News Report (from WebWire): “A Crowded World: Researchers use computer scenarios to study crowd behavior in time and space” The scientists at the School of Geographical Sciences at Arizona State University have created a model of crowd behavior. Their results were as follows:

1. There is rapid exchange of nonverbal information in crowds

2. The actions of a single individual can shape the dynamics of an entire crowd

3. Individuals who would never ordinarily engage in anti-social behavior such as looting might do so anyway when associated with a riotous crowd; and, conversely, anti-social individuals may see their bad behavior checked by other members of a well-behaved crowd.

My Comment: The science of Kabbalah has been explaining the same laws of individual and social behavior for thousands of years. It explains these and many other laws, how to use them to benefit the individual without infringing on his freedom and while enabling him to develop harmoniously, and how to use these laws for the benefit of society in a way that avoids conflicts between the individual and the society. It explains how the two can come to an ideal coexistence, where individual gain is equal to social gain. This is possible if the importance of the individual is equal to the importance of society as a whole, by observing the law, “The general and the particular are equal.” This observance is possible when everyone is equal and interdependent, and every person strives only to fulfill the desire of the single whole, seeing this as his mission and receiving absolute fulfillment from it.

This is the state we exist in from the very beginning. It is called the “World of Infinity.” We must desire to ascend (morally) from our present state, called “this world,” to the level of the “World of Infinity.” This desire will draw onto us the Light (feeling) of bestowal and love, which fills us in the “World of Infinity” – and this Light will then correct us, giving us the quality of “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” This isn’t inconceivable. Even scientists now prove that an individual’s qualities can change instantly under the society’s influence. Therefore, everything depends on our decision to create the right influence over each and every one of us. Therein lies our freedom of will.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Conditions for Correcting the Soul
Laitman.com Post: Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself
Talk: There is No Coercion in Spirituality
Article: “The World of Infinity”
Article: “Freedom of Will”
Baal HaSulam: “Introduction to the Book of Zohar, Item 68”

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News Report (from Reuters): More than half of teenagers mention risky behaviors such as sex and drugs on their MySpace accounts, U.S. researchers said on Monday. In two studies of 18-year-olds, overall, 54 percent of the publicly available accounts contained information about high-risk behaviors: 41 percent mentioned substance abuse, 24 percent sexual behavior and 14 percent violence.

My Comment: It is an art to raise an animal that’s just been born into a human being. The world’s entire problem is that adults don’t understand that the world can only be changed through upbringing (education). Indeed, if we could raise just one generation correctly, the subsequent ones would be correct as well.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Children Learn from the Examples We Set, Not the Hours We Spend With Them
Laitman.com Post: Schools Should Teach Children How to Become Human Beings
Kabbalah Today Article: “Spiritual Education”
Kabbalah Today Article: “What’s Happening to Our Youth?”
Article: “Kabbalah and Upbringing”
Talk: “The Birth of the Soul”

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A question I received: I heard that the Torah mentions something about the war in Israel that is going on right now. Is this so? You also wrote that all the future events are mentioned in the Torah.

My Answer: There is no explicit reference to this in the Torah, but there is when you look at the inner meaning. However, it is impossible to show it vividly.

It says in the book of the prophet Amos (Amos 1:6):

עמוס א ו כֹּה, אָמַר יְהוָה, עַל-שְׁלֹשָׁה פִּשְׁעֵי עַזָּה, וְעַל-אַרְבָּעָה לֹא אֲשִׁיבֶנּוּ: עַל-הַגְלוֹתָם גָּלוּת שְׁלֵמָה, לְהַסְגִּיר לֶאֱדוֹם. א,ז וְשִׁלַּחְתִּי אֵשׁ, בְּחוֹמַת עַזָּה; וְאָכְלָה, אַרְמְנֹתֶיהָ. א,ח וְהִכְרַתִּי יוֹשֵׁב מֵאַשְׁדּוֹד, וְתוֹמֵךְ שֵׁבֶט מֵאַשְׁקְלוֹן; וַהֲשִׁיבוֹתִי יָדִי עַל-עֶקְרוֹן, וְאָבְדוּ שְׁאֵרִית פְּלִשְׁתִּים–אָמַר, אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה.

Translation: Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they carried away captive the whole captivity, to deliver them up to Edom. But I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, which shall devour the palaces thereof. And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and him that holdeth the sceptre from Ashkelon, and I will turn mine hand against Ekron: and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, saith the Lord GOD.

I will abstain from any commentary. One should understand these texts however he understands them, to the degree of his spiritual development.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Israel’s Tragic Gaza Dilemma
Laitman.com Post: How Long Will the Israeli – Palestinian Conflict Last?

