Question: Let’s go out into open space, to the universe that actually gave us life. The universe is the system of creation that is made of matter and energy. It encompasses the world that we know including space and time.

The universe is dynamic and according to the Big Bang theory, it is developing from a starting point and is gradually expanding. Universal processes are billions of years old and are subject to the laws that modern science studies. On the whole, what can we extract from what we know about the universe?

Answer: First, by studying something we have to determine the essence of the researchers. The researcher is a person who is also part of nature, of the universe, of the global system.

We should understand the research tools that we have; it manifests our first mistake: we assume that we can study nature objectively.

But in the meantime, as we have already said, we are part of it, and are a quite defective and very subjective part. We value and praise what is good for us, and, on the other hand, underestimate and belittle what is bad for us. All this takes place in our subconscious.

Besides, we are very limited in our sensations, our feelings, and in our senses; we don’t know where they fail us and when they deceive us. We cannot perceive the mistakes that we make in our analytical attributes and our abilities to clarify and compare things. It isn’t in our power because we lack the criteria for examining things and simply have nothing with which to compare our mind and feelings.

If we are ready to at least acknowledge our limitations, it is a good thing. Since then we understand that there is nothing absolute in our perception and that we will never know and obtain the Absolute. Even if we can investigate something, it is only the levels below us: the still, vegetative, and animate. They aren’t as developed as we are and so we can study them to some extent.

On the other hand, we cannot study ourselves. It is because everything is attained only from a higher level. This is the only way we can attain the root, and accordingly we don’t know ourselves because our root, the power, the plan, is on a higher level than us. The reasons underlying our essence remain unattainable.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 3/2/14

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The name Abraham (AB-am) means “father of the nation.” Abraham is actually the spiritual father of all of humanity since he was not only the founder of many nations but the creator of the spiritual method of the correction of the world. The main idea of his method was the indication that the Creator is the only one unique and united force of nature, which manages all of creation, that “there is none else besides Him.”

The Creator’s attributes were determined by him as the “good that does good.” According to his teachings, the role of humanity was to obtain adhesion with the Creator according to the rule of “love thy friend as thyself.”

He passed on this method to his Babylonian students who joined him and called their community “the house of Abraham” (Beit Abraham), which refers to his students and to his family. Later Abraham took his group of students out of Babylon, which means that he detached from all the other studies and obtained the Creator and established an independent method that he expressed in the Book of Creation (Sefer Yetzira), which largely complemented the work of Adam, Angel Raziel (Raziel and Malachi).

Abraham placed the foundations of the method for the right attainment of the Creator, for obtaining His level and adhering to Him. All the other Kabbalists only developed his theory by adding their practical work to it. Because the ego kept on growing in every generation, this enabled the development of Abraham’s method on the next levels according to the conditions in a certain time.

Therefore, we cannot say that we have something new today. Everything that is revealed is revealed by Kabbalists starting from Adam until our times, but the right path begins with Abraham, although there is the unique spiritual birth on every level along this path called the “sons of Abraham.”
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From KabTV’s “Short Stories” 10/15/14

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Abraham, who was a priest in ancient Babylon and one of the followers and disciples of Noah’s teachings, was the first to realize that everything that happens with the nation is intentional.

It is hard to accept that negative outcomes, which can destroy an ideal society, can stem from the good upper force.

If people who live together in peace and friendly relations suddenly feel that they don’t understand one another and resent each other, that they are growing apart and even feel hatred towards one another, we may wonder whether the force that manages the world is indeed good and benevolent.

These questions usually concern Kabbalists but not ordinary people.

The separation that was suddenly felt in ancient Babylon led the priests and the sages to think about the existence of two gods: a good one and a bad one who are in a conflict that is reflected in our life in this world. “Probably the evil force prevails over the positive force. And maybe there are not, but a whole host of deities of all kinds.”

Eventually people began to believe in polytheism, thus denying the providence of one force in this world. Abraham regarded it as paganism. He totally disagreed with it because he discovered that there is only one force and one providence in this world and not the many forces as the Babylonians believed when they saw good and evil in all its manifestations in our world, contradicting one another and destroying everything.

