Three questions I received on the notions of nationality and Israel

Question: If a person is physically born a Jew, does it mean that he will always reincarnate as a Jew?

My Answer: Yes, because his soul came from Babylon and took the path of correction, then ascended to the level of complete personal correction during the times of the Temple, and then fell from that level to the state of all the souls in this world, in order to spend 2,000 years together with them (and even worse off than them), while being in exile from spiritual life. Precisely this soul must ascend and help everyone else do the same – help all the souls attain the full correction.

Question: If the answer is yes, then is it because the nation of Israel was chosen to carry the plan of the Creator, and this would mean that all the other people will also continue being born with the same nationalities that they started with?

My Answer: Yes. However, we don’t know about the other ten tribes, where they are and who they are today. It’s possible that today they are several billion people – those who were on the spiritual level and fell from it during the times of the First Temple. We learn about this fall and its correction from the breaking of two Partzufim, DACHGAT and NHY, in the World of Nekudim, their common fall and then their common correction. See parts 6 and 7 of Talmud Eser Sefirot.

Question: What if a person converts to Judaism and works very hard trying to attain the Creator? Does he also become a part of the nation of Israel (physically and spiritually)?

My Answer: There is no such nation. These people are ancient Babylonians who began correcting themselves back then. The others, who continued developing egoistically, went on to develop from the 70 forces of Zeir Anpin of the World of Atzilut, and this is why they are called “nations” – and each one has its own form of egoism.

The former are called “Hebrews,” which comes from the word Ever, meaning “across” (across the Machsom), “Jids” – because they await the correction or the Mashiach, and Yehudi (Jew), which comes from the word Yehud, meaning union (with the Creator). This is what set them apart from their brothers, the other Babylonians. So one doesn’t just “convert to Judaism,” the way we see it in our world, but rather spiritual Judaism is when one corrects oneself to the level of the Creator, one attains the Creator through studying Kabbalah. Just like in ancient times, those who are the “nation of Israel” today are those who separated from the other Babylonians by starting to correct their egoism.

You should see the world as that same Babylonian civilization, a part of which temporarily corrected itself, and today everyone must become corrected and become like the Creator. There is no such thing as corporeal Judaism, just like there are no religions, faiths, and so on. All of these things are incorrectly, egoistically understood Kabbalah. Where did people even get such notions, even if they’re mistaken? They came up with them either because their soul hinted at them from within, or from the fall of Kabbalah to the egoistic level. Who were the ancient nations? They were pagans or believers like Romans and Greeks. Everything else came from the spiritual fall, in order to accelerate the development of the Babylonians and bring them to the necessity to become equal to the Creator.

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Three questions I received about egoism and its consequences

Question: We learn that over the course of human history, people have been striving for pleasures, starting with the basic pleasures (food, shelter, and etc.) and until the most complex pleasures (knowledge and truth). It would be logical to suppose that today humanity should be striving for knowledge. But it seems that instead we’re fighting for the basic things more than anything else. It seems that bodily values are more important for us than values of the mind and knowledge.

My Answer: People without food will strive for nothing but food. And in our technically developed era, when so many possibilities present themselves, we start seeing that wealth, fame, power and knowledge won’t make us happy. This is first felt by the young generation, and it is the reason for people’s feelings of emptiness and depression. Egoism’s growth leads to its own destruction. It presents its inability to achieve happiness, and it forces us to start using it in the only other way possible – for bestowal instead of reception.

Question: Can egoism bring about the soul’s destruction? What happens to people like Hitler and Saddam Hussein? Will the Almighty give them the chance to reach Lishma?

My Answer: They will definitely reach Lishma, complete adhesion with the Creator. They’ll become absolutely righteous, because the leaders of the world are a blind instrument in the hands of Nature, and it’s us who produce their horrible behavior and actions in this world, by being opposite to Nature. Our imbalance with Nature (the law of bestowal) begets the negative correcting forces, such as these horrible rulers/agents you speak of.

Question: In the news in all languages, including English, French, and German, we keep hearing about a rise of instances of mothers killing, eating, and brutally treating their children. This looks absolutely unnatural. How are we to understand this phenomenon?

