Spark Of Faith

What’s most important is the force of bestowal, the force of faith, and Malchut, the desire to receive, always remains under restriction. The restriction never disappears; it is only possible to rise above it. Within Malchut, we experience darkness and helplessness; that is, we want to grab, take, and possess everything around us, but it will never work. The restriction will always be there and Malchut will remain empty without Light.

In this world we are given an illusion that we can fulfill ourselves, but this is only so that it is possible to exist and discover the higher laws of nature: bestowal instead of reception, Bina instead of Malchut, faith instead of reason, Light instead of darkness, good instead of evil. We are building an anti-egoistic screen, separating reason from faith, the desire to receive from the desire to bestow.

We are refusing to use our desires to receive pleasure directly. Instead, we want to use them in the opposite form, rising “above them” in order to bestow. Of course, we understand that we do not have the strength for this because our entire nature is based on reception. But, in certain people in whom the point in the heart is revealed that awakens them to spirituality, there is an opportunity to actualize this.

The point in the heart is the seed of faith, a spark left over from the screen that existed even before the shattering of the collective soul. This spark appears within the desire to receive, within the darkness, within the egoistic reason.

Reason is constantly growing under the influence of the internal engine of evolution: spiritual and material development. However, faith grows within us only when we draw the upper Light to ourselves, which then draws us closer to the source. The upper Light acts on us and changes us.

The Light’s influence on us depends on our effort to rise in faith above reason, to use our desire to receive as little as possible only when it is necessary. Simultaneously, we act out building an environment within the group as if we are already in the desire to bestow and love and unity dwells between us.

Even though we have neither the strength nor the desire for this, we still make an effort and draw the surrounding, reforming Light to ourselves. This is the same Light that filled our soul in its corrected form before the shattering. This Light lights up the point in the heart—the spark left in us from the screen that existed in the collective soul, in Adam HaRishon—and the spark gradually grows into a screen.

That is how we arrive at the restriction (the screen) and the reflected Light and receive a new Kli (vessel). The desire to receive—reason, Malchut—remains in the dark, while above it, the Light builds a screen and the sensation of the qualities of bestowal and unity. To the extent that this occurs, we feel the quality of bestowal or, in other words, faith. We become aware that it comes to us from a certain force, and depending on our similarity of form with it, we experience the general quality of bestowal or, in other words, the Creator.

We can then make a comparison. Depending on the difference between our quality of bestowal and the general quality of bestowal, the Creator, we experience either concealment or its opposite, revelation and attainment. This is how, through concealment and revelation, we begin to attain the Creator. The relationship between us and the Creator is called “this world” or the extent of revelation or concealment of the upper force from us.¹

“Reason” is the way in which I see and experience myself and the world. I need to make a restriction on this. That is, I need to live not in this reason, but above it. I want to understand the world differently, in the way it is seen by the Creator, as the world of bestowal, unity, and love. Then it is as if I live in two worlds: in the reason of this world, which I perceive through my five sensory organs, and in faith, in the reality I would be in if I were corrected together with the friends, a corrected group and the Creator clothed in us.

Between us we build the type of connection where the upper force can be expressed because of the similarity of our qualities, all the way to its complete revelation. In other words, we construct a spiritual society.²
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson on 8/17/18, Lesson on the Topic “The Work Within Reason And The Work Above Reason”

The Uniqueness Of The Method Of Kabbalah

Question: Are members of a Kabbalistic group comprised of people who have a lot of abilities?

Answer: A Kabbalistic group is complicated in the sense that those who enter it have a big ego directed toward attaining the Creator. Their egoism crosses the boundaries of our world, which indicates how big their ego is.

They have to work on their ego without killing, lowering, or erasing it, but instead construct the opposite property through a unique ascent above the ego. The ego grows all the time, but a person builds the property of bestowal and love above it: the ego grows, one builds the property of love; the ego grows more, and more of the property of love is added. This is how a person constantly pulls himself up.

Therefore, the Kabbalistic method is complex. First, it works within a person who exists in two states: one state is egoistic and the other one pulls him to the altruistic part. The person is torn between these two states not knowing exactly which one he should attach to. Big descents, big ascents, and a huge tension between them.