Abraham claimed that it all stemmed from one force, but humanity is shown the imbalance of the whole system, just like in an experiment, so that it will start to investigate and understand it. We should understand, feel, and bring it closer to us or get closer to it. We have to connect with its good and bad attributes that are revealed in us and this is why the world seems like such a terrible place.

There is only one manager of creation who operates by two opposite forces: good and bad. We have to control these two forces and connect them so that we have one positive force that overcomes the negative force and the negative force should increase the positive force.

Thus, the continuous revelation of the evil force in a person obliges the positive force to grow to a level called the Creator. This is actually what Abraham discovered and he began to explain and disseminate his attitude to nature, man’s mission, and purpose of life.

However, very few agreed with him, actually several thousand people in ancient Babylon did. He distinguished them from all the others who had their own intentions and inclinations and began to teach them. Thus, each of the groups followed its own path.
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From KabTV’s “Short Stories” 10/15/14

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Kabbalah is the science dealing not with studying our world but only with the forces that govern it.

The first person who discovered this system 5775 years ago was called Adam. The day it happened is described in the Torah as the day the world was born.

Prior to that, people lived like animals, engaged in satisfying their biological needs. Of course, they believed in some forces that helped, protected, or, conversely, harmed them. But this subconscious sensation is present in animals as well.

And suddenly, while humanity had no understanding of where everything comes from and for what it exists, a normal person of our world, Adam, began to reveal that he exists within nature, in a network of forces that govern him.

He called this network of forces the Creator, since he discovered that it created our matter and operates it.

That time marks the beginning of the wisdom of Kabbalah. This is why Adam is considered to be the patriarch of our world, and everything the Torah narrates comes from his personal attainment and is told from his perspective: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless, and void….” and so on.

Having made his discovery, Adam realized that the meaning of his life is not to simply survive on the Earth for a certain number of years, but to attain this network of forces, to rise to its level, master, and govern it. This is how one can ascend to a degree above our world and begin to operate this world, as well as that world, that system of forces, which become revealed to us.

Adam attained the upper world because he had a desire to rise to the level of the Creator. This is where his name “Adam” comes from: it means “similar to the Creator.”

He immediately felt the need to pass on his knowledge to someone. With his students Shem, Ham, and Japheth who were referred to as his sons, began the chain of those who attain the upper world through the method revealed by Adam.

He called this method “The wisdom of Kabbalah,” the science of receiving, understanding, and revealing of the upper world, the higher system of governance.

Externally, Adam was an ordinary man and it is unlikely that his parents and the people around him were aware of his findings and revelations. After all, what he came to know, he revealed inside himself and only for himself. None of the others had any idea about it. This is why Kabbalah is called a “hidden wisdom,” because every person who attains it reveals it only for himself or herself, and cannot convey it to others.

While physics, chemistry, and all other natural and exact sciences can be conveyed to everyone and taught to others so they would be able use them, it is impossible to communicate Kabbalah. We can only teach another person how to change himself in order to be able to feel the next dimension: the higher system, higher degree, the upper world. When a person starts to feel this, he is called a Kabbalist.

Attainment of the next dimension gives a person the ability to learn what he is living for because the nature that he reveals emerges as the one that is governing, determining, permeating everything with itself, and indicating to everyone where it is leading him and what degree of development he needs to reach. It becomes clear to him that the entire path that he is obliged go through (because here, there is no freewill), he can accelerate by directing himself.

Imagine that you are sitting in a wagon, which is being propelled forward by unmanageable horses, they carry you over bumps and potholes in an unknown direction, and in any moment you can fall into an abyss. This is our life.

Yet it is possible to make it so that by sitting in the front you pick up the reins, knowing exactly where you need to head. There will already be a modern GPS in your hands and you can calmly move toward a quick accomplishment of the ultimate goal, going around all the bumps and potholes.

The meaning of Adam’s illumination, and after him, of all the other Kabbalists, lies in the fact that a person is given the opportunity to reach quickly, independently, and comfortably the final goal of creation, and also to teach the rest of the world how to do it. This is what Adam started to do.
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From KabTV’s “Abbreviated Stories” Part 1, 10/15/14

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Question: Is the wisdom of Kabbalah a science or not?

Answer: The wisdom of Kabbalah is a divine science, a science of the upper world, and not a regular science. It works with other tools, not like biology, physics, or anatomy. This is a science that is different from all the sciences of this world for it uses different tools and methods.

