Escape Suffering Or Exalt Spirituality?

Question: Is it correct that sometimes a person suffers so much that he or she wants to dissolve?

Answer: That is wrong. It means that he runs away from suffering. Dissolving means elevating spirituality above one’s current state, the person wants to dissolve into spirituality, that is, to exist in it.

Question: So by exalting spirituality in our work, can we generally avoid corporeal suffering and problems?

Answer: No. You would be trying to avoid them in order to not feel any corporeal suffering. For this sake, you would try to dissolve somewhere in something.

You want to enter spiritual states because you feel bad in your egoistic earthly states. That is, you prefer the Creator because it is good with Him. You would change your small egoism for a bigger one. Of course, in this case, you will fail.

You must develop the greatness of the quality of bestowal, the greatness of the ability to be above yourself, with a different mind, and with different qualities so these states are important, majestic, and special for you. It is not because this is how you will escape earthly problems, but because by this you want to bestow joy to the Creator, you prefer His world to your little world.
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From the Convention In Moldova “Day One” 9/6/19, “To Become Ready to Be Influenced by the Society,” Lesson 2

The Black Point Is The Germ Of The Soul

In order to begin expanding the point in the heart, to feel all kinds of qualities in it, its components, we are gathering together. A very great effort must be made, contrary to my inclination, to surrender to the connection between us, when I do not want to feel myself, but I want to feel the friends. This is the way I develop the point in the heart. I want to feel them instead of myself.

If we act in this way, then through annulling ourselves and attracting the qualities of the friends, we will begin to feel the upper world. One who wants to know the meaning of life must concentrate their attention on the black point in their heart.

The heart is called our desires, and the black point is the desire that I absolutely have no need for. It exists in me, I intellectually understand what the quality of bestowal means, but I do not want to implement it or to feel it within me. Therefore, our movement toward spirituality means that in spite of my rejection of the black point, from the quality of bestowal, despite the rejection between us, we are approaching each other.

Try to feel this rapprochement. The bigger the rejection between us, the more I nevertheless try to push myself toward others—to the friends, strangers, and loved ones, no matter to whom.

I will then begin to feel this point as the beginning of my spiritual Kli (vessel), the sensory organ. This is when it turns within me into an opportunity to feel the upper state, which is inverse to mine. I begin to reveal the inverse world. This is the spiritual world.

Expanding, in spite of myself, this reversal of my point in which I reject any rapprochement with the friends, I create a place where I begin to feel spiritual qualities and spiritual actions. This point then becomes the germ of my soul, my quality of bestowal, quality of connection with others, in which I begin to feel the Creator.

It should then become clear how these actions are contrary to our nature, repel us, how unbelievably difficult it is to imagine the quality of attraction to others, both myself to them or them to me, as if I need to tear something within me.

We cannot do anything about it, we only need to ask. Yet, our request can lead us to success when we attract the upper force, the upper light. Then, the point in the heart begins to develop like a plant from a seed. The volume, area, all kinds of qualities appear in it and it becomes an embryo of our soul. Just as a person develops from a drop of semen, so does the development of the soul.

This initial point exists in every one of us; it came from the shattering of the common soul that was broken specifically so we can restore it and thus acquire the qualities of the spiritual world, the qualities of the Creator. We must bring ourselves to this action.
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From the World Kabbalah Convention in Moldova 9/5/19, Lesson 0

Kabbalah And Beliefs, Part 10

In A Dance With The Creator

Baal HaSulam, “Freedom of Will“: The way of Kabbalah consists in relying on the minds of those who already attained the ultimate goal, as if it was our own life experience. … Hence, the law of communal living is considered one of nature’s laws and we must observe it with great caution. This law must develop realization of: self-love as evil and love for others as good, because this is the only way to loving the Creator.

The essence of all spiritual techniques is to understand the Creator, comprehend Him. But only the science of Kabbalah leads us to this because it reveals how the Creator acts on us, how we must respond to Him, and through this two-way interaction “He is for me, I am for Him” to establish a right constant connection, like in a tango in which two are dancing in unison.

Such a dance, when we enter into full integration with the Creator is called the “bride’s dance,” in which what comes from Him to me and what comes from me to Him are completely incorporated.
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From the KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 12/17/18

When You Want To Make A Joke

Question: I take the science of Kabbalah very seriously and I think that I am not here by chance. But in the process of learning, gaining knowledge of myself, especially in a group and among people, it is very tempting to make a funny joke and laugh. Is it right to do so?

