The Times of Israel: “15 Rosh Hashanah Insights You Don’t Know About”

The Times of Israel published my new article “15 Rosh Hashanah Insights You Don’t Know About”

We have been celebrating Rosh HaShanah, the beginning of the Hebrew year, for 5,778 years already. What could truly be renewed this year, and how can we change our perception of reality so that the coming year will be significantly better? Here are 15 mind-changing insights.

1. The World at a Turning Point

In the twenty-first century we have achieved everything. And yet, we can’t shake away the troubles and ailments that plague us both as individuals and as a society. Political instability, social division, terrorism and security threats, climate destabilization, mass immigration, and more – are just some of the symptoms pointing to the global entanglement the world is facing.

For thousands of years we’ve been trying to fix the world around us in countless ways. But the facts on the ground prove that we haven’t cracked the formula to a peaceful and happy life. The silver lining is that people are beginning to question the current paradigm, and look for a new approach to life.

2. The World Is a Mirror of Our Inner World

The Ari, the Kabbalist who described the entire structure of the spiritual reality in great detail, summarized it as follows: “Man is a small world; the world is a great man.” In other words, the entire world is a reflection of man’s inner world, it reflects the consequences of man’s inner qualities. If we learn how to perceive reality correctly, we will find the connection between what happens in the world and what happens within us. Thus, by changing man, we can change the world.

3. Human Beings Are Motivated by Desire

The power that drives the development of humanity is the desire to receive pleasure. This desire grows in both quantity and quality. The ladder of development of human desire begins with basic-physical desires for food, sex, family and shelter, continues with human-social desires for money, honor, power and knowledge, and climaxes at the desire for spiritual fulfillment. At every step of the ladder, the desire shapes our perception of reality.

4. The Egoistic Desire Shapes Human Perception

At a certain stage in the development of human desire, people want to take pleasure at each other’s expense. Kabbalah calls this natural phase of development “egoism.” The increasing egoistic desire in man shapes his perception of reality. As a result, man sees the outside world in an increasing crisis, a world in which man is wolf to man.

5. The Human Ego at a Dead End

The egoistic desire sees numerous possibilities to draw pleasure from the world. It is in constant pursuit for greater pleasure. But time and again, man becomes disillusioned, as the desire is met with dissatisfaction that causes disappointment and frustration. Over time, the bitter experience accumulates in humanity and every generation grows discouraged from the chase faster than the previous one. This is the reason for the meteoric rise in the demand for drugs and the phenomenon of depression becoming the leading cause of disability in the 21st century.

6. To Change the World – Change Man

Instinctively, we want to correct the world around us, as that is where our problems appear. But this is an illusion. The source of our problems is the growing ego in our inner world. Just as a vehicle’s dashboard shows the driver data such as speed, fuel, and so forth, the world presents man with various data to inform him about his inner qualities. Therefore, if we correct our egoism, our negative attitude to others, the “dashboard” will present us with a perfect world – a replica of our inner world.

7. Man Changes in His Relation to Others

Man’s attitude to reality changes when he treats others as he treats himself. Treating one’s fellowmen positively drives a positive attitude to the other levels of nature as well: the inanimate, flora and fauna. That is why the sages of Kabbalah coined the famous maxim “love thy neighbor as thyself.” It’s not about manners or morality, but rather a means for a fundamental change in our perception of reality. In the effort to perceive all parts of reality around us as one whole, we evoke the natural force that builds a new perception within us. In other words, a person who improves himself directly improves the world around him.

8. Every Crisis Calibrates Our Perception

The purpose behind all the troubles that plague us, both as individuals and as a society, is that we will pay attention to the correction of our ego, that we will improve our attitude to each other. As long as we neglect this, reality will press us more and more so as to calibrate our perception of reality.

9. The Positive Path to a Change in Perception

A pleasant, efficient and fast way to change our perception of reality is an educational process of raising awareness. In this process, one learns how to see and feel the world as a replica of his inner qualities. Step by step, one can upgrade his perception of reality consciously and independently – not through crises.