The method explains to him what he should do, while he constantly works on discerning his freedom of choice. This is not easy.

Question: Where in this work can one give a good spirit to the other person?

Answer: In all the states, but only through the correct environment.
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From KabTV’s “The Last Generation” 2/8/18

The Power Of Mutual Guarantee

Rabash, “The Love of Friends – 1”: This trail is called “a path of bestowal,” and this way is against our nature. To be able to achieve it, there is no other way but [in a group where there is] love of friends, by which everyone can help his friend [to move forward along this path].

Nobody in the group can advance by himself and cannot advance with the help of others. Spiritual advancement means that a person helps the group and thus develops the quality of bestowal and love in oneself.

The group helps a person with alternative actions so that a person can give, influence, fulfill, care for, and support one’s friends. At the same time, a person develops spiritual qualities.

Question: What is the role of mutual guarantee in this process?

Answer: Mutual support because a person does not have strength of his own.

Mutual guarantee works even in people who do not realize this and do not use it consciously. Friends working in a group and taking part in classes and in all events are already using this force anyway. Even if not explicitly, not clearly directed, but mutual guarantee already works for them.
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From KabTV’s “The Last Generation” 2/1/18

Secrets Of The Torah

Question: I often listen to the Secrets of the Eternal Book TV program where you explain what each commandment means, and I try to understand how Kabbalists pass on this information.

Why didn’t they put an explanation of every concept in parentheses? For example, Egypt (Mitzraim) is a concentration of evil, Pharaoh is the ego, and so on.

Answer: There is a purpose for this—it gives a person freedom. As one develops, he can smoothly interpret all spiritual work either within our world or within the spiritual world in accordance with his growth.

I also asked myself these questions, and tried to put it all out in my first books, at least in a very simple way. But there is no language in the world that can simply describe spiritual actions and everything that is written in the Torah.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 4/1/18

Video Game Addiction

Question: The World Health Organization included video game addiction in its list of diseases and disorders. A person is considered addicted to video games if he dedicates more and more time to them “to the point that games take precedence over other life interests.”

What is the reason that a person sticks to the game so much that it becomes his life?

Answer: And what is our world? It is also a game.

So, there is nothing else, a person changes one to another. The game he enters obeys him, he exists in it, receiving feedback from and influencing it. For him, this is a closer spectrum of connections, events, and reciprocities.

He actively participates in it. People spend a lot of money and are ready to just live in this.

Question: Do you consider this a disease?

Answer: I believe that any hobby, if it does not distract from the purpose of creation, can take place as a leisure, but beyond that, it is already a disease.

Question: Is it possible to beat this disease?

Answer: I do not think that a person will willingly give it up. It is because replacing a fairy-tale world with a real one is simply stealing one’s life from oneself.

Question: For him life is a game?

Answer: In fact, it is not a game, but his life! And our life is a silly game.

Remark: You always talk just about one thing: Only when a person gets to the real meaning of life, then all this will become child’s play to him.

My Comment: All this will wither away by itself, because the prospect of revealing the true world, eternity and perfection will obscure all games, everything that he has today.

Question: Perhaps, that’s why there are games. Is it in order to move him closer to that?

Answer: Not to move him closer, but simply to brighten up time until humanity realizes what a hopeless, final state it is in.

Question: And when will this time come?

Answer: It depends on two factors: when humanity will have enough suffering and when Kabbalists will be able to approach it and explain what the matter is.
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From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 6/20/18

Outside Of Us Is Only The Creator

Question: Why should I love my neighbor if, as you say, others do not exist and everything outside of me is only an illusion of my feelings?

Answer: All that is outside of you is the Creator, who appears to you in different, opposite properties to yours. They are specifically manifested as repulsive because on them one has to build his new anti-egoistic vessel (Kli) capable of absorbing all information, not only what seems pleasant to you.

Imagine how much you perceive from what you are feeling right now. You automatically reject all that you do not like, which is unpleasant for you. One turns away from what is unpleasant both externally and internally.

And so much more is hidden from us because our egoism initially does not want it. Therefore, we do not perceive what really exists.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 4/8/18

How To React To Bad Intentions?

Question: How can one correctly react to a person’s bad intention toward me? After all, in response, he automatically receives my own bad intention?

