The Jewish Choice: Unity Or Anti-Semitism—We All Need To Give An Example Of Connection

No one has any special protection from above; there is only one privilege: the opportunity to engage in the correction process yourself. Some might be for it and others against because the modern generation is obliged to clarify this issue. We must move forward with understanding, consciously, by our own consent. And consent always comes from disagreement, like the revelation of light from the darkness.

One thing is clear, if we do not go along with the development of the generation happening now, we will not be able to realize our spiritual development, neither personal nor general. Even such an exceptional person as Baal HaSulam was honored with spiritual attainment because the generation was ready for it and needed a certain process that he had to direct.

And now, such a duty is assigned to our Bnei Baruch group. Nowadays it is no longer possible to advance at the expense of one person as it was before with Moses. Now we need a group and even a world group—everyone should give an example of how to move toward correction. Only with such a power of our connection will we be able to advance.

No one will be able to realize his correction and achieve the desired goal by himself. You can forget about it. But if we act together as Rabash and Baal HaSulam advise, then all paths open before us.

Therefore, we must study our condition in order to see how progress from one day to the next, one moment in the left line, then in the right. We are always thrown from left to right, from right to left, and we ourselves must build our progress in the middle line.

The ship of humanity will roll to the left, then to the right. And if with the help of our efforts we can turn the steering wheel, this huge ship will go in the right direction. This is our work—we need to see this, feel our responsibility, and lead the process of correction.

To steer the wheel means to strive for the middle line so that all crimes on the left side are covered by love on the right side. The middle line is then lined up in the middle. We do not destroy the left line, do not erase those who are against, but we watch how this criticism awakens those who are in favor, helping to make the right evaluations. And then we are in the middle line, we turn the wheel correctly, and it should always be focused on the central point: the unity of Israel, the Torah and the Creator as one whole.

Israel is us, striving for the Creator, the Torah is the whole upper light that guides us and all of humanity around us, and the Creator is the force that is revealed in the center of the group, in the center of our efforts.

Baal HaSulam knew what would happen in Germany and tried to save the Jews. But the Jews themselves did not let him do this and they all died. He could not change anything: a certain time is given for clarification and free choice in order to make a decision. But when the decision is made, the power is transferred to the executioner to carry out the correction through suffering.
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/4/20, The Jewish Choice: Unity Or Anti-Semitism
 Minute 4:20

The Jewish Choice: Unity Or Anti-Semitism—The Same Babylon Again

It all depends on how much the spiritual message is more important for a person than corporeal feelings. I, as Israel, must overcome my egoism and prefer coming closer to the Creator to all corporeal problems. For other nations, this happens differently. Everyone, according to the root of one’s soul, has an obligation to rise above corporeal disturbances, which are not disturbances but conditions for the development of the soul, and to aim toward connection despite the fact that we hate each other. Believe me, the anti-Semitic hatred of the Jew is much less than the hatred of the disciples of Rabbi Shimon to each other. We have yet to discover real hatred.

All this is included in the conditions: you want to rise spiritually and the Creator and the meaning of life are more important to you than your claims against others, then you will rise. If not, you will remain here, in your animalistic existence.

All nations, all of Babylon, must rise above their egoism and perform the work of correction. This is the condition today. Here we are acting as Abraham, who said: “Whoever is with the Creator—is with me!” This is that same Babylon and the same challenges that were in the time of Abraham, only in the modern form.

Imagine that you are living in Babylon and suddenly there is a group of Abraham, claiming that you need to love others as yourself. You hate them so much that you are ready to kick them out of Babylon.

However they, feeling this hatred, understand that it is necessary to leave Babylon. What would you do then? Are you ready to join them and make your way through Iraq and Syria to the land of Israel, of course not in corporeal terms, but as a spiritual ascent? The choice is yours.
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/9/20, ”The Jewish Choice: Unity or Anti-Semitism,” Chapter 6
Minute 1:59:00

“What Books Can I Read To Understand Kabbalah?” (Quora)

Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What books can I read to understand Kabbalah?“

The science of Kabbalah is unique in the way it talks about you and me, about all of us. It doesn’t deal with anything abstract, only with the way we are created and how we function at higher levels of existence.

