Question: Lag Ba’Omer is mostly known as a holiday for children and teenagers who gather around bonfires in the evening. Aside from this, we know almost nothing about this day. What is the inner meaning of this holiday?

Answer: When I first heard about this holiday, I also thought it was just a tradition to gather around a bonfire, sit, talk, and sing. And mostly it seemed to be something for children, since adults do not typically sit around bonfires.

Lag Ba’Omer is also associated with Rabbi Akiva and his students, although this holiday is mentioned in sources that are over two thousand years old, meaning that they are more ancient than the time when Rabbi Akiva lived. This holiday represents a special spiritual state that was marked even before him.

Lag BaOmer also commemorates the passing of Rabbi Shimon, the author of The Book of Zohar who was a student of Rabbi Akiva. About 40 years ago, I used to go with my teacher Rabash and other students each year on this day to Mount Meron, where Rabbi Shimon is buried. At that time, about two hundred people would gather there to pray. Everything was very modest and quiet.

In the early 1980s, mass pilgrimages to Mount Meron suddenly began during this holiday with crowds of people, buses, and it became very crowded and noisy on that day. The inner uniqueness of the holiday was lost, and so we stopped going.

The essence of the holiday is reflected in its name: “Lag BaOmer,” meaning the 33^rd (Lag) day of the Omer count, which begins right after the first day of the Passover holiday. What exactly are we counting?

The prayer book describes the order of the count and specifies the inner corrections made on each day in one of the Sefirot. Usually such strictly Kabbalistic terms as Sefirot are not used in the prayer book, except in the context of the Omer count.

We must count a total of 49 days, each of which is named after a specific Sefira: Chesed in Chesed, Gevura in Chesed, Tiferet in Chesed, and so on. In this way, we count seven times seven qualities that exist within our soul. These qualities were corrupted by us, and now we seek to correct them within ourselves.

A human being is a desire. If one wants to attain their true fulfillment, they must return to their source, that is, to become similar to the upper force of nature, the Creator.

The Creator is the quality of bestowal and love. This means we must correct ourselves from the egoism in which we currently exist, to love for others. This is the meaning behind the counting of the days of the Omer.

Our corrupted, egoistic desire is divided into 49 parts (seven times seven). Each day we correct one part starting from the lightest desire to the heaviest, that is, from a small hatred to the greatest hatred: 49 degrees of hatred in total. Each time, we correct one degree until we have corrected all of the hatred overall.

Hatred is corrected through light. As it is said: “I created the evil inclination and gave the Torah as a spice for the light in it reforms.” Small portions of light act upon us and correct each of our corrupted desires.

The 49 desires must receive 49 portions of light so that through them they may transform from evil into good from hatred into love. This light can only be drawn through the correct study of Kabbalah, which is called the wisdom of light, the true Torah, since it deals with the correction of the human being.

For this reason, the holiday of Lag BaOmer is connected with Rabbi Shimon, with The Book of Zohar, with Mount Meron, with everything that relates to the inner part of the Torah, to Kabbalah. Rabbi Shimon, through writing The Book of Zohar, passed down to us the method of correction.
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From KabTV’s “New Life 559 – Holidays And Festivals: Lag Ba’Omer,” 5/3/15

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New Life 85 – A Talk On Emergency Situations, Part 2
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Nitzah Mazoz Oct 17, 2012

In what way will the people of Israel be able to come to the understanding that connection is the solution to everything? How does the wisdom of Kabbalah bring people to this understanding? How will the rest of the world eventually join them?

If the people of Israel were in an existential threat from other countries that are against them, would people lose hope? The fear is that no one would have a plan for going forward. There is also concern about economic threats, that there won’t be enough food or resources.

Let’s hope that we are able to sweeten these threats. It’s enough for us to know that we have to start changing. We need to go out openly in our advocacy regarding the destiny of the nation of Israel and its role in the correction of human evil. We have reached the point where this needs to actually take place, where we actually discover the higher idea and the higher purpose of unity with the upper force.

The wisdom of Kabbalah, previously hidden, is now opening up to correct our nature. All of humanity can come from hatred toward love, know the bounty of unity, and rise above this general crisis to reach the next degree of our existence. We need to unite and wish to discover Him between us. It’s time to finally perform the exodus from Egypt toward spiritual leadership where we activate the spiritual force. If we activate the upper force, no one can oppose us. All the hearts of the rulers of the world will turn in our favor and they will join us joyfully and embrace us as the cause of good and salvation to the entire world.

The abundance that will flow between us will also flow to the nations of the world. Unity and connection, “love your neighbor as yourself,” will give us the good connection to the upper force. It needs to go from a slogan into practical expression in the world.

