Question: While we are celebrating  Chanukah, the festival of the victory of the Maccabees, let’s talk about the Hellenization, which prompted them to go to war with the Greeks.

After the conquests of Alexander of Macedonia, the Greeks imposed their culture, which in those days seemed quite enlightened, rational, and intellectual.

The rational approach, consciousness and understanding was at the forefront, on the one hand, and on the other hand, beauty and aesthetics. Competition also played an important role. Essentially, ancient Greek culture was portrayed as very progressive and dynamic.

Initially, in the first two centuries, the new government was sympathetic to all the peoples, including the Jews, allowing them to keep their customs and religious rituals. Together with this, they were required to be a part of the universal  “supermodel” empire with cultured moral principles.

At first glance, everything was okay. The Jewish elite joined the process and saw the developmental trends in it. But among the Jewish people appeared a group that opposed assimilation and wanted to keep its uniqueness instead of disappearing into the “collective” culture. Why was that? What was bad about it?

Answer: First of all, these events look very different to my eyes. That part of the people who remained faithful to Jewish culture represented not a quantitative, but a qualitative minority—the weakness of man’s internal forces.

Greek culture could not seriously penetrate Jewish culture, for it was in absolute opposition to what the Jewish people lived and breathed and what absorbed their entire approach to life. First of all, in those times, the Jews passed through a powerful comprehensive education system. It was said that there was no child from the age of six from Dan to Beersheba who didn’t know the laws of impurity and purity.

Moreover, this is talking about the inner purity of a person. Today Rabbis pass examinations on Kashrut, but the people knew then that “purity” was essentially the intention to bestow, and “love your friend as yourself.” Impurity was its opposite, the use of the ego for personal benefit. The Jews lived according to the law of love until the days of Rabbi Akiva, when the second Beit HaMikdash (temple) was destroyed and the principle of love your friend as yourself collapsed, something which later led to the exile of the Jewish people.

Indeed in the period of the Maccabees, they were all still at a great spiritual height; people knew how to keep the Torah and the Mitzvot (precepts) in the spiritual sense by correcting their desires for the good of others and for the good of the Creator. All of them then were truly as one person with one heart. They certainly were compelled at every moment to overcome the evil inclination that was continuously growing, and in this way, they rose higher and higher in the love of others, in unity. Their unity caused growth of the ego at all times and they again united again above it in order to discover all of the ego within the people, connect above it, and attain the completion of correction.

They yearned for this, and on this condition the first Beit HaMikdash was built. Then a retreat from this began, which was completely natural, until everything was destroyed and the people of Israel went into exile and then later left it, as it is said, Genesis 15:14: with great substance, as in the time of the exodus from Egypt. However, this time it would draw all of humanity after it, which in fact is something that we need to do today.

First of all it is necessary to understand the process, which is completely opposite of what happens with all other people. The people of Israel live according to the law, Leviticus 19:18: And you shall love your friend as yourself, in Arvut (mutual guarantee), each one supporting the others and creating unity through the power of bestowal. And then the Creator was revealed among them.

The prophets also appeared from here. Everything that they did and wrote was derived from living within the Light, through discovering the higher power, the true higher reality.
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From the program “A New Life” 12/14/14

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Today’s modern world has become a small village in which everyone depends on everyone else. However, it is steadily degrading because it lacks the power of connection that would consolidate and weld us all together. The world needs to get this power from the people of Israel.

But the people of Israel don’t want to carry out their role or fulfill their mission and serve as an example for connection and unity for the rest of the world. Each one aspires to hide in his niche, imitating the European lifestyle under the conditions of Western democracy that make it possible for a person to live in isolation independently.

But this aspiration is absolutely opposed to the spirit of the people of Israel, for it doesn’t allow us to attain Arvut (mutual guarantee). And Arvut is the foundation and basis for the existence of our people.

Question: It has seemed to us that the problem is in the forces of darkness that are arising in the world in the terrorist organizations of extremist Islam. So now it is becoming clear that the world lacks the power of connection and unity?

Answer: The point is not the terrorists and not the anti-Semites. This is only the result of the lack of Light, due to which dark desires appear in humanity, in an individual or in a group of people.

In the hands of the people of Israel is a faucet of Light, and whether this faucet is opened so that the Light will stream to the world or whether it is closed depends upon them. This is the reason that all the nations of the world blame Israel; they blame us that they aren’t getting the Light. They don’t understand that they lack the Light, but intuitively they feel that we are to blame for all of their problems.

Everything that happens among the people of Israel influences the whole world. Whereas, our people don’t understand and don’t want to listen to the fact that without inner unity, we are not at all the people of Israel and we are not positioning ourselves against the power of nature.

Question: The mood today in Israeli society is very bleak. People feel disappointment from what is happening in the nation. Today we very much require such a miracle as occurred on Chanukah. What must be done so that the miracle will happen?