One of its sections talks about the descent of the higher forces from the world of Ein Sof (Infinity). The world of Ein Sof is our initial state, and there we exist as a single, unified system of souls, completely interconnected. Then, from the world of Ein Sof, we study the sequence of worlds, Sefirot and Partzufim as they descend to the world we live in.

Many Kabbalistic books have been written about it, starting with Abraham the Patriarch around 4,000 years ago, who wrote a book called Sefer Yetzira (The Book of Creation).

The next important work is The Book of Zohar, written in the second century CE. The Zohar is followed by the works of the Ari, a renowned 16th century Kabbalist. And the 20th century saw the appearance of the works of Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam).

Baal HaSulam’s texts are best suited for our generation.

They, as well as other Kabbalistic sources, describe the structure of the upper worlds, how they descend and successively bring lower worlds into existence, and how our world came into being, the universe, our globe, and how life evolved. Studying how that system was created and how it descends to our world allows us to master the method of entering this system and governing it.

We, for the most part, study the six volume textbook Talmud Eser Sefirot (The Study of the Ten Sefirot), written by Yehuda Ashlag. It is designed as a study aid with questions, answers, materials for repetition and memorization, explanations, graphics and drawings. This is, if you will, the physics of the upper world, describing the laws and forces governing the universe.

This material gradually transforms the students, because when searching how to enter and begin to live in the spiritual world, one gradually adapts oneself to the material.

The science of Kabbalah does not deal with life in this world. Instead, by studying this system we re-attain our level before we descended, the same level where we will be at the end of our ascent from this world. During this ascent, the study of Kabbalah builds within the student a system equal to the higher system.

This system begins to organize and manifest itself in the person who wants to achieve it, and who studies it for this purpose. Just like a drop of semen can potentially evolve into an entire human being, and subsequently grows into a mature grown-up, the science of Kabbalah develops our desire to attain a higher level of existence.

At first this is a tiny desire, called “a point in the heart.” This point is like the embryo of our future states. By studying the structure of the upper world, we develop the “genetic” information within it, and as it grows, the structure resembling the higher levels forms within us.

This is why studying is so rewarding. Even if we do not understand a single thing about what we are reading, simply trying to understand the Kabbalistic texts nurtures the point in the heart, the desire for the higher force, and the point begins to grow. The more it grows, the more we feel the appearance of a new creation, a new and different feeling of a world within ourselves.

In so doing, the science of Kabbalah gives us the opportunity to feel the upper worlds, to understand everything that happens to us, and most of all, to control this process for ourselves.

I recommend that before approaching the aforementioned books, to take a introductory course, so that you will be able to get guidance on how to approach the books to reap the most spiritual benefit. I have added links to various courses you could choose to start from in my Quora bio.

The Jewish Choice: Unity Or Anti-Semitism—Scary To Even Think About

It is scary to think about what might happen to the world if we do not succeed in disseminating the method of connection. A new world war awaits the world, after which it would take humanity several more centuries to recover from and begin to gather to implement the correction. Yet, the final correction must manifest here in this world in the corporeal framework in which we live now.

This world does not exist but the spiritual form, which now appears before our eyes as the corporeal world, must be exactly like this so that the process of correction will begin and end in it. Once we complete the correction at the level of this world together with the spiritual world, this world will rise to a spiritual degree.

We can avoid third and fourth world wars while this is still in our hands. However, the allotted time is already coming to an end so we need to hurry up and realize our mission.
^{From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/9/20, ”The Jewish Choice: Unity or Anti-Semitism,” Chapter 6Minute 1:53:10}

The Jewish Choice: Unity Or Anti-Semitism—Birth In Agony

The solution is not in the greater emancipation of the Jews, and not in greater religiosity, but in the spiritual ascent of a person. The lessons of history teach one thing: no matter what we do within the framework of this world, the outcome will always be disastrous, and we will be hit with blows right up to destruction. Salvation is only in rising above the level of this world.

