Rav Kook, “The Purpose of Israel and Its Specificity”: The love of others is the most clarified feeling, and it is based on sensory perception. Indeed we should follow it and a person should prepare himself for this cause so as to be part of the life of others, and in this lies the whole point of individual morality.

Love of others is the rule that includes all of a person’s actions. In other words, he shouldn’t do anything if it doesn’t stem from the eruption and expansion of love. Otherwise, this action is not compatible with the Creator’s plan, and eventually it will lead to negative results. This is exactly how our initiatives are examined: If they are aimed at love of others, then it will work, and if not, then it will not work.

But how can we explain this to people? If they hear about it, they will say that they don’t need our preaching. They only want to live and enjoy life.

Still, we have to look for ways to reach their hearts, not in order to give them love, but in order to reach the love of the Creator. I will learn to love the Creator only if I learn to love the created beings first. I use the whole world only for the sake of the ultimate goal, which is love of the Creator.

What kind of love to the created beings is it if I just use them? Still, that’s the way it is. I really love them since only thanks to them do I reach the love of the Creator. The means becomes as important for me as the goal.

The great ego implies that I should rise above it since then I will attain something that is much bigger. It turns out that if we become greater egoists, we understand how to use our ego in a new more efficient way, and we don’t enjoy in it but above it. Then I will be like the Creator.

It is according to this healthy approach, without any illusions that I intend to use all of creation, including the Creator, since I will not continue to advance if I don’t reach the level of Pharaoh. I have to feel and to experience everything, but together with the right clarification, without vague illusions. I advance accurately without diverting from the goal.

It says: “A judge only has what his eye can see.” I approach every roadblock with the package of my attributes and I usually don’t have to get rid of it. I have nothing but the ego, and it evokes me to join the group, to annul before the friends, to be incorporated in them, to advance towards the Creator and to turn to the public. All these steps stem from my ego. Suddenly I understand that from now on I have to use it differently, not from the inside but above it.

How can we attain this? How can you benefit from the ego? We can do so with the help of the Surrounding Light. It will influence me and will give me a chance to rise above the ego. I don’t want it to limit me, since I already understand that I cannot perceive much in it. It only offers this world only, but I want more than that…

When I look at myself now, I see an animal that enjoys food, sex, family, comfort, tranquility, money, respect and knowledge. But above the animal level, I ask myself if I should rise a bit more. Then I receive a method that enables me to rise. Thus the greater ego evokes me more than all the other previous desires, and I advance above them.

This is the only way to grow without neutralizing my ego but by using it wisely. The whole course of development is aimed at turning us into greater egoists, but wise and not primitive ones. Other people are ready to settle for little. Give a person a million dollars in order to solve all his problems and he will feel satisfied and well off. But I don’t settle for that; I have to control the worlds. I am Pharaoh who declares “Who is the Lord that I should listen to Him? No, I will rule in His place!” This is the ego I will discover in me if I don’t stop on the way.

But this truth is revealed only to people who have the point in the heart, who have a spiritual potential; “This secret is revealed to them bit by bit.”

Question: How can I avoid making mistakes and not sink into the ego over my head? How can I know that I am on the right course?

Answer: If you are connected to us then you advance correctly. You can be sure only if you are in the right environment and want to be there; there is no other way.

The problem is not in feeling weak and lacking the understanding, but when a person adds other methods. A person is not a hindrance to himself, but if he begins to catch external “viruses,” he will not succeed.
[115643]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/27/13, Writings of Rav Kook

Related Material:
Love As The Law Of Nature
Commandment To Love
Love Your Neighbor As Yourself

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Israel, Nations of the World, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

All of reality except for us is found in a state of rest and waits for our work. Everything is seemingly evolving and changing at every moment, yet without any free choice. The result of the cooperation between the Light and the Kli that is found opposite to it, is projected, extended, and evolved downward, and influences the world more and more.

 The link between the Light and the Kli in the meantime is created without our participation, without an attempt to establish a proper link between them. And if we don’t link them correctly, then these two lines of force will evolve further and further downward, in parallel to each other, and will influence us who are found between them.