Answer: No. This is an incorrect formulation of the question. First of all, I do not sense intentions. I only perceive actions.

If, however, I am trying to act spiritually, then I can say that “there is none else besides Him” and this is how the Creator is directing the influence of this person toward me. It is not the person himself, but the Creator who stands behind him and governs everything.

Then, I act toward this person in an absolutely balanced way. He poses no danger to me, no negative sources of development—the Creator is doing everything for him.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 3/25/18

Blitz Of Kabbalah Tips – 3/25/18

Question: The intention of a mother for her children is always positive. Why is this attitude considered to be “for my own sake” and harmful to others?

Answer: We do not consider the intention of a mother to be either this or that; rather, it is simply a beastly intention. A mother does not work on herself to acquire this intention; it is given to her by nature.

Question: Can we improve our actions through intentions?

Answer: Certainly. Even when a person is brought before a court because of a misdemeanor, we clarify what his intentions were to both the prosecution and the defense. This can change the meaning of the action to a completely opposite action.

Question: What is a “reward” in the wisdom of Kabbalah?

Answer: It is advancement toward the Creator, that is, a more and more corrected intention.

Question: Why should I be equal to the Creator? And what will happen after I become equal to Him?

Answer: “After” does not exist because entering the spiritual world immediately elevates a person above the framework of time. In the spiritual world there is no time, just as there is no regular physical movement. So, we cannot talk about the continuation of our questions, all of which are asked in the framework of time, movement, and space. In spirituality, limitations like these do not exist.

Question: What is more correct: to have an intention to unite or to carry out concrete actions for unification?

Answer: Concrete actions for unification are much more useful for our advancement. And after that, we will see how these actions transform from physical actions to more spiritual actions.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 3/25/18

The First Station On The Path To Correction—Rosh HaShanah

The holidays that come with the beginning of the Jewish New Year symbolize a person’s entrance to spiritual work. The truth is that this entrance starts much earlier, during the period of preparation. Therefore, the month of Elul means “I am for my beloved, and my beloved is for me.” That is, a person begins discovering that he has a connection with the Creator.

When a person begins studying Kabbalah, after a few years, he discovers that he experiences ascents and descents in his mood, understanding, and the perception of the texts. Then, after some time, he realizes that spirituality really can be attained only through connection; that is, he starts believing in what he is reading about, he connects to the material.

He understands that there is no choice, he needs to join a group for practical work. After all, it is not enough to speak about it with nice words, he should open his heart and awaken his feelings. This is necessary for his spiritual advancement, feeling, and realization of life. He does not want his life to pass between his birth and death and to end meaninglessly; he wants to rise above it and continue living. Then he understands that he must correct himself, acquire the force of bestowal above the force of reception. The realization of the need for inner change is the beginning of the month of Elul.

Elul is the month of self-analysis: what can I do with my soul to begin approaching the first contact with the Creator. I wait for revelation of the upper force not in order to enjoy it, but in order to surrender to it.

Let my egoism surrender and allow me to become a servant of the Creator. I will be happy to give myself to the rule of the upper Light and to feel its perfection, eternity, and greatness. My desire to enjoy is ready to submit before such revelation, to lower itself, and give itself to the rule of the upper force.

This is how we reach the New Year, Rosh HaShanah, the essence of which is to crown the Creator to be the King of the entire world. The upper force is at the beginning of everything, at the end, and in the middle, governing everything without exception. All we need is to feel ourselves under the control of the upper force, like slaves of the Creator, His faithful servants: to receive faith above reason, the force of bestowal above the force of reception, and to begin to work on our desire with its help.

All this work relates to the holiday of Rosh HaShanah—the first station on the way to the correction of creation.¹

In fact, a person’s whole life can fit into a segment from the New Year, Rosh HaShanah, until the next New Year. It does not matter which properties he was born with, good or bad, the main thing is their change, and this is in his power. Together with certain qualities, he receives opportunities to use them correctly. The goal is for all to reach equivalence with the upper force.

Therefore, there are no absolute righteous or wicked among us. Everything can be changed, everyone has the freedom to choose. No one can complain that he was not given an opportunity to correct himself and to become closer to the Creator— he just did not use it correctly.

