Question: What would you wish for a person who has not yet decided to attend the Moscow convention?

Answer: I would wish the undecided to quickly and categorically decide: “I am going to the convention!” Right now, you have this opportunity, and you do not know when another one will present itself. Even if we were to have yearly conventions in Russia, you should not wait for next year.

Question: If I really want to be at the convention, but I am unable to go, what should I be doing during the convention?

Answer: When a person is unable to attend the convention, he should be with us virtually as much as the time allows. First of all, conventions are held on weekends, so you should free yourself from all things and problems, of all responsibilities as much as possible.

Try to get together with your friends who study Kabbalah and create the same convention-like atmosphere. Set a table with treats and have a good time together observing us. Be with us with your heart and soul.

Question: What should I do when I am afraid of the problems and disturbances that arise before me? How can I overcome this?

Answer: You need to connect with the group, with your friends, and with us. You need to try to evoke the upper Light, and you will see it lift you above these problems. I do not see a solution other than this.
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From the Virtual Lesson, Fundamentals of Kabbalah 5/29/2011

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Question: What is so special about the Torah that even The Book of Zohar is just a commentary on it?

Answer: The records that Moses made on parchment are the earthly expression, through material symbols, of spiritual actions of Light on desire. Moses wrote down everything he taught his students in a book. Over the course of 40 years of wandering in the desert, they wrote down the whole Torah, going through the entire process in record, as well as in bodies, and in spirituality. This is the entire path from the Egyptian exile (earthly and spiritual), through the desert (earthly and spiritual), and into the land of Israel (earthly and spiritual). All of this came true in the connection between the root and the branch. Moses expressed this entire process in this concrete, symbolic form.

The Zohar expresses the same process on a different level, in a different form because the general desire to enjoy that the Creator created had by that time advanced several steps forward and was perfected by the influence of the Light. Therefore, this desire, which went through ascents and descents, the destruction of the First and Second Temple, the exile, and then reached the last breakage before the last exile, had to be given the method that is appropriate for the end of the exile, for our time.

That is why The Book of Zohar was written, whose authors were the successors of many generations of Kabbalists, starting from Abraham until the destruction of the Temple. Rabbi Shimon was the student of Rabbi Akiva, who revealed a great Light, and therefore he was able to express this in The Book of Zohar.

The Torah itself is divided into two parts: oral and written. This comes from the difference between Zeir Anpin and Malchut. Zeir Anpin of the world of Atzilut is the “oral Torah,” while Malchut of the world of Atzilut is the “written Torah.”

The Torah is the revelation of Light. The Light that comes to Malchut contains everything that is necessary for changing Malchut. But this Light still hasn’t come true in practice, and is therefore called “the oral Torah.” For now this is work with the screens.

Under the influence of the same Light in Malchut, inner changes take place and are impressed in Malchut, this is called “the written Torah.” This is talking only about actions of the Light in the desires from the beginning of creation and until its end. That’s because there is nothing in existence besides desires.

Among these desires some feel that they exist by themselves, separate from all the others. This is us. These desires contain qualities that can help them on the path of correction. And that is why we receive a sensation of lacking, our own lack of correction, the realization of evil. This is how we perceive ourselves.

These are exactly the desires that need to be given “the Torah”—the instructions explaining how they can participate in their own corrections out of their own free choice, how they can attract the Light by wishing to become corrected faster, instead of waiting for the Light to come and shake them up.
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/29/11, Shamati
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Question: People can understand the need to make concessions to one another, but how can you explain the Light of correction to a regular person?

Answer: The Light is the quality of bestowal, the upper force that is present in nature, which advances us, gives us life, corrects us, and moves us forward. Throughout the millennia of man’s existence on earth (without considering the millions of years of development of the still, vegetative, and animate levels of nature) we developed coercively, by means of the force hidden within nature. There is a certain program inside of it, an engine that operates by that program, setting all of creation in motion and causing its development.

Scientists are revealing that 15 billion years ago our universe began to develop as a result of the Big Bang. That is to say, the universe contains a developmental force. And now this force continues to develop us further, which is called “the natural course of history” (Beito).

However, we have the opportunity to develop “faster than time” (Ahishena), not by means of the harsh force of nature which pushes us to develop with a “strong arm,” through “judgement and restriction,” but by awakening “mercy” upon us, as it is written, “As He is merciful, so you shall become merciful.”

This means that I awaken good forces of development in nature. If I agree with the development, desire it, and aspire to the same goal myself, awakening the desire inside of me even before nature starts putting pressure on me, then I will feel good and comfortable! I will merit understanding and will shorten my path. In essence, this is all that we have to do!

