Two questions I received on Zionism and “the Mixed Multitude”:

Question: What is Zionism? What does this have to do with Kabbalah and Bnei Baruch?

My Answer: “Kabbalah is the method of revealing the Creator to man in this world” (Baal HaSulam, article “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”). Zionism is a social movement in favor of returning to Zion (Israel). The Kabbalistic definition is as follows: the Land of Israel is also called “Zion,” from the word Yetzia – “exit” in Hebrew. Any person who exits the limits of our egoistic world and enters the Upper, Altruistic World, enters “Zion.” Mi Tzion Tize Tora (the Torah will come from Zion), means that when a person exits his egoistic state, he comes to the Light.

Question: During the last two lessons, you mentioned “the Mixed Multitude.” Who is this?

My Answer: “The Mixed Multitude” (Erev Rav) are the opponents of Kabbalah who prevent people from coming out of spiritual exile and revealing the Creator. And even after a person aspires toward bestowal and love, Erev Rav prevents him from advancing by any means possible. They came in Moses’s way when he was trying to lead the people out of Egypt (the spiritual exile) toward the revelation of the Creator. They also placed all kinds of obstacles in his way during the 40-year passage through the desert.

Today they also spread all kinds of rumors. They can no longer speak against Kabbalah, because this is no longer possible, but against the people who disseminate it, including our organization. It is written that they are Irei Hashem Ovdei Paroh – those who fear the Creator, but desire to remain inside their egoism.

The Gaon of Vilna (Agra) wrote in The Light of the Zohar, 3: 28 “Adam Ve Ishto”: “In the future Moses will reveal everything to us, unlike the way it is now hidden in the Torah in the form of stories intended for Erev Rav, who do not study the inner meaning.”

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News Report (translated from K2Kapital.com): “The word ‘Socialism’ is no longer looked down on in the USA” The crisis on Wall Street, loss of savings and pension funds, the real estate market collapse and unemployment have raised the issue of economic survival. The crisis calls for an increase of government regulation and a rejection of liberal methods in the financial sector. The word “socialism,” terrifying to the American ear just a short time ago, no longer seems so scary. What’s so bad about socialism, anyway? Let the government care for its citizens instead of protecting the interests of billionaires.

My Comment: For the time being, the aspiration toward socialism is selfish and egoistic, but it cannot be otherwise. People are gradually starting to realize that globalization is the new reality in which we need to live, that the world is like a small village, like one family.

This concept is readily talked about, but not yet fully grasped. We haven’t yet accepted it as a fact, as a phenomenon that has suddenly manifested in our world, which we cannot escape, and which obliges us to completely change our lives.

It is similar to the feeling of a person who has been sentenced to life imprisonment: he gradually realizes that his life now has to undergo a major change, and how such a change requires him to adopt an attitude and behavior different from before.

Hence, a natural consequence of feeling the effects of globalization, global interconnection and interdependence, is the perception of socialism as desired and superior. However, we will need to correct the way we think about socialism. When we will feel that everyone in the world is one family, we will reveal the Upper Light, the sensation of harmony, delight and eternal life. But before this happens, people will have to go through the path of rejecting egoism. And in order to desire this, they will have to realize that egoism is evil. This can happen through:

• Actual suffering due to egoism (known as “the ten plagues of Egypt,” where the first plague is the financial crisis that is starting to develop as we speak), or

• Through theoretical recognition and the study of Kabbalah.

Either way, mankind will have to consciously arrive at the understanding that “everyone is one family,” where every person takes every family member into consideration. For more on this, see the article, “The Freedom,” and the newspaper, “The Nation.”

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A question I received: According to Rabash, the chosen people are those who can shift from the externality to the internality, and one’s heart will change with the help of one’s actions. At the same time, you always remind us that the external commandments are no more than external signs, which have no connection with the soul’s correction.

My Answer: When Rabash speaks of “external observance,” he does not mean the physical observance, but the intention “for one’s own sake.” And “inner observance” signifies the intention “for the Creator’s sake.”