To be a righteous or a wicked does not depend on intelligence. It is possible to be smart and wicked, or foolish and righteous. Spiritual work does not require any exceptional abilities. The main thing is not to miss the chance given to you to awaken and to follow this path all your life with persistent consistency—then you will succeed.

Rosh HaShanah means that a person clings to the first point of connection with the upper system, with the Creator, and he never lets go. After all, in all his life, there will be no other point of connection between him and the upper world.²

Natural qualities are given to a person according to his place in the common soul of Adam HaRishon so that he could perform his function. From his point, from one cell of the body of Adam HaRishon, through connection with others, he reaches the understanding of the entire common body, of this entire system in its perfection.

Therefore, there is no sense in changing your base point, the spiritual “stem cell.” If a person connects to the system, then all of it is placed at his disposal according to his place.

The righteous and the wicked exist within one person. The Torah speaks about one person only and everything else is an imaginary world. Thus, all the righteous and all the wicked, all the impure forces and the sanctity, the whole system is inside a person. We just need to figure out this system and calibrate it to the target.³

Rosh HaShanah is the revelation of the perfection and the force of the Creator, of his complete governance: “I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides Me.” This is how a person imagines the King of the world, and his spiritual path starts from there. After all, this is just a potential revelation. Then he needs to develop it by identifying himself with each quality and with each individual revelation of the Creator, and gradually, starting from Rosh HaShanah and onward, he should acquire the full degree of the Creator.

Rosh HaShanah is just the first contact with the upper force, the first attainment of the King of the world, the realization that the Creator governs everything. We have no way of interfering with Him or changing anything; we can only agree with His plan. All changes occur only within a person.

The Creator does not change His governance relative to us, but we ask for such a change that makes us feel how the governance of the Creator changes, becomes kinder.

But really I am changing, not the Creator. There are no changes at the top. The upper Light is just increasingly revealed to the created beings so that they will attain Him in all His depth.⁴
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/21/18, Lesson on the Topic: “Rosh HaShana”

A Branch Is An Opportunity To Comprehend The Higher Root

Question: How does the connection between the higher root and the force controlling the lower object work?

Answer: The highest root controls all material branches in our world, and branches have to do everything in their power to rise to the highest root and exist in it.

A branch is an opportunity to comprehend the higher root. In order to come closer to it, one has to connect with his friends since the properties are integral in the highest root and our properties are individual. If one connects with the ten, he will reach his root.

Question: So, one cannot understand the cause of all the things that happen to him?

Answer: It is possible only in a group. When one connects to the friends in the circle, he will understand the reason for everything, the higher root.

Question: Even if something happened to me individually?

Answer: Individual is a ten, not less.

Question: Are the main properties of the higher root reflected in the earthly branch in a direct or in a reverse manner?

Answer: They are reflected in our world to the extent that one can correctly perceive it. And the rest is hidden.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 4/8/18

Women Leaders

From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 8/28/18

Chances are that your next CEO will be a she and your next congressman will be a congresswoman.

After thousands of years of oppression, women across the world are occupying key positions in all spheres of society. What is the root of the meteoric rise of women in our time and where does this lead human society?

The ever-evolving human desire drives the development of men and women alike. Over the past 60 years, we have witnessed a conspicuous change in women’s desire. Women wish to be less and less involved in household management and child care, and are increasingly expanding their involvement in other areas of society.

At the same time, the world is pushing towards greater equality, and women assume roles and responsibilities previously only filled by men. Technology also plays a significant role in helping free up women’s time. Just as diapers and baby formula were a tremendous help for mothers, emerging robotics and artificial intelligence solutions will reduce the burden of household management to a level we have never seen.

But it’s no wonder that women integrate seamlessly into the hyper-connected world. As the world becomes more interdependent, it demands the intervention of women, as though it were asking them to put their unique qualities into practice.

A woman’s character is much more responsible, stable and consistent. She is capable of absorbing many changes and coping with long-term challenges – a quality that comes from her natural ability to carry an embryo and develop life within her. A man, on the other hand, is better at short-term moves.