Answer: Why not? Kabbalists are very fond of laughter, jokes, and anecdotes. I would say that Rabash was very successful in this matter.

Question: The question is am I being frivolous?

Answer: No, we are not talking about frivolity, although levity sometimes emphasizes some properties or circumstances much better than a serious argument. Humor is not lightness. It is the presentation of some deep circumstances in a light form. Therefore, Kabbalah does not avoid the use of humor.
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From the World Kabbalah Convention in Moldova 9/5/19, Lesson 0

How To Respond To Acute Situations?

Question: Each of us has different situations in corporeal life. How can they be scrutinized correctly, in a spiritual way?

Answer: Everything that happens to us descends from above; nothing is accidental.

Question: How do people studying this method relate to similar situations occurring outside of the group?

Answer: I do not perform fortune-telling. There is the authority of the Creator over all events that occur and I need to respond to this above reason.

If I really rise above it, I get an answer. If not, then I will, like everything in our world, exist in various silly conjectures.
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From the Convention In Moldova “Day One” 9/6/19, “To Become Ready to Be Influenced by the Society,” Lesson 2

Bring Light To The World

Rabash, “What Is the Degree One Should Achieve in Order Not to Have to Reincarnate?”: The thing is that we have to know that all of the souls extend from the soul of Adam HaRishon. He is called Adam HaRishon, which means the first man. A man is called the collection of all egoistic qualities into a single altruistic one. After Adam sinned, that is, fell from the quality of bestowal and love into the quality of reception, his soul, his structure, his desire was divided.

There are no bodies, there are only desires. Therefore, his desire, which was one big common light, shattered into a large number of small desires, each of which contains a microdose of light. We have to connect these microdoses together by directing our desires to one big, common desire.

This is our work of correction. At that, it is not only in collecting the particles into which the light shattered, but also in connecting them into a big force. Therefore, our work is divided into a great number of parts of the broken Kli (vessel) of Adam and into the sequence in which we assemble this single common desire called “Adam.”

This work takes a lot of time because we cannot do it in one single effort. Therefore, we should understand that each of us requires an environment in order to advance.

In principle, in all cases in life, I can solve most of my problems only with the help of the environment. I am already beginning to understand the condition that the shattering of the Kli dictates me to constantly be with my own kind who are yearning for connection. Then we can influence each other, act, and help each other both physically and internally.

Our desires, the lights that fill us, although they are still minuscule, nevertheless, their microdoses influence each other and thus, we can support and help each other. Our advancement is in this.

This is why connection is of utmost importance. Trying all the time to see in others an example of what else I can do, what else I can learn from everyone, from anyone, in any way—from their longings and their actions for connection. This is considered as one person helping another.

When we gather, we can learn both virtually and physically, but nothing can replace such a big gathering as a convention because only in such massive gatherings can people influence each other.

They should help each other, demonstrate how much they yearn for connection. There is no need to demonstrate familiarity, hugs, slaps, and pats. We must try to convey to each other the yearning of our hearts. That is primary. Together we should try to convince the Creator that we are already worthy for Him to unite us.

Such a persistent request from each heart to other hearts and through their connection to the Creator is most important. We will then begin to feel that we really are in the great upper light.

This can only be achieved at large conventions. Of course, you can come to this in a group, and in small meetings, but when such a mass of people come, already familiar with each other, it is really a great force. There is nothing like it in the world. Moreover, the world is waiting, subconsciously, unconsciously, but it is waiting for us to bring light to it, to bring the upper force closer.
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From the Convention In Moldova “Day One” 9/6/19, “Dissolving in the Friends,” Lesson 1

Kabbalah And Beliefs, Part 9

Why Does the Creator Love Sinners?

Question: Baal HaSulam wrote that he rejoices at the revelation of sinners within himself, meaning egoistic intentions toward the Creator. What does this mean?

Answer: The Creator loves sinners more than the righteous because the sinner reveals that the Creator sends him evil. The Creator created the soul, a huge universal web where we are all connected, and then broke it. And now He is showing us its fragments so that we constantly keep asking Him to properly reconnect us.

Therefore, when I feel separated from others, unwilling to connect with them, in opposition to the Creator and the whole world, I am called a sinner. But that leads me to ask Him for correction.

The righteous is a state in which I have nothing to ask for. It is possible that I mistakenly remain in this state.

Question: In any case, all these states keep changing; they are not static?

Answer: Of course. The most important thing is to change. This happens only if a person is in a group and the group is directed toward the Creator.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 12/17/18

Two Stages Toward The Goal

In principle, all our actions and our entire path consist of two stages. The first is to love your friend as yourself. When this is achieved, we proceed to the second stage: love the Creator as you love your friend, your group.

