In the News (from New Scientist): “Born believers: How your brain creates God” An experiment published in Science supports the idea that religion is a natural consequence of how our brains work. …Humans can anticipate future events, including their own death. “You’ve got to figure out a solution, otherwise you’re overwhelmed,” says anthropologist Scott Atran of the University of Michigan. When natural brain processes give us a get-out-of-jail card [religious faith], we take it.

My Comment: All the belief systems in the world (over 3800 of them) were invented by people. However, the three main religions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – originated from Kabbalah, when the people of Israel fell from the spiritual level (the sensation of the Creator through the quality of bestowal and love) to the level of our world (where the Creator is concealed because of people’s unfounded hatred to each other). Because people lost their perception of the Creator, the Temple became destroyed and the Jews were exiled from their land, which happened 2000 years ago.

When the Creator became concealed, so did Kabbalah, and people’s perception and understanding of the Creator was replaced by faith in Him. That is when Kabbalah was replaced by religion – Judaism. And later on, two more religions or branches originated from Judaism: Christianity and Islam.

In our times, people will once again begin to feel the Creator by attaining the quality of bestowal and love. Therefore, all the belief systems and religions will disappear, as it is written, “For they will all know Me, from the smallest of them to the greatest” (Yirmiyahu 31:33). The beliefs and religions will remain only as traditions.

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In the News (translated from Elementy): Research done on followers of the six major religions shows that people who regularly attend services are more prone to religious fanaticism and hatred for followers of other faiths, and are more likely to justify suicide bombers.

Collective worship is a powerful way to strengthen people’s devotion to “their own kind” and hatred for “outsiders.” The phenomenon of suicide bombers is an extreme form of parochial altruism: people sacrifice themselves for the sake of “benefiting their own kind” (altruism), and their attempts to annihilate the outsiders (parochialism) are seen as “good deeds.”

My Comment: Religion is opposite to Kabbalah in every way (there is a verse that says, “The opinion of the Torah is opposite to the opinion of the egoists.”) Kabbalah directs everyone to attain love for all people. It explains that everyone is “of the same kind” – we are all cells of one body.

Religion, on the other hand, generates hatred for “outsiders,” even to the point of self-sacrifice, which is done for the sake of killing those who are not “of your kind.” This is why religion will disappear when people will reveal the quality of “love for one’s neighbor.” Religions will then be reduced to folk culture or popular tradition.

In other words, religion will let go of all the aspects that regard the Creator, the Upper World, the after-life, and reward and punishment. This will happen because the revelation of the Creator will expose religion’s emptiness and lies about these questions.

This explains religion’s strong hatred of Kabbalah. However, Kabbalah tells people that they can keep their religion as their tradition, and in addition, supplement it with the revelation of the Creator. Still, the religious leaders will then lose their main bargain chip, “reward in the afterlife,” and will become leaders of folk culture and popular tradition.

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A question I received: I want to know why the Kabbalists wear “Jewish hats.” People around me believe that Kabbalists are “ordinary Jews” and follow the Judaism that says to serve God their whole life until they die and go to heaven, because they wear those hats and speak of the Torah. I try to tell them that I’m sure that’s not “the kind of Jews” that Kabbalists are.

What is the difference between “ordinary religious Jews” and “Kabbalist Jews,” and why do you call yourselves Jews if you know that that is going to confuse the whole world into believing that you are religious, though you are not?

My Answer: You’re right: Kabbalah has no relation to religion or to Judaism, and this is obvious from the way the religious Jews react to it. However, if there’s a Kabbalist who doesn’t come from Judaism, no one will take him seriously because Kabbalah was kept inside Judaism for millennia, despite the fact that ordinary believers did not know about it and did not study it. It was passed down through the generations from teacher to student, known to a few individuals in every generation.

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In the News (from BBC News): “An atheist advertising campaign has been launched on buses across Britain” The campaign backers were exasperated at the excessive religious advertisement. The promotion carries the slogan “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.”

My Comment: There was a time when religion lulled the people, giving them psychological fulfillment, security, and hope. But for many centuries now, religion has exploited people instead of protecting them. The bureaucratic apparatus that it has created exceeds even that of the state.