Answer: The miracle will happen only thanks to integral education. The war of the Maccabees was an ideological war. The Greeks didn’t come with the goal of physically annihilating the Jewish people, they wanted to annihilate them ideologically. If we were to place them in an endless soccer game, then it would be possible to assume that the Jewish people would be wiped out. Annihilation of the people of Israel means playing instead of engaging in connection and unity.

Question: Soccer is a good example because this year there were unprecedented events of cruelty and violence at soccer games, the like of which has never been seen in Israel. Warm feelings of fans for their team suddenly became so fanatically violent that it was really frightening to enter the stadium. This is an example of an anti-Israeli spirit. What is the Israeli spirit that we need to attain instead of this?

Answer: It is said: (Proverbs 10:12): Love covereth all transgressions. Above every force of separation we need to establish the force of unity. This is even though this force of separation remains and we cannot do anything about it because this force comes to us from nature. We don’t need to struggle against this force, our impatience, or the hatred and jealousy. In spite of their existence, we must cover them with love, our good attitude towards others, bestowal and trust.
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From the program “A New Life” 12/11/14

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In 170 BCE, the Greeks, led by Antiochus IV Epiphanes, captured the Temple. There was a division between the adherents of Greek philosophy and religion and those who remained loyal to the concept of a single Creator.

Some priests, including the high priest (Cohen Rishon), supported the Greeks. The Jerusalem Temple was desecrated and turned into a sanctuary of Zeus. Severe persecution and forced Hellenization of the population led to the Maccabean revolt, led by Matityahu Hashmonay who issued the call, “He who is for God, follow me!”

The uprising ended with the victory of the Maccabees. Having entered the Temple, they found that the pure oil to light the Menorah candles would last for only one day. But a miracle occurred. The candles burned for eight days and so is called the miracle of Hanukkah.

Question: What does Hanukkah represent from the spiritual point of view?

Answer: The history leading to this holiday begins with Abraham as the founder of the Jewish people. Long before the Maccabees, It was he who first issued the call,  “Whoever is moving towards the Creator – follow me!” Under this motto, he gathered a large group of Babylonians, to whom he taught his approach to the universe, the purpose of life and creation, the higher human destiny, etc.

But most importantly, under the slogan of “unity in the name of unity,” Abraham began to unite those who sided with him because it is in the pursuit of unity that we reveal the upper force of nature, the Creator, which unites us. It forms us into one whole and we become invincible to either external or internal egoism. What Abraham began, the Maccabees, united with each other, continued.

In principle, it is the same action of a rebellion against egoism, only at different levels, and that is why it occurred at different points in history.

Having united people, the Maccabees came to the same state as Abraham and won. To the extent of unity with greater groups of people who joined them, they revealed a greater spiritual force, which was the force of unity, the upper force of bestowal and love. Therefore, they were invincible to egoism, which was personified by the Greeks in this case, in Babylon by the Babylonians, in Egypt by Pharaoh, and later, by the Romans.

Through unity with large groups of people joining them, they recognized more and more spiritual power: the power of unity and the supreme power of love and bestowal. Therefore, they were invincible against the selfishness personified in this case by the Greeks, the Babylonians, Pharaoh and the Egyptians, and later, the Romans.

In general, it is the only fight, a war throughout all generations. And even when we do not have an apparent enemy, our inner enemy always rebels within us, again and again pulling us towards worshiping various idols in our life. We must fight it.

It is easy to draw a parallel between these two wars and today since modern idols are fully exposed as complete nonentities, leading us to some end and we have nothing else to do with them. On the one hand, we are still drawn to them, and on the other hand, we understand that this is temporary, harmful and brings no good results.

Therefore, our behavior is reminiscent of a man who gets drunk, does not know or hear anything, forgets himself,and is disconnected from what is happening. We become immersed in business or other things just to stay occupied, thus imitating a movie hero, a literary character, or just acquaintances who have supposedly succeeded in life. This is the idol  that is so attractive to us.

Question: Do you think that these desires have exhausted themselves?

Answer: No, but I know that all this is temporary and limited. Life itself shows us that. The world is like a theater and we always play a role in it.

There are people who seek nothing. The main thing for them is to live quietly and peacefully, so no one bothers them. But, there are few of them. The majority are pulled by competition, the struggle for a place under the sun, and we begin to pretend that we are business people, running with a briefcase and changing from one plane to another, and in this way, we run to the grave.

Question: Can the miracle of Hanukkah take place nowadays?

Answer: In life there is always a place for a miracle. Every time we connect with each other, the force, which is higher than all the other forces, obstacles, conditions, is manifested, and then there is a miracle before us. We can evoke it, even today.

