Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Why is there antisemitism? Do not bring up Israel, because antisemitism existed 2000 years before Israel was born.“

Without antisemitism, there would be no Jews.

Hatred and pressure on the Jews has kept them united. They have no instinctive will to unite, but the forces of nature pressure Jewish unity through seeming negative antisemitic forces, and it is up to the Jews to use the antisemitic pressure as a wake-up call to realize their unity, so that unity can pass through to all people of the world. When everyone feels a positive unifying force entering their lives, then antisemitism will also subside.

Kabbalists are people who do not run away from antisemitism. Instead, the kabbalists call for the study and examination of antisemitism in order to view it as a phenomenon that has a purpose and a role in nature.

The wisdom of Kabbalah has become disclosed in our times in order to assist humanity to reach a higher level of existence. When the wisdom of Kabbalah will become a universal method of education, then we will become “a light unto the nations.” In other words, the only rule by which the Jewish people and the nations of the world will get along harmoniously will be that of unity: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What is the spiritual meaning of receiving the Torah?“

Receiving the Torah means that a special force becomes revealed that helps us rise above our ego and align ourselves with the spiritual force of love, bestowal and connection.

If we wish to receive the Torah, then we must study it on ourselves. How else could we study it if not through our own experience, by gradually transforming from a tiny egoist to a big egoist, and then from a tiny altruist to a big altruist?

We can accept the method of correction called “the Torah” only when we understand that we will voluntarily transform ourselves in order to become spiritual, aligning ourselves with the quality of love, bestowal and connection for all.

Based on the TV program “Spiritual States” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on April 9, 2021.
Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What did God mean when he wrote in the Torah that he made man in his own image?“

The Creator’s quality is called “light,” and it is a purely altruistic force. This light imprinted itself in the desire to receive, which is the quality of the creation, and it made an identical desire that wants to receive all of the light. The light then disclosed its giving essence to the desire that wants to receive all of the light, which thus revealed the opposite giving nature to the desire to receive. This forced the desire to resemble the light by becoming as altruistic as the light.

We undergo this process either involuntarily or voluntarily. Also, our involuntary involvement in the process takes place until we receive a desire to participate voluntarily. In other words, we involuntarily go through several situations until we discover the wisdom of Kabbalah, which is a method of resembling the light and discovering the Creator, and then using this method, we voluntarily attain such resemblance.

Once we start voluntarily realizing our resemblance to the Creator, we then take control of ourselves and the world we live in. Moreover, we will all reach this state, either through pains or through understanding its necessity, and then implementing it enjoyably, lovingly and with far less pains than if we were to continue involuntarily.

Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What is anti-semitism?“

Anti-Semitism is hatred for the spiritual gene that exists in part of the people in this world.

We all bear inside us an egoistic desire to receive, the ego, but inside the ego is a spark that draws us to a development that is opposite and above the ego.

There are people in whom the spiritual gene—also called a “spark” or a “point in the heart”—is large, and it attracts these people to spiritual development, and also influences their way of thinking, their characteristics and their attitude toward people and nature. (Note also that the Nazis wanted to find out how the spiritual gene in Jews influences spiritual qualities.)

Anti-Semitism is hatred of the spiritual gene, which completely opposes everything existing in creation.

Anti-Semitism stems from the essence of the Jewish people, where they are the complete opposite to every other nation, and due to the fact that they might later draw everyone with them to the purpose of creation. People hate the fact that they are opposite to the Jews, who hold a connection with the original quality of nature—the nature of love, bestowal and connection—and that they are connected to the most exalted goal, and also that only after they originally attained that connection did they tell the nations of the world about it, who proceeded to create religions and beliefs based on that.

We have this foundation, one that is connected to the spiritual force of love, bestowal and connection. This is who we are. The world hates this foundation in Jews, which cannot be uprooted. They feel it existing in us, and not in them, that we are close to the meaning of life, and they depend on us in order to reach the meaning of life.

Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “How many dimensions exist?“

We live in an egoistic dimension, the quality of reception, where we have self-aimed desires and needs that we constantly try to fulfill.

Around us is a hidden dimension of an opposite quality: bestowal.

While living in this quality of reception, we are unaware of the quality of bestowal. If we could add this opposite quality to our receptive one, then we would be able to clearly and fully picture the world.

Moreover, even though we exist in the egoistic dimension of reception, we feel it only to a limited extent, and feel no connection at all to the dimension of bestowal.

Reception and bestowal are the only two dimensions that exist in the universe, and they both exist in relation to us, subjectively. If we reach a state where they complement each other, then we perceive n-dimensional space.

Based on KabTV’s “Kabbalah Express” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Israel Shimshon on April 12, 2021.
Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What are individual consciousness and collective consciousness, and how are they different from each other?“

According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, defining individual consciousness and collective consciousness depends on transforming our inborn natural qualities into a new mode of perceiving reality.

