In 170 BCE, the Greeks, led by Antiochus IV Epiphanes, captured the Temple. There was a division between the adherents of Greek philosophy and religion and those who remained loyal to the concept of a single Creator.

Some priests, including the high priest (Cohen Rishon), supported the Greeks. The Jerusalem Temple was desecrated and turned into a sanctuary of Zeus. Severe persecution and forced Hellenization of the population led to the Maccabean revolt, led by Matityahu Hashmonay who issued the call, “He who is for God, follow me!”

The uprising ended with the victory of the Maccabees. Having entered the Temple, they found that the pure oil to light the Menorah candles would last for only one day. But a miracle occurred. The candles burned for eight days and so is called the miracle of Hanukkah.

Question: What does Hanukkah represent from the spiritual point of view?

Answer: The history leading to this holiday begins with Abraham as the founder of the Jewish people. Long before the Maccabees, It was he who first issued the call,  “Whoever is moving towards the Creator – follow me!” Under this motto, he gathered a large group of Babylonians, to whom he taught his approach to the universe, the purpose of life and creation, the higher human destiny, etc.

But most importantly, under the slogan of “unity in the name of unity,” Abraham began to unite those who sided with him because it is in the pursuit of unity that we reveal the upper force of nature, the Creator, which unites us. It forms us into one whole and we become invincible to either external or internal egoism. What Abraham began, the Maccabees, united with each other, continued.

In principle, it is the same action of a rebellion against egoism, only at different levels, and that is why it occurred at different points in history.

Having united people, the Maccabees came to the same state as Abraham and won. To the extent of unity with greater groups of people who joined them, they revealed a greater spiritual force, which was the force of unity, the upper force of bestowal and love. Therefore, they were invincible to egoism, which was personified by the Greeks in this case, in Babylon by the Babylonians, in Egypt by Pharaoh, and later, by the Romans.

Through unity with large groups of people joining them, they recognized more and more spiritual power: the power of unity and the supreme power of love and bestowal. Therefore, they were invincible against the selfishness personified in this case by the Greeks, the Babylonians, Pharaoh and the Egyptians, and later, the Romans.

In general, it is the only fight, a war throughout all generations. And even when we do not have an apparent enemy, our inner enemy always rebels within us, again and again pulling us towards worshiping various idols in our life. We must fight it.

It is easy to draw a parallel between these two wars and today since modern idols are fully exposed as complete nonentities, leading us to some end and we have nothing else to do with them. On the one hand, we are still drawn to them, and on the other hand, we understand that this is temporary, harmful and brings no good results.

Therefore, our behavior is reminiscent of a man who gets drunk, does not know or hear anything, forgets himself,and is disconnected from what is happening. We become immersed in business or other things just to stay occupied, thus imitating a movie hero, a literary character, or just acquaintances who have supposedly succeeded in life. This is the idol  that is so attractive to us.

Question: Do you think that these desires have exhausted themselves?

Answer: No, but I know that all this is temporary and limited. Life itself shows us that. The world is like a theater and we always play a role in it.

There are people who seek nothing. The main thing for them is to live quietly and peacefully, so no one bothers them. But, there are few of them. The majority are pulled by competition, the struggle for a place under the sun, and we begin to pretend that we are business people, running with a briefcase and changing from one plane to another, and in this way, we run to the grave.

Question: Can the miracle of Hanukkah take place nowadays?

Answer: In life there is always a place for a miracle. Every time we connect with each other, the force, which is higher than all the other forces, obstacles, conditions, is manifested, and then there is a miracle before us. We can evoke it, even today.

A miracle is a supernatural phenomenon, but we are able to cause it ourselves, when we wish. Today, if we want to rise above egoism in our unity, then a completely new upper force will be manifested within us, and with its help, we will be able to calm the whole world, arrange everything, and everyone will be fine and easygoing.

Question: What kind of a miracle happened when the candles of the Maccabees were lit?

Answer: Through their unity, the Maccabees attracted the Light that gave them the opportunity to stay in the state of bestowal, love and connection until they began to pull new masses of people towards themselves.

