Torah, Deuteronomy 10:19: You shall love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

It is necessary to pay special attention to everything that relates to the appearance of new qualities in me that seem to be completely not important to me, but can carry me upward, forward, and away from my “belly.”

Exactly with the help of these new upper desires that don’t feel like mine, and therefore are called strangers, I will be able really to move forward toward the land of Israel.

These desires come to me, and are revealed in me as unnecessary. After all, who needs these strangers?

Using external examples from our lives, the Torah tells us about inner qualities of a person, about things that happen within us when we identify such actions in ourselves. For example, the entire group is passionate about moving forward, burning with this, and then at the crossroads of relationships between friends, new qualities appear: some possibilities of bestowal, love, connection, and contact. Completely new feelings arise towards these people to whom you were indifferent; you even disregarded and despised them.

And suddenly you feel love for them, like for your children, and craving, care, and awe. Gradually you have a sensation that you embrace everyone, you are together with all of them, care about them, and hold them in your arms, like babies.

You, like a mother, receive pleasure from it, because your love for them is even more than your love for your own children. After all, children are on the corporeal level, and here we are speaking about the spiritual level.
[194124]
From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 6/1/16

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Question: Why hasn’t the Creator revealed Himself in such a long time?

Answer: We exist in a clear physical world! If you wish to attain the Creator, you have to be in the desire to reveal the property of bestowal and love!

If you have such a desire, it means you are obliged to love and bestow. To love means to take others’ desires and fulfill them.

Do you have such a desire? No. So it means you have nothing with which you can reveal the Creator!

The Creator is not hiding. Our nature is such that everything is revealed according to the law of similarity of properties. I cannot hear with my eyes, but I hear with my ears because the waves are different for vision and hearing. It is the same with the Creator. If I do not have an organ that can sense Him, it means I do not sense Him! He is here, but I do not sense Him!

You have to create a new sense organ within yourself. This is what we are doing. This is why we are called Kabbalists, which comes from the word “Lekabel = to receive.” We wish to receive a sensation of the phenomenon that exists around us. It is the force that governs and fulfills the entire Universe, all of nature!

Then we will find out the purpose for our existence, what happens to us every moment of life, what was, what is, and what will be. After all, everything is inherent in this force!
[189744]
From the Convention in Moscow, Day Two, Lesson 5, 5/3/16

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Question: Why do we need a world history of ages of suffering and endless daily suffering of billions of people on the way to spiritual happiness?

Answer: We have to choose the way to ascend above our present situation by ourselves. We have to develop gradually, slowly, and consciously on each level in the egoistic state we are in, to begin to transform the egoistic state to the opposite altruistic state. Therefore, all the states we have been through until today during our whole egoistic development were essential. It is just like a small child who has to grow for 15-20 years before he becomes an adult and can manage independently.

You may ask why he needs that. It could have been much better if we were born wise, mature, and not in our egoism but in altruism, in love and bestowal, permanently connected between each other. If that were the case, people could not attain anything. We have already been through the phase in our development, called, Adam HaRishon (First Man), which means that it is the full schema of the connection between us in the best possible way called the Garden of Eden (Paradise).

What we call “Man” already existed in that state, which means that we were all connected and united. The point is that in that state we couldn’t discover anything except for our unconscious existence in the system of Adam HaRishon, who is therefore called an angel.

An angel is a beastly state, a spiritual beastly state. And we have to attain more, to reach similarity with the Creator. This means that we have to ascend from the level of an angel to the level of Man. Man, “Adam,” stems from the word “Domeh” (to resemble), to resemble the Creator, which is the level we have to ascend to.

We need to have the same thoughts and feelings as the Creator’s, which means that we have to overcome the gap between these two levels beast and man by ourselves. This is the reason we develop very slowly and painfully.  This is the level of development we are faced with.
[193783]
From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 6/19/16

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Torah, Deuteronomy 11:10 – 11:12: For the land to which you are coming to possess is not like the land of Egypt, out of which you came, where you sowed your seed and which you watered by foot, like a vegetable garden. But the land, to which you pass to possess, is a land of mountains and valleys and absorbs water from the rains of heaven, a land the Lord, your God, looks after; the eyes of Lord your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.