We have to run forward ourselves, like a mouse running away from a cat. When a person becomes wiser, he understands that the developmental press is moving upon him. On the other hand, there are people who still don’t notice or feel this press that is catching up to them. That means it still hasn’t gotten close enough to them and does not evoke great suffering.

Imagine that you are running down a road and a huge press is chasing you, just about to crush you. If you already feel this, then you will look for a way to be saved from it. You have nowhere to run. On both sides of you there are buildings stretching out for many miles, and you are running down a narrow road between them, while the press is rolling forward right behind you. This is an astonishing picture…. You don’t want the press to squish you into the asphalt, do you?

Some people already feel that they are in this state, while others don’t feel it yet. Nevertheless, it’s all a matter of time. Maybe you feel good for now, like a person falling from the 10th story, and while passing the 8th floor he tells his neighbor who’s staring out the window, “How are you? Everything’s OK for now.” This is how the world is “OK” today, but it doesn’t understand it yet.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/30/11, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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Question: I can request only correction. Does this mean that I decide or define something myself?

Answer: I have the line of the Light and the line of the vessel. I build myself as the third line between them. I take as much as I can from the desire to receive and from the Light and build the final form, the sum of these forces (Σ).

This form is a human being. Even though the components are not mine, I have to combine them and decide the right combination. I decide this myself.

To do that, I first have to feel the shame that I do not resemble the Giver, determine the working material, and find the force that corrects it. I am required to create a human being within me, to desire that he become formed. I already have the forces and material. I have only to check the form, and I perform this check every time on the 125 degrees of similarity to the Giver.

I check myself relative to the upper one and identify my abilities. This is a very big job. Thanks to it, I begin to accept, feel, and understand Him. I “format” or “draw” myself in search of exact solutions. As a result, I become like the Creator, not according to superiority, but according to bestowal. In receiving in order to bestow, I make myself similar to Him.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/24/2011, "Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah"

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Question: On one of the lessons I heard you say that when we read The Book of Zohar, a kind of flow arises that connects us. How do we join this flow, despite the various disturbances that awaken during the lesson?

Answer: This happens gradually. You must get used to it, to exert a certain amount of effort, to discover how to approach the text, how to connect it to yourself, to the state in the group, to the world; to learn where you get confused and where you don’t.

You must unify yourself and the Torah in one. Then, to the extent of your desire to connect to the Torah which speaks of your inner state, you begin to receive the Inner Light contained in it, which influences you, allowing you to see within the system it describes.

This happens in the process of the study, when the Light (the Creator) teaches you. If you try to move straight toward the goal, as much as you can, to use the group and the study correctly, if you’re ready to relinquish your egoistic aspirations and plans at least a little, then the Torah teaches you—the subsequent spiritual states are revealed in you.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/31/2011, The Zohar

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Question: You are leaving for the Kabbalah convention in Spain, where you will also be giving interviews to the Spanish media. How are you going to explain to them what Baal HaSulam wrote about in his article “The Peace”: “We must but accept the yoke of heaven for the Creator as we are learning who He is”?

Answer: I hope they will hear me better than you do, better than people anywhere else in the world. Indeed, Spain is facing very serious problems.

I am scheduled for several interviews there, including a primetime interview on a leading TV channel that broadcasts to millions of viewers. We have become popular. Many journalists are willing to listen to us; they agree and quickly respond to our words.

As it presently stands, we have to explain what the current condition implies. The money is gone. No credit will help because it cannot be properly managed at this point. Would it help just to split the funds among people and stay in debt?

But what is there to do if there are no jobs and nobody needs what anybody may want to produce? Even if the European Union loans you some money to try to save the situation, what can you do? Open another store? Build another factory? What can I possibly produce? Is there anything left the world is still lacking today?

Try as I might, it will only make things worse since price-wise my products cannot compete with those made in China. How can we keep people’s jobs under such conditions? It is wiser to just close the business altogether. But what are we supposed to do with the unemployed, college graduates, and youth? Nobody has any idea.

You simply have nothing to produce. Even the food the world produces could feed eight billion people—we just don’t know how to distribute it correctly. How many cell phone upgrades can one have? Consumers are getting tired of novelties. Imagine what is going to happen when nobody will be buying products made in China any longer just because there will be no money for it. The goods may be cheap, but there’s a hole in the pocket, while one still needs food and clothes. Who will care about “toys” then?
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/30/2011, “The Peace”

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Question: The Book of Zohar is full of stories and earthly images. Why are they so important if all they do is confuse and take us away from the correct intention?

