Haaretz: “Thirty-Five Centuries Later, It’s Still Pharaoh vs. Moses”

In my regular column in Haaretz newspaper published my new article: “Thirty-Five Centuries Later, It’s Still Pharaoh vs. Moses“

From rulers of Egypt we became its slaves because we didn’t want to be Jews—united above hatred.

The story of the liberation of the Hebrews from enslavement has captured the imagination of billions of people throughout history. The Exodus has come to embody man’s struggle for freedom from oppression and injustice. But there is something odd about the Exodus: The Torah commands each and every one of us to see ourselves each day as though we have just come out of Egypt. Why is this story so important? Could it be that underneath the epic tale lies a deeper, cryptic meaning?

If we look into the texts of our sages throughout the ages, we will indeed find that the exodus from Egypt details a process that we as Jews went through, are going through again today, and which impacts the lives of Jews and non-Jews the world over. If we understand this process better, we will find compelling answers to many of today’s most pressing questions for the Jews, such as the essence of Judaism and why there is anti-Semitism.

Abraham’s Secret

When Joseph’s brothers went into Egypt, they had the best life anyone could imagine. With Pharaoh’s blessing, Joseph was the de facto ruler of Egypt. “You shall be over my house, and according to your command all my people shall do homage,” Pharaoh said to Joseph. “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt. …I am Pharaoh, yet without your permission no one shall raise his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt” (Gen 41:40-44).

Under Joseph’s leadership, Egypt not only became a superpower, but also made its neighboring nations slaves to Pharaoh, taking their money, land, and flocks (Gen 47:14-19). Yet, the prime beneficiaries from Egypt’s success were the Hebrews. Knowing to whom he owed his wealth and might, Pharaoh said to Joseph: “The land of Egypt is at your disposal; settle your father and your brothers in the best of the land, let them live in the land of Goshen [the richest, most lush part of Egypt], and if you know any capable men among them, put them in charge of my livestock” (Gen 47:6).

The secret to Joseph’s success was his lineage. Three generations earlier, his great-grandfather, Abraham, saw his townspeople of Ur of the Chaldeans losing their social stability due to growing hatred among its people. All over ancient Babylon, people were becoming increasingly self-centered and alienated from each other. This manifested most evidently in the efforts to build the ambitious Tower of Babylon. The book Pirkei de Rabbi Eliezer describes how the builders of the Tower of Babylon would “push up the bricks [to build the tower] from the east, then descend from the west. If a man fell and died, they would not pay him any mind. But if a brick fell they would sit and wail, ‘Woe unto us; when will another come in its place?’” Finally, the book continues, the Babylonians “wanted to speak to one another but did not know each other’s language. What did they do? Each took his sword and they fought each other to the death. Indeed, half the world was slaughtered there, and from there they scattered all over the world.”

Distraught, Abraham reflected on the plight of his townspeople and realized that the intensification of egoism could not be stopped. To overcome it, he suggested to his townsfolk to increase the cohesion of his society in synchrony with the growth of the ego. In Mishneh Torah (Chapter 1), Maimonides describes this as Abraham beginning “to provide answers to the people of Ur of the Chaldeans.”

Abraham’s success drew the attention of the Babylonian king, Nimrod, who, according to the Midrash (Beresheet Rabbah 38:13), confronted Abraham and tried to prove him wrong. When King Nimrod failed, he expelled Abraham from Babylon. As the expat wandered toward the future Land of Israel, he continued to tell people about his discovery and garner followers and disciples. According to Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah (“Idolatry Rules,” Chapter 1:3), “Thousands and tens of thousands assembled around Abraham. He planted this tenet [of unity as an antidote to egoism] in their hearts, composed books about it, and taught his son, Isaac. Isaac sat and taught and informed Jacob, and appointed him a teacher, to sit and teach… And Jacob our Father taught all his sons.” By the time Joseph arrived, he had a well-established method for achieving social stability and prosperity through unity in the face of growing egoism and alienation.

How the Tables Turned Against Us

As we saw above, Pharaoh supported the unity of the Hebrews. He gave the best land in Egypt exclusively to them and let them cultivate their unique way of life—continuously enhancing unity—not only uninterrupted, but with his full support. Eventually, that unique unity became the essence of Judaism. As the book Yaarot Devashi (Part 2, Drush no. 2) tells us, the word “Yehudi” (Jew) comes from the word “yihudi,” meaning united.

