ego.

The ego means that you want to use a person who is like you to his detriment, in order to rise above him, to suppress him. Ego is measured only in relation to the evil use of others.

Question: What is “the night of Passover Seder“?

Answer: The “night of Passover Seder” is a break, an escape from evil use of others. This night symbolizes that we come to life in the Egyptian darkness and get blows because of our ego. Pharaoh within us undergoes blows.

Imagine that your body receives blows, illness, disappointments, problems from children, from family, from relatives, from parents and grandchildren, from everything that exists. The unfortunate Pharaoh, i.e., your nature is suffering so much that you want to escape from it: “It is better to die than have such a life!” This is Egyptian darkness.

And suddenly out of this darkness, it is revealed that we can rise above it—and then I run away. I flee in a hurry and care about nothing. This is the exodus from Egypt. This is what we celebrate: the fact that the exit, like the eye of a needle, has been opened to us and through it we can escape from there. It is such a hardship!

But we can come to this hard life because we think, understand, and study, and then we can recognize great evil within a small one. Similarly, people listen to lectures about the danger of smoking, and they realize they should not bring themselves to poisoning and severe illnesses; they recognize this evil in advance and escape. We can do the same thing with “Egypt.” And if not, then we will feel our life in utter darkness, especially the people of Israel.

Let’s examine ourselves and reveal that we are in the grip of our ego, called “Pharaoh,” and therefore we will not have a good life if we continue to obey it. Let’s decide as soon as possible, that we must run away from it, escape from the power of Pharaoh existing within each of us, from the power of our ego, at least to break away from it.

If we accept this decision together, it will be very easy for us because all the people come out of Egypt. Let’s come to public agreement, run away, and rise above evil attitude towards each other. Then our life in the country will become completely different. Happy Passover!
[156810]
From KabTV’s “A New Life” 3/24/15

Related Material:
Is A Person Free Or A Slave To His Nature?
Passover Is A Reminder Of The Future
“Why Is This Night Different From All Other Nights?”

Filed under: Holidays, Israel, Nations of the World - No Comments →

We have a means that can help the whole world. When we come out of Egypt, from loathing and mutual hatred, we will see that the true human mutual connection solves all the problems.

Therefore today, Abraham’s method is needed everywhere. It is the present need and if we, the Israeli nation, do not fulfill and present it to humanity, the pressure that is put on us will grow. It is because the world subconsciously feels that we are hiding the key to happiness from it.

But if we do what we have to do and set a good example, the world will receive it with gratitude and respect. On the whole, this is exactly what the world expects of us.

I wish a holiday of unity and connection to all my friends!
[156601]

Related Material:
Pesach Is A Holiday That Is Always With You
Pesach, Matzah, And Bitter Herb
The Meaning Of The Pesach Holiday

Filed under: Group Work, Holidays, Israel, Israel Today, Nations of the World, Spiritual Work, World - No Comments →