Entries in the 'Religion' Category

The Day Of Merging With The Creator

Dr. Michael LaitmanSaturday (Shabbat) is a special day that signifies an association of Zeir Anpin (the sun) and Malchut (the Earth). Saturday is about connection between the Earth and the sun that happens when the sun completely fulfills the Earth at the end of a six-day cycle.

The moon also participates in the connection between them because the sun and the moon, the so-called “two great heavenly bodies,” are equally important, although the moon shines by reflected sunlight. Between them there is the Earth that covers the moon from the sun and so we see the phases of the moon that represent the relationship between the moon and the Earth, and the sun reflects the magnitude of their pairing and connection.

“Six days” stand for the pairing of Zeir Anpin and Malchut. When Malchut, the Earth, reaches a state of a complete saturation, then on the seventh day it rests. It applies to Malchut, the Earth, to all human beings and even to animals, to the entire world.

But this doesn’t mean that a person should rest because Saturday is the most intense time in our spiritual work. After six days of Malchut’s correction (during which she tries to become similar to Zeir Anpin) they unite, merge, and couple. “Saturday” denotes love and connection, which is described in the “Song of Songs,” a complete merging of the creation with the Creator.

“Six days of work” stand for six days of “pumping” and preparation for merging. Each of us rotates in phases of their own as the sun and the moon: We get up in the morning and go to bed in the evening. On the seventh day, we are ready to merge since the seventh stage is about love; it’s the stage of a complete correction for the sake of achieving similarity with the Creator.

So, the first five days of the week are working days; the sixth day is a combination of the first five days together into one, and the seventh day finalizes the entire work and demonstrates its result, completely a non-working day.

As all of this comes only from a comparison between the right and the left lines, the seventh day was immediately accepted by Abraham’s group (the Jewish people) as a day of rest. Other nations followed this example and also established days off for themselves; that was done through their religions, which derived from Kabbalah.

Taking into consideration that Saturday is affiliated with the middle line, Muslims (the right line) picked up the sixth day of the week as their day off, whereas Christians (the left line) chose to have a day off on the first day of the week. This discrepancy will stay intact until all of them meet and unite in the middle line. If it doesn’t happen, we won’t attain the Creator. This explains that the purpose of all religions is to make people realize that they have to rise above these deviations and connect in one single point that has nothing to do with religions at all, but rather with Kabbalah.
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From KabTV’s “The Mysteries of the Eternal Book” 2/4/13

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Staying In Harmony Between Two Celestial Bodies

Dr. Michael LaitmanAll the cycles of time, except for the week, are related to cosmic systems: the new moon, morning, daytime, evening, etc. The week seems to have been born from the human mind.

The fact is that we are inside a very interesting system: We depend on both the moon and the sun. That’s why calendars have a double nature: The Muslim calendar is based on the cycle of the moon; the Christians’ is contingent on phases of the sun, and the Judaic calendar combines both solar and lunar cycles.

This is why Muslim holidays are not rigidly tied to concrete dates and “wander” from winter to summer, from spring to autumn. Christian holidays are also inconstant. As for the Jewish calendar, it is stable since it is based on the middle line: It’s not tied to the right line (as is the Muslim calendar), nor to the left line (as in Christianity), but rather it is founded on a combination of two natural forces, that of receiving and that of bestowal. We depend on the sun and the moon, on the properties of receiving and giving. We are not stuck with one particular line. That’s why our calendar is consistent.

However, the Jewish calendar is not that simple! There are certain dates such as “shvita” and “Yovel,” every four years there is a leap year, and twice in 27 years there is a solar circuit, etc. But the calendar created several thousand years ago hasn’t changed.

Question: So according to this calendar we can accurately figure out what will happen in the future?

Answer: The fact that it’s linked to two natural forces means that we follow nature and use its powers in a harmonious way. This calendar is based on both solar and lunar cycles and it exemplifies this idea.