My Answer: We should understand this phenomenon as a consequence of egoism, which has reached the final phase of its growth. The prophets wrote that mothers will kill and eat their children, if we don’t correct our egoism before it grows. Read the prophets!

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Two questions I received about sharing Kabbalah with others

Question: In response to a question, you said “Don’t talk about Kabbalah to anyone except the people you study with.” But then how should we push people to Kabbalah? I feel that if I don’t remind certain people about this topic or give them hints, then they’ll never even find out that such a thing exists, at least not in this reincarnation.

My Answer: You can give them a “hint” but no more than that, and don’t push. You should be especially careful with the people you have constant contact with. It’s better if others will talk to them about Kabbalah. Keep your relationships with them regular, on the level of this world.

Question: Can a student without spiritual attainment rely on his direct intellectual understanding of Baal HaSulam’s works? I’ve been listening to the Bnei Baruch lessons and reading Talmud Eser Sefirot almost every day for over a year now. Every time I feel that I understand something I read, I have a strong desire to share it with other students. Can I write about the things I understand and give it to others to read? Or can I only give it to people who have spiritual attainment?

My Answer: You can, but don’t overload others. Do it only for making contacts. After all, by doing so you won’t be studying the main material, the Kabbalist’s thoughts, but your own thoughts.

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Two questions I received about the soul

Question: You say that there are only 600,000 souls, or in other words, 600,000 fragments of the soul of Adam. But today there are 6.7 billion people in the world. Does this mean that over six billion people don’t have a soul? I hope you can clear this up for me.

My Answer: 600,000 is the number of initial fragments, but after that they are fragmented again into whatever number is necessary for the optimal correction in each generation – so that each fragment will have as much egoism as it’s able to correct. Therefore, to the degree that egoism grows, the world’s population grows as well.

Question: As I understand it, the higher a soul was in the spiritual world, the lower it fell after the breaking. So whatever seems to us as being the lowest will become the highest after correction. If this assumption is correct, does it mean that the people who hate Kabbalah now will become the highest souls after correction?

My Answer: No, since this doesn’t indicate that their souls fell to a very low level, but it only indicates people’s opinions, which they were taught from childhood (Girsa de Yankuta). These people don’t have souls at all yet. The soul emerges from the point in the heart (the desire for spirituality) and develops from it only under the influence of the Upper Light, which shines upon a person only during Kabbalah studies, and in our generation only while studying the works of Baal HaSulam and Rabash. You can’t tell anything about one’s soul by looking at external expressions of one’s thoughts, desires and actions. Those people do not have a soul yet. It is concealed from you, since you – the observer – aren’t able to “see” the spiritual structures. You should therefore relate to everyone equally, seeing them as people who are being controlled and who need help in becoming spiritually independent.

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A question I received: The more Kabbalah is revealed to the world, the more the forces controlling this world are revealed. Does this mean that we’re going to see more and more of the world’s problems resolved if we realize that we’ve created an illusion for ourselves in this world? I am particularly referring to cancer. With our egoism we have created a terrorist in our body that we can’t control. We have built a massive industry around this illusion, including our educational system, medicine, fund raising, government, the pharmaceutical system, and health care industries. The pain and suffering that have been created by this illusion are just as enormous as the stress and anxiety it has created in the world. The realization that cancer is a force in the body that’s controlled by the brain makes it something that can be fully controlled by the mind.

My Answer: Certainly everything we perceive is a picture created by us, by our egoism (the picture of our world) or by the quality of bestowal (the picture of the Upper World). How we “depict” it depends on us, on our desire + intention. However, it is impossible for an individual to “depict” the picture of the world – it can only be done with everybody together, or in the very least, in a group. This is because spirituality is “depicted” in the connection between us, between the souls.

Incidentally, it’s the same with our egoistic world – we depict (imagine) it in our attitude to others, i.e. in selfish desires. Souls do not see the picture of the world within themselves; they see it in what’s between them, in the quality of the connection between them. Therefore, because of your dependence on others, the other cogs in the system, you cannot use Kabbalah to cure yourself or put yourself into a comfortable state. Moreover, as long as there remain to be people needing correction, disasters and diseases will also remain. We will “depict” one beautiful picture only when we (i.e. humanity as a whole) correct ourselves together.

