Question: Imagine that we have created a system of virtual space, and it seems to be functioning, but it is lifeless; it doesn’t know how to take the next steps.

When you see a person’s state, you throw something their way. How can an inanimate system do this? It feels nothing.

Answer: There are people behind the system. We will have to constantly adjust it; every day we introduce new questions, new opportunities, new puzzles, and new moves that connect a person to society, and society with them. We will actively work on this.

A computer is just a record of information; it is our demonstration, like a showcase window behind which we stand. Therefore, we must feel how we influence each of us and how each of us responds to it. This is an interactive system of very deep two-way connection.

Question: But isn’t there a risk that this system could simply collapse?

Answer: It is quite possible. Let this computer collapse! Let the group start working live! So what? To me, this machine is not something sacred, not some kind of temple. It is just a means for me to connect with a million of our friends around the world. That is all.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. Virtual Community, Part 6” 5/18/10

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Comment: When a new person comes to Kabbalah or comes to Bnei Baruch, he is deeply impressed. But after some time, he begins to notice negative aspects.

My Response: Naturally, because his egoism should neutralize the initial impression. He cannot always feel inferior to the entire group and therefore begins to see flaws in it.

But if he understands that instead of the shortcomings of the group he should see his own shortcomings and try to figure out that the Creator allows him to see the deficiencies in the group in order to rise above them with faith above reason, contrary to his feelings and the apparent facts, then he develops.

He does not go back thinking: I am already used to the group, everything is fine, I know everyone, everything is as usual. On the contrary, he is cultivating his initial impression more and more.

Question: So, the first contact with the group is, in principle, the purest, when a person sees all his friends as perfect?

Answer: Yes, everyone is perfect, huge, great, and special. It is necessary to strive not to fall from this level and keep moving forward.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. First Impression of Kabbalah” 6/22/10

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Question: When a person begins to condemn and criticize his friends and the system saying that this is wrong and that is wrong, should he fight against this? Or is it a natural thing and should be left alone?

Answer: No, after the criticism, he is obliged to return to praise and see any aspect from two sides.

Question: Does his criticism not interfere with others?

Answer: It interferes, and it should interfere and at the same time help.

There is nothing absolute In Kabbalah just as, in principle, in our world. But in Kabbalah, our attitude should not be one-sided. It should always include two opposite sides.

We were created this way, and this is how we want to develop—consisting both of ourselves and the Creator!
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. There is no Absoluteness” 6/26/10

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Question: What is the difference in the perception of life by a Kabbalist and by an ordinary person?

Answer: The difference is in the point called “death.” For any person on this earth, everything is perceived below the level of death: he lives, and lives, and dies.

If he could imagine himself living in his body and at the same time living outside his deceased body, then he would roughly grasp that two layers of existence are simultaneously revealed to a Kabbalist: our world and the upper one, the next dimension, which exists end-to-end in our world on a different frequency.

And then naturally, the entire philosophy of life changes, the attitude toward oneself, toward others, toward the purpose of creation, toward human ideals, and toward his plans.

In principle, we do not understand that the most important thing that subconsciously exists in us and determines everything is the fear of death. It constantly drives us toward something. We create culture and science in order to forget ourselves and find some kind of salvation from fear.

We are constantly trying to escape from this question because if it arises in us, then life loses its meaning. Why give birth to children if everything ends, if everyone dies, because a birthday is also an approach toward death.

The most important question for humanity about its life and death is solved by Kabbalah, which reveals to a person the eternal, perfect existence during this animalistic life.

When he ascends to the next level and exists on both levels at the same time, that is when he can do magnificent things! He can truly exist correctly also on the earthly level, rationally, and relating to others in the right way because nothing restrains him anymore. The sensation of eternity completely covers all problems! Absolutely all of them!

That is, you begin to understand why everything exists. It is so that you could delve deeper and deeper into this eternity, into the sensation of the Creator, into the sensation of this unified, eternal, perfect, harmonious nature, to be able to merge with Him even more, to come to know Him, to become like Him. Then you begin to perceive your earthly existence as the realization of some higher possibility given to you.

There is no afterlife. If you have attained the spiritual world during this lifetime, you have attained it. And if not, you must return to the same state you are in now and continue your path.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. Life or Death” 4/10/10

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Question: You say Rabash was the first to outline the rules for working in a group. Didn’t Baal HaSulam describe them?

Answer: Kabbalists did not talk much about it; they hid such things, considering them very personal.

