Dear friends!
The Creator is setting a special task before us today:

1. To unite all of us into one, integral desire for Him.
2. To reveal the goal of creation to the world.

He is inviting us to be the chosen people, His representatives in correcting the world.  We must set an example of the correct society to the world so that He can reveal Himself inside this society.

All of the symptoms of the global crisis clearly show humanity that it’s necessary to unite, and we are the ones who need to present the method of correction to humanity! To the extent that we fulfill this mission, we will attain adhesion with the Creator.

I hope that you understand what kind of exceptional chance each one of you has been given. Let’s not squander it. Let’s get together in one desire for spiritual ascent – upwards, and enlightenment of the world – outwards.

I believe that each and every one of you is unique and I can’t wait to meet you in St. Louis, where we will be provided with the opportunity to reach a new level of unity.

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Two questions I received on the economy and religion:

Question: How can you explain the fact that in the United States, the financial crisis is drawing more people into religion?

My Answer: We observe this kind of reaction throughout all human history. In fact, this is the reason why religion was invented in the first place – to comfort man for the blows of fate that seem to come at him for no good reason. Religion promises people a reward for their suffering in the world to come. Of course, it is difficult to give up on a dream, and people are even willing to kill others who kill their hopes (the way I do).

In contrast, Kabbalah does not tell people to believe in unrealistic things, but rather urges people to change themselves in order to feel “the world to come” while still living in this world. One can enter “that world” only by changing oneself in this world. When one’s animate organism dies, the soul can only return back into this life; there is no “world on the other side.” Hence one will keep reincarnating until one enters the Upper World – the world of bestowal and love, while still living in this world.

Question: One reason why I am not satisfied with any method or religion is that at the end the believer is rewarded in paradise, but in a new status. That is, he does not have the needs, desires and pleasures that he sought in his life. So the person who is tested or being prepared in this life is different from the one who is being rewarded. I feel that this is unfair.

My Answer: Why so? Precisely religion promises you all the pleasures of this world, including sexual pleasures, exquisite heavenly meals accompanied by heavenly music, and so on! If a person can still believe in what religion promises him, then he is not yet ready to come out of the spiritual exile.

Baal HaSulam said that between the religious and the Kabbalistic ways of life and perception, there is a secular, materialistic period. After that, the Kabbalistic, “super-materialistic” period is revealed, because one discovers that materialism is also a religion!

Related Material:
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The Book of Zohar. Chapter “The Fourteenth Commandment” (abridged)

247. The fourteenth Commandment is to observe Shabbat, which is a day of rest from all the actions of creation. There are two Commandments here: to observe the day of Shabbat and to adorn its holiness, namely to receive Ohr Hochma, called “holiness”; and to observe Shabbat as a day of rest for all the worlds, in which all actions are multiplied and realized even before this day is sanctified.

Shabbat is a state of the spiritual worlds where the Light descending from Above elevates ZA to AA, Nukva to AVI, the Worlds of BYA to YESHSUT, and ZON of the World of Atzilut. As a result, man’s NRN (whoever has it, whoever is spiritually present in the worlds of BYA) also ascends to Atzilut with the worlds of BYA, and there receives Ohr Haya.

248. Because that day was sanctified, the creation of bodiless spirits was to be completed. He asks: “Was the Creator unable to delay the sanctification of that day until the bodies for those spirits were created?” And he answers: “The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil contained an evil side that wanted to govern the world. And many spirits separated and went forth, armed, to clothe in the bodies of this world.

249. However, as the Creator saw this, He roused the wind from within the Tree of Life, ZA, and struck the other Tree, Malchut. And the other, good side was awakened, and the day was sanctified. For the creation of bodies and the awakening of spirits on that night of Shabbat stem from the good side, and not from the evil one.