10. The Virtual World Prepares Us for a New Perception of Reality

The transformation of the world into a small global village helps us understand that we are all connected and interdependent. What happens in an individual affects the entire world. Alongside growing interdependence, virtual networks and technologies are developing exponentially. They release us from the chains of the physical world and get us used to the idea that humanity is an inner essence within us. For example, when people communicate virtually, they form an inner character of the person or group with whom they communicate.

11. A Tiny Change of Desire – a Huge Change in the World

It may seem that changing our perception of reality requires intellectual scrutiny or deep self-analysis, but this is not the case. Since the desire is what shapes our perception, all that is needed is a genuine shift of desire, that is, a heartfelt-emotional shift. This means that simple actions that increase our sensitivity to unity among people can focus our perception, and thus project a brighter picture of the world.

12. Connecting the Pieces of Reality Leads to Revelation of the Creator

Regular work on “love thy neighbor as thyself,” that is, the effort to grasp all parts of reality as one whole, reveals to us the single force that operates reality. The force that is the foundation of reality, that binds together the still, vegetative, animate and human to one harmonious system. This is how we gradually begin to feel how the same force operates everything in reality.

13. The World Is Within Us: The Next Revolution After Einstein

Humanity is facing a tremendous and profound change in the approach to life and to the whole of reality. Just as humanity believed that the sun revolved around the earth and Copernicus proved otherwise, and just as Einstein redefined reality as a relative picture that depends on the observer – the next revolutionary stage of development will show us that reality is a projection of man’s inner self.

14. The Pioneers in Changing the Concept of Reality

The people who have achieved a new perception of reality are called “Kabbalists.” The first group of Kabbalists who led a social life based on a complete perception of reality, has become “the people of Israel” over the years. Since then, the Jewish people’s role has been to serve as an example for humanity, an example for a society that lives in a unified perception of reality. This is the true teaching of the people of Israel, and this is the reason for the unexplainable feeling of the world towards the Jewish people.

15. Rosh HaShana Is an Opportunity for Change

Rosh Hashanah means the beginning of a change in man, a change in his perception of reality. Therefore, the coming holiday symbolizes the perfect opportunity for us to decide that this year we are changing our minds and hearts to perceive a new reality.

Happy Rosh HaShanah!

What Is Inner Reflection?

Question: What is inner reflection?

Answer: Inner reflection is when I see all the properties and desires of my friend within myself and try to direct them to bestowal and love.

Question: Why do you always say that we need to gather in a ten if the ten is within me?

Answer: You work so that this ten that you imagine outside of you is formed within you. Everything begins from the external.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 4/15/18

Measuring Our Love

We cannot directly measure our attitude to each other. We can only measure how much we love or hate each other with respect to some foreign object. Let’s say that you love something and I hate it, or you love it more than I do; even this love is relative. But only in this way it can be measured.

The technique of inner, spiritual, precise measurement of people’s connection with each other is based on this because through it they also connect with the Creator. This examination should be very personal because we all have completely different desires. We should examine how much we can discern this connection at all. But you cannot doubt that if I love what you hate, then we cannot connect.

This is how we can examine our attitude to each other. There are billions of different discernments in the world, and if we want to love each other, then our attitude to each of them must coincide. Then, this is called adhesion.

How else can I check you and can you check me? It is only possible with respect to the standard that is outside of you and me with which we can compare ourselves and determine whether we coincide or not. The standard by which we examine our attitude to the Creator is the group because it is the place where we are together with Him.

If I relate to the group correctly, then I discover that the Creator is already there in adhesion with the friends. As it is written: “I dwell among my own people.” He is already in the group; the only problem is that I am not there. Therefore, all my work is to cleave to the nine friends and to complete them to a full ten.

To the extent I cleave to the group, I adhere with the Creator. There is no other frame of reference. The group is the benchmark, the standard, the tuning fork through which I calibrate myself. At that, there is no need for friends to agree. If I become included in them without any conditions, annulling myself in everything, I will discover that they accept me with all their heart and soul and the Creator is between them. The group is in the state of final correction.