The problems began when Joseph died. Pharaoh, says the book Noam Elimelech, “is called ‘the evil inclination.’” Pharaoh is not simply egoism; he is the epitome of it. He will be nice to you only as long as you serve him. When he told Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, yet without your permission no one shall raise his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt,” he meant that Joseph would rule over Egypt because Pharaoh knows that unity pays off. Without unity, he would have no reason to give any special favor to Joseph’s kin.

Yet, after Joseph’s death, the Hebrews did not maintain their unity. They wanted to be like the Egyptians: egoists. But they were unaware that by doing so, they would lose their favor in Pharaoh’s eyes and become what Jews have always been: pariahs. Midrash Rabbah (Exodus, 1:8) writes, “When Joseph died they said, ‘Let us be as the Egyptians.’ Because they did so, the Creator turned the love that the Egyptians held for them into hatred, as it was said (Ps 105), ‘He turned their heart to hate His people, to abuse His servants.’”

The Book of Consciousness (Chapter 22) writes even more explicitly that had the Hebrews not abandoned their way of unity, they would not have suffered. After quoting the Midrash I just mentioned, the book adds, “Pharaoh looked at the children of Israel after Joseph and did not recognize Joseph in them,” namely the tendency to unite. And because “New faces were made, Pharaoh declared new decrees upon them. You see, my son,” the book concludes, “all the dangers and all the miracles and tragedies are all from you, because of you, and on account of you.”

In other words, Pharaoh turned against us because we had abandoned our way, the way of unity above hatred, and wanted to stop being Hebrews. Throughout our history, the worst tragedies befell us when we wanted to stop being Jews and abandon the way of unity. The Greeks conquered the land of Israel because we wanted to be like them and worship the ego. We even did the fighting for them as Hellenized Jews fought against the Maccabees. Less than two centuries later, the Temple was ruined because of our unfounded hatred for each other. We were deported and murdered in Spain when we wanted to be Spaniards and abandoned our unity, and we were exterminated in Europe by the country where Jews wanted to forget about our unity and assimilate. In 1929, Dr. Kurt Fleischer, leader of the Liberals in the Berlin Jewish Community Assembly, accurately expressed our centuries’ long problem: “Anti-Semitism is the scourge that God has sent us in order to lead us together and weld us together.” What a tragedy it is that the Jews back then did not unite despite Fleischer’s truthful observation.
Exodus

When Moses came along, he knew that the only way to save the Hebrews was to pull them out of Egypt, out of the egoism that was destroying their relations. The book Keli Yakar (Exodus 6:2) writes about Moses: “The spirit of the Lord spoke in Pharaoh’s daughter to call him Moshe (Moses) from the word “moshech” (pulling) because he is the one who pulls Israel from exile.” That is, like Joseph before him, Moses united the people around him and thereby delivered them from Egypt.

Yet, even after their exit, the Hebrews were in danger of falling back into egoism. They received their “signet” as a nation only when they reenacted Abraham’s method of uniting above hatred. Once they pledged to unite “as one man with one heart,” they were declared a “nation.” At the foot of Mt. Sinai, from the word “sinaa” (hatred), the Hebrews united and thereby covered their hatred with love.
By their unity, Moses reestablished the Hebrews’ commitment to unity as an antidote to egoism. This has been the essence of Judaism ever since, or as Old Hillel put it in the Talmud: “That which you hate, do not do unto your neighbor; this is the whole of the Torah” (Shabbat, 31a). By covering their egoism with love and unity, the Jews managed to overcome the countless trials and tribulations they endured since the Exodus and until the ruin of the Second Temple. King Solomon succinctly worded the principle of Judaism with a short verse in Proverbs (10:12): “Hate stirs strife, and love covers all crimes.”

Pharaoh and Moses within Us

As we read the Haggadah, it is a good idea to keep in mind that Pharaoh, Joseph, Moses, and all the other characters are more than parts of our history. We are commanded to remember the exodus from Egypt every day because they are actually parts of us! We all have Pharaoh, the evil inclination, but we do not have within us enough Moses and Joseph, the forces of unity. We are arrogant, self-entitled, and egoistic to the point of narcissism. We have lost our Jewishness, our tendency to unite.

