Judaism obligates Jews to follow many commandments: blessings, Kashrut (keeping kosher), Mikveh (ritual bath), prayer, in addition to multiple other actions. Judaism is considered the most complicated and an extraordinarily difficult religion.

All of it is in order for us, day by day, moment by moment, to remind ourselves by these action about the connection with the upper force and the need to constantly maintain it.

Question: Are you saying that this connection, love between people, guarantees us protection from above?

Answer: “Love your neighbor as yourself” is a great law of the Torah and represents the height of human development. There is nothing higher than that because this is how I include myself into the other person and do whatever he or she needs. Love is the law of an integral system, by which all its elements have to be connected.

Question: How does that protect me?

Answer: This is how I, or rather the single element of the system that I represent, follow the laws of the integral system. Naturally, this provides protection for me. I can never protect myself. I safeguard myself only through my ability to correctly unite with others because in reality I am connected with everyone and receive sustenance from them. In essence, they determine all my states because we are interdependent.

I am joined by connecting bonds with a multitude of others. If these connections are negative, then I suffer until I finally die. However, if from my side, these connections become positive, then in return, I receive a positive reaction from the system. Even if other people toward whom I act with kindness do not intend to respond to me in like manner, the upper force, functioning within the system, will influence them in such a way as to make them relate to me correctly.

In this way my actions begin to be in harmony with the force filling the entire system. My attempts to love my neighbor make me similar to the upper force. I tune into this force and by doing so, obligate the system to protect me. Resembling the upper what can be safer? I enter the upper almost as if I am entering a mother’s womb; is there a safer place than that?

The upper will protect me because I annul myself, my egoism, and become similar to it. I don’t think about myself, but act only according to the wishes of others. As a result, I become similar to the upper and enter it in the most minimal form. But even in this minimal form, nonetheless, I am within it as an embryo inside the mother. Where else can you feel more protected?
[205245]
From KabTV’s “A New Life,” #819, 01/26/17

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Question: Is correction possible with asceticism and isolation? If not, then why is this so widespread?

Answer: This is widespread because people are used to this form of life. In ancient times, they behaved this way to allegedly “kill” the flesh. But this does not correspond  to Kabbalistic principles.

The mortification of the flesh doesn’t come from and has nothing to do with Kabbalah. Therefore, according to the wisdom of Kabbalah, one must not remain single.

We need to help single people organize their lives. By the way, helping to establish a family is a great Mitzvah (commandment). Therefore, the friends in a group, especially women, should help each other to create families.
[204950]
From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 12/4/16

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Question: Everyone wants to make their lives as safe as possible. In Judaism there are all kinds of traditions and symbols that are regarded as means of guaranteeing protection from above: a mezuzah for the protection of the individual and their home, or prayers, such as the traveler’s prayer, the blessings of the home or the business. Shabbat also is considered to be a means of protecting the person who observes it.

Do all these methods actually guarantee our protection from misfortunes?

Answer: All these provide nothing more than a psychological effect. It gives an individual an inner experience of calm and confidence, but they do not impact the occurring events. First thing that Abraham did was to destroy all the “idols,” that is, all external symbols, that can affect our fate. This symbolized the beginning of his spiritual path.

So if today a person believes that external objects and actions can guarantee them protection from above, it is considered idol worship. Traditional commandments of Judaism are not meant to guarantee us protection in this life. Kabbalists created them in order to give people a feeling of belonging to the nation of Israel, in order for them not to forget about their connection with others, about the Torah. But by following them, they are not changing their fate.

A person donates a few cents before getting onto a bus so that the bus does not explode; he as if wants to buy for himself a kind reaction from the Creator for a dollar. But even in this way, he is connecting himself with the system, with the society. This is why I do not laugh at this tradition and view it as beneficial for the wider masses. However, that which is good on one level, is called idol worship on a higher level of development.

Question: It is said that the home with a mezuzah on its doorway is protected by the Creator. How does the mezuzah protect those who are in the house?

Answer: It does not, in no way. It provides purely psychologically comfort, a positive feeling. It is a way for a person to calm themselves. It acts like a tranquilizing pill, nothing more.

If an individual really wants to be under the protection of the upper force, he must study it and enter into contact with it. He needs to know in what way to fulfill the desire of the upper force, not to get what he wants, but to act according to the purpose of creation for the benefit of the entire system.

