Two questions I received on a woman’s ability to love others as herself:

Question: You wrote in a previous blog post that women cannot love one another because of their nature. I would like to know what is a woman’s nature? If it is the quality of deficiency, then please explain what kind of a deficiency this is, and what is the spiritual meaning of this concept? How is it expressed? And do women also advance through the 125 levels of correction?

My Answer: Every woman represents a desire, and every man represents the fulfillment of this desire. Hence, it’s impossible for women to be friends with anyone, and they can only love what belongs to them. Yet precisely this quality makes them the carriers of the desire that the men have to correct and fulfill.

Besides this, every man and every woman have their own inner “man” and “woman,” not only according to the chromosomes but also according to spiritual properties. Women provide men with the aspiration toward the Creator, pushing them to attain the goal of creation – and together they attain it.

Question: Can I apply the concept of “love thy neighbor” in relation to my wife?

My Answer: You should treat your wife according to the rules of society, and you should work together with your friends – the people with whom you must reach the mutual guarantee (Arvut) – to realize the law of the single soul, “Love thy neighbor as thyself.”

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Questions I received on the development of spirituality in a person:

Question: How do I receive the point in the heart?

Answer: When the first spiritual Reshimo surfaces in you.

Questions: Who taught Kabbalah to the first man (Adam), since he didn’t have books?

Answer: He revealed it on his own just like Abraham. He is called “the first man” because a person who attains similarity to the Creator is called “man” – Adam, which comes from the word “similar.” He was the first man at that time; everyone else were animals.

Question: Can a newborn baby be a Kabbalist?

Answer: No. One needs to earn a Masach.

Question: Can a newborn be on any spiritual level?

Answer: Yes, if the society as a whole is.

Question: Can a baby be born above the Machsom, with full understanding of everything?

Answer: No, but he can achieve this very fast during childhood with the help of upbringing, as before the destruction of the Temple.

Question: What is it to annul oneself before others?

Answer: It’s when the desire of another person is more important to you than your own desire.

Question: Do I need to share my attention with the group rather than give all of it to my wife and kids?

Answer: Only inside of you.

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Three questions I received on ups and downs along the path:

Question: For many years I felt that I was an egoist. Then I came to Kabbalah and understood why I felt that way. Now I study and participate in dissemination, but I started to feel even emptier. On the other hand, there is hope.

My Answer: The feeling of emptiness comes from the influence of the Light, which shows you that you are empty and that you can only fill this emptiness with the Light. For this to happen, you must desire it – and this desire can only be received from the environment.

Question: Lately I don’t feel like I’m a bad person anymore. Of course I’m still an egoist, but I no longer feel bad about it. On the contrary, I feel uplifted, I am more focused during the lessons and I do more dissemination than before. How can I tell whether I’m still on the right path?

My Answer: If you always focus on being united with the group, if you understand that by uniting you will receive the desire that will evoke the Light of correction – then you will reveal the Creator.

Question: I ask the Creator to correct me, since it’s not in my power to correct my own state. On the other hand, I’m ashamed of this request because it means that I’m dissatisfied with the state I’m in – a state given to me by the Creator in order for me to develop. How should I understand this contradiction?

My Answer: In each and every state, the Creator is waiting for you to move closer to Him.

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Two questions I received from students around the world:

Question: Here in Africa people don’t really want to know what lies beyond our world, but ever since I was young I have always been fascinated by the world and I have always wanted to find out the whole truth. Lately I have been thinking about how to help people change their ways and give meaning to their lives. I started telling others about goodness and coming closer to the Almighty, and I find much pleasure in what I am doing for others. I used to wait for a reward for my actions, but I do not want it any more. My greatest wish is for all of us to get closer to God. I found myself praying and saying to God that instead of being in heaven with Abraham I’d rather be here on earth until the last one of us is there with us.

Why do I feel responsible for the world? Why does my happiness depend on others’ well being? Is it a sign from God or is it just wishful thinking? Please tell me something about this state of mind. Thanks in advance for your help. Alhain Kadima

My Answer: You have simply revealed a new desire inside you: a desire for bestowal, for the Creator – a desire that others don’t have. You should actualize it, and then you will give a great gift to yourself and to the world!

Question: I am a new student and I’d like to ask you the following question. Can we say that we only acquire the knowledge and the true vision of reality (Hochma) as we are able, in some measure, in order to forward this truth to others (Bina)? Meaning that we can only discern the structure of the law of love as we experience it in all aspects of life? Thank you. Tiago.

My Answer: Yes, by bestowing to others we build a collective desire, in which we then perceive the one and only force in the world – the Creator.

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A question I received: Peace to you. Michael, you are a living sage, though for now you only exist in the virtual world for me. But of course you exist in the real physical plane as well.