A woman is capable of holding onto a large number of tasks as well as carry them out successfully. A man, on the other hand, is more successful in linear processes aimed at a narrow goal. This is why most scientific breakthroughs, for example, manifest through the male brain.

Men and women are also different in their attitude to failure in life. Figuratively speaking, a man can be as strong as iron – and yet one blow can break him. The woman is easier to bend – but like a flexible tree branch, she is much harder to break. The mutual completion of each other’s qualities is the key to building a healthy society in the new era.

The integration of women in the leadership of society and other systems of human life is becoming necessary. The maternal qualities are expanding from the personal home to the global home. The female nature and drive to create a supportive and embracing environment will be expressed in society in creating healthy and proper conditions for bonding between people. Without such an environment that only women can design and manage, the men will continue to quarrel like children.

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Becoming Strong And Independent

Question: What advice can a Kabbalist give to build a successful connection between parents and children?

Answer: It depends on the situation in which the child is being raised. He should not be in antagonism with his environment. A child should know that the family supports him as much as possible, gives him confidence, protection, and will always be behind him.

Then he will become a strong person. Surprisingly, exactly when he feels that a good family and love are behind him, he grows up to be brave.

This is a paradox that is especially noticeable in Israel: Here children are brought up very gently and later they are not afraid of anything, not in the army or during the war, which cannot be said about Arab children, who are brought up extremely harshly. This is how the psychology of the various layers of society manifests.

Give children maximum love and sensitivity and you will see that they become strong and independent.

Question: Wouldn’t this turn them into little egoistic bandits?

Answer: No, love and softness are not permissiveness. This does not mean that children do not have any framework. After all, you educate them, give them everything necessary for education, but at the same time you support them and they clearly know they have support behind them.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 4/29/2018

Preparation For Spiritual Work

Question: What is the difference between the spiritual work being the goal and the work through which we achieve the goal?

Answer: There is the work of preparation and there is the spiritual work itself. The preparation work is when I still cannot perform the correct actions, that is, in conjunction with the group and with the Creator; while I am still learning, I listen to all sorts of wisdom about the science of Kabbalah.

This preparation is the same as in life: I study in school for at least 15 years until I start working and getting paid, to see the fruits of my labor. This is the difference.

In spiritual work, preparation takes at least 10 to 15 years and maybe more. We see that people have been engaged with us for at least 10 years, and I would say that this is not enough. According to my calculation, it takes about 20 years to really move from preparation to work.

The difference is that then a person feels that he must depend on the Creator; one is constantly working on “There is none else besides Him” in everything that happens internally and externally and apart from one point of unity, there is nothing that is not the Creator, and this point is given to him so that he could connect it with Him.
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From a Conversation in Iceland, 5/18/18

The Request And The Answer At Once

It is impossible to judge a state until you have been in it. In the evening, it is difficult to believe that in the morning you will not have power to get up and that sleep will be so sweet because in the evening we are attracted by completely different pleasures.

Therefore, it is written: “Do not judge your friend until you are in his shoes.” The other is you, so do not judge yourself in vain. To judge the place, you need to be in it with all your desires, thoughts, and feelings. This means that “the judge has only what his eyes see.”

The spiritual path presumes that a person judges himself, looking at himself from aside, in every state, until he reaches the middle line, and then he can become a real judge.¹

What’s most important for advancement on the spiritual path is prayer, a request. It does not matter what happened, what state we are in—all this is given and arranged by the Creator. And we can only appeal to the Creator, all together, with one request, from one heart. This is what’s most important.

If a person treats the request to the Creator correctly, he immediately receives an answer and by this he can sharpen his request and again receive an answer, again sharpen the request, and again receive an answer, etc. So, it goes in circles all the time: “I am for my beloved, and my beloved is for me” until we adhere to such an extent that we work together. It is not that I ask and the Creator answers or that I react to the Creator’s response, but the request and the answer occur simultaneously.

Later on, we will see that the answer lies in the request itself. This is determined by the measure of adhesion between us. One does not need to wait for an answer because the request itself already contains the answer.²
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/20/18, Lesson preparation

Higher And Higher And Higher!

