The Science of Working on the Heart

214Kabbalah is called a hidden science because it is revealed only to those who use it correctly, that is, through their unification and building a system of connections between them. They reveal this science within this network of connections.

The science of Kabbalah is not a product of the human mind, like some abstruse theory. To study Kabbalah, you do not have to be a person of particularly sharp mind. The main thing this science requires is that a person is ready and able to work on one’s heart.

These people must be able to organize their desires in such a way that all the desires of one person complement the desires of another one, and another one, etc. In this form, they build a network of connections between them in which they reveal the common power of bestowal, that is, the Creator.
[318752]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/28/23, Writings of Rabash “Concerning the Importance of Friends”

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Request for Love

239Question: The Creator does not give charity (alms), He gives a gift. How and what should we ask for?

Answer: I cannot advise you about what to ask. It should come from the heart. But, between us, there is nothing more to ask from the Creator except love. He gives us everything, and love only upon request.
[318859]
From the 2nd part of the Lesson of the International Kabbalistic Convention “Opening Hearts” 9/30/23, Lesson 2 “Connecting As One Man with One Heart”

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938.03At the convention you need to try to feel love for each other without paying attention to a person’s external qualities. The main thing is that everyone has this special quality of being chosen by the Creator to participate in our world group. That is why I agree with the Creator and am ready to be with these friends. I constantly try to get closer to them.

Multiple connections happen here: the merging of each one of us with a friend, the merging with the ten and through our ten with other tens, and in general with everyone together so that there is a combination of all our qualities and desires. It turns out that there is our common Kli, a common desire with common feelings, and it is even impossible to make out where I am, where you are, and where he or she is.

Everything weaves together into one tangle and merges into one ball where we see only a single force that created us, united us, and brought us to it. And within this force we unite all together without any distinction between us. This is the unification of creation with the Creator.
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From the Daily Kabbalah lesson 9/27/23, “Preparation for Opening the Heart at the Congress”

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“How did Hamas infiltrate into Israel without alerting Israeli intelligence?” (Quora)

Dr. Michael LaitmanMichael Laitman, On Quora: “How did Hamas infiltrate into Israel without alerting Israeli intelligence?“

Beneath the surface reasons for Israel’s intelligence failure on October 7, 2023, lies a larger collective failure of the people of Israel letting negative attitudes divide them leading up to the tragic events.

The people of Israel’s strength depends on how well they relate to each other. If they cannot get along, no amount of weapons or tools can help.

Hamas’ breach of the barrier into Israel and their managing to commit the atrocities that they did with no Israeli soldiers in sight for a significant period of time, that is, on an army renowned for its intelligence capabilities, continues to shock people and leave them in disbelief.

The core reason, however, for this failure was the lack of a heart-to-heart connection among the people of Israel. For the people of Israel to thrive, its every member must connect from the heart, creating a family-like atmosphere of mutual protection and support, and uphold a common desire for closeness and unity.

The tragedy on October 7 triggered an immediate shift to attitudes of mutual concern and support among the people of Israel. Over time, however, we can expect to see divisive attitudes resurface, with the people of Israel once again erupting in protests and demonstrations against each other.

Until the people of Israel realize the primary need and importance of their unification, that divisive attitudes to each other weaken them and make them vulnerable to destructive forces, then nothing will help.

It was our unity above division that initially brought us together as a nation, where we connected according to the tenet, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” and as it once was so it is today: our unity is the only factor that determines our success or failure.

Based on “An Inside Look” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi on October 15, 2023. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 10/19/23

Preparation to the Lesson

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1st part of the Lesson — Writings of Rabash, “What Is a Flood of Water in the Work?”

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2nd part of the Lesson — Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Peace in the World”

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3rd part of the Lesson — Lesson on the Topic “Everything Is Obtained by the Power of Prayer”

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Selected Highlights

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Audio Version Of The Blog – 10/18/23

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“What Triggered the Attack on Israel on October 7” (Times of Israel)

Michael Laitman, on the Times of Israel: “What Triggered the Attack on Israel on October 7”
We, the people of Israel, are far from being united. Leading up to the tragic events on October 7, we seemed like anything but one nation. We made little effort to draw closer to one another, and we disregarded our fellow citizens. With each passing year, it feels like we drift further apart. And as a result, we must ask ourselves, can we truly be considered the nation of Israel?

