A question I received: One of my friends is a philosopher studying Egyptian culture. He told me a story from the Jewish religion about a soul that has to confess its sins. When it does, it lays the sins on one side of the scale, and the other side of the scale rises.

My Answer: The Kabbalistic text that will be closest to you (in terms of clarity) is item 110 of the “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot” (there you will also find references to earlier source texts). It states: “We must thoroughly understand what is written in Tractate Kidushin, p. 40: ‘One must always regard oneself half guilty and half pure. If he performs one Commandment, happy is he, for he has sentenced the world to a scale of merit. If he commits one sin, woe unto him for he has sentenced the world to a scale of demerit.’

Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon, says, ‘The world is judged by its majority, and the individual is also judged by the majority. Hence if he performs one Commandment, happy is he, for he has sentenced himself and the entire world to a scale of merit. If he commits one sin, woe unto him, for he has sentenced himself and the entire world to a scale of demerit. Because of this one sin that he had committed, the world and he have lost much good.’”

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Three questions I received on women’s work in Kabbalah:

Question: What is a woman’s role in Kabbalah?

My Answer: Both in our world and in the society of the future, which will be corrected from egoism, a woman is a full fledged half and more, because all people complete each other in a single system. A woman can feel her own perfection and full value only through self-correction, by becoming loving and bestowing to the entire world. It’s precisely in her corrected state that the female part of the common soul feels equal, or even greater than everyone, because precisely the desire that’s embodied by the female part of the common soul becomes the reason for the revelation of the Creator (the Light).

Question: If Lo Lishma (לא לשמה) doesn’t push a person to attain Lishma (לשמה), then the group has to exert its influence on him. How can a woman elicit this pressure?

My Answer: With her desire, because she depends on the attainment of the Light by the men’s group.

Question: I want to open up a book, read it, and enjoy it. But ever since I started studying Kabbalah I no longer enjoy reading. What should I do?

My Answer: Learn to receive pleasure from the Upper Worlds!

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A question I received: The second part of the film Zeitgeist was recently released. It encourages all of humanity to unite and gives advice on how to build the new world order based on equal distribution of resources, a new education, and mutual guarantee. It also refers to the laws of nature. Are these people our partners?

My Answer: No. In fact, I’m not even familiar with this movement. However, the ideas of unity and globality are already in the air and I’m happy that more and more people are realizing that it’s urgently necessary to implement them in the human society.

However, the correction can only be achieved by the Upper Light, which descends while people study its Source. The description of the Light’s Source is found only in the authentic Kabbalistic books, and in our time, the most effective books are Baal HaSulam’s. That’s why we study them all the time. There’s nothing for me to look for anywhere else because I’ve already proven to myself and through myself that this method is effective.

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Two questions I received on “easy fixes” to the financial crisis:

Question: What you write in The Financial Crisis – an Analysis, is a new way to look at the unfolding crisis, and I appreciate the common sense attitude of the article. However, I take issue with the answer to the fourth question:

“Hence, countries will try to move away from globalization. However, this won’t help them, because then they will stop developing. Without full communication and exchange, they will cease developing and regress to feudalism!”

This country had development, communication and exchange before globalization. Globalization was a bad idea: America stopped developing. We stopped exchanging and took what the foreign recipients of our commerce gave us, and on their terms. We didn’t complain too loudly about industrial chemicals in baby food out of fear that they would stop selling us baby food and refuse our dollars. That’s not communication, it’s supplication.

My Answer: Everything taking place is governed by the law of development, so it isn’t a product of blind fate or a coincidence. We see that whenever something happens in the developed countries, the less developed countries are forced to follow suit.

We can’t change the laws of nature. We exist inside them and it’s our obligation to study and observe them. This is also to our own benefit. Nature has a goal for everything it does, which is to bring man to a special state: the highest level, called “the Creator.”

The development either takes place by means of pressure, which we perceive as suffering, or through man’s conscious understanding and cooperation with Nature. Kabbalah explains what to do to be on the second path.

Question: If the crisis is actually a crisis of people’s trust, then why can’t we stop it by advertising positive forecasts? The mass media should be forbidden from talking about bad news and instead made to tell everyone that everything is good.

My Answer: This won’t improve anything, because the illness will still keep developing until it will reach the point of being irreversible. We must first reveal the evil, and then correct it.

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Two questions I received on explaining Kabbalah to others:

Question: If a person is advancing and developing through the study of Kabbalah, does he gain the ability to explain the concepts of Kabbalah to others in a way they can understand?

My Answer: Not necessarily. The Book of Zohar says that Rabbi Shimon couldn’t write this book himself, but told Rabbi Aba what to write. Likewise, it’s written that Moses was unable to explain the events talking place and their purpose to the people, and needed help from his brother Aaron.

Why is this so? Baal HaSulam writes that some souls originate from the Inner Light and some – from the Outer Light. This determines their ability to explain the material on a level appropriate to the student and the level of their explanations.

Question: I come in contact with many different people who face difficult situations. Some are religious, others love mysticism, and others are just searching for something. I think that there’s a great opportunity here to attract them to Kabbalah by explaining that everything comes from the Creator and was designed on purpose to awaken the question: “What is the meaning of my life?”

What should I do?

My Answer: It’s best not to say anything about Kabbalah. Instead you should simply keep materials on Kabbalah, such as our newspapers, in your reception area.

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A question I received: I don’t understand the views of this world according to Kabbalah. You say that Kabbalah is against asceticism, and you also said that a Kabbalist has the biggest ego and wants to swallow the entire world. But in the Talmud it says, “The way of the Torah is to eat bread with salt, drink water from a cup, sleep on the ground, lead a life of hardship and labour at learning Torah.”