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Two questions I received about the Creator

Question: I don’t get it. We are trying to connect with a spiritual being we can’t perceive, called the creator, who in fact is in charge of everybody’s fate and wants us to strive for him and only him, by studying books, and you tell me there is nothing magical or mystic about it?

My Answer: The Creator is the corrected you, because you were created ideally opposite to Him. We write “Him” with a capital letter only as a sign of respect for this property of “selfless love and bestowal.” That is to say, you are researching yourself in order to change yourself to the reverse. That’s what Kabbalah is – the discovery of the property of bestowal within you.

Question: How can the connection with the Creator, who’s good and does good, be expressed through negative feelings?

My Answer: As long as a person hasn’t corrected his desires, he can experience negative sensations in them, but at the same time he can rejoice at the fact that he is having these sensations as part of the process of correcting these desires. And once they become corrected, he rises over them, and despite any sensations he feels in them (even lack of fulfillment!), he will be able to feel only the happiness and goodness that fill the world! It’s because he acquires faith above reason – he is filled by the property of bestowal, even though his desires to be filled are empty.

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Two questions I received on approaching college studies

Question: I am a postgraduate student and I think that writing my thesis and mastering scientific skills could help me in the future with regard to disseminating Kabbalah, i.e. by helping include it in the scientific realm. However, I cannot actively get involved in such a job. The thought of worthlessness and incorrectness of all scientific research and fruitless theories is bugging me, and writing a thesis necessitates me to learn and know a bundle of stupidities. How can I motivate myself? Is it really needed for dissemination?

My Answer: If one has spiritual aspirations, and is confident that they are serious, long term and supported by his spouse, then this person needs to master a profession which will allow him to support his family, and then pursue spirituality, the soul’s correction. However, since you are already at postgraduate level, I would advise you to complete it, and then find a quiet job according your specialization, and dive into Kabbalah.

Question: I would like to know how long the feelings of emptiness and loneliness will last. How can I explain to my parents that I don’t want to go to college, that I don’t want anything except to study Kabbalah?

My Answer: Actually, Kabbalah obligates a person to get a job, get married and only then study Kabbalah. This world was created in complete harmony with the Upper World. If you use it contrary to the way the Creator provided it, you will not be able to attain equivalence with Him.

The order of resolving life’s problems is as follows:
* Specialization
* Job
* Wedding
* Kabbalah!!!

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Questions I received on life in the Upper Worlds

Question: What is “heaven” from Kabbalah’s point of view?

My Answer: Heaven is the Light of Hochma. The “Garden” is Malchut. Malchut filled with the Light of Hochma is called the Garden of Eden. In this state Malchut is the Malchut of the World of Atzilut for the souls.

In other words, the Garden of Eden refers to a place (or a state) where the souls are filled with the Light of Hochma. Stated simply, the Garden of Eden is Malchut of the World of Atzilut. The Upper Garden of Eden is Bina of the World of Beria, and the Lower Garden of Eden is Yesod de Malchut of the World of Assiya. Of course, this bears no relation to people’s regular notions about heaven and its inhabitants. In spirituality there is no space, images, sounds and etc., but only forces unclothed by matter. The soul is a desire. To the degree that it’s equivalent to the Creator, to the quality of bestowal and love, it becomes filled with the sensation of the Creator, the sensation of this quality within itself. This sensation is called “heaven,” and there’s no heaven besides it.

Question: Does a person use the system of ABYA de Kedusha even before the Machsom?

My Answer: This system only starts after the Machsom. See the “Introduction to the Book of Zohar” where it speaks about the attainment of Malchut de Assiya.

Question: After the breaking of the vessels (Shevirat ha Kelim) in the World of Nekudim, how did the Parsa reinforce itself to avoid breaking again?

My Answer: In order to receive the Light, it’s necessary to ascend from BYA to Atzilut – this is one of the Parsa’s reinforcements.

Question: Why is Ein Sof (Infinity) surrounded by Igulim (circles)?