The most important thing is to rise to the level of Lishma on which the whole spiritual ladder is built. That is, one has to gain the power of faith, the power of Bina, which is the power of bestowal above reception and the desire to enjoy, which the Creator, the upper Light, constantly awakens in us. Thus, the Creator advances us, awakening darkness in us, and we have to hold on to the Light of faith, the Light of Hassadim, bestowal above darkness.

This means that one has to advance by faith above reason. The gained knowledge becomes a level on which we build faith. And the faith that one gains above knowledge becomes new knowledge, and one has to rise above it to an even greater faith. And so, every time, a new level of bestowal and faith turns into a new level of reception and knowledge, over which one has to rise again.

One ascends because he does not pay attention to his feelings inside the desire to enjoy. Of course, one feels darkness, helplessness, and desperation in everything relating to egoism. But despite this, one has to act as if he is in bestowal, the property of Bina, in faith and unity, as it is said: “They have eyes and see not.”

We have to work on two levels that do not cancel each other. I know exactly in my common sense that I am in egoism and that I do not want to connect with anyone and give to anyone. I am not attracted to all the conditions that the science of Kabbalahrecommends. One feels all this in his egoistic desire, and he gives himself a full account of this without turning a blind eye to the truth and deceiving himself as if he has already been corrected.

I stand with both feet on the ground because “the judge has only what his eyes see.” And with it, I lift my head above the clouds, that is, I imagine a spiritual step as if the upper Light has already come and filled me and given me the power of bestowal, unity, merging with the group, and within it, with the Creator.

This becomes my new, second stage, which does not cancel the first. I am on two levels at the same time; they do not cancel each other, but exist each by itself. Thus, I build the level of faith above reason: There is reason, which is Malchut, and above it—faith, Bina.

I live so all the time. If I manage to hold on to faith above reason, putting a full measure of effort in this, then I will feel how my state will change. The former level of faith gradually turns into knowledge, and then I need a new faith and a higher level of bestowal.

I thus climb the ladder. What was faith turns into knowledge; Bina transmits its power to Malchut and Malchut swells and grows. One rises above it to a new level of Bina: higher and higher and higher!

This is the whole secret of the spiritual ascent. The most difficult thing is to stay on two levels simultaneously: in Malchut and in Bina so that they do not cancel one another. Do not be small children who can only be in one state. The adult stands firmly on the ground in this world and keeps his head high in the future world.

One has to practice this a lot because the whole ascent upward until the end of correction happens only in this form. The faster we can realize it, helping each other, the more we will succeed. We are close to this state. It is very important for the group to support everyone. Our destiny depends only on adopting this principle: how to rise from the level of reason to the level of faith. Spiritual ascent and acquisition of the soul are built on this principle.¹
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/14/18, Lesson on the Topic: “From the Bottom of the Ladder to the Permanent Dvekut”

The Times Of Israel: “Today’s Challenges To Jews And The Lack Of Leadership”

The Times of Israel published my new article “Today’s Challenges to Jews and the Lack of Leadership”

The future of the Jewish nation is at stake. Has the time come for a “modern-day Moses” for the Jewish people—a leader, a group, or a movement that will pave the way to unity in the face of the current divisions and conflicts? A type of advance-squadron leadership who addresses the most pressing issues affecting the Jews in the Diaspora and Israel, and bridges the gaps between them?

Internal fragmentation and divisiveness, apathy, assimilation and anti-Semitism are only a few of the Jewish world’s challenges. These problems are clearly evident, but no one is stepping up with solutions or feasible plans to effectively address these issues, which could rapidly escalate and threaten our very existence. We are too busy squabbling with each other while our enemies unite forces against us.

In Europe, anti-Semitism has reached such levels that Jews have been warned not to wear kippot in public for fear of being violently attacked. In Britain, anti-Semitic incidents hit record highs for the second consecutive year with over 100 new cases being recorded every month by watchdog groups. In Germany, a country that previously enforced among the toughest legislation in the world prohibiting the use of Nazi symbols, recently lifted that ban for computer games. The sale of neo-Nazi merchandise and neo-Nazi gatherings at music festivals are no longer taboo. In the US alone, 3,023 incidents of anti-Semitism were reported in 2017 – 2018, the highest level in two decades, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

Meanwhile, there is a growing rift between American Jews and Israelis. A significant shift is taking place in the younger generation of American Jews’ views about what it means to be Jewish. Thus, one of the greatest concerns of American Jewry is maintaining the Jewish identity of the next generation, and the memory of the Jewish people, to help avoid existential risks to the Jewish people.