250. And had he hastened on that night to put forward the other side, before the good side came forward, he would not have been able to withstand it for even an instant. But the Creator provided the remedy in advance. And He sanctified the day beforehand. And He warned to appear before the other side. And the world exists. And that the opposite side thought to rule in the world, i.e., in defiance of it, the good side was created and strengthened on that night. And the good, holy bodies and spirits were created on that night from the good side. Therefore, the delight of sages who know this spans from Shabbat to Shabbat.

251. However, when the other (impure) side saw that what it had planned to do was already done by the holy side, it started to check its own forces and properties, and saw all those who perform a Zivug naked and in the candlelight. Therefore, all of the sons born from that Zivug are enslaved by the spirit of the other side. And these naked spirits of the wicked are called “harming,” and they are ruled and killed by Lilit.

252. And since the day was sanctified, and holiness rules in the world, the other side diminishes itself and hides on each Shabbat day and on each Shabbat night. With the exception of Asimon and his group, who walk secretly in the candlelight, to observe the naked Zivug. And then they hide inside the cave, called Tehom Raba (the great abyss). And as soon as Shabbat ends, many hosts fly and prowl in the world. As a result, everything is corrected by the song of the sufferers, “He who dwells in concealment,” to prevent impurity from governing holiness.

253. What places do they visit on the night of the end of Shabbat? When they come out in haste and wish to govern the holy nation, they see it standing in prayer and singing this song: “He who sits in the shadow (concealment) of the Supernal One,” first separating Shabbat from the weekdays in his prayer, and then over a cup of wine, these forces flee thence and fly away to the desert. May the Merciful One save us from them and from the evil side.

254. The three that cause evil to themselves: a) he who curses himself; b) he who throws away bread or bread crumbs bigger than an olive; c) he who lights the candle at the end of Shabbat before Israel attains sanctity in the prayer, “And You are holy.” And the light from that candle ignites hellfire.

255. There is a place in hell (the sensation of uncorrected desires, shame before the Creator) for those who transgress Shabbat (the ascent towards complete correction). And as they (those who feel that they are wicked) are punished in hell (separation from the Creator), they curse him who lit the candle before its time, and they say to him, “Behold: the Creator will thrust you about with a mighty throw, and He will seize you firmly. He will violently roll and toss you like a ball into a large land; there shall you die (be corrected against your will).”

256. For he should not light the candle at the end of Shabbat before Israel separates Shabbat from the weekdays in their prayer and over a cup of wine, as until that time, it is still Shabbat, and the sanctity of Shabbat still rules over us. And during the separation by means of blessing over a cup, all those hosts and legions that the rulers appointed to govern the weekdays return each to their place to resume the work for which they are responsible.

257. As soon as Shabbat starts and the day is sanctified, holiness awakens and rules over the world; the power of weekdays disappears and returns only when Shabbat ends. However, although Shabbat is over, other forces do not regain their power until Israel says the prayer, “He who separates holiness from the weekdays.” Only then does holiness disappear, and the legions that govern the weekdays awaken and return to their places, each to its above-appointed post.

258. Nevertheless, the impure forces do not assume control until the flame of the candle is lit, for they all come from the root (element) of fire, from which everything originates, and they descend to rule over the lower world. All this happens if one lights the candle before Israel has finished the blessing in the prayer.

259. Yet, if he waits until they complete the blessing, the wicked in hell justify the Creator’s justice over them, and they bring upon him all the blessings, recited by the congregation: “Therefore, the Creator gives you of the dew of Heaven,” “Blessed shall you be in your town,” and “Blessed shall you be in the field.”

260. “Blessed is he who considers the poor (who has attained the futility of trying to correct oneself on his own); the Creator will deliver him in the day of disaster.” What do the words “in the day of disaster” mean? This refers to the day when evil gains power and wants to take his soul away from him. The word “poor” alludes to someone very sick. “He who considers” refers to one who realizes the need to be cured from transgressions before the Creator. Another explanation is that this is the Day of Judgment in the world. “He who considers” signifies one who knows how to save himself from it, as it is written: “The Creator will deliver him in the day of disaster,” meaning that on the day when the judgment against man dominates the world, the Creator will deliver him.

