We need to unite among us, and as soon as we reveal that we really want to unite but are not able to do it, this will be the state of “Ruined Jerusalem,” the ruin of the Temple. We strive to unite and do not know how to do it, and therefore, we cry and ask the Creator to unite us.

We cry precisely because we are not capable of connection, or maybe even because we are not able to cry and regret it and are not able to ask for help from the Creator. Therefore, no matter how many tears we shed, the Creator does not answer us because our request is not real, not sincere. And it is called “Jerusalem in ruins.”

If we advance more and more this way, then eventually we are overwhelmed with tears of utter despair, and then the Creator corrects the connection between us and reveals Himself inside it. And that means we are coming to liberation.

The shattering lies only in the lack of connection between us. The First and Second Temples mean that even then there was an internal connection between us. We are talking only about internal categories and not external ones.
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From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/7/22, “The Ruin as an Opportunity for Correction”

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Why does crisis bring people closer?“

I recently received a letter from a lady who explained that she and her husband had to move into their basement after their house got destroyed, and they felt liberated as a result. In her words, she wrote that “caring for others supplanted all thoughts of self,” and she continued to ask about how that happens, requesting an explanation.

Indeed, we host an inner quality where we try to escape from suffering, fear, hatred and other negative states due to our desire to feel good. As a result, we suddenly find ourselves caring about others, and we then realize that it feels right to come together.

Such states of crisis make us lose the feeling of corporeal fulfillment that we usually seek in money, honor, control and knowledge, and all we have left is spiritual fulfillment, where we fulfill ourselves by helping others, and feel like we need nothing else in our lives. It is a spiritual state that emerges out of suffering.

However, the state where crisis and suffering brings people closer together—that we then feel fulfillment in caring about others in order to run away from our problems—is only an elementary spiritual state. Later, we will care about others simply because we receive such an opportunity and feel it as our mission to do so: that we feel a strong drive to communicate the need to increase mutual care throughout the world, and that caring about each other and coming closer together also vitalizes us with new elevated harmonious, joyous and peaceful sensations. In other words, we can learn from times of crisis that caring about others and coming closer together has a special fulfillment that we previously failed to realize, but if we were to voluntarily advance ourselves to come closer together and increase mutual care in society, then we would alleviate the need for crises to bring us to such a realization. We would then progress to greater states of fulfillment, peace and harmony by attracting nature’s positive forces into our lives.

Based on the video “Why Crisis Brings People Closer and Increases Care among People” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Semion Vinokur. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash.

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Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “Don’t Panic, There Is Money Behind It”

A new TV series in Israel, titled Don’t Panic, examines if Israel is prepared for events of mass destruction such as earthquakes, tsunamis, or a leak of poisonous gas. Not surprisingly, the series concludes that Israel is unprepared for any such events: There are not enough rescue personnel, residents do not know what to do in what situation, and the infrastructure in the country is inadequate in many places. Moreover, people’s response to these conclusions is usually indifference. I am not an expert, but I tend to agree with the public’s sentiment because I do not believe that the danger is as grave as the series seems to portray. I think that behind this series, and other doomsayers, is the question “Whose interest does it serve?”

I think that the interest behind these shows is to intimidate people and intimidate the country. It is true that Israel is located in an area that is prone to earthquakes, but how this issue is presented and handled depends on the interests of politicians and scientists. Some want to use the information to gain more power, and others want to use it to gain funding for their studies, so the findings are presented in a way that serves the interested parties.

Once again, we see that the problem is not the dangers that nature poses, but the dangers that the ego poses. It twists everything in its favor and warps the truth to serve itself. People sense this and therefore doubt the credibility of the information.

If we want to avoid events of mass destruction, we must deal with the root of the problem, namely our own egoism and the fact that we do not have the common good in mind, but only our own. It is not only politicians and decision makers who act this way; it is all of us. The selfishness of politicians is certainly the most conspicuous. However, it is not unique to them but a reflection of our entire society.

Consequently, if we want unbiased information, we need to change people’s attitude toward society. Without an educational process that elevates the value of concern for others above concern only for ourselves, nothing will change.

We should not say that it is impossible because until today, we have not really tried. Moreover, the idea that it is impossible is the ego’s own protection against our efforts to dethrone it from governing our society and our relationships.

