Two questions I received on how Kabbalah answers the question of life’s meaning:

Question: Why should Kabbalah be studied only by those who have lost their way in life, in their interests and goals? Why shouldn’t people who are successful and talented study it too? It sounds like you’re saying that not all people are equal when it comes to their aspiration to get rid of egoism.

My Answer: Kabbalah only answers the question about the meaning of life, which may be expressed by any of the following questions: “What is the purpose and meaning of life? What’s the purpose of so much this suffering? Who needs it, who receives pleasure from it? Who receives, and who can I give to?” Only people who persistently ask these questions need Kabbalah, because they won’t find the answers to them anywhere else!

Question: One of the forefathers of Kabbalah asked the question, “What’s the meaning of my life?” After this he had such a great epiphany that he was able to write down the method for having this epiphany, which he named Kabbalah. I think it’s highly unrealistic to say that he was the only one who asked this question – there must have been at least a few other individuals of the Homo sapien species who also asked this question before him.

My Answer: To ask the question “What’s the meaning of my life?” is still not enough to reveal the Upper World, its system of operation, and program of governance. One also needs to receive a special desire (a soul) and a mission (its realization). This is not given to a person according to his initial purpose only, but also depends on his efforts. You should try to have an “epiphany” like this happen to you as well!

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Four questions I received on children and Kabbalah:

Question: My children are six, five, and four years old, and they all love Kabbalistic graphs and charts. I draw these graphs for them on А4 printer paper with colored markers, and explain to them what it means in simple words, relying on material from the books Kabbalah Revealed and Kabbalah for Beginners. Maybe we could create a colorful children’s book with charts and graphs that includes simple explanations? Maybe we can even create a coloring book where children will have to use different color crayons to draw the Kli, the Light, the screen, and so on?

My Answer: I warmly welcome these ideas, and can’t wait to see the books!

Question: Do all Bnei Baruch children really have a point in the heart?

My Answer: No, not all of them.

Question: Then should they be studying the wisdom of Kabbalah?

My Answer: Yes, because it will help them avoid the long path of suffering.

Question: Are all the problems and misunderstandings that I have with my children caused by the fact that I only see the opposite side of their souls? What I mean is that their souls have “passed” through me, and now I see their AHP, but not their GE?

My Answer: You are only connected with your children on the animate level, and not on the spiritual level.

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A question I received: Can you say more about the meaning of man being created in the image of his Creator? Kabbalah says that image means imprint, as in an impression taken by a mold to make a mask or as in a signet ring, where the Upper Force is the ring design and mankind is the wax imprint which is opposite in form (or essence) to the Creator. It is much more common in my society to be taught that we are made in the image of God, like that is a good thing, as in the saying “he is the spitting image of his father.” The whole of Kabbalah seems to me to stand on this definition of the word “image,” so I believe it is very necessary to explain the definition of the Hebrew word for “image” in terms that come from the source texts, including Genesis.

My Answer: The Light (pleasure) imprinted itself in the desire, thereby creating a matching desire that wants to be filled by It. Then the Light revealed its “bestowing” essence to this “desire to be filled,” thus showing the desire Its opposite nature. This compelled the desire to become equivalent to the Light – to become “bestowing.”

We are the ones going through this process, whether involuntarily or voluntarily. We go through it involuntary until a desire to do it voluntarily awakens in us. We then involuntarily come to Kabbalah – the method of becoming similar to the Creator voluntarily.

When one begins to implement the equivalence to the Creator voluntarily, one then takes control of himself and his world. Everyone will attain this, whether by suffering or by understanding that it’s necessary, and then by realization and love.

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A question I received: I have discovered that not only do red strings fail to help people, they are also absolutely forbidden by the Torah. It says in the book of Beresheet, the chapter Derech HaAretz: Rabbi Tzadok said: “הקושר על ידו חוט אדום הרי זה מרדכי האמורי” – “One who ties a red string around his hand is like an impure force against Mordechai (the property of Bina).”

Why is it that when you answer questions dealing with myths about Kabbalah, you always mention Tarot cards, red strings, yoga, and so on? Why do you never mention “channeling” which is so popular now? For example everyone knows about Lee Carroll’s numerous appearances at the UN, as well as his books. And there are many other people who practice other teachings that coincide with what you teach. I have no doubt that no one explains the structure of the universe in as much detail as Kabbalah, but still the other methods help “awaken” humanity, which is running late with its correction.

My Answer: I am not familiar with all the “spiritual” teachings, and I don’t plan on getting to know them. They all appear and then disappear. I don’t have the time or the desire to pay attention to them. If we were to systemize everything that our egoistic mind can invent, then we would see how meager it is.

I prefer the teaching of Kabbalah, which deals with practical entrance into the Upper World (I have tested it for myself). It is based on coming out of the nature of our world, instead of all the different religions and teachings of this world (this can also be seen from above, from the Upper World). I advise you to do the same.

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Two questions I received on a woman’s desire for a faithful companion, and women’s singing:

Question: Is a woman’s desire for her man to be loyal, faithful and devoted only to her a part of the will to receive (the ego), or is this embedded in her nature? If it’s embedded in her nature, why did the Creator do this? What is the purpose of the woman’s suffering?

My Answer: The women’s suffering is part of the egoistic suffering that brings one to the realization that egoism is evil, the recognition that it’s necessary to break away from egoism, the desire to gain the property of bestowal, and then the reception of this property from above. You have to separate your earthly, animalistic, egoistic desire to have a loyal, devoted companion, from your aspiration to the property of bestowal. Spiritual ascent begins with the desire for one’s spiritual aspiration upward to be stronger than one’s natural aspiration downward.