In consequence, just as the Egyptians turned against the Hebrews when they abandoned Joseph’s way, the world is turning against us today because of our disunity. We will not find solutions to anti-Semitism in suppressing anti-Semitic tirades. This will not uproot the hate. As The Book of Consciousness writes in the quote just mentioned, “You see, my son, all the dangers and all the miracles and tragedies are all from you, because of you, and on account of you.” Our disunity creates, feeds, and fans the flames of anti-Semitism.

When Abraham found his way to overcome egoism, he wanted to share it with everyone. Likewise, as soon as the Hebrews became a nation, they were tasked with being “a light unto nations.” Put differently, they were commanded to bring unity to the world and complete what Abraham had begun. But in order to accomplish this, we must first exit our internal Egypt—the rule of the Pharaoh within us—and choose the way of Joseph and Moses, the way of unity. Moses knew what Abraham had wanted to achieve and tried to do the same. Ramchal wrote in his commentary on the Torah that “Moses wished to complete the correction of the world at that time. However, he did not succeed because of the corruptions that occurred along the way.” So, at the end of the day, being Jewish means following the path of Abraham and Moses—the path of unity, mutual responsibility, and brotherhood. When we seek unity, we are Jews. When we seek other goals, we are not.

The Festival of Freedom

Passover is the festival of freedom. Yet, we cannot be free as long as we are slaves to our egos.
Liberation from Pharaoh means freedom from the evil inclination: the desire to harm, patronize, and oppress others. We are far from it. As long as we remain this way, we must not expect anti-Semitism to subside. On the contrary, it will only grow because, as I said above, our egoism creates, feeds, and fans it.

If we want to celebrate a proper Seder, we must put our priorities in the right order: our unity comes first, and everything else follows. We may disagree on politics, LGBT issues, Israel, or family matters. But if we do not unite above all our disagreements then we are wrong regardless of our position. Just as a mother loves her children regardless of their traits, beliefs, and actions, we must find a way to at least begin to march toward each other. This will be the beginning of our liberation from the inner Pharaoh.

This year, as we discuss the story of our ancestors, let’s also think about the ancestors within us, the forces of egoism or connection and brotherhood—to which of them we are catering, and to which of them we should be catering.

I wish us all a happy and kosher (hatred free) Passover.
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Impossible Yet Necessary

Question: On the one hand, a person cannot get rid of his egoistic nature—the upper force carries this out. On the other hand, you say that a person is not given something that he is unable to do.

Answer: A person, as in mathematics, is given a condition that this is impossible yet necessary. Here, a natural question arises: “How?” If we cannot do anything yet the correction is compulsory, then it is impossible to avoid it either.

The solution is to use the wisdom of  Kabbalah to attract the force that would change us, instead of us changing ourselves! For this reason, Kabbalah was given to humanity.

Certainly, we are not able to exit our egoistic nature that forces us to think only of ourselves and of no one else. Whether we do so subconsciously or consciously, this is still the only thing that exists in us.

However, we can attract upon ourselves a special force called the Torah, or the upper Light, the property of love and bestowal, that will transform us.

Today we are beginning to see from our own mistakes that we, like dogs, are chasing our own tails, unable to do anything with ourselves and the world. We can only raise our hands and surrender ourselves to the mercy of the flow of evolution: Whatever happens, happens.

Judging by the number of people suffering from depression, drug use, and all other parameters, a larger portion of humanity is beginning to realize that it is in a state of despair. And now something must be done.

The only solution is for us to raise above ourselves. This can only be done with the help of the upper force. The wisdom of Kabbalah is the method for revealing it.

When everyone realizes that this is the only way out of a dead end, we will succeed.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 10/5/16

Decriminalizing Marijuana

In the News (Reuters): “The Israeli government voted on Sunday in favor of decriminalizing recreational marijuana use, joining some U.S. states and European countries who have adopted a similar approach.

“’On the one hand we are opening ourselves up to the future. On the other hand, we understand the dangers and will try to balance the two,’ Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet in broadcast remarks.

“According to the new policy, which must still be ratified by parliament, people caught smoking marijuana would be fined rather than arrested and prosecuted. Criminal procedures would be launched only against those caught repeatedly with the drug.

Question: Will people gradually stop smoking and kick this habit as a result?

Answer: I don’t see this. This is possible only if they receive such internal satisfaction that they will not need these things.

Question: What do you think brings a person to smoke more? Is it the pain he feels because everything around him is pressuring him or is it because he wants to receive pleasure?

