Question: How did the exile of the two tribes happen? Were they “slightly in touch” with “Babylon” without “dissolving” in it completely?

Answer: Yes. This state of affairs has continued for two thousand years. If they lived absolutely separately, isolated from the rest of humanity, nobody would ever “pick” on them. However, it is impossible for spiritual reasons. They had to connect with other nations, thus leading humanity forward to the future ascent, to the upcoming “enlightenment.”

That’s why the upper governance “spun” things in a way that they involuntarily were forced to live among other nations and somehow transfer the wisdom to them. The Jews always were physicians, clerks, etc. They initiated banking and various technologies. Everything started with them.

Question: And while they were in a state of unity, they weren’t in exile?

Answer: Right. They entered one or another country poor and ragged, huddled together. They were accepted in that “shape.” For the time being, everything went well and they led quiet and peaceful lives.

However, as soon as they were settling down and, most importantly, getting richer, the distance between them grew. The level of equality and brotherhood among them rapidly diminished. There were rich and poor Jews. The “scalpel” that separated them from each other plunged more deeply into the gap created between them. It was then that the problems arose and they immediately become hated until they were expelled from the countries they were living in.

We can draw a parallel with the Egyptian exile. First, the Jews were given the land of Goshen, a fertile piece of land and they started developing the country. This period is described as “seven years of satiation.”

Then, why did the “seven years of hunger” come? Why did the new ruler of Egypt intimidate them? Why did Egyptians hate the Jews and force them out of the country?

It happened because the Jews grew “fat.” It was a result of their “compliance” with egoism during the “seven years of satiation,” at the time when the Jewish influence was very high in Egypt. They “sold” themselves to egoism. As soon as they reached the maximum level of selfishness, “seven years of hunger,” the period of suppression and overpowering began. This period ended by “expelling” the Jews from Egypt.

In essence, the same processes took place in other countries. The last, most vivid example is Germany. There the Jews really strove to be like the Germans. They were lawyers, doctors, politicians. One of them seriously aimed at becoming Chancellor. We all know the result.

Question: How did the two surviving expelled tribes of Israel live in Babylon? In essence, wasn’t anti-Semitism that accompanies the Jews until today was born at that time?

Answer: Generally speaking, anti-Semitism originated in ancient Babylon since Abraham’s group was meant to exit, to get away from there. Then, the same situation repeated in Egypt and once again during the Babylonian exile. It is about the same state of equilibrium or absence of balance between the Light and the desire.

However, the first open manifestation of anti-Semitism happened in Babylon at the time of Nebuchadnezzar after the loss of the Temple. The truth is that the Jews were not pushed out of there; rather, the terms of the exile expired. After Haman made an unsuccessful attempt to exterminate all the Jews in the country, a new king Cyrus, Esther’s son, а patron of the Jews came to power. By the way, during the Babylonian exile the queen of Babylon was a Jewish woman. So, her son Cyrus helped the Jews to return to Israel and gave them everything they needed to resurrect the Temple.

It was the time of prophets who shared the exile with their people and exited from the exile together with them. At that time, the people were at a spiritual level, not in the power of complete darkness as it happened later
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From KabTV’s “Babylon Yesterday and Today” 9/03/14, Part 5

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In the News (from the Jerusalem Post): “Executive director of the Kings Bay Y in Brooklyn, was attacked by a pro-Palestinian protester following the exhibition basketball game between the NBA’s Nets and Maccabi Tel Aviv.

“Petlakh said he required eight stitches and his nose was broken after being punched on Wednesday while exiting the Barclays Center arena following the Nets’ 111-94 victory.

“Fans verbally sparred inside the arena as the game was ending when pro-Palestinian protesters began shouting slogans and a pro-Israel fan grabbed a Palestinian flag from one of the protesters, according to Petlakh.

“As the crowds spilled out of the arena and onto the street, one of the protesters took a swing at Petlakh, who was with his 14 and 10-year-old sons. The assailant ran away and Petlakh sought medical care. He reported the incident to the police, who are investigating the attack as a hate crime.”

My Comment: I can only say one thing and that is that one hundred years later history repeats itself. Before WWII, Baal HaSulam warned of impending tragedy and offered the only means: uniting the Jewish people for the revelation of the Creator and attracting the whole of humanity to this action.
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Question: What is the inner meaning of the Sukkot holiday?

Answer: Sukkot is a very important holiday because it celebrates a spiritual ascent. At the end of the year, we reflect on the results of our critical self-analysis.

