News Story: The day after shutting down Maxim magazine in Israel, the SBC media group signed an agreement to issue the magazine Kabbalah L’Am, which focuses on questions of Kabbalah for nonreligious readers

(Translation of the article)

Lior Livrovsky, 28.05.08 18:48: It was originally published as a newspaper by the Kabbalistic center of Rav Laitman and the Bnei Baruch Association. The newspaper’s editors will also be the editors of the magazine, which will be published mutually with the Bnei Baruch organization.

Today, the SBC media group announced that after two trial issues, published in the last two months, they have finally signed an agreement with the association Kabbalah L’Am to publish an almanac under the same title, dedicated to questions of Kabbalah and intended for non-religious readers.

This news came the day after the announcement that the Hebrew version of Maxim magazine for men will be closed down, which was first published on Ice News and shut down just eight issues later. [Read more →]

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Two questions I received on the worldwide dissemination of Kabbalah:

Question: At a recent lesson, you said that it’s important to disseminate the wisdom of Kabbalah to the nations of the world, to people who live in America, Russia, and Europe. Is it also important to disseminate Kabbalah to Muslims, both distant and near?

My Answer: Of course it is, and in addition, there are many points of contact for doing so. The problem is that there is a wave of aggressive Islam sweeping over the world today, but nevertheless we have students from Arabic countries. Obviously we don’t reveal their identities, besides our friends from Turkey. We have a practical website in Arabic, and there are lessons translated to Arabic. Several people in the central Bnei Baruch group are fluent in Arabic and they disseminate Kabbalah in Arabic, as well as in Persian.

Question: Do you think that now is the most appropriate time to disseminate Kabbalah newspapers in China?

My Answer: I think that we should put disseminating in China on hold for now. For the time being, I have a book being published there.

Related Material:
Kabbalah Today Article: Echoes of the Future
Kabbalah Today Article: The Freedom to Know – an Interview with Michael Laitman
Kabbalah Today Article: Time to Act
Lesson: Baal HaSulam’s Article “Time to Act” [56:07]
Lesson: Baal HaSulam’s Article “Time to Act” [56:07]

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Two questions I received on work and career in relation to Kabbalah:

Question: Is the study of Kabbalah in any way related to choosing a job or profession in the material world?

My Answer: A person cannot pursue several goals. Therefore, if one’s purpose is to become corrected, similar to the Creator, then his every action in this world becomes supplementary. Thus, it’s best to choose a practical profession, one that will allow you to provide for your family while leaving you time to study Kabbalah.

Question: I have been studying with you through Kabbalah TV and ARI Online for almost two years now, and I am very grateful for the opportunity to come closer to the Creator that Kabbalah gives us. However, I’m disoriented by the need to succeed in this world. Can a person be wealthy, while having an intention for the sake of the Creator?

My Answer: If a person is intensively working on his spiritual development, he will eventually have to change his daily schedule as to unload himself of extra work, and give that work to other people. He will only do what’s necessary. In general, his thoughts will be focused on spirituality and how to help the entire world in this regard. But he must provide himself with everything necessary, so as not to demand it from society.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Kabbalah and Your Career
Article: Relationships (Section: The Purpose of Creation)
Article: Relationships (Section: Upbringing)
Article: Relationships (Section: Family)

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A question I received: I understand that the issue of education is one of the most important things to you, and it must be the first thing on your agenda. Today, society disregards teachers, and they suffer from ridiculous budgets and low salaries (compared to the social sector). Additionally, classes are overcrowded with twice the permitted number of students, and there are always several children in a class who require special attention.

Moreover, teachers often need to explain the basic values and norms of behavior, since parents have no choice but to spend very little time with their children. I would like to know your opinion: Is it possible to change the situation, and how? Where will the teachers draw the strength to come out of this current state?

My Answer: Only our dissemination of Kabbalah among parents, the realization of their hopelessness, and their fear for their children will force parents to change the current education system or create a different one, which will work on creating “people” out of children.