Answer: Many factors are involved here. A person is pressured by both pleasure and lack of pleasure. Besides, the forbidden fruit is much sweeter. If it isn’t forbidden any more, we can do something about it. What do we do about smoking? A serious widespread campaign all over the world has brought the decline in the number of cigarette smokers.

In the past, it was common to smoke on the streets , and today you can hardly see anyone doing that.

Question: Does that mean that you think we can cope with marijuana smoking?

Answer: Everything will gradually go back to the way it was. We just have to do it correctly.
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From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 3/8/17

Do We Have Protection From Above? Part 1

Question: Sometimes even the most non-religious people have a sensation as if some higher power is protecting them, helping them come out unharmed from the most dangerous situations.

But then there are very difficult states when it feels as if we were forgotten above or that no higher power has ever protected us to begin with.

Modern person believes less and less in protection from above. Does it really exist?

Answer: We don’t just have protection from above, but in general, we exist in this world as if an embryo in the mother’s womb, that is, within a system, binding us along all parameters and leaving us without any freedom.

The system doesn’t allow us to make a single independent movement: neither physical, nor spiritual, nor mental, or emotional. Everything is bound with steel cords into a strict system, and it is impossible to think about any kind of freedom in any sense of the word.

This force, binding us with thousands of connections, is hidden from us and that is why it seems to us that we are free and able to do anything we want. Our future, our actions, and the general system’s reactions to them are all covered by the darkness of the unknown.

Why would nature hide all this from us? In order for us to discover for ourselves the system within which we exist, to study, feel, and understand it to such a degree that we become a seamless integral part of it, in one awareness, desire, sensation with it. This is man’s predestination and the goal of his existence in this world.
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From KabTV’s “New Life #818” 01/26/17

Haaretz: “Connection: Something New on the Seder Menu”

In my regular column in Haaretz, my new article: “Connection: Something New on the Seder Menu“

This year, as we sit around the table during the Seder and talk about freedom, let’s talk about freedom from hatred

The deeper we go into 2017, the more chaotic the world appears. Today, the only thing most people can agree on is that the train of human society is derailing and the driver seat is empty.

Donald Trump is struggling to set his administration in motion against loyalists of the previous government in the media and the judiciary system. Even in his own party, Trump is battling criticism that sounds as though it came straight from a Bernie Sanders speech. In Europe, the UK has begun the Brexit process, no one is certain about the results of the breakup, nor is anyone certain about the desired direction for the EU.

A Passover Seder table setting

Today, most leaders of the European Union and MEPs agree that the bloc has lost its way. Leading figures such as Gianni Pittella state, “We need a new direction for Europe that goes toward a strong social pillar.” Similarly, Rosa D’Amato said, “There is the EU of the banks, big companies and lobbies, and the EU of the citizens; those who have lost their jobs and have no rights.”

It appears that the leading trend in the political arena is “each country for itself.” Brexit is underway, Trump’s policy is “America first,” Marine Le Pen in France and AfD in Germany are garnering support, and the majority of Swedes are supporting a Swexit. Yet, if the EU falls apart and each country must fend for itself, who will be the responsible adult calming things down when conflicts arise? In such a state, the distance between a relatively minor dispute and a full-blown war could be a matter of days.

Nature vs. Human Nature

Nobel Prize laureate in physics Dennis Gabor wrote in 1964: “Till now man has been up against Nature; from now on he will be up against his own nature.” Indeed, for several decades we have been technologically capable of providing every human being with every basic need in order to sustain ourselves. If we wanted to, we could provide everyone with fresh food and water, adequate sanitation, electricity, communication, and education.

The problem is that we have no desire to do so. Our hatred of each other is causing the most technologically advanced era in human history to produce the most widespread hunger since World War II, which in itself was the most satanic display of human hatred.

Everything around us, including our own bodies, is the outcome of different, often conflicting forces, organs, and vectors complementing one another to create the universe we live in and of which we are a part. Each part in the web that is our world contributes its share to the stability and prosperity of the system that is our world. Moreover, the higher up the evolutionary chain we climb, the more complex system of interconnection and interdependence we find, requiring a higher level of communication and connectedness among the parts.