They simply described the structure of the upper worlds so that by reading their works you could attract the upper light. But prior to that, how you should shape yourself, you and the group, the desire to move forward, and the ascent to greater bestowal for which you need the upper light was practically not discussed. This is each person’s inner work, his work in the heart.

Therefore, before Rabash, humanity did not need a massive explanation and the implementation of group work. Rabash described the rules of interacting in the group very clearly, but did not disclose his writings because the time had not yet come.

We see that his method of working in a group is the most important thing he has done for the world. In fact, he has done a lot, but this is the most important and most necessary thing for us. Right now, this technique can be implemented in our organization and in us.

There is a reason we are called by his name: Bnei Baruch. Indeed, apart from that, we do not need anything else. As Baal HaSulam said, love of friends covers absolutely all our problems.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. Virtual Community, Part 4” 5/17/10

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Comment: As a rule, a person associates himself with good people and not with murderers, perverts, or maniacs. Why do those kind of people even exist?

My Response: Each of us has negative qualities, and that is why they exist in the world. Any pathological manifestation of anything appears in some individual because he is a collection of all our negative qualities.

There is a rapist living in me, in you, and in millions of other people, but we restrain ourselves. The desire for violence gathers into one big force, is invested in one person, and he performs this function. If we did not have this in each of us, there would not be a rapist. And so it is in everything else. This is how we complement each other. But there are people in whom it manifests itself in a special way in full force.

Question: What is their role anyway? Let’s say wolves eat animals, but they eat sick animals. And what role do those killers play?

Answer: Any negative property must manifest itself in our world and only then be corrected.

It cannot manifest itself in you and in me, because we suppress such drives in ourselves. But in every person there is absolutely everything: murderers, rapists, thieves, deceivers—only in different proportions, in different percentages, in different interrelations. An ordinary person holds himself back with fear and all sorts of forces.

And there are some people who cannot restrain themselves, and they allow these properties to be realized. They are the bearers of our negative qualities, and they realize them for us. For us!

Imagine that an organ in the body is damaged because all other organs could not keep it in a state of proper functioning, and it became ill. It turns out that it is not the only one to blame. Or vice versa, this organ got sick, and it helps everyone else.

The heart itself does not hurt. There are huge disruptions to the functioning of the entire body, or to the nervous system—maybe blood pressure, and so on—and therefore this pump refuses to work. Something happens in the brain due to pressure fluctuations or due to some kind of stress. That is, there is not a single organ that would cease to function on its own; everything is interconnected.

Based on this, you need to understand that if there are any problems in the world, it is only because of me. This is what it says at the end of the “Foreword of The Book of Zohar” by Baal HaSulam. Therefore everyone should say that there is a part of him in it, and not even just a part. He must feel that with this part he has added the last percentage to 100%, and therefore a murderer has spoken from within another person, and something bad has happened.

Question: Then what is the point of punishing these people?

Answer: You are approaching a very good topic! I was waiting for this, although at first I did not want to touch it.

Now you can open the Talmud and study spiritual laws. They are prescribed based on the fact that we are all in the same system, we define each other, we depend on each other, and we are responsible for each other. Now you understand what surety (Arvut) means: mutual responsibility.

And now, based on this, we are building a new society and the laws that should be in it. It is a completely different system, a completely different philosophy.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. Negative Properties” 6/14/10

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We must somehow cultivate in ourselves a preliminary desire for unity, for love. This is done with the help of the light. Initially, we do not have such a desire. But if you wish, the light will do it.

But how can you want something that you cannot wish for? For this, you are given the group. You can tune yourself so that it artificially influences you.

What does the group want? The group does not want any ascent either. But it will methodically train you all the time, saying: “If you bestow, we will respect you, if you think about us, we will love you, if you are a good friend, we will play with you,” and so on.

In other words, you have no other choice. You are a social being; you cannot exist without an environment. The Creator has ignited a point in your heart—the desire to be in this society. So you must, together with the group, engage in a kind of a game where you deceive each other. But this deception, whether you want it or not, will be perceived by you as absolutely real.

For example, the group might say: “We have now agreed among us to value spiritual elevation, which consists of bestowal and love. If you truly want to bestow to us, to love us, we will value that in you. Otherwise, you are not our friend, and you should not come near us.”

You might say to them: “Guys, but you do not have this either! Do you really love me? Do you promise to be good to me?” They might even reply: “We promise you nothing.”

