New Life 781 – Jewish Culture: Myths About Studying Torah
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Nitzah Mazoz

How does studying the Torah protect the people of Israel? Is the Torah meant only for Jews? Why is there a separation between men and women at the time of study?

A Yehudi (Jew) is someone who yearns for Yichud (union), for oneness. That is why it is said that studying the Torah is meant for Jews. It is also said that the Torah protects the people of Israel. This is referring to the people who want the ability to connect.

Main points:

• In general, people don’t feel that they hate others, but when they try to get closer to others, this is what they discover.
• In contrast, those who are in a group that studies the wisdom of Kabbalah are actively trying to be as if they are one, like a centipede with one mind and one heart. To the degree that we connect, we receive Light, meaning a special power that develops new intellectual and emotional capabilities. To realize this requires at least ten people who want to connect (men separately and women separately). The concept of a Minyan comes from here.
• A person who observes a group of Kabbalists cannot understand what they are feeling. That is why the wisdom of Kabbalah is also called the hidden wisdom.
• Maintaining the 613 Mitzvot (commandments) means correcting the 613 egoistic desires that are inherent in us. All the customs of Judaism actually signify the spiritual actions that we must carry out to correct the relationships between us. For instance, hand washing signifies cleansing our absorptive Kli from an intention of taking from others for ourselves.
• The correct reading of sacred writings written by those with spiritual attainment can happen only through group study under the guidance of a teacher of Kabbalah.
• The joint reading of books of Kabbalah by a group must be done with texts that were written by those who had spiritual attainment.
• In our era, the secular public is closer to recognition of the true Torah, the wisdom of Kabbalah, as opposed to the religious community, which is satisfied with its form of life.
• The wisdom of Kabbalah will add to the secular public an awareness of the goal of existence and a connection to eternity and wholeness.
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  From KabTV’s “New Life 781 – Jewish Culture: Myths About Studying Torah,” 10/20/16

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New Life 780 – The Study Of Torah Is Not What You Thought
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Nitzah Mazoz

What do we imagine the Torah is beyond historical events, how does it spread before us a deeper and wider reality than the one with which we are familiar, and how does it develop the person who studies it?

The study of Torah is not what is customary in our day and not how we understand it. The Torah is the program of the world. Studying Torah is learning about the world, how it is built and is managed according to a program of development. True study of Torah is not just study; rather, it changes a person and raises him to the summit of reality.
The main points:

• The study of the whole of nature, which is also called Elohim, shows how we can climb toward the highest level.
• Within himself, a person can develop a system that is called a soul, which will be like the entire system of nature.
• The texts that were written in the sacred books were written in codes that must be deciphered. To crack the codes, a person must change himself. He must change his mind and feelings.
• The more a person expands his love for others, the greater the depth he will discover in the Torah. Love of others develops a sense in a person that makes it possible for him to go out of himself and absorb the true reality. A person begins to acquire divine intelligence and feeling, and is connected with eternity and the wholeness of nature.
• To be connected to the power of the Torah requires a teacher who is a Kabbalist and special work within a study group.
• The Torah is the Light that surrounds us. We must study how to place ourselves before it, like sunbathing.
• “And meditate on it day and night” (Joshua 1:8) means that a person must constantly search for how to advance toward love of others.
• I read a book within a group and hope to receive the force of connection and love, which is how the Torah becomes opened for us.
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  From KabTV’s “New Life 780 – The Study Of Torah Is Not What You Thought,” 10/20/16

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New Life 790 – Trump, The Big Surprise
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Tal Mandelbaum ben Moshe

Trump’s success in the elections is not surprising. Only those who don’t know the plan of the evolution of the world were surprised.

• Many Americans feel that the US is controlled by foreigners.
• Obama filled the government offices with radical Muslim officials.
• Different people can connect only when they are properly educated, and so without education, the immigrants are ruining the countries to which they arrive.
• First we have to restore social order so that every individual finds his place in society, and then we have to teach the public how to connect.
• The world has to advance toward connection between everyone above all the differences since we are one family.
• The crisis we are undergoing these days in different aspects of life is meant to push us towards the recognition of how essential the connection is.
• Trump wants to help the lower classes. He has a socialist orientation and he is surrounded by many sensible, serious, and experienced people.
• It makes no difference whether the left wing or the right wing lead, what’s important is that the plan of creation is fulfilled, involving as little suffering as possible.
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  From KabTV’s “New Life 790 – Trump, The Big Surprise,” 11/10/16

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New Life 779 –  Studying The Torah Today
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Tal Mandelbaum ben Moshe

The Torah is not a book or an encyclopedia, but an upper force that exists in nature called the Light.