The moon shows us how the Earth relates to the sun. In other words, if I were the Earth, the moon would show me my screen by allowing me to watch the altering phases from full moon to complete diminishment (new moon) and waxing and waning again. They would display whether I relate to the Creator and to the Light correctly and whether I change at each particular phase starting at a completely diminished state and going to the full moon, and repeating these phases again and again.

The approximate four weeks that separate the waxing and waning moon comprise a full cycle that is similar to one day: “And there was evening, and there was morning—one day.” In other words, we wake up at sunrise; the sun influences us in a way that our egoism increases, thus creating the left line which leads the sun to the end of the day and eventually giving birth to the night and the moon.

Lunar phases appear in different constellations and create an integral and yet simple picture; the more we explore this picture, the more we have a feeling of an absolute harmony.

This is like a musician who perceives a melody deep in his heart and says: “It’s a lovely chord, a beautiful instrumentation, but it lacks one note that has to be played by a trumpet!” That one additional note by the trumpet allows us to experience the sensation of harmony.

It’s overwhelming and thrilling. That’s why it’s said that the attainment of the Creator is perfection.
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From KabTV’s “The Mysteries of the Eternal Book” 2/4/13

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Europe Without Religion?

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the News (from Rethinking Europe): “International Congress “Rethinking Europe with(out) Religion” 20.2-23.2.2013, Vienna. The International Congress ‘Rethinking Europe with(out) Religion’ reflects on the religious and political transformation processes in European contemporary societies in the context of a growing pluralism. It investigates the political role that religion can play for the unification process of Europe in times of crisis. ‘Rethinking Europe’ is more than an economic challenge. It means searching for ‘a soul for Europe’ (J. Delors). However, it is highly controversial if religion(s) can contribute anything at all to Europe and if so what this contribution may look like.”

My Comment: This is what Kabbalah says. By Kabbalistic definition “Religion is love for one’s neighbor!” Everything else, all the religions and beliefs, are invented by man to evade observing this only law of nature. If Europe accepts this religion, it will survive and prosper; otherwise, it will be lost!
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A Step To The Left, A Step To The Right: Attempts To Escape Reality

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: When we study nature and ourselves, we discover that we all totally depend on our genes and surroundings. Compelling evidence suggests that there is no freedom of will whatsoever and that we all are mortal. However, we are not ready to conform to these facts; we ignore the results of our own research and prefer to stay in the illusions that appeal to us. How can this conflict be resolved?

Answer: We study many phenomena, but are not necessarily guided by the results. There are such things as doubts, beliefs, faiths, and egoism after all. Even if we know we’re wrong, we still stick to our “opinion” since this is what we really want. We know this about children, but adults often do the same.

In short, our life is difficult. But in any case, the impartial, reasonable data proven by scientific research should be accepted as facts. Otherwise, in the end, we’ll hurt others and ourselves.

On the other hand, concepts that have not been validated or proven by science cannot be accepted anymore.

Question: So, a human being is an egoistic irrational creature that believes in fairytales if they suit him?

Answer: Really! How can that be? Are we actually triggered by pleasant sensations even if they are wrong? Let’s say, I like to smoke, overeat, and do many other unhealthy things. I don’t care that it harms me as long as I enjoy them. I want to do what pleases me and if I have to pay for it later, who cares.

Such an attitude is irrational. Logically, I have to accept the laws of nature and comply with them, following them as precisely as a machine. However, my desire “spoils” everything and instead, I do what pleases me. This is the way a human being is created. In contrast to inanimate, vegetative, and animate nature, humans are spoiled.

If not for our egoism, we would simply be animals that have a rigid program inserted in them; if it were so, it wouldn’t leave us any choice. Animals don’t face dilemmas like: “To do or not to do something? Should I do it this way or that way? Will it be pleasant or not?” They are governed by rigid commands; that’s it.

And here we are worse than them; we are the worst of all! After all, our egoism stands in our way and prevents us from observing the laws of nature; it doesn’t let us act as we are supposed to, without deviating an inch to the right or to the left, to only walk on the fine line of the route. The laws of nature are immutable, invariable, and infinitely precise; however, the surplus egoism destroys and overwhelms all of us. We do what is good for our ego and it is always is against reason.