Abraham was the first person to discover the one force that rules all of reality, the first to discover Kabbalah, the wisdom of connection, the upper force, the reforming light, the internality of the Torah. He tried to discover how to reveal it. Externality is the customs and laws that a person keeps. Internality is wanting to correct his nature, his evil inclination. This is what Kabbalah provides. Our real purpose in life is to change our internality. The time has come for everyone to come to the internality of the Torah.

Abraham taught all of this to his students, which is how the wisdom of Kabbalah began. To understand that there is one force influences one’s experience of the world and brings spiritual laws into actualization in our lives. The force of love organizes opposing forces; it knows how to connect and unite all the different forces in balance and harmony. The world is integral, one whole, organized by the upper force. Opposite forces always complete each other; they must be connected through this upper force, the force of love. We must discover this force of love.

We see through science that everything is interconnected, that there is a “software” inside the system that connects everything above all opposition. Where is the one force that unifies everything? It’s only the force of love, not corporeal love, but the force of connection and unity that brings everything into harmony.

All over the world, we have reached desperation. The trouble will open the ears of the public to be receptive to such solutions, to see that we are currently not connected in the right way. When we begin to use the Torah to unite between us in the light that reforms, then we won’t need breakings anymore.

Are we able to absorb the solutions that are proposed?

We can tell the public about this in a series of talks and different activities, as simply as possible, perhaps not using the examples of history of Abraham and the exodus from Egypt, but rather through modern sciences and its proofs.

From KabTV’s “New Life 83 – A Talk On Emergency Situations” 10/15/12
This summary was written and edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman

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New Life 83 – A Talk On Emergency Situations, Part 1
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Nitzah Mazoz

Why is the nation of Israel considered by the world to be a special nation? What does this mean about the responsibility it has? How through workshops and sessions can we speed up what the nation of Israel must realize as soon as possible?

We are in a special time where the entire world is against us. The nations of the world have grouped together against us and now we have nowhere to run. Jews have been expelled before, but always someone has been willing to take us in. It seems that is no longer true.

We need to examine why Israel is so special. We need to look at our roots from the times of Abraham until today. The wisdom of Kabbalah is our foundation. We must learn it and discover it. It is calling us and inviting us to finally begin to use it. The time has come to understand the system of this reality, the cause and the process and the purpose of the world, and what special role we are destined to play in these times.

We need to tell everyone how special this group of people is with its purpose to bring everyone into one unified whole so that we will all come together as one man with one heart, for all the evil to turn into good. If Israel fails to fulfill this role, then accordingly these same forces that need to be balanced will instead act against them.

What is the wisdom of Kabbalah telling us? Abraham discovered the wisdom and explained in Babylon how to solve the crisis through unity and connection. Nimrod persecuted him, so he left with his thousands of followers. Over time, this group of Kabbalists began to call itself the nation of Israel—Yashar-El, directed toward the Creator, toward bestowal, toward love of others.

We find ourselves today in the same crisis that existed in Babylon, and this plan demands to be fulfilled. All the nations are desperate and it is natural for them to blame us for everything that they are feeling.

We need to understand that the upper force is aiming us in this direction. We need to be a holy nation, a kingdom of priests. We need to aim toward the internal fulfillment of the connection between us. Once we ourselves have become connected and united, we can turn to the rest of the world to correct the human ego. We must not escape; instead we must fulfill our purpose.

We need to explain how we will be able to unite together in practice. We have experts who can take people through this process. We need to offer a series of practical actions in all kinds of forms for participants to feel how well it works. We read texts, talk about it, and try to put it into practice. Through film and theater skits, we can explain what a workshop is and show them how to behave. We can invite people to talk together in community centers where we present lots of different activities: short films, songs, games, activities for kids and the elderly—something for everyone. The important thing is the emotional participation. We explain the activities and then go out and do them.

In our unity we will experience a special advancement where we come away with a new viewpoint. We will learn together that unity and connection are truly in our nature. We will suddenly feel how close together we are and we will find this powerful internal force that is our salvation. This is the upper force, the force of love.
From KabTV’s “New Life 83 – A Talk On Emergency Situations” 10/15/12
This summary was written and edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman

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New Life 255 – Relationships With Neighbors
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Nitzah Mazoz

Why are there many conflicts between neighbors? Can we learn to live together by changing our attitude to one of goodwill?

My neighbor is basically “inside my house” with his noise, his smells, his music, etc.

When one makes good connections with neighbors, everyone benefits. It’s hard to tolerate neighbors because there is no buffer between us. They are as if “under my skin.” If my daughter makes noise, I may be fine with that. But next door ?! If we can break the walls of our heart and feel closer, there will be fewer problems with the neighbors.