The Group Is My Spiritual Tuning Fork

It is impossible to measure our attitude to each other or our attitude to the Creator directly,  but only through an external standard that is neither in Him, nor in us, but in the middle. In this standard that is between us, we can find what connects and separates us.

This standard is the group. If I cleave to the friends in the group, then to the same extent I find myself in adhesion with the Creator. The group gives me an opportunity to measure specific parameters: “height” and “weight” of my love and hatred through which I reach the adhesion with the Creator.

According to the extent of my adhesion with the ten, I can determine the extent of my fulfillment with the Light. After all, I have no way to measure the Light itself but only indirectly, through the group. Through the common desires in the group, I begin to feel the Light that is filling it.

I can only feel pleasure in my desires, and this is not enough. I need to check how, through the fulfillment of these desires, I connect with the one who fills them and whom I fill. Therefore, there is the condition: “And from love of friends one can reach love of the Creator.” We cannot scrutinize the Light itself but only the desires fulfilled by it. Just as we do not speak about electricity itself but only about electrical phenomena. It is significant that electricity does not pass through the wire, but around it. Therefore, the group is a perfect measure of my adhesion with the Creator, like a tuning fork by which we evaluate the sound of the string in a musical instrument. It is impossible to say anything about the string before I touch it and it makes a sound. Only by the desires (Kelim) is it possible to scrutinize the Light.

An example for this are the notes by which we evaluate a melody. Notes indicate which strings to touch or which keys to press. This is the score of desires with which we work to hear the sounds of music within ourselves. The note symbolizes not the sound itself, but an instrument which makes it. Therefore, by attaining the instruments of connection with the group, we reach adhesion with the Creator.¹
From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/27/18, Lesson on the Topic: “A Speech for the Completion of The Zohar”

Shame—Help In Correction

Baal HaSulam, The Study of the Ten Sefirot, Part 1, “Histaklut Pnimit“: There is a flaw of shame in any free gift. In order to spare the Neshamot this blemish, He has created this world, where there is work. They will therefore enjoy their labor, for they take their pay from the Whole, in return for their work, and are thus spared the blemish of shame.

Question: So this world was created in order not to suffer from shame?

Answer: No. It only seems so at first glance.

Nothing was created in vain. If shame is created, it is not to suffer from it, but to use it to achieve certain spiritual levels, to turn the shame into a positive component and to move forward with it’s help. Therefore, I need to develop shame, cultivate it,  and use it with even greater desire.

Different variations of the sense of shame will help me understand where I am in the spiritual system and how I can be more fully associated with it.

After all, the different nuances of feeling shame from rejection, lack of connection, deceiving one another, from everything that our egoism pushes us to, committing small cruelties, will help me to correct all this. If it were not for the shame, I would not have felt any of this and would have enjoyed everything without a twinge of conscience.

What is the difference between a rude and an intelligent person? It is the fact that the rude one does not feel shame; it is hidden in him very deeply, and therefore enjoys everything absolutely thoughtlessly, without any pangs of conscience. And a more sensitive, intelligent man feels ashamed of using his egoism, at least in the sight of others, and therefore hides it, tries to smooth it.

Question: So, our earthly shame can at least somehow be compared with spiritual shame?

Answer: Yes. Our earthly shame can help us sort out the spiritual shame, but we do not use it correctly. A person needs shame. The more shame, the better. If I am deeply ashamed, it will quickly lead to correction.

This is a very serious lever. There is nothing else against egoism—only then does one begin to feel one’s insignificance and imperfection. This is called shame.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 4/22/18

About Life With Dolls, Utter Loneliness, And Workaholism

Remark: In Japan people spend a lot of time at work. And people there are substituting dolls for real people as partners.

Someone, after the death of his wife, began to collect dolls that imitate a person. Another one grew cold to his wife and bought a doll. That is, people are replacing people with dolls. They take care of them, wash them, etc.

And this tendency is observed both in men and in women. Women also buy dolls, live with them, talk to them. Some wear doll masks to be perfect beauties. Absolutely absurd!