The entire world is found in a field between these two forces, plus and minus: still, vegetative, animate, and speaking (humanity) and within it also Israel. The positive and negative forces evolve further and further from above to below, meaning they are revealed one against the other with greater and greater intensity, where the minus and the plus are made more opposed to each other.

And if we, with our free choice, cannot link and complete them in the right way, then they will descend to an even lower level and cause more and more trouble. As if there was a -10 tension opposite a +10 tension, and this becomes -100 opposite +100; that is, the opposition between them is made much greater. Therefore the troubles grow and become greater, and then we have no choice, and they oblige us to make some kind of link between the plus and the minus.

If we create a link like this, then the entire nature of the still, vegetative, animate, and all the nations of the world, also merit a more balanced supervision, which is to say a quiet life. There is no longer such strong opposition between the minus and the plus, rather the opposite; there is something that links them together. The positive force supplies intention and the negative force supplies desire, and if we combine intention and desire correctly, then all of of creation will enjoy the fruit of this covenant. That is how it works.

All of the negative egoistic forces, all the wicked (Nebuchadnezzar, Amalek, Hitler), which collectively are called “Pharaoh,” have no free choice. Therefore, there is nothing to curse or blame them for; rather, it is necessary only to understand that nobody can correct the situation except those who have free choice, that have a natural inclination towards correction of the world.
[115563]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/20/13, The Zohar — Introduction

Related Material:
Moments Of Responsibility
The Only Point Of Freedom
Daily Work For The Sake Of The Final Correction

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Free Will, Israel, Nations of the World, Spiritual Work, Zohar - No Comments →

The Book of Zohar, Chapter “BeHukotai,” Item 30-31: There is an allegory about a man who loved his friend. He said: “Indeed, since I love you so much, I want to dwell with you.”

His friend asked: “How can I be sure that you will dwell with me?” Then, he took the most valuable belongings and brought them to his friend and said: “Here is a guarantee that I won’t ever part from you.” Similarly, the Creator wished to dwell with Israel. He took His precious Shechina, lowered Her to Israel and said: “Here is my pawn; it shows that I will never part from you.”

Even though the Creator was removed from us, His pawn is still with us since Shechina accompanies us in exile. We preserve His jewel, and when the time comes, He will ask us to return the pawn, and then He will come back and remain with us. Nevertheless while Israel is still in exile, Israel keeps the Creator’s pawn and will never abandon it.

The Creator made a desire to receive. He developed it with the help of the Upper Light and fulfills it endlessly. All other states exist only in the creation’s perception. The Creator stopped acting at the four stages of direct Light. He stopped at the stage of Malchut of the world of infinity. By acting this way, He “handed” Himself to the creation, and later on the creation started to act in order to attain the Creator, its Maker.

Therefore, all His actions are associated with creation. The Creator has given Himself as a “pawn” to creation by filling it with feasible revelations, love, and Light. The creation’s task is to attain the perfect potential state that can be achieved between the Creator and the creation. The entire development is just about this process.

That’s why it is said: “I, HaVaYaH, do not change” and “the Light is constantly in the state of an absolute stillness,” meaning that the Creator has already done His part of the work; He has settled Himself forever in the creation and merged with it infinitely. However, the creation has to perform several actions on its own in order to completely sense the One Who created it, Who fulfills it, with Whom it adheres, and then discover the “pawn” that the Creator left in it. So far, the pawn is hidden inside the creation and is waiting for the creation to disclose it, for its readiness to reveal the Creator by obtaining similar qualities to Him.

The entire concealment exists only when we look at it from the creation’s point of view. When we say that “the Creator is in concealment,” it is just words; in fact, the “ball” is in the creation’s hands. According to actual laws, the properties, and conditions that were passed to the creation by Him, everything depends only on the lower.