The desire to rule over the minds of the congregation defines today’s religion, which is a political force. It does not matter whether there’s a God or not. Being free from the pressure of the psychological religious brainwashing is already a path to inner peace.

Kabbalah says that there is no world to come (or a world “beyond the grave,” waiting for us after our bodies die). There is only what we reveal in this world. If you attained or revealed more than the five bodily senses, then you will keep this perception even after your body dies along with its five senses. This perception will remain with you forever because bestowal and love are above egoism, and they raise a person above time, space, and change (motion).

The stages of one’s attainment of the universe are:

• Olam HaZeh – “This world,” which is perceived inside egoism, also called the level of Malchut;

• Olam HaBah – “The world to come,” in Kabbalah known as the level of Abba ve Ima of the World of Atzilut.” A Kabbalist ascends to this level during his life. And if a person doesn’t attain this level, then he has to be born again.

• L’Atid Lavo – “Coming in the future,” the level of “Arich Anpin of the World of Atzilut.” It also has to be attained during this life.

• Gmar Tikkun – “The End of Correction” (of egoism). It is when a person attains “the World of Infinity,” where everything is infinitely corrected.

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News Report (from University of Miami News): Self-control is critical for success in life, and a new study by University of Miami professor of Psychology Michael McCullough finds that religious people have more self-control than do their less religious counterparts. Among the most interesting conclusions that the research team drew were the following:

• Religious rituals such as prayer and meditation affect the parts of the human brain that are most important for self-regulation and self-control;
• When people view their goals as “sacred,” they put more energy and effort into pursuing those goals, and therefore, are probably more effective at attaining them;
• Religious lifestyles may contribute to self-control by providing people with clear standards for their behavior, by causing people to monitor their own behavior more closely, and by giving people the sense that God is watching their behavior.

My Comment: In our times, all of this is coming to an end because egoism is growing in every person. People no longer have “naive faith” like they did in previous centuries. Only those who are egoistically underdeveloped still have this kind of faith, to some degree. And whether directly or through their contact with the rest of the world (the other souls), these people will also reach a point where their egoism will develop.

Hence, faith is disappearing, and religion remains in the capacity of a custom, a culture, or a framework for domestic life. Religiosity is gradually disappearing, and the only thing that can help us stand up against the global egoism and mutual hatred emerging in us, is what Kabbalah reveals to us: the vision of our global interdependence and the need to observe the commandment, “Love thy neighbor as thy self.”

This is what we must do in order to survive, instead of any other, egoistic, commandments of any religion! Religion won’t help us cope with the modern uncertainty, suffering, and crises, despite the fact that people are still coming to religion in the hope of being saved from their misfortunes. Everyone has to go through this and become convinced that religion’s psychological effect no longer works to counter our developing global egoism.

The reason for this is that religion pertains to the level of “Domem de Kdusha,” where a person in society is obedient in a natural way, like a good child. This is the level of the still, vegetative, and animate egoism in us. But today, humanity is rising to the “human” (Adam) level of egoism, where egoism compels us to become individual egoists, and then to conquer this individual egoism and unite in order to attain the Creator.

This is why Kabbalah states that religion will be reduced to just the cultural traditions and customs of every nation, but it will no longer be able to provide psychological support for the people. Faith will be replaced by the knowledge of the Creator, as it is written, “For all will know Me, from the smallest to the greatest!” However, Kabbalah is not against religion, but is there to supplement it – to fill the void that is forming inside the growing, modern egoism, and which is impossible to fulfill by religion.

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News Report (from Science Daily): New research by University of Illinois psychology professor Jesse Preston and her colleague, Nicholas Epley, of the University of Chicago shows that a person’s unconscious attitudes toward science and God may be fundamentally opposed. Those who were asked to use God as an ultimate explanation for various phenomena displayed a more positive association with God and a much more negative association with science than those directed to list other things that can explain God, the researchers found. … The most obvious implication of the research is that “to be compatible, science and religion need to stick to their own territories, their own explanatory space,” Preston said. “However, religion and science have never been able to do that…”

My Comment: Faith is opposite to science, which is based on reliable facts and does not accept unproven data. A belief in God is a belief in something that others said. With respect to its attitude to facts, Kabbalah is science: a person reveals a new reality and then scientifically (experimentally) researches it. He obtains data and then passes it on to others, who also reveal this reality and research it. The results are compared over the course of millennia – and this is what comprises the science of Kabbalah.