Yet, we humans are completely opposite to nature. We strive to separate ourselves from everything as though we are not dependent upon the world around us. On every level of human existence, we strive to create “Brexits.” Even our health is affected by our mutual dislike. In an interview for Channel 2 in Israel, Thomas Friedman of The New York Times said that he asked Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, “What’s the most prevalent disease in America, is it cancer, diabetes, heart disease? He said, ‘None of those; it’s isolation!’”

It turns out that our alienation from each other is causing our personal, social, and global crises by attempting to go against the connected nature of reality. In fact, that tension between our isolationism and narcissism vs. the connectedness of reality has grown so intense that in all likelihood, it should have snapped by now. We view the global wave of terrorism as a tragedy, but for all its tragic consequences, terrorism is a way to vent ethnic and religious hatred in less injurious ways than an all-out war. Yet, clearly, this type of “pressure-relief-valve” is unbearable and unless we hurry to decompress this time bomb, it will explode in an all-out war.

The more we develop, the more connected and interdependent we become. Ironically, our narcissism is driving globalization even faster because it makes us want to exploit everyone for our own benefit, and therefore compels us to connect to other people even more tightly than before in order to use them. Yet, since our narcissism grows as well, our forced connection is becoming so painful that we are losing our ability to connect to one another properly. We either avoid connection altogether through suicide or substance abuse, or attack it by being abusive, aggressive, and sometimes even homicidal.

The Brexits brewing the world over are necessary adjustments to ease the pressure of our forced connection. Romano Prodi, former Italian Prime Minister, correctly concluded that “The EU has no strategies and there is no leader to follow. The Europe I dreamed of is dead.” He was also correct in saying, “Whoever leads a political coalition and a group of countries must consider the interests of all the members.” Since this consideration is clearly not the situation in the EU, it must be taken apart before it blows us all to pieces.

Mutually Responsible

Despite the need for temporary separation, in the end we will have to join nature’s course and connect. Proper connection will be the next great challenge of humanity. Our “final frontier” is not space, as we thought back in the 1960s. Our final frontier is our connections with the people with whom we live. Our connections with the people around us and the connections among societies and countries will determine the fate of humanity.

The first step toward building a sustainable society is to understand that whether we like it or not, there is mutual responsibility between us. In the 1930s, the greatest commentator on The Book of Zohar, Rav Yehuda Ashlag, wrote an essay titled “Peace in the World” where he observed that we are all interdependent. In his words: “We can no longer speak or deal with just conducts that guarantee the well-being of one country or one nation, but only with the well-being of the whole world because the benefit or harm of each and every person in the world depends and is measured by the benefit of all the people in the world.” What was true in the 1930s is far more so today, but we have yet to come to terms with the fact that mutual dependence implies mutual responsibility.

In fact, Judaism is built on educating people toward connection. Now that we are nearing Passover, it is a good time to remind ourselves that we were declared a nation only after we agreed to unite “as one man with one heart.”

Throughout our formative years as a nation, we strove to enhance our connection over the hatred that erupted among us. We turned connecting above hatred into an ideology that has survived throughout the generations. King Solomon said, “Hate stirs strife, and love covers all crimes” (Prov 10:12). Likewise, the book Likutey Etzot (Assorted Counsels) writes, “The essence of peace is to connect two opposites. Hence, do not be alarmed if you see a person whose view is the complete opposite of your own and you think that you will never be able to make peace with him. Also, when you see two people who are completely opposite to each other, do not say that it is impossible to make peace between them. On the contrary, the essence of peace is to try to make peace between two opposites.” Additionally, the book Letters of the Raiah declares that “The great rule about the war of views, when each view comes to contradict another, is that we need not contradict it, but rather build above it, and thereby ascend.” Finally, just last year, Andrés Spokoiny, president and CEO of the Jewish Funders Network said, “Respect and disagreement have historically been a major part of who we are. We are a people that believes that disagreement is a way to refine our moral compass. We are the people that taught the world to embrace diversity and celebrate the difference.”

At the Forefront of Connection

Recently, as Mr. Spokoiny also noted during his speech, we have seen “an unprecedented polarization and ugliness in the Jewish community. Those who think differently are considered enemies or traitors, and those who disagree with us are demonized.”

Once we understand that our problem is our separation and mutual hatred, we must strive toward the opposite. When we Jews united at the foot of Mt. Sinai, we were immediately tasked with setting an example of unity so the world could unite, as well. In other words, we were commanded to be “a light unto nations.” We did not know how, but we were willing to try. This is all that is required of us today.

