A question I received: When a person is intensely involved in correction through the method of Kabbalah, he can’t devote a lot of time to his family, children and their upbringing. So how does a child receive all that’s necessary from his or her father? How can I help my wife overcome her fear and accept that it’s necessary for her husband to dedicate most of his free time to spiritual development rather than the family?

My Answer: In the modern world, one shouldn’t complain about the fact that a Kabbalist can’t devote a lot of time to his wife and family, because he’s working to provide for them materially, and studying to provide for them spiritually. The wife receives her husband’s earnings in both respects.

Those working in the high-tech industry today are just as busy. Besides, children learn from the examples set by the adults, so it doesn’t matter how many hours you spend with them. A child feels what is most important to you in life and this is what he absorbs.

As for your wife, the more time you devote to her, the worse she will feel. You have to understand human nature. Chances are, the problem is that you simply don’t understand the purpose of studying Kabbalah. My advice to you is: instead of resisting it, think about the necessity and the benefit of spiritual studies.

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Questions I received on negative experiences along the path:

Question: I often feel as though I was doing better with confidence and connecting with the Creator before I studied Kabbalah – back then I relied on my instincts and followed my gut, and it worked. When I look back, I was doing the “right” things. Now, I analyze things more and find myself more critical than in the past. Please help. Is this part of the process? I feel I need to find more of a balance.

My Answer: You will find information about this in many articles: you are being taken out of your confidence and balance on purpose, in order to reach a need for the Creator’s revelation. See the article, “There is None Else Beside Him.”

Question: One moment I am joyful and the second I feel pain and sorrow. And I feel a burden on my back due to the responsibility I have as a member of the group towards the group and the whole world. What can I do to lessen this pain?

My Answer: Don’t forget that this feeling is awakened in you by the Creator in order to direct you toward correction.

Question: Is it normal that while studying Kabbalah, sometimes I feel hatred toward what I am studying?

My Answer: Sometimes this happens, and it is natural because you are studying how to hate your present qualities. Hence, as an egoist, you begin to hate Kabbalah and myself, who tells you about this.

Question: Massive layoffs are expected due to the global financial crisis. However, in the Bnei Baruch group, if a person wants to study, he has to work. If a student gets fired and is unable to find a new job, will he have to leave the group and completely devote himself to finding a job?

My Answer: No, but he is obligated to devote some amount of time to job hunting. Or, if he receives unemployment aid, like everyone else, then he should spend all day working at Bnei Baruch on materials for dissemination. This way he will be of benefit to people.

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News Report (from BBC): The past year has been one of the most devastating ever in terms of natural disasters, one of the world’s biggest re-insurance companies has said. Munich Re said the impact of the disasters was greater than in 2007 in both human and economic terms. The company suggested climate change was boosting the destructive power of disasters like hurricanes and flooding. Munich Re quoted World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) figures showing that 2008 was the 10th warmest year since reliable records began, meaning that the 10 warmest years on record all occurred in the past 12 years.

My Comment: We are about to face all the consequences of the melting glaciers and other phenomena, since we have already passed “the point of no return.” However, if we correct our relationships on a higher level, this will also influence the lower level – the climate. This is because the whole natural balance was disrupted due to the human relationships. It is difficult to accept this position, but the revelation of the crisis in economics, industry, and security will force us to correct ourselves, to become a single organism – and along with our correction we will find that balance will be restored in all of nature.

News Report (from USA Today): Hit by extreme weather and operational glitches, U.S. airlines canceled nearly 9,000 flights, disrupting more than 1 million passengers’ plans in the first half of the holiday travel period, according to a report Monday. The number of cancellations from Friday, Dec. 19, through Sunday jumped 70% from last year, says FlightStats, a Portland, Ore., firm.

My Comment: This can happen anywhere in the world. Our spiritual opposition to nature will be revealed on all the lower levels. We can save ourselves from the threatening consequences of this only by reaching balance, harmony, and complete interconnection with Nature. The global interconnection will force us to become a harmonious part of this picture. We were obligated to pass the point of no return, and there’s no sense grieving over this. Precisely the impossibility of returning to the “sweet” world of the past will enable us to make the decision to change ourselves – the only parameter in this system that we can change.