The desires of people who connect with each other in one whole symbolizes the oil, and their gathering in spite of their egoism symbolizes the wick. They burn in their desire to get closer, and when they unite somehow, a light appears within them that support the fire of their desires.

If they begin to be engaged in even greater dissemination and draw towards themselves greater masses of people, then the lamp will burn continuously.

The manifestation of the Light, the upper force, the Creator in the people’s unity is the miracle. Besides that, there are no other miracles because the essence of all miracles is that our unity brings about the manifestation of the inner force, called the property of love, the Creator. It works wonders. The crossing of the Red Sea, the miracle of Hanukkah and the miracle of Purim are always the revelation of the Creator in our unity. Therefore, there is just one technique and it contains nothing complicated. It came to us from Abraham, who first showed how it is realized.

The fact is that we can unite in any manner, but the essence of the miracle is that we unite so that a new upper property appears within us, which is not manifested in any other actions, that raises us to the next level of consciousness, sensation, vision, and existence.

Question: How could people believe that one candle would burn for eight days when they knew that it would be sufficient only for a day?

Answer: If we aspire to unity, we are not interested in anything except to come to this state, within which the Creator is revealed. Then we reach the conditions of infinity and go to the next level of existence, where there is neither time nor space. And eight days is just an allegory, since there are eight Sefirot from the level of Bina to the level of Malchut.

Question: How can a person not think about what will happen tomorrow?

Answer: If you work for bestowal, tomorrow does not exist for you! There is no next moment! The most important is to give.

Tomorrow will disappear from your field of vision, mind, and calculations! It does not exist! You are included in the action of bestowal and are seemingly extended to everyone else. Nothing will remain in you. Your “I” simply disappears.

Then, in the next step, a new egoistic state appears. The same thing is repeated, like the wheel that moves forward, but at the same time revolves around itself.

Question: Under what circumstances is this possible?

Answer: It comes gradually, after many years and only from Above. But it will come. I can promise to all of my students that it will come true, and they will reach this state.

I think that together with them, I will still be able to go through their first steps in this ascent. This is the desire of every spiritual teacher who cannot abandon his child halfway. The teacher wants to guide his students across the desert so that they reach full bestowal, and they would not have any possibility of turning back, since the property of bestowal would reign in all their desires.

Then, they will develop their spiritual path on their own, with the next leader, like Moses and Joshua. But it is desirable for us to cross the desert together.

Question: How do you view the miracles from the material point of view? Let’s say, for many years, archaeologists seek confirmation of the exodus of the Jews from Egypt, but find no traces. Indeed, something should have been left. In addition, there no evidence has been found of the 40 years of wandering of the nation of Israel in the desert.

Answer: Archaeologists find confirmation of these or other historical events when the time comes. Therefore in its time, they will suddenly find artifacts of history in the same place where they previously could find nothing. These discoveries are still ahead.
[149961]
From KabTV’s “Secretes of the Eternal Book” 12/17/14

Related Material:
Live According To The Mind Or According To Love
The Breached Walls
The Maccabean Wars

Filed under: Egoism, Group Work, Israel, Israel Today, Nations of the World, Society, Spiritual Work, The Creator, Torah, Unity - 1 Comment →

Question: It says: “Thou shalt not take vengeance nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people.”

Answer: You attain your complete correction thanks to the right connection with those who are like you, who have the same attributes and the inclination to connection, unity, and resemblance and equivalence to the Creator. Therefore, you should not struggle with yourself but internally so as to come in contact with others, which means” the children of thy people.”

You don’t need to reject anyone or anything anymore as you were commanded previously, but rather be integrally connected properly with others, adapt yourself to them by accepting all their attributes and their corrections as suitable for you in order to establish a system that is mutually and generally connected, a spiritual society.

A person has to constantly feel how he should change, what form he should take on under the influence of those who surround him, both from those who are close and those who are distant. Those who are distant are those who format you and put you together, and those who are close are those with whom you have to be formatted and put together so that you will be connected to them. It is because they dictate your external form so that like a piece in a puzzle you will fall into your right place.