If he does this, then of course he becomes desirable in the eyes of the general force of the system, called Creator, and he guarantees for himself correct, positive, and fast advancement.
[205011] 
From KabTV’s “A New Life,” #818, 01/26/17

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New Life 829 – Religions And The Development Of Man
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Yael Leshed-Harel

What does the return to religion today indicate? How did Abraham discover the upper force? What was the impact of this revelation on humanity and why did popular religion emerge?

There is a trend of returning to religion today as a result of the growing egoism. People are looking for meaning of life. Religion tells us that there is a force that manages us above nature, that we should believe in it and obey its commandments. We don’t need to “believe” in order to reveal the Creator; we need to work and to acquire the attribute of love of others.
[202316]
From KabTV’s “New Life 829 – Religions And The Development Of Man,” 2/14/17

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New Life 828 – Between Religions And The Wisdom Of Kabbalah
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Yael Leshed-Harel

What does religion provide us with? How does the wisdom of Kabbalah teach us to get to know the upper force and what is the goal that people of all religions have to reach according to this wisdom?

We don’t know what we are living for, and religions offer a person something that is beyond this life. The wisdom of Kabbalah is the internality of Judaism. It is the method of revealing the Creator to man while still in this world.
[202313]
From KabTV’s “New Life 828 –  Between Religions And The Wisdom Of Kabbalah,” 2/14/17

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In the News (Al Arabiya): “Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis – ISIS-affiliated extremist group in Egypt – has released images purporting to show the execution of a 100-year-old man.

“The group, who rebranded as ISIS-Sinai when they pledged allegiance to the extremist group holding swathes of Iraq and Syria, killed Sheikh Sulaiman Abu Haraz after kidnapping him earlier.

“Abu Haraz, considered one of the symbolic Sufi clerics and elders of the Sinai Peninsula, was taken by the group from in front of his house in Arish city under gun point.”

My Comment: Sufism is Islamic Kabbalah. They live their lives in exile from their nations because they are hated, similar to the attitude toward Kabbalists in Judaism. Likewise, Sufism calls for everyone to achieve unity through limitless love, as a fundamental principle for all of humanity.
[197552]

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There are two approaches to life. The first approach is to devote most of our attention to this world, getting as much pleasure out of it as possible. This is why humanity conquers space and explores the depths of an atom. All this is work with the matter.

But the wisdom of Kabbalah says that instead of flying to distant stars we need to delve into the depth of a human being. The world is uncovered within us, we see the world within ourselves. A person perceives the reality with his consciousness and therefore, by changing it he changes the reality.

Reality is a reflection of our inner qualities. By correcting our inner qualities, we begin to see the spiritual world. And by returning to our original egoistic characteristics, we see this world.

That is why even in relation to the Torah there are two approaches. There are those who observe the commandments of the Torah only in their actions, thinking that the Torah describes external observance. And that is why such Torah is called external, because it is observed only through physical actions and words. But there are people called Kabbalists who believe that following the Torah is an internal action, carried out by changing human nature.

By working in the group according to the method of Kabbalah and attracting the Light that Reforms, a person begins to fulfill the Torah and the commandments not only with hands, legs, and words, but through the desire that is corrected with the help of the Light and divided into 613 parts. And this why it is said, “the opinion of the Torah is opposite to the opinion of the masses.”

The external approach is also associated with the study of nature by regular sciences, the aspiration to explore the depths of the inanimate, vegetative, and animate levels, and to transform the world by changing nature and governments externally. 

In contrast, the wisdom of Kabbalah says that if the world is the result of our perception, then it is necessary to correct only our perception, our inner qualities. Only in this manner can we change the world, humanity, man, and all of reality to such an extent that we will begin to experience the world as eternal, perfect, and limitless.

For this reason the opinion of the masses differs from that of the Torah, and there is nothing that can be done about this, it is not possible to bring them together. Little by little the upper Light operates on humanity, advancing it toward the need to acknowledge the truth and realize that all of reality exists within. There is nothing outside of us, everything is perceived within our awareness.

The passage from the general world-view, accepted by all humanity that perceives the world as external to them, to the world as a product of perception within human awareness, is called liberation. The eyes of the masses will open and they will begin to approach the truth.

