I believe that in our days the people of Israel will rise and unite. After all, the external pressure on us is growing day by day, squeezing the ring around us more and more tightly. And the nations of the world’ seem to support this pressure, making claims against us that we are not fulfilling what is assigned to us.

We have no choice but to understand the reason for this attitude toward us, which has been going on for thousands of years and has recently become simply critical.

There has never been a time when other nations have blamed the people of Israel and wanted to completely erase them. We have to start changing; there is no more time to wait because everything that the prophets and Kabbalists wrote about has already happened to us. However, no unity emerged among the people. Apparently, a group is needed that will reveal the need for this connection and lead the entire Israeli people and then all nations to correction.

The people of Israel still do not live up to what they should be. You have to learn this. The main problem is that we do not understand our mission, the purpose of our existence, or our duty toward all nations of the world, all mankind.

We must study all this, accept it as a law of nature, and fulfill our destiny. Otherwise we will not be able to continue to exist here. The whole nation is obligated to unite as one man with one heart; there is no other solution.

The solution lies only in the correct unification through which we will raise ourselves above all and be able to show all other nations an example of what the only correct form of existence for all should be. This is the kind of unification that Kabbalists talk about; that is, complete unity as one man with one heart, when everyone is a friend to everyone else and has no other aspiration in life than to be one nation.

When more such groups strive to unite within themselves, they will also find a way to connect with each other. This help will come from above. And when those who understand that humanity must take a step forward toward common unification come together, we will be able to move toward a general correction of creation.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/7/24, Writings of Baal HaSulam Newspaper “The Nation”

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Question: Perhaps the most important day for Jews is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. It unites religious Jews and secular ones who do not follow any laws or commandments. This day brings us together.

Before this day, there are ten steps known as the Ten Days of Repentance. Please tell us what these steps are leading up to Yom Kippur.

Answer: These are gradual realizations by a person about how they live, how they have lived, and how they plan to live moving forward. Essentially, it is when a person reflects on themselves: who they are, what they are, and why they are.

Therefore, Yom Kippur is a special day. Everyone observes it in some way. Even if it is not outwardly observed, inwardly, a person still reflects on it.

Question: We ask for forgiveness on Yom Kippur. I might not even know exactly what I am asking forgiveness for, but I ask. How does this affect my life, even if I do it automatically?

Answer: The thing is, asking for forgiveness is hard work. It forces a person to think about his life, what he thought a year ago, and how he lived this past year. Essentially, it is a day when a person judges himself.

Question: Yom Kippur is also called the Day of Purification. What are we purifying ourselves from?

Answer: From egoism, from the things that spoil our lives and prevent us from being a united nation, striving toward the Creator. It is a very challenging day.

Question: Why is it important for us to ask forgiveness from other people before Yom Kippur? This is called Selichot.

Answer: Because it is said that if you are not forgiven by other people, even the Creator will not be able to help you.

The most important thing is to reach a level of connection with others where you ask for them and they ask for you.

Question: Should I ask forgiveness from others with the thought that they will forgive me? Or is it just because it is a tradition for this holiday?

Answer: No, you need to reach a state where you genuinely ask others to forgive you because no matter how strictly we judge ourselves, we often overlook things.

Question: What about when others judge us?

Answer: We must be sensitive and show maximal politeness, as every person in the community is completely equal to others. No one can escape their egoism or the harm we might cause each other.

Question: This is very interesting. It aligns all of us, right?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Whether it is an ordinary worker or a prime minister?

Answer: There is absolutely no difference.

Question: Is this through the act of asking for forgiveness and judging ourselves?

Answer: Yes, all members of society and the nation are neither higher nor lower. We understand that just as each of us stands before this great call from above, so must we act.

Question: We have been progressing step by step, and now we have reached the point where we fast on Yom Kippur. There are five prohibitions, things we cannot do on Yom Kippur. Could you please explain the essence of the fast? What is the meaning of these prohibitions?

Answer: The prohibitions on eating, drinking, and so on are all connected to the idea that people should humble themselves a little to realize that there is the upper force, and they must stand before it, completely detached from their egoistic desires, impulses, etc. This is the main point.