If we’ve worked well over the course of the year, searching for ways to correct ourselves so as to return to the Creator, then we’ve discovered our guilt in a multitude of transgressions.

And this is precisely the result of our good work, scrutiny of ourselves, and our attitude toward the friends, which showed how full we still are of the evil inclination, hatred toward others, rejection, and egoistic calculations.

After sitting in judgment over ourselves, we deliver a sentence called the start of the new year—Rosh HaShana (head of the year). We want for the Creator, the force of love and bestowal, to be our head, our king.

Rosh HaShana is the coronation of the King as the greatest of all, embodying bestowal, love, warmth, and fulfillment. We value these qualities highly, which is why we extoll this force of nature and wish to become like it, up to total adhesion with it. This is the decision to make on Rosh HaShana, to continue to follow through on it.

Hence, there are two judgments on Rosh HaShana: one severe and one gentle, which precedes the ten days of repentance. During this time we must check our work on our unification and clarify how to achieve unity. After all, the more we correct ourselves uniting as one man with one heart, the more we resemble the one and singular Creator.

With this decision we draw the Surrounding Light, a special luminescence, and see which desires in us are not subject to correction since they cannot be corrected for the sake of bestowal and used to unite with the friends. The other desires, however, can be corrected and used to bring goodness, love, connection, and unity to the friends.

The ten days of repentance separate in all my desires the part that is not yet correctable from that which can be corrected. This separation is called “His left hand over my head”—a left embrace that leaves outside those desires that cannot be embraced.

And then begins the holiday of Sukkot, when “His right hand will embrace me.” During Sukkot, a special luminescence shines on those who wish to unite with all the creatures and cleave to the Creator, to the upper qualities of bestowal and universal love.

The holiday of Sukkot lasts seven days, in accordance with the lights that we need to obtain: Hessed, Gevurah, Tifferet, Netzah, Hod, Yessod, and Malchut, or the guests that take turns visiting the daily holiday feasts: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph, and David.

It is written, “I have created the evil inclination, and the Torah whose Light returns to the source.” The Creator has made bad qualities, rather than good: the evil inclination, our ego, which prevents us from uniting, treating each other well, and bestowing to others.

Love of others is the great rule of the Torah, but we don’t want to observe it. The evil in us is everything that opposes our unification with others. This is the meaning of the excerpt, “I have created the evil inclination, and the Torah as a spice.” The Torah is not the physical book resting on the shelf, but a special method of utilizing the force of nature called “Light.” If I make use of this Light, putting myself under its influence, I convert all the evil, intentionally made by the Creator, into good.

From an egoist who rejects and detests others without any reason, I turn into someone loving, until I unify with everybody as one man with one heart.

Until Sukkot we engaged in judgment over ourselves, clarifying what can and cannot be corrected. And it turned out that we are full of evil, like a pomegranate that’s filled with seeds but is rotten through and through.

On Rosh Hashana we’ve decided that we want to become bestowing and raise the Creator, the force of love, to reign over us. Over the subsequent ten days of repentance we check the ten Sefirot of our soul, the ten parts of our desire, clarifying what can and cannot be corrected. For we contain impure desire (Klipot) that aren’t subject to correction, which we therefore simply restrict, separate, or freeze.

And the correctable desires become corrected in the days of Sukkot. This is the first correction of the desire, and it is done by virtue of the surrounding Light that shines on us. The symbol of the surrounding Light is the Sukkah, a special tabernacle or canopy.

We make a shade because we don’t want to receive the Light for ourselves, for our own benefit; rather, we desire change, connection with the Creator, the Light, for the sole reason of giving it to others. That is what a righteous person is—one who takes only what’s necessary for his sustenance, and gives away the rest. Such is the corrected reception symbolized by the Sukkah.
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From a KabTV’s “A New Life” No. 439, 9/30/2014

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The revelation of the upper force takes place in 125 degrees by which a person approaches the Creator closer and closer. But this process advances in a unique way. To the degree that I approach, I suddenly feel the darkness of an even greater concealment again. And I advance again, overcoming the darkness, making a discovery, and finding myself in darkness again.

This is like in school, where with every ascent to the next class, the study becomes more serious and difficult. In first grade we learn while playing, in second grade it is a bit more difficult, in third grade, even more difficult. When we reach the higher grades, learning becomes intense and in the university it is very difficult.

The levels of difficulty rise sharply, exponentially, and we must take this into account. But we learn to help each other this way and to use the help of the Kabbalists and the entire organized system that has been prepared for us.