Then the wisdom of Kabbalah will be revealed not only to specific individuals, but to all, and it will explain to all of humanity its mission and the purpose of man in this reality.

Everyone will realize that our world is not this planet Earth, where we are destined to be born and die, but that it is a small stop-over station, a starting point, from which we have to begin to develop further.
[203193]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/30/17, Lesson on the Topic: “Daat Baalei Baitam Hafuha Midaat Torah (The Mind of the Landlords Is Opposed to the Reason of the Torah)”

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New Life 819 – Jewish Culture: The Mezuzah
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Yael Leshed-Harel

Why are we commanded to put a Mezuzah on our doorpost? What is the special protection that it provides and what is the purpose of keeping Mitzvot (the commandments) in our life?

Jewish customs, the Mitzvot, are in a structure of a branch and root. They are only the signs of the upper spiritual roots. Abraham broke the statues of the idols in order to show the Babylonians that there are no corporeal means that can protect a person. All the Jewish customs are meant to remind us to be in contact with the upper force through love of others.
[201587]
From KabTV’s “New Life 819 – Jewish Culture: The Mezuzah,” 1/26/17

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What is this picture that unfolds in front of us? It is nature that is revealed more and more both within and around us. We uncover nature deeper and deeper and see that we exist inside the system. Apparently, as we exist in it, the system advances us toward some goal.

On one hand, man is a product of nature. On the other hand, we are special creatures of nature that can reveal their maker.

Who created us? Nature. Who advances us? Nature. Where does it move us? Judging by the history of our development, by the process of evolution, we can figure out where we are heading to. So let’s investigate this and find out!

The wisdom of Kabbalah differs from religions in that it gives a person tools for the revelation of the upper force. It tells him what he must do, instead of crying and praying to the idols that we ourselves made in hopes to beg for a good life.

The most effective form of study that helps a person to advance is the wisdom of Kabbalah. This is the difference between the upper force that religious people imagine and the one that Kabbalists, who have contact and relationship with this force, discover. Kabbalists can address the upper force, receive from it, and have precise interactions with it.

And the upper force, meaning Nature wants us to be in such interaction with it. By working with the system of nature, we gradually begin to reveal within it the mind and the feelings that each time are one degree above us.

The problem is that we can’t imagine the upper force that is not clothed in the matter and form. If the upper force is the entire nature, then it as if disappears for us. However, it is revealed precisely in the connection between us in a very clear manner. We have to reveal the Creator as our friend.
[201732]
From the 3d part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/18/17, “Mismach Arosa,” (Arosa Document)

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Question: Why are there many religious texts and prayers that are close to religion in the wisdom of Kabbalah?

Answer: Kabbalah is the foundation. It was established before any of the religions. All the texts and all the books that we read like: Psalms, Ecclesiastes, and so forth, are Kabbalistic texts, they have nothing to do with religion. They were written by Kabbalists. They wrote about attaining the upper world and about the higher system by investigating it within themselves based on the connection between them and others. This is high, practical, internal psychological work.

I do not see a single book that can be seen as a basis for humanity besides the wisdom of Kabbalah. Kabbalah was the source of scientific knowledge for scientists, philosophers, alchemists and many others throughout human history. They derived all knowledge from Kabbalah. It is a science.

As long as this wisdom existed among the people of Israel, both the Greeks and the Romans drew knowledge from it and then disseminated it even in Europe. When the people of Israel descended from their spiritual level from “And you shall love your friend as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18) to the level of “mutual hatred,” the wisdom of Kabbalah was hidden from the people and remained only among a small group of people. Since people became disconnected from the perception of the upper world, they themselves began to imagine it within completely different frameworks and attributes. And from this arose religion, Judaism and from that, Christianity and Islam. So we have become disconnected from spirituality in a 2,000 year exile; we have to explain that Abraham and Moses were Kabbalists and that the Talmud is a Kabbalistic book.

We cannot and should not prove anything to people because everything will gradually be revealed to humanity. People will suddenly begin to understand that the Kabbalistic ideas are correct. Humanity has been divided into many different levels according to their yearning to discover the truth. There are people who want to study the various sciences, to be involved with the arts, to achieve self-realization, etc. And there are people who just want to live normally, and for this religion is necessary for them. But there are people who want to accurately attain the meaning of life; they are the ones who come to the wisdom of Kabbalah.
[199283]
From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 9/25/16

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