This effort cannot be limited in scope. It needs to be an educational process that encompasses all of society, everywhere. The impetus for such an ambitious feat should come from the fact that we see no future, from the realization that our mutual inconsideration will destroy us unless we become considerate. If there is one truth that we should not be afraid to expose, it is that nothing is true because our egos warp our ‎perception to favor ourselves. If we do not change this, the ego will indeed bring upon us ‎mass destruction.‎

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Question: As we know, Kabbalah uses the numerical values of letters. In order to explain spiritual states, Hebrew letters were derived from the Kabbalists researching the very nature of the spiritual world. What are letters and numbers, and what is the connection between them?

Answer: There are no numbers in spirituality. There are letters that depict the movement from the upper one to the lower one, from the Creator to the created beings, to the degree in which created beings can perceive His action on themselves. Therefore, a letter is called Ot (sign), that is, an indication that a person begins to perceive the attitude of the upper force toward him.

Perception begins from the point when he desires to attain the Creator, the upper force, in the measure of his similarity. When a person reveals his desire to bestow, to give pleasure and fulfillment to the Creator, then to the extent of his ability to express it, he begins to recognize that the Creator was ready for the relationship with him from the very beginning.

It turns out that here emerges the connection between the creation and the Creator, meaning equality between the attitude of man toward the Creator and of the Creator toward man. Such a mutual movement of one toward the other leads to mutual fulfillment: a person raises his desire to the Creator, and the Creator fulfills his desire with His presence—light.
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 7/26/22

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Question: Is it possible to evoke the influence of the surrounding light to consciously understand what is happening only through the sources or are there any other methods? How can I increase the influence of the light on myself?

Answer: You can increase the influence of the light by correcting your egoism to altruism. The main condition is “Love your neighbor as yourself.” In this way, to the measure a person comes closer to this, he begins to feel the upper governing force through everything that exists around him.

Light has altruistic qualities. In order to feel it according to the law of equivalence of form, you must show the same altruistic quality to something that is outside of you, say to another person. To this extent, you will begin to feel the light.
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 7/19/22

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The creation initially created by the Creator was very small. But when it continued to develop and grow, it manifested a desire to become like the Creator, which was not its own. This depends on the Creator and is called the point in the heart.

This point gradually grows, which causes the growth of the egoistic desire. This is how we develop to a state called 13 years, 20 years, i.e., nominal years of our development.

Thus, we come to a state of wanting at all costs to move away from our original egoistic desire, which we already feel as opposite to the Creator.

We want to become like Him, that is, to change our egoistic desire to receive. But we cannot change it because this is how the Creator made it. So, what can we add to it? The intention to bestow.

This is our task: to receive from the Creator the quality of bestowal, which will be felt in us as an intention to bestow. It is as if we receive the imprint of the Creator upon ourselves. Our desires remain, but they will be ruled by the intention for the sake of bestowal.

This intention, from zero, called the restriction (Tzimtzum) of the desire to receive, will continue to develop. The desire to receive will grow, and the desire to bestow will grow above it.

Thus, in our nature, in the desire to receive, we will be able to grow always in likeness to the Creator since our intention will be directed toward bestowal. In other words, we will continue to develop as creatures in the desire to receive and as similar to the Creator in the intention to bestow.

This is the process of our development until we can clothe all the egoistic desires that arise in us into an intention for the sake of bestowal. This is the path we must go through.

Currently, we are starting on it gradually. The most important thing is that each of us is ready to help the other. Because, in fact, this is what building oneself in the likeness of the Creator is. By helping others, we build ourselves in the likeness of the Creator. It is not like in our egoistic world. On the contrary, mutual bestowal, mutual help in spirituality is its own structure.
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From the “Arava” Convention in Europe—Lithuania 2022, Lesson 2, 7/24/22

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Comment: Eyewitnesses say that when the country of Israel appeared, there was a sense of a common family between the Jews who moved here.

My Response: Naturally, as in every young country. First, there were more men than women back then. Second, everyone united in order to survive. The first settlers came from one area, the south of Russia, with a common language and a common mentality.