One stage transforms into the other. It cannot be otherwise: love your friend as yourself, love the Creator as you love your friend. There are no other alternatives. This is what spiritual development consists of; it is completely different, opposite to our nature.

When a person encounters such a condition, he must shake himself well more than once in order to confront the fact that connection with others must occur outside of and above himself. In order to do so, a higher light must come and create these conditions.

I can demand it by being inspired by my friends. Playing between us, we can create among us such a desire: jealousy, envy, anything. The main thing is to understand that I must achieve this; otherwise, I will remain an animal in our world, end my life like all animals, and nothing else will remain.

Only envy, jealousy, and a desire for honor lead a person from his animal state to the next, the highest one.

We must understand that only our serious decision to master the spiritual state at any cost, at the cost of breaking up with our egoistic life, with our egoistic attitude to the world, will give us the opportunity to rise, and to love our neighbor as ourselves and to love the Creator as our neighbor are two stages by which we must reach our goal.
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From the Convention In Moldova “Day One” 9/6/19, “Dissolving in the Friends,” Lesson 1

For Love Of Friends

Question: When there is a desire to fill a friend, we forget about ourselves. In theory, should this desire alone be enough to somehow annul myself?

Answer: Yes, perhaps, for now. Probably that will change later. What does it mean to fill a friend? It means that you are prepared to sacrifice everything if only he receives what he wants.

Question: Is my desire to fill the friend egoistic?

Answer: It does not matter that it is egoistic. At the moment I do not check whether or not it is egoistic. I am not in the position yet to weight egoism and altruism. I am prepared to fill the friend with what he wants. This is called love for him.

Then, there are degrees, which I will climb and discover that this is egoistic love, and in fact, not even of the friend, but of myself, that I satisfy my desires in this way.

We learn that the love for one’s friend is only possible above self-hatred. One must feel self-hatred and to the same extent feel the love for others. This will then be the love for a friend and not for my new desire because this is self-deception.
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From the Convention In Moldova “Day One” 9/6/19, “Dissolving in the Friends,” Lesson 1

Why Should We Respect Elders? (Quora)

Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Why should we respect elders?“

The elderly represent the layer of society that holds a reservoir of wisdom and experience.

We see that people with more developed desires, such as scientists, who seek knowledge about our lives and the world develop more in their practice the more they age.

When scientists reach their elderly years, they don’t simply stop their scientific work, go on pension and relax for the rest of their lives. After spending a major portion of their lives accumulating knowledge and experience, the older they become, the more they improve in their scientific work. There is no age to seekers of science, knowledge, and wisdom.

We should respect the elderly because we very much need them and can highly benefit from the wealth of their wisdom and experience.

What would happen if all elderly people were removed from the planet? We don’t feel it, but the world would lose an immense amount of richness and depth.

One of the problems today is that it has become normal to live until the age of 90 and over. When I was younger, over 60 was considered old, with 70 being the peak. Now it’s over 90. Unfortunately, however, society has yet to realize how to make best use of people in this age group. It is a sign of us failing to best realize what nature has given us.

It’s common to envision our elderly years as those where we detach from the daily grind, go on pension, and find ways to relax and enjoy life till we die. Unfortunately, however, we fail to see how such an approach separates us from the vitalizing spring of human activity that comes from being contributing members of society. Numerous studies today show the physiological and psychological benefits of human contact, and it is no different for the elderly. In addition, death doesn’t come as a result of old age, but as a result of people losing engagement with life.

We should therefore, first and foremost, understand what elderly people lack most, which is to express themselves. Moreover, in order to let elderly people express themselves, we would need to setup systems that activate their contribution to society.

For example, currently in Israel there is an experimental project that pairs 80-year-olds with 4-year-olds for 2 to 3 hours a day in an effort that aims to mutually benefit the elderly and the children. I support such an initiative. In general, in the structure of a family spanning 3 generations—grandparents, parents and children—the children can receive a rawer kind of emotional connection from the grandparents than from the parents, one that is pressure-free and more heartfelt. Likewise, the elderly can find plentiful ways to express their many insights from life in sharing with the children, and the children can learn and gain a special kind of attention from their elders.

We should thus respect elders for their wealth of wisdom and experience, and instead of letting the elderly detach and wither away from society, we should rather seek ways to offer them self-expression by being contributing members of society.

Dissolve Our Egoism

Question: How can I not be afraid of the feeling that I am dissolving?

