Two questions I received on what will happen to the Internet during the crisis:

Question: In this great international crisis, plus everything that is apparently still in store for us, it is reasonable to assume that many different infrastructures will be affected, including the Internet. How do you think this will affect the role of the virtual group and our dissemination in the entire world, which happens primarily through the Internet?

My Answer: If we use the Internet correctly in order to correct the world, then it will remain, or be replaced by something even more suitable for this goal.

Question: Are you still working on materials to submit to the Google 10^100 project? At first everyone was excited about it and there was a lot of talk about it, but now it seems like everyone forgot about it. Will Bnei Baruch participate in it or not?

My Answer: We did what we could, and the rest does not depend on us. In the midst of it, the crisis struck. It looks like Google has forgotten about it, or perhaps something is still happening there, but since no one is contacting us, we are keeping quiet as well.

To be frank, I don’t believe that such undertakings have good intentions or integrity from the start, but I’m obligated to participate if there is an opportunity. In addition, working together on these projects helps us unite!

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Internet Is a Reflection of the Society
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Laitman.com Post: The Creator Will Become Revealed Inside the Unity of Our Virtual Meeting Space
Shamati #72: “Confidence Is the Clothing for the Light”
Shamati #131: “Who Comes to Be Purified”
Kabbalah Blog Post: Make a Difference, Cause a Social Change!
Kabbalah Blog Post: Better the World Campaigns Strike a Chord
Kabbalah Blog Post: Will Project 10^100 Change the World?
Kabbalah Blog Post: Project 10 to the 100th by Google

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Questions I received on women’s spirituality:

Question: Does the word “man” used in Kabbalistic books also apply to women? For example, “if a man feels a Reshimo, then he’s worthy of attaining spirituality, of feeling the Upper World, and comprehending the reality” (this is a quote from the book Kabbalah for the Student, Introduction to Pticha).

My Answer: Without a doubt, all people – both men and women – must attain adhesion with the Creator. The only difference is that men must perform more corrections than women, according to the structure of their souls.

Question: I heard that you don’t approve of women studying at night. Is this true?

My Answer: Anyone can study whenever it’s convenient for him or her. However, since it’s necessary for the men to unite, the best and most effective time for them to study is together with us.

Question: A man’s egoism and difficulties are revealed in relation to the group. How, and in relation to whom, does a woman’s egoism become revealed?

My Answer: Her ego is revealed in relation to a man, or the men’s part of the group, in the sense that the men are the source of a woman’s spiritual advancement. By making efforts to advance spiritually, a woman realizes that she can only do so through the men’s part of the common group.

Question: You say that spirituality has no connection to our bodies. Then why is it important for us to dress modestly when we come to the Kabbalah center? Shouldn’t the men overcome their ego and stop looking at women as sexual objects, but as their equals in correcting the world?

My Answer: You have to help the men disseminate Kabbalah to the world, instead of showcasing yourself to them. This is why you’re permitted to come to the center! Do you want to be a person who’s of benefit to the world, or a “woman”? When you have to do work together with the men, it’s important that there be no difference among the participants.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Women Need to Work On Correction Just Like Men
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“A Talk About the Spiritual Advancement of Women”

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Two questions I received on Kabbalah books:

Question: At the Blackpool Congress you recommended for everyone to have the book Kabbalah for the Student in Hebrew. Why?

My Answer: Experience shows that our permanent students end up learning the original language of Kabbalah – Hebrew, because it is impossible to convey all of the information in a different language, using different symbols. However, this only applies to our permanent students. For example, right now I am in St Louis. The local group, who are Christian Americans, study Hebrew twice a week. They understand it and listen to the lessons with almost no translation.

Question: In one of your recent lessons you said that the texts on a computer screen give less Light than a book. What difference does it make how the text is displayed?

My Answer: It makes a difference, especially for a beginner, who can open a book anywhere, anytime. However, for the new generation, the monitor screen is closer.

Related Material:
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Kabbalah Books in English
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We have published a new book in Spanish called Cabalá para Aprendices, a translation of the English book Kabbalah Revealed. It is already on sale at the international book fair in Santiago, Chile. The book will also be distributed in Argentina, Columbia, Peru, and Mexico through branches of the “Norma Editorial Group.”

The photos below show our friends from the Chile group selling our books in Spanish at the book fair in Santiago.

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A question I received: I recently find that there are some companies that I want to avoid, but I’m not sure whether this is the result of my Kabbalah studies or personal growth. There are some friends of mine who are mostly concerned about issues such as sex, and I feel uncomfortable in their presence when they spend so much time talking about topics I find so uninteresting. But at the same time, I can’t find many people interested in spirituality, perhaps in religion, but not in spirituality.

Is it better to be alone than surrounded by people with “wrong” values?

My Answer: A person reaches a point where he grows bored with life and does not see meaning or a purpose to life. When he looks at others, he doesn’t understand how they can possibly be fulfilled by the things they do. He tries to imitate them, to become part of their social circle, and to be like everyone else, but he can’t because it does not fulfill him.

When he reaches the complete realization that he’s alone, he then reveals the point in the heart within – an aspiration to an unknown source of fulfillment. He follows this aspiration and finds the right books, the group, and the Kabbalah website.

