All the desires that people have in our world have completed their development. Thus, nothing will develop further. Our world has come to a full stop. All our corporeal desires (such as for food, sex, family) as well as our social desires (for wealth, fame, power and knowledge) are in crisis because they have gone past the last stage of their development and are mutating into perverted forms.

Therefore, egoism can no longer develop in our world. Rather, it is starting to connect us, making us feel completely interdependent. From now on, we will begin to sense this connection more and more, even if nations and people will try to isolate themselves from one another. We will eventually reach the feeling of a complete, total connection, which will obligate us to love others as ourselves.

We will then discover that this is the solution to all our problems.

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A question I received: If one asks to be brought closer to the Light, is that not an egoistic request? After all, he is driven by the desire to feel better.

My Answer: That doesn’t matter. This is what is called Lo Lishma (to desire spirituality egoistically for oneself).

One wants to sense the spiritual world, to receive the spiritual life, the sensation of true reality, and to see that his life isn’t being wasted. After all, life passes by and no one knows how much time they have left, so one doesn’t want it to go by meaninglessly.

Initially one cannot think of anything other than his own profit. Consequently, if one doesn’t desire spirituality egoistically by envisioning the benefit it will bring him, he will never turn to it.

Therefore, the spiritual path begins with egoistic attainment (Lo Lishma). But then, under the influence of the Upper Light (Ohr Makif), one’s egoistic attitude toward spirituality is replaced by an altruistic one (Lishma).

That is why one’s ego is called “help against him” (Ezer Kenegdo), since it brings one to a state where he suddenly realizes that it is precisely his ego that stands in his way.

The same ego that used to help him and push him forward must now be destroyed. What must be destroyed is not the desires themselves, but only their egoistic intention. This is how one is gradually changed by the Light.

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What is a human being? A human being is a mountain of egoism and hatred towards everyone. If the Light influences this mountain of hatred (the mountain of Sinai),  it raises a person onto the mountain.

Precisely due to the egoism, a person has something to rise above, then under the influence of the Light, the egoism is ready to receive pleasure, using itself for the sake of bestowal.

The Light does everything. One can be the most righteous person, who has ascended high into the degrees of the worlds, but if the Light stops affecting him, he will immediately fall into his initial egoism. There are no other alternatives – either we are controlled by our egoistic nature or we are controlled by the Light.

This will never end, since while I am in any spiritual state, I must always hold onto the Light in order for it to influence me. If I let go of it, I will fall immediately.

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A question I received: I’m from Brazil, where people within Brazil and those from other countries like to disseminate psychological terror. The current trend now is swine flu, since people fear it so much. But there’s something strange in some aspects of this epidemic.  H1N1 is the ‘name’ of the virus (well… it has the number 11 in the middle of the name) and the popular name is swine flu (which has caused some havoc in Israel).

I have had contact with infected people and I haven’t developed any symptoms. What do you have to say about this swine flu?

My Answer: These are not yet all the “Plagues of Egypt” that will compel us to start thinking and to begin tearing ourselves away from egoism. We have entered this period that precedes the exiting  from the “Egypt” of our world.

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To ascend spiritually we need egoism, above which we need to rise. We don’t need to remove obstacles – we need to rise above them.

It is the fundamental difference between Kabbalah and all other spiritual methodologies, religions and beliefs. They teach one how to remove problems and calm down, so everyone will feel comfortable.

This is the principle on which the entire world acts. Everyone calms himself as best he can by talking to a shrink, taking drugs, fighting, trying to find comfort in sleep, alcohol, religion and rewards in this world.

Whatever a person does is only to erase the unpleasant feelings.

Because of this principle, religions attract people, calming down their egoism. But everything is opposite in Kabbalah – you have to use all your egoism, increase it and rise above it.

Therefore, a person who wants to correct his egoism and turn it to bestowal needs the Light that corrects his egoism. He needs exactly the force that created his ego, as the force will now help him to rise above it.

If a person only suppresses egoism, then he doesn’t need the returning Light and the Creator. He invents some religion or methodology for himself and gets comfortable.

The difference between all other methods and Kabbalah is that Kabbalah doesn’t calm down egoism but rather, enlivens it!

Therefore, only the Kabbalistic method, which works with egoism (not suppressing it but valuing and utilizing it), brings a person to the Upper Light.

Actually, a person needs the Light only to subjugate his egoism and this Light should raise us above all obstacles. This is practical spiritual work.

If a person doesn’t need help from the Light, the Creator,  in order to rise above obstacles and his  egoism, then he will never reach bestowal.

(From Lesson #2 of the Eurasian Congress 10.23.09)

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Question: Why are we all connected?

Answer: The Creator created a single desire and then broke it into pieces.

In reality we are all connected on the inside, and we only feel as if we are disconnected.

I feel like others are separate from me. I lie to people, steal from them, hit them, and hate them, because I do not feel that they are also me. The entire world is all me!

The Creator has confused me on purpose. The fact that others are me will be revealed to me, and then I must ask myself, “How could I have treated myself this way? I took things from my own self, hit myself, stole from myself. I took so many good things away from myself.