Answer: If a person feels very ill, he is ready to dissolve without fear. Everyone has such moments when he is ready to disappear, not to hear anything, not to exist.

If we increase the importance of spirituality, we reach such a state where it is worth dissolving our egoism for the sake of attaining spirituality.
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From the Convention In Moldova “Day One” 9/6/19, Lesson 2, “To Become Ready to Be Influenced by the Society”

Kabbalah And Beliefs, Part 8

Turn to the Creator

Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article 209: There are three conditions in prayer:

1. Believing that He can save him. Although he has the worst conditions of all his contemporaries, still, “Will the Lord’s hand be too short to save him?” If it is not so, then “the Landlord cannot save His vessels.
2. He no longer has any choice for he has already done all that he could but saw no cure to his plight.
3. If He does not help him, he will be better off dead than alive. 

These are three correct attitudes to life. Everything is determined by the Creator. There is not a single thought or feeling that comes from me, only from the Creator.

Therefore, I have to always be in a heightened state of readiness, analyzing everything happening in my mind and feelings, realizing that the Creator presents it to me, and ask Him immediately for correction, to direct me properly to have good thoughts of love and bestowal toward others, that is, accompanied with good feelings that are above oneself of bestowing to others.

The Creator reveals only evil in me, as it is said: “I created evil.” However, I catch this evil mid-way and immediately ask Him to change it to good.

I then begin to enter into an interesting relationship with the Creator called “a dance,” like a tango: He leads me, and I lead Him. He influences me, and I give back to Him. Thus, we complete each other.

Acknowledging the evil is primary here. Once you understand that it came from the Creator and that “There is none else besides Him,” there is only one thing left to do: ask Him to change the evil to good. This is what our whole life is about, our entire spiritual work.

Question: Can I turn to the Creator without acknowledging my egoistic qualities and their destructiveness?

Answer: No. It is like you are the goalkeeper and the Creator constantly shoots at the goal, and you have to constantly deflect His shots.

Question: Do Kabbalists engage in self-reproach?

Answer: If you constantly cry, dissatisfied with your life, reproach anyone and everything, then you are dissatisfied with what the Creator has given you.

Question: Does Kabbalah view the cause of human depravity positively?

Answer: The Creator specifically did this so a person would need His help, and thus could ascend to His level.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 12/17/18

Europe: From Darkness To Light

Baal HaSulam, The Nation, Therefore, it is a must for every nation to be strongly united within, so all the individuals within it are attached to one another by instinctive love. …

This does not mean that all the people in the nation, without exception, must be so. It means that the people of that nation, who sense that harmony, are the ones who make the nation, and the extent of happiness of the nation and sustainability are measured by their quality.

The force that supports the nation depends on the extent the nation is similar to the upper force, which is one, that is, able to unite. Such nation will be able to overcome all the difficulties because they are revealed as the breakage and shattering within it that require correction.

Therefore, on the path, we will have to encounter many problems in order to cover all the crimes with love by getting increasingly stronger and more united. Only in such a way is the perfection revealed.

Each time more and more sins are revealed, and it is necessary to build the reverse state above them, that is, love, without despair and without giving up. This is how the world is built, and in this way, it must come to correction.

The question is, how can European countries reach unity when they have such a large number of refugees? Yet, in fact, all these refugees only help European nations understand that connection must be above all the differences. It is necessary to see the wave of refugees as sent by the upper force and not as a destructive one. It is destruction, but for the purpose of correction.

Fifty years ago, it was impossible to imagine such a situation of refugees in Europe. Europeans very much protected themselves, cherished the individuality of each nation, the Germans, the French, the Italians. The borders between the nations were very clear and sharp.

Then suddenly everything began to change with great speed. According to the upper program, everyone must reveal the shattering they are in. How else is it possible to discover the need for correction if not by bringing the foreign forces inside? This is why several million people have entered Europe, people who are alien to it in their culture, education, religion, and behavior. There is no more flagrant contrast.

As a result, Europeans are slowly beginning to realize that there is no choice, the only thing they can do is to connect. They have yet to discover how this connection can be achieved. No matter how unreal it may seem because of religious differences, the most acute and irreconcilable, there is no other way.

Europeans understand that it is necessary to find the key to reaching unity and connection. And the key, first of all, is in the integral method of connection, which Kabbalah offers, in covering all crimes with love.

It is implemented with the help of the upper force. We cannot unite by ourselves; we only create conditions so that through us, through Israel, as through a connecting channel, the upper force will begin affecting all the masses of people.