In neighborly relations, there is no point in trying to determine who is right and who is not, but only to build good relationships. You can create a sense of paradise inside the building—a cloud of calm, confidence, and warmth.

A series of events to foster good relations between neighbors could be scheduled. Neighbors might start with a connection workshop to talk about the good things and the good people in our building. A shared sense of “home” can bring a person security and warmth that he will never achieve in his private apartment.

This could be followed with a good neighbors workshop: In a circle, each one expresses good things about the other, even if they don’t know each other. When I have a good thought about them, it already makes me feel better in the building. This workshop could include an exercise: During the week, write in a few sentences what you went through with the neighbors in the building. At the end of the week, everyone briefly describes what living in our shared home this week felt like.
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From KabTV’s “New Life 255 – Relationships With Neighbors,” 11/17/13
This summary was written and edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman

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New Life 231 – Happiness And Health
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Tal Mandelbaum ben Moshe

What is the connection between the physical condition of a person and his or her spiritual condition and degree of happiness? How do you define the feeling of happiness? What is considered health?

Certainly the condition of the body influences happiness, but being healthy still doesn’t make a person happy. Certainly below a particular level of health, the body constantly bothers and disturbs your happiness. However, disabled people are sometimes happier than others. It is worthwhile for a person to learn to strive for what he can achieve, and to give up what is beyond his ability.

The purpose of life is to be happy, not to be preoccupied with the body. Therefore it is necessary to be concerned that the body will not interfere. A class of disabled children play together and are very happy. When everyone is together, limitations do not interfere.

The mental health of a person very much depends on the environment. Mutual help brings happiness. In the future, we will achieve a state of good physical health, but we will be less happy. Listening to your body will also not bring real happiness; even maximal relaxation is temporary. A balance between the individual and society according to a uniform standard, like they tried in China and Russia, doesn’t bring happiness.

Happiness is the feeling of satisfaction from realizing yourself. Happiness is felt when there is something higher that you have in life, something for which you feel it is worthwhile to live. Drugs don’t bring real happiness. There is no sense in them of the reality of life, of reaching the essence of life. It is specifically in situations of extreme illness that a person has the opportunity to recognize the power that is managing his life. A person who transcends narrow egoism will discover the forces that act on us and can create balance in their life.
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From KabTV’s “New Life 231 – Happiness And Health,” 9/29/13
This summary was written and edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman

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New Life 22 – The Need For Family And Coping With Male Possessiveness
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and experts in the field

The closest and most important relationship for a person is the relationship with their spouse. What is the impact of this relationship on a person? What is its impact on conflicts and their solution?

We all naturally need a family, warmth, and connection. In the past, people passed a plot of land, a house and a profession to their children, so they kept the family framework. The extended family wrapped the young couple and protected them. But today all of this has fallen apart. We need to learn how to rebuild our relationships and fill our lives with warmth and love. In many cases, the couple encounters difficult conflicts and situations that need to be addressed correctly in order to maintain and strengthen the relationship.

The power of separation is familiar to everyone, but how do you make a connection? How do we deal with life situations and connect from the place where we are? For example, how do we deal with a state of mistrust that emerges between a couple where the husband no longer trusts his wife?

The key to building the bond lies in the woman’s hands. She needs to strengthen him, to show him that she suffers from the situation together with him, that he really is the source of pleasure in her life and that she is as if breathing through him. She has to give him a warm relationship from the heart, to build a friendly relationship with him, to go out and walk hand in hand, to spend time together.

Men naturally feel a kind of possessiveness in relation to their partner, so the woman should show her husband that she is totally devoted to him and to the family. It is worthwhile to initiate pleasant conversations about things that arouse a feeling of sharing and communication, to create a warm and good relationship with the extended family of the partner and to always remember this principle: Love will cover all transgressions.

From KabTV’s “New Life 22 – The Need For Family And Coping With Male Possessiveness,” 6/26/12
This summary was written and edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman

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New Life 486 – The Degree Of Righteous
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Nitzah Mazoz

What is the degree of righteous in spirituality? Why do we experience awakening during a pilgrimage to the tombs of the righteous? How can we relate to their Torah and their spiritual level?

There is nothing of holiness in the objects left behind by a righteous—not in his relatives nor in anything material. A righteous is a person who has developed forces of love and bestowal and has revealed the Creator in his inner vessels. A righteous person is one who repeatedly transcends the desire to receive in order to awaken in himself the desire to bestow. Any person who develops spiritually can reach the level of each one of the righteous.

We can make contact with the righteous through the study of the wisdom of Kabbalah in a correct group that connects with love above the ego. The power attained in the right connection can be called righteous, and within this power we attain the Creator. It takes at least a minyan, ten people who want to transcend spiritually with the help of wisdom of Kabbalah, which is the Torah of the truth.