In order to champion these challenges, we need leadership capable of renewing our ideological foundation as a united people. Such leadership should elevate us to the level of unity and mutual responsibility that was once achieved and taught by our patriarch Abraham to the small group called “Israel” before we descended into unfounded hatred, the source of all our troubles and miseries. Very simply, when we unite—not erasing our differences, but rising above them—we succeed and flourish, and our leadership should be predominantly concerned with realizing this principle.

We should aspire to a new leadership capable of learning the principles of the ancient wisdom of Kabbalah, and which can explain how humanity is connected as one integral system. We need leadership that will demonstrate how the Jewish people is a microcosm of the world, a small replica reflecting the whole of humanity, and which can guide us step-by-step in making significant positive changes toward connection and mutual understanding.

The 20th Century’s most renowned Kabbalist, Rav Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam), wrote in his “Introduction to the Book of Zohar“: “Bear in mind that in everything there is internality and externality. In the world in general, Israel, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, are considered the internality of the world.” That internal force can be activated in the Jewish people through our connection. It is what the nations of the world subconsciously want from us, dwelling deep within as the core reason behind every expression of anti-Semitism.

Rav Abraham Isaac Kook also emphasizes the importance of our role in his writings Orot(Lights): “Israel is the essence of all existence, and you have no movement in the world, in all nations, which you will not find in Israel.” As our sages convey, our Jewish role is not optional. We are responsible for everything that happens in the world, for better or for worse. It is difficult to understand because we don’t immediately feel it, but with the help of wise leadership that knows how to make this reality plain and accessible to everyone, we will come to see that this is how the system of human connection is structured at a deeper level. Instead of the current state of reacting with knee-jerk responses to hardships and dangers, a wise leadership would prevent such situations from developing in the first place, establishing our unity as our inviolable safeguard.

With the High Holidays approaching, we have a tremendous opportunity for renewal. Now is the time for a leadership that will guide us to achieve the level of “love your friend as yourself” and by doing so, become a “light unto the nations.” This will require a massive educational campaign calling for unity and togetherness. At the time when we achieve the goal of connection, instead of more divisions, conflicts and threats, we will be able to proclaim a true Rosh HaShanah, the beginning of a new year of unity, peace and tranquility for all.
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Trump $200 Million Investment In Israel

From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 8/27/18

And a new king rose to power, and his name was Trump. And he ruled Israel with an iron fist, imposing economic sanctions on its citizens and stifling its international trade. And the United Nations celebrated as they finally managed to delegitimize Israel.
***
Such a horror scenario seems far from today’s reality. Trump is seen by many as an avid friend of Israel in a world that is becoming increasingly hostile toward it. However, the man who declared Jerusalem the capital of Israel, who continues to protect Israel’s position in the international arena and who cherishes the Jewish people – is certainly holding the reins. With each passing day, Israel’s future seems to be dependent on his continued support.

But behind the show of sympathy for Israel, Trump is a shrewd businessman. Like a good salesman, he first grants you a sweet taste while making sure he can demand a handsome payment afterwards. In his outlandish way, Trump is paving the way – on both the Israeli side and the Palestinian side – for a peace deal that could grant him a level of prestige that no U.S. president has ever achieved before.

However, Trump is destined to fail in this area just like all his predecessors did. Peace between Israel and the Palestinians is possible only if it is based on the laws of nature.

According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, peace between human beings in general is only possible through the activation of nature’s inherent binding force, and any plan that doesn’t take it into account will fail.

The people of Israel are the only nation founded on unity that’s based on the laws of nature. They lived by the natural system of human connection for hundreds of years until they went to a long exile, wandered the world and lost their foundation.

The creation of the Jewish people was nature’s way of making a mini-model of unity among humans that would later be extended to the whole of humanity. Therefore, Israel’s conflicts with its neighbors and with the rest of the world will gradually escalate until the people of Israel fulfill their natural role.

