Question: I grew up in Israel, and for me Hanukkah is a very childlike holiday with doughnuts and the dreidel. And suddenly I hear from you that Hanukkah has a spiritual meaning. How should I relate to the lighting of the candles so that this action is not merely external?

Answer: This is a spiritual action. There is nothing in the Israeli holidays that is not connected to the spiritual. After all, we exist only in order to attain our soul,  what is called the future world, the upper world, the higher dimension, that we must reach.

At present we see the picture of this world: houses, sky, sea, people, everything around me. Behind this picture we need to find a crack into the upper world, widen it, open up the horizons, and see that we are located only in a very small sphere, in a tiny part of a much greater, more spacious, infinite world.

Our entire universe is also within our current world. But we must reveal the world beyond it as well. This is what we human beings are meant for. For we do not belong to the still, vegetative, and animate levels that are bound to nature, but to the human level.

A “human being” in Hebrew is “Adam,” from the word “domeh,” similar to the Creator. We are not only capable of reaching such a state, but are simply obliged to attain it, to reveal the entire true reality that lies beyond what now appears to us as this world.

Then we will reveal not only infinite spaces, but also ourselves as existing in an infinite, perfect form, within this vast, expansive, light-filled reality that is revealed to us.

The wisdom of Kabbalah is intended for this. All the holidays speak to us about this, including Hanukkah, about how we begin to open the upper world for ourselves, expand our organs of perception and reality, and then emerge from all these narrow, bitter limitations.

All this lies before us. But everything depends on the unity between us, because unity is precisely the action that begins to open the boundaries of the present reality. And the pressures we feel today are meant to push us to accelerate and reveal the true world.

Therefore when lighting the Hanukkah candles—together with Hanukkah songs, games with children using the dreidel, and tasty doughnuts—let us think that the true Hanukkah is like a housewarming, for we are opening a new world for ourselves through uniting with one another.
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From Radio Station 103FM 12/6/15

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Question: What is the family of the future?

Answer: It is when a husband and wife are very close companions to one another. When we feel that we are doing something pleasant, we draw closer. When we feel that there may be some problems, we distance ourselves. We behave selectively. And then everything will be fine for us.

Question: But we do not run away from each other? Is that what it means to build a family?

Answer: We do not constantly think about “building.” We simply feel where we can help our partner, and where we should not interfere.

Comment: And this, you say, is called “companionship.”

My Response: Yes.

Comment: You use this word “companionship.” It is warm and very familiar to everyone.

My Response: That is the most important thing in marriage.

Question: That is the most important thing in marriage. And then everything will happen?

Answer: Yes.

Question: And everything else, like love?

Answer: Love exists between a mother and a child. And love exists between a person and the Creator. Between people, there is no love. There is the possibility of creating a very kind, close, mutual connection, but even that is still not love.

Love appears, manifests, is created, is born where there is a natural bond, like that of a mother with her child, and like the bond that arises between a person and the Creator.

This is natural connection. That is what can be called love. But simply between a man and a woman, even if they understand each other’s importance and try in some way to complement one another, that is not love; it is still companionship.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman,” 12/12/2025

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Comment: You say humanity is being pushed toward awareness by blows.

My Response: Naturally. We see that the blows are pushing humanity toward a more realistic view of the world.

Comment: There is a vast amount of information in this world.

My Response: There is no vast amount of information here. It is all nonsense, all on the earthly level, at the level of a small man who can collect crumbs from what he imagined with his five material senses and a small head, and at the same time, he thinks he is drowning in these crumbs.

There is no need to drown in it. Why? You must imagine this world as something that is depicted in your ego, rise above it, and then you will see it as a small grain, because there is no vast information here. These are all your little egoistic impressions of what is depicted to you.

You are like a child who imagines this world as if there is so much in it! But in fact, there is nothing in it. This is purely egoistic matter seeking to maintain an optimal egoistic state throughout its existence and then die.