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A question I received: I just read how you were able to defend your dissertation on Kabbalah by writing against something you believe, which is an interesting strategy. I am pursuing my PhD in Education at Walden University and after four years now, I have finally come in contact with a mentor who understands my goal in obtaining this doctoral; I can now approach my research in Education by designing a program of “Metaphysical Education: an Emphasis on Kabbalah Studies.” It is good to know you are so willing to assist those of us on this educational attainment path and should I need your help, I hope you will be there for assistance as well. I must say, your books, the articles, website links, etc., are a tremendous help.

My Answer: In this case, the goal justifies the means. The PhD title gives one the opportunity to give lectures at universities about authentic Kabbalah.

It also took me a long time to find someone who would supervise my dissertation, and I still had to “fix” things according to his instructions. It’s possible that you will also have to make certain “corrections” that your academic director will insist on. But there’s no sense prolonging it, since the dissertation materials will be buried in an archive anyway. Kabbalah is probably the only field where the student pursuing a degree may understand more than his academic director.

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Two questions I received on conversion to Judaism:

Question: Why would you say that Rabbi Akiva was not Jewish? How carried away can you get? He was 100% Jewish! I guess tomorrow Rav Ashlag will also be called non-Jewish!

My Answer: First of all, this doesn’t matter at all in relation to the Torah. We are all Babylonians by origin. The Jews started calling themselves differently because they differed from other people in that they based their lives on the law, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” This is what is now required from the whole of humanity, including the Jews, who have fallen from the level of following this rule.

I heard my teacher explain Rabbi Akiva’s origin. You can also go to Google.com, type in the words “Akiva proselyte” and read what it says. Please verify your knowledge. And you shouldn’t get so offended: it’s an honor to be a proselyte! After all, it’s an indication that a person went through correction. I wish for all of us to become proselytes as defined in the Torah! The Torah repeatedly states, “Love a proselyte.”

Question: Upon reading the text, “The Last Generation,” I came once again upon the reference to Jews and Gentiles. I am the latter in the physical sense and have at times felt exclusion from Kabbalah because of this fact. But I have read with much interest other texts where the dynamic has been clearly explained in the spiritual realm: the term “Jew” pertaining to an individual with the point in the heart. However, I still seem to feel that there are two definitions in various texts, some referring to the physical and others referring to the non-physical. Any clarity would be greatly appreciated on what is the correct way to view these two terms.

My Answer: There is no such nationality or people as “Jews”! It’s because this “nation” emerged from Abraham’s students, according to their spiritual quality. Kabbalah explains that there are 70 spiritual roots of the nations of the world, but there is no separate spiritual root for the nation of Isra-El! And that’s because anyone who aspires to the Creator can become Israel. Here is what we have today:

• A genetic Jew must study and disseminate Kabbalah (see item 70 of the “Introduction to the Book of Zohar”).
• A spiritual Jew (Isra-El) is any person who aspires to reveal the Creator.

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A question I received: I am studying Kabbalah for 3 years and I have translated many writings from English to German. I also know almost all of your women’s lessons. But sometimes it happens to me that I still wonder why, for instance, the children’s lessons are made only by men (even if a woman appears, her role is played by a man), or why women are not allowed to read texts for audio material or translate your lessons simultaneously? All the Kabbalistic songs are sung only by men. Why are women excluded from participating at cultural evenings during Congresses? Is it really because men are distracted and cannot concentrate on the goal?

My Answer: The lessons are taught by men because Kabbalah in general is taught by men. As the method of correction, Kabbalah must come from men. Didn’t you study that Zeir Anpin corrects Malchut?! However, the translation of our lessons to Spanish, for example, is always done by a woman. Our TV shows also devote a lot of time to women and women participate in them. We welcome women’s participation anywhere possible. However, it doesn’t correspond to our inner work to have women speaking in front of men. We learn in Kabbalah that the female part (Malchut) receives from the male part (Zeir Anpin), but not vice-versa.

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News Report (translated from Welt Online): The financial crisis is depriving people of jobs, savings and homes. Meantime, religious institutions the world over are experiencing a surge of new believers. When a person experiences a deep shock, he opens his soul to God.

My Comment: The psychological support of “God, from Above” and the masses of people that believe in it, along with the chance to write off everything taking place as “God’s will,” have always been very appealing to people. However, people will go through this state and outgrow it, egoistically. They will then discover that they have to make their own actions, and then they’ll reveal their hatred for one another, which is killing humanity. They will stand face to face against it, and will clearly see that it is the main cause of this “life that’s worse than death.”