In other nations that have histories of wars and internal strife, division might seem like a natural phenomenon. However, the people of Israel are different. We are a nation that earns its title only when we unite. When we remain divided, we cease to be a nation in the true sense. That is what being Israeli truly means, and specifically that point makes us unique.

Many people around the world often wonder about us, asking, “Who are the people of Israel?” They form distinct opinions about us, recognizing our unique status.

We willingly accepted the challenge of being a nation under specific conditions thousands of years ago, which remain relevant today. For us to be the nation of Israel, we must uphold the condition of uniting “as one man with one heart,” where “all of Israel are friends.” This requires an ongoing commitment to unity, a commitment that should only grow stronger with each passing year. Unfortunately, however, the reality is quite different.

Instead of growing closer together, we do the opposite. This past year in particular, Israel became an ugly spectacle of more and more people taking to the streets shouting slanderous and hateful vitriol upon one another.

Before the tragedy on October 7, there was significant division in Israeli society, and that is the crux of the issue. It is true that having multiple opinions is a well-known aspect of Jewishness, but we must rise above it. We can disagree in our views and still maintain a strong connection. The key is to have a constructive relationship alongside our differences, like a family, and uphold the unifying principle that initially brought us together as a nation: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Without this bond, we cannot truly be close, nor can we candidly consider ourselves a nation.
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What Does Israel Need to Win?

961.2Question: We are at war. Terrorists, Hamas, have entered Israeli territory. They captured the border kibbutzim and even entered our cities.

There are a lot of tragedies around. We hear blood-chilling stories—both stories of courage and stories of killing. All this is filmed on phones and posted on the networks. It is terrible!

There was a festival where 3,000 young people gathered in the south. Hundreds of them were killed. The number of deaths is already approaching a thousand. I am afraid to name numbers. There are thousands of wounded, and what is even more scary for Israel is that there are lots of captives. Once the whole country was talking about one captive. Now there are a huge number of them.

How should we relate to all this?

Answer: This is terrible! This is terrible. I understand the grief and the feeling of those who are now in captivity in the hands of those who hate us. They really do hate us. I felt this hatred. Of course it is terrible!

Question: We are talking with you on the third day of the war. There are still terrorists there who are fighting, and our guys are dying. Their names are published; they are from our most elite special forces, real heroes. Why do the best die first?

Answer: It is like that always and everywhere.

Question: What kind of law is this?

Answer: The fact is that war reveals the true structure of society. Therefore, those who belong to its best parts find themselves ahead. It is they who are sent first, who go and die.

Comment: That is, this is the hope of the country; these are the best ones.

My Response: The best ones that we have.

Comment: Just imagine! It takes years to raise such soldiers. And they go and die. This is, of course, very frustrating!

My Response: It is impossible to put it in words!

Comment: What we see now is all being filmed: how they kill and how brutally they do it all. They came to kill us, and it feels like they are animals.

My Response: Yes, of course, they are animals. They have been prepared for this, and they are fulfilling their “national duty.” That is what they think.

Question: That is, for the other side they are heroes?

Answer: Yes, definitely!

Comment: For all of them.

My Response: For everyone.

Question: Is it possible to kill and be considered a hero?

Answer: Absolutely all residents of Gaza are prepared to kill and in general sweep Israel away from its place.

Comment: And not just kill—kill like that! Just like that in a totally merciless way.

My Response: They do not consider it at all.

Comment: There are such ruthless, cold beings demanding our destruction in front of us.

My Response: Animals.

Question: Animals. Then what should our attitude be? What should we do? Now we understand this. What should we do?

Answer: We must totally destroy this territory because it will remain the source of all problems. There is nothing to be done about it!

Question: You said “destroy this territory.” What do you mean?

Answer: I mean that the several million people living in this territory simply need to be resettled. Not to allow this territory called Gaza to exist anymore. To keep such a flammable, explosive mixture at your side, and to provide for it, and to feed it above all. There is no such thing anywhere, and it is not acceptable anywhere.

Comment: If we leave it as it is and play our game again somehow…

My Response: Nothing will help, and in the future we will have to deal with this on an even larger scale.