You process attributes inside you which you can integrate with your whole nation, with all the attributes, desires, and thoughts that surround you. This is the very last mission, which can only be fulfilled if you already work on the connection with them by fulfilling the commandment of love thy friend as thyself.

This means that “distant” refers to working in the state of Hafetz Hesed in which you don’t receive anything but only format yourself internally with the help of the attribute of bestowal that comes from them, which builds you on the level of Bina and makes you absolutely neutral. Thus, you balance the ego.

When this attribute comes through those who are close, which means from those who are in direct contact with you, you already build yourself on the basis of your connection with them. In the first case it is to bestow in order to bestow and in the second case it is to receive in order to bestow.

Question: How can I bring someone else inside me if I only love myself?

Answer: You don’t need to bring anyone inside you, but simply feel everyone like yourself.

The Torah speaks about the fact that you have to attain that and there is a condition for this attainment, but first you are given commandments, which means clear and accurate rules of the upper world and then the methods to fulfill them.
[149556]
From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 4/9/14

Related Material:
Thou Shalt Not Take Vengeance, Nor Bear Any Grudge
Don’t Deceive Yourself
Difficult Spiritual Rules

Filed under: Spiritual Work, Torah - No Comments →

In recent years,  politicians have started talking about legislative consolidation of the Jewish character of the state of Israel. The reason for this is the broad wave of  anti-Semitic attacks. The whole world has a problem with the Jewish people,  asking: “Why did they take the possession of land that does not belong to them?”

Many do not even agree with the original division of the territory in accordance with the UN resolution. Today, a secondary vote, of course, would deprive us of the right to our own state.

After the disaster, the world was uncomfortable in front of us, and if we indeed were to get the country, this will continue, according to the laws of common development.

However, we have to make it really ours, take the holy land (Eretz) as a desire (Ratzon) to purify and form not as a collection of exiles, but as the people of Israel, in the full sense of the word, fully united and aspiring straight to the Creator (Yashar El).

We have to take a course on cohesion, love, and unity, to become as one man with one heart.

If we had arranged our nation in this way, we would not have had to carry the endless war for the past 66 years without a single second of rest and relaxation. And the situation would not have been like it is today such that when all of Israel is forced to plan an emergency evacuation, an escape plan in case of a disaster.

Question: Again and again, life confronts us with basic issues that affect our very existence in the land of Israel. And always this topic covers the fog of uncertainty, vagueness. Why is there this agonizing incompleteness in our self-determination? Why haven’t all “I’s” been dotted?

Answer: It is because we want to be like all the other nations and define our country like everyone else, according to the traditional representations of territory, borders and public entities. However, for us it does not work and does not apply to us. This usual format does not cause a faithful response in us, where we do not feel for ourselves, and do not find any correlation as to how our country should be identified and appear as our people, and every person in it.

It turns out that we are not the people of Israel, as it should be, and we do not live in the land of Israel nor in the country of Israel, as it should be according to the original sources, according to our basis. We have tried to adopt the concept of external concepts, simply taking them in, but they have not come to fruition. The international standard label comes unglued again and again.

As a result, we feel that it is not suitable, but continue to burden ourselves with it, without making the definition clear. And the world, for its part, does not understand our actions and sees the state of Israel as some artificial entity.

We can eloquently argue that this is our land. We can even sacrifice for the sake of life. However, we still do not understand what “the people” and “the country” mean for the Jewish people.

Baal Sulam wrote a great piece about it in the newspaper “The Nation” (HaUma), which, incidentally, was closed following its initial release. In this paper, the nature of these concepts and the need to return to their roots after two thousand years of exile was described in detail.

Why should we turn to ancient history and to the primitive life now that once was lived by our ancestors? On the contrary, in the previous centuries advanced nations planted their cultures everywhere. A foreign culture with a particular success was transferred to the indigenous peoples of Africa and America. Languages would die out as well as the traditions and beliefs, giving way to the English, Spanish, and French influence.