As for the physical actions, the Creator said: “I don’t care how you slaughter cattle; the commandments were given for man’s correction.” In other words, the entire connection between actions and commandments lies in one’s intentions, and not in the actions themselves. If a person knew that his actions have no results, he would be extremely grateful to Kabbalah for giving him the correct guidance in life!

The entire opposition between religion and Kabbalah comes down to their assessment of the importance of actions and intentions: What is more important, the actions or the intentions? Indeed, Kabbalah does not deny the importance of the actions (traditions) in forming and managing social boundaries. But religion also has to accept what is written, that actions without intentions are dead and don’t correct a person. The intentions can only be changed through the correct study of Kabbalah.

One has to start by admitting that he is not perfect – therein lies the stumbling block! It’s because religion’s primary goal is to grant man a sense of pride and perfection for observing the prescriptions. He thinks that by doing this, he serves the Creator and the whole world, and everyone is indebted to him.

Kabbalah, on the other hand, shows a person just how phony and imperfect he really is. He sees this in the Creator’s Light, which descends upon him during the study. A person then feels unhappy with the results of his study, but if he is able to rise above this sensation and elevate the truth above the anguish, he progresses. And if he is unable to do this, he veers off the path.

Item 66 of the “Preface to the Book of Zohar” discusses the necessity to make the intention more important than the physical observance. The entire contradiction between religion and Kabbalah lies in their claim as to what is more important.

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Questions I received on interpreting Baal HaSulam’s words and visiting graves of the righteous:

Question: In Shamati, Baal HaSulam mentions several times the “Masach de Hirik.” Would you please explain this phenomenon or concept?

My Answer: It is the correction of the soul in the middle line. One uses the egoism from the left line and the force of Light that corrects it from the right line, thereby building himself with the help of these two forces.

Question: What is the meaning of the word Yuli (יולי)?

My Answer: It is the initial material, from which everything developed.

Question: Why is the expression that Rav Ashlag uses, “What’s the meaning of my life?” and not for example: “What’s the meaning of life?”

My Answer: It’s because a person has to feel this question personally, to feel that his life depends on it completely. He has to feel that he is the only created creature (see the materials on Perception of Reality), and because of this, the purpose of life in general, of everyone’s lives, depends on his life.

Question: Where is the place in which the creature realizes his “I,” and on the other hand, realizes that there is none else beside Him?

My Answer: The place of realizing his “I” is in Malchut, and of realizing the Creator – in Keter.

Question: Does it help visiting the graves of the righteous and lighting a candle to sanctify the soul?

My Answer: Only psychologically!

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Filed under: Spirituality - 1 Comment →

Baal HaSulam begins the fundamental Kabbalistic text, the “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot,” with the following words:

1. At the outset of my words, I find a great need to break an iron wall that has been separating us from the wisdom of Kabbalah…

2. Indeed, if we set our hearts to answer but one very famous question, I am certain that all the questions and doubts about the study of Kabbalah will vanish from the horizon. This indignant question is a question that the whole world asks, namely, “What is the meaning of my life?” These numbered years of our life that cost us so heavily and the numerous pains and torments that we suffer for them, to complete them to the fullest, who is it that enjoys them? Or, even more precisely, to whom do I give delight?

It is indeed true that historians have grown weary contemplating it and particularly in our generation. No one even wishes to consider it. Yet the question stands as bitterly and as vehemently as ever. Sometimes it meets us uninvitingly, pecks at our mind and humiliates us to the ground before we find the famous ploy to flow mindlessly in the currents of life as yesterday…

In order to help you answer this question, Kabbalah is now being revealed to you! By answering it, you will become human; while it is still a mystery – you’re still not!

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Below are excerpts from the “Declaration of the Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy.” My comments appear in italics:

From item 1. …cooperation… to restore global growth and achieve needed reforms in the world’s financial systems.
Cooperation is possible only when it is absolute, like in one family.

From item 2. …reform to help to ensure that a global crisis, such as this one, does not happen again.
It’s unclear what kind of reform they are thinking of, because they still haven’t pinpointed the real cause of the crisis – egoism.