My Answer: Because everyone is equal and there are no limitations.

Question: In Kabbalah, are there things like the devil and other evil forces, or are these just metaphors for egoism?

My Answer: The only thing that was created is desire. Its different, particular forms have different names. My sensations of myself and of my surroundings are also desires or forces, but we perceive them as vectors on a TV screen, as pictures. In reality, the only things that exist are the force of reception (creation) and the force of bestowal (the Creator). They depict the entire picture we see. When we attain these forces, we are immediately freed from the illusion of the visible picture of the world, and therefore, Kabbalah describes our world as being imaginary and dreamlike.

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Two questions I received on bestowing upon one’s neighbor

Question: I’ ve been studying with you, and I just don’t have the words to express my gratitude. It’s as if you take each of us by the hand and lead us to realize where we are. With your help, I’ve merited attaining a small but unmistakable glow, and working together with you.

I’d like to ask you the following: Suppose that I receive for the sake of bestowal, and the more I enjoy, the more I bestow. Or in other words, the more Light I reveal with the intention, the more I bestow. If I want to pass the Light on to my neighbor, and the Light has to go through me, through the Guf of my Partzuf, to my neighbor, so that more Light will be revealed in him than in me, then in order for this to happen, do I have to reveal more Light in the Guf of my Partzuf, or can it also happen without me revealing it, since I don’t want anything for myself except correction?

My Answer: Everything will happen automatically if you will think (and accordingly act) about everyone’s connection together into one Partzuf, and you desire and act for it to be filled, like the Creator. In this case, this Partzuf becomes filled with Light. And then you’ll perceive not only the Light of fulfillment, but also the pleasure of those whom you have fulfilled. The latter is a different kind of Light. It’s like a mother who perceives her children’s fulfillment, rather than what she fulfills them with. However, the Light that you pass to them also fulfills you, as it is written: “Every person who asks for his neighbor, receives first.”

Question: Suppose that a person has started perceiving the influence of the Upper Light and how to bring his neighbor to the same perception using the simplest words and notions – is this possible? If yes, then wouldn’t he be stealing his neighbor’s individual attainment? After all, he’s making the task easier for him, since the main thing is to start perceiving?

My Answer: It is written in the Torah: “Go and earn from one another” – all of us together need to adapt the harmony of the common mechanism of Adam, the common soul. By oneself, a person can never attain even a single spiritual state. It’s because, in essence, all of them are an even greater connection between the souls, the restoration of our breaking of the single soul of Adam into billions of pieces or souls. And everything has been prepared for you by the Kabbalists and by your friends. You’ve arrived when everything has already been prepared for you. Maybe you don’t feel it, but the entire world has been prepared for you by all the previous generations, and then you appeared in it as a baby. It is written: “Love thy neighbor as thyself,” and this is how you should act, in order to help others in the same way that you want to be helped. However, you shouldn’t do this coercively, but the way you would treat a child – show them the sources, introduce them to the foundations, and then leave it to them to understand themselves, their path, and Kabbalah.

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A question I received: Where you openly present the state of the world as being in a deepening crisis, Bill Gates talks about how it’s getting better: “The world is getting better, but it’s not getting better fast enough…” (Bill Gates, in his World Economic Forum speech). He talks about the developing technologies, longer life expectancy, the status of women and minorities, the increasing number of people who have a say in the governance of their nations, and he is generally optimistic about the future. What is your opinion about this?

My Answer: Those are the opinions of a person who spent his whole life believing in money, that the world’s entire strength lies only in money, that only money can solve the world’s problems, and that if we give everyone money, and lots of it, then everyone will be satisfied.

And even if you object and say, “No – besides that he also has far reaching plans, and Baal HaSulam says that we must satisfy everyone at the minimum level” – any path that sets out to do any task without aiming to attain adhesion with the Creator is wrong from the outset. The very best idea will fail and end in nothing, just like Bill’s life.

Question: So what is the method you suggest?

My Answer: Please understand that I can’t give an answer to every person about something that I’ve already answered. The blog isn’t a directory. Look through previous posts, and go to the kabbalah.info website.

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