The first to discover the upper force 5,777 years ago was called Adam and then Abraham discovered it after him.

Abraham taught his group how to draw the Upper Light, called the Torah, in order to connect people through love. This is how the nation of Israel was founded. Later a new egoistic desire was revealed among the nation of Israel and this process is referred to as going down to Egypt.

The exodus from Egypt describes how we ascend above the egoism that divides us. Then there is a series of instructions of how we should correct ourselves, according to which we have to connect as one man in one heart, in mutual guarantee.

We have 613 egoistic desires and the force of the Torah corrects each of them. Throughout history there were times in which the people used the Torah correctly and times when they didn’t.

After the destruction of the second Temple, only Rashbi’s group of ten people was left, and they passed The Book of Zohar, the Light for the future, to us. Today The Book of Zohar was revealed thanks to the Sulam Commentary, which is meant to help us draw the Light in the Torah.

The Ari discovered the wisdom of Kabbalah back in the 16^th century in Safed and Baal Shem Tov was the next to discover it. Every generation is given the writings that are suitable for it, and in our generations it is the writings of Baal HaSulam and Rabash.

The Torah has been studied in exile since the destruction of the Temple, which means studying what is written in the book without correcting the heart. Today we have to return to the original attitude to the Torah as a means for the correction of the heart and the connection between us.

Why do we need the Torah today? Because the world is in a general crisis and the ego is the cause of the collapse of systems.

The saying “and you shall repeat to your sons” means that for thousands of years the Torah has kept us as the level of “the still nature of Holiness.” Today it is our duty to add the internality of the Torah since without it the externality will not be preserved either.

Studying the wisdom of Kabbalah is studying in a group in order to connect.

The Jews are different from all the other nations of the world since it is their duty to connect and to set an example of love to all of humanity. They are the spearhead on the way to correcting the world and therefore it says: “My home will be called a home of prayer for all the nations.”
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From KabTV’s “New Life 779 – Studying The Torah Today,” 10/18/16

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New Life #586 – Between Culture And Spirit
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Tal Mandelbaum ben Moshe

Summary

There are many conflicting opinions regarding culture. Many works of art were based on hatred. Of course, those who rule want to influence education and culture, and this is true all over the world.

An artist or a composer is blessed with talent, but this doesn’t mean that they are mentally more developed than others. There are endless examples of books and plays that were written by people who hated mankind and were not intellectuals.

A person who is with a developed mind is a person who loves others, and he can be a very simple person. Education and broad cultural knowledge do not mean that a person is necessarily good or bad to others. This is measured by a person’s heart, his attitude to others, not by how much he has learned.

Studying the wisdom of Kabbalah changes a person for the better and corrects his egoistic nature. An intellectual is a spiritual person who values the good relations between people above anything else. An intellectual is a person who is above matter, above the egoistic relations between people. An intellectual doesn’t criticize others since he understands people and that a man’s heart is evil from his youth. He knows that it is only human to take advantage of everything for one’s own good, to suppress others, and he aspires to help people ascend their nature.

Even if you are educated, a composer, or a philosopher, it doesn’t mean that you are an intellectual, that you are above the ego. A cultural person is a person that everyone feels comfortable being by his side. He is not proud and doesn’t think lightly of others. Culture means knowing human nature and thus relating to everyone with love and understanding.

The original Israeli culture is a culture based entirely on “love thy friend as thyself,” and it is on this basis that the nation of Israel was founded. An educational process that will turn a person into a cultured person who can change his evil nature as required in order to reach this level.

But engaging in composition and art makes people even more egoistic than others. It is not their fault. The great egoism that is built in them doesn’t enable them to sit quietly, and they have to express themselves. It is only natural for such a person to belittle others, not to regard them as equals, and not to want them near him.