This does not require their consent; they will suddenly begin to speak and behave differently. No matter that yesterday they were fundamentalists, no matter what religion they professed, how they thought, and to which of the seventy nations of the world they belonged. They all will become like one nation.

The main thing is that Europe is experiencing problems, and we must provide a solution. That is why it is so important to unite all Kabbalistic groups in Europe and around the world, especially now before the European Convention in Bulgaria. In this way, we can bring the light of connection and unity to Europe.

Europe is more and more gripped by darkness, a sense of helplessness, hopelessness, and absence of a way out. However, suddenly we will see how contradictions are softening, opinions, thoughts, and desires are changing. After all, everything is resolved in thought, and thoughts suddenly become new.

How is it possible that people who were such fundamentalists, nationalists, who did not even want to talk to anyone a little different from them, suddenly changed so much? Yet, the upper light can change everything. The way it now thickens the darkness, so it will correct it. The main thing for us is to become a conducting channel for it, this is our work.
[252409]From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/13/19 “Unification of the People”

What Are Your Thoughts On The Halle, Germany Yom Kippur Shooting? (Quora)

Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What are your thoughts on the shooting in the German city of Halle that took place outside of a synagogue on Yom Kippur?“

The shooting attack near a synagogue in Halle, Germany was yet another dreadful act of anti-Semitism on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. However, it could have been much worse if the 27-year-old attacker, who identified with the far-right, had broken the synagogue’s doors and slaughtered the 80 worshipers who were conducting the Yom Kippur prayers.

In a video he shot leading up to the shooting, the attacker denied the Holocaust, denounced feminists and immigrants and stated outright that “the root of all these problems is the Jew.”

Following the attack, there were cries, prayers and warmth given to the victims’ families, but also a clear demand for a significant shift to take place against the anti-Semitism that has rapidly spread worldwide.

For example, upon news of the two people who were shot to death, condemnations came one after another, from German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas tweeting that “shots being fired at a synagogue on Yom Kippur, the festival of reconciliation, hits us in the heart,” and “we must all act against anti-Semitism in our country,” through Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commenting for a “call on the German authorities to continue taking determined action against anti-Semitism.”

However, other than desperate words, there is an air of helplessness in the face of the growing phenomenon.

Helplessness. Desperation. They sound like very undesirable feelings. But could it be that such sensations are actually a positive outcome of the exponentially rising anti-Semitic crimes and threats?

Perhaps when we are repeatedly stunned by an irrational phenomenon that has haunted our people for generations—one which makes no differentiation between genders, between Yom Kippur and a weekday, and between synagogues in Berlin and Pittsburgh—then maybe this is what will goad us to look into what the Kabbalists have been trying to tell us for generations?

Whether in The Zohar or other Kabbalistic texts, what have the Kabbalists been trying to communicate to the Jewish people? Simply put, if we Jews unite with one another, we invite a positive force dwelling in nature to spread not only among each other, but among all humanity. By awakening nature’s positive, unifying force through our unity, we can bring peace to the world. On the contrary, if divided, where every Jew remains within him- or herself in his or her own prayers, then we provoke the opposite: hatred and conflict. As Kabbalist Rabbi Yitzhak Isaac Haver wrote, “Creation and choice, correction and destruction of the world—all depends on Israel” (Siach Yitzhak. Part 2, Likutim 1).

Hours after the deadly shooting attack, German chancellor Angela Merkel attended a vigil to identify with the victims at a historic synagogue in central Berlin. She stood with the Jewish community as they together sang, “Ose shalom be Meromav” (“make peace in His heaven”). Ironically, sometimes the answer to our toughest questions can be found right under our noses. Sometimes we need only open our ears and listen to the words we’re singing…

• “Ose shalom be Meromav” (“make peace in His heaven”). It means that in our unity and our common prayer, we can make the upper force bring peace above;
• “Hu yaase shalom aleinu” (“He will bring peace upon us”), i.e. the upper force will bring peace to the whole of humanity;
• “Ve al kol Yisrael” (“and upon all of Israel”), i.e. where the role of the people of Israel is to unite;
• “Ve al kol yoshvei tevel” (“and for all the people in the world”), i.e. our role is not to receive the light of unity for ourselves, but to be a conduit for the light to spread to the world, i.e. to be “a light unto the nations.”
• “Ve imru amen” (“and say Amen”), i.e. then we will all—Jews and the nations of the world—be truly grateful for reaching the long-awaited peace.
  Amen.

Collect The Parts Of The Common Soul

Baal HaSulam, Letter 4: You lack nothing except to go out to a field that the Lord has blessed, and collect all those flaccid organs that have drooped from your soul, and join them into a single body.

