News Report (from gizmag): Lubrication enables all of the world’s machinery to function, but even then, at least a quarter of all the energy is lost to friction. Despite some ingenious lubrication methods, at least 15% of the power made in a car engine is lost to friction. In most machinery, frictional losses are much higher than 15% and the heat resultant from friction generates trillions of dollars of repair and maintenance every year. Now a breakthrough in lubricant design employing liquid crystals promises a vast reduction in friction and some quite remarkable lubricants are about five years from market – oils that could reduce friction to almost zero.

My Comment: If only they would invent this kind of oil for people! Actually, it already exists: the quality of bestowal creates exactly this kind of interaction between everyone. It not only erases the friction, but also creates additional energy for the engine – the general soul – to function. This energy comes from each person’s intention to bestow to everyone. Then a common intention of bestowal emerges, called the Creator, which creates infinite energy and the sensation of eternal fulfillment.

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The Hebrew book The Two Great Lights is titled after the Biblical verse: “And God created the two great lights.” The book talks about the two great Kabbalists of the 20th century – Rav Kook and Baal HaSulam, who both desired to disseminate Kabbalah among the masses at the beginning of the last century.

They foresaw World War II as well as our global crisis. They understood that humanity is entering the final phase of development, when it is necessary for its survival to educate every person in the spirit of “love thy neighbor as thy self.” This book reveals their prophetic vision of our time and their advice on changing the world.

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Two questions I received on the notions of “righteous” and “wicked”:

Question: You explained in one of the morning lessons that a “holy man” is defined by the amount of efforts he made. On the other hand, you explained that a “holy man” (Tzaddik) is one who justifies (Matzdik) the Creator on the level of his spiritual attainment, and that to justify is not to talk about it, but to discover it for yourself and to value the Creator’s actions as a result. So holiness is defined by one’s equivalence of form with the Creator. But what difference does it make how many efforts you made if holiness is measured by the result, by how much one justifies the Creator?

My Answer: It’s because in order to attain the level of a “righteous man” – in order to reveal and justify the Creator’s actions, every person has to make the same amount of efforts, although the efforts are specific for every person and are “counted” relative one’s abilities and strength.

Question: In Shamati #86, “And They Built Store-Cities,” it says: It follows that the righteous receive the strength to go from strength to strength through the wicked, and the wicked have become dust under the feet of the righteous, and the righteous walk on the discernments that remain as wicked.

Hence, in retrospect, this work specifically is important. And it is not because of necessity, as they first thought, while there was evil inclination. Now they see that even without the evil inclination it is worthwhile to work in bestowal and faith.

In this excerpt, what is meant by “the righteous” and “the wicked?”

My Answer: The righteous and the wicked are the past and present states in one person.

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A question I received: Why do you say that the word Mashiach (Messiah) originates from the word Lishmoch – to pull? I think it originates from the word Limshoach – to anoint, and it refers to one who is anointed for service.

My Answer: To be anointed means to draw the Upper Light of Hochma upon a person. In our world, this Light is represented by oil. This is how a person ascends to a level required to serve the Creator.

This procedure was done by a prophet who was on such a high level that he could pull a person up to the spiritual level of service to the Creator. Kabbalah doesn’t talk about “whom, how and with what to anoint,” but tells us about the essence of this phenomenon: about the reception of the Upper Light that actually gives a person the force and right to be God’s anointed, to be close to the Creator. I “translate” these words to get directly to the essence of what is happening.

By the way, these letters are interchangeable in Hebrew. However, if you feel more drawn to corporeal anointment, then you should read the non-Kabbalistic explanations. Everything written in the Torah can be understood directly, as physical actions, and/or according to its true, inner meaning. Still, by understanding the text literally, one does not reveal its true meaning. It is because the Mashiach is the force of liberation from egoism, and not a person.

It says in the “Introduction to the Book of Zohar, Item 70: “Alas, these people, who make the spirit of the Messiah vanish from the world, so as never to return, make the Torah dry, without the moist of mind and knowledge, for they confine themselves to the practical part of the Torah, and do not wish to try and understand the wisdom of Kabbalah, to know and educate themselves in the secrets and the reason behind the Torah and Mitzvot…”

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Three questions I received on Kabbalistic texts:

Question: If Kabbalah lifts man above his animate and psychological levels, how are the Kabbalistic texts emotional?

My Answer: Because of the force of the Upper Light that they evoke, since they speak about the Upper World.

Question: Can a person cross the Machsom without knowing the structure of the spiritual worlds and without understanding the Talmud Eser Sefirot, but by just evoking the Surrounding Light?

My Answer: A person does not have to understand the Talmud Eser Sefirot in his mind in order to cross the Machsom, but he does have to strive to find out how he is governed and where is his root. For more on this, see item 155 of the “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot.”

Question: What books should a husband and wife read together and separately?

My Answer: They should read the parts of the Kabbalistic materials that they like reading. It’s best to read together for up to half an hour a day, and even better to do it every day.

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Two questions I received on spiritual perceptions:

Question: On one hand you say that there is no connection between the soul and the corporeal body, that these are two parallel worlds. On the other hand you says that there’s no such thing as this world and that world, that everything is united, and our current reality is the lowest part of the spiritual world which is revealed in our sensations for the time being. Does this mean that the corporeal body is also the soul or spirit?

My Answer: Of course, this world is what we perceive in our smallest desire. The rest of our desires are concealed from us, and become revealed to the degree that we progress toward spirituality. What becomes revealed in them is called “the Upper World.”

At the same time, all of one’s desires remain. This is why a Kabbalist retains the sensation of our world, but this sensation is also complemented by the sensation of another world – the Upper World. And at the end of all the corrections, all the worlds “fold up” into one – the World of Infinity.

Question: While listening to your lessons I have this thought that the Upper World is concerned only with our reaction to everything that happens to us, and what it (the Upper World) sends us. Is this correct?

My Answer: That’s absolutely correct, and how to correctly react to the Creator’s influence is exactly what we study. It is a process of attaining Him and achieving equivalence with Him.

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A question I received: I recently find that there are some companies that I want to avoid, but I’m not sure whether this is the result of my Kabbalah studies or personal growth. There are some friends of mine who are mostly concerned about issues such as sex, and I feel uncomfortable in their presence when they spend so much time talking about topics I find so uninteresting. But at the same time, I can’t find many people interested in spirituality, perhaps in religion, but not in spirituality.

Is it better to be alone than surrounded by people with “wrong” values?

My Answer: A person reaches a point where he grows bored with life and does not see meaning or a purpose to life. When he looks at others, he doesn’t understand how they can possibly be fulfilled by the things they do. He tries to imitate them, to become part of their social circle, and to be like everyone else, but he can’t because it does not fulfill him.

When he reaches the complete realization that he’s alone, he then reveals the point in the heart within – an aspiration to an unknown source of fulfillment. He follows this aspiration and finds the right books, the group, and the Kabbalah website.

So look into yourself – maybe you’re ready for a new environment?

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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: The British Journal of Psychology has published an article called “Being altruistic may make you attractive.” In it, scientists from the University of Nottingham in the UK conclude that altruism, or in other words – selfless behavior toward others – makes men more attractive to women. In fact, women value altruism in their partner over any other quality.

My Comment: This is just regular female egoism: women like altruism in men so that men will make selfless sacrifices for them, the women! But it’s hard to find such naive, selfless “knights” these days. They’ve all grown smarter and disappeared hundreds of years ago. They overgrew the animate altruism and became egoistically practical!

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