Question: So is this an external attempt to restrict oneself?

Answer: Yes, it is an external attempt, but it greatly affects people. When a person refrains from eating or drinking, reads specific texts, or participates in certain actions with others, such as praying, he elevates himself to a different level.

Question: Could you please explain what it means to be inscribed in the Book of Life? We often hear about being inscribed in the Book of Life. What does it mean?

Answer: The Book of Life is a book with blank pages where our deeds, whether good or not, are written down.

If you act righteously, then your name is inscribed in the Book of Life. There is the upper will, a hand that (as if) writes your name in this book.

Our actions are recorded, meaning they leave an imprint on the surrounding nature. We illuminate this nature with our deeds, and everything depends on how we understand which actions are good and which are evil and how we treat others—with good or evil.

Question: Could we imagine that all of nature is like a blank page, and we leave an imprint on it?

Answer: Yes.

Question: What is desirable? Should we enter it with white letters, or…?

Answer: Ideally, with white.

Question: Why is sincere repentance before oneself as important as repentance before others?

Answer: It is an important act that a person can bring himself to—genuinely repenting for his actions and misdeeds over the past year. In this sincere repentance, he can ask not to be judged harshly for his actions.

Question: What is a person afraid of when he wants to be justified, not judged, as you say? What is he afraid of?

Answer: The most important thing is if the person wants the Creator to forgive him because he does not want to be distanced from the Creator. That is the main concern. Everything else is secondary.

Question: So is my fear of being distant from the Creator what I fear most?

Answer: Yes.

Comment: And everything else—health, money, whatever else….

My Response: Those things come and go.

Question: When we talk about being inscribed in the Book of Life, is this what it is about?

Answer: Yes, it is about not being distant from the Creator and constantly trying to get closer to Him.

Question: You mentioned that people judge themselves—whether they have the right goal in life and so on. Yom Kippur is just one day a year. Does it help a person find the path to the purpose of life and how he should live?

Answer: Yes, of course.

Comment: But it is just one day!

My Response: It does not matter; it is 24 hours. If a person spends them in contemplation, he can correct many things he has done.

Question: In just these 24 hours?

Answer: Yes.

Question: You made a correct clarification here, 24 hours gives me a completely different feeling. And if we break it down further into minutes and seconds, it is even more profound.

Tell me, we try to cleanse our hearts on this day, just one day a year. What prevents us from doing this every day? Something is preventing us.

Answer: Our egoism! It pulls us in different directions toward different goals, and we lose focus. But on this day, the entire nation around us is doing the same thing. People gather in prayer houses and read special prayers, and thus, there is a greater opportunity for people to delve deeper into themselves.

Question: Is it possible to take the feelings we experience on Yom Kippur and somehow carry them into every day of the year, extend them throughout the coming year?

Answer: Yes, there is a part of our actions that we experience as a kind of “small Yom Kippur.” In each daily prayer…

Question: After Yom Kippur? Daily?

Answer: Yes, there are elements present when we judge ourselves, feel that we are in the wrong, and ask for forgiveness.

Question: So is there a “small Yom Kippur” in every day?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Is this the way a person should live?

Answer: That is the way a person should live, of course.

Question: So should we judge ourselves every day?

Answer: This is present in our daily prayers, though not as intensely as on Yom Kippur.

Question: Indeed, the prayers of Yom Kippur carry such power! Can the prayer on Yom Kippur change a person’s destiny if he engages with it wholeheartedly?

Answer: I believe it can. It is a special state of the world, of nature, of the person, and the nation. Therefore, Yom Kippur can change everything.

Question: So, if we truly invest ourselves in Yom Kippur, could we even stop wars?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Does Yom Kippur help a person begin to live in a new way?

Answer: Possibly. How much it helps depends, but fundamentally, if a person wants to change, he should not wait for Yom Kippur. He should begin now. Then he will see that everything can truly be changed and that any day of the year is suitable for that.

Question: We have not spoken about Yom Kippur like this in a while. Tell me, you were talking about Yom Kippur just now, but there is a feeling that you were not just talking about a Jewish holiday, but about the entire world. Is that how you see Yom Kippur?