Of course, it is not in our power to change the basis of creation nor can we alter the original HaVaYaH. Our task is to rise to infinity in accordance with the same laws. At the same time, the speed and nature of our elevation depend solely on us. We can act freely within the boundaries of the law that defines the relationships between the Light and the desire until we finally find the Creator inside us; realize that He is already present, and that He waits for us to reveal Him. So, on one hand, everything happens in accordance with the upper laws, which is why we study the chapter called “BeHukotai”; however, we are the ones who are supposed to reveal the Light.
[110319]
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/19/13

Related Material:
Love The Lord Your God With All Your Heart
A Luminous Line In The Darkness
From Love To Hatred And Back To Love

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Israel, Nations of the World, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Rav Kook, “The Purpose of Israel and Its People’s Specificity”: There is a need for much studying in many generations that lays the beginning of the high ideal of serving the Creator, given to Israel. Its goal is the elevation of the entire humanity.

It can only be raised through the elevation of the people of Israel—the people who started to illuminate the darkness of the world and have to finish what was begun. Only in its own light, clearly realizing its importance and mission, will it learn how sublime and beautiful this goal is.

Question: The responsibility for the humanity imposes more responsibility on Israel and makes greater demands compared to internal, group work …

Answer: I need the group in order to get power from them. The group is my upper. I constantly recharge my “battery” in the group; I meet with our common power in it, with the Creator, and based on that, I appeal to a wide audience.

The group is “Israel” from which environment I can go out to the people, to all of humanity. To keep in touch with the task, with the goal, with the Creator, with the method of correction, with the force that unites us—the force of love and support between us—I have to be in the group. Otherwise, I just have nothing with which to “reach out to people” because I have neither strength nor the right approach.

Question: So in his articles about the group, did Rabash want to explain to us how to be “recharged” by friends to transfer energy further?

Answer: Of course. In general, every Kabbalist said as much as he could say to reveal in his generation. Therefore, Baal Shem Tov began to implement the method in the form of Hasidism, and then Rav Kook, Baal HaSulam and Rabash continued this revolution in spite of resistance.

Question: So today it is possible to reveal love and bring pleasure to the Creator only by working with a wide audience?

Answer: Yes. You come to a group and unite with the friends in brotherly love to gather strength and power and to take the right course to turn to the masses. It is among them that you will discover the need for the Creator. Your relationship with Him will be manifested there. There, among the people, He dwells. “Do you want to find me? Please. I am there and nowhere else.”

This is the specificity of our time in the “era of Mashiach (Messiah)”; we begin to actually implement the method, going out to “the people.” We just prepare ourselves in the group, it gives us strength, but the action itself is carried out among the masses, where we are building the “Third Temple” from the broken vessels of the entire world.

That is why Baal HaSulam says that the deliverance of Israel is possible only after the whole world learns about the method of correction due to our work with the external audience. Just as Pharaoh knew the God of Israel and agreed to let the people go.

Working with external desires, we do not correct them all at once, but start the process of sorting and the correction of the vessels belonging to the worlds of BYA, and to the same extent come out of exile. After all, the “exile” for the vessels of bestowal is the inability to correct the world. “Deliverance” means that we can take the broken vessels of the worlds of BYA from humanity, raise them to the Creator, and thus bring Him pleasure by allowing you to open them.

In doing so, we ourselves are just intermediaries, the connecting link.
[115708]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/27/13, Writings of Rav Kook

Related Material:
The Width And Height
Everything Begins From The Group
All Who Feel The Sorrows Of The Public Merit Consolation

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Dissemination, Group Work, Israel, Nations of the World, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

The Mission Of The People Of Israel

When the children of Israel will find perfection, the fountains of intelligence and knowledge shall flow beyond the boundaries of Israel and water all the nations of the world, as it is written (Isaiah 11), “for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord,” and as it is written, “and shall come unto the Lord and to His goodness.”
Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to the Book, Panim Meirot uMasbirot,” Item 4

Also, it is upon the Israeli nation to qualify itself and all the people of the world through Torah and Mitzvot, to develop until they take upon themselves that sublime work of the love of others, which is the ladder to the purpose of Creation, which is Dvekut with Him.
Baal HaSulam, “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee),” Item 20