My Comment: A man hates his appearance, wants to abandon it and enter the world of feelings, the world of inner, non-external communication—not between bodies, but at a higher level. He feels that he is not in demand and does not know what to demand from others. Therefore, an artificial substitution takes place. What can be said about this?

We are in a transition period, and not only the “unfortunate” Japanese but everybody else too. I do not think that the era of dolls will come and replace husbands, wives, children, or even pets. This all is no more than games. In fact, there can be no substitute.

I hope that the current big crisis, like a tsunami, will sweep away all this dirty industry, including all the excessive things that a man invents and produces. It will all be swept away and only the essentials will remain.

Everything else other than essentials would be spiritual, i.e. whatever we use in order to rise spiritually. This can only come up from the correct communication among people, when a state called “spirit” arises among them. People will then rise together in this spirit: “I cannot live without you and you cannot live without me.”

I do not mean men and women. I mean everything. Such mutual addition gradually elevates us higher and higher. This is the spiritual elevator. This is what we must come to.

This is what the science of Kabbalah teaches. I hope this is the solution to the whole problem. This is how it will be.

As for plastic substitutes, they are temporary toys. It is precisely because we do not find the right combination, the right connection between us.

Question: Researchers claim that people are driven by fear, by their desire to be safe. How can you overcome this fear?

Answer: They will not find this in each other either.

They will find this only if they correctly connect with each other, and in this connection, they will suddenly reveal the upper power that created them, keeps them, and on which they completely depend. Then the fear will disappear.

What fear can there be if you are in contact with the upper force that determines everything: how you were born, how you exist and die, and after that, you will again be in other different states! When you are in contact with the upper force, there is no fear.
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From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 7/31/18

How To Maintain A Positive Mood

Question: What is the meaning of a “positive mood” in a Kabbalistic group?

Answer: In a Kabbalistic group a person’s mood is under the influence of the surrounding environment and only that. This is because one who advances, correcting himself, is practically never in control of himself.

He exists either in an uplifted state, when the Light pulls him upward, or in a descent into the worst possible dark state, when the upper Light releases him. That is why he is constantly in states that he cannot regulate nor create something above himself.

We are not talking about an ordinary person in our world who exists under the influence of two opposing forces that constantly, like on a swing, toss him up or throw him down.

That is why he needs to be connected to a society that buffers his states, transferring them to itself and passing them back to him. In other words, while in an ascent, the individual passes to the group his confidence, knowledge, understanding, and desire to progress; and when he is in a descent, the group returns this all back to him. Then again, in a positive state, he passes all of that to the group, and in a negative state, the group elevates him.

It turns out that if he passes these states through the group, then there is always a closed ever-changing contour, and he is constantly moving forward. But without a correct society that helps him advance with the help of a certain agreement called “mutual guarantee” (Arvut), he cannot progress. The upper force will constantly be throwing him into an opposite state.

Question: What is meant by positive mood—to be happy, joyous?

Answer: For a Kabbalist, it is the confidence that in each moment he is in a correct relationship with the Creator. The descents and ascents bring him out of this relationship. Moreover, while in ascents he feels that he is the master of himself and the entire world.

Question: What kind of actions can an individual make in order to raise the mood of those around him?

Answer: He must do the same for them as he expects from them.

Question: How do we correctly elevate the mood of an individual who is engaged in inner work and not interfere with his focus?

Answer: Only through example. Demonstrate to him, without words, that you are in the correct, positive, creative ascent. Help him only through your inner intention and desire, and externally, by an unobtrusive example.

Question: How can I see that my friend is in a state of descent? Does he need to tell me about it?

Answer: If he really cannot do anything, then he must speak about it to his friends and ask for them to take him into their hands. Moreover, the individual understands that by this, he helps others and the group. He can not only ask for help for himself, but also give the ability to the group to unite around him. In this case the group, undoubtedly, rises.

The individual must understand that the friends work together as one soul. There is nothing shameful in this. But on the contrary, if he really has no strength, then it is a sign that he must turn to them because they are all placed into this state by the upper force.
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From KabTV’s “The Last Generation,” 2/8/18

The Times of Israel: “What Has Changed This Jewish Year?”

