Question: How do you know where the limit of your efforts is? It seems there is always room to add more.

Answer: It is always good to add, but it is important to clearly define how immersed I should be in the material, how much I implement it in connection with my friends, how much I give to my family, and how I handle my work. Everything should be organized. This stems from the fact that we are living in this world. You must establish these things for yourself.

A person must feel a sense of responsibility toward his or her family and never reject the idea of building one. This is a fundamental condition for men. In fact many Kabbalists did not accept bachelors as students. To those who strongly desired to study Kabbalah, they would say, “Go get married, and then come back.”

It was this way with Baal HaSulam. A person could not become his student until the day after his wedding. And there was no talk about women at that time. Today we accept both men and women. Keep in mind that having a family is a requirement for men and is desirable for women.

Rabash was also strict with bachelors; he demanded they resolve this matter within a month or two.

We must fulfill all the conditions of a spiritual society, and it is represented in the form of a family. The Creator views the family unit—husband, wife, and children—as His creations. Based on this, He elevates them to a spiritual degree.
[334794]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/15/24, “Continuing the Congress With an Ascent”

Related Material:
The Family Obligates
Why Does A Kabbalist Need A Family?
Kabbalah Is For The Family

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Man and Woman, Spiritual Work | Add Comment / Ask Question →

Question: How can I envy a friend correctly to connect with him and acquire his positive qualities?

Answer: We must be closer to each other and try, in our common desire for fulfillment, to wish our desires were spiritual, i.e., we must be connected to each other not through the intention to be fulfilled, but through using our desires only for bestowal.

Question: What is the spiritual envy of a true Kabbalist?

Answer: The spiritual envy of a true Kabbalist lies in his desire to help his friends in any way he can, and to be completely immersed in it.
[335232]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/26/24, Writings of Rabash “From Lo Lishma to Lishma”

Related Material:
Good Envy
Envy Is A Tremendous Force
Envying The Friends

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Spiritual Work | Add Comment / Ask Question →

Question: My wife does not study Kabbalah. Would it be better if we studied it together?

Answer: Yes and no, it depends on how you coexist together. It is probably more peaceful for you that she does not study Kabbalah, but supports you.

Why? Because sometimes a man and a woman can enter into a very strong resonance.

The Creator gives each person the appropriate conditions according to their soul, and you must accept them as the best and most optimal for progressing toward complete correction.

So there is no need to complain about anything except your own lack of participation in the group. That is where your progress lies.
[335207]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/28/19, “Questions and Answers”

Related Material:
The Spiritual Work of Couples
The Difference Between Male And Female Nature
Spiritual Interaction Between Husband And Wife

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Man and Woman, Spiritual Work | Add Comment / Ask Question →

Question: What is the proof that my work is for the benefit of the Creator?

Answer: The main thing is that your “horse” (your will to receive) should be focused in its actions on the Creator and on the good things it can bring to the Creator through its work. Otherwise, you would not bother dealing with it, with its stable, and everything that connects you.

So when you take all the desires of the “horse” and aim them toward the Creator, then you are clearly performing this work.

Question: What should I do if I do not have great Kelim (vessels) in my senses, but I want to bestow to the Creator?

Answer: If you do not feel large desires, the issue may be that you do not feel them. But in principle, you can always find desires that are directed toward the Creator.

Question: Can hating my body (desires for my own sake) bring contentment to the Creator? Or should I accept it as a necessary part of creation and work outside of it?

Answer: You cannot hate your body. You cannot take your desires and say that you hate them specifically.

You must divide your desires into those that can be directed toward the Creator and those that can be directed toward creation in general.

The most important thing is when a person feels they have control over their “horse” and say to it: “What I am giving you now is not because I love you but so that you can do the work that is needed for the Creator. Everything you receive, you get in the amount I want to give you. Why am I doing this? So that the Creator benefits from it; otherwise, I would not give you this work.”
[335109]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/24/24, Writings of Rabash “A Horse to Ride On”

Related Material:
Good Actions for the Creator
So that Only the Creator Appears before You
Take Care of the Creator’s Benefit

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Spiritual Work | Add Comment / Ask Question →

In the News (BBC): “Dr Caspar Addyman from Goldsmiths, University of London is an expert on why babies laugh and author of The Laughing Baby.

“At Goldsmiths’ InfantLab, he leads an exciting branch of child development research designing laughter experiments, talking to parents around the world and even monitoring viral social media trends. …

“It’s actually in the second month that you will likely see your baby’s first real smile. …

“By about 3 or 4 months old, you may find that your baby starts to smile at the sound of your familiar voice. …

“Most of us think the starting point for laughing is a funny joke or action, but actually it’s a way of connecting to the people we’re with.”

Question: What does this indicate?

Answer: Children want to receive positive stimuli from their environment. Therefore, if people around them are smiling and laughing, it excites them in a positive way.

Question: We grow up, and all this fades away. We start to take pleasure in the misfortunes of others.

What happens to us? Where does that baby, that infant, go? Where does all of it disappear?