As in regular science, we use all the achievements, beginning from ancient times until our day. And even though it becomes difficult for us to advance, millions of people are working in the forefront of science today, something that requires many resources, materials, and financial means, and so science evolves.

The more we advance, the more the requirements for work increase, in quantity and quality, and mass participation is required. So, today all of humanity is entering into a unique level; many people feel the emptiness of life, which can be filled only through searching for the Creator.

For this reason a person loses the taste in life; this is something that is designed to push him towards discovery of the upper force. He will find fulfillment only if he discovers the source of life that created him and plays “hide and seek” with him.

Sukkot is a special holiday. This is the time when all who are searching for the Creator already begin to feel the warm waves, the embrace that comes from it, and this is a wonderful feeling. Like in a game of “hide the thimble,” when getting close to the place it will be found, we also say, “Warm, warmer, very hot!”

Sukkot is a special time even for those people who are still not included in the search for the upper force, but who already feel a little of what is missing. If during the holidays they at least join us somehow participating in discussion circles, then they will feel that a very unique feeling of inspiration and elevation of spirit is present that envelops all people.

We hope that together we will get to feel this warmth and discovery!
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 10/5/14

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Question:  A significant portion of the original sources emerged during the “vague” period of the destruction of the Temple. So, the books that appeared at that time had to be very elevated because they were written between the fall and the upcoming ascent. Is that right?

Answer: Of course! It was the time when the great Talmud was written and also a tremendous number of other books were created on this edge, including The Book of Zohar.

Those who wrote these books knew that people would fall into absolute darkness and rise again after many generations. They knew that in a number of centuries these books would surface again in order to let people implement the knowledge at the next higher level, together with all of humanity, all of Babylon.

Before, it was prohibited to put this knowledge in writing. Everything had to live in a person, and people worked internally. Why would anybody document anything if this wisdom was already written in the annals of their souls? Absolutely every bit of knowledge was inscribed in the memory of the “spiritual computer.” However, when people started losing connection with this computer, they obtained permission to write down the knowledge on paper. They began writing books, which is why we have ​the​ Babylonian Talmud, Mishnah, Gemarah, and The Book of Zohar.

Even today, after hundreds and thousands of years, there are dozens of volumes left, even though many parts of The Book of Zohar did not survive! Can you imagine how much they wrote?

That’s why the “Talmud” became a household word denoting something huge and comprehensive. We are talking about an incredible number of canonical texts that nobody is ever allowed to correct. Even if some lines seem wrong to us, they should still be left intact. It’s quite possible that later we’ll figure out that these lines are correct. We should know what is written there.

That’s why the Old Testament, i.e., the Torah, has remained intact since then. All further editions are identical to the archeological findings, no matter how old they are.

Question: So, the original texts carry some core rod?

Answer: Yes, they do. Even now, we continue studying the laws that explain how we should relate to these texts. We cannot change a thing in them! No matter what we think about the texts, we are strictly prohibited from changing them.

However, it is acceptable to make adaptations with references to the original text. At this time, we have processed The Book of Zohar slightly and made it more accessible to the general public. Otherwise, it is extremely hard and practically impossible to understand what’s written in these books, since they were meant for a different type of intellect or perception.

Question:  If so, the texts are written on the verge of the light and darkness, on the edge of the light and the exile. Do they carry the fetus of our further ascent?

Answer: The Mishnah, Talmud, Schulchan Aruch and many others were written and studied during the various phases of the exile. Starting with the fifteenth century, from the time of the Ari, the major book that acquired the biggest popularity among scholars is undoubtedly The Book of Zohar.

The two tribes from Abraham’s group carried the books with them through the entire exile and continued observing the principle of “loving their neighbor as themselves.”

The rest of the tribes vanished. They didn’t take the books with them because they were descendants of the First Temple, during which writing was completely prohibited.

Question: Does it mean that during the exile people were united around these writings? Were they written to attain unity?

Answer: Yes. Their task was to store the wisdom throughout history. At the end of the descent, The Book of Zohar had to be revealed. It was meant to help people leave the exile.
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From KabTV’s “Babylon Yesterday and Today” 9/03/14, Part 6

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From the book The Essential Secret of the Jews, M. Brushtein

Chapter 4 – The Crisis – Not a Force Majeure

“No calamity comes to the world but for Israel.” (Baal HaSulam “Introduction to The Book of Zohar)

The Crisis of the Genre

We live in exciting times. Today, many well-known facts, historical events, scientific discoveries, etc. are criticized, revised or even denied. What used to be well-known and proven once and for all, today is not.

