Questions I received on what to do with a boyfriend who doesn’t study Kabbalah and women who hate dissemination:

Question: A woman becomes fulfilled spiritually through a man – I feel this very clearly. However, all I can think about is my boyfriend, who doesn’t study Kabbalah. I broke up with him when I encountered Kabbalah, but now we are back together and I am still studying Kabbalah. I feel like I prefer spending time with him over going to the lessons, and this scares me because I’m neglecting my purpose and the Creator’s goal for me. I can’t leave you and the group and the entire world Kli. I need you and you need me. But on the other hand, I am drawn to my boyfriend. I really want to be on the path and develop my Kli together with a man, but I feel like I wouldn’t be able to manage without my boyfriend.

My Answer:
1. Calm down.

2. If he loves you then he won’t interfere with your Kabbalah studies.

3. If you still can, choose another man who will study Kabbalah for sure.

4. Don’t force him to study, but gently and lovingly get him involved in passive participation. We’ve had cases when husbands got involved in Kabbalah this way, and then continued studying even when their wives left Kabbalah.

5. In any case, creating a family is more important than Kabbalah! After that your priority should be your work, and then Kabbalah.

Question: Can one woman teach another woman in the Bnei Baruch group?

My Answer: Yes.

Question: What should we do with women who only want to study and hate the idea of dissemination?

My answer: When a woman first comes to study Kabbalah, then she should be taught the basics – just like a man. After that she should be offered a chance to take on “extra weight,” such as participating in dissemination and paying Maaser. If she doesn’t agree to this, then we don’t continue working with her – let her study at home on her own – the Internet is free. We’ll think twice before letting her attend a Congress, and might even decide against it. People who don’t disseminate are depriving themselves of the opportunity to advance because they don’t develop their Kli by adding the desires of others to it, in order to reach the necessary critical mass.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Women’s Spiritual Progress
Laitman.com Post: Women on the Path of Kabbalah
Laitman.com Post: The Cycle of Descents and Ascents, and the Correction of the Maaser (Advanced)

Filed under: Women - No Comments →

A question I received: I am 25 years old and I live in Brazil. I read your book Cabala: Alcançando Mundos Superiores in Portuguese, and felt a deep desire to learn more about Kabbalah in order to become a good servant of the Creator. I don’t know exactly which book I should read now. I am debating between the Torah and The Book of Zohar. In your opinion, which of the two books should I read next?

My Answer: The only books you should read are the books of Baal HaSulam. Additionally, in the beginning you can read our books, since they explain Baal HaSulam. Once you gain a precise understanding of what is Kabbalah from these books, then you will be able to read any other book without straying from the right path to the Creator.

Baal HaSulam wrote about this in many texts. He says that the difficulty of explaining Kabbalah, the difficult examples, and the non-systematic presentation were the main reasons why Kabbalah was misunderstood by the masses.

If you can only read Portuguese, then your choice of books is rather limited. If you can read in other languages, then I advise you to visit our website and see what’s recommended there for beginners – whether it is books, lessons, talks, and so on.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Advice for Beginners – Find the Answers Inside Yourself
Laitman.com Post: By Developing One’s Desires, Kabbalah Also Develops One’s Mind

Filed under: Spirituality - No Comments →

A question I received: As a practicing Christian, I would like to know: Doesn’t the following verse from the Bible indicate that studying Kabbalah is forbidden? “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.” (Deuteronomy 29:29)

My Answer: You can find the answer in the same passage: The things that are still secret (concealed) belong only to the Creator (to the Upper Level), but the things that are revealed (that we have revealed) belong to us and to our children (to our future states), that we may actually follow all the laws (the laws of love and bestowal), just as the Creator commanded us. It is impossible to follow the laws of love and bestowal without revealing the Creator, as it is written “Know (attain) the Creator and serve Him.” If you study Kabbalah, you will understand what the Creator wants of His creatures. People of all religions will have to do this.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Changing the Future
The Secret Meaning of the Bible

Filed under: Spirituality - No Comments →

A question I received: What are angels and other spiritual creatures mentioned in the Torah?