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A question I received: Is there a way of stopping the thoughts that constantly keep coming to us? Can we learn to control our thoughts?

My Answer: Of course! We often think about things that we don’t want to think about. We often attempt to restrain our thoughts, change them, and replace them with other thoughts. When we can’t do this, we feel weak and stupid, as if we’ve lost control over ourselves.

In reality our thoughts do not come to us “out of nowhere.” At first a desire arises in us, even if we don’t feel it. After this, a thought emerges from the desire. The desire brings about the thought. Hence we only think about the things we want: How can we acquire, hold on to, and develop the things we desire; or how can we put more distance between us and the things we don’t desire.

A thought cannot change a desire. It can only change the size of a desire, increasing or decreasing it. Similarly, we also can’t replace one thought with another.

Hence, we can only control our thoughts by controlling our desires. So the question really is: How can I change my desires? The answer is: through the environment – the group, the books, and the teacher!

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It is written, “The only people one does not envy are one’s children and one’s students.” I am proud of my students. Hence I am proud to publish texts and clips that my students send to me. The following was sent by my student Tasha Fridkin from New York:

An analysis of the crisis
It is known that the laws of nature work regardless of whether we know about them or not. No one will test the law of gravity by jumping out of the window, since we know the result from our life experience.

However, few people know that besides the laws affecting our physical bodies, there are also laws affecting our souls. We don’t see the souls in our world, and the interactions between them are also concealed from us. Nevertheless, this does not make the laws any less strict – they still inevitably affect us even if we don’t clearly perceive their influence.

According to these laws all of our souls are interconnected into one harmonious and balanced system that is based on the principle of bestowal. Every individual contributes the most he can to the system, taking only the necessary minimum from it.

Humanity, however, has developed differently. It has reached the state where every individual desires to give the minimum and to use everyone else to the maximum to get personal gratification. Moreover, we have even stopped noticing this. Every person wants to win the lotto – to spend a dollar and win a million. But where does this million come from? It comes from a million people who spent one dollar. In other words, every individual wants to snatch from everyone else, for his own self benefit. And this is considered absolutely normal.

But there is an imbalance between our spiritual and corporeal existence. The violation of the spiritual law evokes the apparent and tangible manifestations in our physical world, such as the current financial crisis. This crisis is but a particular manifestation of the general crisis of all the social connections. The financial system is the most vulnerable one, similar to the blood in an organism, connecting and permeating the entire worldwide community. Nothing has changed in any part of the financial system; the crisis is purely psychological. We have revealed our incorrect usage of the connections between us, and as a result we have lost our trust of the system and the entire system has collapsed.

That is to say, we have reached a state where the externality – the structure and principles of our integrated systems, is losing importance compared to the internality – our thoughts and intentions when using these systems.

If every one of us will not change our attitude toward the people around us, adopting attitudes that match the connections between the souls, then we will continue to oppose the laws of nature. Then these laws will affect us more and more negatively. No one can run away from this; there won’t be any place on earth where one can hide, waiting for things to improve.

The world is crumbling. If you want to be saved, then start with yourself – with your attitude to the people around you. No one else is going to save you.

The world is built by every one of us. The world is our common home, and it is built according to the laws of nature. It can either bring us enormous, inconceivable abundance, or – if it is founded on egoism – it will bring us inconceivable suffering, which will nevertheless force us to change.

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A question I received: Strange things have been happening around me over the last several years. The people I really looked up to before are now hitting rock bottom in life, or doing things that go beyond any accepted social norms. I used to be very driven, but now I’ve lost all desire to prove anything to others.

I have this feeling that all the people whom I used to know well and looked up to, are not who they were. I am rude to my relatives, and constantly feel ashamed of it because I love them. I feel annoyed at the elderly, repulsed by people’s faces, and I hate my own body.