The Times of Israel published my new article “What Has Changed This Jewish Year?”

An Introspection at Rosh Hashanah, 1st of Tishrei, 5779

What has changed this year compared to last year? As Jews, do we feel safer?

If we look at world events, unfortunately, the situation has changed for the worse. We are in the thick of a groundswell of hatred against Jews and Israel.

Anti-Semitism Everywhere

Anti-Semitic incidents are at an all-time high in Europe and North America. In Britain, the Labour Party is rocked by anti-Semitic scandals and its leader, Jeremy Corbyn, is at the center of a crusade against Jews and Israel. The current climate is making British Jews consider leaving the country.

In Germany, 1,000s of neo-Nazis are taking to the streets more often and more openly, mobilizing to rekindle Hitler’s thoughts and ideals. Their rallies recently became the most violent protests in decades, placing even civil authorities in jeopardy.

France, Poland, Austria, Canada and the US also join the legion of countries where anti-Semitism is on the rise. In the US, anti-Semitic incidents are a widespread phenomena. Only last year, there was a 60% spike, the largest single-year increase on record, according to monitoring groups.

Israeli and American Jews’ Growing Rift

And what about Israel? If Israel has been considered a safety net for the Jewish people, it is currently the source of a growing rift between the world’s two largest Jewish communities: Israeli and American Jews. Those in the Diaspora expect more pluralism from the Jewish state and self-determination in the way they conceive and live their Jewishness. There is also a significant split on how President Trump’s handling of the US-Israel relationship is viewed: 77% approval from Israelis, while only 34% of American Jews express positive views.

As we approach the introspective period of Rosh Hashanah, there is growing urgency to understand where we are, how we’ve reached this place, and how we advance from here.

Rosh Hashanah: The Beginning of Change

The words, “Rosh Hashanah,” come from the Hebrew words, “Rosh Hashinui” — the beginning of change. Besides food and family gatherings, Jewish festivals have profound meanings. Rosh Hashanah is not just the beginning of the Hebrew calendar. It is a symbol of renewal, when we start examining ourselves and determining how we want to improve ourselves.

We taste from a fish’s head to state that we want to be the head and not the tail, meaning that we want to determine our path and not blindly follow the herd. We eat pomegranate seeds, where each seed represents a desire we discover within, and which we want to learn to use not selfishly, but in order to benefit others. Also, we eat an apple, the symbol of the sin (of self-centeredness), and sweeten it with honey, which symbolizes learning to use even that primordial temptation altruistically.

Jewish Holidays Symbolize Stages of Our Correction

The people of Israel coined the saying, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” and to various degrees implemented it until the ruin of the second Temple. All of our festivals symbolize milestones along the path of transformation from the evil inclination — namely egoism — to altruism, where we love our neighbors as ourselves.

It is written in the Mishnah and the Gemarah (and countless other texts) that the only reason why the second Temple was ruined is unfounded hatred. That is, when egoism takes over, we fall. We have been established as a nation only when we vowed to be “as one man with one heart.” When we broke that vow we were dispersed and exiled.

No less important than our vow to be as one was the promise we received that we would be a light for the nations. But in the absence of the bond between us, what light do we emit? When we are united and project that unity, we become a light for the nations and cannot be referred to as “warmongers” because we spread unity.

Jews Must Fix Growing Alienation in the World

Today’s biggest problem is the global mistrust we see on all levels. One by one our illusions shatter. Who can we trust? I’ll spare you the dismal examples that answer this rhetoric question, but it is clear that we are growing increasingly alienated from each other — the opposite of the unity and brotherly love that are so vital for survival in a world where everyone depends on everyone else.

The more we pursue the current trend, the greater the pressure that will be applied on the Jews. Deep down, the world remembers that the Jews once knew the secret to proper human connection. When that memory surfaces, it is vented out as accusations that we are warmongers, manipulators, and other “compliments” that have become part of the anti-Jewish lingo.