My Answer: All Kabbalistic books mention Ofanim, Hayot, and Kruvim. It says in The Zohar (Beresheet, item 77, page 81): “Ofanim are angels of the World of Assiya, Hayot are angels of the World of Yetzira, and Kruvim are angels of the World of Beria.” They all represent a small Light (Vak de Hochma) in each world, and they depend on the human souls. For example, when a person corrects himself, then Kruvim face each other, as it says in the Torah.

There are also spiritual forces that are referred to as lion, ox, eagle, and man; they correspond to Sefirot Netzah, Hod, Yesod, and Malchut. In addition, Kabbalistic books sometimes refer to different levels in the spiritual worlds by the words South (Hochma), North (Bina), East (Zeir Anpin), and West (Malchut). And there are many other terms.

All of this speaks only about the state of the Light in the Kelim (desires) according to the law of equivalence between them – to the degree that the Light and Kli share the property of bestowal, which is attained through our efforts. Instead of getting lost in all these names, I advise you to start using Kabbalistic (scientific, physical) terms, such as Sefirot, Olamot, Masachim, Partzufim, Reshimot, Orot, and etc. After all, no matter how you look at it, not one word in Kabbalah speaks about our world. All the confusion only wears a person out and takes him away from the goal.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Angels in Kabbalah
Laitman.com Post: Demons, Spirits, Angels, Devils – Do they Exist?
The Concise Dictionary of Kabbalistic Terms

Filed under: Zohar - No Comments →

Questions I received on whether Kabbalists ever wrote about the age of the world and past civilizations:

Question: In many lessons you have said that our world is several million years old, but that according to the Hebrew calendar we begin counting the world’s age from the moment that the point in the heart awakened in a person named Adam (from the moment he decided to become similar to the Creator). What Kabbalistic sources did you get this information from?

My Answer: Baal HaSulam says in his article, “The Last Generation,” that periods of the Earth’s formation lasted 30 million years each. This indicates that the Earth has existed for millions of years.

Baal HaSulam also writes in his letters that Adam was the first person in the world who revealed the Thought of Creation. Obviously, Adam had parents and relatives, and wasn’t the first person in this sense, but he was the first person to attain or reveal the Creator. In every other regard, all of nature evolves because of the Reshimot that surface and become actualized, going from the still level of nature, to the vegetative level, to the animate level, and then the human level. This happens step by step, and on the surface it appears just like Darwin thought. However, it doesn’t happen through natural selection, but through sequential revelation of the Reshimot according to the pattern of HaVaYaH.

Question: Dear Rav, from what I heard in your lessons, I understood that Baal HaSulam was a man of great attainment. At one of the lessons you said that Baal HaSulam wrote about the Earth’s formation and the numerous shifts that took place between the liquid and solid phases, each lasting for 30 millions years. Have Kabbalists ever mentioned anything about past civilizations?

My Answer: No, because they aren’t interested in this one bit. Kabbalists direct all of their attention upward, above this world – to the goal of creation, rather than backwards – into the depths of history.

There are no intelligent civilizations besides ours. This fact becomes very clear from studying the descent of the Light and Kli from the World of Infinity into our world. We exist in the World of Infinity even now, but our distorted senses depict it as our world. The Ari begins his revelation of the universe from the moment when only the Light exists, and then the embryo of the future creature appears. The only thing that emerges from that point inside the Light – is us.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Adam – We Share One Common Soul
Laitman.com Post: HaVaYaH – Phases of the Development of Desire (Advanced)
Kabbalah Today Article: Creation, Evolution and Beyond
Lesson: The System of Reshimot (Records) – the development software
Lesson on the Article “Matter and Form in the Science of Kabbalah”

Filed under: Spirituality - Comments Off on How Old Is the World?

Questions I received on turning egoists into altruists, and attaining the goal of creation:

Question: How do you explain your allegation that all of nature, including wild beasts, is altruistic?

