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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A question I received: I’ve noticed an obvious growth in the number of women studying Kabbalah, and I’ll be honest: this makes me very happy! Is this happening because their desires are increasing?

My Answer: The wisdom of Kabbalah was concealed from humanity for millennia in order to allow humanity to develop their egoism and finally reveal the global egoism – the “small village” where all people are completely interconnected. As long as Kabbalah was concealed, it was passed down only through men, because in our world a man represents the quality of bestowal, and a woman – the quality of reception.

However, as soon as we reached the level of global egoism – which is how our souls are connected inside the system of the single soul of Adam – the wisdom of Kabbalah started being revealed to everyone, because it is the method to correct our common egoism, which is represented by the woman in our world.

This is why more women than men are attracted to the study and application of Kabbalah. However, this cannot be done without the male part because it is precisely the male part that evokes the Light’s influence, but it does so by using the female desire and hence draws the Light onto both of them. This is similar to how a woman takes care of the home and children while a man acquires the means to realize the woman’s desires.

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Two questions I received about physical and spiritual birth:

Question: I am very curious about whether there are any secrets during birth, marriage, and death according to the wisdom of Kabbalah.

My Answer: The birth of one’s animate body does not involve any secrets, and it never will because the body is simply an animal! However, when the soul (the screen, the quality of bestowal) is born in a person, he reveals the Upper World – the secret of all secrets!

Question: In the future, will people be born with a developed sixth sense within, that will give them absolute control over their lives?

My Answer: Man will always have to make an effort against egoism in order to be corrected and fulfilled by the Upper Light.

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News Report (translated from Kursor.co.il): Israel’s business newspaper “Globes” has published an interview with attorney Ilan Shavit, a specialist on economic and financial rights, called “Israel On the Eve of an Economic Earthquake.” He warns, “The current crisis is an earthquake and should not be considered transient. Clearly, it’s not over yet.”

My Comment: The problem with these specialists is that their judgment is based on previous experience, and hence they think that a bad period will be followed by a good period – that this is the dynamic of life. However, this time something new has happened: the world became collective, every person’s individuality has disappeared, and the laws of the world have changed. Hence all specialists of the past have to be reeducated and learn the law of the communications between the elements of an organism. These are precisely the laws of the Upper (altruistic) World, described in Kabbalah.

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Two questions I received on the arts:

Question: I know that the arts are a manifestation of the ego. But being a person who dabbles in poetry and music, I can’t help but ask: What is the spiritual root of poetry? Can I (a person who hasn’t developed a spiritual Kli nor crossed the Machsom) write poetry and songs about Kabbalah and the Creator? After all, I don’t receive the Light into my soul yet. Should I try it anyway?

My Answer: Actually, the root of the arts is power and ambition. It doesn’t matter over whom – it may even be yourself. Follow the example of the great Kabbalist King David: the Psalms he wrote are still recited today by the entire world. Do as he did!

Question: Kabbalah fights egoism. But at the same time you reject philosophy, history, and the arts. Why?

My Answer: I do not reject anything. I only want to arrange everything according to its level of importance. Since Kabbalah speaks about man’s correction, connection and union with the Creator, eternal existence, and how to replace suffering with pleasure, hence it is incomparably more important than anything else in our lives. After all, what else can compare to Kabbalah when its purpose – and its capability – is to deliver man to a happy existence in this world, and to add an eternal and perfect existence on top of that?

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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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There are three kinds of opponents of Kabbalah:
1. Those who say that there is no need for the concealed part of the Torah.
2. Those who say that Kabbalah is so great that it’s forbidden to study it.
3. Those who say that it’s a terrible thing to make a mistake in such exalted matters.
Rabbi Moshe Cordevero (the ‘Ramak’) “Da Et Elokey Avicha,” 118-132.

If a person from Israel lowers the importance of Kabbalah, he lowers the righteous of the nations of the world lower than the sinners, and thereby causes Israel to be scorned even to the point of annihilation. The entire fall of Israel happened because people have left Kabbalah.
Baal HaSulam. “Introduction to the Book of Zohar,” item 69.