So look into yourself – maybe you’re ready for a new environment?

Related Material:
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Two questions I received on people who don’t study Kabbalah:

Question: Those who feel the point in the heart are already receiving blows of fate in order to make them follow the designated path. But what about everyone else?

My Answer: Everyone is pushed toward the goal of creation by blows of fate because we go through a part of the path – before revealing the point in the heart – unconsciously, by means of blows and running away from the suffering. However, after the point in the heart is revealed in us, we still receive the blows, but gradually we discover the cause behind them and their purpose.

From that moment on, we must already aspire to the goal (the Creator) consciously and through our own additional desire – a desire that isn’t received from above, but from our environment (the group).

Question: As far as I can tell, there is no group in France that’s close to me. Are there any plans to establish one? I am new to Kabbalah and feel a bit lonely sitting in front of the computer screen by myself, even though there are other students in my country who feel the same way.

My wife is not against me studying Kabbalah. She says that it’s ok because it’s kind of “biblical.” However, I am already afraid that the community will influence her and she will blame me for engaging in “satanic” things. How should I react to this? I am sure that it will be a struggle, but I don’t want to stop studying Kabbalah.

My Answer: The global connection between all people that’s being revealed in the world, and the nonconformity (and opposition!) of human relationships to it, will bring about such immense blows of Nature upon humanity – from climatic to economic – that people will quickly discover that Kabbalah’s method to change the world for the better is unique.

However, we should try by all means to inform people today about the reason for the crises and suffering, in order to shift humanity’s development from the path of suffering to the path of conscious correction. Then the suffering will be replaced by Nature’s favorable treatment of humanity.

Related Material:
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During the international children’s lesson that was held on 10.10.2008, we talked about prayer. Prayer is the most secret, concealed desire in one’s heart. It hides so deep down in our hearts that we don’t even feel it. But precisely this desire has a connection with the Creator, or we can say that the Creator dwells inside this desire.

In order to reveal the Creator, we must reveal this desire for Him. But how can we influence this desire? A person cannot reach it himself, but only through the environment (the group). He evokes all sorts of influences from the environment, which make his desire for the Creator, for love and bestowal, grow. In fact, these influences have a direct effect on one’s heart.

In this manner, through the group, one can evoke such a great desire for love and bestowal in his heart that it will become similar to the Creator in the minimum degree, and then he will immediately sense the Creator within it. This is the meaning and purpose of prayer – to gradually reveal the Creator in one’s heart!

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During the following international children’s lesson, held on 10.17.2008, we talked about blessings. A blessing is a sensation of gratitude that involuntarily appears in one’s heart. It is gratitude for the corrections that take place within a person under the influence of the Creator’s Light:

“Blessed are you, Ruler of the world… Who opens eyes to see the Upper World… Who spreads the earth (the desire to receive) upon the waters (the desire to bestow)… Who gives the heart the understanding to distinguish day (the Upper Light, the quality of bestowal) from night (egoism)… Who clothes the naked (with the Light of Hassadim, in which the Light of Hochma is revealed)… and so on.

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Questions I received on how to work with the material and the group:

Question: When does a person who studies the science of Kabbalah go from simply “absorbing” the information (reading, listening and seeing) to actually perceiving the Upper World?

My Answer: When he becomes equivalent – in the minimal degree – to the quality of bestowal described by the text.

Question: When studying the materials by the aforementioned methods, does it make sense to try and unite with the Kabbalist’s way of thinking, rather than finding a connection with the material itself?

My Answer: That’s exactly what you should do – try to unite with the author and his intention.

Question: Can the point of the breaking be revealed only in the group? Or also with other people close to me, such as my husband for instance?

My Answer: It can only be done by trying to unite the aspirations for the Creator by drawing our joint aspirations for Him closer together.

Question: Sometimes I meet people who seem very close to me spiritually, and it’s easier for me to connect to their desires. Is this egoistic equivalence of form? Or the pattern of the reincarnation of souls?

My Answer: These are the same.

Related Material:
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Two questions I received on resolving the financial crisis:

Question: What do you think of the US Market which seems to be on the rebound? Is it over? People who I meet are not very pessimistic and very hopeful that we have passed the bottom and all will return to normal soon.

My Answer: Things will improve if the government, the banks, and the people will act to create a greater connection with one another, as Baal HaSulam writes in the articles “The Peace,” “Peace in the World,” and “The Future Generation.”

Question: We think that it is necessary to exchange opinions about the systematic crisis on the international level among all social groups: government, enterprises, churches, science, culture, and social organizations. The initiative must come from the Kabbalists and go to organizations similar to them in their spirit, and the UN must assume the responsibility to organize this kind of forum.

Obviously, this will not produce immediate results, but what’s important is that the elite of the world will hear the ideas of Kabbalah. Fresh ideas and a growing need will do their job. Do you think it is possible to implement this?

My Answer: This is what we are striving to. I am waiting for your suggestions.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Why Was America Hit First?
Laitman.com Post: Can We Avoid A Recession?

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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.

Related Material:
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Book: Kabbalah Beginner’s Guide
Baal HaSulam Article: “The Love for the Creator & Love for the Created Beings”

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