A question I received: I am discovering that people don’t understand what it means to “treat others well.” No one feels like they are doing anything wrong. Everyone says, “I treat everyone well. I have a family, and I treat them well. And I don’t lie or steal from anyone.” They don’t understand that they need correction.

My Answer: The crisis will gradually bring us to the understanding of what it really means to treat others well. It is when I make sure that everyone else has what is necessary. This is called treating others well. I repeat: I am concerned only with what is necessary for them! And in addition, I have to concerned with attaining adhesion with the Creator, together with everyone. This will be revealed in the world absolutely clearly.

The wave of the crisis will wash away all the nonsense in the world. This will begin to be revealed very soon and very rapidly. Never before has humanity and the world been in a situation like this. You will see how, with the aid of various outside forces and means, people will wish to free themselves of all excesses because they’ll feel that this gets in their way and deprives them of something. Eventually, people of power and influence will feel embarrassed of their power and financial strength. They will reveal that these phenomena are harmful and negative, and society will hold them in low esteem, even despise them.
(From the lesson based on Baal HaSulam’s article, “One Precept,” on 03.05.2009)

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A question I received: Many economists and leaders, particularly Gordon Brown, are talking about the need for unity. Why doesn’t nature lead him and other leaders in the right direction?

My Answer: Why can’t they discover the science of Kabbalah? It is written, “The hearts of the kings and rulers are in the Creator’s hands.” They find themselves in a shameful position before the whole world because they cannot find a way out of the present economic and industrial situation. For the first time in human history, a situation has come about where humanity is standing face to face against Nature, and Nature is doing anything It wishes to people. And for the first time in history, everyone is throwing up their hands in despair, not even the smartest, bravest, and most confident people are able to do anything about it.

They are bewildered, like children who have lost their mom. People have never experienced this before. Egoism has always won; it was always in control and attained new achievements. However, today we are not driven by egoism anymore. We are now finding that nothing can be achieved through egoism. On the contrary, egoism brings on a disaster that humanity has never before experienced: it elicits blows, similar to the Egyptian plagues.

Therefore, the leaders are incapable of doing anything – they are in the position of the miserable Pharaoh! Everyone understands that egoism is evil, but what next? There is only one solution: to get Kabbalah’s message across to every person as quickly as possible and in the simplest, most positive form! It is worthwhile to try and deliver this method to G20 before the summit begins. Then, the world might have a chance.
(From the lesson on Baal HaSulam’s article, “One Precept”, on 03.08.2009)

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Two questions I received on the study of spiritual texts:

Question: Can your teaching replace the study of Gemara? What is the connection between Gemara and the science of Kabbalah?

My Answer: Gemara is the continuation of the Mishna. Both are part of the Babylonian Talmud. All of these texts speak about the Creator and the creation, creation’s correction and attainment of the goal – similarity to the Creator. Other than this, there is nothing for a person to do in this world; it is the reason why he is here.

In order to explain this, Kabbalists used four languages: Tanach, Alachot, Agadot, and the language of Kabbalah. The language of Kabbalah is the most precise, and therefore it’s the one Kabbalists use most. Only occasionally do they resort to other languages. All of these texts speak only about the Creator’s actions. This is why these books are called “holy.” See Baal HaSulam’s article, “The Teaching of Kabbalah and Its Essence,” the section, “Four Languages are Used in the Wisdom of Truth,” and my article, “The Language of Kabbalah,” the section, “Four Languages.”

Question: After listening to your lessons for a long time, I finally reached the conclusion that you repeat the same thing over and over, just phrasing it differently. Do you do this intentionally, or is it just more convenient and acceptable for you not to reveal new things from the primary sources? For example, I have never heard you try to reveal new aspects of the Mikra (one of the Biblical primary sources). But you are a Kabbalist and should therefore see the inner meaning in these writings.

My Answer: At our lessons, we follow a certain program, just like Rabash‘s students did. You can verify this with any of his students. I also discuss the weekly chapters of the Torah on my TV shows. All of these programs are available on the Internet.

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A question I received: The  G-20 summit reminds me of the famous story when the residents of a Kibbutz prayed for rain in the middle of the desert. Is this a good comparison?