This is the way a man turns into a “spoiled animal.” All of our additions to the animate level look extremely good: culture, education, etc. These things are particularly based on our corruption. Literature, music, and other “spiritual heights” result from man’s deficiency after he stopped being an animal. Birds are singing not because they are aspiring to beauty, but do so. Yet, we are different…

In the end, any embellishments to common sense and to science in its pure form are harmful. In fact, all we should promote is science. However, we are making use of everything we can. What can we do about it? In fact, even education, upbringing, and culture, all that is not derived from animal instincts, is flawed and are attempts to compensate them. We don’t realize how strongly we deviate from the way that is given to us by Nature, nor do we understand that we have become an alien element, a “cancerous tumor,” that developed in our collective body. Eventually, the tumor destroys itself and the environment it lives in. Ecology is the best example. Cancerous cells devour the body and die together with it. They cannot stop. This is their form of existence. Egoism acts the same way in us.

So we have to clearly understand where the thin line is, the edge, the partition between science and “science fiction,” that is, religions, beliefs, philosophical concepts, psychological constructs etc. We can use things within the scientific sphere if we do it accurately, like animals following instincts, and don’t make mistakes. Even though we have discovered all sorts of phenomena and developed various methods that are based on our findings, these things still originally exist in nature. Therefore, if we follow the laws of nature, everything goes well. It’s fine if the laws of nature are revealed in science.

However, if we refer to the speculative sphere, to artificial theories and practices, we should keep in mind that all of them are imaginary and false. You cannot apply them in life. In that case, how do we relate to the soul? We did not find its scientific methods and we don’t feel it with our sensors. So does it really exist?

It’s quite possible that science will soon be able to answer this question. Science constantly brings something new out of hiding, corrects current deficiencies, modernizes and improves things that had already been discovered previously. However, we cannot base things on guesswork.

On the other hand, how should we refer to books by Kabbalists who tell us about the soul? Can we rely on them? After all, faith doesn’t work since it is not scientific.

So, until we attain these things ourselves, no evidence proving its existence, we will have doubts.

What can we do?

We should reconcile our natural progression as an “electrochemical driven bio-machine” and clearly realize that we don’t have any freedom of choice except in selecting our surroundings and placing ourselves into the correct environment. It has to be done strictly scientifically; we should see everything around us only through the laws of nature that can be reduced into two parts, which we call “the path of Torah” and the “path of suffering.”
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/3/12, “Body and Soul”

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Dr. Michael LaitmanOur real existence develops in the desire and only in it. There is nothing but that. But, besides the desire and the picture that it creates in our feelings, I was given another temporary imaginary picture, an imaginary addition in the form of a physical body that is in a corporeal world. This reality doesn’t actually exist, but now it helps me be in an illusion of existence. When a real urge to use my initial desire will be revealed in me, I will approach it.

One way or another, everything takes place in the desire, with the physical body that is simply an “animal” that has no freewill and is not required to do any work. This body is an opportunity to approach the real work in the desire and not more than that. The picture that is depicted by my corporeal senses is the imaginary world.

This is why philosophical approaches and other methods of sophistry are so far from the truth. It is because they take the body into account, its actions and its imaginary potential, allegedly raising it above the animal level.

Now I have only bodily desires that create the illusion of the existence of a live body. As a result, I have to take care of the body of this desire, to guard it, and to provide it with different things. This corporeal desire lives and dies.

Besides that I have a point in the heart (•). I develop it by connecting with all the other points in order to attain love, and then in contrast to it, I feel aversion and hate. Then from zero to 100%, according to my exertion, I begin to develop the real ego inside me, the spiritual desire to receive. This happens when I enter the group, the right environment.