No matter where we turn at the level of this world: to liberalism, religions, emancipation—nothing will help. We cannot stay in the corporeal level; we are not allowed to get stuck in it. We can only go up from this platform.

People have not been told or taught about this; therefore, they do not want it and cannot do it, a situation similar to labor pains. The upper providence does not take a person’s corporeal life into account, but only the development of desire. The desires must develop until they reach our time, where, at last, a group will appear that will begin to implement the solution.

Inside the general vessel of the soul, Reshimot  are accumulating from all the sufferings endured by millions of people who died during the Holocaust, the Inquisition, and Stalinist repressions. All this is in order for the desire to enjoy to accumulate great pain from the fact that it is in egoism and to let the spiritual genes (Reshimot) of bestowal start working.

From the viewpoint of human logic, there is no justification for this. After all, who arranges all these disasters? The Creator! You can take Him to court.
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah lesson 1/9/20, ”The Jewish Choice: Unity or Anti-Semitism,” Chapter 6Minute 1:31:30

The Jewish Choice: Unity Or Anti-Semitism—Special Mission Of The Ten Lost Tribes

The ten tribes of Israel were lost so that later we could realize our purpose with regard to the world. The people of Israel do not exist for their own sake, but to pass on the method of connection and revelation of the Creator to all the nations. All the nations within the common soul of Adam HaRishon, belonging to the body of the spiritual Partzuf, have no way to contact the Creator, except through the Rosh (head) of the Partzuf, that is, the people of Israel, through the two and a half remaining tribes.

The ten tribes disappeared, dissolving into the nations of the world in order to create the connection between the head and the body of the soul. Later, they will be revealed as a transitional link between the head (the people of Israel) and the body (the nations of the world).

Over the past millennia, they have integrated with the body, with all of humanity, but according to their Reshimot, roots, and spiritual genes, they belong to the head. We need a layer in the general Partzuf that includes both the qualities of the head and the qualities of the body.
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah lesson 1/9/20, ”The Jewish Choice: Unity or Anti-Semitism,” Chapter 6

³ Minute 49:07

The Jewish Choice: Unity Or Anti-Semitism—Anti-Semitism Above Nature

Throughout the period of the last exile, the people of Israel had no awareness of their spiritual mission. We do not see such signs in the statements of Jewish philosophers and thinkers. The wisdom of Kabbalah was greatly concealed. It was a preparatory period: now with more inner or surrounding light, and afterward less, and accordingly, humanity was drawn to one direction, and afterward to the other.

It was a time when we had to find out our attitude to religions, check at what price we were willing to sell ordinary, corporeal Judaism and leave our faith. The human soul consists of four levels: inanimate, vegetative, animate, and human; all these levels also need to be scrutinized.

Therefore, the matter did not reach the wisdom of Kabbalah and our duty to humanity,  the revelation that we have a higher mission than the simple traditional fulfillment of the commandments.

This was a period of scrutiny that continues today. Until recently, people in America thought that the modern emancipation and assimilation of Jews would help them dissolve into American society. It really seemed that it was possible to do this: there was almost no pressure or outright anti-Semitism. If there was some rejection, it was very intelligent and hidden.

Many Jews in America, as they once did in Germany, thought that anti-Semitism could be eliminated by even greater assimilation in American society because the problem is caused by the fact that the Jews are not sufficiently dissolved in Americans. It turns out that 3,500 years ago in the time of Abraham, the nation of Israel emerged from all the nations, from Ancient Babylon, and today, being in modern Babylon, we want to return and assimilate among the nations. This will be the end of us.

However, we fail to understand that the choice is now becoming more spiritual. After all, there are no big problems with corporeal differences: customs, the philosophy of Judaism, and education. In the modern world, everything is mixed up.