From item 2. …market principles… and effectively regulated financial markets…
Forced regulation will only push the system deeper into crisis (as it happened under the Soviet regime). This measure is incomplete.

From item 5. …actions… to stimulate our economies, provide liquidity, strengthen the… financial institutions … unfreeze credit markets
This does not correct the mistakes – it doesn’t even attempt to correct the mistakes, since this kind of stimulation only further develops the causes that led to the crisis.

From items 6 and 7. …Economic momentum is slowing substantially in major economies… Many emerging market economies … are still experiencing good growth … a broader policy response is needed … to restore growth … and support emerging market economies and developing countries.
Sounds great, but who thinks of others!?

From item 7, bullet point 1. …stabilize the financial system…
Or in other words – keep pumping it with money, which will lead to inflation.

From item 7, bullet point 3. …Use fiscal measures to stimulate domestic demand…
But whatever benefits the people, hurts the state.

From items 7 and 8. Ensure that the IMF, World Bank and other MDBs have sufficient resources to continue playing their role in overcoming the crisis …strengthen financial markets and regulatory regimes… Regulation is first and foremost the responsibility of national regulators…
It’s a refusal to create a common financial regulator! They aren’t discussing the creation of a single financial institution, common financial instruments, market transparency, and a change in the management of IMF.

From items 8 and 12. …support market discipline … commitment to free market principles…
Stated simply – they’ve gone bankrupt!

From item 13. …within the next 12 months, we will refrain from raising new barriers to investment or to trade…
In other words, they won’t limit the outflow of capital. (in the month of October, $50 billion were taken out of Russia alone!)

From item 11. …we will meet again by April 30, 2009…

Additional Comment: Obviously, I’m not a banker, and these are my impressions. Regrettably, the declaration that was agreed on, lacks understanding of the true cause of the crisis, and hence it lacks the correct solution to it. Nevertheless, it reveals an underlying feeling of not understanding what is going on, of being interdependent, and of needing to search for the answers together. This feeling will continue to grow as the problems will keep increasing. The world really lacks knowledge of how global and integral it is, and of the law of absolute interaction!

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Questions I received on women’s spirituality:

Question: Does the word “man” used in Kabbalistic books also apply to women? For example, “if a man feels a Reshimo, then he’s worthy of attaining spirituality, of feeling the Upper World, and comprehending the reality” (this is a quote from the book Kabbalah for the Student, Introduction to Pticha).

My Answer: Without a doubt, all people – both men and women – must attain adhesion with the Creator. The only difference is that men must perform more corrections than women, according to the structure of their souls.

Question: I heard that you don’t approve of women studying at night. Is this true?

My Answer: Anyone can study whenever it’s convenient for him or her. However, since it’s necessary for the men to unite, the best and most effective time for them to study is together with us.

Question: A man’s egoism and difficulties are revealed in relation to the group. How, and in relation to whom, does a woman’s egoism become revealed?

My Answer: Her ego is revealed in relation to a man, or the men’s part of the group, in the sense that the men are the source of a woman’s spiritual advancement. By making efforts to advance spiritually, a woman realizes that she can only do so through the men’s part of the common group.

Question: You say that spirituality has no connection to our bodies. Then why is it important for us to dress modestly when we come to the Kabbalah center? Shouldn’t the men overcome their ego and stop looking at women as sexual objects, but as their equals in correcting the world?

My Answer: You have to help the men disseminate Kabbalah to the world, instead of showcasing yourself to them. This is why you’re permitted to come to the center! Do you want to be a person who’s of benefit to the world, or a “woman”? When you have to do work together with the men, it’s important that there be no difference among the participants.

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A question I received: What is ”The New Society” written by Rav Ashlag? This is almost word for word the Communist Manifesto:

1. The acceptance of the religion of “love thy neighbor as thyself” (meaning the religion is “love thy neighbor as thyself”!).
2. A just distribution of the profits, so that each works according to his skills and receives according to his needs.
3. Private property exists, but its owner must not profit from it more than he really needs.
4. Property owners will be under public supervision, or under self-trusteeship, or through bookkeeping.
5. The unemployed will receive their needs equally with the employed.
6. Profits will be utilized for building public assets.