Although essentially, its goal is not that different. This is because in regular science the person is also subconsciously looking for the Creator, the origin of life. From this yearning he gets a drive for scientific investigation. He feels fulfillment from reaching some kind of truth.

Perhaps this truth is the opposite of the truth, but this is not important. Science has some divine spark in it, and this is what attracts the scientist. The problem is that this spark captivates the person and clothes into his ego so much that it is difficult to extract it.

Nevertheless, by virtue of this spark the scientists are great fanatics of their science. They are ready to sacrifice themselves for its sake, to conduct clinical trials on themselves, and to engage in it day and night. Basically, they are running after the spark that is submerged in the ego, in “Klipa.”
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/27/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Question: What can you say about red strings and other popular lucky charms?

Answer: These are all egoistic symbols that allow those who sell them to make a profit.

Those who buy them believe in their “holy power” and to some extent, this helps them psychologically.

I have nothing against this, but we just shouldn’t connect it to the wisdom of Kabbalah. This misleads people, especially in our times when humanity needs to reeducate itself.

Man is a complex creature. A red string doesn’t change a person. It gives him some inner energy, a sense of security and psychological support. It is like a placebo given to a patient instead of real medicine, and it helps.

In any case, it is a lie since such lucky charms don’t heal a person, but only divert him from the real solution to the problem that is ripening and which must be addressed.
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From talk with V. Kanevsky in Toronto, 8/05/14

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Question: If all religions appeared after the destruction of the Temple, what did people worship before its destruction?

Answer: Anything and everything! In ancient Babylon, people worshipped various natural phenomena: trees, the sun god, etc. It is not considered religion.

Response: But nevertheless, the Temple itself was established by a particular religion…

Answer: No, the Temple embodies the non-religious zeal of people who were on the level of clear attainment of the upper force, the general force of creation, overall nature.

It is not what we understand as religion today. Our modern Judaism is a religion of exile from the spiritual world, exile from the Temple, exile from the land of Israel. It is a religion of exiles.

Kabbalists have a completely different view than religious people of the world about the challenges of the people of Israel, the challenges of humanity, and what we need to bring to the world.

Question: Can you share the secrets of Kabbalah with others?

Answer: In Kabbalah, there are no secrets.
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From an Interview in Toronto with V. Kanevsky, 8/5/14

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Question: I really don’t understand how scientific progress can hurt humanity?

Answer: Science is a search for the Creator through our material minds. Scientists conduct numerous studies and experiments with the help of our five corporeal senses in order to find the upper force. All kinds of scientific research are aimed at discovering the Creator and solving the mystery of life.

We intend to attain the upper force, understand the structure of creation, find out its goal, and unveil the secret of our existence using our physical brain and bodily senses. It is not possible. This road leads to a dead end. After thousands of years of scientific development we have ended up in a crisis that no science is able to fix. Science is not capable of ensuring even our material well being.

Science is a method of disclosing human weaknesses and a means of discovering mistakes in our quest for solving the mystery of life and finding out the goal and essence of our existence through our earthly sensors and brainpower. Science chooses roundabout routes; however, it still leads us to the right conclusions. Our task is to realize the incongruity of our efforts and learn to completely rely on the Reforming Light.

The goal of world development is to make us disappointed in ourselves. It is said: “There is no happier moment in one’s life than when one becomes completely disillusioned in one’s abilities.” In fact, it is really a huge discovery! Imagine that all of humanity undergoes this process.

When it happens, we’ll realize that nothing but a prayer can help us; in other words, nothing but raising MAN and acquiring the upper force’s help will let us act correctly and attain our goal. There is nothing we can do except realize that out of the darkness it is the Light that determines everything. Light is faith.

Today, we can talk about these issues openly. About fifty years ago, nobody would agree with these ideas, including me. I was the most zealous advocate of scientific progress. I thought that science was everything!

Years passed. Humanity became disappointed in science. Nobody expects scientists to make discoveries that humanity can really benefit from. All discoveries are doomed to bring us harm because they contradict the goal of creation and the means of its attainment since they urge us to rely on our brainpower.

This explains why we cannot expect science to help us achieve positive results. Unless we stop relying on scientific progress and discontinue our “enchantment” with the magnitude of our intellect, nothing can really move us forward. We’ll simply continue along the road of scientific advancement.

