I had a meeting that was recorded with Avi Blizovsky, the editor of Israel’s popular-science website Erudite.

Avi is a well known popular science writer. Like many scientists I speak to, for the first half an hour or so he had a hard time envisioning the possibility that the world can be perceived somehow other than through the five senses. This perception is much too habitual and obvious to all, even scientists.

But as we kept talking, he began to understand what kind of science Kabbalah is – one that perceives the world in a different manner, not “within oneself” – egoistically, but “outside of oneself” – altruistically.

He is an avid follower of Darwin and a lover of all sciences. Since we in Bnei Baruch believe that Kabbalah dissemination is the only method of correcting the world, we have to continue having such meetings and patiently explaining to people that Kabbalah is a science about perceiving reality without the limitations of one’s animate body and the five senses.

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I had a conversation that was recorded for an upcoming TV series on the topic of the Upper Force. I spoke with:

Daniel Lamberg – attorney and insurance expert,
Shlomi Buchana – Professor of Economics at Bar-Ilan University,
Ben-Tzion Gertz – writer and host of the program.

We only perceive a small part of the world and we don’t know what will happen to us a moment later or in the distant future. We don’t know what desires will suddenly appear in our heart, or what thoughts will appear in our mind that might force us to act contrary to our common sense and prior desires.

We write off anything we don’t know as the “Upper Force” – some superior force that causes an unexpected turn of events and often excuses us from liability for them. Judicial authorities, insurance companies, and financial markets all view this “intrusion” of the Upper Force into our lives differently and interpret it in their own way.

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A question I received: Why is “the end of the world” such a popular topic today?

My Answer: You’re right. Instead of attaining immortality, people are building the Arctic Doomsday Seed Vault on Spitsbergen to store seeds of all the plant species, so they could restore the planet’s vegetation after a global war or a natural catastrophe. They are also thinking of storing a sperm bank in outer space, and other such ideas. However, people aren’t doing this because of the romantic notion of the end of the world, but out of the sensation of hopelessness. This sensation is alluring and tempting in a way, and this is why the idea of the end of the world is so popular in movies, books, and computer games.

So the answer to your question is that our egoism attracts us to death, lures us toward a catastrophe, and enjoys watching the tired old world disappear, according to the verse, “Revel and enjoy, since tomorrow we’ll die!” (Nuchal ve Nishte Ki Macharo Namut.) Since “tomorrow” is becoming more and more menacing, we are feeling more and more indifferent and indolent to “today.”

According to Kabbalah, if one isn’t on the path of correction yet, then this is actually the next best attitude to have toward the future, because one reveals hopelessness, the fact that there is no solution in our world, and thoughts that aren’t typical of an ordinary person living on the animate level. Later these thoughts and feelings will develop, because egoism will keep growing and it will demand fulfillment – a solution to these problems.

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A question I received: I have been very curious about this for a long time. We say that Kabbalah is not religion, or does not require a particular belief system, yet atheism is now considered a religion among many and it is one of the fastest growing, though that may be a contradiction in terms, as many consider religion a system of belief in God. In any case, we have said Kabbalah study is secular, so my question is – can an atheist be a Kabbalist, or does Kabbalah require a belief in God? After all, in Kabbalah the idea is to become like the Creator.

My Answer: Kabbalah differs from “everything else” (religion or not) in that it facilitates a clear attainment of the Creator, so that you will feel Him like you feel a friend of yours, and even more. Hence there is no room in Kabbalah for belief in something others have told to you. Rather, you have to attain yourself, the entire world, and all the souls, and inside them – the Creator in His entirety.

Atheism is a belief that the Creator does not exist, whereas religion is a belief that the Creator does exist. In contrast, Kabbalah is the revelation of the Creator, through researching Nature inside yourself or inside your perceptions.

In this regard, Kabbalah is similar to other sciences. However, the other sciences reveal the world within the senses that we already have, whereas Kabbalah does it in an additional sense – the soul, which you first have to develop inside you. In any case, just like any other science Kabbalah speaks only about the things that are present in one’s senses! It is not interested in anything that’s imperceptible and that cannot be researched, repeated, and tested, and considers these things unreal. This approach makes it a science by definition. See the definition of Kabbalah in Baal HaSulam’s article “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah” – “Kabbalah is the method of revealing the Creator to man in our world” – to every person and to everyone together.