Although we, too, are disconnected, but we are the ones who can and must rekindle our unity. We may still be very far from unity, but here at least is a recognition of the indispensability of this unjustly derogated value.

Finding The Key To Our Happiness

So this Rosh Hashanah is an amazing opportunity to really make it Rosh Hashinui, and begin to change how we relate to one another. As we gather with family and friends, we must make it a point to rise above our differences and find the common goal of unity. And when we do that, the previously mentioned woes will be no more, since if you look at them, you’ll see that all of them derive from one and only origin — our overblown egos.

This year, let’s spread some honey on our overblown egos, symbolized by the apple (Heb: tapuach, from the word, tafuach [bloated]), and sweeten them with unity. This is all we need; this is all the world needs; and it is the key to our lasting happiness.

Difference Between Klipa And Holiness

The difference between Klipa and holiness is not in action, but in intention. Holiness is all that is for the benefit of others, including the Creator, and all that is for one’s own good is a Klipa.

It turns out that there is no difference between Klipa and holiness in actions, but only in intentions. If we pay attention to this, we will see that it is easy to move quickly from a Klipa to holiness, and vice versa, to fall from holiness into a Klipa.

Therefore, one needs to pay attention only to the intention, and one can quickly correct one’s actions. The internal states the Creator throws us into do not matter. We just need to check the intention, and if necessary, immediately change it with the help of corrections within the group. This is the most reliable test.

It takes many years for a person to form this picture, but when it is formed, he makes corrections relatively quickly and easily.
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From a Talk in Iceland, 5/19/18

Perfection

Question from Facebook: What is perfection?

Answer: Perfection is absolute harmony between the created beings and the Creator when they mutually complement each other in such a way that no imperfection is left between them.

Perfection is the Creator. However, it is not Him by Himself; rather, it is how we define Him in our sensations.

Question: What is a perfect person?

Answer: A perfect person is one who is completely similar to the Creator. The Creator is the absolute perfection of nature.

The general state of the entire universe that is in absolute connection in all its manifestations—that’s perfection. The source of this perfection that we attain is called the Creator.

Question: Does it mean that there is no perfection in our world?

Answer: Of course not! In our world, everything is opposite to perfection because one acts at the expense of the other. Our world is the lowest, the worst of the worlds. Only ascent above it is possible. There is nothing worse than this world.
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From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 04/17/2018

Blitz Of Kabbalah Tips – 4/1/18

Question: What element conveys spiritual information to a Kabbalist, like a quantum in physics?

Answer: A spiritual information unit is called a Reshimo (reminiscence) or information indicator. It tells us about the level of egoism with which we are working: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4.

Question: Why can a Kabbalist see the spiritual future and potential of the student’s soul, but doesn’t know the earthly speed with which the student will realize it?

Answer: A teacher sees the potential of the student, the size of his soul, but he doesn’t know how he will realize it because this is where the student has freedom of choice.

Question: Do the connections between actions through cause and effect explain the consequences of events in the life of a person?

Answer: No. I can do very good deeds and yet suffer. This is in no way connected to that.

Question: How is it possible to learn to observe oneself?

Answer: Observe your friends and feel your reaction regarding them. This is called “observing oneself.”

Question: It is said, “He who holds back his rod hates his son” (Proverbs 13:24). How do you punish your students? In what way is this expressed?

Answer: I don’t punish them; they punish me. In a case like this, a person punishes himself. I try to give all that I can, and accordingly they take what they are capable of taking.

Question: How can a student know that he is advancing correctly? Is there some kind of indicator?

Answer: It is only in relation to the assessment of the teacher and the friends, how much more he understands what they need.

Question: What is good and bad in spiritual relationships? Or are there no concepts like these?

Answer: When you work for others, this is good. When you work for yourself because of compulsion, this is bad.

Question: Can the wisdom of Kabbalah harm creativity?

Answer: The wisdom of Kabbalah is creativity itself. If a person is captivated by it, then corporeal pursuits can certainly be harmed as a result of this.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 4/1/18

Passing On Attainment To One Another

Question: How do Kabbalists pass on attainment to one another?