Question: And what is going on in the north! There we have Nasrallah, Hezbollah, and Iran. What can we do with all this, with these instigators?

Answer: There is only one thing that can be done about all this—we Israelis need peace, unity, and understanding among ourselves, and then we will not have any problems with our neighbors. In general, all the problems in the world will disappear.

Question: Does it mean that you see this basis of everything to such an extent?

Answer: I am constantly talking and warning about this. Personally, I believe that this is the only way to deal with it.

The reason is that Israel exists within such a framework, under such terrible pressure from the outside world in relation to the fact that we are not bestowing to the world what we should bestow.

We must bring the world an example of unity between us in the first place. And if we choose all kinds of mutual hatred, internal demonstrations and other things happening with us, if we, in principle, are ready to kill each other internally, then naturally we will see a reflection of these relationships from the outside.

Our internal hatred, which flared up before the war, led to this war and to the way our enemies behave with us.

Question: To this ruthlessness toward us?

Answer: Yes. In principle, they are not enemies. We set them up this way through our attitude toward each other. So we do not need to talk much here. We only need to convince ourselves that we must love each other and then everything in the world will calm down, and there will not be a single person nor a single nation that would be against us.

Comment: Today the world sees these horrors, and all this is posted on the internet. These images are being sent everywhere, and yet I am sure it will not be long before everything is erased from the world’s memory.

My Response: If we forget about this within Israel, then we will have to feel how it is to be reminded of this again.

Question: So we should not forget about this?

Answer: Not only not to forget, we must correct it completely.

Comment: For this we must understand the basis of everything you are talking about.

My Response: The basis of everything is our hatred of each other.

Question: The question is whether we should rely only on ourselves or whether we should rely on some kind of help and regret on the part of the world? What should our attitude be?

Answer: We must not rely on anyone! Only on ourselves and on the Creator! Only in this case can we see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Question: In 1973 there were regular armies standing in front of us. They say that what is happening now is similar to the Yom Kippur war 50 years ago. By the way, it started almost the same day.

Then entire armies opposed us, but we won. Now these are terrorists who have entered our land. What has changed in us since then?

Answer: We neglected the opportunity to unite, to build ourselves, to build a normal state and a normal society. Everyone thinks about themselves. Everyone wants to have more and better than their neighbor. This is the difference between us today and what used to be before.

I do not think that everything is lost, but the point is whether we have achieved the kind of connection between us that will give us a feeling of the right attitude toward each other and security—that we are a single people and not one that is divided and is simply breaking into many different pieces.

Question: Can we say that at that time we were still, as it were, children of kibbutzniks—was there such a state then? And today are we already children of rich parents?

Answer: Yes, definitely!

Question: Terrorists easily penetrated the security structures on the border with Gaza. We built this wall, invested a billion dollars, and installed cameras and sensors.

In the end none of this worked, and there are a lot of questions about this both on the Internet and in interviews with people. How could this happen?! How could our intelligence forces, which are considered the best intelligence forces in the world, miss all this?

Why was the army so slow? Only six hours later, as it was reported, they entered the kibbutzim, and began some kind of action. For six hours people stayed there, hid, and locked themselves in their houses.

Where does all this come from? How could intelligence screw this up? Tell me, please, even in just an earthly way.

Answer: A war begins when it is clear that we do not know how to defend ourselves, that we have lost our strength. Then enemies begin the war.

Question: That is, then intelligence and vigilance are put to sleep, and war begins?

Answer: Yes, it is already coming from above. It is our problem, and there is a big showdown ahead. Unless it makes it still worse for us. Our internal enemies will dance on the ashes.

Question: Do you want to say that in this matter the Creator is, as it were, against us?

Answer: Of course, the Creator is against us. This is what the Torah says. If we are not united between us, then we are absolutely naked in front of the enemy, he will do whatever he wants with us, and the Creator will guide him. He will lead us to the next correct state not through ourselves, but through our enemies.

The fact is that almost everything we are doing does not bring us anything. We can create a fence only from our unity. Of course, I am not in favor of not building fences, but they are castles in the air. This does not help us at all. Neither intelligence nor the army, nothing can replace the nation’s unification. If this unification does not exist, the nation is naked. It faces its enemies without a weapon in its hands, without an ounce of courage or intention to hold on.