The question arises: Why is modern anti-Semitism rising and increasing everywhere, all over the world? This does not apply to culture, education, or statehood; it is a completely illogical, irrational, universal phenomenon that is above nature.
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/9/20, ”The Jewish Choice: Unity or Anti-Semitism,” Chapter 6

² Minute 43:00

The Jewish Choice: Unity Or Anti-Semitism—Not A Simple Connection

The connection that Kabbalah offers as a solution to all problems is not as simple as it may seem at first glance. Initially, this topic can cause confusion and misunderstanding. If we look at our historical path, was it always beneficial for the people of Israel to connect? On one hand, connection is good. But it is important at what level it occurs.

Perhaps we are shutting ourselves off from all others by this connection? Or are we selfishly connecting to escape corporeal problems? Or are we connected in order to fulfill our spiritual mission toward the whole world? The people of Israel can connect in different ways, and accordingly their connection must be evaluated, otherwise we will get confused when it is for the good and when it is harmful. There were many periods in history when Jews connected among themselves, but this connection only demonstrated how much it was not for the benefit of the general process of correction.

On one hand, we exist in the corporeal world, but on the other hand, we must achieve our spiritual purpose while we still are in this world. What matters is the purpose for which we are coming closer to each other, and also the purpose for which we are moving away from each other. Both can be beneficial and harmful. It is impossible to judge our closeness or separation unambiguously, but only in relation to the purpose of creation.
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah lesson 1/9/20, ”The Jewish Choice: Unity or Anti-Semitism,” Chapter 6

¹ Minute 0:20

The Meaning Of Kabbalistic Books, Part 8

Can The Book of Zohar relieve misfortune?

Question: It is said by the sages that the study of The Book of Zohar eliminates all misfortunes. How can a book save every person and all humanity from problems?

Answer: The Book itself does not save us from anything. I cannot buy this book and use it, as the townsfolk believe, like a talisman or some miraculous means (Segula). It doesn’t work that way.

The Book of Zohar saves us if we use it correctly, and, by studying it, we try to change ourselves in accordance with it. If we just keep it on a shelf or even put it close to our heart, nothing will change.

Question: But psychologically will it help?

Answer: Psychologically, yes.

I do not dismiss the fact that such psychological assistance is very important to a person. For a small, fragile, weak person in our world, it is very important. However, from a scientific point of view, it is of no use.
[252396]
From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 12/18/18

The Meaning Of Kabbalistic Books, Part 7

Three Limitations in the Study of Kabbalah

Comment: Baal HaSulam writes that in order to begin to study his commentary on The Book of Zohar or The Book of Zohar itself, you must first familiarize yourself with the four prefaces written by him: “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” “Preface to the Sulam Commentary,” “Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” and “Preface to The Book of Zohar. ”

Answer: Yes. It is impossible to approach reading The Book of the Zohar without a serious study of these four prefaces.

Question: In addition, Baal HaSulam writes that before proceeding with the study of The Book of Zohar, three limitations must be clarified, which cannot be violated. In spiritual attainment, there are four categories that are called: matter, form dressed in matter, abstract form and essence. The Book of Zohar does not deal with such concepts as essence and abstract form. What is this limitation?

Answer: It is impossible to deal with the essence at all since it is above our nature.

We cannot deal with the abstract form because it is not a science.

We only deal with matter, which takes some form.

For example, we study egoism, which can acquire certain egoistic or anti-egoistic, altruistic forms. We can put on these forms and examine them because we ourselves are the matter that takes on these forms.

It is impossible to explore something outside yourself, in particular, such a substance as the Creator. Only if He appears as a person and manifests itself in the form of some property: love, bestowal.

Question: The second limitation—Baal HaSulam says that The Book of Zohar considers only the worlds of Beria, Yetzira, and Assiya, that is, the concealment of the upper force from creation. Why?

Answer: We can only investigate what manifests in matter, and what is above it, abstract forms, abstract forces unclothed in matter, we cannot discuss them because they are absolutely unprovable and unrealistic.

Question: So there are five worlds and Baal HaSulam speaks only about three worlds?

Answer: Yes. He speaks only of those worlds where we exist: Beria, Yetzira, and Assiya.