But we still have not been able to keep within the margins of the present. There is nothing we can borrow from the people of the world. On the contrary, we are organized in such a way that the people of the world adapt the correct things from us.

It is not up to us and it is not pride or arrogance. We are hard-wired this way. It is no coincidence that the world sees us as an intelligent, developed people, nurturing a purpose of life. The world feels that the Jewish people have a secret they do not want to open to others, so this means they must force us to give it up.

This feeling is indestructible, and we must finally understand what they want from us. Indeed, what kind of a mystery lies within us? If we only knew, then we could sell it for triple the price. But no, it does not work this way.

After all, what we hold inside and that lies within the people of Israel without their knowledge is this great, beautiful, alluring, shining goal, the future of the world.

Our world is bound to the brotherhood in which we once lived. We need to regain it, in other words, to live together as a law-abiding people, love our neighbors as ourselves, according to the principles that we received on Mount Sinai, and to be as one man with one heart.

Today our global, integrated world feels the unbreakable relationship of all its parts, literally requires it, and requires compliance with this law. If we reveal an umbrella of guarantee over all of us, we will find ourselves in a world that is for us, is as the Garden of Eden.

That is why in this modern era, the world pays attention to us without knowing how or why and begins to demand the law from us by which it will live tomorrow. After all, today’s life seems more and more intolerable to the world, pitch black, and hopeless. It no longer presents a picture of tomorrow. And subconsciously, people feel that the Jewish people have the answer.

Anti-Semitism flourishes around the world as a consequence, affecting millions of people. Thus, it simply obliges us to wonder about the law and about the way of life that should form the basis of our existence here.

If we really did go back to the roots, if we would put into practice the concept of “the people of Israel” aspiring “straight to the Creator” (Yashar-El), i.e., to unity, solidarity, and love, if this were so, we would educate the people based upon the law combined with each other, as one man with one heart, helping neighbors and binding people together by this partnership. This would serve as an example to the world. Moreover, we would teach people how to build unity.

The world would then understand that we are a special part of it and that we really need to learn. And there is much to learn, since it’s the future and the salvation of all mankind. It is not just for a few decades comprising the lifespan of every generation, but rather a new basis for a new foundation being laid here in which our world will be perfected and ascend to a new level, into the eternal, perfect condition.

Today our egoism devours itself and as a result, we live an average of 70-80 years. If we move from the egoistic receiving desire to an altruistic one, to bestowal, and if everyone would live with their heart wide open among one’s nation, taking care of all, we would find other natural laws, the laws of love and bestowal. At that point we would enter into the eternal, perfect life and our world would open the opportunity to live beyond the limitations of time, space, and motion. We would begin to perceive the world in which there are no limits.

In the meantime, the problems towards the Jewish people, which we call anti-Semitism, will grow more and more. We cannot get rid of this. On the contrary, we will have to give an answer, as it is necessary to stand face to face with this situation.

At the same time, we will need to solve the problem of the Jewish character of the country, recently exposed for public discussion. But, it must not be by artificial language and not on the basis of the laws that we have inherited from the British mandate or Turkish rule. No, we need to take up the Torah and draw out all the necessary definitions.

For millennia, since the days of Abraham, Kabbalists have explained the meaning of “the people of Israel” and “country of Israel,” and who is a “Jewish person.” We need to open ourselves to the world, abandon the boundaries and take into our surroundings, everyone who wants to live by the law of love and unity under the umbrella of bestowal. That’s right, rather than geographic, the boundaries of the land of Israel, that is, universal mutual guarantee, will extend to the whole world.

In principle, the land of Israel is not the territory on the surface of the globe, but a place where people live according to the law of love. So now it does not exist. After all, the earth (Eretz) means the desire (Ratzon). If there is the law of love between people living in any place and they follow such law, their relationship, their common desire is called the land of Israel, the desire aspiring straight to the Creator (Yashar-El), and thus they want to be like the upper force.