Answer: Absolutely! It is a day of atonement for the entire world. If a person treats the prayers as a kind of self-judgment, then in principle, it will cleanse him.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 10/7/24

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As the holiday season and the start of the new year approach, a question arises: “How should we best prepare for it?”

I believe that all the people of Israel living in this land understand the unique situation we are going through. It demands unity and solidarity from us as well as the strength to withstand our enemies who surround us from all sides. We must be prepared for this and confident that if we act in this way, we will succeed.

Everything depends on us. If we desire it, the land of Israel will be ours. These two states—our breakthrough into the spiritual world and our physical resistance to the enemies of the people of Israel are interconnected and are drawing closer together.

The more prepared we are for spiritual revelation, the more likely we are to secure the physical land of Israel. One influences the other. This connection is very positive and clear and is becoming more evident with each passing day as we can see in the recent series of successful military operations.

Baal HaSulam explains in detail in the “Introduction to The Book of Zohar” the connection between internality and externality. Therefore, the more unity and solidarity we have, the more success we will achieve in the corporeal realm. This is a very favorable situation, and the most important thing is not to miss this opportunity, not to show weakness toward our enemies, or hostility toward one another.

If we establish open, heartfelt relationships filled with love and unity among us, we can conquer the entire world through the force of good. Forces of kindness, unity, and togetherness will emanate from us, and the world will gladly accept and use them. This is a very favorable time for such a transformation.

The correction that we have been unable to achieve for thousands of years is now possible. Let’s hope, with God’s help, that we succeed.

What is this opportunity that is opening now that was not available before? Previously we did not have such a dedicated and tangible form of connection that determines both our current existence and our future. But now we can rise, and with our unique force we can compel nature, the Creator, to bring us to the pinnacle of existence.

We just need to desire for this to happen and bring order to our relationships as they should be: between individuals, between tens, between men’s and women’s groups, and between children as much as possible. The strengthening of the unity we achieve between us will inevitably change reality. The entire people of Israel united around our group will implement this connection in practice.

We must become the center of unity, not for the sake of being central, but for the sake of the connection itself. Everyone will be ready to give all their light for this. To break through into spirituality, each person must have only one thought—how to fill their friend’s heart. Entering a friend’s heart means conquering the land of Israel. In this way, we will achieve complete correction. After all, a friend’s heart for me is the land of Israel.
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From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/1/24, “Questions and Answers about the Spiritual Path”

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Question: What does a corrected connection in Israel mean?

Answer: It is a desire for bestowal.

Question: If Israel is a means that must fill the Kelim of the nations of the world, how do I come to this both in feelings and in mind? How do I get the desire to become a transitional link?

Answer: It doesn’t matter how well you understand whether you are a transitional link or not. The main thing is that you strive for it, and the Creator makes it happen.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/18/24, Writings of Rabash “Run My Beloved”

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Hence, when teaching morals, we see the importance of Torah and Mitzvot [commandments], meaning which level of pleasure one can have, as well as which punishment he might suffer (Rabash, Assorted Notes, “Hear, My Son, Your Father’s Ethics – 1“).

Question: How do we reveal these measures of pleasure on our path?

Answer: Gradually, we begin to feel that there are immense fulfillments in the spiritual realm for both the mind and the heart. Moreover, the pleasure you experience practically fills the entire world. Some feel it more, some less, but through you, the world is filled as well.

Question: In the group of ten, I can clearly sense from which of my actions the Creator derives pleasure. And what about the nations of the world? How should I engage with them in a way that brings pleasure to the Creator?

Answer: Reveal the purpose of creation to the nations of the world and help them move toward this goal in some way.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/7/24, Writings of Rabash “Hear, My Son, Your Father’s Morals – 1”

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Question: You once said that Israel is a very small compared to other nations. Will this ratio remain until the final correction (Gmar Tikkun)? Or will everyone become “Israel” in the end?

Answer: Clearly there are few of us in numbers, but inside Israel, it feels precisely like this. The longer you live here, and I have been living here for 40 years, the more you feel there not much difference between Hebrew-speaking, Russian-speaking, and people from other countries.