Question: The third limitation—in each of the worlds BYA, there are three categories: ten Sefirot, the souls of people, and the rest of reality. The Book of Zohar explains phenomena associated only with people. What does this mean?

Answer: We should be interested only in what concerns us and what is clothed in us, and we can explore this from our practical comprehension.

We must see the limitations very clearly. A step to the left, a step to the right beyond the limits of our desire, which takes on various forms, turns us into philosophers and psychologists, but not scientists. Kabbalah is a purely a practical science.
[252352]
From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 12/18/18

The Meaning Of Kabbalistic Books, Part 8

Can The Book of Zohar relieve misfortune?

Question: It is said by the sages that the study of The Book of Zohar eliminates all misfortunes. How can a book save every person and all humanity from problems?

Answer: The Book itself does not save us from anything. I cannot buy this book and use it, as the townsfolk believe, like a talisman or some miraculous means (Segula). It doesn’t work that way.

The Book of Zohar saves us if we use it correctly, and, by studying it, we try to change ourselves in accordance with it. If we just keep it on a shelf or even put it close to our heart, nothing will change.

Question: But psychologically will it help?

Answer: Psychologically, yes.

I do not dismiss the fact that such psychological assistance is very important to a person. For a small, fragile, weak person in our world, it is very important. However, from a scientific point of view, it is of no use.
[252396]
From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 12/18/18

The Meaning Of Kabbalistic Books, Part 7

Three Limitations in the Study of Kabbalah

Comment: Baal HaSulam writes that in order to begin to study his commentary on The Book of Zohar or The Book of Zohar itself, you must first familiarize yourself with the four prefaces written by him: “Introduction to the Science of Kabbalah,” “Preface to the Sulam Commentary,” “Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” and “Preface to The Book of Zohar. ”

Answer: Yes. It is impossible to approach reading The Book of the Zohar without a serious study of these four prefaces.

Question: In addition, Baal HaSulam writes that before proceeding with the study of The Book of Zohar, three limitations must be clarified, which cannot be violated. In spiritual attainment, there are four categories that are called: matter, form dressed in matter, abstract form and essence. The Book of Zohar does not deal with such concepts as essence and abstract form. What is this limitation?

Answer: It is impossible to deal with the essence at all since it is above our nature.

We cannot deal with the abstract form because it is not a science.

We only deal with matter, which takes some form.

For example, we study egoism, which can acquire certain egoistic or anti-egoistic, altruistic forms. We can put on these forms and examine them because we ourselves are the matter that takes on these forms.

It is impossible to explore something outside yourself, in particular, such a substance as the Creator. Only if He appears as a person and manifests itself in the form of some property: love, bestowal.

Question: The second limitation—Baal HaSulam says that The Book of Zohar considers only the worlds of Beria, Yetzira, and Assiya, that is, the concealment of the upper force from creation. Why?

Answer: We can only investigate what manifests in matter, and what is above it, abstract forms, abstract forces unclothed in matter, we cannot discuss them because they are absolutely unprovable and unrealistic.

Question: So there are five worlds and Baal HaSulam speaks only about three worlds?

Answer: Yes. He speaks only of those worlds where we exist: Beria, Yetzira, and Assiya.

Question: The third limitation—in each of the worlds BYA, there are three categories: ten Sefirot, the souls of people, and the rest of reality. The Book of Zohar explains phenomena associated only with people. What does this mean?

Answer: We should be interested only in what concerns us and what is clothed in us, and we can explore this from our practical comprehension.

We must see the limitations very clearly. A step to the left, a step to the right beyond the limits of our desire, which takes on various forms, turns us into philosophers and psychologists, but not scientists. Kabbalah is a purely a practical science.
[252352]
From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 12/18/18

The Meaning Of Kabbalistic Books, Part 6

Reasons for the Appearance of The Book of Zohar

Question: The Book of Zohar is a commentary on the Torah. Why did it have to be written?

Answer: Circumstances changed.