…the Israeli nation had been constructed as a sort of gateway by which the sparks of purity would shine upon the whole of the human race the world over. And these sparks multiply daily, like one who gives to the treasurer, until they are filled sufficiently, that is, until they develop to such an extent that they can understand the pleasantness and tranquility that are found in the kernel of love of others. For then they will know how to shift the balance to the right, and will place themselves under His burden, and the scale of sin will be eradicated from the world.
Baal HaSulam, “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee),” Item 24
[109725]

Related Material:
The Kabbalists About The Nation Of Israel And The Nations Of The World, Part 6
The Kabbalists About The Nation Of Israel And The Nations Of The World, Part 4
The Kabbalists About The Nation Of Israel And The Nations Of The World, Part 2

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

Baal HaSulam, “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”: But because of the descent of human nature to the lowest degree, which is the self-love that unrestrictedly rules over all of humanity, there was no way to negotiate with them and persuade them to agree to take upon themselves, even as an empty promise, to exit their narrow world into the wide spaces of the love of others. The exception was the Israeli nation because they were enslaved in the savage kingdom of Egypt four hundred years in horrible torments.

Our sages said, “As salt sweetens meat, agony polishes man’s sins.”

Question: The people of Israel suffered throughout its history and I don’t see how that helped. After all, correction is made by the Light, what do torments give us?

Answer: Indeed, that is how this is presented and we are guided by what we see. Each one of us has our own “eyeglasses” and nothing can be done.

You think the Egyptian exile was a period of physical suffering, but in my eyes it was a spiritual revelation of evil. You consider it to be Pharaoh’s attack, but I regard it as an outbreak of the evil inclination. Egyptians tormented you externally and me, internally. Under a hail of blows, you ran away from the geographical Egypt, and I from inner Egypt. The spiritual aspect is so strong that I experienced the Egyptian exile, not externally, but mainly as internal woes. The led me out of Egypt to attain the world of Atzilut. For you, it was enough to get rid of the Pharaoh’s physical oppression, from external enslavement.

The same distinction is characteristic of the contemporary world. In the current troubles and problems, I see an appeal, a trigger needed for us to move to the goal. You  perceive them as a curse rather than a means for advancement. You want to avoid them, and I, on the contrary, say that we should not be running away from them, but rather should self-correct so that instead of ills, we would feel comfortable, benevolent, and secure in the future world.

Today, when the process strives to attain the overall redemption, it becomes all the more clear that there is no place to run. This means that if the Jewish people don’t start the process of self-correction, they will face miseries on all sides, economic, emotional, and  physical predicaments, whatever, in Israel and in America and elsewhere.

The safest place is the land of Israel. Its people will have to fight physically, but mostly internally. That’s why we have to spread Kabbalistic knowledge in Israel, and above all we have to disseminate the methodology of integral education. After all, it depends on the extent to which we are able to transfer the Jewish people facing problems as conventional battles to a spiritual battles.

People must understand that if fight internally to unite, we will “soften” and “sweeten” negative forces. They do not  destroy them, which is impossible, but turn them into good and useful. Unity will allow us to get stronger, thus making our enemies retreat. We won’t have to battle with them and they will stop fighting with us. On the contrary, they will come to us to learn the ways to unite.

After all, separation will affect them even worse than us. In Israel, it leads leads to political conflicts; in other areas, every day dozens and hundreds of people are killed, and the chaos will only continue growing.

So, if we want harmony and peace, we have to start here. We have no choice. And it makes no sense to  dwell upon the physical afflictions of Jews in Egypt. In this case,  you don’t understand this, and all the other catastrophes that befell Jews throughout history, whether it is the inquisition, pogroms, or the Holocaust. Of course, this cannot be explained from our current level since we don’t see the entire reality or the whole system to understand what is happening or its causes.

In short, it is a qualitative deficiency and we are at a very important, crucial phase.