An educational process that changes a person’s nature for the good makes good use of art and composition. Theater, for example, can illustrate our current situation, how low we have plunged, and what the correction we need is.
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From KabTV’s “New Life #586 – Between Culture And Spirit,” 3/31/14

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New Life #585 – Secular, Religious, Ultra-Orthodox And Arab
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Nitzah Mazoz

Summary

Question: Why is it only with us in Israel that the distance between factions is so troublesome?

Answer: It is because of our spiritual roots.

We are not a normal people. Abraham gathered different people around the idea of love for others. When we fell into unfounded hatred, we were destroyed. Today there is nothing that holds us together other than our enemies.

Israel is in fact divided today into four nations, secular, religious, ultra-Orthodox, and Arab. Each one has a different culture, different education, and different means of communication.

According to the program of creation, we need to provide the world with an example of connection into one people, above differences. If we can create connection between the factions, including the Arabs, the world will understand that we have a method for connection.

We do not enter into any politics or calculations; we immediately build a “second floor”; we educate toward a positive and correct connection. Certainly there will be endless arguments, but specifically by rising above them, the connection between us will be strengthened more and more. We don’t enter into any arguments, but only work on connection, building links. That is how we will create a new order in Israel.

Today the whole world is suffering from lack of good relationships. and everyone is expecting to see a good example from Israel. It seems unrealistic, but the doctrine of Abraham, the doctrine of Kabbalah, enters here. Abraham taught us how to bring a unique power into our lives that can transform hatred into love.

The ancient wisdom of Abraham teaches how to connect, step by step. The method of connection of Kabbalah is imperative and appropriate for all the factions in Israel and the whole world.
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From KabTV’s “New Life #585 – Secular, Religious, Ultra-Orthodox And Arab,” 6/11/15

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New Life #599 – Greek Economic Collapse
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Nitzah Mazoz

Summary

When the economy collapses, people go back payment methods like the old days. If Greece decides to break off from the EU, it will encounter all sorts of dangers; it is in a kind of trap. Greece’s plight is remniscent of the plight of the people of Israel throughout history: pressure, threats, and fear. The corruption of Greece and the corruption throughout the world stems from man’s egoistic nature. We have to recognize the evil in us. Governments think only about their own interests, about how to steal and how to care only for their electorate.

This may either lead to an explosion or we may grow wise and realize that we need a change, a new attitude to life. Nature is directing us toward a new life, a life of connection and equality between people. Anyone who will suffer will blame the Jews. This is the law of nature since our role is to lead humanity to connection. We have to learn and to teach how people discover the upper force in the connection between them and that only this force can fix everything in our lives.
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From KabTV’s “New Life #599 – Greek Economic Collapse” 7/12/15

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New Life #605 – Where Are Israeli-American Relations Headed?
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Yael Leshed-Harel

Summary

The US needed Israel in the past in order to balance the forces in the Middle East, but today the US has lost interest in this area. The general attitude in America is: “We don’t need Israel anymore.”

We have to get used to a new reality and not look back. The only aid and weapon we have is the connection between us. The Americans will do everything in their power in order to crumble Israel from the inside and to sic us against each other. They will drain all the brains from Israel with money.

Israel will either collapse and disappear from the map or unite and turn into the world spiritual superpower. No other country will want to be in contact with us. We will not be able to travel abroad. We will be totally isolated and then we will have to decide where we are headed. The connection between us will show us what we actually have to give the world.

The world is nearing an economic, cultural, and educational crisis. Different systems will collapse because of the lack of connection. Only we will be able to heal the situation and to revive the world. We have the method of connection, and this is what the world needs like the air we breathe. This is an Israeli product.
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From KabTV’s “New Life #605 – Where Are Israeli-American Relations Headed?” 4/8/15

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New Life 778 – What Is Really Studying The Torah?
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Tal Mandelbaum ben Moshe

What does it mean to really study the Torah? How can we connect to the force concealed in this book, and what upper goal does it lead us to?

The general force of all of reality is called the Torah, the Light, the upper force, the force of love and bestowal.