A miracle is a supernatural phenomenon, but we are able to cause it ourselves, when we wish. Today, if we want to rise above egoism in our unity, then a completely new upper force will be manifested within us, and with its help, we will be able to calm the whole world, arrange everything, and everyone will be fine and easygoing.

Question: What kind of a miracle happened when the candles of the Maccabees were lit?

Answer: Through their unity, the Maccabees attracted the Light that gave them the opportunity to stay in the state of bestowal, love and connection until they began to pull new masses of people towards themselves.

The desires of people who connect with each other in one whole symbolizes the oil, and their gathering in spite of their egoism symbolizes the wick. They burn in their desire to get closer, and when they unite somehow, a light appears within them that support the fire of their desires.

If they begin to be engaged in even greater dissemination and draw towards themselves greater masses of people, then the lamp will burn continuously.

The manifestation of the Light, the upper force, the Creator in the people’s unity is the miracle. Besides that, there are no other miracles because the essence of all miracles is that our unity brings about the manifestation of the inner force, called the property of love, the Creator. It works wonders. The crossing of the Red Sea, the miracle of Hanukkah and the miracle of Purim are always the revelation of the Creator in our unity. Therefore, there is just one technique and it contains nothing complicated. It came to us from Abraham, who first showed how it is realized.

The fact is that we can unite in any manner, but the essence of the miracle is that we unite so that a new upper property appears within us, which is not manifested in any other actions, that raises us to the next level of consciousness, sensation, vision, and existence.

Question: How could people believe that one candle would burn for eight days when they knew that it would be sufficient only for a day?

Answer: If we aspire to unity, we are not interested in anything except to come to this state, within which the Creator is revealed. Then we reach the conditions of infinity and go to the next level of existence, where there is neither time nor space. And eight days is just an allegory, since there are eight Sefirot from the level of Bina to the level of Malchut.

Question: How can a person not think about what will happen tomorrow?

Answer: If you work for bestowal, tomorrow does not exist for you! There is no next moment! The most important is to give.

Tomorrow will disappear from your field of vision, mind, and calculations! It does not exist! You are included in the action of bestowal and are seemingly extended to everyone else. Nothing will remain in you. Your “I” simply disappears.

Then, in the next step, a new egoistic state appears. The same thing is repeated, like the wheel that moves forward, but at the same time revolves around itself.

Question: Under what circumstances is this possible?

Answer: It comes gradually, after many years and only from Above. But it will come. I can promise to all of my students that it will come true, and they will reach this state.

I think that together with them, I will still be able to go through their first steps in this ascent. This is the desire of every spiritual teacher who cannot abandon his child halfway. The teacher wants to guide his students across the desert so that they reach full bestowal, and they would not have any possibility of turning back, since the property of bestowal would reign in all their desires.

Then, they will develop their spiritual path on their own, with the next leader, like Moses and Joshua. But it is desirable for us to cross the desert together.

Question: How do you view the miracles from the material point of view? Let’s say, for many years, archaeologists seek confirmation of the exodus of the Jews from Egypt, but find no traces. Indeed, something should have been left. In addition, there no evidence has been found of the 40 years of wandering of the nation of Israel in the desert.

Answer: Archaeologists find confirmation of these or other historical events when the time comes. Therefore in its time, they will suddenly find artifacts of history in the same place where they previously could find nothing. These discoveries are still ahead.
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From KabTV’s “Secretes of the Eternal Book” 12/17/14

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In recent years,  politicians have started talking about legislative consolidation of the Jewish character of the state of Israel. The reason for this is the broad wave of  anti-Semitic attacks. The whole world has a problem with the Jewish people,  asking: “Why did they take the possession of land that does not belong to them?”

Many do not even agree with the original division of the territory in accordance with the UN resolution. Today, a secondary vote, of course, would deprive us of the right to our own state.

After the disaster, the world was uncomfortable in front of us, and if we indeed were to get the country, this will continue, according to the laws of common development.

However, we have to make it really ours, take the holy land (Eretz) as a desire (Ratzon) to purify and form not as a collection of exiles, but as the people of Israel, in the full sense of the word, fully united and aspiring straight to the Creator (Yashar El).

We have to take a course on cohesion, love, and unity, to become as one man with one heart.

If we had arranged our nation in this way, we would not have had to carry the endless war for the past 66 years without a single second of rest and relaxation. And the situation would not have been like it is today such that when all of Israel is forced to plan an emergency evacuation, an escape plan in case of a disaster.

Question: Again and again, life confronts us with basic issues that affect our very existence in the land of Israel. And always this topic covers the fog of uncertainty, vagueness. Why is there this agonizing incompleteness in our self-determination? Why haven’t all “I’s” been dotted?