One of my goals is to affirm Faith in the physical world. How can we join efforts in doing this? I can tell you a little about myself. My Spiritual Birth happened at the age of 27, and there is a stamp on my right hand attesting to this. As I understand it, our plans and goals are the same. I’ve already passed all the main milestones of this path, but I am still driven by the desire to help fulfill the mission of the Upper Light and praise the Almighty.

The information that you obtain from various sources, through studying and disseminating the teaching of Kabbalah, has been revealed to me from above without any intermediaries, and I obtain my knowledge directly from the Holy Grail. Nonetheless, our knowledge coincides in many ways, and we have a lot to share for the benefit of humanity. Write to me if you’re interested in my offer and want to collaborate. You know that there are no coincidences.

My Answer: I receive many offers like this. The thing they all have in common is a lot of inner confusion. My advice to you is to bring your inner world in order. The best way to do this is by reading Baal HaSulam’s articles. This will put everything in its place and remove everything that’s unnecessary (Faith, Spiritual Birth, the Holy Grail, and so on). After that I invite you to collaborate!

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Two questions I received on how to advance most effectively:

Question: Please tell us about your daily schedule and what kind of a daily schedule should a student of the Creator have in order to advance toward the goal most efficiently?

My Answer: Study in the morning before work for 1-3 hours. Devote all your free time to study, the group (physical or virtual), and dissemination of Kabbalah in the world (education). In general, you should learn and teach others about the world we live in, in order to accelerate the correction of our nature and to thereby become equivalent to the Creator.

Question: For now I don’t have a desire to fast. What is the purpose of fasting? Is it true that fasting is intended to keep me focused on the intention to bestow to the Creator?

My Answer: The restraint should happen in the area of expressing egoism toward others, and through the aspiration to devote all your free time to study and dissemination of the method of correcting man’s egoistic nature.

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Preface to the Science of Kabbalah (“Pticha”). Items 3-5, summary:

3. The order of distancing, of the weakening of the desire to bestow, resulting from the development and growth of the desire to receive, from above (from bestowal, similarity to the Creator) downwards (moving away from Him) – happens along five degrees or five worlds: Adam Kadmon, Atzilut, Beria, Yetzira, and Assiya. The World of Assiya includes our world (HaOlam Hazeh). “World” – Olam comes from the word Olama – concealment, because to the degree one grows distant from similarity to the Creator, the Creator becomes concealed.

All creatures originate and have their root in the World of Infinity, in the Thought of Creation to “delight the creatures,” in their initial state.

4. The distancing of the creation from the Creator is necessary for the following reasons:

• To give creation (man) an opportunity to be independent. This is accomplished through the complete concealment of the Creator in our world.
• The gradual distancing occurs through the Light’s fulfillment and its subsequent expulsion. These contrasting states create sensations, realizations, and experience in the desire, giving it the opportunity to compare, and thus make it suitable to achieve its intended purpose.

The creation’s purpose is the following: after its forced descent into our world, it is to use its free will and awareness to compare and to choose bestowal over reception. Thus, by choosing that similarity to the Creator is the most important thing, creation must gradually ascend to Him, until reaching full equivalence and adhesion with Him.

5. The degrees, the structure of creation, and all the actions are determined by the nature of the Light and the desire.

Phase 0: Light (the Creator’s attitude to the creature) emanates from the Creator’s plan to create the creature in order to delight it by making it similar to Him (the small state is not considered complete). This phase is called zero or the root. It incorporates the future creature in the form of a point of the future desire, similar to a drop of semen or a seed.

Phase 1: The Light influences the point of desire, developing it to Its own size and then filling it. The desire feels the fulfillment, called the Light of Wisdom (Ohr Hochma). Because the desire is fully dependent on the Light, it doesn’t feel anything besides mere existence, like an embryo within a womb. This phase contains everything that the Creator had allocated for the creature.

Gradually the desire becomes aware of its distinction from the Light and wishes to become like the Light – bestowing. This new desire is defined as a new phase:

Phase 2: This is the desire to bestow to the Creator, to be like the Light. As a result of this, the desire feels a different kind of pleasure than in phase 1 – the pleasure of being similar to the Creator, the Light of Bestowal (Ohr Hassadim). However, gradually the desire realizes that it merely desires to bestow, but does not actually bestow. This realization results in the emergence of a new desire – “to receive for the sake of bestowal,” and this is already defined as phase 3.

Phase 3: The desire receives like in phase 1 (the Light of Hochma) with an intention like in phase 2, and feels that it bestows, like the Creator (the Light of Hassadim). Due to the sensation of being on the Creator’s level, a new desire develops – phase 4:

Phase 4: This is the desire to enjoy the Creator’s status or position by receiving the following from Him:

a) The pleasure of being filled with pleasure, and
b) The pleasure of being similar to Him.

