A question I received: On one hand, we say that the whole world depends on my correction and I carry the burden of all the responsibility. On the other hand, my future depends on the others – I will not have a good life until everyone else is corrected. Thus, the responsibility lies upon others. Which of these two views is correct?

My Answer: Both are correct. This is the essence of a closed, interconnected system. It is much like a situation where your child can do anything he wants to you, influencing you through his feelings, health, and mood.

By acquiring love for others, you become their slave. Love makes you a slave. You may object, “This doesn’t sound like freedom at all.” But it is: being dependent on everyone else frees you from yourself. You then think only about their desires. This is spirituality, the world to come, and true freedom.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Nature Has Set a New Condition for Our Well-Being
Laitman.com Post: For the First Time In History, We Have the Conditions to Realize Our Freedom of Will
Rabash Article: What Does “Love Thy Friend as Thyself” Give Us?
Interview with the Future: “Correcting Myself – Correcting the World”
Baal HaSulam Article: “The Love for the Creator & Love for the Created Beings”

Filed under: Spirituality - No Comments →

When Kabbalah’s idea will come to life, the process will unfold of its own accord; people will simply begin to understand everything and to act accordingly. Everything will advance forward, as if humanity is being sucked into a “spiritual vortex.” The idea of restoring and correcting the single human body, Adam, will slowly become a reality.

Prominent people the world over will begin to talk about this and to take this idea further. They will create various committees and forums, and all the media channels will talk about it. Everyone will see that the world is globally interconnected. The idea will simply come to them and they will know how to use it.

It can happen very quickly: in just one day, people all over the world may awaken. Organizations as big as the UN, UNESCO and the World Bank will accept this idea and begin the process of rearranging their relationships. The financiers, politicians, and G20 leaders will begin to see this clearly, and will come together to discuss it.

The method we always talk about in Kabbalah will surface within them. This will happen simply because we’ve worked on it. And the world will then implement this idea – people will begin to aspire to the Creator in the right way. They will already know how to proceed, and will recognize that the path lies in unity among people. The people will know what to do because they will know how to unite with one another.

As soon as the world will begin to understand and desire this idea, everything in the world will change in an instant. It’s not necessary to take any practical measures, because we are dealing with people’s desires and intentions, which are immediately expressed and realized. When the interpersonal relationships will begin to follow this method, suddenly everything will begin to work. Nature will be kind to people, and everyone will shift to a good, correct and peaceful path of development.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: A Global World Is a World of Love
Laitman.com Post: The Solution to the Global Crisis Cannot Be Found Without Kabbalah
Laitman.com Post: The Reality We Feel Is Like a Dream
Kabbalah for Beginners: Part II: Chapter 4 – “Mending Adam to Achieve Perfection”

Filed under: Unity - No Comments →

Two questions I received about physical observances and Kabbalah:

Question: If a person who studies Kabbalah is not religious or Jewish, does he have to follow the example set by you and the great Kabbalists to grow a beard and dress accordingly?

My Answer: Definitely not. I need my “getup” in order to be recognized as a man who has received Kabbalah from the lineage of Kabbalists, because they all looked like this (and they were much more orthodox than me, by the way). But when you separate from the external world, your external appearance and clothing do not matter one bit. Besides, Kabbalists looked pretty different three thousand years ago!

Question: You say that by studying Kabbalah, I can ascend to the level of double concealment, then single concealment, and then cross the Machsom and attain revelation. Then is it true that I am not required to observe the commandments physically?

My Answer: Physical observance forms a framework for living in our world, but it is not mandatory for correcting our souls.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Improve the Quality of Your Life
Laitman.com Post: Everyday Life Provides Us With Opportunities to Ascend In Spirituality
Laitman.com Post: How Does a Kabbalist Organize His Day?

Filed under: Q&A - No Comments →

Two questions I received about religion:

Question (in response to the post, Why Religion Is Against Kabbalah): This is exactly why I left Christianity! I strongly disliked how belonging to one religion automatically excludes others. I’m so happy to have found Kabbalah! I didn’t know there was something out there that emphasized unity. But what about Judaism? Judaism does not try to convert people of other faiths and does not seem to “hate” the other religions.