My Answer: You’re saying that the Kibbutz members prayed for rain from the bottom of their hearts, and the rain finally came, and so if the G-20 and all of humanity in general will wish for goodness, will it come? Well, the people who lived in the Kibbutz were already united! They were willing to sacrifice their egoism in regard to each other and to annul themselves in regard to the Kibbutz. They had a common desire, a prayer that came from their unification, and this is why it came true.

But what unification do you have here? On one hand, we can say that people are united by a common problem, like nuts in a sac. However, this is not enough, because what’s required is true unification. It won’t help to just try and escape the woes. This will not redirect people toward goodness. They can be directed to goodness only under the condition that they understand how to create this goodness.

In essence, the question is: can humanity find the path to a happy future naturally, without the science of Kabbalah? The answer is: no, it cannot, because it does not have the Force that’s capable of uniting egoists. They don’t have the channel that draws the Upper Light, which can fill the vacuum between egoists and “glue” them together. What’s necessary is a connection with the Upper Force; this is why the science of Kabbalah was revealed in Ancient Babylon and why it is now coming back.

(From the lesson on Baal HaSulam’s article, “One Precept” on 03.08.2009)

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A question I received: Do the mass media and our culture have to change?

My Answer: Definitely. In fact, this is the most important thing. The mass media must serve as a global education system, explaining the essence of the globalization process. This should be their primary responsibility.

All the sources of communication and all the channels supplying people with information should spend 24 hours a day giving people the knowledge of how to organize life under the new conditions. And in truth, this is the only thing people want to hear because everything around them is falling apart and this knowledge gives them the only thing that can save them.

If millions of people begin to think about this, then this thought will be prevalent everywhere. After all, there is no distance for thoughts, so whatever people think about in one place becomes instantly expressed in other places. The power of thought of millions of people is enormous, and it can make everything become revealed at lightning speed. As a result, the correction will happen much faster than the corruption. While the process of the fall of the generations took place over millennia, the correction can happen in just a few months.

Kabbalah explains the process of our development. No one goes through this process by their own will; everyone is forced to participate by the pressure of the circumstances. No one asks our consent to participate in this process, because egoists would never agree to give something up and unite.

However, people will be able to do this because they desire to get rid of their troubles! And they need to know that there is no other solution. The explanation must be based on evidence taken from nature and science and it must cite the opinions of scientists and specialists in the field of economics and finance. Then people will become convinced that there is no choice but to unite in the global world, which is dominated by the “butterfly effect.”

There is no other choice – we will have to do this! What else is left for us to do, if this is what Nature demands? We can either die or live – the choice is ours!
(From the lesson on Baal HaSulam’s article, “One Precept,” on 03.08.2009)

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In the News (from The Financial Times): “How science can prevent the next bubble” There have been many calls for building a financial forecasting service. The proposal is to set up an independent agency, making full use of the internet and grid computing to provide enough warning when the next financial storm is brewing. We need to dig deeper and track the complexity of interactions in financial markets by collecting and analyzing the tick-by-tick data that markets spew out. This will offer an early warning of dangerous misalignments between prices and risk premiums.

My Comment: People still do not understand that the root of the crisis is our incorrect, individualistic, egoistic behavior in a world that’s global, integral, unified and completely interdependent. It won’t help us to have more knowledge about what is happening, because it is we who must become equivalent to the world in which we live.

The world began to be what it is today nearly a hundred years ago. In fact, 70 years ago Baal HaSulam wrote that humanity had already become one family. Today, just like we teach our children how to live in this world, we too have to learn how to live in the new conditions of total interdependence with each other.

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A question I received: In the article, “What Is Half a Shekel In the Work,” Rabash states, “If a person prays, even without understanding the meaning of the words, simply pronouncing what is written in the prayer book established by the Sages, saying these words while drawing nearer to the Creator, it is irrelevant if he knows what he is saying or not…”

Also, Baal HaSulam says in Item 155 of the “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot,” “…even if a person does not understand what he learns, his yearning to understand draws upon him the Light of Correction.”

It follows that praying using the Prayer Book has great spiritual value, and what some say, that it is just words and tradition, is not really the case. What is your opinion about this?

My Answer: By “some,” you mean me. Yes, I do say so. Here’s why: The result of the reading depends on the reader, not on the text or its author.