Answer: It is because we want to be like all the other nations and define our country like everyone else, according to the traditional representations of territory, borders and public entities. However, for us it does not work and does not apply to us. This usual format does not cause a faithful response in us, where we do not feel for ourselves, and do not find any correlation as to how our country should be identified and appear as our people, and every person in it.

It turns out that we are not the people of Israel, as it should be, and we do not live in the land of Israel nor in the country of Israel, as it should be according to the original sources, according to our basis. We have tried to adopt the concept of external concepts, simply taking them in, but they have not come to fruition. The international standard label comes unglued again and again.

As a result, we feel that it is not suitable, but continue to burden ourselves with it, without making the definition clear. And the world, for its part, does not understand our actions and sees the state of Israel as some artificial entity.

We can eloquently argue that this is our land. We can even sacrifice for the sake of life. However, we still do not understand what “the people” and “the country” mean for the Jewish people.

Baal Sulam wrote a great piece about it in the newspaper “The Nation” (HaUma), which, incidentally, was closed following its initial release. In this paper, the nature of these concepts and the need to return to their roots after two thousand years of exile was described in detail.

Why should we turn to ancient history and to the primitive life now that once was lived by our ancestors? On the contrary, in the previous centuries advanced nations planted their cultures everywhere. A foreign culture with a particular success was transferred to the indigenous peoples of Africa and America. Languages would die out as well as the traditions and beliefs, giving way to the English, Spanish, and French influence.

But we still have not been able to keep within the margins of the present. There is nothing we can borrow from the people of the world. On the contrary, we are organized in such a way that the people of the world adapt the correct things from us.

It is not up to us and it is not pride or arrogance. We are hard-wired this way. It is no coincidence that the world sees us as an intelligent, developed people, nurturing a purpose of life. The world feels that the Jewish people have a secret they do not want to open to others, so this means they must force us to give it up.

This feeling is indestructible, and we must finally understand what they want from us. Indeed, what kind of a mystery lies within us? If we only knew, then we could sell it for triple the price. But no, it does not work this way.

After all, what we hold inside and that lies within the people of Israel without their knowledge is this great, beautiful, alluring, shining goal, the future of the world.

Our world is bound to the brotherhood in which we once lived. We need to regain it, in other words, to live together as a law-abiding people, love our neighbors as ourselves, according to the principles that we received on Mount Sinai, and to be as one man with one heart.

Today our global, integrated world feels the unbreakable relationship of all its parts, literally requires it, and requires compliance with this law. If we reveal an umbrella of guarantee over all of us, we will find ourselves in a world that is for us, is as the Garden of Eden.

That is why in this modern era, the world pays attention to us without knowing how or why and begins to demand the law from us by which it will live tomorrow. After all, today’s life seems more and more intolerable to the world, pitch black, and hopeless. It no longer presents a picture of tomorrow. And subconsciously, people feel that the Jewish people have the answer.

Anti-Semitism flourishes around the world as a consequence, affecting millions of people. Thus, it simply obliges us to wonder about the law and about the way of life that should form the basis of our existence here.

If we really did go back to the roots, if we would put into practice the concept of “the people of Israel” aspiring “straight to the Creator” (Yashar-El), i.e., to unity, solidarity, and love, if this were so, we would educate the people based upon the law combined with each other, as one man with one heart, helping neighbors and binding people together by this partnership. This would serve as an example to the world. Moreover, we would teach people how to build unity.

The world would then understand that we are a special part of it and that we really need to learn. And there is much to learn, since it’s the future and the salvation of all mankind. It is not just for a few decades comprising the lifespan of every generation, but rather a new basis for a new foundation being laid here in which our world will be perfected and ascend to a new level, into the eternal, perfect condition.

Today our egoism devours itself and as a result, we live an average of 70-80 years. If we move from the egoistic receiving desire to an altruistic one, to bestowal, and if everyone would live with their heart wide open among one’s nation, taking care of all, we would find other natural laws, the laws of love and bestowal. At that point we would enter into the eternal, perfect life and our world would open the opportunity to live beyond the limitations of time, space, and motion. We would begin to perceive the world in which there are no limits.

In the meantime, the problems towards the Jewish people, which we call anti-Semitism, will grow more and more. We cannot get rid of this. On the contrary, we will have to give an answer, as it is necessary to stand face to face with this situation.

At the same time, we will need to solve the problem of the Jewish character of the country, recently exposed for public discussion. But, it must not be by artificial language and not on the basis of the laws that we have inherited from the British mandate or Turkish rule. No, we need to take up the Torah and draw out all the necessary definitions.

For millennia, since the days of Abraham, Kabbalists have explained the meaning of “the people of Israel” and “country of Israel,” and who is a “Jewish person.” We need to open ourselves to the world, abandon the boundaries and take into our surroundings, everyone who wants to live by the law of love and unity under the umbrella of bestowal. That’s right, rather than geographic, the boundaries of the land of Israel, that is, universal mutual guarantee, will extend to the whole world.