“A field that the Lord has blessed” is the state between us. It is a wild field that a person gradually cultivates, sows, and harvests.

The most difficult thing is to convince ourselves that we must collect all the flaccid organs of the common soul and connect them into a single body. We are prepared to study Kabbalah, all kinds of wisdoms, ask tricky questions, and supposedly develop our brain. We are even prepared to feel not just others’ but our personal experiences, and all this is absolutely not what we need.

We need to think only about how to connect to the Creator with our inner desires. Each of us has such a desire, the Creator gave it to us in advance, and this is a great gift. However, connecting all the aspirations together is what we need to do.

How can we convince ourselves that we need to connect with the friends only with our desires directed to the Creator, mine, yours, his, and everyone else’s? Everything else, we do not take into account, everything else is a beast.

How can we connect all these desires, aspirations, and intentions into one common desire? Disappointments, let them be our common disappointments, aspirations, our common aspirations, and all this we need to direct to the Creator. That is, we are working with Him: this is what we can and this not, we request, get disappointed, cry and something else all in relation to this.

This is called “to collect all those flaccid organs that have drooped from your soul and join them into a single body.” These attempts already attract the influence of the upper light on them and then the connection will happen.
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From the Convention In Moldova “Day One” 9/6/19, “Dissolving in the Friends,” Lesson 1

How Does One Become Wholly Jewish? (Quora)

Michael Laitman, On Quora: “How does one become wholly Jewish?“

Anyone can become a Jew, no matter whether one is French, Italian or any other nationality, because Jewishness is not via lineage.

To become a Jew means to adopt a certain way of thinking, an attitude toward life and its purpose, when you realize what it actually means to be a Jew.

What does it mean to be a Jew? It means to bring the method of correction and connection into the world, and to become a contributing member toward the world’s unification.

In other words, to become a Jew means to unite all people, to be the force that elevates them toward the quality of bestowal, love and unity. It means reaching such communication between all people in the world so that they will be as one. Being Jewish has nothing to do with whether or not one’s mother is Jewish.

Therefore, ultimately, the goal of every person is to become Jewish, i.e. to transition from the egoistic and divided perception of the world into its opposite, altruistic and united perception. Such an action is considered as crossing (“Laavor,” from “Ivri,” which means “Hebrew”) the barrier between this world and the spiritual world. Those who currently identify as Jews have been given an opportunity to pioneer this process before it reaches humanity as a whole (the Hebrew word for “Jew” [Yehudi] comes from the word for “united” [yihudi] [Yaarot Devash, Part 2, Drush no. 2]).

It is thus my hope that us Jews will, sooner rather than later, recognize our responsibility toward the world, to implement our unity “as one man with one heart” and by doing so, witness the harmonious effect of our unity ripple out to the world at large, as “a light unto the nations.”

Kabbalah And Beliefs, Part 7

What is man’s sin?

Man’s sin is that he did not ask the Creator for help. Had he asked for help, he would certainly get help from the Creator. But if a person says that he asked for help and the Creator did not help him, to this comes the answer that a person should believe that the Creator hears the prayers, as it is written, “For You hear the prayer of every mouth.” … when a person wants to walk on the path of bestowal and not by way of reception, the sin is mainly that a person did not ask the Creator to help him overcome the evil. For this, he asks forgiveness, and from here on he will ask for help.(Rabash, Shlavey HaSulam, Article. 4 (1988), “What Is the Prayer for Help and for Forgiveness in the Work?”)

Remark: A sin is usually understood as a bad action toward another…

My Comment: Good or bad actions are not performed by you, but by the Creator.

The transgression is not in doing something bad, but in not asking the Creator to correct you, and thus, the egoistic qualities that have awoken in you have pushed you toward making this poor action.

You sin is in not asking for correction of your egoistic qualities. The rest of it is all the Creator, and in no way is any of it on you.

In fact, there are no actions that you have to do except a single one: to ask the Creator for help to conquer the evil inclination.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals  of Kabbalah,” 12/17/18

Bestowal Isn’t What You Think It Is

Real bestowal is unlike bestowal in our world, which can happen even against our will—out of fear or for another reason. That is not bestowal. Bestowal is when I have no personal benefit or satisfaction from it. A mother takes care of her infant because it is in her nature and she receives contentment from it. But this is not the bestowal that the science of Kabbalah discusses. Spiritual bestowal brings me no reward, no material satisfaction, everything is directed toward the one I want to bestow to.