In general, subconsciously the nations of the world press the people of Israel to teach them the methodology of correction. And the pressure can take on various forms.

But what is surprising: Before the nations of the world will come to Israel, they will be fight and have conflict with each other. However, we can already see around whom the whole “plot” revolves. Israel is almost invisible on the map; nevertheless, it is the true center of events, and with time, this fact will appear more clearly.

Ultimately, the current processes obligate the Jewish people to unite, to give an example to the world, to bring all to global unity, and to raise humanity.

This is the simple “scheme.” However, in our world it is implemented in multi-billion dollar investments, requires huge resources, and directly affects millions of people, turning this world into an arena of uncontrollable trade.
[108016]

Related Material:
Different Ways To The General Circle
Why Can’t The People Of Israel Be Like Everyone Else?
Regulators Of Spiritual Traffic

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

Baal HaSulam, “Messiah’s Horn”: And it was not enough that they could leave by themselves. You must understand from where the nations of the world would come by such a will and idea. Know that this is through the dissemination of the true wisdom, so they will evidently see the true God and the true law.

We are talking about internal processes, the projections of which are the external events. And the meaning is that today the “Egyptian scenario” is impossible. It has to be clear for all the desires that a person has to exit them and reach bestowal. Accordingly, salvation is impossible in the projection on the external world until the entire receiving desire, meaning the whole world, recognizes its necessity.

So, we are required to carry out the widest possible dissemination of Kabbalah throughout the world. It’s necessary that the nations get it from us to the extent that they can comprehend it. If they do not get this method, do not recognize it, and do not agree with it, then the people of Israel, that is, those in whom the spark of yearning for the Creator is burning, have no ability to rise and correct themselves.

That’s why we need to perform our work around the world as widely as possible and with maximum intensity. After all, we will not rise without dissemination outwards in all directions. This is the spiritual law: The nations of the world are strong in quantity, in width, and we in quality, in height. It’s said about Israel that it’s small among the nations, but is able to rise.

Thus, all of our success depends on the nations of the world. We go out to disseminate and address a wide audience, wanting to please the Creator above all. We bring people closer to Him so that in them unity is revealed, meaning that small illumination by which we ourselves, as a transition link, are able to please Him.

That is why we bring the wisdom of Kabbalah or integral education to the masses, intending to bring the whole world closer to the Creator in order to please Him. In our address to the world, we hold the principle of love your neighbor as yourself, which is the love of creatures striving for the love of the Creator. That is the approach in which success is inherent.
[115452]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/23/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

Related Material:
The Supply Shouldn’t Exceed The Demand
Knowledge Is Power
When The Whole World Demands

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Dissemination, Israel, Nations of the World, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Israel cannot grow without praying for everyone else that are in their egoistic desires and aware not even aware of this. This prayer should be only for the needs of others; it doesn’t matter what state we are in ourselves. If we have the spiritual spark, we have to work for the sake of bestowal in faith above reason.

The most important thing is the prayer, nothing more. Every action is more useful and effective the more quickly it brings us to the prayer. We need to choose the actions in our lives that will lead us in the most concise, direct, surest, and precise way to the prayer.

The prayer should be “the prayer of many” that is “double,” meaning that I ask for the lower, for “the many.” It’s called the prayer of “many” not because I ask for myself and for the other, but because for him these forces are not united around the Creator. There is no intention, no ability to connect them together.

Recently there is a growing crisis around the world that needs to be viewed as preparation for the prayer. What is the relationship between me and the flood in China, the volcanic eruption in Iceland, the unrest in Egypt, and the civil war in Syria? I cannot believe that all this happens only for me to form my prayer. We lack sensitivity, comprehension, and understanding of the system to recognize that this is really so. Even with these tangible, clearly revealed events, it’s difficult for us to see their connection with ourselves.

From this we can understand why Baal HaSulam wanted to talk to Ben Gurion to explain to him why he went to Poland to the workers strike. The upper management involved the Jews in all the events so that all these states would bring them to the prayer.