There were stages when groups of Kabbalists who were in a state of attainment, that is, a gradual rise from the beginning of the creation of egoism to its relatively complete development, as during the Second Temple, fell. The Book of Zohar was written in the second century AD in a state when a fall had already occurred. There were no groups, no nations; there was nothing called holiness, meaning a sense of at least relative unity. Everything was destroyed, crushed, split. Therefore, a technique was needed to crown this dark period of suffering, called the exile, which should end in correction.

The Book of Zohar is intended for the period separated from its writing to our time by a two-thousand-year exile so that, starting from our time onward, we begin to implement what is written in it, meaning to correct ourselves.

In our generation, we have been awarded The Sulam Commentary on The Book of Zohar. Therefore, we can reveal Kabbalah and begin to understand what the great Kabbalists Rabbi Shimon and his students said two thousand years ago.

Question: Are you saying that without the commentary written by the last Kabbalist of the 20th century, Baal HaSulam (Yehuda Ashlag) it is impossible to understand the Zohar?

Answer: Impossible. Therefore, it appeared.
[252306]
From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 12/18/18

The Meaning Of Kabbalistic Books, Part 1

The Many Faces of the Torah

Question: When we open the Torah, we find a collection of historical stories with many characters. How should we correctly relate to them?

Answer: If the Torah did not come from a special source but was an ordinary book written, suppose by a person in the Middle Ages, then it would just be an interesting historical novel.

The Torah itself is presented in very interesting language, and when you start reading it, you cannot stop, because it captivates you. There is something in it that makes you never get tired of reading it.

I speak of this as an ordinary reader who has nothing to do with the origin of this book, religion, history, geography, or with anything else. It is just written in an interesting style.

Some perceive the Torah as a historical document, others as fiction, or, perhaps, as a collection of instructions or legal documents. It contains a lot of information about the interaction of people and nations in ancient times, about their view of the world.

In general, the Torah is a very interesting book. We see something similar in Josephus Flavius, if it is possible to compare the Torah and his works at all. To some extent, he retells the Torah and describes it as a historian.

Josephus is a truly stunning historian with a broad outlook and a deep knowledge of historical facts. He wrote his works while in exile in Rome where a huge institute was created especially for him, where hundreds of people worked for him.

But all the same, what he wrote cannot be compared with the Torah itself.
[251953]
From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah” 12/18/18

The Bitcoin Phenomenon

The day will come when, by virtue of a new quality of interconnection between us, a new “currency” will emerge.

Below is a seven-year graph showing the Bitcoin-USD exchange rate, with an unprecedented rise in 2017 (Buy Bitcoin Worldwide).

Impressive, isn’t it?

Obviously, I am not a market analyst or expert on cryptocurrencies. However, Bitcoin is certainly not just a financial phenomenon. It is founded upon the attempt to create a completely new type of universal value.

It would seem that there is nothing backing the “virtual currency” except cryptographic algorithms. However, that is no laughing matter. After all, cryptography is intended to provide reliability and trust, which is already valuable in itself. It is as if the creators of the new coin are declaring: human nature with its “baggage” has no access to our territory.

The modern financial system cannot boast of having this feature; there, money is produced by banks and is a factor of the political and economic influences of specific countries and organizations. In other words, the “old” money serves very specific interests.

On the other hand, right before our eyes, a new, extra-governmental, extra-historical currency is being born, setting claim to becoming a universal, absolute equivalent, and even to driving gold out of its immovable position.

It is being born because the need for it is ripe. After all, globalization, which many people criticize, really is a natural phenomenon. It reflects the current state of humanity, which has already gathered into one whole technologically, but has not yet accepted this fact psychologically.

That is why we don’t yet understand how to use the cryptocurrency, how to integrate it into the system, and how it will later influence us, the ones who created it. However, that does not change its essence: the global world is demanding a global monetary equivalent that does not depend on local, subjective “circumstances” and interests.