On the other hand, we cannot neglect science since it is a path that nevertheless leads us to the goal, even though it does so indirectly. Any road to the Creator is sacred. At the end of our path, the angel of death will turn into the holy angel. “The angel of death” will absorb all our mistakes including scientific evolution.

The problem lies not in science per se, but in the fact that we rely on ourselves and count on our pride, on our belief that we can reach a good life without connecting with the Creator. This mistake is common for those who study the wisdom of Kabbalah but turn it into a theory. It is the most serious error that is called Klipa (shell, the evil force).

Our task is to accurately follow all instructions and study the Torah instead of playing tricks with our minds. There is a very thin line between these two processes. Studying the wisdom (Hochma) of the Torah means revealing the Light of Hochma with the help of the Light of correction that is embodied in the Torah. The wisdom of the Torah is the Light of Hochma dressed in the Light of Hassadim.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/27/14, Writing of Baal HaSulam

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Question: Can thought be measured?

Answer: Our matter is desire. We measure the desire with the four degrees of Aviut. We have a scale to measure the spiritual desire from 100% to 0% from the world of Infinity to our world. Being on a spiritual level, I can measure the desire in accordance with the degree of Aviut. I create the screen over the degree of the Aviut of the desire. The screen together with Aviut gives me the strength of desire: what I want, what I aspire to, what I am planning to do.

In other words, the Surrounding Light determines my thoughts, the extent of my ability to perform actions of bestowal. Where do I check this? On the degree of Aviut. The power of thought is measured through my ability to connect my intention and my action to the Aviut of my desire.

We cannot measure the thought with the mind, but I check and measure the thought’s influence on the desire, and with this measurement I evaluate the thought.
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Kabbalah for Beginners 10/21/10

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Baal HaSulam, “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”: Indeed, if you take the body of a small animal, whose only task is to nourish itself so it may exist in this world for enough time to father and carry on its species, you will find in it a complex structure of millions of fibers and tendons, as physiologists and anatomists have discovered. And there is much there that humans have yet to find. From the above, you can conclude the vast variety of issues and channels that need to connect in order to achieve and to reveal that sublime goal.

Have we ever thought about the essence of the process called evolution? About how all of the matter of the universe with all its complexity and variety was created out of a tiny particle, out of a grain, the first unknown matter that was the foundation of creation? According to which plan did all this take place and according to which laws? What determines the still, vegetative, animate nature and the human body?

We seem to think that it all happens by itself, but is that possible? Is it possible to make one step forward without clearly knowing what we are doing it for? On the contrary, “drifting” leads us into trouble.

But we continue to believe that there are redundant parts in our body or in nature in the whole, in the vegetative and the animate, which nature has forgotten and left by chance. We attribute nature with such misses after which there were more attempts…but one judges according to his flaws. We attribute our qualities to nature.

It says first, think, then act. There is not one detail in evolution that is not predetermined, not aimed at the final goal, and not already in the state of the end of correction. Therefore, there is nothing new in the whole process except for what the created being has to develop by himself. Evolution leads the created being, prepares, and obliges him to establish the new additional component: the adhesion, the recognition, the understanding, and his own feeling of the Creator. All the other things develop in order to bring a person to the element he has to establish by himself. Therefore, everything is predetermined and nothing is coincidental or random as different philosophers and scientists think.

We have to try to somehow imagine this enormous mechanism that includes and encompasses the beginning and the end of creation, including all the processes, and everything possible, all the details separately and together, on all the levels that are still unknown and not understood. These are all a network of forces, a system that the wisdom of Kabbalah tells us about a little, and we cannot even understand this explanation. But at the end of our evolution, this system will be ours internally, and then we will feel it, control it, and understand it.

We must understand that there isn’t a single detail in our world that is not connected to the rest of the system and that all the laws also relate to it. When an individual performs a certain action it is because he is forced to do so and he causes the reaction of the whole system that responds and advances accordingly.

Thus everyone advances together from the beginning to the end and from the end to the beginning. We think that we understand something in our world but it is merely a meaningless part in a system that we will have to discover; all this is called the wisdom of Kabbalah.
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From the 5^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/19/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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