Question: What will happen to us? How do we build a real, warm, and safe world?

Answer: It all depends on how those several million Jews who live here can build themselves into a correct society. This is what the Torah says. I have been convinced of this for decades.

Question: So you cannot be moved! How can one hear this in this case? Should we expect more and more blows, or can we draw a conclusion from this? Such a thing has practically never happened to us, even during the Yom Kippur war.

Answer: Of course. Each subsequent war will be even worse. It will be even worse because, in principle, all this is happening to us in order to teach us how to live among ourselves. And this will give the world a new path of development.
[319039]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 10/9/23

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“Together We Will Prevail” (Times of Israel)

Michael Laitman, on the Times of Israel: “Together We Will Prevail”
The international support that Israel is receiving in this terrible war, including aircraft carriers from the Americans as deterrence and backup, provides Israelis with a sense of reinforcement and protection. However, we must not forget that no amount of preparation and weapons can replace the connection between us: our primary shield against all threats.

It is our division that fuels, emboldens, and strengthens our enemies. The more divided we are, the more determined our enemies are to destroy us. If we take the initiative and strive to build a cohesive society here in Israel not only at times of national anguish, we will have permanent security and peace, since they depend above all on our unity.

The relationship that exists between us should give us the confidence that we are one people who always remain connected despite our differences. Where the opposite situation exists is where the war begins. When it is clear to our enemy that we are not united enough to defend ourselves, the fences that are supposed to protect us are easily breached.

We must eradicate the enemies who want separation between us: both the external enemies and internal enemies. The external enemies are the terrorists from whom we have the right to protect ourselves, and our internal enemies, which we also need to annihilate, are the negative and harmful thoughts, intentions, and desires which divide us and cause mutual rejection.

Therefore, military measures aside, our first and foremost effort must be to unite our ranks and create an unwavering force between us; otherwise, every other war will be worse and more painful than the previous one. History has provided us with living proof that if we do not connect as one, our existence will have no meaning and we will remain forever as a persecuted people.

Our greatest challenge is to build a solid force field of connection, a sense of unity that will remain in times of peace, and not only as a comfort or as support in times of war. It is vital that we achieve this. Unity is our shield at all times, and the lack thereof brings trouble upon us. It is written in the book Shem MiShmuel, “When Israel’s unity is restored, evil will have no place in which to install error and external forces within them, for when they are as one man with one heart, they are as a fortified wall against the forces of evil.”

The book Maor VaSehemesh echoes these words, saying, “The primary defense against calamity is love and unity. When there are love, unity, and friendship between one another in Israel, no calamity can befall them and by that, all the curses and suffering are banished.” We therefore see that unity is not just a shield we should only erect during times of trouble for the Jewish people; unity is our ultimate weapon for achieving success, prosperity, and safety always.

Before the destruction of the Temple, due to unfounded hatred, our forefathers developed a unique method of connection as the foundation of the people of Israel. Rather than suppressing one’s characteristics or viewpoints, they harnessed individual skills for the collective good, creating a society that upheld personal fulfillment while strengthening the social fabric.

In order for us to unite, we need not suppress or downplay our differences. What is required from us is to rise above all that separates us and to find a common ground. Today, the same simple-yet-effective method of connection that our forefathers perfected and committed to sharing with the nations of the world is imperative for us to implement for the sake of the survival of our society.
[319255]

Is It Worth Diving into the News?

504Question: I have a question about reading the news. I can skim through the headlines and feel one internal impact from it. I can also go deeper and after seeing some terrible things, my internal demand for correction naturally increases. Or I can generally isolate myself from everyone, not read the news, but focus, say, on working with the ten. Such inner sensitivity to what is happening seems to depend on me.

Depending on the extent I immerse myself in the news, I can sort of change my sensitivity. Where is the correct balance of the extent I should immerse myself in these things?

Answer: Immerse yourself in them as much as you can and by doing so direct yourself more precisely to the purpose of creation, which is to connect with the entire humanity and with the Creator into one whole.
[318965]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/11/23, “Growing Stronger in There Is None Else Besides Him”

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