I also read this quote in Attaining the Worlds Beyond: “When a person, by means of his studies, reaches the level at which he wants nothing but spiritual elevation and at which he accepts only the bare necessities of life in order to sustain his physical existence, not for pleasure’s sake, this is the first step of his ascent to the spiritual world“ (Talmud, Psachim).

So, I’m confused by all of this. How are we supposed to behave in this world? Can you give me a precise answer?

My Answer: Before falling from the spiritual level 2,000 years ago, people could sustain themselves on the spiritual level (in love and bestowal) through restrictions and studying Kabbalah (the authentic, inner Torah). This way they were able to oppose the egoism that constantly increased inside them.

However, after the people fell from the spiritual level of “love for thy neighbor” into “unfounded hatred,” the sages of the Talmud made a special correction (addition) in the Upper Governance, as Baal HaSulam writes in item 11 of the “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot“.

Since then, only the “Light of the Torah” (Ohr Makif) can bring about a correction. This Light descends on a person who has gone through the proper preparation (in the group), during the study of Kabbalah with the right intention. It is written: “I created egoism and I created the Torah for its correction, because its Light returns one to the Source (to bestowal).”

Hence, only the correct kind of study will evoke the Light, which will make all the corrections and changes. So organize your studies – and relax!

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Filed under: Egoism - 1 Comment →

Two questions I received on the arts and spirituality:

Question: In a previous blog entry, in response to the question of whether works of art are spiritual, you said: “All art was brought about by man’s desire to express himself, or in other words, by the desire for glory, to stand out, to prove something (even if it’s to himself), to express his way of seeing things.”

But you have also said that “A desire cannot be bad if it is accompanied by the intention to bestow.”

My Answer: In order to acquire an intention of bestowal, a person has to study Kabbalah for at least three years. Then, as a result of the Upper Light’s influence, the quality of bestowal will appear within him. There is no other means to correct your original egoistic intention and transform it into a spiritual one.

Question: An actor is connected with the audience and they understand each other. He gives fully of himself to them, and in return receives applause (fulfillment). The audience applauds with great emotion, giving all of their feelings to the actor, and in return they receive fulfillment from his performance. It is a mutual, yet egoistic connection. Should our adhesion with the Creator be something like this?

My Answer: In the example above you’re exchanging different types of pleasure. However, when it comes to the Creator, you must become similar to Him through the quality of bestowal, and this will determine the degree of your connection with Him.

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Three questions I received on mental disorders, tattoos, and prostitution:

Question: You have said in a previous blog entry that “if a person is mentally sane, then Kabbalah will solve his psychological problems.” I suffer from conditions of ADD which moderately impair my abilities to retain much of what I read. Will reading and re-reading Kabbalistic materials help to alleviate this mental block? Also do you make appearances such as book signings, etc.? It would be an honor to meet you!

My Answer: The study of Kabbalah corrects a person, and therefore it definitely heals as well.

I sign books at every public lecture I give and at Congresses. That’s where you can meet me. I invite you to attend the congress that will take place in February 2009 in Israel.

Question: Is it wrong to want to display my respect and love of Kabbalah by tattooing scriptures on my body?

My Answer: Kabbalah says that we should only desire an inner change and inner observation, through which the Creator becomes revealed to a person. This leaves the externality, the bodily aspects, only their minimal (necessary) existence. The body is no object of concern, aside from the necessities.

Question: What is the spiritual root of prostitution? Why has it existed for millennia and continues to be so popular?

My Answer: Because it satisfies one of man’s primary desires, which are: food, sex, family (home), wealth, power, and knowledge.

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Two questions I received on women’s problems in this world:

Question: Why is it that I can’t be as cunning, shrewd, and sharp witted as some of my friends who don’t study Kabbalah? Shouldn’t I be more egoistic than they are? But instead I’m not street-smart or calculating, and I don’t adapt quickly to different situations like my friends who still don’t study Kabbalah and are incredibly witty and street-smart.

My Answer: They are cunning in the animalistic sense, whereas you are above this and hence you appear naive on their level! Don’t worry: by making spiritual calculations you are gaining more in the long run, but they are harming themselves with their cunning ways.

Question: Can women take anti-anxiety medication and sedatives if they suffer from anxiety and other symptoms brought on by stress and fatigue? Does this interfere with Kabbalah studies?

My Answer: You can take it, it won’t interfere with your studies. But eventually you will feel that you don’t need these medications anymore.

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A question I received: What happens to a person who converts to Judaism? Does a Jewish soul really incarnate into a gentile if his intentions are sincere and he is fully aware of what he is doing?

My Answer:
1. You must differentiate between our earthly traditions and the spiritual actions. A person can do the physical actions on his own, but not the spiritual actions. No physical actions can correct the soul, or even any earthly, physical qualities of a person. The only thing that can correct a person is the Light that descends during the study of Kabbalah, when one learns about the corrected states and how to come closer to them. It is called “the Light of the Torah,” about which the Creator said: “I created egoism and the Torah for its correction, because the Light in the Torah returns egoism to the corrected state.”

2. The soul is a “part of the Creator in man” (Helek Eloka Mi Maal), or in other words, it is the quality of bestowal (love for one’s neighbor) that a person acquires, because this is the only quality that the Creator has (“Good and Does Good”). When one acquires this quality, one become Isra-El, which translates as “Directed toward the Creator.” Everyone else are gentiles (nations), meaning egoists, regardless of their physical origins and whether they were born Jewish or not.

We all came from Ancient Babylon and we must all attain correction. In the past this was achieved by a small part of the Babylonians, the group headed by Abraham, and they were called Isra-El – those who are directed toward the Creator. Today, everyone must do this.

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