Until then, I only have an “animal” and a point in the heart that may have appeared. There are people who remain in the system of the body with the point for a long time. Even if they study with the friends but don’t involve love, the group, and don’t keep the first condition (1), they don’t reach the second stage, the feeling of hatred (2). The point only stimulates them a little. Later when they start the real work with the group, they leave the previous system and move on to a new system, which becomes the only important thing for them. Everything that happens with the bodily desires is totally irrelevant. It should be satisfied with the basic necessities and not ask for more.

We build a group among us, a network, and fill it with our mutual bestowal. On the whole this exertion is our desire to bestow upon one another. We raise a request (MAN) for correction, and in response the Surrounding Light comes and corrects and connects us, and then provides the filling, which is called the soul.

The main thing is actually the transition from one system to another. This is the difference between philosophy and religions from one side and the wisdom of Kabbalah on the other.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/6/13, “Body and Soul”

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Disasters Stimulate Religious Feelings

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the News (from PLOS.org): “On 22 February 2011, Christchurch New Zealand (population 367,700) experienced a devastating earthquake, causing extensive damage and killing one hundred and eighty-five people. The earthquake and aftershocks occurred between the 2009 and 2011 waves of a longitudinal probability sample conducted in New Zealand, enabling us to examine how a natural disaster of this magnitude affected deeply held commitments and global ratings of personal health, depending on earthquake exposure. We first investigated whether the earthquake-affected were more likely to believe in God. Consistent with the Religious Comfort Hypothesis, religious faith increased among the earthquake-affected, despite an overall decline in religious faith elsewhere. This result offers the first population-level demonstration that secular people turn to religion at times of natural crisis. We then examined whether religious affiliation was associated with differences in subjective ratings of personal health. We found no evidence for superior buffering from having religious faith. Among those affected by the earthquake, however, a loss of faith was associated with significant subjective health declines. Those who lost faith elsewhere in the country did not experience similar health declines. Our findings suggest that religious conversion after a natural disaster is unlikely to improve subjective well-being, yet upholding faith might be an important step on the road to recovery.”

My Comment: Fear, uncertainty, and lack of confidence gave rise to religious feelings and sustained religions. If it were not for them and if there were no death, there would be no religion—the mass belief in the unprovable. Kabbalah refutes the religious attitude towards the world. There is Nature and its laws; this is an upper force. And all the feelings that people feel toward the Creator and attribute to Him originate from sensations that are peculiar to man, and to man alone; it is similar to how we attribute certain thoughts and feelings to animals.
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Dalai Lama: To Rise Above All Differences!

Dr. Michael LaitmanOpinion (His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama): “He said that the source of our problems is self-centredness. Theistic religions tackle this by complete submission to God, whereas Buddhism reduces self-centredness by focusing on selflessness, the lack of a single, autonomous self, and the advice to regard others as more important than us. He counselled that once we understand that our different religions have common goals, we understand the grounds for granting them equal respect. …

“‘Compassion brings peace of mind and with it better health; so cherish compassion. … As human beings we are all the same; we are born the same and we die the same. We need to emphasize the oneness of humanity, how we are all the same as brothers and sisters.’ …

“He said that when we are in the grip of destructive emotions we are unhappy, but when we develop love and compassion for others we feel happier and more at ease. Competitiveness and jealousy give rise to fear and mistrust; we lose friends and become lonely. When we are free from fear, trust and friendship grow. When our minds are at peace, we are less anxious and free from fear. And today, scientists and thinkers recognise that true happiness comes from peace of mind. …

“His Holiness then turned to the topic of secular ethics, his belief that in a materialistic world we need to find ways to foster and encourage people to nurture fundamental, humane, inner values. He feels that this can best be done through the medium of secular education, using the word secular as the Indian constitution does, not to exclude religion, religious believers or non-believers, but to accord all of them an inclusive respect. He encouraged his listeners to understand that if they passed on their interest in what he had to say about this to others, the word would spread.”

