Murphy’s Law: Murphy’s Law states that if something can go wrong, it will definitely go wrong. This law has many variations: If you drop a slice of bread, it’s sure to fall butter side down; the change in the cash register will always end just before it’s your turn; if you just washed your car, then it’ll start raining, and so on. People think that Murphy’s Law is nothing but folk wisdom, which ironically portrays our perception of the world. However, this law stems from real “wrong” things happening to real people.

The Law of the Torah: How do Kabbalists feel about the law that they discover? In my blog post “Klipot (Shells) – Harmful and Helpful (Advanced),” there is an explanation about the role of evil (Klipot), stating that everything takes place with the aim of bringing humankind to correction, either by way of good or evil, i.e. according to how one perceives good and evil. There’s just one force operating in nature, but it manifests in different ways depending on how we act. When we aim our actions at the goal of creation, this force helps us. On the contrary, when we aim our actions in opposition to those of this force, it holds us back.

Moreover, this force (of the Creator) that helps everyone who aims themselves at the goal of creation, also creates disturbances for them, which helps them develop by motivating them to move faster toward the goal. In Kabbalah, Murphy’s Law, the law on the level of our world, manifests as the law of the Upper World: “There is none else beside Him. He is good and does good!”

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A question I received: What should I do if my wife is completely against Kabbalah and constantly blames all of our disagreements on Kabbalah? I’m totally dedicated to Kabbalah and I only want spirituality. I’m actually considering leaving my family, even though it’ll cause me and my children pain. Why is the Creator arranging things like this? Should I leave her and start a new family? I was into mysticism when I first met her, but that’s all behind me now and I’m only involved in Kabbalah.

My Answer: I would talk to her, just like I did with my wife thirty-five years ago. I’d tell her that I’ll always search for my purpose in life, and for life’s purpose in general, because I’m empty without it. I’m not obliging her to do anything, but this is who I am and I cannot change myself. I can leave or I can stay – you decide. The answer will either be positive or yet another argument, but things cannot stay like this anymore.

Another question I received: Sometimes my wife and I argue. But I understand that this is a result of a growing ego. This makes me suffer, but I justify the Creator and keep going. What do I do with my wife, who sees this as something very different, as something personal? My Answer: In addition to justifying the Creator, justify your wife.

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A question I received in response to my post “A Call for Ideas – New Children’s Games“: How can one help a child mature if the child resists? I understand “Mosif daat mosif mahov” (“increase knowledge, increase pain”) but it’s still difficult to observe a normal boy, 13 years of age who wants to be like an 8 year old.

My Answer: You can impose a more grown-up environment upon him by involving him in his peers’ hobby groups, and keeping him out of the house.

A question I received in response to my post “Comments about Depression, Seeming Egoistic to Others, and Parenting“: How do I defend myself against evil people that hurt my feelings and constantly bother me? How can I deal with the stress that results from this?

My Answer: Find an environment that will allow you to feel secure and healed. Whatever you do, don’t isolate yourself. Find amusement, sports, a change of scenery, and be hard on yourself for being sensitive.

A question I received in response to my post “The Creator = Nature“: Why isn’t the Creator indifferent towards me? Is He more concerned about me than others? If this is true, then why?

My Answer: Put simply, the time has come to correct your individual soul in the general collective of souls, of the single soul of Adam.

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Every person’s soul is like a mirror reflecting sunlight.

A light beam descends, reflects off a soul, and withdraws into space.

Humankind, the civilization of egoists, is like a vast mirror array, reflecting light in different directions, making a sea of chaotic light.

However, merge the reflective light beams to be as segments of one immense parabolic source, and what do you have? At first, it looks like all beams are aimed differently, but as a whole, the light beams aim a common light at a common center. Their correct merger sparks a critical temperature, brings about a new substance – plasma – and bursts into flames.

And this is how each person’s light arouses the fire of love among friends. Their unity with one another, together with their aim at a common goal, produces a new state that’s unimaginable and unreachable using our common sense: adhesion with the Creator, an ascent to the Creator’s level. Such a state is unimaginable prior to achieving it, because it’s created only when everyone unites.

According to legend, Archimedes also set enemy ships on fire by aiming polished bronze mirrors at them. His contemporaries were so stunned by this phenomenon that even today, thousands of years later, people still talk about it.

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A question I received: It’s been a while since we had the Kabbalah congress in Israel, but I still can’t shake off the feeling of how simple and open you are. I’ve always thought, like most people, that sages conduct themselves differently; that they’re overburdened by wisdom and need to evoke awe. After the congress, I find it harder to respect you, and without being able to respect you, I don’t have the same energy I once had to trust you and what you teach – that it’s the path to my future. What would you suggest I do?

My Answer: Baal HaSulam writes, in his Future Generation manuscripts: “The masses think that he who is in contact with the Creator stands above nature and they need to be afraid of speaking to Him or at the very least being near Him. For such is the nature of man: to fear what transcends nature’s bounds.

However, in reality, there’s nothing more natural than attaining contact with the Creator, for He is the master of nature. Truly, every creature is in contact with its Creator, although it neither knows nor feels it.

He who merits contact with the Creator merely obtains the knowledge of it, for there is nothing new in the universe, and it’s only that he was ignorant of it beforehand.

As a result, man becomes simpler and more natural, for he understands all people, maintaining quite intimate relations with them; he is close to the masses and loves them.”