From the 80s of the 19^th century to the middle of the 20^th century, the whole of Palestine was populating with refugees from Russia and Eastern Europe. Only then, after the country was organized, refugees from Arab countries began to arrive.

But over the years, everything has changed. Today, relations between people have acquired such miasmic forms that only spiritual correction will help correct them.

Of course, it is a pity to look at what is happening. Once they found themselves in one place, instead of jumping up spiritually, the Jewish people fell morally, spiritually, and culturally. I hope that this is the initial stage of development, and then everything will pass.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Who Rules the World” 2/9/13

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Preparation to the Lesson

Lesson on the Topic, “The 15^th of Av: The Day of Love” 

Writings of Baal HaSulam, “The Teaching of Kabbalah and Its Essence”

Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Vol. 1, Part 4, Chapter 2, “The Words of the ARI,” Item 2

Selected Highlights

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What is the solution to gun violence without harming the liberty and freedom of gun-owners?“

First, I think that it is unrealistic to disarm hundreds of millions of people. The solution to gun violence is in education. Even if somebody had the power to forcibly confiscate everybody’s guns, gun violence would remain a problem. People who would want guns would find ways to get them.

There is no solution to gun violence other than through society’s gradual and systematic education in relation to what leads us to violence in the first place. We as a society need to reach the realization that killing others is bad. Although this message is already widely understood, for instance it is generally at the heart of major religions and spiritual practices, and it is voiced over and over again in a variety of ways, we nonetheless see that gun violence becomes a greater problem from one day to the next. The reason gun violence worsens is due to the continuous growth of human egoism, where the desire to serve oneself at the expense of others proliferates in many ways throughout society, and some people then grab their guns in order to fire back at this seemingly despicable society of egoists.

Therefore, I see no solution other than serious universal education, which begins from a young age and continues throughout our entire lives. Such education should lead us to a state where there is no room for violence. Anyone who raises their hand against another needs to be punished, and understand that they have no right to exert power over the life of others. We should rather relate to others solely in considerate and responsible ways, and lead by example. Nobody has any right to resort to violence. It is simply not within our rights. That is, we have no right to act against the will of other people. It is true that many have taught such principles throughout history, but we see that there is talk and there is action, and we then see several examples of people doing quite the opposite.

What is lacking in educational efforts to make such principles settle into society’s consciousness is the positive force of nature, i.e. the force of love, giving and connection that precedes and begets our existence. We can truly internalize the principle of doing no harm to others by attracting that force into our lives. Therefore, we need to teach the principles of mutual consideration, care, support and encouragement, or in other words, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” to every person without exception from a young age. Moreover, such education should be regular, on a daily basis, and take place on countrywide scales, with all educational systems and influential media involved in educating and promoting such principles. We would then bear witness to a dramatic decrease in gun violence, as such education would have a lasting positive impact.

If such an educational process entered society, then we would attract the positive force that dwells in nature into our lives, and we would also gain a clearer perception and sensation of who we really are, what goes on around us, what causes our suffering and problems, and where we are headed.

Again, such an education is beyond how we normally think about education. That is, it includes teaching of such principles in our commonly-known educational institutions like schools, colleges and universities, but in addition, it requires influential media creators, filmmakers, radio show hosts, creators of TV series’, journalists and writers of all kinds getting on board. All of our social and environmental influences should be primarily focused on communicating messages that lead us to happiness, peace and harmony. Otherwise, our egoism—the desire to enjoy at the expense of others and nature—will keep conjuring up forms that suit it, and we see the tragedies and the dead end that such an approach leads to.

Therefore, if we organize our education—our complex web of social and media influences—to create a society of mutually considerate, responsible, supportive and encouraging members, then the way we speak, communicate and think would take a positive shift. At the very least, the extreme tragedies of gun violence would cease, because there would be no room for such actions in a society that has increased in its awareness of why it is so important to rise above basic human egoistic drives in order to positively connect. That is, the desire to enact gun violence in such a society would simply not surface in people. The education itself would grow a common understanding and feeling in people that they would willingly restrict themselves from enacting gun violence, because it would go against everything they value and know.

Based on the video “What Is the Solution to Gun Violence?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Semion Vinokur. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Photo by Jane Palash on Unsplash.

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