We must distinguish between spiritual things and religious-psychological things. Religions teach heritage and customs, and increase one’s ego. The wisdom of Kabbalah, on the other hand, speaks of correcting the ego with the help of the light that reforms.

From KabTV’s “New Life 486 – The Degree Of Righteous,” 12/30/14
This summary was written and edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman

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New Life 297 – Creativity
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Tal Mandelbaum ben Moshe

In nature and in humans, where does creativity come from? Is it possible to develop it? Why is there no unique creativity in our day like there was in the past? What kind of creativity will be required for the future?

Creativity motivates all of creation. Nature is the great creator of a more complex order. Creativity has developed in art and in science throughout human history. Since we are part of nature, every flash of inspiration comes from “the information system that embraces everything.”

The period of artistic creativity is finished, so it is already up to us to advance toward a new kind of creation. Up to now we have imitated nature in our art; from now on we will truly begin to create something uniquely human.

We are currently unable to digest the rate of inner changes in humanity. Everything is becoming virtual and abstract. Today’s emptiness is generating a need for creativity of a new type: creativity that is internal and non-material.

In the future a person will not create materially, but rather within himself, within his heart. People have already created shared feelings, a shared connection, from heart to heart. The new kind of creation will come as we enter into the inner worlds of others, into their desires and thoughts. Something new that didn’t exist at all in nature will be born through this unique connection—a partnership between us that is above the ego.

Communication above rejection creates a completed creation, a new person who will be better than me and you. A person’s interior will be upgraded so that he or she will become friendly to others and feel them as parts of him or herself. Then we will stop producing weapons and selling nonsense to each other.

We will begin to live well and create a new humanity. There will be true, positive creativity that is completely different from the creativity of today, which is often directed toward marketing and sales. In the future we will only consume what is convenient and useful for us, without all of the things that forcefully push us today.
From KabTV’s “New Life 297 – Creativity,” 2/11/14
This summary was written and edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman

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New Life 294 – Group Emotion
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Nitzah Mazoz

How do we build a group in which its members feel as if they are a single body? What are the necessary conditions for its existence? What are the unique activities that are said to be implemented in it?

Whether the intention of a group is to create harmony, as in a philharmonic orchestra, or to promote personal excellence, as in a sports team, a group whose members are connected “as one person with one heart” will be invincible.

A complete creation means that in spite of differences between the instruments, sounds, and people, they develop a uniform creation. The audience is also part of the game.

Two groups can create harmony between opposites. It is like what happens between a man and a woman. We don’t destroy or blur the gap between us; instead we cover it over with love. Spiritual harmony means that we work toward building a warm connection between us to become one. We begin from the end: Our goal is to reach a state in which we feel each other with our eyes closed. The connection between us is built above rejection, arguments, and criticism. We swallow every eruption. This restraint, the effort to close the internal badness, leads us to feel that we are one.

For example, what actions might we take to develop integral perception on a soccer team? Every meeting between the players begins from a connection workshop: How can we feel that we are one? We interact with each other warmly; we try to help and give support like the individual organs in a single body. In training, we play with one team against another team. We try to create harmony between the two teams, between opposites. If I am irritated by someone during the game, I try to swallow my rage and go on as usual. After the game we will talk about what happened. In the meantime, I tell myself that there must have been a misunderstanding.

In conclusion, when connection is made above separation, suddenly everyone is an angel. “Love covers all transgressions” (Proverbs 10:12)

From KabTV’s “New Life 294 – Group Emotion,” 1/26/14
This summary was written and edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman

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New Life 259 – Introduction To The Course For Parents Of Adolescents
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Nitzah Mazoz

Today there is a disconnect between parents and their adolescent children. What is unique about the youth of today? What kind of change must parents make in order to connect with and communicate with the youth?

Question: What is unique about the teenagers of today in comparison to the teenagers of previous years?

Answer: In prior generations, teenagers had a desire to develop in life, to conquer, and to achieve. Today’s world has changed. Children are exposed to everything, they are satiated from the start. It is not that important to them to find a profession because they see that we are living like slaves and still don’t feel secure.

We need to build a new world for young people. Otherwise despair will finish them off. In the new world, a person’s work will be to improve his connection with others and improve the connection between people in general. In the future, people will get what they need for living from the nation and will be involved with improving the connections between them. The young people of today do not want to and cannot continue to live according to the old agenda. Only if we change ourselves can we build a good new world that will give young people a desire to live.

In the new world, a person will be free. Nothing will pressure him except an internal need to connect more with the environment.
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From KabTV’s “New Life 259 – Introduction To The Course For Parents Of Adolescents,” 11/24/13
This summary was written and edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman

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