My Answer: By the fact that it unconsciously follows the Creator’s plan.

Question: How do you plan on turning egoists into altruists?

My Answer: Through the influence of the Surrounding Light (Ohr Makif). See item 155 of the “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot.”

Question: In doing so, are you removing the “defective gene” in man?

My Answer: No. Rather, everything remains and grows bigger, becomes supplemented, and corrected!

Question: Why do you think that humanity has to go back in its development in order to become equal to God again?

My Answer: Humanity was never equal to God. It must attain this state by developing and becoming corrected.

Question: What do you think of building an altruistic society out of ascetics?

My Answer: I am against it. Asceticism goes against Nature, because the goal of creation is perfect fulfillment.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: What Is the Upper Light?
Laitman.com Post: What Were We Wrong About Back in Babylon?
Laitman.com Post: Egoism and Its Manifestations
Kabbalah Blog Post: From Egoism to Altruism-The Key to Social Change

Filed under: Spirituality - No Comments →

A question I received: I’m Jewish. Can I study Kabbalah together with gentiles – people who aren’t Jewish by birth? The Book of Zohar says that every person who teaches even one letter of the Torah to a gentile is responsible for the destruction of the world, and that a gentile who wants to learn must first convert to Judaism. What should I do?

My Answer: “Jew” comes from the word “Ever,” to cross, so a Jew is a person who has crossed the Machsom. Israel is a person who has the intention of “Yashar-El,” “straight to the Creator.” “Yuhudi” comes from the word “Ihud,” meaning “union” (with the Creator). All these notions are properties of love, bestowal, or altruism.

“Goy” (gentile) means “a nation” in Hebrew. This word isn’t offensive; it only underlines the uncorrected, egoistic degree. In the Torah or Kabbalah, “Goy” (gentile) refers to egoism, and Jew, Israel, or Hebrew refer to love and bestowal.

We all start out as gentiles – uncorrected. When we choose the spiritual goal and begin the correction (even while we still haven’t attained it), we become Israel (Isra-El, straight to the Creator). Next, when we cross the Machsom, we become Jewish. And when we attain the goal – union with the Creator, we become Hebrew.

We all came out of Babylon, we are all egoists, and we must all correct ourselves and become like the Creator. When a gentile (an egoist) studies Torah (Kabbalah) for his own sake, he is only harming himself. One should study Torah (Kabbalah) only in order to attain spirituality, the property of bestowal. Hence, you should study with the people who have this goal!

In addition, you should ask: can you and should you study the Torah (Kabbalah) with yourself? Maybe you are a gentile (in your intentions and aspirations)? First you should check whether you want to become like the Creator and attain “love for your neighbor.” If yes, then you can study Kabbalah, because this is the only correction Kabbalah makes to a person. However, if you have a different goal – for your own sake, then you are a gentile, and Torah (Kabbalah) isn’t for you. It is written: “A gentile who studies the Torah must die,” because he attracts Light and thereby becomes even more opposite to It. This is how a person kills the gentile within him. It’s written that the entire Torah is the rule, “Love thy neighbor as thyself.”

Conclusion: Everyone should study Kabbalah regardless of their intention! If they have the intention of a gentile, then they will kill the gentile within them and go from “for one’s own sake” to “for the sake of the Creator.”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Kabbalah Is for the Whole World
What Is Kabbalah?
Kabbalah Today Article: “Permission to Reveal”

Filed under: Israel, Spirituality - 7 Comments →

Questions I received on the pleasures felt by a Kabbalist and the Creator:

Question: Does a Kabbalist ever attain the state of feeling that he gives pleasure to the Creator?

My Answer: Yes.

Question: How is this feeling expressed?

My Answer: As union with the Creator and perception of Him.

Question: What are the signs that let a Kabbalist know that the Creator is really receiving pleasure from his actions?

My Answer: Mutual joy, their feelings expressed in one Kli.

Question: A Kabbalist receives pleasure from the Creator’s gifts, and by doing this he gives joy to the Creator. But how can a Kabbalist be sure that the Creator is really enjoying this?