That is what we have to explain, demonstrate, and offer to all peoples. And then, instead of hatred, we will feel empathy, respect and affection, which is what we feel right now from many thousands of our students around the world. We see how committed they are to us when we teach them how to unite with each other to cooperatively achieve a higher power.
[149644]
From the program “A New Life” 11/30/14

Related Material:
The Jewish Character Is Unity
Time To Justify What Was Received In Advance
Bring Light To The World

Filed under: Baal HaSulam, Crisis, Egoism, Events, Globalization, Group Work, History, Israel, Israel Today, Kabbalah Dissemination, Love, Mutual Guarantee, Nations of the World, Society, Spiritual Work, The Creator, Unity - No Comments →

Question: It is written that the war is conducted by the upper force and not by us. Exactly how does this work?

Answer: The upper force is the force of connection, the force of love and bestowal. It works to the degree that we make it possible for it to work, when we equalize with it in our characteristics. To the degree that our yearning is directed externally towards others, to that degree it acts through us.

And if we are not connected with all the rest and don’t intend to live with love and bestowal and this force is not prepared to be extended our way, we block its passage. Then the nations of the world blame us for their troubles.

Question: From this does it follow that ultimately everyone will want to connect with love?

Answer: Yes, it is only that the people of Israel are not letting them do it. We must make it possible for this force to be spread, to be revealed in us and connected between us. It is just as the Creator is revealed to a creature. It is written: “The one who makes peace on high will make peace among us.” And then with that aspiration we will open to the nations of the world. The Creator is interested in everyone knowing Him, “from the least of them unto the greatest of them” (Jeremiah 31:33).

Question: Can the war be an opportunity to reach this?

Answer: The war is designed for only one thing: to obligate us to think about what is not okay with us. For both our neighbors and the world in general are going out against us in an increasingly clear and obvious way. They will no longer be friendly; on the contrary, with time their attitude will only worsen.

Yet before this they were sympathetic to us because they let the Jews return to their land and the nations of the world hoped that somehow we would realize our destiny. The forces of nature worked through them in this way.

Yet today, after 66 years, it is already clear to everyone that we are not setting ourselves to this task. On the contrary, from day to day we block the “channel of abundance” that was supposed to reach everyone through us. And so the complaints of the world increase; so they stand with their backs toward us and support our enemies. This trend will only go and grow stronger, so much so that nobody in the world will remain who supports us, including the Jews who live abroad.

Question: Well, all of the signs suggest that already for some time we should have given the abundance to the world, and have not. Why is that?

Answer: It is because we are not connected. If we connect, then we will create a kind of “conduit,” a direct passage through which the Light will pass to the nations of the world.

Question: When a person stands before a complex problem, he tries with all his might to solve it in his way or moves towards searching for another means. How do we approach this work on connection psychologically?

Answer: The Upper Light, or the Ohr Ein Sof (Light of Infinity), must pass through the “conduit” of Israel to the nations of the world. Yet we are blocking this channel, we are stopping the Light from entering above and exiting below. As a result of this, our “pipe” instead of being a bridge becomes an insulating component between the Light of Infinity and the world.

Even though they don’t know about this, they feel this subconsciously, even including those who have never been involved with us. And from this are derived all the accusations they come to us with. And truly, following the lack of Upper Light, they experience troubles and blame us for them.

Essentially they are telling us that we are very important for the world, more important than what they are themselves because they depend upon us. But we are blocking the abundance to them; we are blocking the vitality. How else is it possible to relate to people like this?

Yet the people of Israel don’t want to be aware of it. They don’t even know or recognize what is preventing them. If they knew this, they would act differently. They must live in unity, in Arvut (mutual guarantee), then the passage of the abundance will be opened and the Upper Light will pass from Olam Ein Sof (the World of Infinity) to the nations of the world and will fulfill everyone. As it is written by the prophets: this way the whole world will attain peace and calm.

Question: Together with this, how must we relate to the external enemy today?

Answer: We must understand that we must kill the evil within us. But in the meantime, due to a lack of choice and a lack of energy and time, we must also get rid of the external enemy. But this is only because we have not yet succeeded in acting in the right way within ourselves.
[140100]
From KabTV’s “Kabbalists Write, The Wars of Israel” 7/21/14

Related Material:
How We Win In Our War
Maturing Not Through Blows
Unite Or Die

Filed under: Dissemination, Israel, Nations of the World, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

The Torah, “Leviticus”, 19:26: Ye shall not eat with the blood.