I’ve been studying Kabbalah for seven years and watch the lessons every day. It is very burdensome for me to attend Congresses and group meals, but watching the lessons over the Internet is a delight. I feel like I really want to avoid seeing people in person. Is this normal?

My Answer: Everyone has their own speed and stages of development. If you study systematically and work on dissemination during your free time, then you can be sure that every state will pass. You will work through it, and then the new stage will come. They will keep alternating like this all the way until the full correction.

However, the rate at which they alternate depends on your efforts, and this constitutes your only influence on your entire path to the Creator. If your development is happening at a natural speed, then you experience pressure (suffering), which forces you to change. However, if you stay ahead of nature’s (the Creator’s) pressure by aspiring on your own, then you won’t experience suffering, but on the contrary, will feel joy and inspiration. The choice is yours!

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News Report (translated from CNews.ru): A group of Oxford based researchers has submitted a paper to Physical Review Letters (one of the world’s most prestigious physics journals) seeking to explain the observed dynamics of the Universe. It proposes that we are inside a special, unique location in the Universe where matter’s density is abnormally low and is atypical for the Universe as a whole. This theory, called Geocentrism, supposes that we are located in the center of the Universe.

The alternative point of view is the Copernican principle, which postulates that the Universe is uniform and does not have a special place for the Earth or the Solar System. This is the principle that the current scientific theories are based upon. However, it is unable to explain the modern scientific conception of the world.

My Comment: According to the science of Kabbalah (part 16 of the Talmud Eser Sefirot), our world is the last degree of the lowest spiritual world, the World of Assiya. It is located in the center of all the worlds, and in the center of our world lies the Solar System, and in its center lies the planet Earth. At the Earth’s center lies Israel, at its center – Jerusalem, at its center – Mount Moriah, then the Temple, and finally – the Holy of Holies (a room with special relics). All of this reflects the influence and proportions of the spiritual forces.

Modern science is nearing its end, the ceiling of its qualitative development. It’s already discovering a barrier that it cannot cross, and hence it is adjusting its theories to match what Kabbalah has been saying for millennia. In Part 1 of “The Tree of Life,” Kabbalist the Ari writes that our world of matter is inside all the spheres of the spiritual force field:

And when upon His simple will,
Came the desire to create the world and emanate the emanations,
To bring to light the perfection of His deeds, His names, His appellations,
Which was the cause of the creation of the worlds,
He then restricted Himself, in the middle,
Precisely in the center,
He restricted the Light.
And the Light drew far off to the sides around that middle point.
And there remained an empty space, a vacuum
Circling the middle point.
And the restriction had been uniform
Around the empty point,
So that the space
Was evenly circled around it.
There, after the restriction,
Having formed a vacuum and a space
Precisely in the middle of the endless light,
A place was formed,
Where the emanated and the created might reside.

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Kabbalah Today Article: Creation, Evolution and Beyond
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Questions I received on the virtual society of the future:

Question: Which technical means (Internet, TV, radio, and so on) can be used to create the virtual society of the future? Does the necessary technical support exist today? What other things are necessary that haven’t yet manifested in our world?

My Answer: We are starting to really focus on this now, and it is becoming our highest priority project – to create a virtual meeting space for all those who aspire to unite, who strive toward the Creator. As soon as this common aspiration will acquire the needed goal-oriented force, it will begin radiating with similarity to the Creator. He will then become revealed to everyone within this unity.

Your advancement upwards depends on the efforts you make to disseminate Kabbalah outwards – to add more souls to the correction. Hence I recommend not missing the opportunity to participate in the development of the virtual Kabbalistic community.

You can send your ideas to [email protected]

Question: Since the internet is developing so fast, is there any point in hosting distance classes for beginners? Maybe we should have fewer classes like this?

My Answer: I think that soon this will come to an end on its own. However, as long as there are people who desire this, we should continue doing it. You should continue developing only the virtual education, communication, and even congresses.