In principle, the land of Israel is not the territory on the surface of the globe, but a place where people live according to the law of love. So now it does not exist. After all, the earth (Eretz) means the desire (Ratzon). If there is the law of love between people living in any place and they follow such law, their relationship, their common desire is called the land of Israel, the desire aspiring straight to the Creator (Yashar-El), and thus they want to be like the upper force.

That is what we have to explain, demonstrate, and offer to all peoples. And then, instead of hatred, we will feel empathy, respect and affection, which is what we feel right now from many thousands of our students around the world. We see how committed they are to us when we teach them how to unite with each other to cooperatively achieve a higher power.
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From the program “A New Life” 11/30/14

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Question: We are witnessing disasters all over the world these days, one of them being the situation in the Ukraine. What once seemed like science fiction is now happening in Donezk and Bolgnesk. The Jews are once again returning to Israel. Are you in favor of the Jews coming back to Israel?

Answer: Of course, I believe that our place is here and that we should become a united people, as it says “become Light unto the nations.” We can do it and then we will really reach another level of existence people can’t even imagine. The wisdom of Kabbalah tells us about it.

In any case, we will have to unite as one man in one heart. When we fulfill the principle of love thy friend as thyself among us, the positive force will flow through us to the rest of the world, will connect all of humanity, and then the world will reach absolute balance.

The levels of the still, vegetative, and animate nature already exist in perfect balance but not the level of the speaking. Man’s origin is from the monkey and he differs from all the other animals because he has an egoistic element and lacks the opposite altruistic element. He only has the minus without the plus and we should acquire this plus. But we have turned off the tap of the positive force and don’t allow it to flow into the world. Therefore the nations of the world are in a state of minus and they blame us for it.

We have to turn on the tap so that the positive force will flow through it to all of humanity. This is called being Light unto the nations. It can only be fulfilled by the connection between us, and we can do it.

Question: There are about a million Russian speaking Jews living in Israel. What is their role in your opinion? After all it is very hard to communicate with them,

Answer: We can explain things to them from a scientific perspective or in every possible way by physics, through an anthology of…

Comment: But they should feel it and not try to understand it rationally.

Answer: Only a strong shock can bring them to this state, and this is undesirable. Let’s hope that we will be able to find a more liberal approach and thus reach them.

Question: Unfortunately, the positive force is revealed among us when different problems arise. For example, twenty thousand people attended the funeral of the soldier who was killed in Gaza. I also strongly identified with everyone, but what can we do so that the positive force could be revealed in ordinary situations? I expect that you will say that the answer lies in education.

Answer: That’s right, it depends only on education and it cannot be done any other way. If we want to change things in Israel the only answer is unity. Nothing else will work and we have already seen that. No government can do it but only the people though the right connection between them, which the wisdom of Kabbalah teaches us. It is the basis of our existence and today it should be rediscovered.

Comment: How can we approach the Russian speaking population with the concept of Kabbalah? After all, we will have to explain to them that it isn’t about religion.

Answer: It is intentionally arranged that way so that both you and they will have to work on yourselves. This is how our ego places obstacles along our way. But let’s hope that we will be able to cut down the afflictions.

Comment: You have said that Israel will actually be the safest place on earth.

Answer: Israel is the most sublime, safest, and happiest place on earth. If we begin to work correctly, there will be no chaos here, and it isn’t only Kabbalah books that tell us about that. That’s the way it will be. We will either reach the bright future through a series of world wars, including a nuclear war, or in a good, smooth way by connecting. Let’s wish each other luck.
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From KabTV’s “Talk on the Current Situation in Israel” 7/24/14

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Question: It is written that the war is conducted by the upper force and not by us. Exactly how does this work?

Answer: The upper force is the force of connection, the force of love and bestowal. It works to the degree that we make it possible for it to work, when we equalize with it in our characteristics. To the degree that our yearning is directed externally towards others, to that degree it acts through us.

And if we are not connected with all the rest and don’t intend to live with love and bestowal and this force is not prepared to be extended our way, we block its passage. Then the nations of the world blame us for their troubles.

Question: From this does it follow that ultimately everyone will want to connect with love?

Answer: Yes, it is only that the people of Israel are not letting them do it. We must make it possible for this force to be spread, to be revealed in us and connected between us. It is just as the Creator is revealed to a creature. It is written: “The one who makes peace on high will make peace among us.” And then with that aspiration we will open to the nations of the world. The Creator is interested in everyone knowing Him, “from the least of them unto the greatest of them” (Jeremiah 31:33).

Question: Can the war be an opportunity to reach this?