I constantly hurt myself, my own health,  my comfort and my peace.  I do bad things to myself. What was I thinking? How could I not see the obvious?”

It is only in the egoism’s distorted mirror that the other parts seem to be foreign to me, even though we are one whole.

This is an unpleasant feeling, but the good thing about it is that it leads to correction.  It pushes us towards interconnection and motivates us to become closer and love our neighbor.

(From the Children’s Lesson at the North American Congress  10.17.09)

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Children are an ocean of desires. Children ask questions with simplicity, but there is a certain depth in this simplicity that puts you in disarray.

This is because in reality there is no answer to their questions. All the answers lie beyond the other side of the Machsom where people see and feel for themselves.

This is why children are told fairy tales and stories – the deepest things can be presented this way.

Adults do not need this multitude of layers.  They are more confused and their souls have sunk under the dark cover of our world, while this has not yet happened to a child.

Question: Why do we need to unite?

Answer: I have only one enemy – my egoism, and I am not able to fight it alone.

My egoism is like a big, strong boy from school, who I constantly need to run from so he won’t beat me up.

I look for help to defeat my egoism, and I find it amongst my friends. They have the same problem –  the evil beginning, egoism, won’t let them be.

So together we decide to give it a good beating so to keep it away from us. We need to become friends in order to kick this “bad boy” and make him never want to deal with us again.

This is why we unite –in order to defeat a common enemy.  Life will simply become wonderful if we are able to get rid of him.

(From the Children’s Lesson at the North American Congress  10.17.09)

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In the News (from Current): “‘Ruthlessness gene’ discovered” Researchers at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem found a link between a gene called AVPR1a and ruthless behavior in an economic exercise called the ‘Dictator Game.’ The exercise allows players to behave selflessly, or like money-grabbing dictators … Though the mechanism is unclear, [the research team leader] Ebstein says, he is fairly sure that selfish, greedy dictatorship has a genetic component.

My Comment: Kabbalah says, “Egoism is our nature and we cannot get rid of it in our world.” This is why Kabbalah was given to us: it is a method of attracting the Upper Light, the Force of Correction.

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A question I received: The current global crisis has affected many people. However, when the blows were over, people did not listen to the science of Kabbalah. Instead, they decided that the difficult times have passed and now a good period is starting, which will make everything fall back into place.

My Answer: This is understandable. The crisis is worsening, but since no one has a solution, people just keep quiet about it. This is the same in every country.

We receive many blows for performing dishonest actions, but we still cannot stop doing them. That means that the blows were not strong enough to teach us the correct way to behave.

Why don’t we learn from our past mistakes? You would think that it’s as simple as one, two, three. If only minor blows could immediately help us reach correction! However, our egoism is constantly developing and becoming bigger. And since we become more egoistic, the previous blows cannot force us to act properly.

Let’s say I stole ten dollars and was punished. Now when I look at ten dollars, I remember the punishment, and this holds me back. However, what will happen if suddenly I find 100 dollars in front of me? I’ve never been punished for 100 dollars before, so 100 dollars is not connected to punishment in my mind. So I steal the 100 dollars and receive punishment.

But what about a thousand dollars? It’s the same thing! This is how we are built – like animals that only know the things they’ve felt. This is why it is written: “A person cannot carry out a commandment (an action of bestowal and love for one’s neighbor) unless he first breaks it (finds the opposite action in him).” First you have to stumble and fall, you have to “steal,” and then you have to repent and correct what you’ve done. This is something that happens only after one receives blows. Without them, it is impossible for a person to change.

The science of Kabbalah explains that each desire develops according to four stages, from the time it is born to its final form. We consist of a desire and an intention. Therefore, there are four possible combinations of the desire and the intention, because there is a total of four combinations from two variables: “you desire something and intend it, you don’t desire something and don’t intend it,” and so on. (See “Inner Reflection” in Talmud Eser Sefirot).

A person has to go through four stages of blows and clarifications in order to reach the last stage, where he desires to use his egoism only for the sake of selfless, unconditional bestowal and love. This is why it is impossible to learn from one small blow. It’s because there is a law acting between the desire and the Light.

The Light creates a desire, and the desire acts precisely according to the program that is placed into it by the Light. If it is the desire to enjoy, it wishes only to receive pleasure. In order to teach it to be bestowing, the Light always has to influence the desire through four stages.

Only on the last stage does the desire realize that it is receiving. As a result, it feels shame and performs a restriction. This happens with every spiritual action.

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What is a person? He’s a mountain of egoism and hatred for everyone. However, when this mountain of hatred (Mount Sinai) is affected by the Light, a person rises to the top of the mountain.

It is precisely by virtue of having egoism that a person has something to ascend above. Later on, as he continues to be influenced by the Light, his egoism becomes fit for receiving pleasure, to be used for the sake of bestowal.

Everything is done by the Light. You can be the most righteous of all people, and you may have risen to a high spiritual degree, but if the Light stops influencing you, you will immediately fall into your primordial egoism. There is no other alternative, as we are either ruled by our egoistic nature, or by the Light.

This will never stop no matter what spiritual state you go through since you always have to hold on to the Light so that It will influence you. Never let go of It, because the minute you let go, you will fall.

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