Thus, the only way to achieve a viable, lasting peace agreement is to first reawaken the foundation of the Jewish people. Otherwise, Trump’s efforts will fail miserably, and he will gradually change his attitude toward Israel.
So, going back to the negative scenario we began with, Israel’s troubles will intensify to an unbearable degree, until they have no other choice but to painfully evoke the power of unity from the depths of nature with all their might. And only then, peace will come to Israel and spread to the rest of the world.

However, a far more ideal scenario would be to awaken unity in advance, easily and pleasantly, by initiating an educational program that raises awareness of the unique role of the Jewish people and trains them to fulfill it.
Therefore, it would be a good idea for Trump to invest the $200 million he slashed off Palestinian aid in implementing an educational process that would drive Israel to activate the peace plan inherent in nature. This would be Trump’s best shot at going down in history as the person who brought peace to the region.

Faith Above Reason

The work within reason is clear to all. It is important according to our understanding, and therefore, we are ready to work. The work above reason goes against our mind and feelings. Our whole world works for the sake of receiving, according to its own mind and feeling, within reason. A human being, as the most intelligent and developed being of all, must act reasonably.

We respect a person for his intelligence. Specifically here, we need to go, as if, against feeling and reason. But what else do we have? Nothing. It turns out that we must go against everything that exists in us if we want to attain the upper world. After all, in the upper world our mind and feelings do not work, the upper world is above our reason and feelings.

This is the next step: instead of receiving—bestowal, instead of reason—above reason. But what can I do if I do not possess the properties of bestowal and the spiritual world is built on completely different principles. One cannot even say opposite, because we do not know what this opposition means.

We do not understand how to change ourselves in order to rise to a state called “the world to come,” to the next step. One just has to try to do it. The spiritual world is called “the world to come” because it will come, but it will come only according to our efforts.

Even if we do not want it, the program of creation already has our desire and it will come. He who makes efforts in advance, saves time and suffering because he quickly comes to a prayer. Otherwise, he will waste time because his stubbornness will do him no good. You have to be stubborn only with regard to application of the efforts, as the saying goes: “Do anything but leave.”

Even if I see that by all signs nothing works for me and the Creator even lets me know that I am not wanted, I still do not quit. Persistence is the key to advancement.

One needs to have profound reason in order to work above it. Our task is to make an effort until we receive the property of bestowal, the property of connection and love.¹

Spirituality is revealed in the desires of bestowal, and it is necessary to know how to check and measure these desires according to the principle which is opposite to what we have. As it is written: “I saw an opposite world .”

In our world everything is measured by how much I get, how much is on my plate, in my purse. But in the spiritual world, the opposite is true: the more I would like to receive in reason, I would joyfully rise above these demands in order to bestow, despite my great desire to enjoy.

This is how my faith above reason is measured. I rejoice because I ascended to the next step, became closer to the Creator, and began to feel and explore the reality called the upper world. After all, I am sure that the Creator controls everything, and therefore, knows better what is good.

Everything that I have comes from the Creator, including all my instruments of His verification. Everything that I have directly and indirectly comes from Him, and nothing depends on me. Even if I decide to check myself, the verification comes from the Creator.

Without the Creator, I am not just an empty computer on which no program is installed; there is no computer at all. There is nothing. Therefore, the higher I can rise above reason, the more powerful and elevated sense of the spiritual world I possess.

The first step to spirituality is to give up on your good and confident feeling within reason and build above it the opposite attitude to the world, for the sake of bestowal. It turns out that I have two levels: reason and above reason. And I try to expand both of them, to open these scissors as much as possible. There, between them, I will feel the upper world, the upper reality.²

The goal of a person’s work in this world is a feeling of perfection in his desires to enjoy: to gain more, to win, to succeed, to fill oneself with all the blessings. The goal of a person’s work in the spiritual world is a feeling of perfection in the desires of the upper one. To the extent of our efforts to imagine this, we are influenced by the Light that returns to the source and leads us to the desire of the upper one and to the feeling of perfection in this desire.

One cannot exist without the other. It is impossible to feel the spiritual world and suffer from it. I will receive spiritual attainment only if it makes me happy.³
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/20/18, Lesson on the Topic: “The Work Within Reason And The Work Above Reason”