Similarly, in the essay I mentioned earlier, “Peace in the World,” Rav Ashlag writes that we will not know how to connect until we try. In his words, “Such is the conduct of the development in nature—the act comes before the understanding, and only actions will prove and push humanity forward.”

We Jews are at the forefront of science, technology, and finance. Yet, what the world needs is for us to be at the forefront of connection. As Mr. Spokoiny said, “The collapse of civility is not just a Jewish problem. We as Jews are like everybody else, just a little bit more so.” Yet, we as Jews are the only ones who are expected to be a role model of unity and civility, and not an example of the opposite. The severity with which the UN judges Israel compared to all other countries in the world combined is not merely an expression of anti-Semitism. Underneath the hatred lies the expectation from the Jews to be “a light unto nations,” meaning to lead the world in the opposite direction—from hate to love. When that expectation meets the harsh reality of our separation, it results in anger toward us, which then turns into hatred. We call this anti-Semitism. What flames it is not whether we are leftist globalists or hardline conservative isolationists. Rather, its fuel is our treatment of our coreligionists, regardless of their political or economic views.

We must use every opportunity at our disposal to try to reverse the trend toward isolation. Next week, as we sit around the table during the Seder and talk about freedom, let’s talk about freedom from hatred. Let’s really think about what it means to be “a light unto nations” and why there is anti-Semitism. If we do, this may very well turn out to be our most meaningful and memorable Passover night, ever!

Just last month, EU President Antonio Tajani stated before the EU Parliament: “Today more than ever we need show that these challenges can only be overcome if we are united.” Everyone understands that unity is imperative, but only our nation has a hidden key to make love cover all crimes, as King Solomon put it. If “the act comes before the understanding,” as Ashlag wrote, then let’s act on unity and see what it produces. Whatever happens, if we aim for unity, we can’t go wrong.
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What Is Friendship?

Question: What is friendship? What are the sensations and feelings that must appear between two friends?

Answer: Friendship is reciprocity, secure support, a feeling of warmth and mutual understanding.

Question: Can this continue until the end of life? Have you come across such cases?

Answer: Friendship between Kabbalists can be like this because it is beyond the limitations of life and death. A person begins to experience completely new sensations and emotions that are produced outside of our beastly bodies.

Question: In life are there cases in which a friend gives his life for the sake of others. Is this welcomed in the wisdom of Kabbalah?

Answer: The wisdom of Kabbalah doesn’t relate to this in any way and doesn’t say anything about this, neither for nor against. Everything depends on the situation.

Question: Are there general rules in the Torah when a person must give his life for the sake of others and when not?

Answer: In the Torah general rules and obligations like these don’t exist. But if necessary, a person himself gives his life because an inner connection can be very strong. I am convinced that there are circumstances like these in which a mother can give her life for the sake of her child. This can also be the case with two friends if one feels that the other is higher than he.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 12/11/16

Identifying A Kabbalist

Question from Facebook: How can I tell whether the person in front of me is a Kabbalist?

Answer: There is no way you can tell, but there are external signs of a Kabbalist:

1. Regularly studying the wisdom of Kabbalah whenever he can.

2. Studying for 3 hours during the morning lesson.

3. Regularly attending the gathering of friends’ meetings.

4. Taking part in dissemination that leads to the correction of the world.

5. Making active efforts to bring the world to a corrected state.

This is called a Kabbalist

Question: If that’s the case, even a student who is a beginner can be called a Kabbalist.

Answer: According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, a person is called a Kabbalist according to his intention and his goal, not according to whether he has attained a spiritual level. If he focuses himself on it the spiritual level, it means that he is in it.
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From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 3/8/17

Study The Writings Of Rabash

Question: What are the most important steps in building a sense of feeling the upper world?

Answer: The most important steps in building the soul are written and described in detail by my teacher Rabash in his first twenty articles. Therefore, I strongly advise you study them.

In fact, all of the conditions required for creating a sense of the feeling of the upper world, the Creator, and His eternal and perfected state, are indicated in those articles.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 11/27/16

The Spiritual Root Of Feminism

Question: Is there a spiritual root to feminism? Where does feminism stem from? Has it always been here or has it just emerged?

Answer: Ask women around you what they really want. Don’t they really want a sense of security about the future, a good family, children, and a husband, someone to care for? This is what they need first and foremost!