The opposition between Kabbalah and religion has been demonstrated for thousands of years. Religious people hate Kabbalah and desire to replace it with their theories, to confuse people by any means possible by offering them their own fabrications under the name of Kabbalah (whether cameos, blessings, healings, or explanations). It’s clear why Kabbalah makes religious people anxious: it’s because Kabbalah comes to replace religion, to reveal the Creator – which is the subject of the science of Kabbalah by definition. Hence Kabbalah annuls religion, reducing it to mundane social and familial cultural traditions.

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Questions I received on physical observance and Kabbalah:

Question: I study over the Internet, and I am a secular person, but I am not clear on what to do about the commandments (such as Kashrut, Tefillin, Tzitzit, Kippah, prayers, and so on). Even after listening to your lessons on religion, I’m still not clear on this: is the path of personal correction enough or do I have to start observing the commandments in addition?

My Answer: Kabbalah encourages every person to remain the way he is. Only the Upper Light can correct a person; therefore one does not have to do anything else other than study (which includes the group, Maaser, books, dissemination, and for a man, it’s preferable to be married). All the corrections inside you will be done by the Upper Light (Ohr Makif).

Question: Should one observe the commandments or only study? And how do people get to the point of completely nullifying their egoism and attaining love?

My Answer: Live just like you did before, and study Kabbalah. The Light will guide you as to how you should change.

Question: Should a married woman who studies Kabbalah observe the corporeal commandments? If yes, then which commandments should she observe? And what is the spiritual root of a family’s ritual purity?

My Answer: The purpose of all the corporeal commandments is to preserve the boundaries of one’s existence, but not to correct one’s soul. We at Bnei Baruch observe them as a cultural heritage or tradition. Kabbalah does not obligate anyone to perform any physical actions.

Question: Aren’t the commandments that were commanded to us advice that we received on how to build the proper vessels suitable for our spiritual root? Then, once we acquire experience in building the proper intention, we will come closer to creating a vessel for the Light that will fill it?

My Answer: Certainly, you are correct. All 613 commandments are the correction of the 613 desires of the soul by means of 613 Lights that shine and correct them during the study of Kabbalah.

Question: If one is living in such a circumstance of being in a community where the outward observance of Mitzvot and Halakah are a norm, then isn’t one required to live in accordance to this social decor? One may remain inwardly “secular,” or constantly questioning the validity of their own intentions and desiring to know (not believe in) Ribono Shel Olam (the Creator), correct? May we be inwardly connected to the World Kli, studying with Ari Online, being part of the group, and yet outwardly walk in clothing of Orthodoxy?

My Answer: Of course, and this is what the Torah demands of you: while following the external rituals, to add their inner, true observance. Or in other words: to add the true Torah to the simple Torah. Kabbalah is referred to as Torat Emet – the true Torah, and also as Pnimiut HaTorah – the inner Torah.

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Two questions I received on religious observance:

Question: Weren’t the great Kabbalists such as Rav Ashlag , Moses Cordovero, and others religious? And why do you wear a Kippah (skullcap)!?

My Answer: You must distinguish between religion and a nation’s tradition or culture. When Baal HaSulam uses the word “religion,” he means only Kabbalah, which is for everyone. On the other hand, when he wants to speak about what we usually call “religion” in our world, he says “tradition” or “ethics (Musar).” See the article “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose.”

Therefore, Baal HaSulam writes that even after the full correction of the world, when everything will be revealed to all and there will be no place for faith (because “Everyone will know Me, from the smallest to the greatest”), the traditions will still remain as people’s culture. This is why I, who already live in this future, still respect the traditions of my nation, such as its holidays and other customs. This is also why I wear a Kippah (skullcap) and observe the rituals.