Since the desire receives everything that can possibly emanate from the Creator, phase 4 constitutes a fully developed desire.

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A question I received: I am questioning the practical applications of “love your neighbor as yourself” and whether this should be more than being tolerant of your neighbor.

Let me explain. Since everything we see around us is a reflection of what we have inside of ourselves, then our thoughts and desires are just objects that manifest themselves “out there,” but actually they appear within ourselves.

I do not know about others, but I cannot say that I love all the thoughts and desires that arise within me. I am aware of most of them and tolerate them, but I do not really approve of all of them and I pass through them as though they are crowds of people. Is this how we should treat others? I understand the need to be aware of other people, be respectful of others and forgive them. But that does not mean I should love or approve of what others are doing, such as blowing up the Twin Towers in the United States, for example. I can forgive them for this action, but they still need to pay the price for killing thousands of innocent people.

My Answer: Correction starts with man’s recognition that anything correct and good can only come from the Upper Light. Hence the only thing he expects from studying, uniting with a group, and disseminating Kabbalah is the Light’s influence.

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A question I received: You look serious and wise, but your ideas and proposals to humanity are utopian. Are you really sure they can be implemented, or that there is even a chance of implementing a spiritual revolution of all humanity?

My Answer: Because I understand human nature, I know that all our desires, thoughts, and actions are absolutely egoistic and cannot be any different. However, because I also understand the nature of the Upper World and the Light, I am absolutely sure – and know from personal experience – that the Light which created our egoism can change it to altruism in an instant. However, It will do so only if we desire it.

We can develop this desire only by recognizing that our egoism is evil for us, by seeing how much suffering it causes us. The question is: How much suffering will it take? We can do it by studying a small crisis – such as the present one – and recognizing that our attitudes to each other are opposite to the global “village” of humanity. We can recognize this so deeply that we will start advancing to “Love your neighbor as yourself,” to equivalence with Nature or the Creator.

For example, we can institute a global education system that will teach everyone about the fact that we live in a world where everyone is interdependent. In addition, this can be explained by all the mass media and the educational institutions worldwide, from kindergartens to universities. (For more on this, see my “Lecture in Arosa.”)

Any attempts we make to this end – even the smallest first attempts – will already reverse our opposition to Nature, because through these actions we will turn to face Nature (the Creator) and come closer to It. If our overall desires will be to change, then this will happen easily, because the Creator hears none other than the request of the society.

Nature will execute its plan one way or another, and this plan is already complete and existent in the spiritual world. Still, it would be best to avoid the catastrophes, whether social, ecological, military, biological or others, which will force us to detach from egoism. There is a pleasant path to Nature’s goal (see the article “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose“); this is why we were given the science of Kabbalah. At the very least, we have to do everything that’s up to us, but the spiritual revolution will happen in any case!

A Parable: A man walked along the seashore and saw a boy picking something up from the sand and throwing it into the sea. The man came closer and saw that the things the boy was picking up from the sand were starfish; he was completely surrounded by them. It seemed like there were millions of starfish on the sand; the shore was literally filled with them for many miles ahead.

“Why are you throwing these starfish in the water?” asked the man, as he approached the boy.

“If they stay on the shore until the morning tide, they will die,” answered the boy, without interrupting what he was doing.

“But this is stupid!” yelled the man, “Look around you! There are millions of starfish here, the shore is filled with them. Your efforts won’t make any difference!”

The boy picked up the next starfish, thought for a moment, then threw it into the sea and said, “No, my efforts will change a lot… for this starfish.”

Then the man also picked up a starfish and threw it into the sea. And then another one. By the time the night was over, there were many people on the shore, and each of them was picking up and throwing starfish into the sea. When the sun rose, the shore was empty – no soul was left unsaved.

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Two questions I received on spiritual partnerships:

Question: Why does a man who studies Kabbalah need a woman, and how can he “use” her the right way?

My Answer: Every person in our world has:

1) Bodily desires for food, family, and sex;
2) Social desires for wealth, power, fame, and knowledge.

The desires for family and sex are realized with a partner, either with the intention to receive pleasure egoistically, or with the intention to realize them as a commandment, or in other words, in order to attain the Creator.

The desire for spirituality is formed by the female and male parts of humanity as a whole. All men are like Adam and all women are like Eve. Therefore, one needs to see one’s partner in life as a partner on the spiritual path as well. It is possible – and good – if your partner cooperates with you in this regard.

Question: What are the best articles to read to your wife if she wants you to?

My Answer: The parts of Baal HaSulam’s and Rabash’s articles that are interesting to both of you.

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