My Comment: Religions will never come together because they are based on the egoism of believers. They divide people. Rising above them and uniting, that is, accepting unity above all the differences, including religious, is the way out of the crisis. The appeal must be towards unity, despite the differences. We see in religions only hatred of strangers and people of other faiths and never true calls for unity and love. That is why, the Dalai Lama talks about non-religious ethics as appropriate to address the challenges of the 21st century.
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About Facts And Myths

Dr. Michael LaitmanBaal HaSulam, “The Peace,” First Method: Nature

This method is an ancient one. Since they did not find a way and an outlet to bring these two conspicuous opposites closer, they came to assume that the Creator, who created all these, who watches mightily over His reality lest any of it be cancelled, is mindless and senseless.

Hence, although He watches over the existence of reality with wondrous wisdom, yet He Himself is mindless, and does all that senselessly. If there had been any reason and feeling in Him, He would certainly not leave such malfunctions in the provision of reality without pity and compassion for the tormented. For this reason, they named Him “Nature,” meaning a mindless, heartless supervisor. And for that reason, they believe that there is no one to be angry at, to pray to, or to justify oneself to.

This is an ancient concept, approach, although we see it as a new attainment of materialism. The simplest way is to see the world as it is, and this was actually the initial approach of humanity. Religions, beliefs, and philosophical approaches came along much later, when man developed internally, became more complex, and began to invent different myths. In the beginning people simply saw nature and lived in it like animals who also don’t believe in anything. This is how we should actually relate to nature, as it says, “a judge only has what his eyes can see.”

The following approaches stemmed from the disagreement with what happens in nature; people invented them as different excuses, and so they are all false. In fact, we see facts that are independent of our attitude towards them. But man invents different excuses in order to sweeten life or to enjoy false hopes.

A healthy attitude to life is in the scientific approach. We see the effect of unchangeable exact laws everywhere, the activity of systems and the periodicity of natural elements. If I see that that’s the way things are, then it is so, and don’t offer me different lies. I see the truth and any addition to it is individual and cannot be counted on. It is in these additions that beliefs are created, while nature is revealed in facts as it actually is.

The wisdom of Kabbalah continues this approach, telling us about the principles of the perception of reality. We see this world before us, and, except for that it, says that there is a whole area called “the upper world,” which is not imaginary, but which can be studied scientifically. Thus the wisdom of Kabbalah continues conventional science and conducts research beyond the boundaries of conventional science.

With the help of the wisdom of Kabbalah, I continue scientific research and develop new vessels of perception, expand their range, and keep the principle of “a judge only has what his eyes can see.” There is nothing more than that; everything else, including religions, is actually philosophy.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/14/12, “The Peace”

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The Science Of Changing Oneself

Dr. Michael LaitmanReligions, science, philosophy, everything that man has developed, is intended to bring him closer to the Creator. But this connection is actually fulfilled by the wisdom of Kabbalah.

If I study about the fifth level of “thickness” of my desire and about the processes that take place in it in connection to different periods or values, then it is generally called “science,” “philosophy,” or “psychology.” One way or the other, I study what is happening within my desire to receive.

When do I study that? During the exile. That is the right time and the right situation.

Besides, there are people who yearn to rise above their desire to receive, above the exile. Thus they develop this ability internally—they study about higher levels with the help of the wisdom of Kabbalah. On this level they acquire a connection with the Creator, which means that they build their desire to receive so that it will take on the Creator’s form.

It has no form or shape, and in order to stabilize this resemblance I summon the Surrounding Light that reforms me. This Light enters my desire and builds the form of bestowal in me, which is similar to the Creator, the Returning Light.

So science, philosophy, and psychology speak about what is happening within our desire to receive. We develop these disciplines without changing ourselves but in a rational manner. So even the worst person can reach great heights in every scientific field. A philosopher may be a Nazi and indeed anyone. Today it is possible to arrange a philosophical concept that will justify all the evil in the world.

The wisdom of Kabbalah, on the other hand, has a different approach: A person changes himself for the good, to bestow, and to this extent, he discovers the Creator. This is a totally different wisdom, and ordinary scientists cannot understand it, since it is based on a person’s transformation.