Answer: The war is designed for only one thing: to obligate us to think about what is not okay with us. For both our neighbors and the world in general are going out against us in an increasingly clear and obvious way. They will no longer be friendly; on the contrary, with time their attitude will only worsen.

Yet before this they were sympathetic to us because they let the Jews return to their land and the nations of the world hoped that somehow we would realize our destiny. The forces of nature worked through them in this way.

Yet today, after 66 years, it is already clear to everyone that we are not setting ourselves to this task. On the contrary, from day to day we block the “channel of abundance” that was supposed to reach everyone through us. And so the complaints of the world increase; so they stand with their backs toward us and support our enemies. This trend will only go and grow stronger, so much so that nobody in the world will remain who supports us, including the Jews who live abroad.

Question: Well, all of the signs suggest that already for some time we should have given the abundance to the world, and have not. Why is that?

Answer: It is because we are not connected. If we connect, then we will create a kind of “conduit,” a direct passage through which the Light will pass to the nations of the world.

Question: When a person stands before a complex problem, he tries with all his might to solve it in his way or moves towards searching for another means. How do we approach this work on connection psychologically?

Answer: The Upper Light, or the Ohr Ein Sof (Light of Infinity), must pass through the “conduit” of Israel to the nations of the world. Yet we are blocking this channel, we are stopping the Light from entering above and exiting below. As a result of this, our “pipe” instead of being a bridge becomes an insulating component between the Light of Infinity and the world.

Even though they don’t know about this, they feel this subconsciously, even including those who have never been involved with us. And from this are derived all the accusations they come to us with. And truly, following the lack of Upper Light, they experience troubles and blame us for them.

Essentially they are telling us that we are very important for the world, more important than what they are themselves because they depend upon us. But we are blocking the abundance to them; we are blocking the vitality. How else is it possible to relate to people like this?

Yet the people of Israel don’t want to be aware of it. They don’t even know or recognize what is preventing them. If they knew this, they would act differently. They must live in unity, in Arvut (mutual guarantee), then the passage of the abundance will be opened and the Upper Light will pass from Olam Ein Sof (the World of Infinity) to the nations of the world and will fulfill everyone. As it is written by the prophets: this way the whole world will attain peace and calm.

Question: Together with this, how must we relate to the external enemy today?

Answer: We must understand that we must kill the evil within us. But in the meantime, due to a lack of choice and a lack of energy and time, we must also get rid of the external enemy. But this is only because we have not yet succeeded in acting in the right way within ourselves.
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From KabTV’s “Kabbalists Write, The Wars of Israel” 7/21/14

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Question: How has the worldwide culture influenced the people of Israel and what do we need to restore the confidence in our ancient spirit?

Answer: In the period of exile, the people of Israel for two thousand years evolved together with the other peoples and gave them a lot from its culture, its education, including the calendar, the division of the week into workdays and rest on weekends, and many other things.

But today we have evolved to a unique state where all of humanity must become connected into a single whole. After all, we have locked ourselves into a single network that spans the entire globe as if we are living in one small village. In this circumstance, all of humanity must also connect, not just the people of Israel. Otherwise there will never be a future.

It is not just Europe that must unite into one union, something that it hasn’t succeeded in doing, but the whole world must transform into a single union. But instead of this more and more conflicts and clashes appear. Russia and America have again returned to the Cold War, except that both China and South America have been pulled and drawn into it. The Arab nations are in a state of hostility and hatred towards Israel and among themselves. Conflicts exist everywhere.

That is how the forces that want to distance the nations from each other are acting. But likewise, there is one general force that connects everyone together. It follows that the world must unite; this is its general trend. All of nature ultimately reaches balance and connection.

But the people of Israel are not bringing the force of unification to the world. The force of unification is the force of the Light. It is written that the evil inclination, the egoistic desire that separates people, was created and in addition the Torah, the Light that Reforms, was also given.

The Torah is a unique Light that corrects the force that separates people into a force that connects them. This is the force that is found in the Torah, the force of the Upper Light. We are ready to attract this force. This is a positive energy that exists in nature, but it is necessary to attract it.

If we don’t attract this force into the world, then it will bring its extinction, global wars, and terrible suffering. And the nations of the world feel this and have already begun to blame Israel now by pointing to us as being to blame for the suffering of the world.

Question: Do you want to say that because the people of Israel are not learning Torah they are not allowing the Light to enter the world?

Answer: Under the concept of Torah we mean the wisdom of Kabbalah, which is the true inner part of the Torah. It is simply necessary to learn how the world is built, how a person is built, what kind of Light we must attract. and how we attract it. But in principle, this is talking about connection between people.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 12/11/14

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Question: The disintegration of society that we are now witnessing in Israel and all over the world reminds us of the birth of a butterfly. First there is the caterpillar, which lives for a while, eats plants, and is happy.