First, a new version of a well-known event appears. Then a version that denies the new version. Then a version that augments the new one and denies the one that was denied. Finally, a version that denies all the versions without exception, but confirms the original one. In general, life has become merrier.

As a result, we no longer believe in anything. The Mongols conquered Russia or vice versa. The Americans were on the moon or the moon landing was filmed in Hollywood; the human descended from apes or appeared immediately; Einstein created the theory of relativity or someone else …

With regard to the global conspiracy, there, as they say, is “lawlessness.” Bankers, secret lodges, the world’s governments, intelligence agencies – all weave plots and conduct covert expansion using the global crisis, psychotropic weapons, and Internet technologies.

The same trend can be seen behind those attempts. People are interested in the reasons. Events themselves recede into the background, but the reasons – to the foreground. People want to know, not what happened and when, but why and most importantly – who is behind this.

The crisis of this genre is not observed yet, although all the possible causes of almost all well-known events have been listed and investigated. Now, people became interested in less probable causes and even impossible reasons. Keyboards click, books are printed, interest continues unabated. In fact, it is normal. Somewhere deep down, a person wants to know the truth, only the truth, and nothing but the truth.

Thus, the reasons are being looked for, the reasons are being examined, and the reasons are gradually drying up. Meanwhile, one reason, common to all events without exception, no one has investigated and is not investigating. At least, no one recognizes it.

At the same time, this reason, rather is the factor that is invisible always, everywhere and anywhere. Everyone knows it, but none considers it. It is a killer in the literal and figurative sense and at the same time is absolutely unpredictable. It is not studied, although it is sometimes mentioned. I will not keep you in suspense any longer. This factor has found its residence in the legal literature, although it looks externally like a musical term.

The force majeure (French) in civil law is the emergence of extraordinary and unavoidable circumstances that exempt the contracting parties from fulfilling their contractual obligations…

In all civil legal systems the irresistible force is the circumstance that frees from liability.

The legal force majeure usually includes decisions of the highest state authorities (prohibition of imports or exports, foreign exchange restrictions, etc..), strikes, wars, revolutions, etc. (Legal Dictionary)

Is not it amazing? We behave as if something depends on us. As if we decide and manage, as if there is no one at all except us. There is no animate or vegetative, or inanimate nature. There are only people – reasonable, that do what they want.

That is our fault. We do what we can, but this force majeure does what it wants. So, it reigns the world, not us.

The question is whether we can agree with this force majeure.
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We remember that this last summer was hot in every sense. Most of the whole year that passed gave our nation the longest military operation in many years. Its uniqueness is in the fact that it ultimately marked and emphasized the dead end we have reached. The battle is over, but there is still a threat and there is nowhere to which we can escape.

The moment another round is over, the shadow of the next round is hanging over our heads. Each time we stall for different reasons and postpone any decision making hoping that things will somehow work out on their own.

But things haven’t changed for decades. On the contrary, the connection between the contradictions around and inside our country is growing increasingly tighter. It is a clear sign that we have to do some self-clarifications before we can clarify and face our problems.

The prophet Jonah found himself in a similar situation thousands of years ago and is the hero of the book that we are used to reading on Yom Kippur. Strangely, this story keeps repeating regularly and although the atmosphere or the environment may change, it is always relevant. Our times are no exception.

The plot seems like an adventure novel, as Jonah receives a mission from God to help the people of Nineveh overcome the mutual hatred they feel and to fulfill the principle of love thy neighbor as thyself.

It was Abraham who first fulfilled this idea and founded the Jewish nation on this basis. It makes no difference today how he attained it, but the important thing is that the Jewish nation succeeded in doing what is basically impossible.

“What would have happened to mankind if Abraham hadn’t been a man of sharp perception and if he had stayed in Ur and kept his ideas to himself and not founded any unique Jewish nation? The world without Jews would undoubtedly be very different than it is today.” (Paul Johnson, British scientist and historian).

Today more than ever before, the entire world—not just the Jews, Arabs, Russians, and Ukrainians—is in need of love, or at least elementary, mutual understanding.

At the same time, just as in the past, similar ideas are perceived as totally unrealistic. No wonder Jonah decided to escape overseas, thinking he could escape the mission he had been given.

Just like Jonah, we too are trying to hide from the great, “impregnable” problems in our daily routine, and let others deal with them while we deal with our personal problems. Although our personal problems are not on a global scale, at least they can be resolved. Our whole life is a cycle of daily problems that we sometimes manage to float above.