My Answer: Kabbalah is the method of correcting man, making him similar to the Creator by obtaining the quality of bestowal and love. This has absolutely no relation to any religion. It is for everyone and does not entail any obligations, restrictions, observance of religious rituals, and so on.

Question: In some spiritual writings, religion is described in a positive way. In others, religion is not recommended as a path to enlightenment. Is religion better for some people than others? Is religion good or bad?

My Answer: Religion is useful only during the period of the Creator’s concealment. But even then, it is only good for confining people’s egoism. In our generation, religion is being replaced by Kabbalah, and will remain only as a social, cultural framework.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Religion Is Just a Cultural Framework In Our World
Laitman.com Post: New Study Says We Are Born Believers
Baal HaSulam Article: “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

Filed under: Religion - No Comments →

Questions I received on our lecture series, symbols used in weddings, and names:

Question: I listened to a lecture series you gave on the “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah.” The last lesson, given on 11.21.08, ended with Item 121. Will you continue giving lectures on this topic?

My Answer: The regular study of the “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah” ends there because from that point on, it is better to continue studying Kabbalah using the book, Talmud Eser Sefirot. The material becomes extremely dense at that point – you can check this for yourself. In addition, this was my teacher’s custom.

Question: Please explain the Kabbalistic meaning of the symbols used in the Jewish wedding ritual: the Huppah (wedding canopy), the glass of wine, the ring, the money for the ring and the bride, the breaking of the glass, the Ketuba (marriage contract), and so on.

My Answer: These are all symbolic of the unification of the desire (vessel) with the right intention (screen) for the reception of Light (adhesion with the Creator). The Huppah is the screen, the wine is the Light of Hochma, the ring and the money is the effort to create a screen, the bride is the desire, the Ketuba is the condition for adhesion, and the breaking of the vessel or glass signify that the correction and unification begin with the revelation of the broken, egoistic desires. And the entire family life is the correction of the vessel.

Question: You wrote that the Torah contains all the names that have spiritual roots, that these are all names of spiritual forces, whether holy or evil ones. Out of these names, we should choose the “holy” ones to name our children. How do I know which names are holy?

My Answer: Use the names that have been given to children throughout the centuries.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Crisis Will Erase the War of the Sexes
Kabbalah Today Article: What’s In a Name?
A Guide to the Hidden Wisdom of Kabbalah: “Discover Your Root, Discover Your Name”
The Book of Zohar: “The Night of the Bride”

Filed under: Q&A - No Comments →

A question I received: It’s possible that the Jews were the chosen people at one point, but I doubt this is still so. How are the Jews any better or worse than the other nations? This kind of thinking would be a display of egoism, wouldn’t it? Sure, you can quote the Torah, but the Torah also says that the Arabs were chosen by G-d, and G-d also promised to multiply them as the stars in the sky and put them above other nations. And we do see that they have multiplied as the stars and they also own oil.

My Answer: To be chosen means to be responsible for passing onto the world the method of the world’s correction – the science of Kabbalah. It does not mean to be superior to anyone. See Baal HaSulam’s articles, “The Revelation of Godliness (Matan Torah)” and “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee).”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: We’re All Children of the Creator
Laitman.com Post: My First Book In Arabic
Laitman.com Post: Anyone Who Aspires to the Creator Can Become Israel
Interview with the Future: Part 2 Realizing the Choice – A Chosen People

Filed under: Israel - No Comments →

A question I received: Can a person who isn’t Jewish acquire a soul? According to Kabbalists like Rabbi Hiya, the soul (Neshama) can only be acquired by a person who observes the Torah.