My Answer: He knows this because they merge into one whole.

Question: Do Kabbalists feel pleasure from the small, material things in life?

My Answer: A Kabbalist still feels all the pleasures of our world. Moreover, he feels these pleasures even more than ordinary people do.

Question: The spiritual goal is the union of souls. When a person enters the spiritual world, he begins to feel the desires and thoughts of the other souls. Does he still differentiate between what’s “his” and what’s “someone else’s”, or does he lose the sensation of his individuality?

My Answer: He doesn’t lose it. Even though he feels everyone, he feels them through himself, like a cell that works for the entire body.

Question: You said that great Kabbalists have great egoism, but they know how to control it. How do they control their egoism?

My Answer: Through Light that comes from above; through the Creator, the way a child does this through an adult.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Revelation of Godliness (Baal HaSulam)
Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to the Book of Zohar,” Item 39

Filed under: Spirituality - No Comments →

Questions I received on the soul and its relationship with the body:

Question: You insist that the soul is inside one’s heart. Then how do you explain the fact that people can live after a heart transplant?

My Answer: I think you are confusing me with someone else. I never said anything like this. The soul is not located in the human body at all. It is the property of love and bestowal that a person attains.

Question: What is the soul for you?

My Answer: The soul is the property of love and bestowal – the property of the Creator. It is written, “The soul is a part of the Creator from above,” and the Creator is the desire to love and bestow. And that’s all!

Question: When does the soul incarnate into the human body: during conception or during birth?

My Answer: The soul isn’t connected to any bodily processes in any way, and it doesn’t incarnate into anything. It comes to a person when he attains the property of bestowal.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Why Do We Have to Keep Coming Back Here?
Laitman.com Post: Babies – Physical and Spiritual

Filed under: Spirituality - No Comments →

Questions I received on studying, defining the spiritual goal, one’s desires, and one’s mind:

Question: What should I study every day?

My Answer: Study the same things we do, together with us.

Question: Should I study only Kabbalah, or are there other books worth studying as well?

My Answer: You should study only what we study. If you are a beginner, then you should study the first and third parts of our daily lesson together with us, but instead of the second part of the lesson (Talmud Eser Sefirot), you can study the materials for beginners on our website.

Question: Do we have to fight our lustful desires in the corporeal world, or should we just study Kabbalah without fighting these desires?

My Answer: Only the study of Kabbalah evokes the Light of correction – Ohr Makif. You will not become more corrected by fighting your desires or restricting yourself in some way. Don’t focus on your properties, but instead strive toward the Creator.

Question: I am somewhat confused about the spiritual goal. Is the goal for me to be happy, or for me to bestow, or to be like the Upper One, or is it to love my neighbor? Or, according to what you said in the latest lessons, is the goal for me to become master of my freedom of choice, or combine the paradox between the place of the Creator and the place of the creation? What is the goal?

My Answer: There is one goal, and it combines everything – all the opposites: The entire Light enters the entire Kli, filling it completely. This state already exists; we must only reveal it for ourselves. It’s similar to a child’s puzzle: There is an image printed on a piece of cardboard, then it’s cut up into small pieces and the child has to put it together. This is how the child learns to connect all the different parts into one whole – and we will have to do the same thing with all the elements of creation.

Question: Is the ego (my will to receive), my mind that observes the reality?

My Answer: That is absolutely correct. Inside your desire, you perceive yourself, the world, and your existence. The mind is produced by the egoistic desires, or derived from them. The mind comes into being and grows to degree that one aspires to fulfill one’s desires. The more desires one has, and the larger these desires are, the greater is the mind that accompanies them. Hence, since Kabbalah develops one’s desires, it also prompts the development of the mind (the brain).

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Only Kabbalah Combines All the Right Ingredients
Laitman.com Post: Advice for Beginners – Find the Answers Inside Yourself
“Kabbalah Revealed” – Full Lesson Series for Beginners

Filed under: Spirituality - No Comments →