If we really think about it, we will understand how far we are from true bestowal and what vast distance separates us from it. Feeling the limits of bestowal and trying to keep pushing it further and further each time is beneficial. Thus, through prayer and effort, through work in a group, and through examples shown by the friends, we will advance in order to bring this bestowal out from within ourselves. Obviously, it is quite complicated, but if we make an effort, the light that reforms will come and help us.

This is a whole process because we receive a new, spiritual desire. In the corporeal world, we understand bestowal in relation to our loved ones, out of fear, out of duty, that is, from various egoistic motives. However, through these examples, we can draw parallels to the desire to bestow that is independent of our state, which is further removed from our desire to enjoy.¹

The exercise in expanding the limits of bestowal is the work in a dynamic ten, which keeps expanding and contracting. Thus, we can control the limits of bestowal ourselves: to either expand or contract them. We bestow to the Creator, to the world Kabbalistic group, and to the Creator. We must try to bring it together, which is called “Israel, Torah, and the Creator are one.”

The Creator can only be found inside a spiritual vessel (Kli) and in order to create a Kli, we must become fully integrated into our friends and feel ourselves as one whole. To the extent that we disappear inside this Kli, we begin to transition from feeling ourselves to feeling the group, and from feeling the group to feel the Creator.²

Bestowal in our world takes place for satisfying one’s desire, like a mother taking care of her baby. It can be a lioness, a woman, or a bird, every mother takes care of her young because it is in her nature to do so. But we must feel how the most distant people will become our closest friends. Nature will not obligate us to love them, but only gives us examples of how to care about the whole Kli so that we will care about the Creator from it. I am trying to obtain the will to bestow that I have no desire for so that it will become my intrinsic need, as in the examples of this world, and not allow me to rest.³

This world gives us the ability to perform physical actions against our will. I do not want to work, but I am embarrassed before others so I go to work. Although, as I begin to work, I see the others’ example and get inspired. I want to be like them so that I too would be respected. This is all based on egoistic motives; the whole world operates this way. But if I am a part of a society that aspires toward a spiritual goal, then we are influenced by the upper force that is shining on us and changes us.

Whether I want to or not, I begin thinking about bestowing, unity, the purpose of life, and the goal of creation. By changing the structure of society, we can bring ourselves to a new level of existence. By getting involved in society by means of simple physical actions, I can rise to the spiritual degree since I received the importance of the goal, unity, and efforts.

All thanks to the fact that the upper force dwells in this society. The Creator has purposely gathered those with sparks of spirituality in their souls, people who have a point in the heart. Therefore, even if we unite over physical work for material, egoistic purposes, the upper light begins to affect us and change us in such a way that we begin to feel pleasure from uniting and getting closer to the spiritual goal. At every level, we change our previous material concepts about achievement into more spiritual ones.⁴
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/13/19, Preparation to the Europe Convention

What Do We Feel Before Death?

In the News (MedicalXpress): “Mystical near-death experiences where people report a range of spiritual and physical symptoms, including out-of-body sensations, seeing or hearing hallucinations, racing thoughts and time distortion, affect around 10 per cent of people, according to a new study that analysed participants from 35 countries. …

“The new findings were presented at the 5th European Academy of Neurology (EAN) Congress by researchers from the Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, the Center for Stroke Research, Berlin, and the Norwegian University of Technology, Trondheim, Norway. …

“The study group who reported NDEs variously described feeling at total peace, having their ‘soul sucked out’, hearing angels singing, being aware they were outside their body, seeing their life flashing before them, and being in a dark tunnel before reaching a bright light. Others spoke of being aware of another’s presence before they went to sleep, or of a demon sitting on their chest while they lay paralysed unable to move.”

Question: What do you think about this?

Answer: When I was in a near-death state after an accident, I also sensed all sorts of images. I did not hear anything; I had a noise in my ears. But I saw all sorts of unrealistic images. I understood that what I saw was not real because I was in such a state.

Question: But is it true or not that a person feels this way?

Answer: The fact that they see this? Is what a person sees the truth?

I, as a Kabbalist, see this completely differently. What we see now is also not the truth. It is an imaginary and illusory world. Where is the truth? Everything is reflected in me, there is nothing outside of me. It is what I imagine. Thus, it is the same there.

The exit into the next dimension is completely different. It must be above egoism. If a person does not reject their egoism, then in the end, one has none of this.

One has all sorts of far-fetched ideas about the future world. Maybe he thinks that this is the future world. I do not think that anything is presented to him; he is just taking his brain, his intracranial fluctuations, for some kind of another world.