But at a certain point the caterpillar reaches the end and cannot fill itself anymore. Then it turns into a chrysalis and enters a state of darkness closing itself inside a cocoon where its body begins to disintegrate.

The caterpillar ceases to be what it was before. Scientists have discovered that the genes that will later turn it into a totally different creature are already in the caterpillar. After a period of chaos and disintegration, a beautiful butterfly suddenly emerges from the cocoon; a winged creature that is much more developed.

Could it be that we are in the period of the cocoon now and therefore see how everything around us is out of balance and falling apart?

Answer: It is indeed so, but in order to become a beautiful butterfly, we have to change. We can reach these changes either in a pleasant, easy, and short way by the connection between us, or by war and terrible problems that will force us to unite. This means that we can go through this process passively or actively.

Comment: So in the end we will connect with or without war.

Answer: Yes, but there is a huge difference. After all, it will not be just another war, but a nuclear war.

Question: And if we don’t connect?

Answer: It cannot be. It is already in our genes, just like the caterpillar is supposed to become a beautiful butterfly in the end. We also have the genes according to which we have to bring the whole world to correction and are already imprinted in the genes of human society, in our internal program. We only have to carry it out.

We have two options, which are good or bad. The bad option is through wars and sufferings and the good option is by reaching the fulfillment of the wisdom of Kabbalah by ourselves, attaining the force of connection by it to draw the force, the Light that Reforms unto ourselves. It says: “I have created the evil inclination, I have created the Torah as a spice, since the Light in it reforms.”

Question: You speak about the Torah, so is it about religion?

Answer: No. The Torah is light, the force we discover inside the circle, which welds us together. The force that reforms is called the Torah. It is not a religious concept at all. It isn’t a book or a parchment that has words written on it, but an inner force.

The egoistic inclination doesn’t let us connect, while the Torah is the Upper Light, the means to correct the evil inclination, which is felt only by those who sense that they have to connect with others and cannot do so. It is as if our whole nation sat in one big circle of eight million people and everyone thought only about the fact that they cannot unite. It is a fact that if there is no external pressure, the society remains separated and detached.

Our mission is to move from state one to state two. State one is our current state of insecurity and of no future as a result of the lack of connections between us because of our egoistic nature.

There are two ways of achieving state two. The right way is the way that Kabbalists tell us about. They say that if we want to advance, we have to connect. If we sit in circles and begin to discuss the issue of how to be “as one man in one heart,” we will discover how much we are against this idea. This resistance we feel towards connection is called the evil inclination.

The evil inclination is not revealed to a person in his ordinary life, when he disrespects everyone, but only when he wishes to connect to others. Only then does he see that he doesn’t want this connection and is repelled by it, although he understands that he must reach unity despite his natural repulsion.

We felt it during the last military operation “Enduring Rock,” since we could unite only under external pressure. The moment the pressure was gone, we immediately returned to our initial state and began to quarrel and fight. So what can we do? After all we need to connect!

What is actually lacking at the moment is the recognition that we need connection. We need to widely publicize and explain that our good future depends on the unity of the nation and that otherwise we are facing disaster.

If we discover that we cannot unite, although we want to, we need the Torah as a means for attaining unity. This means that we are at the foot of Mt. Sinai which is a mountain of hatred. We want to reach unity, but we cannot do so since a high mountain of mutual hatred separates us.

Then we are worthy of the receiving of the Torah, which is the revelation of the force of connection that should come and connect us. This means that the light of the Torah reforms. It is a force of unity, a force of light and love. When it is revealed, we suddenly begin to feel closeness, dependence, and a mutual connection between us.

Question: Where can we find this force?

Answer: This force is hidden in nature. Now too, it is among us, but we discover it only to the extent that we yearn to connect. This is what the whole Torah is about. Thus every time Kabbalists connect into a group, they discovered the Creator, the upper force of connection.

Question: Is this circle also suitable for people who are not religious?

Answer: The circle is suitable for everyone, not only people who are not religious, but also for women and people from every nation. After all, the Israeli nation has to be a light unto the nations, teach everyone the wisdom of connection, and reveal to everyone that the Creator is the upper nature. During the last war, it was actually the women and the mothers who voiced the call for unity of the nation.
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From the program “A New Life” 9/02/14

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Baal HaSulam,” “Only Goodness and Mercy”: Only goodness and mercy shall follow me all my life. We know that all the worlds are like onion peels one inside the other and this world is inside them like a point. It turns out that all the lines and pipes of abundance go through this point, like the round lines of the organs on top of the central point, from the beginning to the end, all meet at one point. This is the matter that Israel bring abundance to the worlds since the pipes and lines seemingly end and are clogged in their meeting point in this world, the world of shells, and therefore the abundance for the worlds that goes from the beginning to the end through this world is seemingly blocked.