Answer: This is a complex system of combined Partzufim, when one’s attainment is partially transmitted to another from the top down or from the bottom up, just as in our world there is a transfer of knowledge between the teacher and the student.

One must have a Kli (vessel) to receive, and the other must have a corresponding desire to give so that a there would be a fusion between them, a proper interconnection, and then from the upper Partzuf, the Light will spread in the measure that you can correctly clothe it in your reflected Light.

Having received from the highest Light in your reflected Light, you can make a Zivug de Hakaa (coupling by striking) on it and correctly receive it.

Remark: But Kabbalists talk about a reality where there are no bodies, there is no time and space—something that cannot be explained.

My Comment: Try to understand creation a little deeper. It consists of a desire and a fulfillment. Clumps of desire and fulfillment—that is the whole reality.

Question: Is it possible to depict all of humanity as one great desire?

Answer: It is so in relation to the Creator, but with respect to us it is a spilled “emulsion,” which must be collected. Imagine that you landed on some planet and there you find something jelly-like and crawling—such is the earthly form of life.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 4/8/18

New Life #1033 – Overcoming Difficulties In Relationships

New Life #1033 – Overcoming Difficulties In Relationships
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Tal Mandelbaum ben Moshe

Summary

In order to overcome difficulties in relationships, we must try to accept one another rather than criticize, dominate, and change each other according to our own desires. Love creates one from two when we behave according to the principle, “Love covers all transgressions” (Proverbs 10:12). This means that when something doesn’t please me, I cover it with love, as if it were mine, the same way we do with our children. Only when we concede our prideful egoistic natures, can we build a loving connection and even attain a higher power.
From KabTV’s “New Life #1033 – Overcoming Difficulties In Relationships,” 7/10/18

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Unite To Exit Egypt

Rabash, The Social Writings, “Love of Friends”: “And the man said: ‘They are departed hence.’” And Rashi interpreted that they had departed themselves from the brotherhood, meaning they do not want to bond with you. This, in the end, caused Israel’s exile in Egypt. And to be redeemed from Egypt, we must take it upon ourselves to enter a group that wants to be in love of friends, and by that we will be rewarded with exodus from Egypt and the reception of the Torah.

Love is actually revealed in Egypt.

“They are departed hence” means that the friends (a person’s qualities) do not want to unite because the person has not yet achieved an equivalent state.

Everything depends on Joseph (within the individual): he collects all the qualities, he is the connecting point between the Malchut and the Creator’s qualities.

The lack of the desire to unite lead to the nation of Israel (a person’s initial qualities) meriting the revelation of the true egoism, which prior to this was hidden from them. Now it is revealed and now they can use it, with the help of the Pharaoh and the revelation of evil, rise above it, and begin the real work, in other words, build a screen over the egoism and finally work in the reflection.

Question: Why does the entrance of the nation of Israel into Egypt help Joseph unite his brothers?

Answer: The brothers are all of his qualities that appear in an egoistic form and Joseph understands that he must correct himself, he must include, absorb into himself, all of Pharaoh, all of Egypt.

Therefore, he reveals himself as the substitute for the Pharaoh and begins to work on himself in such a way as to unite his Malchut with the upper nine Sefirot. After all, Joseph is Yesod. On one hand, it is the last of the upper Sefirot, but on the other hand, it is above Malchut. That is, he begins to work on real connection.

In other words, Joseph had to “plunge” into Egypt. Prior to this, he did not really know his own nature, like a person who comes to Kabbalah, studies several years, and does not know what for. He does not know! The real egoism has not yet appeared in him so that he could understand what he needs this for.

Question: Why was Joseph too “clean” for his brothers?

Answer: If the ego has not yet been revealed in a person, it does not mean that he is clean. Even in a newborn baby, everything is already there. Just give it a chance to reveal its ego and you will see what it is. That is why everything is relative.

When everything that exists within a person—hatred, greed, all sins—is revealed and corrected, then he can be called clean: inside are frightening qualities, but outside is corrected.
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From KabTV’s “The Last Generation” 2/1/18