Question from Facebook: Wouldn’t it be simpler to move to a small village and live as before, simply and peacefully?

Answer: If you can live on the level of cows or radishes, then all would be well.

Everything depends on the individual’s level. But, on the other hand, he can also exist in this state and, at the same time, be in spirituality.

Question: If an individual leaves for the country, for a simpler life, does that mean that he is ignoring his growing egoism?

Answer: No, he can be a great Kabbalist at the same time, even with a huge ego. If the Creator needs him, then He will give him challenges, even there among the cows, so that he will find exactly what to occupy himself with in order to attain the Creator.

Question: Does that mean that a person can move to a village and live there peacefully?

Answer: That’s not the point. The point is motivation! It doesn’t matter where a person lives. Everything depends on how he establishes his inner world.
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From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman,” 5/8/18

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Question from Facebook: Must a Kabbalist sacrifice himself in the literal sense, not just in the sense of sacrificing his ego?

Answer: It is not completely clear what “sacrifice himself” means. Nobody sacrifices anything to anyone; a person decides for himself what is the best thing for him to do in each moment of his life. And that is why, if it is beneficial to him, he does one thing, and if not beneficial, he does something else. He always acts out of his desire and can never act higher than it. There is no such thing.

Remark: We always say that we need to rise above our egoism, crush it…

My Comment: This is also done out of a conscious awareness of the intention of the desire. That is why there is nothing that is outside of the framework of our desires.

The point is that we can prepare ourselves for much higher aspirations. There is an absolutely clear calculation within the animal or the spiritual body and everything comes out of this calculation.

In Kabbalah, “sacrifice” (“Kurban”) is from the word “Karov,” “Itkarvut,” which means to bring closer, in other words, to bring yourself to a state that is closer to that of the Creator. What do I sacrifice then if I draw nearer to Him?

The wisdom of Kabbalah is the science of how to receive the very best, the most beneficial, the highest.

Question: In other words, there is always a calculation: if it benefits me, then I do it?

Answer: Absolutely. Moreover, it is a precise calculation, clear, carefully weighed.

Question: And where is the bestowal?

Answer: It is built on this precise calculation. That is why it is true, real, because I have come to the thought and the decision that I need to bestow. Everything is built on a precise desire, goal, a person’s calculation, otherwise it is not serious.
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From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 5/8/18

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Question from Facebook: All your advice is to stand out from everyone. It is very difficult. Staying “in the herd” makes life much easier. Maybe it is a herd, but it takes care of me, otherwise I am alone.

Answer: I believe that one should stand out by the fact that one helps everyone and feels responsible for everyone. You do not hide within them, but lead them, push them forward, hold them in your arms.

When every person “in the herd” feels such responsibility, then the quality of mutual guarantee appears and the higher management is revealed in it.

You feel your friends, you see that they are the same as you. That is, this is also “the herd,” the group, but already at the next level.
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From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 5/1/18

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Question from Facebook: I read your posts, and I cannot understand. All military and political experts agree on one thing: Israel will exist only if it is beneficial to America. You claim, however, that everything depends on the people itself. You are either a complete utopian, or you have a trump card in your hands that only you know about.

Answer: I do not have a trump card, but a joker. It is very simple. We rule the world!

You can trace humanity’s entire history and see that we always lead. You will find out that it happened just for humanity to approach the Creator.

This method is in the people of Israel, which is a special group that has been dealing with bringing humanity closer to the Creator for thousands of years. Since bringing humanity closer to the Creator is the program of creation and this method is in the hands of Israel, Israel is the central point of the world, of humanity.

If for the realization of this method—for the realization of revealing of the rapprochement of humanity with the Creator—the existence of the State and the people in such a form is necessary, then it will be so. However, if not, then it will be different. But, all the sorts of metamorphoses that will happen to people, to the State, and the world will be carried out only in accordance with the plan of creation.

I am only interested in the extent to which the people of Israel and, after it, the peoples of the entire world will move to the point of their connection, rapprochement, and meeting with the Creator.
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From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman,” 4/ 24/18

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Question from Facebook: Human history is built on competition, which often turns into hatred. It is genetic. Do you really hope to change all that?

Answer: No. Competition is necessary. It is a very good tool for progress.

Question: And hatred?

Answer: Hatred depends on what it is for. Why would I hate my competitor if he helps me advance?

Everything depends on the goal. If the purpose is not to crush my competitor but to reach the goal, that is, the third party, and I only use the competitor to move forward, then he becomes a helper, a partner. It all depends on how we use the competition.

Nothing in the world is created needlessly. All qualities that in us are necessary and only for reaching the right goal in the right way.

Americans introduce competition in their companies on purpose because it facilitates various thoughts, gets people to engage, to not fall asleep, to search, etc. If everything were just fine, then it becomes “decaying socialism.”
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From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 5/1/18

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Question: What is Bnei Baruch (Sons of Baruch)?

Answer: Bnei Baruch are the people who use the method of my teacher, the great Kabbalist Rabash, Rav Baruch Shalom HaLevi Ashlag. They realize this method on themselves and feel or try to feel that he is the one who is guiding them.

Question: What is Bnei Baruch (Sons of Baruch) today?

Answer: Bnei Baruch is a group of people spread out all over the world, with different languages, with various natural predispositions and mentalities, who study the works of Baal HaSulam and Rabash, and try to realize them.

Question: Why is Bnei Bauch an international organization?

Answer: Baal HaSulam writes about this in his main article: “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee).” The main realization of Kabbalah must occur in the entire world, not only in the nation of Israel. The people of Israel are only a conduit. In principle, the whole Torah is given with the purpose of bringing the entire world, this whole shattered creation, to the Creator.