Those who transform their perception of reality into one that is above the inborn egoistic mode of perception, where we want to enjoy for self-benefit alone, perceive reality as a single force of love and bestowal that connects all parts of reality.

Those who do not transform their perception of reality into one that is above the ego, instead perceive reality through much more limited self-serving filters.

Reality thus becomes modeled in us according to our desires and their transformation, or lack of.

There is a major difference between the two modes of perception, and the wisdom of Kabbalah is unique in that it describes the need, the process and the method for transforming our qualities in order to shift from one mode of perception to the other.

Based on KabTV’s “Meetings with Kabbalah” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on March 29, 2019.
Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What is the real essence (true self) of the person? How can we differentiate it with personality? Can you explain more about essence? How do we see the essence of a person?“

Nature divides into four levels: inanimate, vegetative, animate and human. We currently belong to the animate level, because like animals, we engage in maintaining our body and earthly life.

Animals, however, instinctively provide for themselves. We, on the other hand, in addition to instincts, are influenced by society. In other words, animals live in a framework that guides them to secure their survival, whereas we are directed by society in addition to our instincts.

In principle, animals also have families, groups and leaders. However, their hierarchies and struggles are based on a natural and instinctive control that emerges from within, which makes their realization direct and simple.

We have a much more complex situation than animals. We are unaware of how to act in connection with each other, with the surrounding society, and how society influences us and determines our development and values. In this respect, we are much more confused and miserable than animals, which know exactly what they want, and what they need to do in order to secure their survival, as much as their environment and the ecology allows.

We humans, on the other hand, self-destruct. Nature supplies us with additional abilities to transcend our earthly development, and when we use this excess in the direction of our earthly development, solely in the plane of serving our egoistic desires, then we try to fulfill ourselves excessively with food, sex, wealth, and so on. As a result, we find no lasting or meaningful happiness, no real gains, but on the contrary, a life that becomes darker and emptier.

If instead of trying to direct the additional abilities nature gives us to self-benefit at the expense of others and nature, which leads us into a growing chasm, we would use our social desires for money, respect, control and knowledge as a means to achieve a higher level of reality, the human level, then we would reach that level to its fullest: a state of positive connection among us, and the discovery of a new life of happiness, confidence, harmony and balance with nature.

Based on KabTV’s “Close-up” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on August 19, 2009.
Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Where does the prohibition against mentioning the name of God in Judaism come from?“

According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, “prohibition” means “impossible.”

The inability to pronounce the name of God is because it is impossible to realize God in language. On the contrary, it can be realized only within the person’s desire for spirituality.

There are several names of the Creator. The names of the Creator do not describe any kind of objective name that the Creator has. We name the Creator from our attainment of the Creator. When we attain the Creator, we discover how our soul consists of four parts, called Yud, Hey, Vav, Hey (י-ה-ו-ה). When we receive light in these desires, it creates a combination of our desires and the light of the Creator, and this is what we call the sensation of the Creator or “His name.”

We thus name the Creator according to our sensation of the Creator, and there is thus nothing to be afraid of regarding the name of the Creator. On the contrary, according to our development, we will all need to attain the Creator so that it becomes completely ours, as it is written, “May my name be upon you.”

Based on KabTV’s “The Power of The Book of Zohar” #10 with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “In six words, what is the meaning of life?“

To attain the meaning of life.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “How can I learn to give without expecting anything in return?“

Giving to someone and helping them without expecting anything in return is indeed incredibly difficult, and even impossible.

While doing whatever deed of giving or helping that you are doing, if you think that by doing so you insert a positive force into the world, then your self-esteem, the greatness of your action, will increase. The key is to think that you want to make the world a better place by bringing more kindness to the world.

If, however, you think that you will gain something in return from your good deed, even something as small as a “thank you” or a smile that gratefully acknowledges your altruism, then you are doing business at the same time. In other words, you end up feeling good from the returns you gained.

Once again, the key to learning how to give without expecting anything in return is to exercise the thought of how kindness needs to enter the world through your thoughts and deeds, i.e., that you want the world to become a better place.

We would be wise to organize ourselves so that we think more about how to do good deeds to others, and how to bring a positive and kind energy to the world.

By nature, we are egoists who always seek self-aimed benefit for our actions. So we should seek how to give pleasure to our egos by doing good for the world. It is positive to respect yourself for giving to the world.

However, in a society full of values that prioritize self-benefit over benefiting others, we need a supportive environment to calibrate ourselves so that we can indeed respect ourselves in our giving to the world.

If we succeed in making ourselves more and more giving in such a way, then the world will change for the better. We will suddenly start seeing a lot of good in the world replacing the negativity, hatred and divisiveness that we see increasing today. It all depends on how we look at the world: If we adjust our intention to be as a positive giving force in the world, then the more we change to become more giving and considerate of others, the more the world will also change for the better.

Based on “News with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman,” on February 18, 2021. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Photo by Ben White on Unsplash.

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