Answer: We sense the state of another person and rejoice in their problems. This instantly reassures us. We understand that it is not happening to us, and so we feel happy.

Question: At what point does this absolute and complete shift in thinking and consciousness?

Answer: When our egoism is aroused. We immediately start to orient ourselves around it.

Question: Now many would disagree and say they are not such egoists, but are quite the opposite. Many write to us saying this is not true, that they are giving, loving people, and so on. When does a person start to recognize this critical view of themselves? What is that moment?

Answer: This is already the next stage.

Question: So the first stage even for an adult is: “I am not an egoist, others are.” And the second stage is?

Answer: Is when they look at themselves.

Question: Will we ever return to that infant state when we are happy for the happiness of others?

Answer: If we create such an atmosphere among our friends, in a group, and so on, then we will return.

Question: So in principle a person should seek friends who look inside themselves?

Answer: Yes.
[329965]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 4/8/24

Related Material:
Why Do I Feel Good When Others Feel Bad?
Why Love The Other?
Are We Worthy To Be The Crown Of Creation?

Filed under: Children, Education, Egoism, News, Q&A | Add Comment / Ask Question →

Listen to an Audio Version of the Blog
Download:MP3Audio

Filed under: Audio Version of the Blog | Add Comment / Ask Question →

Therefore, on Rosh Hashanah, one begins one’s work anew. Additionally, the days of the ten penitential days are called “days of forgiving and atonement of sins,” so a man will have every opportunity to join in the work of the Creator once more, even though he’s been so remote from the work (Rabash, Letter No. 34).

Question: What should I repent for after Rosh HaShanah if I have to cross out the past?

Answer: Based on how the present moment unfolds, you should determine your current state in relation to the Creator and attribute all your actions to that state.

Therefore, you have nothing else but to connect with your friends and inspire them toward the goal of creation. In this way, you justify the actions of the Creator.

Question: Should I also process the states that occurred before Rosh HaShanah?

Answer: No, but they serve as the foundation for what you feel now.
[335434]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/5/24, Writings of Rabash Letter No. 34

Related Material:
Rosh HaShanah—Time to Ask for Forgiveness
Returning To Bestowal
Getting Ready For The New Year

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, The Tens | Add Comment / Ask Question →

Question: What actions do you expect from us, as a group of ten, in the New Year? Should we bring you joy and through you bring pleasure to the Creator?

Answer: In the New Year, as in the previous year, as 50 or 150 years ago, the same conditions remain—that we desire to help each other ascend to the Creator with the intention of bringing Him pleasure and through our actions bring Him joy.

Question: You said that we must change the state of the world through our unity.

If during the holidays we offer a collective one-minute prayer during the lesson, could that help shift the state of the world?

Answer: If anything can help, it is a prayer. If we genuinely desire to unite and from that unity raise a prayer to the Creator—that is what is needed. Nothing else will help us.
[335369]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/1/24, Writings of Rabash “The Godliness Made the Concealment”

Related Material:
The Land of Israel Will Be Ours
How to Bring the Whole World to Happiness?
Nothing But Connection

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Spiritual Work, The Tens | Add Comment / Ask Question →

Question: How does a person know they are ready to study Kabbalah?

Answer: If a person asks: “What is the purpose of my life” and cannot find an answer, they begin to search for it and often come to Kabbalah.

If they feel that they cannot live without it, it becomes clear to them that the Creator is inviting them to this. And so, they begin to study the science of Kabbalah.
[335127]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/28/19, “Questions and Answers”

Related Material:
What Does The Inner Arrangement Of A Person Give?
Let Us Learn In Order Not To Make Mistakes
Kabbalah For “General Use”

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Kabbalah Study, Meaning Of Life | Add Comment / Ask Question →

Comment: Some say that suffering and pain are contagious.

My Response: Yes, we can transmit our suffering. People tend to suffer when they see the suffering of others. And this is generally a very wrong attitude.

Question: Is that selfish?

Answer: Yes.

Question: So when I share my sufferings with others, I can infect others with them?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Is the epidemic of suffering that is going on in the world precisely because we share our suffering?

Answer: Yes.

Question: But how can you not share when it hurts?

Answer: There is no need to multiply it. The best thing is for everyone to live in their own suffering; one can internally talk to themselves and to a higher power, and thus everything gradually changes.

Question: So, this is what you call proper parenting? I endure suffering in myself, I talk to the Creator, I try to fill everything with harmony, and I thus as if transform into harmony myself, and transform the world?

Answer: Yes.

Comment: That would be nice. But it is very difficult.

My Response: This is how it should be.

Question: Is it possible to teach this?

Answer: No, a person must come to this by himself. This is called “karma.”

Comment: This is the first time you have used this word.

My Response: You can do it once.
[330195]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 5/6/24

Related Material:
If You Don’t Have a Heart
Don’t Suffer, But Enjoy!
The Alternative To Suffering

Filed under: News, Q&A, Spiritual Work | Add Comment / Ask Question →