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A question I received: Why do you reveal all of this secret knowledge to gentiles?

My Answer: I suggest that you familiarize yourself with the original sources: Baal HaSulam’s articles “Messiah’s Horn” and “The Arvut.”

A mutual guarantee (Arvut) among a single nation is capable of initiating the correction of the whole world. Likewise, all nations are incapable of carrying out this correction simultaneously. It is as the sages said: The Creator offered the Torah to all nations (through Abraham in ancient Babylon), but they declined the offer, because the magnitude of their egoism, their self-love, made it impossible for them to accept it.

Thus, Abraham created a group of Babylonians (people with desires for spirituality) who were ready and willing to renounce their egoism, and this group became known as the nation of Israel. The only difference between the Babylonians in this group and other Babylonians of that era was that Abraham’s group accepted upon themselves the method of rising above their egoism. Moreover, Abraham, who was a Babylonian priest, became the first Kabbalist. Therefore, by accepting upon themselves the required guarantee (Arvut), the nation of Israel was obligated to be the chosen people among all other nations.

In any case, the correction of the whole world will take place when all nations unite in their aspiration toward the Creator, and the Creator will reveal Himself to all nations. It is as it is written: “The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Creator, and all of the nations will flock to Him.” As such, the nation of Israel holds the responsibility for leading humanity to love for thy neighbor, and ultimately, to the goal of creation, which is to merge with the Creator.

My Current Mood: energetic

Related Material:
* ARTICLE: Who Is to Blame? – Selected pieces from a discussion on Baal HaSulam’s article “Introduction to the Book of Zohar”

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A question I received: Although Baal HaSulam writes that a spiritual person leaves for himself only what he needs to survive and gives the rest to society, for some reason you don’t advise anyone to act this way. Don’t you agree with Baal HaSulam? Or are you afraid that this will scare people off? For instance, even though I myself am in need of money, I’m still scared of this!

My Answer: All our actions must correspond to Nature’s law. Should that be the case, we would feel ourselves as Nature’s integral parts – in the World of Infinity, that is, in the state of eternity and perfection, just like Nature (the Creator) itself.

Kabbalah – the science of the whole of Nature – helps us reach this state not through blows and suffering, but through conscious development. [Read more →]

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News Story: Fungus devastates wheat

A NEW strain of a major fungal disease in wheat is wiping out crops across Africa and Asia, sparking fears that manufacturers will be forced to pay even more for the vital commodity.

Scientists are currently battling against the Ug99 strain of stem rust, which first originated in East Africa.

Bakery firms across the globe are already suffering because of the rocketing cost of wheat, blamed on a variety of reasons including increased demand from emerging markets and biofuels.

In the past, stem rust was generally controlled in the region by using wheat specifically cultivated to be resistant to the disease; however, the new strain is “particularly vigilant,” scientist Lesley Boyd told British reporters.

My Response: The Book of Zohar states that if we, in our era, do not correct ourselves, if we don’t try to become all-giving and all-loving like Nature, then Nature will make us become like it against our will. Nature will affect us through our negative connection with it, bringing upon us hunger, natural disasters, wars, epidemics, and so on.
But Nature (or, the Creator) doesn’t want us to suffer; it doesn’t affect us with the aim of makng us suffer. On the contrary, we get such treatment as a result of our failure to take our evolution into our own hands. For instance, what we would forgive in a child is not necessarily the same as what we would forgive in a grownup. Today, we are mature enough to feel our opposition to Nature (the Creator), and this is so that we can achieve balance with it (called “similarity with the Creator”). However, our aim determines everything. The moment we make a turn toward correction (similarity with the Creator), everything will change. We would be to Nature as a child who wants to show her parents how much she wants to be good. Now you should be able to see the importance of spreading Kabbalah throughout the world.

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Question for ML: What’s the connection between Kabbalah and Gematria? For instance, the Creator and Nature have the same numerical value in Gematria. What is Gematria and how does it prove anything? My Answer: It’s not a number game, as some people think. Kabbalists use Gematria to designate properties, forces and degrees that the soul goes through. There’s nothing hidden in it, and Kabbalists use it for no other purposes. Gematria is simply terms, or designations, indicating relationships between forces and phenomena in the Upper World, and its writer is a person who discovers and observes such relationships. “The Creator” and “Nature” are terms designating the all-encompassing general force.

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Question for ML: You define God as laws of nature. In the times of Tanach, Moses spoke to God and God spoke back to him and to the nation. Why then, is your definition of God different? I find it very difficult to think of God as laws, as opposed to someone I can cry to or talk to in times of trouble. I understand that the Creator’s laws and orders must be followed, but I don’t understand why your definition of Him is different.

My Answer: We often project our qualities onto nature and then expect nature to react in the same way. For example, we get mad at the computer or at traffic lights. The Creator is absolute, and as such, He is perfect and invariable. He is kind and creates only goodness. His actions are wonderful, but I sense the opposite! So what should I ask Him? I should ask Him to change my perception, so that I can understand Him and see the perfection of His actions in everything. In other words, I’m asking for the correction of my qualities – from egoistic to altruistic. I will then understand His actions and justify Him, because I will be like Him. I will sense eternity and perfection just like Him. This is what I have to ask for!

Talking about the Creator and talking about Nature is the same.

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