Filed under: Israel - 1 Comment →

A question I received: In one of the lessons you were asked a direct question: Will Kabbalah studies improve one’s financial situation? You answered, “No.” I was waiting for an explanation, such as that there’s no use waiting for a miracle to happen overnight, the way people expect from amulets and holy water. I thought that you would talk about a simple principle that everyone can understand, such as, “Everyone should give according to their ability, and receive according to their needs.”

After all, Kabbalah does provide material prosperity to the people who search spirituality, but in addition, it gives them a way to open the gates to the spiritual world. But instead, you cut the whole topic off and said, “No.” Why?

My Answer: You’re right: of course, a person who works on his own correction sways himself and the whole world to the scale of merit, and to the degree he ascends above egoism, he feels the Light and abundance in his entire life.

However, I want to underline that Kabbalah is the method of revealing the Creator to man in this world, and not a method to get rich, be healed, know the future, cast spells, and all the other things people attribute to it. This is why I clearly tell beginners that Kabbalah studies do not give you any direct material gain. And this is true. It’s because initially a person must reach a feeling that he needs this, and then Kabbalah – the revelation of the Creator – is for him.

It is not a method to get rich quick, or to heal one’s animate body, and so on. If a person genuinely aspires to reveal the Creator, then the Upper Light influences him and elicits changes in this life as well.

Nevertheless, sometimes this may also manifest as it is written in the verse, “He is the righteous and unhappy.” Actually, this doesn’t mean that the righteous person is unhappy, but according to our criteria, he is not rich or healthy. This is because we are all interconnected, and hence sometimes a person who’s righteous suffers for the entire world.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: A Wealthy Person Is One With a Wealth of Knowledge of the Creator
Laitman.com Post: Improve the Quality of Your Life
Lesson from Introductory Course to Kabbalah
Shamati #34: “The Profit of a Land”
Baal HaSulam Article: “Concealment and Disclosure of the Face of the Creator”

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News Report (from National Science Foundation): A team of researchers funded by the National Science Foundation is investigating the role of ethical and religious beliefs, or “sacred values,” in motivating human behavior. The team’s most significant finding is that individuals who hold sacred values are rarely willing to barter them for economic gain. “Our research tells us when there is a confrontation involving sacred values, then offers to give up or exchange sacred values for material incentives is taken as a deep insult…”

My Comment: Here’s the scale of human values, from the lowest to the highest:

• bodily desires (food, sex, and family); these arise from the bodily needs,

• social desires (wealth, power, fame, and knowledge); these arise from society’s influence,

• spiritual desires (revelation of the Creator); these arise from the awakening of a “Reshimo” or a spiritual gene.

Hence, it’s no surprise that we value even the “sacred values” of our world above all others. However, this does not apply to extreme situations, when the instinct of self-preservation compels one to choose the “bare minimum for one’s survival” over all else.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Society’s Disdain Helps Us Along the Path
Laitman.com Post: The Classical Wisdom of Kabbalah and the Evolution of the Urgently Needed Planetary Consciousness

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A question I received: How long do you think this conflict between Israel and Palestine will last? Isn’t it possible to come to an agreement?

My Answer: There are two answers:

On the earthly level, this is possible only by changing one’s attitude to life, by changing what’s more important to you: love for your children or hate for your enemy.

In this regard, everything depends on the Arabic side.

On the spiritual level, this is possible only if the people of Israel will correct themselves, as the Torah instructs them to do. You should reread everything the Creator says to his people, for example: If you will listen to Me and observe the condition of “Love your neighbor as yourself” – the main law of the Torah, then there will be peace.

Filed under: Israel - 1 Comment →

Questions I received on Maaser:

Question: Can we advance spiritually if we don’t pay a tithe (Maaser)?

My Answer: No.

Question cont’d: I bought the book Kabbalah for the Student and printed “The Introduction to The Book Of Zohar” from it myself. Is this considered as a tithe?

My Answer: No.

Question cont’d: With the obligation of paying the tithe, many people will be turned off to Kabbalah and this will not be a solution for them. At first they engage in Kabbalah with all of their desire, and after a while they understand that they have to pay Maaser in order to advance spiritually. I wonder, if a person is already above the Machsom, will he also be obliged to pay Maaser in order to attain the whole goal?

My Answer: Yes.

Question cont’d: Even on the last 125th degree of the ladder?

My Answer: Yes.

Question cont’d: But the poor won’t be able to advance even a millimeter.

My Answer: If they’re poor, their Maaser is also small, accordingly.

Question cont’d: I am very disappointed that one has to pay to attain spirituality. The Maaser has to be removed because it is a limitation to attaining the so called “new civilization.”

My Answer: Maaser is a law of nature, and no one can remove it. You are not paying anyone; you are merely deducting the part of you that is impossible to correct and giving it to the world’s correction through a different method. You are realizing your own Maaser for disseminating Kabbalah around you. You should read about it (you can also look it up on Google.com).