Related Material:
Kabbalah Today Article: Spiritual Education
Laitman.com Post: You Can’t Step into the Same River Twice
Article: Education
Article: Raising the Next Generation of Children
Article: Why Kabbalah? Why Now?
eBook: From Chaos to Harmony – The Solution to the Global Crisis According to the Wisdom of Kabbalah

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A question I received: Why are there still so many conflicts between representatives of different ethnic and religious groups? Sometimes even the official religious communities support these aggressive views and actions. What is it about people that makes them want to practice superiority over other nations and ethnic groups, and to do all this in the name of the Almighty?

My Answer: Religions were created after Kabbalah became concealed, by people who fell into egoism. These people took Kabbalistic ideals and passed them off as their own. They couldn’t, however, abide by these ideals, and as such, they could only instruct others to uphold them by threatening them with punishment in the world to come.

Because of how egoism provokes mutual hatred in people, all religions mutually hate one another, but they conceal their hatred, and on the surface, summon the world to peace and love. However, they’ve never had an aspiration for peace and love, and if it were in their power to do so, we would still be destroying each other in religious wars, following their call to make them stronger, like we’ve done in the past.

Related Posts:
The Solution – Excerpts from the Writings of the Last Generation by Baal HaSulam
The Cracks in the Floor of Supposition, and the Firm Base of Attainment
What Is Religion?
Religions are Expressions of Culture, Not Absolute Higher Knowledge
More Muslims than Catholics
The Solution to the Clash of Civilizations

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The descent of the Upper Forces evokes the birth, or emergence, of an expanding universe, both the universe as a whole and each of its parts: the formation of microscopic particles and atoms, the complication of the structure of matter, chemical interactions that are set in motion by heating-uncharging and condensing-cooling, the formation of structures, the congestion of substances, and the formation of stars, galaxies and planets. On one of these planets, bio-polymers form – the basis of life. Their evolution constitutes the evolution of life, leading to the emergence of reason, consciousness, and eventually, the human, an intelligent bio-mass that is aware of its own existence – Behina 4 (Phase 4).

The human, however, is only the first and lowest degree of the ladder upon which he ascends (and the universe and this world ascend together with him). This ladder leads to the state where the human is fully conscious of the entire universe, a state called the World of Infinity, complete adhesion with the General Upper Force of the entire super-system.

As matter develops, its speed of development constantly increases. When the human emerges, the developing system’s acceleration is at its utmost. A social community of people emerges, and egoism’s growth develops it into an informational community. Mass media and communication channels unify everyone in one place, opinion, consciousness and experience. A person becomes a cell in the organism of the general system, similar to a cell in our body. Everyone’s unification within one organism is determined from the beginning. Every person’s dependence and influence on others is determined by the informational unification, rather than the physical one. The more the information is qualitatively developed, the greater influence it has on the entire system – an influence that is physical, informational, cognitive and spiritual. The spiritual influence bears the greatest result on the whole system, raising it in the general, collective consciousness to the level of the super-system – called “the Creator.”

Related Material:
Kabbalah Today Article: Creation and Evolution
Article: Soul as a System in the Model of the Universe
Article: Attainment of Unity of the Universe
Article: The Historical Aspect of the Science of Kabbalah
eBook: The Science of Kabbalah (Pticha)

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On April 22, 2008 a rather negative review of the book Meeting Kabbalah, published in Hebrew by the Bnei Baruch organization, appeared in Israel’s most elite newspaper, Ha’aretz. Meeting Kabbalah is a collection of my talks with Israeli writers, actors, musicians, singers and social activists.

