News Report (from CNN): The CEO of Merrill Lynch was putting in for a $10 million bonus for 2008 – mostly because, in 2008, he adeptly held Merrill Lynch down to a loss of only $11.67 billion … at a time when Wall Street rivals like Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearn’s collapsed entirely. …is this guy nuts?

This was all front page news in The Wall Street Journal today, and because of that, by late this afternoon Mr. Thain came to his senses and withdrew his bonus request. Being publicly hung out to dry can be quite a motivator.

My Comment: I don’t think it had anything to do with him being ashamed. Shame is something he couldn’t feel, just as he wouldn’t be able to understand why his request was tactless. I think he was simply told that this is what he should do: withdraw his request. Besides, he may still get his bonus “under the table.” These people are insatiable and shameless because they vainly try to fulfill themselves with empty numbers and digits. But they only end up feeling emptier than before!

The Book of Zohar states that all that is received in excess of our necessities transforms inside us into a bigger desire, which will never be possible to fulfill. Hence, a person becomes even more zealous in his pursuit of fulfillment he doesn’t actually need, fulfillment that’s excessive and not necessary for his existence. Thus he is never satisfied, until he dies.

“Ein Adam Met Ve Hatzi Taavo Be Yado” – “A person dies without being even halfway fulfilled.” That’s because one’s attempts to be fulfilled only make his emptiness increase twofold. So, instead of being jealous of these billionaires, you’d be better off using the method of authentic, eternal, and perfect fulfillment!

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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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Filed under: Israel - 3 Comments →

News Report (translated from news.ru.co.il): A series of anti-Semitic actions are taking place in Germany. Over 800 anti-Semitic acts have been reported this year alone. Experts link the rise of anti-Semitic acts to the global economic crisis, which has revived myths of the Zionist conspiracy.

The drastic rise in the number of anti-Semitic incidents is also observed in Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, France, Greece, and Great Britain.

My Comment: Everything is happening according to the law of nature! They hate and punish us because we do not carry out our mission of “bringing the Light to the nations.”

The only way we will be able to save ourselves, and even earn the world’s respect and gratitude, is by disseminating Kabbalah. See items 70 and 71 of the “Introduction to the Book of Zohar.”

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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. “Peace in the World“:
The nature of each and every individual is to exploit the lives of all other people in the world for his own benefit. And all that he gives to another is only out of necessity, in order to use the other even more cunningly, so that his friend will not feel it and will give in to him.

Baal HaSulam. “A Speech in Celebration of the Conclusion of The Zohar“:
How can man achieve complete equivalence of form with the Creator, so all his actions will be to give to others, if man’s very essence is only to receive for oneself? By nature, we are unable to do even the smallest thing to benefit others. When we give to others, we are compelled to expect that in the end, we will receive a worthwhile reward for it. And if one feels satisfied with his present state, he is unable to make even the smallest movement. Thus, how can one’s every action be only to bestow upon others and not at all for oneself?

Baal HaSulam. “Introduction to the Book of Zohar,” item 20:
Our essence is as the essence of all the parts of creation, which is no more and no less than the will to receive.

Filed under: Egoism - 1 Comment →

A question I received: You always taught that Kabbalah is a path of individual spiritual development, but now it seems like it requires an individual to dissolve in the mass of humanity.

My Answer: I will answer with a quote from Nikolai Berdyaev’s “Philosophy of Creativity, Culture and Art” (V.1, p.115, M., 1994):

“Freedom of individualism does not create the cosmos but opposes the cosmos. Freedom of individualism is the freedom to separate and be alienated from the world, and separation from the world makes one a slave of the world. For an individualist, the world is always oppressing.

Individualism lowers a person, suppressing the global, universal human essence. The individualist is an enemy of individuality. A person is an organic member of the global cosmic hierarchy and the wealth of his internality is directly proportionate to his connection with the cosmos.”

By working to serve the entire system of souls – the only thing that was created by the Creator, a person merges with this system. It becomes his, and in fact – it becomes him. He then merges with the Creator, realizing his individuality and uniqueness.

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Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to the Book of Zohar”, item 19:
When all human beings agree to abolish and eradicate their egoistic will to receive for themselves, and have no other desire but to bestow upon others, all worries and evil in the world will cease to exist. And we will all be assured of a healthy, complete and secure life, since for each and every one of us there will be a whole world ready to satisfy his every need. However, when everyone has only the will to receive for himself, from here originate the pains, the wars and slaughter which we cannot escape. They weaken our bodies with all sorts of sores and maladies.

Baal HaSulam, “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose”:
Evil is nothing other than self love, called egoism, since it is opposite to the Creator, who hasn’t any will to receive for Himself, but only to bestow.

Baal HaSulam, “Peace in the World”:
The shared quality of all the people in the world is that each and every one of us stands ready to abuse and exploit all the other people for his own private benefit by every means possible, without taking into consideration that he is going to build himself through the ruin of his friend. And it doesn’t matter what excuses each of us invents for acting this way.

Baal HaSulam, “The Revelation of Godliness (Matan Torah)”:
It is a natural law for a person to regard anything outside his own body as unreal and non-existent. And any movement that a person makes to love his fellow man, cannot be considered “love of a fellow man” because it is judged by its goal: to benefit from this action. It is not in man’s nature to perform any action out of love for one’s neighbor, without expecting a reward, and hence such an action is completely impossible.

And only the revelation of the Creator (the Upper Light,Ohr Makif) is able to change us.

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Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to the Book of Zohar,” item 68:
Do not wonder that the action of a single person will trigger a descent or an ascent of the whole world. For it is an unbending law that “the general and the particular are equal.” And all that takes place in the general takes place in the particular parts as well. And vice-versa: everything that happens in the particular parts also happens in the general, for the general cannot come to be, but after the particulars have been revealed, according to the quantity and quality of the particulars. Hence, the actions of every person raise or decline the whole world.

Baal HaSulam, “Peace in the World”:
Each and every individual in society is like a wheel that is linked to several other wheels in the same machine. And this single wheel has no freedom of movement in and of itself, but continues with the motion of all the other wheels in a certain direction in order for the machine to perform its general purpose. And if there is a breakdown in one wheel, it is not seen as a breakdown in this one wheel, but is assessed according to the service and role it performs in the entire machine.

Baal HaSulam, “Peace in the World”:
The collective has only what its individual parts have. And the benefit of the collective is the benefit of each and every individual. He who harms the collective harms himself as well, and he who benefits the collective takes his part in the benefit, because he is a part of the whole. And the whole is not worth more than the sum of its individual parts.

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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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