He has no other world in such a form. He must understand that in our world he must exit his egoism in order to feel the next degree—the upper world. Yet, for this, he must rise above himself. The ascent, however, in a real form, can only be in this world.

Question: If you would rise above your egoism, what would you see?

Answer: A person would see positive and negative forces interacting with each other and as a result would depict for him or her  a completely different picture—forces.

Question: It is not very clear. What does it mean to see the forces?

Answer: I cannot tell you this. It is impossible to convey.

Question: Can it only be conveyed to a person who has already attained and felt this?

Answer: Yes. This is serious information. It is transmitted and can be felt only by those who are ready for it and able to perceive it. There is no prohibition here. A person just has to be able to perceive this information; then one will see. Just as a small child does not notice what adults notice.

Question: So, when they say “The hidden wisdom of Kabbalah,” this is not about the hidden wisdom but about the fact that I, so far, do not see this?

Answer: Yes. This is why it is called hidden. Everything is revealed only to the extent of your ability to attain. Unfortunately, we are in a state when nothing can be explained. Only if you want, if you are consumed by the desire to attain, then you will be able to overcome this.

Question: Then what are you always trying to explain? You are making TV programs, writing. Why?!

Answer: I am trying as much as possible to reveal to people, at least a little, the opportunity to see the way to this. Nothing more. All the rest depends on a person himself.

Question: Does a person need to reveal this or only to make an effort?

Answer: A person needs to make an effort in order to reveal, and to make an effort all the time, an effort to advance in order to constantly rise above oneself.

Question: How will this desire occur in a person?

Answer: It is either through corporeal suffering or through spiritual aspiration from the right environment. There is no other way.

This is not an easy task, but humanity cannot escape from it. I am sure that we are in a state that is very close to that.
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From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 7/23/19

The Meaning Of Kabbalistic Books, Part 9

Five Rules for Studying The Book of Zohar

Question: To correctly approach the study of The Book of Zohar, several postulates can be distinguished. The first rule is called “the heart understands” (“a-lev mevin“). That is, The Book of Zohar is studied by the heart. What does this mean?

Answer: By desire. You have to change your desires. Instead of the desire to receive, strive for the desire to bestow, instead of the desire to distance yourself, push away, to the desire to attract and love.

Remark: The second rule: “man is a small world.” That is, The Book of Zohar includes many concepts that are familiar to us from the material world, although in fact, the same as in the Torah, it speaks of the internal states experienced by man.

My Comment: Yes, it describes the upper world, but with the words and actions of our world.

Question: Therefore, Kabbalists say that while reading The Book of Zohar, it is necessary to interpret the words written in it as an expression of all kinds of internal actions?

Answer: As actions of upper forces, not something happening in our world. In principle, you just need to do the opposite: perceive everything that The Book of Zohar describes in the quality of bestowal and love, in exiting oneself, not in the quality of reception, selfish love.

Remark: The third rule: “the light that returns to the source.” A person coming to a lesson must understand that there is a special influence in The Book of Zohar, a special force that we can draw from there.

My Comment: The Book of Zohar is studied with the intention of attracting the force that can change a person, to make an altruist out of a selfish person.

Question: So, when I come to the lesson, do I need to know what I want to change in myself?

Answer: This is why you come to the lesson. This is the very idea, power, property, purpose of The Book of Zohar.

Question: Rule Four: Before concluding the study, there must be the recognition of evil and prayer. What’s this about?

Answer: Recognition of the evil of one’s selfish nature is acquired gradually.

Prayer is a request for a force that can change me, somehow raise me above myself, and make me a useful, good, creature pleasing to the Creator. This, in general, is preparation for the correct reading of The Book of Zohar.

Question: The fifth rule: “as one man with one heart.” Kabbalists say that it is impossible to study The Book of Zohar alone, only in a group of people. Why?

Answer: Since The Book of Zohar was written in a ten, you need to study it in a ten. Because under its influence, a person draws closer to the rest, and, only in the right connection with them, begins to understand what it is talking about.

Question: Does that mean that I can’t read it at home alone, I must call someone?

Answer: You can read alone, but you won’t get any benefit from it.

Question: What does it give me that I do this surrounded by ten other people? I don’t communicate with them, we just sit and read together?

Answer: You must mean that you communicate with them, that you all connect with your hearts. Let’s say, just as you peel potatoes, you have to peel your heart from the outer shell, and everyone else too, and connect your hearts into one big heart.
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From KabTV’s “Basics of Kabbalah,” 12/18/18