Woe to the people who make the Light of the Messiah vanish from the world, so as never to return. They make the Torah dry, without the moist of mind and knowledge, for they confine themselves to the practical observance of commandments and do not wish to study the wisdom of Kabbalah. Alas, they cause by their deeds the poverty, the ruin and the robbery, the looting, the killings and destruction in the world.
Baal HaSulam. “Introduction to the Book of Zohar,” item 70.

Those who only study the Babylonian Talmud are like the blind gnawing at the wall.
Rav Chaim Vital. “Introduction to the Book Etz Haim,” part 1, 9-10.

The nations of the world say to Israel: “How is your Torah different from our teachings, since yours is also nothing but tales?” They will be punished for degrading the Torah this way. And their Torah causes exile and suffering in the world. But… our sages are pleased with what they have, and they assert that there is no other Torah but the simple Torah. Clearly there is no place for them in the world to come.
Rav Chaim Vital. “Introduction to the Book Etz Haim ,” part 1, 11-12.

Moses Maimonides (the Rambam): He who has not attained similarity to the Creator is not called a man, but is only an animal in the form of a human. However, he can do harm, which animals cannot, since the mind given to him to attain the Creator is used to harm others, and this makes him lower than an animal.
Rav Shim’on Lavi. “Katem Paz.”

This is an answer to all the “wise” people who oppose the study of Kabbalah: let those that study Kabbalah make mistakes and ask for the true path when they discover their mistakes. This is why their efforts are credited and rewarded by the Creator. And those who humiliate those who study Kabbalah will be condemned by the Creator.
Rav Shim’on Lavi. “Katem Paz.”

The wreath of the Torah is Kabbalah, which everyone rejects. But you, stretch out your hand and take it, since those who have never tried it, have never tasted the Light of the Torah and live in darkness. Great is the sin of those who use different excuses to avoid studying Kabbalah. And it is not the fault of the masses, but of their leaders, who neglect the study of Kabbalah and take pride in studying only the revealed Torah and in not needing anything but the simple understanding of the Torah.
Rabbi Pincus Eliyahu of Vilna Sefer HaBrit, part 2, article 12, chapter 5.

There are many ignorant people who refuse to study Kabbalah, but if they would listen to me, evil and misfortune would stop coming to our world, because man depends only on his efforts in studying Kabbalah.
Safrin, Yitzhak Yehudah Yehiel Notzer Hesed al Pirkei Avot, chapter 4, study 20.

Alas, these people, who make the Torah dry and do not wish to study the wisdom of Kabbalah; they cause by their deeds the poverty, the ruin and the robbery, the looting, the killings and destruction in the world.
Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai (Rashbi) Tikunei Zohar, chapter 30.

Rashbi referred to those who study the simple Torah as “sleeping” because they don’t open their eyes to see the Creator’s love for them, as though they scorn it and do not know the path to perfection and adhesion with the Creator.
Rabbi Moshe ‘Haim Luzzatto (Ram’hal). “Shaarei Ramhal,” “Introduction to the Article Vikuah,” page 97.

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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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The Congress that is currently taking place in the UK is the first Kabbalistic Congress to take place after the revelation of humanity’s crisis. Just two months ago we held a Congress in Odessa on the Black Sea, and back then we still couldn’t speak about the future as explicitly as now, since now it is a definite requirement. We are entering the period that Kabbalah was intended for, the reason it was revealed to man, because its application can bring the world to the one and only goal, but through a completely different path – a path that is pleasant and swift, through realizing the law of Nature which states that “The global humankind must unite into one whole, according to the law of ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

This is against our nature, we hate it, it seems unrealistic, and is repulsive to us, but it is necessary because it is a law of nature. Hence, this state can be achieved either through great suffering, or by attracting the Upper Light upon us. Kabbalah is the method of attracting the Upper Light for our correction. So use this means, pass it on to others – and then all of humanity will gradually and easily shift to a different state that’s harmonious with Nature – the state of rest, confidence, and happiness.

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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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