Blood is the Light of Hochma, which is the force that revives the soul and enters the fourth phase of the desire (the meat).

But it is forbidden to use the desire the Light is in. First you have to correct it separately, restrict it and make a Masach (screen), and then weigh and clarify everything. These are the laws on which the conditions of the Kasrut are later based, when meat becomes edible.

It is totally forbidden to eat the blood. In the days of the Temple they used to drain the blood into special vessels that were designated for that purpose and later were completely emptied.

Therefore, we should investigate the force that revives the soul, both in our world and in the spiritual world and thus distinguish it.
[149875]
From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 4/09/14

Related Material:
Creating A Man Out Of Me
Effects Of The Upper Roots
The Hierarchy Of Desires

Filed under: Spiritual Work, Torah - No Comments →

Question: It says: “And if a man lies carnally with a woman, and she is a handmaid designated for a man, and she had not been [fully] redeemed nor had her document of emancipation been granted her, there shall be an inquisition; they shall not be put to death, because she had not been completely free.” What does that mean?

Answer: It means that the male and female parts of the Partzuf do not match and the male part cannot work with this desire.

A person wants to bestow, to work for the Creator, to perform a spiritual action, but he has not fully clarified and examined his desire yet. Being in certain attributes, he doesn’t know that he cannot work with Malchut. There are many different options here.

It turns out that there is no contact between the first nine Sefirot and the tenth part of the desire. Malchut is not suitable for it yet and so it turns out that it isn’t free, engaged, etc. with regard to it.

It is about the partial correction of a person’s desire with which he really and candidly wants to work in order to bestow but has failed. Although later he does correct the desire to the end.

“They shall not be put to death, because she had not been completely free” means that we should bring a sacrifice, the addition necessary for forgiveness. To forgive means either to add your own correction of the female part and thus become one Partzuf with it, as it says: “and will become his wife”; or simply grant atonement for his action since the Light enters the female part of the desire and this should be corrected so that the female part should return to its previous state.
[149678]
From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 4/9/14

Related Material:
Spiritual Correction
The Subtleties Of Spiritual Ascent
The Commandment: “Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery”

Filed under: Spiritual Work, Torah - No Comments →

Question: What is the Light that the wisdom of Kabbalah talks about?

Answer: The Light is phenomena in which the will to receive senses the upper force, spirituality, the Creator, the force that directs and governs the desire to receive.

The Light is the only power that actually exists. The other force is the desire to receive. There is nothing but these two powers. In other words, a desire to receive is something that is “locked” from within, whereas the Light is open and fills the entire universe.

Inside the desire, there is a tiny spark of the Light with the help of which the desire can connect with the external Light, thus directing the Light’s actions performed on the desire. An aspiration of the will to receive to be similar with the Light allows it to establish connection with the Light, thus triggering the Light’s impact upon it.

Question: Then what is the connection between the books written by Kabbalists and the Light?

Answer: All Kabbalistic books are the stories about the impact of the Light on the desire. There is nothing else besides it. The Light is the Creator, i.e., the force that rules everything. If one wants to approach the Light, one should learn how to build correct intentions on top of one’s desires so that the Light descends and conveys its properties to it, thus making one similar to the Light. In this case, one’s actions become similar to the Light even though one’s desires are opposite to it.

The entire wisdom of Kabbalah is the revelation of the Light to the creation.
[149602]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/14/14, Writing of Baal HaSulam

Related Material:
A Spark Of Light In A Virtual World
What Is Light?
To Feel The Upper Light

Filed under: Kabbalah Study, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Question: The disintegration of society that we are now witnessing in Israel and all over the world reminds us of the birth of a butterfly. First there is the caterpillar, which lives for a while, eats plants, and is happy.

But at a certain point the caterpillar reaches the end and cannot fill itself anymore. Then it turns into a chrysalis and enters a state of darkness closing itself inside a cocoon where its body begins to disintegrate.