When the true picture is revealed to us, we will see how everything passes through us as through a lens focusing the rays of light. The entire universe eventually becomes compressed through us like through the eye of a needle. Thus the connection between all the rays of Light and the source is established.
[115363]
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/22/13

Related Material:
Daily Work For The Sake Of The Final Correction
All Who Feel The Sorrows Of The Public Merit Consolation
The Prayer Of Many For All Of Humanity

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Israel, Nations of the World, Prayer and Intention, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Question: It has happened since ancient times that money lenders were mostly Jewish. It is believed that they specifically started the matter of collecting exorbitant interest.

Answer: It isn’t high interest or compound interest, the essence of which is now well understood by economists. Today it exists in any bank, in any business. The Jews began to collect interest because they knew how to correctly calculate the debt. Let’s suppose that I give you 100 dollars and you need to return the same amount to me the next day, but you return it to me after 20 days. So then, how much do you need to return? If you had immediately returned the money to me, then I could have invested it in a business and could have profited from it tomorrow, the next day, and so on, according to the cumulative calculation.

Thus, you need to compensate me for the amount that I lose because of you. The interest is not like the bank interest. If this amount wasn’t invested in circulation, then you wouldn’t owe me anything. But since I take it away from the circulating money, then you simply need to compensate me on what I lost.

Let’s suppose that with the same 100 dollars that I loaned you, I could have opened a line to manufacture cups and instead of $100, I would earn $200 a month. This means that you need to return $200 and there is no interest here. If you don’t return the money in time, but only after 2 months, then you need to return to me what I could have earned during those months with that same $100.

It’s the right move. There is no interest here! If the banks charge interest in addition, it’s because they exist on the account of interest, and it’s a totally different issue. One must differentiate between the two.
[114862]
From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 5/27/13

Related Material:
The Banking System In Short
“Go And Earn From Each Other”
A Paycheck From The Upper Light

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

Spirituality is not attained by work in the mind, as it says: “wisdom among the nations – believe, Torah among the nations – don’t believe.” This means that the Light that Reforms is not among them. Therefore they are called the nations of the world and not Israel yet. This is what the whole debate is about: Who attains the Creator and who doesn’t? What is attainment?

To the extent that we acquire vessels of bestowal and sense in them, we attain the Creator, which means the phenomena that take place in our vessels of bestowal. It is impossible to attain anything else, except for a feeling in our vessels. The early simple desire to receive expands and acquires a new order. Before, it was scattered to many contradictory pieces that felt themselves as Israel and the nations of the world, relatives and distant strangers.

All this belonged to my desire to receive, but it seemed like a whole world that is around me in different forms. My role is to connect all this into one, to collect all the pieces and attach them to me by treating them with love. I have to understand that it was all given to me in order to correct myself, my point in the heart, by which I acquire the right intention towards all my enemies, those who hate me and foreigners, as I begin to perceive them as parts of my soul.

It is inside me that I have to find the right attitude towards them and then to correct them. If I perform such a correction in my inner attitude, I see that everything works out. All the many enemies and my problems are only a replica of my inner state. It is my attitude by which I divide all of reality into the land of Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Babylon, and different distant countries and nations, which means that they are all the levels of my desire: the still, vegetative, and animate nature, and the speaking.

Once there was one desire, the world of Ein Sof (Infinity), and now it is divided into many parts, which feel that they are distant from one another and hate one another. All this can be connected into one form, and this is the whole correction of man and the world as one whole.

All this can be realized only if I demand correction. The whole difference is whether I philosophize about it using my mind or in contrast to what I see and the repulsion that I feel by all these parts, in faith above reason, as parts of my soul, although they seem so distant and even hated. So I begin to get closer to spirituality, working above my desire in the group and thus awakening it more and more.
[115028]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/18/13, The Book of Zohar — Introduction

Related Material:
Am I Smart Enough To Not Be Too Smart?
About The Attraction To The Wisdom
The Letter And Spirit

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Israel, Nations of the World, Spiritual Work, Zohar - No Comments →