The Maaser is 10% of your desires, which pertain to Malchut and which you are incapable of correcting on your own. You can only separate a tenth of your income, which corresponds to them. Otherwise your soul will not be corrected; however, it’s not corrected by the money, but by your rejection of it. This is why you are able spend this money on all kinds of empty objects, but find it practically impossible to spend it on Maaser!

Question: I understand that we are to pay 10% of our net/gross income as our Maaser. Where do we make the contribution? Are we to do it once a month according to our monthly income or can we do it bi-weekly with our pay cycle? Are you saying that, if we do not participate in the Maaser, we will still advance spiritually, but we will hinder the whole from advancing quicker?

My Answer: You should look for the answer in previous posts on this topic.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: How to Calculate the Maaser

Filed under: Maaser - 5 Comments →

A question I received: When a person is intensely involved in correction through the method of Kabbalah, he can’t devote a lot of time to his family, children and their upbringing. So how does a child receive all that’s necessary from his or her father? How can I help my wife overcome her fear and accept that it’s necessary for her husband to dedicate most of his free time to spiritual development rather than the family?

My Answer: In the modern world, one shouldn’t complain about the fact that a Kabbalist can’t devote a lot of time to his wife and family, because he’s working to provide for them materially, and studying to provide for them spiritually. The wife receives her husband’s earnings in both respects.

Those working in the high-tech industry today are just as busy. Besides, children learn from the examples set by the adults, so it doesn’t matter how many hours you spend with them. A child feels what is most important to you in life and this is what he absorbs.

As for your wife, the more time you devote to her, the worse she will feel. You have to understand human nature. Chances are, the problem is that you simply don’t understand the purpose of studying Kabbalah. My advice to you is: instead of resisting it, think about the necessity and the benefit of spiritual studies.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Man, Woman and Divinity Between Them
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Kabbalah on Education
Relationships: “Upbringing”
Article: “Dope ‘em or Answer Them”

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News Report (from Phantoms & Monsters): The CEUFO (Center for Studies UFO) of Argentina received an email from a photographer (Fabián Romano) that claimed to have captured a strange being on his camera while taking some shots around the Macachín airport. The CEUFO analyzed the image and declared it to be that of a flying “entity.” They also said that the image was of a “high strangeness.”

My Comment: Spirituality consists of forces that are not clothed in matter. They descend to us from their source – the Creator, and they are called “angels” (in Hebrew “Malach” – singular, “Malachim” – plural). We cannot see or perceive these forces, but only their influences, their manifestations in matter. It’s similar to how we can only perceive the influence of a magnetic or gravitational field, but not these fields in and of themselves.

We perceive the Creator in the same way – in our desires of bestowal and love. That is how this force of Goodness, Love and Bestowal is revealed in us. Its revelation in us is called “the part of the Creator from above,” or the soul. To perceive one’s soul, to have a soul, or to perceive the Creator – is one and the same (Israel, the Torah and the Creator are One). The “Preface to the Book of Zohar” talks about our perception, explaining that everything is perceived within us, and not outside. Hence, this leaves no room for “miracles!” In this world, everything is prosaic and bleak. But once you reveal the Upper World, there you will discover true miracles.

And here’s another explanation: All the forces of our world, (the forces clothed in matter that we can perceive) are also angels. Even the still, vegetative and animate levels of nature, man included, are angels, because they are completely controlled by the Creator. So who isn’t an angel? Only a Kabbalist, because he becomes independent, a Man (Adam, one who is similar to the Creator), one who is independent from the Creator. A Kabbalist isn’t just one of the Creator’s forces or messengers, and hence, a Kabbalist is not an angel.

One time, Rabash and I went to a zoo to talk about the roots and branches in both worlds. When we got there, he exclaimed: “So many angels in one place!”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: There Are No Images In the Spiritual World
Laitman.com Post: Don’t Get Lost In All the Angels
Baal HaSulam Article: “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”
The Introduction to the Article “The Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

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A question I received on my German blog: There are Rosicrucian societies in the world, which are partially based on Kabbalah. The main premise in the Rosicrucian theosophy is that the Creator created elevated spiritual structures with freedom of will for executing different tasks, such as regulating karma or creating a spiritual human body. There were also spiritual structures which broke and are now impeding human development. This is a general summary. What is Kabbalah’s perspective on this? What does it have to say about this?

My Answer: Kabbalah describes the structure of the spiritual world in the book Talmud Eser Sefirot. Kabbalah studies the Upper World, examines it, and describes it just like a scientist accurately describes our world. For beginners who study in German, I recommend my books: Quantum Kabbala, Leben aus der Kabbala, and Das Licht der Kabbala.

Related Material:
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Interview: What Lies Ahead of Us

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