Question: Why does Kabbalah preach Communism when it has been proven that it does not work?

My Answer:
1. “Love thy neighbor as thyself” is the general law of nature, since nature is a single organism.
2. “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need” is the law by which any interconnected system operates.
3. The owner benefits from realizing himself for the sake of the society because he receives respect and dignity.
4. He remains under the supervision of society until he rises to a degree above his egoism in every respect.
5. Those who are unemployed for reasons that are not in their control will receive the same as everyone else.
6. All the profits, except those necessary for every person to live, are collective and will be used for the benefit of the entire system.

The difference between this and the Soviet structure is that every person receives the Upper Reward for the common unity – adhesion with the Creator, an eternal and perfect existence! This is the reason why people will observe the commandment of “Love thy neighbor as thyself,” with everything it implies.

However, humanity will come to these conditions gradually and willingly, not by force. That’s because the revelation of the concealed world gives people the strength and the desire to exist in it!

Filed under: Society - 2 Comments →

News Report (translated from Kursor.co.il): “Obama Will Soon Disappoint His Electorate.” People are putting great hopes on Barack Obama. He isn’t just a political leader, but the hope of the entire generation, a man who will bring prosperity to all, and first of all, redemption from the financial crisis.

My Comment:
The reasons why Obama was “elected”: In recent years, the world sees the United States as an international cop and overbearing teacher. It is fighting a war in Iraq, keeping prisoners in the jails of Guantanamo without trials or charges, and its arrogance sets it against regions such as Europe, Latin America, and Asia. Moreover, it is once again starting a cold war with Russia. In other words, the United States has earned an extremely unfavorable image. They are even accused of all the disasters happening in the world.

This unattractive picture has been augmented by the current global financial crisis, for which everyone blames the United States because it is the international center of the entire global economy and finance. The worse people all over the world will feel during this developing crisis, the more hatred and blame will be put on the United States. The world opinion is that the Anglo-Saxon white Protestant America has been ruling the whole world and arrogantly setting the standards for everyone, for too many years.

In order to relieve all of these negative attitudes and to alter their unfavorable image, Americans decided to bring the African-American Obama to the post of President. This neutralizes the hatred of the United States’ black and Hispanic population, brings about greater understanding and connection between the United States and the Latin American countries, as well as Asia, Africa, and even Europe. It also removes grounds for Russia to accuse the United States, since with a black president, there are many things you can’t blame America for anymore. The operation was accomplished professionally and just in time. However, apart from diverting accusations, anger, and the international community’s negative attitude to the United States, will it bring positive results?

The Solution: According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, the global crisis is just starting and will keep growing. It will last until humanity brings itself to full equivalence with Nature (the Creator). Kabbalah explains how to do this.

Disappointment: Today, however, it is very unlikely that Obama’s advisers are ready to hear what Kabbalah has to say. Apparently, the world must suffer several more blows – like the Pharaoh in Egypt – in order to hear the truth. Hence all those who hope for positive changes have failed expectations ahead of them! The Creator gave this world a new leader – Obama, but he can only become that leader by starting a global reconstruction of people’s perception of the world.

The situation in the world can only be improved by studying the essence of the global world and educating all of humanity about a new attitude to the world – the world as one whole. If we create a system of global education about the global world, then the whole world will immediately feel that it is congruent to Nature (the Creator), and everyone’s hopes will come true!

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The loneliness a woman feels is a unique natural phenomenon. Its source are the Creator’s words addressed to the woman in the Torah: “Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” In what sense will he rule over her? Precisely because a woman will feel drawn toward a family, kids, a husband and a home. There are few women in our world who feel that these desires are fulfilled.

Why did the Creator make these aspirations so deeply rooted, taking up a woman’s entire world? It was done for the purpose of evoking such a connection with her husband that would reveal the Creator between them, as it is written: “Husband and wife, and Shechina (the Creator’s revelation) between them.” It’s in order for the Creator to become revealed to people. Only then will loneliness disappear from the world.

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