After the general correction of all souls in their earthly, bodily form, the souls will unite together into a one true soul of Adam on the level of the World of Infinity. At the same time the part of the souls that gives them a feeling of this world will also be corrected, and hence the perception of matter will also disappear. We will then continue to exist only in the form of the single soul of “Adam.”

Question: Why are there spiritual actions that we need to observe on the earthly level (such as Maaser, study, dissemination, and the group), as well as actions that we don’t have to observe physically (such as laying on the Tefillin)?

My Answer: Because actions such as Maaser, study, dissemination, and the group are real, whereas the others are still irrational for now, on your level, because you don’t yet have a screen to observe them. Regarding the actions that have a consequence in our world and the Upper World, each action is realized on its level and higher. The traditions should be observed by those to whom they belong by birth. This is one’s culture. Those from the nations of the world (non-Jews) who want to advance spiritually, don’t have to observe the corporeal traditions designated to Jews.

When you will gradually acquire a screen and start working with it, this is called observance of 613 commandments (correction of your intentions over 613 desires of the soul from “for yourself” to “for the Creator”) through 613 corrections (Tariag Eitin) and 613 fulfillments (Tariag Pkudin). You will start observing them yourself, as it is written, “A person’s soul teaches him.”

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A question I received: According to Rabash, the chosen people are those who can shift from the externality to the internality, and one’s heart will change with the help of one’s actions. At the same time, you always remind us that the external commandments are no more than external signs, which have no connection with the soul’s correction.

My Answer: When Rabash speaks of “external observance,” he does not mean the physical observance, but the intention “for one’s own sake.” And “inner observance” signifies the intention “for the Creator’s sake.”

As for the physical actions, the Creator said: “I don’t care how you slaughter cattle; the commandments were given for man’s correction.” In other words, the entire connection between actions and commandments lies in one’s intentions, and not in the actions themselves. If a person knew that his actions have no results, he would be extremely grateful to Kabbalah for giving him the correct guidance in life!

The entire opposition between religion and Kabbalah comes down to their assessment of the importance of actions and intentions: What is more important, the actions or the intentions? Indeed, Kabbalah does not deny the importance of the actions (traditions) in forming and managing social boundaries. But religion also has to accept what is written, that actions without intentions are dead and don’t correct a person. The intentions can only be changed through the correct study of Kabbalah.

One has to start by admitting that he is not perfect – therein lies the stumbling block! It’s because religion’s primary goal is to grant man a sense of pride and perfection for observing the prescriptions. He thinks that by doing this, he serves the Creator and the whole world, and everyone is indebted to him.

Kabbalah, on the other hand, shows a person just how phony and imperfect he really is. He sees this in the Creator’s Light, which descends upon him during the study. A person then feels unhappy with the results of his study, but if he is able to rise above this sensation and elevate the truth above the anguish, he progresses. And if he is unable to do this, he veers off the path.

Item 66 of the “Preface to the Book of Zohar” discusses the necessity to make the intention more important than the physical observance. The entire contradiction between religion and Kabbalah lies in their claim as to what is more important.

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A question I received: How do followers of Kabbalah explain the origin and usage of Kabbalsitic amulets and cameos with names of angels or demons, such as Lilith for protecting babies, Ashmodai for protecting a warrior, Velzevul and many others? (References: Hebrew Amulets p. 20, 51, 125; Jewish Tradition In Art p. 20). I always thought that it was harmful to have “relationships” with these creatures through their names, such as by placing their names (Lilith, for example) next to unprotected children. A name is an essence, and when a demon sees its name written he or she allegedly can’t harm the person who’s “protected.” But how correct is this assumption, and what is it based on? I think that it’s the opposite, that when a person uses these “methods,” he falls under their power.

My Answer: You have to air out your head completely. In the spiritual world there are only forces. They can be good – altruistic (the force of bestowal and love) or evil – egoistic. However, there are no images there! And there are none in our world either.

In general, there is no difference between our world and the spiritual world. Everything depends on a person and what kind of forces he discerns. Cameos, talismans, lucky charms, and other uses of names don’t have any power besides a person’s psychological belief in them. All of this was invented by ignorant people who took the names of the forces from Kabbalah. This is also how the religions originated.

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