My Answer: Of course, Rabbi Hiya is right. Every person who aspires to the Creator is called Israel. Every person who corrects his egoism according to the condition, “I created egoism and the Torah for its correction,” is considered a person who observes the Torah and the 613 commandments (he corrects the 613 desires of the soul). He then receives the Upper Light, the revelation of the Creator, inside his corrected desires, called the soul.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Everyone Is Jewish
Laitman.com Post: Anyone Who Aspires to the Creator Can Become Israel
Lesson on Article: “One Law”
Baal HaSulam Article: “The Teaching of the Kabbalah and Its Essence”

Filed under: Body and Soul, Spirituality - 1 Comment →

Questions I received about loving one’s neighbor:

Question: You say that it is possible to love others as you love yourself. I want this very much. Please tell me, is there someone who could pray for his friend with all his heart, so that the friend would love his friend as a mother loves her son?

My Answer: This has to be your own prayer, because your request – provided it is complete – will surely evoke the Upper Light, which will correct you and give you this quality.

Question: We know how to “love” for the purpose of receiving love in return. But what is it to “love your neighbor as yourself?” How is this love different from the egoistic “love?” We do not know this “Supreme Love.” How are we supposed to implement it in our daily life?

My Answer: The study of Kabbalah involves all the actions that attract the next, more advanced state (these actions include the studies, unification in the group, and dissemination). Otherwise we are pushed toward the same state by suffering. Our task is to aspire to this state before the suffering will push us from behind and make us aspire toward the next level just to avoid the suffering.

So, only the force that attracts us to the next state, called the Upper Light (Ohr Makif), is able to “explain” to us what is “genuine love” – love for someone other than yourself.

Question: What if my neighbor is not nice to me, and is mean? How do I rise above this and love my neighbor?

My Answer: You will do this for the sake of the Creator if He is more important to you than yourself. And this importance of the Creator has to come to you from your environment.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: What Is a True Prayer?
Laitman.com Post: Babies – Physical and Spiritual
Laitman.com Post: Overcome Yourself by Raising the Importance of the Goal
Article: Love for the Creator and Love for the Created Beings
The Open Book: “Freedom of Choice”

Filed under: Love, The Creator - No Comments →

A question I received: Do you ask yourself why women ask you the same question all the time? The answer is: because you don’t give them the answer. You don’t give the answer for the individual spiritual advancement of the women. When women ask you about this, you start a long speech about the men’s part, the group, the women’s role in the world Kli, and so on, avoiding saying how women can make spiritual advancement individually. Today at the morning lesson you gave a very perplexing explanation, ending with the frightening words, “if a woman advances in spirituality alone, she will get the form of an angel or demon.” So I have the feeling that you are avoiding telling us something.

My Answer: I have nothing else to say: a woman does not wish to hear the answer because it does not make her the same as a man. She cannot sit next to the men and study together with them at night, hug them, drink and sing with them, and so on, because she is a woman, and I cannot change that. I do provide the method of individual correction, but it is not what women desire; instead, they want to be “like men.” That is their tragedy.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Woman = Desire
Laitman.com Post: What Should Women Strive For?
Article: “Conditions for Women’s Spiritual Advancement”
Article: “Man and Woman”

Filed under: Women - 8 Comments →

Questions I received about the relationship between spiritual correction and corporeal commandments:

Question: How does one receive the Light or the screen?

My Answer: This can be achieved only by studying Kabbalah – see Item 155 of the “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot.”

Question cont’d: Does one have to observe the 613 (or 620) commandments?

My Answer: One observes the 613 commandments when he corrects his 613 desires by the Upper Light during Kabbalah studies. However, mechanical actions do not correct anything!

Question cont’d: Does putting on the Tefillin and saying the Shema prayer also play a role in receiving the Light?

My Answer: No.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Preface to the Science of Kabbalah. Items 13-16
Laitman.com Post: Spirituality Lies Beyond Our World (Advanced)
Laitman.com Post: The Difference Between Spiritual Correction and Ritual Observance
A Guide to the Hidden Wisdom of Kabbalah: “The Screen (and the Unlikely Example)”

Filed under: Religion - 1 Comment →