Today, such change is necessary, as the upper dimension that is being revealed obligates us. This is where the cry of science, philosophy and man stems from. If we don’t start changing ourselves according to Godliness that is being revealed, we will find ourselves opposed to it. The real problem isn’t concealed in this world, but rather in the fact that the Creator “lands” on us, the integral network of the general mutual connection. It is hanging over us, like a giant flying saucer from a science fiction movie, and descends, thus leaving us fewer and fewer options to maneuver. Let’s hope that people will understand this.

So it all depends on a person: whether he changes himself in order to continue his development correctly now, or not.

Let’s get back to science and philosophy: The exile of the Jewish people and its integration with the nations of the world was meant to provide us with science, with information about the desire to receive. The wisdom of Kabbalah, on the other hand, teaches us about the external reality, changing our desire, and it is arranged that way so that the Light will go through the desire and will give it the form of bestowal. Without the passing of the Light, the wisdom of Kabbalah wouldn’t exist. It appeared when people began to explore their desire, its structure, and life, and after having examined it, they began to draw the Light that Reforms upon themselves, which means that they began to reform themselves and to change to the good, to bestowal instead of receiving.

The Light changes my discernments and I collect the data and eventually discover a new science called “the wisdom of Kabbalah.”
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/6/12, “The Wisdom of Kabbalah and Philosophy”

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Do You Know Why The Wisdom Of Kabbalah Came Into The World?

Dr. Michael LaitmanUntil the destruction of the Second Temple, the wisdom of Kabbalah was the Torah, the study of the Israeli nation, the group that Abraham brought out of Babel and made into a nation that lives according to the laws of the wisdom of Kabbalah. The destruction of the Temple means that they fell from love thy friend as thyself into unfounded hatred.

Since then the wisdom of Kabbalah ceased to exist among the people who we still call the people of Israel, although they were no longer connected to the law of love thy friend as thyself, and therefore have no right to be called “Israel” (Yashar – Kel), which means “straight to the Creator.” So the understanding of what we need the wisdom of Kabbalah for was lost. Baal HaSualm speaks about his fear, “and it is fearful that it will be forgotten, God forbid, in the people of Israel.”

He is afraid of that, but others don’t even think about it since they don’t know what the wisdom of Kabbalah is needed for. And to that end, Baal HaSulam wrote the “Introduction to TES,” in order to explain why it is obligatory to study the book “The Study of the Ten Sefirot“ (TES) and the wisdom of Kabbalah in general.

He didn’t see that people were interested in this wisdom or that they respond to his appeal, that they even listened to how important and essential this wisdom is. Everyone rejected it by finding different excuses. Religious people who studied the Torah didn’t understand why they needed something else. And a person who lived an ordinary corporeal life was afraid that the wisdom of Kabbalah would ruin his life. Who knew what forces were hidden in it, what he would summon upon himself by mentioning the Holy names, perhaps he would summon troubles by that…

Others justified themselves by saying that there were people who studied Kabbalah, who called themselves Kabbalists, but who didn’t recommend it to others. There are many reasons why the wisdom of Kabbalah was pushed aside, away from general attention, and it is a wonder that it has existed until now. After all there were many wisdoms that were forgotten and have disappeared throughout history.

People reject this study, but Baal HaSulam thought that this should stop. The time had come for mankind to change our attitude and to show people why the wisdom of Kabbalah is necessary and why it came into the world—in order to raise humanity to the level of unity with the Creator, which is the goal of our life, the goal of creation. It is time to fulfill this goal here and now.

For this reason Baal HaSulam wrote TES and “The Introduction to TES” in which he explains the importance of its study. In his time it was very hard to bring this idea to people. Today it is accepted in a totally different manner, and we can openly advertise the widespread study of the wisdom of Kabbalah. I remember what a buzz it made in Bnei Brak, an orthodox town, when people found out that I brought a group of nonreligious students from Tel Aviv to my teacher, Rabash. Rabash made a real revolution, but there was no other choice, the world is in such a state that the wisdom of Kabbalah has to be revealed.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/11/12, “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot

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