Question: Why aren’t women allowed to sing out loud? What’s the connection between Kabbalah and a woman singing out loud?

My Answer: Women are allowed to sing, provided that men won’t hear them, because this “seduces” the men – distracts them from their spiritual work! A woman has a subconscious desire to attract a man’s attention. Women who want to use their natural properties correctly should restrain themselves in order to avoid becoming a disturbance in the spiritual growth of others.

We are all parts of one single soul of Adam, and we have to help each other overcome our nature. We shouldn’t suppress it, but use it correctly and separate the spiritual from the corporeal.

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Two questions I received on evolution and history:

Question: If we were monkeys in the past then who created the monkeys? I’m not sure what to believe in, evolution or religion?

My Answer: Kabbalah says that development in our world does not occur by natural selection, where forces and qualities of “the fittest” are chosen, but rather by the sequential emergence of Reshimot in us. Reshimot is information about the souls’ descent from above downwards – from the World of Infinity to our world. This informational data formed in us as a result of creation’s descent from the World of Infinity to our world, and hence it is built into us as a spiral of data about each degree of descent.

Today we (as well as everything that exists in general) feel the manifestation of this data (Reshimot) inside us about these degrees (from below upwards), and we have to realize them. We can realize the Reshimot in two ways – either through the path of Light or the path of suffering. The path of Light is when we study Kabbalah in order to learn about our future degrees, and we thereby draw the Correcting Light, Ohr Makif. The path of suffering is when we don’t study the structure of the system and don’t draw the Light from the next degree, but only feel the pressure of the following Reshimo that demands to be realized.

Hence, there is no evolution, but only a gradual expression of data that’s already known in advance. Everything is known ahead of time, other than the method of ascending the degrees – whether it will happen consciously (quickly and pleasantly) or forcefully (slowly and painfully). It’s like a film strip where all the future frames already exist, but they gradually appear before the viewer.

Therefore, both Darwin and religion are incorrect.

Question: Do you believe that history can repeat itself? And do you think that people have the right to call their methods using their own names, or should they explain them anonymously?

My Answer: History does not repeat itself. The history that unfolds before our eyes is Reshimot (informational data) that become expressed sequentially (step by step).

In reference to your second question – I don’t care whether people have the right to do something or not; I only care whether their method is a science. If it isn’t a science that’s based on facts, according to the principle “The judge knows no more than what his eyes see,” then I will not take it into consideration. In our times, all “sciences” and “methods” will be tested for authenticity, and to the degree they are authentic, they will become part of Kabbalah.

Today this revolution in our consciousness is not evident yet, because Kabbalah is still concealed. But when Kabbalah will become revealed, then scientists will be amazed at the possibility of “pure” experiment – one that’s not obscured by the egoistic mind. They will then discard everything that is not related to clear attainment of the world, according to a principle that’s explained in The Book of Zohar: One can only attain the material and its form, but not the abstract form and the essence (see the article “Preface to the Book of Zohar”).

As for how a method should be named, this doesn’t matter at all. We either name it according to our egoistic demands, or according to the necessity of scientific notation and definition.
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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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Questions I received on feeling empty, connecting with the virtual group, dealing with contradictions, and not wanting to study:

Question: Why is it that the more you disseminate and make efforts, the emptier you feel?

My Answer: The feeling of emptiness emerges when one does not realize the importance of dissemination as an act that’s favored by the Creator. By disseminating, you bring the world closer to Him. However, one’s constantly growing egoism does not feel the importance of this action. Egoism constantly grows, especially in those who study Kabbalah, in order to give them the opportunity to overcome it and to thereby rise to the level of the Creator.

You should compensate for the feeling of emptiness quickly by receiving the greatness of the goal and the Creator by connecting with books and friends. The Shamati articles explain this in great detail.

Question: How can you advance spiritually without being in physical contact with a group?

My Answer: If you keep virtual contact with the world group, then you are guaranteed to receive an impression and connection that are just as powerful. In addition, you can physically participate in the Congresses, as well as visit and train at our Israel center.

Question: How should one deal with the contradictions in Kabbalah? One day things are explained one way, and the next day – the opposite way!

My Answer: When you gain the right understanding, then all these “contradictions” will actually complement each other and connect into one whole. The contradictions lead to understanding, because they are an indication of your imperfection.

Question: There are days when I really want to study Kabbalah, and there are also days when I don’t want to think about Kabbalah at all, and instead I want to do the corporeal things that attract me. Does this indicate that I don’t have the point in the heart yet?

My Answer: During these days you receive an opportunity to advance independently, through your own efforts, rather than through the desire that you receive from above.

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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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We will be holding a course for beginners at our Learning Center, starting September 3.

The course will run for 24 weeks, and will be led by two of Bnei Baruch’s veteran students, Tony Kosinec and Mike Kellogg. Any newcomer to Kabbalah will benefit by acquiring a firm basis in Kabbalah’s basic concepts, including:

• What Kabbalah is and isn’t,
• How Kabbalah defines our perception of reality,
• What determines our feelings of pleasure and pain and how to correct the source of suffering,
• How to understand the “language of the Kabbalists”
• What Kabbalistic texts are actually talking about,
• What is free will is and how to attain it.

For more information about the course, and to register, visit the information page, or go directly to our Learning Center.

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