I don’t think that feminism did not exist in the past. It has always been here. In the past women like Cleopatra, Joan of Arc, and others represented it. Even the Torah tells us about heroic women….

So feminism is not a new phenomenon. Today we can simply see a greater breach of the ego; it is being exposed and has become uncontrollable, impossible to restrain by the boundaries of the family, the state, or the world, but this doesn’t make anyone happier.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 12/4/16

Humans And Animals

Question: Sensory perception in animals is much more developed than in humans: sight, smell, hearing, and touch. Does this mean that they are more developed than humans?

Answer: In our world, animals are much more adapted to nature than people. However, man’s weakness in regard to nature, on the one hand, and his developed intelligence, on the other hand, enables him to adapt all of nature to himself. So this is, as they say, a double-edged sword.

Question: In spirituality, is the sensitivity of animals stronger?

Answer: There are no animals in spirituality. They remain on the animal level, as do those people who have not received the properties of bestowal.

Until we penetrate into the upper world, into the world of bestowal and love, we are considered beasts. After all, until then, we have nothing other than the five senses and a little more intelligence, which lowers us below the level of the animals.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 11/27/16

Why Are Humans Considered The Crown Of Creation?

Question: Specifically why are humans called the crown of everything that has been created?

Answer: Humans are called the crown of creation because the whole creation was created according to a structure that is called “Adam” – Man, and all parts of creation are components of this system.

When a person begins to comprehend creation, it appears within him as his constituent parts. A person begins to understand that only he was created and that all the rest of the still, vegetative, animate, and human are found within him.

That is the way every person feels who has achieved creation, even though according to our logic, it makes no sense for a person to feel that everything is within him. This is precisely what happens, because creation is a system of many connections, and within it, every person includes all of creation within himself.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 12/25/16

Ascending Above This World

Question from Facebook: During the last convention, I had a feeling of ascending above this world. Why can’t I feel this in ordinary days?

Answer: You cannot feel that because you don’t have the society that can raise you. When thousands of people gather and everyone is excited about the idea of ascending above this world, they actually raise our world to the next level, and whoever is incorporated with them in this effort rises too.

This is the reason that you ascended; it was thanks to others and not as a result of your own efforts. Come and study how to ascend by your own efforts and how to raise others.
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From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 3/8/17

New Life #840 – Israel’s Enemies In The Bible

New Life #840 – Israel’s Enemies In The Bible
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Nitzah Mazoz

Summary

The goal of creation is to bring all of mankind to the revelation of the Creator. Abraham wanted to fulfill the goal of creation, and the people from the nations of the world who found this idea appealing gathered around him and became the nation of Israel.

All of humanity operates as one mechanism. When those who have to lead the world to connection don’t fulfill their role in this mechanism, it invokes hatred against them.
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From KabTV’s “New Life #840 – Israel’s Enemies In The Bible,” 3/16/17

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Man’s Main Work

Question: What is the work that I should do, and what is the work that the Light, the upper force, the Creator, performs?

Answer: The work that I should do is to obligate the upper Light to correct me.

My work is called a prayer, a request. I need to really want to perform this movement, which I cannot perform naturally. It is because it is impossible to bestow fully without receiving anything for myself since our nature is absolute egoism.

We can, however, receive this opportunity from above, and it is called the upper Light, the Light of Hassadim. But, it is only if the upper Light impacts me. It is in my power to convince the Light to influence me, but it can be done only through the group, through working with the ten.

Then, I can bestow without asking for any reward or anything in return.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 12/18/16

What Is There To Correct?

Question: What kind of egoism do we correct in our relationships?

Answer: There is a beastly egoism and a spiritual egoism. It is specifically the spiritual egoism that must be corrected.

We cannot correct the animal egoism. It belongs to the physical body; therefore, we must leave it as it is and think only about what belongs to the connection between us and the group and through the group to the Creator. Everything else will be corrected by itself, integrating automatically within the efforts of a friend to connect with the group and the Creator.

Question: Animal egoism is the desire for food, sex, family, and so forth. But a social level also exists, meaning respect, control, and knowledge. Suppose I have a desire to control the friends. Must I correct this or not?

Answer: You cannot correct it. If you become involved with the connection between the friends, everything will become balanced.

Question: So, what is this spiritual egoism?

Answer: It’s like the story of the old man who was promised three wishes by a golden fish that he caught. His wife first wanted her broken laundry basin fixed but then wanted more and more. So spiritual egoism first wants one thing and then eventually wants control over everything including the Creator and even itself.