What is there in this world? What can you offer me between life and death if it all comes to an end?
Nothing. That means I am no longer interested in it. If everything ends, I am no longer interested. This is how I look at life. And this is why I immediately dismiss all your philosophies and politics. What is America or Russia, what difference does it make to me? As the Prophet says, “Calm down, calm down, nations.”

Comment: But you are talking from a position of knowing.

My Response: Not because I know! Once, I did not know anything either. But I was looking at the fact that it all has a beginning and an end. So what difference does it make to me what happens midway?

If the train is heading to a junkyard, what then? We sit in it, open a bag of sandwiches, chicken, beer, and play cards. And then what? We are going to a dead end anyway. Therefore, I am not getting on this train. And if there are theaters, movies, and all kinds of games inside the train, I have no interest in that either, because it is going to a dead end. I do not look at human history, the public, politics, or anything else, because it is all inside this train.

I have held this view since childhood. I could not see it any other way. I had to find another way, take another train, like Harry Potter’s platform “nine and three-quarters.” I need to find the platform from which the train departs in the other direction.

Comment: But you did not initially assume that you could simply feel it.

Answer: Of course, I did not know where it was, but I also did not want to board that train. That was the most important thing for me. So I ran from everywhere, tried to search, but could not find anything. It was not easy for me. But when I found Kabbalah, I immediately quit my business with pleasure and immersed myself in it.

I do not advocate this kind of lifestyle. It is given to a person either as happiness or as misfortune. I do not know how to say this, but it is a special desire for a goal. I am just saying that many people are in this state today. Therefore, I appeal to them, to those who are looking for another train and not the one that goes to a dead end. That is the most important thing.

The Torah states that it is a cure for death. This intrigued me because it is the most important thing. Everything else is nonsense; everything else does not matter. I am saying this as an old man. What does it matter what you fill your life with? You are only 30 years old, while I do not have much time left. I am telling you, there is nothing else to base your life on.

And when the younger generation finally begins to understand this early in life, it is simply a blessing that they are given such an epiphany from above, not to be polluted by various conventions.

They need to find an environment for themselves, whose purpose is clear and precise—to achieve eternity.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. Harry Potter Platform” 10/4/10

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We must show humanity that there is a cure for death, an elixir of immortality. But not in a way that allows a person to try it, he tries and that’s it; I won’t give him any more.

When a person begins to study Kabbalah, over the course of several months, he or she is shown a little that other states exist, and he constantly goes through them.

He sees that something is changing in him: his psyche, his psychology, his attitude toward the world, toward life, and toward himself; his consciousness expands; he begins to think on two levels—on the spiritual and the earthly level.

To a complete stranger it is enough to tell a little about the method, to give logical examples. Baal HaSulam writes in the book The Last Generation that there is no other way out.

We see in the examples of our world how we are nevertheless being helped to show that something needs to be done with it and with ourselves. If our world were in good condition, it would be much more difficult for us to tear a person away from the material feeding trough. But as it is, he sees that the feeder is already empty, and soon everything will be over.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. Harry Potter’s Platform” 10/4/10

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Question: How should dissemination be expressed? Are there certain boundaries that we cannot cross?

Answer: The boundaries should be what is acceptable, decent, but without any fear, equivocation, or hints. Simply, in a direct way. Friends, look at what we have today: on one hand, the path of suffering, on the other hand, the path of correction. And you will immediately begin to feel yourselves and the world differently.

Yes, it is not easy. But it is simple if we are together. What does this mean? It means a change in social relations. It means new social relations that are built on brotherhood, camaraderie, mutual help, on the fact that we are elements of one single system. Let’s begin to build ourselves exactly as this system exists within us. This network exists between us.

Let’s first accept not to harm one another as a goal. Everywhere—at home, at work, on the road, wherever you are—let’s consider ourselves members of one family.

Comment: This instinct is characteristic of ants protecting their anthill.