The caterpillar ceases to be what it was before. Scientists have discovered that the genes that will later turn it into a totally different creature are already in the caterpillar. After a period of chaos and disintegration, a beautiful butterfly suddenly emerges from the cocoon; a winged creature that is much more developed.

Could it be that we are in the period of the cocoon now and therefore see how everything around us is out of balance and falling apart?

Answer: It is indeed so, but in order to become a beautiful butterfly, we have to change. We can reach these changes either in a pleasant, easy, and short way by the connection between us, or by war and terrible problems that will force us to unite. This means that we can go through this process passively or actively.

Comment: So in the end we will connect with or without war.

Answer: Yes, but there is a huge difference. After all, it will not be just another war, but a nuclear war.

Question: And if we don’t connect?

Answer: It cannot be. It is already in our genes, just like the caterpillar is supposed to become a beautiful butterfly in the end. We also have the genes according to which we have to bring the whole world to correction and are already imprinted in the genes of human society, in our internal program. We only have to carry it out.

We have two options, which are good or bad. The bad option is through wars and sufferings and the good option is by reaching the fulfillment of the wisdom of Kabbalah by ourselves, attaining the force of connection by it to draw the force, the Light that Reforms unto ourselves. It says: “I have created the evil inclination, I have created the Torah as a spice, since the Light in it reforms.”

Question: You speak about the Torah, so is it about religion?

Answer: No. The Torah is light, the force we discover inside the circle, which welds us together. The force that reforms is called the Torah. It is not a religious concept at all. It isn’t a book or a parchment that has words written on it, but an inner force.

The egoistic inclination doesn’t let us connect, while the Torah is the Upper Light, the means to correct the evil inclination, which is felt only by those who sense that they have to connect with others and cannot do so. It is as if our whole nation sat in one big circle of eight million people and everyone thought only about the fact that they cannot unite. It is a fact that if there is no external pressure, the society remains separated and detached.

Our mission is to move from state one to state two. State one is our current state of insecurity and of no future as a result of the lack of connections between us because of our egoistic nature.

There are two ways of achieving state two. The right way is the way that Kabbalists tell us about. They say that if we want to advance, we have to connect. If we sit in circles and begin to discuss the issue of how to be “as one man in one heart,” we will discover how much we are against this idea. This resistance we feel towards connection is called the evil inclination.

The evil inclination is not revealed to a person in his ordinary life, when he disrespects everyone, but only when he wishes to connect to others. Only then does he see that he doesn’t want this connection and is repelled by it, although he understands that he must reach unity despite his natural repulsion.

We felt it during the last military operation “Enduring Rock,” since we could unite only under external pressure. The moment the pressure was gone, we immediately returned to our initial state and began to quarrel and fight. So what can we do? After all we need to connect!

What is actually lacking at the moment is the recognition that we need connection. We need to widely publicize and explain that our good future depends on the unity of the nation and that otherwise we are facing disaster.

If we discover that we cannot unite, although we want to, we need the Torah as a means for attaining unity. This means that we are at the foot of Mt. Sinai which is a mountain of hatred. We want to reach unity, but we cannot do so since a high mountain of mutual hatred separates us.

Then we are worthy of the receiving of the Torah, which is the revelation of the force of connection that should come and connect us. This means that the light of the Torah reforms. It is a force of unity, a force of light and love. When it is revealed, we suddenly begin to feel closeness, dependence, and a mutual connection between us.

Question: Where can we find this force?

Answer: This force is hidden in nature. Now too, it is among us, but we discover it only to the extent that we yearn to connect. This is what the whole Torah is about. Thus every time Kabbalists connect into a group, they discovered the Creator, the upper force of connection.

Question: Is this circle also suitable for people who are not religious?