Question: What is Bnei Baruch’s goal?

Answer: The goal of the Bnei Baruch group is to reveal within themselves and to show to the entire world an example of uniting all people into a single whole where the Creator will be revealed.
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Question from Facebook: Do you really think that everyone should leave their business and job, sell everything the way you did, and just study Kabbalah? Are you “second best” if you don’t do this?

Answer: Not at all! I had no other choice. Nobody told me to do that. I just had an inner calling, a certain kind of fate that guided me, and I could not have acted otherwise.

Question: So when you tell us about this, it is not an example?

Answer: Of course, it is not an example. I myself do not know if I would have done that again or not. It just happened.

Question: Does it mean that a person should not leave his job or his business in order to study Kabbalah?

Answer: On the contrary, studying Kabbalah requires that you engage in all of that.

I did not quit my job. I changed it to another one so that I could study without being burdened by anything, without thinking how I would pay taxes, organize all kinds of things, and be responsible for the business. I just wanted to take care of my needs, to work a little to support my family, and to spend the rest of my time studying.

Question: What is your advice to someone studying Kabbalah? How should he live in this world with work, family, and so on?

Answer: In no case should a person run away from this world. It seems to him that he might make some great altruistic, sacrificial act, but in fact, it is not the case. He should stay at his job and continue everything the way he did before.
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From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 5/1/18

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Question: Does the soul have volume?

Answer: The volume of the soul is measured by the degree of its bestowal above egoism. If a person’s egoism is great and he has the ability to transcend it and bestow through its help, it is valued as a great soul.

Question: How much time is required to ascend the spiritual levels if we are regularly studying the wisdom of Kabbalah? Is there an average or is it all individual?

Answer: There is no such measure. It is an individual ascent that depends solely on your efforts.

Question: Why is it that on one hand I know that the Creator exists and is hiding Himself from me even though I do not feel that, and on the other hand, I feel what happens to me directly and do not connect it with the Creator?

Answer: The Creator does not hide from you, rather it is you who are hiding Him. Everything that happens to you is done by the Creator.

Question: Where does the “self” come from? What is the reason for its creation?

Answer: The “self” is simply an egoistic desire, a feeling of self that is revealed through the four phases of the Ohr Yashar (Direct Light).

Question: Is it possible to develop and improve on one’s own?

Answer: No. If you are alone, you have no connection with the Creator.

Question: If the world exists only within me, do all of the sciences. including the wisdom of Kabbalah. also exist only within me?

Answer: Correct.

Question: I read that the Creator suffers much more than we do because He is forced to move us through suffering. How should I understand this?

Answer: Indeed, our sufferings are felt more in the Creator than in us because He is the totality of nature, while we are only a small part of Him.
[226209]
From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 12/31/17

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Question: What is the reason for confusing people who are not spiritually developed in the beginning of their path?

Answer: Kabbalists don’t confuse anyone. They explain what the wisdom of Kabbalah is with complete precision and how a person should study.

Question: In the Kabbalist’s worldview, how is the perfection of the world expressed? What do you see that I don’t see?

Answer: I see the reason for everything that happens, how to act correctly in this context, and the result of everything that is happening as well, even if it is not realized in our world.

Question: What is the spiritual source of unsolvable financial problems that endure for many years? There is a feeling that we are under the control of an evil fate. How does a Kabbalist relate to a situation like this?

Answer: A Kabbalist feels this as pressure from the Creator acting on him so that he will be engaged with solving his problem in our world and will simultaneously elevate the attainment of the spiritual goal beyond it.

Question: Is your consciousness in the upper world 24 hours a day?

Answer: In principle, yes, it is. More precisely, it is in both worlds.

Question: Is the choice of a profession and changing the type of work that one does connected with the growth of the ego or the influence of the Light?

Answer: Certainly everything is determined by the Light that acts on and influences a person. Nothing is by chance in the world. But a person who is involved with the wisdom of Kabbalah tries to find work that will provide for him materially and simultaneously will make it possible for him to study systematically.

Question: If fate is a program that comes from the Creator, then what is luck? Is it a failure in this program or a reward for the right connection with it?

Answer: This concept of luck exists, but it is possible that it is also from above in the program of spiritual ascent. The intent here is spiritual ascent and not winning the lottery.

Question: Is it possible to say that all of us are in exile in our world?

Answer: Yes, it is also said that we are in exile. But this exile can continue for thousands of years, from one life cycle to another life cycle, and it could continue for many years until you attain the upper world while you are in this world.
[226327]
From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 1/7/18

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Question: What is happiness?

Answer: Happiness is a state in which I can fulfill others and fulfill the Creator through others.

Question: The material world constantly pulls me in. Why did the Creator create it?

Answer: He specifically created it so that it would pull you in, so that you would oppose it and try to act such that the upper world would pull you in.

Question: What is the role of human diversity in this world?

Answer: We are fragments of one general system of the soul, Adam, and therefore we are different. From this state, we need to connect together again into one common general system.

Question: Is it possible to coax the higher forces so that I can be at the right time in the right place?

Answer: It depends on a person’s destiny, which is determined according to many parameters, especially his soul, how much it was developed in previous states, and how much the general soul that is called Adam requires his or her participation in the general correction.

Question: Do all the higher forces support us equally? Is it possible to create a connection with everyone?

Answer: There is one higher power, the Creator, and the rest of these forces are derived from Him; therefore, it is necessary to take account of Him alone. All the rest of the forces are called Malachim (angels). They have no freedom of choice.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 12/31/17

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