Like all sciences, Kabbalah uses the scientific method or instrument (even though scientists find it difficult to agree with this because they are used to researching the world only through the animate body). The scientific method assumes that:

• Every scientific statement must be proven by experiment.
• Every scientific statement can be proven wrong.
• It is pointless to discuss an idea that cannot be verified in practice. For example, here is a scientific opinion about G-d’s existence: Immanuel Kant showed that it cannot be proven that G-d exists as well as that He does not. The very notion of an unattainable and almighty G-d is not subject to experiment, because if G-d is almighty, then he’s able to control the outcome of the experiment. People don’t accept G-d through evidence, but through faith. Hence, the idea of G-d is beyond science. Any question that asks “Why is so and so this way?” can be answered, “Because it’s G-d’s will.” (This is how religion compelled people to answer all questions, and therefore it slowed down scientific progress.) Kabbalah allows one to reveal the Creator and His actions in practice. However, it is just as indifferent to the things that cannot be verified in practice as the earthly sciences.
• Every scientific statement must be logical and not contradict the laws that are already known. Usually, the old laws become particular cases of the new laws.
• Every scientific statement must indicate its “weak spots”; it should mention which of it constituents are subject to doubt and objection.

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The Book of Zohar. Chapter, “Who Has Created These, of Eliyahu” (abridged)

11. Rabbi Shimon said: “Elazar, my son (the continuation of the present state, the next degree), reveal to us the supernal secret (law), which the people of the world know nothing of (which they cannot observe in their properties).” Rabbi Elazar was silent (unable to reveal this to the lower ones). Rabbi Shimon wept (entered the state of Katnut, descended to a lower degree on the spiritual ladder), was silent and then said: “Elazar, what is THIS? If THIS was the stars and the signs of the zodiac (destinies), they would have been visible the whole time and located in Malchut, i.e. created, as it is said, “by the word of the Creator were the heavens made.” Meaning, by Malchut, called the “Word of the Creator,” were the heavens made. And if THIS refers to the concealed secrets, then it wouldn’t be written THIS, for the stars and the signs of destinies are visible to all (“THIS” indicates that the object is understood).

12. But this secret was revealed on the day when I was at the seashore (the edge of wisdom). Eliyahu the prophet (the revelation of the degree of wisdom) came and told me: “Rabbi, do you know what WHO HAS CREATED THESE means?” I told him: “These are the heavens and their hosts, the works of the Creator, that man can look at them and bless them, as it is written, ‘When I behold Your heavens, the work of Your hands! Our Master! How glorious Your name is throughout all the earth!’”

13. Eliyahu told me: “The Creator revealed the concealed to the Supernal Assembly: When the ‘concealed of all the concealed’ desired to reveal himself, he first made one single point (Malchut), and this point ascended into his thought (Malchut ascended and joined Bina). With it he drew all the forms and with it engraved all the images.”

14. He engraved inside a concealed, sacred candle (inside Malchut that joined Bina) one concealed image of the holy of holies, a secret structure that has emerged from the thought called WHO, which is the inception of the structure. It is great and is concealed deep inside the name (Bina) ELOKIM = ELOK–IM = THIS-WHO. Initially WHO senses the absence of THIS, strives to the name ELOKIM. He desired to be revealed and be called the full name ELOKIM – hence He clothed Himself in a precious, radiant garment (the Light of Hassadim). He created THIS. The letters THIS of the name ELOK–IM ascended and joined the letters WHO, thereby forming the full name ELOKIM. And until He created THIS, ELOKIM did not ascend (rise) to the name ELOKIM (to the level of Bina). That is why those who sinned in worshipping the golden calf (those who fell from the property of bestowal into the property of receiving for oneself), they pointed their finger at this secret, saying: “THIS is your Lord, Israel!” (they wanted to use only the lower part of Bina, which passes the Light of Hochma to the lower ones, without comparing itself with the properties of the upper part of Bina, the properties of bestowal).

15. Just as WHO joins with THIS to form one name ELOKIM (when Hochma clothes in Hassadim), so does the name join by this beautiful radiant garment. On this secret (the ability to receive for the sake of bestowal) stands the world (the fulfillment of souls), as it is said: “The world was created by mercy.” And Eliyahu flew away (ascended to the degree higher than mine), and I could no longer see him (could not reveal him on my own). But it is from him (from this revelation he made) that I attained the touch of the secret of revelation and of the secret of concealment (how to conceal the uncorrected desires and how to reveal the desires that have been corrected by the Light of Hassadim). Rabbi Elazar and all the disciples drew near (equalized their properties), bowed down (bowed their heads, descended to the same level as the body), wept (lowered their degree) and said (only then did they reveal): “If we had come into this world (attained this degree), but only to hear (attain this property of bestowal, Bina = hearing = ears), it would have been enough for us!” (we desire nothing more than to bestow).

“Who Has Created These, of Eliyahu” – full commentary.

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Perception of the World

(Baal HaSulam, “Preface to the Book of Zohar,” item 34)

With our sense of sight we see a great world before us,

And all its wondrous filling.

But in fact, we do not see all that

Except in our own interior.