My Response: What difference does it make? With the help of this, you attain the level of the Creator! And in fact, today you are an ant.

By fulfilling the laws of Kabbalah, we do not demean ourselves, but we elevate ourselves because in the correct connection between us, we reveal the upper force of nature.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. 2012” 8/25/10

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Preparation to the Lesson

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1st part of the Lesson — Lesson on the Topic “Work with Faith Above Reason”

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2nd part of the Lesson — Recording of Rabash, Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Vol. 1, Part 4, “Table of Answers for the Meaning of the Words”

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Indeed, you should know that the reason for our great distance from the Creator, and that we are so prone to transgress His will, is for but one reason which became the source of all the torment and suffering we suffer, and for all the sins and the mistakes that we fail in. Clearly, by removing that reason, we will instantly be rid of any sorrow or pain. We will immediately be granted adhesion with Him in heart, soul, and might. And I tell you that preliminary reason is none other than “our lack of understanding of His guidance over His creations,” that we do not understand Him properly (Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot“).

We have a big problem with correct definitions. The style of Kabbalistic texts sometimes seems so religious that it pulls us far from reality and from the proper perspective from which we should relate to ourselves and the world as a certain order of forces and systems with their characteristic interrelations, vectors, numerical indicators, and measurement data.

We are used to such a specific approach; therefore, centuries-old terms need modern, clear definitions so we do not make mistakes or get confused by our assumptions.

That is why Baal HaSulam writes that the reason for our distance from the Creator is that we do not understand Him. This misunderstanding primarily relates to the definition of terms.

“The Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot” is the most important of all introductions by Baal HaSulam. It precedes his main work, showing us what kind of system of interrelation we are in, what happens between us, and how we connect with each other and with the whole of reality. We step out of ourselves into the space between us, where a force pushes people apart. By beginning to overcome this force, we form a different field, not a field of rejection, but a field of convergence – distance.

Now there is negativity, rejection (“–”) between us; it is a field in which we all reject each other. Everyone is ready to feel only themselves, and this state is called “this world.” If we step outside ourselves and begin to feel what is between us, this state is called the “upper world.”

Rejection between us is a “crime”: as Baal HaSulam writes, we transgress the Creator’s will. The desire for unity between us is called a “commandment” (+). The transition from transgression to commandment is a “correction.” The effort that I make to move from crime to commandment, from my egoism, from receiving to giving, is called an “effort.”

I can measure all these forces: how much I wanted to receive, how much I overcame, how much I turned myself from receiving to giving, how much strength I exerted, how much effort I invested, to what extent I previously felt my egoistic desire and in it this world, to what extent I now come out of myself and begin to feel the upper, spiritual world in the outer direction, and with what strength, at what level. All this can be measured.

This is what the science of Kabbalah deals with, the physics of human desires. Of course, you and I cannot yet conduct such measurements in practice, as we have not yet mastered the relevant forces. But in general, you can work with all these parameters in a real way, actually verifying our relationship: how much I give you and how much I receive from you. To do this, we need to rise above our nature and take an objective position outside it (beyond receiving, beyond bestowing, beyond everything), check from the outside, and observe and measure what is happening.

The ability to do so is called “restriction,” which lets us simply disconnect from our nature. We may not be able to fully break out of it, but we can ensure it does not rule over us. This is called “breaking free” from it. After that, we can truly measure all the parameters.
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From Kabbalah Lesson before the Toronto Congress, 9/16/11

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Question: If there is no one but the Creator, it follows that I am a part of Him. Is it normal that I do not feel Him? Is this how it should be according to the plan of creation, or is it a glitch in my perception?

Answer: If you are still saying “I,” it means you must reach a state where you feel Him. Then you will not have a sense of “I,” and the question will go away.

The transition from “I” to “us” prepares us to feel other people as themselves, but in relation to the Creator.
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From Kabbalah Lesson in Russian, 9/2/18

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