It isn’t by chance that Jonah’s story is read on Yom Kippur. From ancient times comes the reminder that it is impossible to escape the mission we have been given.
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From the Russian Brochure: “The Main Secret of the Jewish New Year”

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Question: Did the Jews remain as people of Israel in the spiritual sense of the word after the destruction of the First Temple?

Answer: They were aware of their inability to resist the egoism that controlled them. This fact is documented in historical books and chronicles.

There are lots of materials that cover this topic. They were written in the remote past by immediate participants of the events, not by contemporary researchers.

The Jews were a highly literate nation. They conveyed their knowledge from generation to generation. Their writings were preserved, systematized, and classified. Thus, they were well-kept for centuries.

Hence, the people clearly realized: “There is no Creator among us!”

Question: Still, what did they take to the exile? What did they carry with them? Previously, they observed Abraham’s principles, but what did they have after the collapse took place?

Answer: They remembered their history quite well. It’s not that they were totally unaware of it, as if they were hit on the head. Moreover, the fall never happens immediately; it unfolds gradually; people slowly cool down, leave their prior states behind, and continue making unsuccessful attempts to return back to their previous states.

We exert holding on to our past, but we are unable to do so. At the same time, by making attempts to return back to it, even if we don’t achieve results, we still continue exploring and revising our prior states, thus retaining them in our memory.

It is similar to the distribution of the Light in a Partzuf and its further exit out of it—TANTA. At the very last stage, when everything else is already gone, all is left are recollections (Reshimot). However, at this stage, they are quite fresh and are called vessels (Kelim). These kind of vessels are correct. They reflect the right sensations, the definitions of what’s going on inside us, only at this point, one realizes what state one was in before. At the time we were in that state, we didn’t understand what it actually meant for us.

It happens in everyday life as well. Often, we tell someone: “You’ll remember this situation and understand it differently later.” So, something always stays when we lose our past situations and when it’s not in our power to discontinue the tendency of losses.
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From KabTV’s “Babylon Yesterday and Today,” 9/3/2014

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From the book The Essential Secret of the Jews, M. Brushtein

The Afterword to the Chapter

Once we have reviewed the process of unification, which covers the whole of nature at all its levels, we would like to ask, “And what about the Jews, and what does this have to do with anti-Semitism?”

Let’s refer to the sources:

Israel occupies a central place in all Creation, and other creatures depend on it. (Ramchal, Da’at Tevunot)

That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less. And besides, the author says the following:

The Almighty connected the correction of the entire Creation and its ascent with the actions of Israel. (Ramchal, Da’at Tevunot)

Yes, the comment is superfluous.
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Question: What do the “parting” with Babylon and construction of the Second Temple mean?

Answer: These notions stand for building positive bridges between the two remaining tribes in accordance with the principle “Don’t do to others what you don’t wish for yourself.” It is a spiritual level that existed for several hundreds of years until it collapsed.

Question: In other words, Abraham’s message guides us upwards, but the path we pursue is full of “bumps” that often lead us downward, is that true?

Answer: The path is not easy. After the initial spiritual ascent, they fell to Egypt. From there, they rose to the level of the First Temple, and then they fell to Babylon. Afterward, they rose slightly to the level of the Second Temple, and later they descended to internal destruction. In other words, they even lost the level of “not doing to others what they didn’t wish for themselves.” They just were not able to continue implementing this principle any longer since their growing egoism broke the remnants of their prior love.

So, by the beginning of the first century of our era, love completely disappeared.

Comment: They even started fighting and killing each other.

Answer: These things were happening at the time of the First Temple. After it collapsed, diverse segments, such as captains, merchants, dignitaries, administrators, etc., appeared among the people. They exhibited enormous egoism, even though they were at high levels.

It’s quite different from building relationships at lower levels, such as in little villages or among those who own one cow or a sheep or a horse. To survive, they had to lend their cattle to each other.

However, when you and I have billions, and others also have as much as we do, wars and battles are inevitable. Each one possesses their own army and holds on to their interests. This is why problems arise.

Question: So, falling from the spiritual level leads us deep down to the manifestation of the evil. Is that right?

Answer: Yes, it’s true. On the other hand, it is a natural phenomenon. These issues happen in all countries that are going through the phase of decline. The modern world faces the same threat: Russians, Europeans, and wealthy Americans will soon create their own armies and fight each other.

For the Jews, these periods usually end up very sadly, since at the time of spiritual collapse, conquerors show up and destroy the temples.
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From KabTV’s “Babylon Yesterday and Today” 9/3/14

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