Question: Your blog is already a virtual group for those who “enter” it. However, don’t real groups have a very big influence on the world Kli, while the influence of an internet participant is much smaller? Yet the combined influence of a large number of virtual participants is much bigger than the influence of real groups?

My Answer: Everything adds up to a combined effort until it will reach the necessary size, and then – inside this common mass – everyone together will start to feel the Upper Presence.

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The Book of Zohar. Chapter “The Eleventh Commandment” (abridged)

244. The eleventh Commandment is to give a tithe of the fruits of the earth. Here there are two Commandments: to separate a tithe of the fruits of the earth (desires that are impossible to correct), and to bring the first fruits of the trees (fruits of the earth), as it is written, “Behold, I have given you every herb-yielding seed.” Here it is written, “I HAVE GIVEN YOU.” Elsewhere it is written, “And to the children of Levi, behold, I HAVE GIVEN all the tithe.” It is also written, “And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Creator’s.”

“The Twelfth Commandment” (abridged)
245. The twelfth Commandment is to bring the first fruits of the trees as an offering, as it is written, “And every tree in which there is fruit of a tree yielding seed.” All that is worthy of Me shall not be eaten by you. I have given you My permission and I have given you all the tithe and offerings of the trees. “To you,” and not to the subsequent generations.

“The Thirteenth Commandment” (abridged)
246. The thirteenth Commandment is to perform the redemption of a first-born son (the beginning of any degree) so as to strengthen him in (spiritual) life. For there are two appointed angels in charge: one over life (goodness, bestowal) and one over death (evil, reception). And they both (the two lines) rule over man from Above (the good and evil inclinations). And when man redeems his son (correction of one through the other), he redeems him from the angel in charge of death (transforms the evil force to good), so that the angel can no longer govern the first-born son. Hence, it is written, AND THE CREATOR SAW EVERYTHING THAT HE HAD MADE – this is in general, AND, BEHOLD, IT WAS… VERY GOOD – this alludes to the angel of life (qualities of Bina, bestowal, bestowal for the sake of bestowal), while the word VERY alludes to the angel of death (when egoism is corrected to goodness, bestowal, reception for the sake of bestowal). Therefore, by this act of redemption, the angel of life is strengthened and the angel of death is weakened. (Spiritual) life is purchased by this redemption, for the evil side leaves him and clings to him no more.

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A question I received: I thought that all the terms in Kabbalah, such as Goy (gentile), the nations of the world, Israel, and Jew, are states that every person must experience. It’s sad that all of your answers are always two-sided. From this explanation it follows that Adam HaRishon is not a common state, but only for genetic Jews, because they have already been there, while the “gentiles” haven’t even had a slight taste of it. But then why are they in a state of descent?

My Answer: You should look at everything objectively, like a researcher. Then you’ll be closer to the truth. All the terms exist both on the corporeal and the spiritual levels. Every person must experience every state.

Those who have gone through the spiritual ascent and descent in the past are the genetic Jews, starting with Abraham, the first Kabbalist. (We don’t consider anyone before him since there was no system, even though everything started with Adam.) These people (souls) must be the first to go through the correction, because they broke during the First and the Second Temples. They must then pass the method on to everyone else.

On the corporeal level, they are hated and abused for neglecting this mission. Incidentally, the Hebrew word Goy (gentile) means a nation. Israel is also referred to as “Goy,” but “Goy Kadosh” – a holy nation, provided that it is in the quality of love and bestowal.

Adam is the common soul of all people. A part of Adam – the souls of Abraham’s students, underwent spiritual ascent and breaking. Another part of the souls, the Goyim (gentiles) never ascended or broke. The broken souls are worse than those that didn’t break, but they also have a greater predisposition toward correction because they contain the broken spiritual desires. This is why they are obligated to become “Ohr Le Goim” – the Light for the nations of the world, who don’t contain the broken desires.

Being “chosen” means being responsible for mastering the method of correction and passing it on to the entire world, or in other words – spiritually serving the world.

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