There is a sort of a photographic machine in our hindbrain

That portrays everything that appears to us,

And nothing outside of us.

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A question I received: According to Kabbalah, everything in this world is perceived by our five senses. But what about the other things that are in our world and we can sense them, but without the five senses – like thoughts, ideas, information, and dreams? What are they and are they also under the rule of the ego?

My answer: Everything is sensed (perceived) only in our egoistic desire, regardless of how it gets there – through our five senses or from our conscious (or subconscious). The latter is also formed by the perceptions of the five senses. As Baal HaSulam writes – everything we imagine appears in our imagination only because we have sensed something similar to it in the past. Our imagination can only add and expand on this. Otherwise we would not be able to imagine those things.

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Questions I received on how to get through the difficult times on the path:

Question: You live and work, raise your children, and study Kabbalah for a hobby. Everything is good. You even think that you’re successfully managing your life in both worlds – this world and the spiritual world. But suddenly you lose your job, your house, and your savings, and in addition someone in your family gets very sick. And for some reason, along with this world, your “spiritual world” falls apart too. Does this mean that everything you attained in spirituality was only a higher form of egoism, a desire for knowledge?

My Answer: This only means one thing: your conditions for advancement have changed, and now you are being offered new conditions for advancement. Why? Because this is how the common desire (the common soul) develops, and you are one of its parts (a particular soul). If you don’t want to advance under the new conditions, then you will leave the path of individual development, and from then on you will be led down the general path of suffering, “forced to happiness.”

Question: “Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord! Wherefore would ye have the day of the Lord? It is darkness, and not light!” (Amos, 5:18) Initially the Light blinds all of our senses and seems like total darkness. However, this darkness is useful for one who aspires toward spirituality, since it shuts off all egoistic aspirations, and one’s egoism loses all interest in spirituality. And only one who keeps on stubbornly moving toward the Goal, “harnessed” together with Rav and the Creator, receives support, assistance and instruction. He then surmounts this part of the path, “the darkness of the night.”

I must admit that I am still a denizen of this world – the world of darkness, and I need the Light in order to acquire “sight,” the ability to see in the world of Light. My question is: What else can a student of yours add to all that he is already doing to attain this?

My Answer: Only more efforts to unite all aspirations toward one goal. It’s because the Creator, the quality of love and bestowal, is revealed only in the unified desire to be together in one desire, to reveal the property of love and bestowal between the souls.

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I had a meeting that was recorded with Dan Kaner, the anchorman of radio Kol Israel and a popular Television host in Israel.

Dan Kaner is a true master of the Hebrew language, with extraordinary knowledge of its intricacies, origin, history and evolution. Therefore, it was a real pleasure speaking to him about the Hebrew language as used in Kabbalah.

By origin, Hebrew is a symbol for the forces operating in the universe. It harmoniously expresses the essence of man and nature through letters and symbols (TANTA). Combining and ordering the letters to form words and sentences is a means to describe the order of the creature’s creation and correction, all the way until the full correction – similarity to the Creator or Light. The Torah exemplifies this order. Knowing what forces and actions are indicated by the letters enables one to move all along the process of creation, to become incorporated in it at different stages, and to thereby gain a better understanding of the Creator’s plan.

Dan was very impressed with the wealth that the language of Kabbalah offers in describing the Hebrew language, the sensations that every letter evokes when interpreted Kabbalistically, and the music of feelings that plays in the combination of letters. He understood that Kabbalah enables one to enter the world of letters, symbols, forces and desires – to feel them and their filling with the Light.

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Questions I received on the role of Israel in the world and how Europe compares to the United States:

Question: You speak a lot of how Israel has to reveal the wisdom of Kabbalah to the ‘nations of the world’ but currently is not doing this. My question is: What happens if Israel does not do this sooner rather than later – does my spiritual development as a gentile become sacrificed? What happens if the point in the heart arises in others before it does in Jews?

My Answer: Then the nations of the world will use force and pressure to make the Jews reveal Kabbalah to them.

Question: How can it be that the economy of the nation of Israel is prospering unlike the rest of the world, considering that the people living there are responsible for the horrible crisis that the world is in?

My Answer: In our time the blows aren’t measured by hunger or money, but by inner problems and the sensation of emptiness – an unfulfilled Kli! The developed and wealthy countries top the charts when it comes to depression, drugs, and suicide.

Question: My question is about the European Union. Why hasn’t Europe succeeded in unifying as well as the United States? Is Europe more egoistic than the US?

My Answer: The problem of creating something new is that you first have to the destroy the old. We can abandon the old state and create a new one only when we recognize that the current state is so evil that it becomes impossible for us to remain in it. Europe hasn’t reached this realization yet. As for America, it was created out of nothing and by combined efforts, since people didn’t have any other choice.

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