Question: What is the connection with the friends here if I already feel the Creator?

Answer: You don’t feel the Creator, you want to be above everything. This is expressed by your dismissal of the advice of the Kabbalists who discovered the upper world, accepting it from the Creator. You are not interested in using their advice.

It is specifically an ego like this that must be corrected. Everything else will be corrected automatically by being integrated in what you do. Start working and you will feel that you want to be above everyone, including above the Creator.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 12/11/16

Establishing A Connection With The Creator

Question: How can we find external methods and tools for bestowal? Is it possible not to bestow to people, but to something else?

Answer: Basically, we should bestow to the Creator. We have to reach the right interaction with Him, adhesion with Him, and reach His revelation. This is the meaning of our existence.

If we establish the right connection with the Creator, people will of course feel better too. Not because we will begin to treat them better, but because the correct attitude toward the Creator invokes a positive effect on all created beings.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 11/27/16

Is The Universe Intelligent?

Question: Is the universe intelligent?

Answer: According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, intelligence or mind is called the Light of Hochma, and only a person who attains certain levels in spirituality can have such Light. Therefore, people who are considered intelligent in our world don’t really have a mind or intelligence from the Kabbalistic perspective

However, when we begin to work with our desires with the intention of in order to bestow, the energy, the Light that fill us, is called the Light of Hochma (Wisdom), the power of the mind. In this state, we become the owners of the control system of creation.

Question: Kabbalists say that nature and the Creator are one and the same. If that’s the case, is nature intelligent?

Answer: It depends on what you mean. If you mean the Creator when referring to“nature, then the Creator is wise. Everything that He stands for in our perception is wisdom (intelligence).
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 12/25/16

An Illusion Or A Taste Of Spiritual Experience?

Question: When I am immersed in reading The Book of Zohar I feel very powerful waves of emotions. Is this a corporeal illusion or a taste of spiritual experience?

Answer: If you study the wisdom of Kabbalah, listen to or watch the lessons, you are undoubtedly participating in the process of self-correction. This is the reason that you feel the buds of spirituality.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 11/27/16

My Friend’s Physicality Is My Spirituality

Question: Do I need to think about the spiritual advancement of my friends?

Answer: If you are in a group, you need to be concerned about the progress of your friends.

Question: Must a person in a group be concerned first about his friend having everything necessary and only then be concerned about one’s own advancement?

Answer: First of all, you must ask yourself whether a friend has everything necessary for normal existence. If not, then try to help him. All the rest of the time, you must think about what else you must do for him to attain the Creator. This is because his spiritual advancement is the best means for your spiritual advancement.

Together, you are a spiritual cell. If you think about him, a cell like this will certainly ascend and advance. But if you think about yourself, you will descend.

Therefore, it is said that the physicality of a friend is my spirituality.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 12/11/16

Mutual Support

The Torah, Deuteronomy 22:04: You shall not see your brother’s donkey or his ox fallen [under its load] on the road, and ignore them. [Rather,] you shall pick up [the load] with him.

A donkey or an ox are animals that carry heavy loads.

If you see that a friend in a group falls in his spiritual work and is unable to fulfill it, you must help him.

I do not want to talk about how this happens inside a person—who is his brother or his neighbor, but we work among us in the group in exactly the same manner. Life is difficult for those who are gathered as a special group of people, working among themselves only to achieve greater adhesion in order to reveal the Creator. After all, our entire existence must be directed precisely to a spiritual goal, and this is what the Torah talks about.

Its laws are prescribed only for the group of people who devote their entire lives to attaining the Creator from their mutual connection.

So, if you see that your friend in spiritual work cannot cope with his ego and stumbles and falls all the time, you have to help him. You have to inspire him, to talk to him, to invite him to your place, to study together with him; that is, do everything possible to support him. Next time you will be in his place, and he will help you in return.

It always works mutually. By helping him, you join him or he joins you, as a lower part with a higher one, and you both rise spiritually.

But you should understand that if you see him falling or rising, this is how you perceive him. Everything happens in relation to you individually, and is given to you to make you rise. This means that “your brother is inside you.” There is nothing outside of us. All the neighbors, oxen, cows, sheep, etc.—is all within us. These are our human or animate desires, which we need to correct in this way.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 9/28/16