This is the power of the righteous who designate matter and form, each on his own level, and thus correct the pipes and the lines that reach one another and convey the infinite abundance and the great brightness to all the worlds. This is the meaning of only goodness and mercy follow a person all his life, so that they should serve as a place for it to go through.

Israel is in the center of all the worlds and it turns off or on the pipe of abundance and its flow to all of humanity and all the worlds. If we don’t make enough efforts, the flow of Light is blocked and only a minimal spark is left which is necessary for the existence of the world, which means a small force that keeps the creation alive. Everything else can be attained only by our exertion.

All of humanity has to be corrected as it changes its nature from receiving to bestowal. In fact we change our intention from in order to receive to in order to bestow and thus acquire the attributes of the Creator who is all of reality. Baal HaSulam describes reality as a system in which there are pipes, circles, and straightness.

All of humanity has to change from egoism to bestowal because it is thanks to this that it acquires the Creator’s attribute, identifying and connecting with all of reality. There is a pioneer force in humanity called Israel according to its intention of Yashar El (straight to the Creator), which leads all the rest.

Abraham discovered all these elements back in ancient Babylon and told, explained, and taught all the Babylonians. Yet only a few of them responded to this invitation that humanity received from nature, from the Creator. That’s the way it should have been.

This small pioneering force has to carry out its mission with great responsibility. Israel has to be the pioneer of the correction and to pave the way for everyone else.
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From the Preparation for the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/23/14

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Question: What kind of a schism was happening among the people of Israel in the time of the Maccabees, to which the holiday of Chanukah is connected?

Answer: This was a very difficult period. Our ego was growing all the time and we were compelled to overcome it. At the same time and in several stages, we didn’t succeed in overcoming our ego, and so the Greek sensation arrived. This was the sensation that it was not worthwhile to always manage this inner struggle and connect with the upper force, but rather it was possible to live a simple materialistic life, which is convenient for the body and is what is done by all the rest of the nations.

This is called the Greek approach. The Greek within a person says to him: “The main thing is physical life! We build nice houses, celebrate and enjoy life. Join us!”

The Greeks didn’t intend to enslave the people of Israel, they only wanted this formerly great and strong people to become like the rest of humanity. The Greeks were the whole of humanity in those times, its most advanced part.

But the moment that the Jews broke their connection, they caused all kinds of troubles for themselves, also including those that came from the Greeks. If we belong to the people of Israel, we cannot tear the connection between us and the connection with the higher power and begin to live like the Greeks. This is not possible for us and inevitably something will happen.

The world suddenly will feel that its inner energy, its inner Light, has become exhausted. This feeling will appear in all the nations of the world, not just in the people of Israel for everyone will stop receiving the unique power through it. So all kinds of problems and troubles will come, and the nations of the world will blame them on the people of Israel.

This will obligate the people of Israel to connect and unite again, to join together like sheep that are surrounded by wolves. The moment that we unite, the Upper Light will again begin to stream through us into the world and everything will calm down.

Everything will be calm, the pressure on Israel will disappear, the tension within Israel will decrease, and once again, controversies will again return. We will again stop being concerned about our connection and unity, will separate and invite a new wave of troubles.

That is how these waves come one after the other. We are united and connected for a particular period, we do good things for ourselves and the whole world. But after that, we drift apart from each other again, which will be bad both for us and for the rest of the world. And so the disgruntled world comes to us and adds to our suffering, forcing us once again to connect.

We complain that history has repeated itself for the entire length of our way, for all of these thousands of years and throughout the generations. But, the reason for this lies hidden within ourselves. War flares up because of a clash between the two approaches: the former approach of the people of Israel and the approach of the rest of the peoples represented by the Greeks in the story of Chanukah.

When this Greek approach penetrates the people of Israel, it creates a schism. This is the same situation we are found in today! Apparently the people of Israel are in the land of Israel, but they are not a nation because if connection doesn’t exist between us, we are simply a bunch of exiles, an ingathering of exiles.

So it is not just that we cannot bring the Light to ourselves, which is the inner energy, the security, the health, the Light, through which everything in our lives is determined. Rather, we also don’t move this Light through us to the world in order to illuminate the rest of humanity.

Today we don’t have power because there is no unity between us. And so we cannot attract the Light to ourselves or disseminate it to the whole world through us. That Light that we must distribute to other peoples is not within us, so they blame us for all their troubles and disasters.

All the sufferings that they experience are derived from that same feeling that they must get something good from the people of Israel but are not receiving it. It is necessary to hear what they are saying. There are no people in the world that will not come with accusations against the people of Israel, from the nations in Latin America to Japan, from Australia to Iceland. And we see how forcefully they make this demand. And the worse it gets in the world, the stronger these demands will be towards Israel.
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From the program “A New Life” 12/11/14

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