The land of Egypt is our egoistic life that all of humanity leads during thousands of years of history, working and winning the right for existence through their physical labor and intelligence, as if there is no Creator in our world. The exit to the next degree of development is completely different. It’s like showing a person from the Stone Age how we live today: driving around in cars, flying in planes, using plasma technology and robotics, and performing organ transplants.

If he saw all this, he would think that he was seeing something like a Cyclops, it would seem all absolutely incredible to him. Although, the people from the Stone Age were very advanced in some fields, we can’t even imagine how much and in what fields.

Once we began to develop materially, we lost the rudiment of spiritual development of the ancient peoples in the “antediluvian” times. Humanity lost this state and the feeling of nature, when a person felt instinctively that he is within nature depending upon it. All of nature spoke to him the same way it does to animals today.

Hence, we can’t imagine our future; it is completely different. When we begin to explore the upper nature, we will participate in it with the help of the balance between the positive force and negative force. By attracting the positive force of goodness, love, and connection to our world, we will balance the negative force, which today rips us into pieces and mutually distances us from each other.

The balance between these two forces will reveal a completely different level of existence to us that we call spiritual or upper, because on this level we will control all of creation, all of nature, and not only nature of our world. We will begin to feel the deepest layers of nature that are not layers of this world.

Our world seems to us as only one very small left system of providence. When the second system of providence is added, which is bestowing and connecting that connects with the left system and moves along the middle line, then we discover a completely new volume of the universe, eternal and perfect, and we begin to exist in it. This state is called the land of Israel. This is what we aspire to.

Then we will act only through one force. Even now we are gradually beginning to feel that this world can exist on a completely different energy, not on the coarse material energy with little efficiency such as wood, coal, oil, gas that we extract from the earth with difficulty.

We will begin to use completely different forces that we receive as if for free. Through inner efforts, everything will suddenly appear before us like in a fairy tale: I wished, looked and it happened.
[194514]
From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 6/15/16

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Question: Why is there a tradition of redemption before the new year (Rosh HaShana), and sages warn that the Creator records all our actions and presents us with an account? It sounds as if He prescribes us penalties for our misconducts?

Answer: This is very simple. We all are linked into one closed system that connects us to each other with billions of strands: all of the people, stones, plants, and animals. Everything is connected together; therefore the “penalty book” is this network itself.

Every time I make some movement, not an external one with the arms or legs, but an internal one, regarding the connection between us, becoming closer to people or farther from them, it is immediately realized and felt in our connection. It means that I am already recorded in the record book of nature for the benefit or harm I have caused. There is a general account of how much I affected the system, since it is integral and closed.

It is like the cells of one body, where each is linked to all others. So it turns out that all my actions and influence on the system are recorded in it and change it in some way.

Moreover, I am not in some single point of the system, but spread over all of it, among all the billions of people, animals, plants, and inanimate matter, and affect them all. I am in absolutely everyone and bring them either to unity or separation with my actions. It means that I am recorded in the book.

Our egoistic desire is growing every moment because evolution moves forward steadily, and we develop from generation to generation and during our entire life. Therefore, every day I must care about correcting all missed opportunities to connect all the people into one system.

If I neglect my duties, then I contribute to the general separation. Even my ignorance doesn’t relieve me from the punishment. Since I don’t contribute to the connection, I lead to the discord.

If when getting up in the morning I don’t act in order to unite the entire world, or at least the entirety of Israel into one family, it is called behavior that is detrimental to the system. After all, egoism is constantly growing and we don’t correct it, we don’t fix our connection.

If I did something bad or good to one person, it affects the entire system. And even if I simply did nothing good, it also counts as a wrecking, because in the meantime the egoism that separates us has grown. All this is recorded on my account into two columns: debit and credit.

Question: If I ask for forgiveness on the eve of the New Year, will all my debts be written off?