There is such a melting pot here that everything together turns into one “dish.” Therefore, I do not think that Russian-speaking immigrants will play a big role in the future, only if many of them were to come, and not many are coming.

Question: I am not asking about the Russian-speaking population, but about Israel. Will everyone become “Israel” in the final correction? Or will there be a certain part that will connect with other nations and with the Creator, fulfilling the role of “Israel?”

Answer: This will probably continue until final correction. Afterward, this may change.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/19/20, “Connecting into One Soul”

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This is the great revelation that will be revealed in full only in the days of the Messiah (Baal Hasulam, The Writings of the Last Generation).

Question: What revelation is Baal HaSulam talking about? What period of time is this, the days of Messiah?

Answer: The time in which we will be able to suppress, annul, our egoistic properties and replace them with the properties of bestowal and love in order to be like the Creator is called the time of Messiah.

This is not a specific time with a date that can now be named, but a period when humanity begins to strive to change itself from the properties of reception to the property of bestowal.

Question: Should a certain mass of people come to this or is it just a few people?

Answer: There must be a certain mass of people who understand that this is necessary.

Naturally, in accordance with this, some external forces will act to push humanity forward, but not those that are influencing us today. We will have to continue teaching Kabbalah so that it will help people get closer to the Creator by means of similarity of properties.

That is, the idea is, in principle, simple. The Creator, who is altruistic by nature, created us as egoists, and we ourselves must want to acquire His altruistic properties.
[332003]
From KabTV’s “Era of the Last Generation” 7/11/24

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Question: All nations have their own traditions. But we say that the world Kli is Israel, the people of Israel. I would like to understand if we will gradually come to know these concepts and traditions more deeply and accept them. What is stopping us? It seems to me that this is quite a good, positive aspiration.

Answer: I do not think so. This is a huge mass of laws that a person belonging to the Jewish mass must study. But others have absolutely no use for it. It will just confuse you.

You need to study Kabbalah. The Jews, in addition to this, also need to know their laws, which they are obliged to follow, since without this they will not be close to the Creator.

Question: Won’t this become a kind of stumbling block that will distinguish us from the central group and everyone else?

Answer: I do not think such a state is possible. We do not force anyone to pray or follow any commandments. All this is done voluntarily. If a person is ready for this, regardless of whether one is a Jew or not, this is one’s personal matter. There is no need to pay attention to this. Everyone does what they want.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/4/24, Writings of Rabash “And You, Israel”

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Therefore, the Tana described the Arvut as two people who were on a boat, and one of them began to drill a hole in the boat. His friend said, “Why are you drilling?” He replied, “Why should you mind? I am drilling under me, not under you.” So he replied, “Fool! We will both drown together in the boat!”

Meaning, as we said, since those rebels wallow in self-love, by their actions, they build an iron wall that prevents the observers of the Torah from even beginning to fully observe the Torah and Mitzvot in the measure of words “Love your friend as yourself,” which is the ladder for achieving Dvekut [adhesion] with Him. Indeed, how right were the words of the proverb that said, “Fool, we will both drown together in the boat!” (Baal HaSulam, “The Arvut” [Mutual Guarantee])

We are drowning along with our world. Therefore, our generation needs to break out of this as soon as possible; that is, it needs to understand how to correct ourselves.

Therefore, Rabbi Elazar, son of Rashbi, who wrote The Book of Zohar, clarifies the matter of Arvut even further. It is not enough for him that all of Israel, not only this group, which received the system of Abraham, be responsible for one another, but the whole world is included in the Arvut.

It follows that all the peoples of the world must also follow the laws of Arvut (mutual guarantee). Therefore, we must explain this to everyone and involve everyone in it.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/18/20, “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”

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Question: In the article “The Last Generation,” Baal HaSulam writes that if the majority of people accept the idea that the whole world is one family, they will immediately join communistic altruism. What about the minority?

Answer: First ideas get intermixed, properties are clarified, and only then is a decision made on what should be done. People will start to adopt certain norms of behavior or laws.

That is, there will be not just the majority among people, but a critical mass will be formed in the nation that will influence the course of history.
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From the 1st part of  the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/24/24, Writings of Baal HaSulam “The Writings of the Last Generation”

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