But if they are willing to position themselves this way before you, then you will begin to desire it: “Why don’t I have the quality of bestowal and love?”
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. Virtual Community, Part 1” 5/16/10

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Comment: For some reason, we adhere to the criterion: if someone is in charge, he wins.

My Response: No, not necessarily. Some people can lead, and others know how to present the material.

Rabash, for example, was utterly unable to systematize the sources; he could not adapt to this. And Baal HaSulam was a great systematizer. He even started publishing a Kabbalistic encyclopedia, starting to write: “A-A,” “B-B,” and so on. Rav Kook, on the contrary, could not do this.

That is, every person in our world has specific traits and abilities, but this does not apply to the spiritual level. Not at all! We have people who process and organize material. Are they the best at understanding it or at their connection with others? Absolutely not. It is a purely corporeal trait.

Question: How do you use these abilities effectively? Everyone has some qualities, and if they engage them at 100%, it would be great. But given circumstances let us engage, perhaps, at only 10%.

Answer: We have to try. This is what I keep telling everyone: “Write, process the material, shorten an article, make interesting extracts from it, make an interesting post from the morning lesson, and try to find out how you can process the material and bring it to the world.” We have nothing else anyway.

You can be an artist; write an interesting song or poem about our topics, go ahead. Do it yourself or work on something already created, perform, or dance. This will be your dissemination action. Try to be creative in some way.

Sometimes people respond to it, and sometimes they do not. If not, at least print the newspapers and give them away. This too is work. I do it more for those who disseminate. Or let them go to other towns to give lectures or courses there. We have no other choice. We need to expand the number of people involved in dissemination.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. Dissemination Abilities” 4/17/10

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Question: Tell me, please, if a person still feels broken, is on his knees, how can one rise from one’s knees?

Answer: Think, think about who I am, what I am, what I am for, who governs me, and what I am meant for.

And a person will see that all of this prepares him for correction, true correction, when he rises above his nature, and the Creator is waiting for him there.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 10/7/24

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It is said that envy, lust, and honor take a person out of this world. These qualities are intentionally created within us. And these seemingly most unpleasant, most disrespected traits suddenly turn out to be the most effective.

I suddenly begin to feel how much they can help me, how envy can be positive. I look at my friends, and they are doing something together, discussing certain matters, and I envy them.

They can respect me only when I love and bestow, when I sacrifice myself, when I feel my connection with them. Only in them, only in mutual guarantee, will I find myself and my life. Unexpectedly I begin to value this abstract state as something very necessary for me.

This is what we need to somehow act out among ourselves. But the group is not yet capable of doing this. We need to take action and organize some kind of scene for each friend. After all, we do not just whisper among ourselves in a corner: “Now we will start acting on you this way. Let us see how our experiment turns out.”

One, then another, then a third person begins to work on you, deliberately set an example, and you start reacting. “What do they want?” Sometimes you suddenly justify them, but mostly you do not know what to do.

This is how a person’s complete dependence on the surrounding group and on society is revealed. In novels, it is often said that some hero enters a large society and easily interacts with it. But in reality this is very difficult.

That is why we need to create such a place. I mean a virtual space, an environment, where we could act out this condition, society and each of us as an individual with desires for pleasure, envy, honors, fame, power, everything that defines our relationship with society.

Yet I do not see this society in my friends. For some reason, they cannot organize themselves, they cannot influence me, something is not working for them.

But if I had such a simulator on my computer, I would be required to enter it five times a day, which is something I cannot physically do with my friends. And this simulator would impose certain demands, whims, and conditions, it would impose its influences and questions on me.

It would show me what it wants from me, like a capricious group that demands a certain attitude from its friend: “What is more important to you—this or that? How would you progress—this way or that? How would you act in such a state? In which source is it said that this is so and that is otherwise?” It would pose questions that seem completely illogical. But otherwise you will not succeed, the group demands this from you. Do you agree or not?

Such a simulator is necessary, even just to theoretically force a person to understand what the property of bestowal is and how much they are opposite to it.

Moreover, the daily tasks must necessarily include both states of descent and ascent so that a person can see and determine where they are and how they would react to this in the opposite state.

The computer plays out the relationships between me and the group, and I begin to treat it like a Tamagotchi. It leads me forward, I am attached to it, I am interested in its opinion, its attitude toward me and its evaluation of my actions.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. Virtual Community, Part 2” 5/16/10

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