Answer: Nothing will be written off. The idea is that the person makes an internal calculation with himself and decides that from now on he must cause only the connection of the system. He truly repents for his past and makes a decision for the future. These aren’t empty words with nothing behind them, but are the result of a serious preparation.

He swears that from this day he will constantly check and correct each of his desires. Eventually we all should come to the state where the whole system is corrected. Nobody will make this correction instead of us. What I can correct or damage inside my soul, like in the cell of a body, nobody can correct apart from me.

Therefore, my redemption doesn’t cancel past sins, but gives me an opportunity to start as if from scratch and correct them. Due to the fact that from now on I start to do good deeds, I add my past wrongdoings to them and correct them.
[194428]
From KabTV’s “A New Life” 9/27/16

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Torah, Deuteronomy 11:02 – 11:03; 11:07: And you shall know this day; that [I speak] not with your children, who did not know and who did not see the chastisement of the Lord, your God, His greatness, His mighty hand, and His outstretched arm, His signs, and His deeds, which He performed in the midst of Egypt, to Pharaoh, king of Egypt and to his entire land, 

But your eyes, which have seen all the great work of the Lord, which He did.

The method of correction that a person masters is both universal and personal; there is no difference between this and that. Each one must go through the entire history from beginning to end and to be in the image of Adam, Noah, Abraham, and all other so-called characters. In fact they are spiritual degrees, spiritual images of each of us. We all must dress in them and move forward.

In this way the whole Torah is gradually imprinted in us from the first day of creation to the last day of the existence of the entire system, until this system will become unified and global where the most recent souls will merge with all previous already corrected ones, and then the construction of one single soul called Adam will be completed. Each of us has to go through this chain of transformations within oneself; this is why it is said that you, your children, and your grandchildren will go through these states.

Comment: But it is also said, “And you shall know that not with your children, who did not know and who did not see but your eyes, which have seen all the great work of the Lord, which He did.”

Answer: The fact is that the previous states are called fathers and future states are called sons, and in all of them a person must still come to spiritual revelation, every time taking on new commitments, new corrections, and advancement toward the goal.

Hence, when it is said that “you are the ones who have seen,” it refers to the degree at which you are now.

A person while in a certain state, from this state can only understand things that relate to him. Therefore, the Torah each time addresses each one exactly on his level.
[194433]
From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 6/15/16

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Question: Does it mean that it is a mistake to think that there is God above who is watching our actions and from whom we need to ask for forgiveness?

Answer: A person goes through various stages of development. Therefore, it is impossible to say that some of his beliefs are correct and some aren’t. He thinks this way today, but gradually he corrects his perception, rising in knowledge and feeling.

And then, of course the concept of “I and the Creator” changes completely. I feel more and more that the upper force is the result of my connection with other people and doesn’t exist outside of it. Only the essence of the Creator (Atzmuto) that is absolutely inaccessible to me exists independently.

Therefore, we must firmly grasp that the Creator exists only in the connection with people. There can be no appeal to the Creator except from our unity; after all, we create the place for His revelation through it.

Then each one must judge himself: how much he is connected with others? This is his entire redemption. It is impossible to judge a person individually. This is an immense mistake that we always make instinctively: thinking about ourselves, counting on ourselves, and acting alone.

This is a fatal mistake that we  have continued to make for thousands of years. The separation from the Creator is the reason for our terrible forgetfulness.

Comment: Regrettably, it sounds very relevant, because separation, disagreement, and hostility between various currents and factions.

Answer: The people of Israel already went through such states during the destruction of the First and Second Temples. Jews were killing each other then, not only with words, but also with real weapons, shedding brotherly blood in the civil wars. I hope very much that today we won’t come to that. We haven’t taken out our swords yet, but we earnestly fight with each other by all other means.

This is because we have forgotten who we are, what the foundation of our nation is, and our responsibility to move toward unity; although, in fact, this is our own correction and the correction of the entire world.
[194370]
From KabTV’s “A New Life” 9/27/16

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Question: How is it possible to learn to differentiate between a state in which I have truly risen above the ego and the usual happy feeling of fulfillment within the ego? How do I not deceive myself?

Answer: It is possible to distinguish this only within the group, not in any other place.