Answer: Everything that a person existing in sanctity (the will to bestow) says proceeds from his attaining, sensing, and existing in the will to bestow, and does not simply come to his mind. Because his will to receive has become “sanctified,” meaning that it has acquired the property of bestowal and exists in it, this is the quality he feels.

That’s why he perceives a certain expression of the Creator within him and expresses it in such a form. He does not produce these images himself, nor do they simply appear in his mind. Rather, the form of the Creator that has revealed itself inside him arouses a certain image, the picture that he then describes to us.

That’s why we have to use these stories and connect with them. And if we do not understand them just yet, we will eventually. Take my word for it. Furthermore, you will reach the same degree of attainment, and the same story, pictures, images, and expressions will suddenly appear inside of you.

This is why Kabbalists understand each other. We don’t understand them, but the more you connect to what they are saying, the more you understand them.

It’s not a coincidence that in the Hasidic tradition, if a Rabbi’s note contains errors, you have to bless them because if he wrote it that way, to you it is a sign of holiness. This follows from the fact that a person who is in sanctity cannot make a mistake. It seems to you that he has made a mistake because you are uncorrected. And this is called faith above reason.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/30/2011, The Zohar

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Question: Where is the Light that Reforms: in the Torah or in my bestowal to the friends?

Answer: You receive the Light that Reforms from your effort to connect with your friends. We exist in a perfect, corrected system. The upper Light, the Light of Infinity, reigns over this system. How can you awaken this Light of Infinity to act upon you? You try to connect to the corrected system.

What is it? In what model is it presented to you? It’s in the group. To the extent that you connect with the group, in the connection between you, according to your efforts, the Light, the Torah, the force of bestowal, awakens. This force influences you and turns you, as well, into a bestowing part of the corrected system so that the Torah, this correcting Light, begins to fill you.

Question: Then how is the text we are reading connected to this?

Answer: In the text, you read about the corrected states in the connection between you and your friends. Just now, we were reading a passage from The Zohar. Where do I have to reveal everything that I have read about? I have to reveal this in my connection with the friends, in my aspiration to unite with them. Then, I will reveal all the properties, Sefirot, Partzufim, and the worlds in the connection between us.

Now, there are 125 degrees between you and me. Had I made such an inner change within myself whereby I connect with you with my heart and soul, in my mind and desires, I would have reached my personal final correction (Gmar Tikkun). Approaching you, bestowing to you, and accepting your desire as mine, I would have gone through all 125 degrees. I would have revealed the worlds between us, ascents and descents, in the relationship between me and my friends.

As soon as I unite with a friend, at least one of them, I finish my work. You don’t have to unite with millions, or billions, or the Creator because this is the same thing. If I cancel my desire to enjoy and can accept a friend’s desire as mine, it’s done!

That is why we read The Book of Zohar which describes various states that I reveal in the form of connection or separation between us, between me and the other—all the worlds (concealments) and separations are there.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/30/2011, The Zohar

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Question: There are limits to what people can hear from us. Do these limits expand during the peak of a crisis, as for example in Spain, where recently mass demonstrations took place?

Answer: If a person has a problem or illness, he always wants to hear the good news about the remedy. Ideally, not we, but our Spanish friends have to address the Spanish people. Namely, they will be able to disseminate the method of correction among their people, gently and in an accessible way. They know how to communicate with their people. We have only to train and instruct them so that they set to work.

This should be done around the world. This is why the Creator awakens the points in the hearts among all the nations so that they act locally. And from now on, we have to prepare them for this mission. They know how to talk to the people; there are no barriers between them and their people. Their people are their family, friends, and acquaintances. We only have  to prepare a collection of materials and a supporting base for them.

All our groups around the world have to be converted into dissemination centers so that they know how to explain to demonstrators and the needy the reason for their suffering, in very simple words and without mentioning the word Kabbalah. Otherwise, people will just turn away and will not be able to listen. Even you, who are ready to listen, have difficulties grasping the words of Kabbalists. What can we expect of others?…
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/30/2011, “The Peace”

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Question: Have you seen a TV program about Kabbalah broadcast on NTV, a Russian television channel? What can you say about it?

Answer: We were approached three times by the NTV producers asking us to participate in this program. But having discovered who other participants were, we had to refuse: You have to choose who to talk to.

Counting knots on a red string and believing in its magical force is beyond my comprehension. And magic spells such as “Pulsa deNura” arouse nothing but sadness at people’s late development.

But these are only “growing pains.” It will pass. Poor children! Why are they so hateful? Kabbalah talks about love, and not love as a commodity ($20 for a string). But I would agree to an interview on our terms.
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