Baal HaSulam says in Item 147 of the “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot,” “There is no difference between the Torah of the world of Atzilut and the Torah of this world, meaning, between the wisdom of Kabbalah and the revealed Torah. Instead, the only difference is in the person who engages in the study of the Torah. Two may study the Torah, the same text and the same words, but one will perceive it as the wisdom of Kabbalah and the Torah of Atzilut, while for the other it will be the revealed Torah [of Assiya].”

Of course, the Prayer Book was compiled by the Members of the Great Assembly – the Great Kabbalists who lived 2000 years ago. If you read it in order to connect with the Creator, then you will draw the Light from the Source, of which the Prayer Book speaks. The same occurs when you study the Talmud Eser Sefirot. However, if one does not think about this because one does not have a desire to reveal the Creator, then regardless of what one reads – whether the Talmud Eser Sefirot or the Prayer Book, will give him any result.

If you want to understand what the Prayer Book is talking about, then you should use the Prayer Book of Rashash. There you will find the meaning of the prayers presented in the Kabbalistic symbols – as adherence of the corrected desire (soul) to the Creator through the system of the spiritual worlds. The same thing is discussed in Tamud Eser Sefirot and, generally, in all the Holy Books. They all speak about one’s connection with the Creator, His revelation to a person.

To pray means to reveal the Creator, the quality of bestowal and love inside you. All other prayers are egoistic and therefore, do not attract the Upper Light. They only have a psychological effect on the person who prays.

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Here is letter I received from Dr. Angelov from Boston, USA (a doctor and a member of Bnei Baruch), providing an answer to the following question:

Is it possible to eliminate the illnesses that afflict us?

In order to answer this question, let’s first clear up what an illness really is. There is a sequence of cause-and-effect, going from the illness’s source to its expressions or symptoms. What do I mean? Our thoughts, which are disharmonious with nature, affect the central nervous system, which in turn affects the peripheral nervous system, which leads to a dysfunction in the cells. As a result, the cells function in opposition to the laws of nature, and this leads to the illness known as cancer. We say that the cause is stress, but in fact, the cause is the lack of harmony in our lives.

As soon as we’ll understand the laws of nature and begin following them, there will be no more reason for illnesses to emerge. We will then live in peace and happiness, without any illnesses or doctors.

What is a doctor, anyway? In Latin, Doctor means “teacher.” So, a doctor is someone who should teach people how to live without illnesses! How different is this definition from our present, egoistic medical system!?

We can learn the main law of nature from our cells: a healthy cell receives just the bare necessities, whatever is required for its livelihood, and gives to other cells as much as it can, taking care of the entire organism. The opposite of this is cancer, because a cell begins to live at the expense of other cells, killing the entire organism and consequently, dying itself.

The same thing happens in our society: we try to rise above others and we consume more in order to accomplish this. However, every illness has a “period of concealment,” when the illness is not clearly apparent yet. And when the crisis hits, the symptoms are already manifested very clearly; the society already has the cancer!

We must think about this. I am a doctor, and I would like to replace useless treatment with education, in order for everyone to be healthy and happy. What do you think?

My Comment: Baal HaSulam writes in the “Introduction to the Book of Zohar“:

As soon as egoism will disappear from the world, so will the causes of all the illnesses, as they are generated by it.

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The weekly virtual lesson, held on 03.08.09 from 4:00pm to 5:00pm Israel time, was the third lesson on Baal HaSulam’s article, “Inner Contemplation,” from part 1 of Talmud Eser Sefirot.

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A question I received: You talk about the Creator as if He is Nature, executing Its laws silently and relentlessly. Nature is Elokim, the forces or angels governing our world. However, the Creator is something much higher; He has personality and a will. He is the one with whom we are trying to gain equivalence of form. Man was created in the Creator’s image and likeness. Isn’t this so?

My Answer: I do not want to go into disputes because words will only obscure the meaning. Instead, I would like you to read what Baal HaSulam wrote in the article, “The Peace”:

It is best for us to meet halfway and accept the words of the Kabbalists, that nature (Teva) has the same numerical value (in Hebrew) as the word God (Elokim) – eighty six. Then I’ll be able to call the laws of God the commandments of nature and vice-versa, for they are one and the same, and we need discuss it no further.

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