You need to nullify yourself in relation toward others, seeing yourself higher or lower than them, communicating with each other on specific channels. You should do the groundwork within the group of Ten in such a way that everyone will be equal and interconnected so the network that we weave among us will become like the characteristics of the Creator, with mutual bestowal and love between us. Then to the degree that there is equivalence of form with Him, the Light will be revealed in it.
[193754]
From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 5/8/16

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Question: During these last few days of the Jewish year it is customary to ask loved ones and the Creator for forgiveness for everything we’ve done. Where does this tradition come from?

Answer: First of all, we need to understand who the Creator is? This is the upper force of nature. We can’t attain this force by itself.

It manifests in the fact that it created the creation that is the desire to enjoy, to receive fulfillment, and it fills it to the extent that this desire becomes similar to the upper force.

If creation, the desire to receive, makes itself similar to the Creator, bestowing, then the Creator fills it, and to this extent creation begins to reveal its maker.

Initially, people are completely opposite to the Creator; they think about their own pleasure and do not want to give anything to anyone.

However, if we know how to change our nature with the help of the wisdom of Kabbalah, we will begin to reveal the Creator, the force of love and bestowal, which gives us fulfillment, health, the sense of past, present, and future, and perfection, and raises us above time, movement, and space into the world of absolute goodness.

And all this is only to the extent of our equivalence with this force of bestowal and love that is called the Creator. So where is this Creator? He is in the connection between people if we unite with each other. All the levels of nature: still, vegetative, animate, and human are connected into one system. The human stands above all others in this hierarchy, and the connection between all the parts of this system depends only on him.

To the extent that a person will be able to establish good connections between everyone and turn this system into an integral, interconnected, balanced, and kind one, based on mutual help and love, the Creator, the upper force, will be revealed in this system.

This entire network in which the creation exists is called a “place” that is filled with the upper force. It is impossible to reveal this force anywhere apart from this place, this vessel, that is woven from our relationships with each other. The stronger our connection, the stronger is this revelation. This is the only way to feel the Creator; there is no other way.

One’s relation to other people defines the relation of the person to the Creator. The kinder we will make our connections with each other, the more we will reveal the upper force that is manifested between us.

There is no point to ask the Creator for forgiveness until a person pays off all his debts to the creatures, to other people. If we establish good relationships between us and provide the Creator with the place for revelation, then this will be our appeal to Him and our plea for forgiveness.

We are not required to make any other repentance before the Creator than what we implement in the relationships with each other. Otherwise it would be just hypocrisy.

Why would I ask the Creator for forgiveness if I could build a corrected place where He could be revealed and I didn’t do so? After all, this is my entire work, and instead of that, I cry and appeal to Him for help. Why does He need to save me if I myself did nothing for it?
[194281]
From KabTV’s “A New Life” 9/27/16

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Question: How can one relate to the principle “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” (Exodus 21:24)?

Answer: We generally understand this quotation as an obligation to injure someone else because he apparently injured me. On the contrary, I should be grateful that he is teaching me about a characteristic that is harming me. If I were corrected, nothing could have an influence on me; I would be absolutely impervious to all kinds of “arrows.” It would be impossible to irritate me and I would not be indignant or insulted because in a perfected state there would be nothing in me that others could hold onto.

And so, if someone were to say something insulting to me or I were to see something that harms me or is personally directed at me, it only indicates my uncorrected state. If I correct myself, in this way I correct the world around me and I stop seeing negative characteristics in it.

Instead of our terrible world, I suddenly begin to see myself in the spiritual world, in Olam Ein Sof (world of Infinity). It only depends on the correction of my personal characteristics, not on the correction of others, because the world is my opposite side, which shows me what I have not yet corrected inside.

Question: Does this mean that I don’t have to respond with the same “measure for measure”?

Answer: I have no answer for that. You should immediately turn to yourself. If you see, hear, or feel something negative from someone, it is because there are uncorrected characteristics in you. You must think and acknowledge that they are showing you precisely what you must correct within yourself.
[193302]
From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 5/1/16

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