When we asked the newspaper’s editorial staff about the negative review, its reviewer, Tomer Persiko, responded with five questions, in which he disagreed with our statements. Here they are:
1. You assert that all methods besides Kabbalah are based on lowering a person. Have you tried all these methods? If not, then what are you basing your statements on?
2. You insist that Kabbalah has existed since the times of Abraham, but modern researchers say that it was founded in the thirteenth century and their works confirm this. Do you have proof of your opinion?
3. You insist that The Book of Zohar was written by Rashbi in the second century CE, while modern researchers say that it was written by a group of Kabbalists under the guidance of Rabbi Moshe de Leon in the thirteenth century, and they produce proof of their assertions. Do you have proof of your assertions?
4. You assert that Kabbalah is a science, but in what sense is it a science if it is based on metaphysical assumptions (for example, the existence of the Sefirot), whose existence cannot be proven?
5. You insist that “the only way a person can reach a connection with the Creator is through a group,” meaning – a Kabbalistic group under your leadership. But you are not willing to accept homosexuals into your group, and advise them to reach a connection with the Creator on their own. How can you respond to this contradiction?

How would you respond to these five questions?

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A question I received: We learn that our world is a reflection of the Upper World – “As it is above, so it is below.” We also learn that all the disorder among us is a result of our evolving egoism. One only needs to take a look at the world and our current situation to understand that it is all true. Nonetheless, secret theories circulate about families and clans called “Illuminati,” who engage in magic rituals in secret societies. Their main goal is to not only to gain world domination, but to gain the power of the Creator. Is there any truth to this?

My Answer: There are no secrets or miracles in our world, no matter how much we might want them to exist. We want to believe that the world is magical in some way, and more interesting than what we see. However, everything rests upon strict laws of nature. If one knows these laws, one can expand the limits of the perceivable world. We can develop additional qualities within ourselves and as such, feel a broader world. However, all of this also happens according to the physical laws of equivalence of form.

A question I received: All of this talk I hear about Kabbalah, regarding miracles and abilities to see supernatural occurrences – do these things indicate that one is advanced in Kabbalah?

My Answer: There are no miracles, mysticism, or anything of what you wrote in Kabbalah. Read Baal HaSulam’s article “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” and others (see the right sidebar’s “Kabbalah Source Materials” section for Baal HaSulam’s materials).

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The Corrected Society
Accepting the law, “Love your friend as yourself,” word for word.
Just division of the profits so each will work according to ability and will receive according to need.
Public opinion should be based on “Love your friend as yourself,” so one who receives more than one’s needs will be considered a killer.

Transformation
The will to receive, imprinted in every creature, is in disparity of form from the Creator. Hence, one’s soul is separated from Him, since disparity of form separates in spirituality. It is therefore clear that what the Creator wants of us is equivalence of form, at which time we will cling to Him once more, as prior to our creation.

This is why Kabbalists said that one must cleave to the attributes of the Creator – “as He is merciful, so you are merciful” – so all our actions will be only to bestow upon our fellow person to the best of our ability. This is how we achieve the goal of cleaving to the Creator, equalizing with Him.

What one must do for oneself, in the necessary measure for the sustenance of oneself and one’s family, is not considered disparity of form, since “necessity is neither praised nor condemned.”
All these conditions will arise in the days of the Messiah. And when they accept this lesson we will be awarded complete redemption. [Read more →]

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A question I received: I’ve been studying in a group for several years now. Lately I’ve noticed that I don’t want to study Kabbalah. Am I feeling this way because my egoism is growing? I don’t feel a desire to correct myself or to become similar to Him. Instead, I have a new desire, which I don’t understand. Why did it appear in me? For what purpose?

In addition, I can’t shake off the feeling that this desire isn’t mine, as though it came to me from outside. I don’t know what to do with it, and the more I try to ignore this desire, the bigger it gets.

My Answer: A person shouldn’t decide anything about his spiritual development ahead of time, because he has no idea how he needs to develop, and what states he needs to go through.

Therefore, he should make efforts to progress, and greet everything that reveals to and inside him, as necessary in his path of development. An ascent is always preceded by a state of confusion, lack of understanding – and then suddenly comes clarity, a new realization.

Perhaps you’re already in such a state as I’m writing you this answer. Or maybe you have already gone through it and are again searching, feeling weak and confused – and facing a new ascent?

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