Appealing to God won’t help. Only when we recognize that it’s necessary to correct ourselves will we reveal that God doesn’t want our appeals about improving the world, but only our appeals for correction.

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News Report (from US News & World Report): A team at the Cleveland Clinic and Case Western Reserve University followed 1,000 seniors in three Florida retirement communities for up to 15 years. They found that women with higher levels of anxiety at the start of the study lived longer than others. In contrast to women, men with higher anxiety levels at the start of the study were more likely to die earlier, the researchers said. “Our research indicates that anxiety may have a protective effect on women…,” Dr. Jianping Zhang, of the department of psychiatry and psychology at the Cleveland Clinic, said in a prepared statement. “In contrast, increasing anxiety over time is more detrimental to men.”

My Comment: Well, this just goes to show who’s the stronger sex! And the reason for it all is that a woman is naturally closer to nature; she is Malchut – all of nature. A man, on the other hand, does not have strong roots in our world, because he has to master them through becoming similar to the Creator. Only then will he find his place and become strong – stronger than the woman. So it’s true what they say: Behind every successful man, there is a woman. This is absolutely true in the spiritual sense as well, where one’s “woman” is one’s corrected desire.

Question: What is your view about Hillary Clinton being expected to accept the position of Secretary of State in the Obama administration? A woman is a powerful force; could this be a positive move?

My Answer: In our time, when everyone is feeling empty and revealing the need for correction, perhaps this is best, since women are more cautious and realistic, less ambitious and closer to nature. However, on the whole, this is contrary to our spiritual nature, where a person begins by correcting the “man” within and only afterward – the “woman” within.

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News Report: (translated from life.pravda.com): The cause of the crisis according to the average citizen: The crisis is happening because people speculate and underestimate the value of honesty. Many products and services are not sold at their actual value. Moreover, many people think they are exempted from following the law. The authorities are lying to the people, and the people are lying to the authorities.

The solution to the crisis according to the average citizen: If we grow up (psychologically) and become responsible, if we understand the consequences of our actions, then there won’t be any crises. After all, the crisis only happened where there was greed, and where people’s desires, needs and wealth were excessive.

My Comment: It’s wonderful to see how quickly suffering elicits the correct thoughts in people. We were created as egoists – inside “the will to receive” – on purpose. When we don’t receive as much as we want, we feel suffering. Hence, egoism brings us to the correct solutions.

With a little more suffering, we will begin to reason correctly: we will realize that the answer isn’t to decrease our egoism, but to completely tear away from it, to ascend above it. And then people will suddenly discover that their opinion is already described in Kabbalah – the science about man’s correction.

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Two questions I received on development through Kabbalah:

Question: It says in a book by Rav Kook that there are two kinds of redemption: redemption that comes in due time (בעיתה – Beito), and redemption that comes in response to a person’s plea (אחישנה – Ahishena). Either way, redemption will come eventually. According to Kabbalah, we have to change from within, and then we’ll attain happiness. And by spreading the wisdom of Kabbalah, we will make everyone happy because they will receive the same Light. But then it would seem that Kabbalah contradicts the notion of the existence of time for correction.

Answer: You’ve mixed it all up! Kabbalah was given to us so that instead of progressing “in due time,” we will speed up time (progress through אחישנה – Ahishena). This means that we can develop without waiting for the suffering to come (without בעיתה- Beito).

Question: What do you mean by the point in the heart? Also, do you mean that fate – or circumstances in our life that might be difficult – push us to this point so we will discover our purpose?

Answer: Suffering and emptiness lead a person to the question about their meaning, cause and purpose. Gradually a person starts feeling that he needs to understand the cause of all that’s happening, and this feeling is a subconscious desire to reveal the Creator. A person then discovers the source of this knowledge (the books, group, and teacher), and reaches the goal.

The point in the heart is the desire to reveal the Creator, and Kabbalah is the method or means to reveal Him. The point in the heart is your soul’s initial desire, and your soul then begins to develop from this point. The point in the heart is similar to a seed: when it’s placed in the environment that’s right for its development (the group, books, and teacher), it begins to develop into a vessel of the soul – a desire in which a person begins to sense the Upper Force, the Creator.

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