Answer: The circle is suitable for everyone, not only people who are not religious, but also for women and people from every nation. After all, the Israeli nation has to be a light unto the nations, teach everyone the wisdom of connection, and reveal to everyone that the Creator is the upper nature. During the last war, it was actually the women and the mothers who voiced the call for unity of the nation.
[143488]
From the program “A New Life” 9/02/14

Related Material:
Remember The Road To The Temple
A Circle Is The Form Of Existence Of the Corrected Society
Love Is Always Stronger Than Hatred

Filed under: Crisis, Group Work, Israel, Israel Today, Kabbalah Dissemination, Nations of the World, Society, Spiritual Work, Spirituality, The Creator, Unity, World - No Comments →

Baal HaSulam,” “Only Goodness and Mercy”: Only goodness and mercy shall follow me all my life. We know that all the worlds are like onion peels one inside the other and this world is inside them like a point. It turns out that all the lines and pipes of abundance go through this point, like the round lines of the organs on top of the central point, from the beginning to the end, all meet at one point. This is the matter that Israel bring abundance to the worlds since the pipes and lines seemingly end and are clogged in their meeting point in this world, the world of shells, and therefore the abundance for the worlds that goes from the beginning to the end through this world is seemingly blocked.

This is the power of the righteous who designate matter and form, each on his own level, and thus correct the pipes and the lines that reach one another and convey the infinite abundance and the great brightness to all the worlds. This is the meaning of only goodness and mercy follow a person all his life, so that they should serve as a place for it to go through.

Israel is in the center of all the worlds and it turns off or on the pipe of abundance and its flow to all of humanity and all the worlds. If we don’t make enough efforts, the flow of Light is blocked and only a minimal spark is left which is necessary for the existence of the world, which means a small force that keeps the creation alive. Everything else can be attained only by our exertion.

All of humanity has to be corrected as it changes its nature from receiving to bestowal. In fact we change our intention from in order to receive to in order to bestow and thus acquire the attributes of the Creator who is all of reality. Baal HaSulam describes reality as a system in which there are pipes, circles, and straightness.

All of humanity has to change from egoism to bestowal because it is thanks to this that it acquires the Creator’s attribute, identifying and connecting with all of reality. There is a pioneer force in humanity called Israel according to its intention of Yashar El (straight to the Creator), which leads all the rest.

Abraham discovered all these elements back in ancient Babylon and told, explained, and taught all the Babylonians. Yet only a few of them responded to this invitation that humanity received from nature, from the Creator. That’s the way it should have been.

This small pioneering force has to carry out its mission with great responsibility. Israel has to be the pioneer of the correction and to pave the way for everyone else.
[140250]
From the Preparation for the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/23/14

Related Material:
Israel Is Not A Nationality But An Aspiration
A Tap That Regulates Our Whole Life
A High Responsibility And Pride For Our Mission

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Israel, Nations of the World, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Question: Is there a universal criterion for the right result of our dissemination?

Answer: How can one determine the result of our dissemination and not be proven wrong? There is only one criterion: effective practical unity in which the Creator is revealed.

This is because the final goal of all that we do is the discovery of the Creator within us, that general natural force that connects us. Ultimately we begin to feel how this world actually disappears and we are left feeling only two forces: reception and bestowal, which cooperate between them, and we are found in full harmony with this system.

In creation there is nothing other than the Olam Ein Sof (the world of Infinity). All the rest is already an imaginary feeling that destroys us.

So we need to try with all our might to measure our unity: How high it is from our ego, how much it is not aimed toward receiving for oneself, how much it is found outside of each one of us, in the center between us, and can actually be similar to the Creator in its character.

And then this change will already have its net practical embodiment in physical data: “levels,” “Aviut” (the thickness of the desire), “screen,” “Ohr Hozer” (returning light). It will then be much simpler and easier for us.

I will be able to see according to our friends and according to myself in what manner we bestow, how it is necessary to draw this from one to another, how each one of us must act. That is how we can measure the willpower of one another.
[140507]
From the Convention In Sochi “Day One” 7/13/14, Lesson 1

Related Material:
A Point Of Contact With The Public
Criteria For Self-Evaluation
Everyone, Everyone, Everyone…

Filed under: Conventions, Dissemination, Group Work, Spiritual Work - No Comments →