The Light created the desire and therefore it is stated that the world was created by the Torah and a person has to reach the ability to use the force of the Torah in order to attain the goal of creation. There is a Torah that operates the world and everything that happens in it, and there is a Torah that we have to operate, but if we don’t operate it correctly, there are forces that operate in order to correct our diversion.

As the nation of Israel, our role is to attribute the upper force to ourselves and to properly activate it unto us.

3,500 years ago, humanity reached a certain maturity and made the first contact with the Torah.

The people who tell us how to properly operate the Torah in their books are called Kabbalists. Kabbalists learn how to operate themselves in order to influence the upper force called the Torah.

Everyone interprets the Torah, which means Light, and teaching, as one wishes, but eventually we all have to reach the state in which the nation of Israel, the Torah, and the Creator become one.

The essence of the Torah is: “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice for it, since the Light in it reforms.” The Torah can turn our egoistic nature into the nature of loving others, but if we study the Torah and don’t reach the love of others, it is a sign that we aren’t studying the Torah but that we study for wisdom.

Kabbalists wrote books of Torah suitable for each and every generation. In the days of ARI, for example, Kabbalists used a scientific style.

A person’s desire is divided into 613 egoistic parts and they all have to be corrected into love by the Torah. If a person studies the Torah only in order to fill his brain with information, just like you fill a computer, he doesn’t become holy.

During the Age of Enlightenment, some people began to leave the superficial study of the Torah. Today we have to leave the exile of the Torah and return to the Torah of truth by studying the wisdom of Kabbalah.

The Torah tells us about actions that are opposite from love in order to tell us what we shouldn’t do. When a person wants to develop the attitude of love of others, 613 egoistic desires are revealed in him, and then he needs the Torah, which turns every desire from hatred to love. Therefore, it says that the Torah is a spice.
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From KabTV’s “New Life 778 – What Is Really Studying The Torah?” 10/18/16

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New Life #193 – The Jewish Holidays
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Nitzah Mazoz

Summary

The Jewish holidays are cyclical, like landmarks during the year. How do they guide us to reach qualitative communication between us of love and mutual help?

The goal of our development is to reach the feeling of “love thy friend as thyself,” to reach connection. Abraham taught his students how to develop according to the general force of nature. He is the father of the nation of Israel. Our development includes two forces, the evil force and the good force, rejection and connection. We have to develop the positive force. At the end of the fourth exile, we need to correct ourselves and the whole world.

• Pesach (Passover): we were unable to overcome the evil that was revealed, which is called we went down to Egypt. To celebrate the exodus from Egypt, the ascent above the egoism, which is called Pharaoh, we celebrate Passover.
• Shavuot: At the foot of the mountain of hatred, we agreed to be as one and received the Torah.
• Rosh HaShana: the self-examination we have to do with regards to the correction of the world through love of others.
• The 9^th of AV and the month of Elul: we begin to see how to follow the path of correction before Rosh HaShana.
• Rosh HaShana: we decide we are headed toward correction, toward connection.
• Yom Kippur: we examine how much evil is left in us. On Yom Kippur we torment ourselves wanting to detach ourselves from the ego, from the evil in us.
• The Ten Days of Penitence, Sukkot and Simchat Torah: the method of correction that we have received inspires joy.
• The Sukkah of Peace symbolizes the forces that are to arrive, embrace us, and tie us all together.
• Hanukkah and Purim: Two stops on the way to the correction of evil to goodness.
• The miracle of Hanukkah is connecting our small positive forces and being awarded with the triumph of the spirit.
• Purim: the last correction of all the evil that has been revealed.
• The completion of the process that started in Pesach (Passover). The hanging of Haman and his ten sons: everyone needs to kill his resistances to connection and love.
• Tu BiShvat: there are four levels of the evil force in a person. Tu BiShvat symbolizes the correction on the vegetative level.
• The month of Elul, Slichot (prayers for forgiveness):I examine myself and discover that there is actually evil in me and that I am against connection. The essence of the prayer for forgiveness is to exit the evil and to reach love between us. There is everything we need in the world; the only thing we lack is connection.
• Fasting: this symbolizes our desire to abstain from our ego, to detach ourselves from it.

When we wish each other “happy holiday,” we should aspire to fulfill this holiday internally.
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From KabTV’s “New Life #193 – The Jewish Holidays,” 6/4/13

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