On the other hand, if we treat this novelty like in the olden times, with traditional means, it will lose its “charm”—its objective value as seen by the public. Yes, in the beginning of the road, Bitcoin became a convenient means for deals on the black market, which found a way in here, yet the completely legal “financial mafia” will put an end to it and will find a way to secure a grip on the new coin.

Will the illegal players be able to preserve the freedom of the cryptocurrency? One way or another, its future depends on that. There are chances for that to happen since governments and banks are also connected to the “financial mafia.”

However, if we rise above the current fuss surrounding Bitcoin, we will see how egoism on a global scale is gradually building the respective global systems for itself, and in a way that does not attach artificial ideals and ideologies to them.

There is no “good” or “evil” here, but only business in the pure form. And what difference does it make if the reciprocal trust of the parties is provided by virtual computer computations? On the contrary, that makes it even better; there will be fewer errors in the calculations.

It turns out that we are talking about global trends and, for the most part, it makes no sense to resist them.

Moreover, in the future we will develop additional universal parameters, but ones of a social nature. The day will come when, by virtue of a new quality of interconnection between us, a new “currency” will emerge—social rating, expressed by a clear equivalent that anyone can understand.

People will be able to accumulate it as well, but not sell or buy it. It is more likely to have a comparative nature while having completely real value.

After all, society, especially one that is global, cannot be based on just bare egoism alone. Of course, it is rational in its own way, but when left to its own devices, it leads to a dead-end. The social aspect in man and society must take the upper hand over self-focus so the whole will not fall apart into pieces.

These are the paradigms of a new time, whose essence is not a single currency, but new relationships between people in a united, modern world.
[218214]

Ynet: “Excuse Me, What Are We Guilty Of?”

From my column in Ynet: “Excuse Me, What Are We Guilty Of?”

Elul is the last month on the Hebrew calendar, so it is considered a month for reflection about the past year and preparation for the new year. For what and why should we ask forgiveness, and how must we act when the reason is discovered? Rav Michael Laitman teaches how to really forgive.

14 billion years ago, the Big Bang occurred, and the universe was created. An enormous amount of energy that was concentrated into one tiny point exploded in every direction, and the universe began to expand at a tremendous speed. The many particles that were created gathered into atoms, and the atoms into stars and galaxies. Billions of years after that, the inanimate planet Earth was formed, and plants and animals developed on it until the birth of humanity.

Man lived peacefully and calmly, in balance with the rest of humanity and the forces of nature, until suddenly another explosion occurred. “The Big Bang of humanity” shattered the pastoral unity in human society, and began to distance people from each other, similar to the way stars in the universe continue to drift apart.

The negative, egoistic, and unconscious force of separation that operated to make distance between us was identified for the first time by a human being named Adam. He understood that he must heal the rift between his contemporaries. Since he was the first to bring a substantial change in the system of broken relationships between people, we have a custom of celebrating his discovery on Rosh HaShanah.

14 billion years ago, the Big Bang happened, and the universe was created

Since then, 5,777 years have passed. We count them according to the Hebrew calendar, and every year we are accustomed to reexamining the essence of our lives and our role in this world. One of the questions that can help us to define our situation is: have we become closer to each other this year above our natural tendency that separates us, or haven’t we? This soul-searching is called Slichot (asking for forgivenesses), and to internalize its meaning, we must go on a short journey through time.

Introducing the Israeli Team

Twenty generations have passed since that human being developed his observations and was called Adam HaRishon (The First Man) and until most of humanity settled in the center of the ancient world, ancient Babylon.

In this period, two natural opposing forces were working on humanity: the force of connection, the positive force that strives to develop society by maintaining connections of mutual responsibility, and opposite it, the force of separation, the negative force that is controlled by the egoistic nature. The negative force is what distanced and separated the inhabitants of Babylon to a previously unfamiliar level until, finally, they stopped talking to each other and became enemies. These opposing forces of nature that clashed with each other caused a difficult crisis, but just as a plant sprouts from a seed in the ground that cracks open, so from the crisis between people, a new humanity was born.

The social rift continued to develop, and humanity was scattered over the face of the Earth. Only a small group of people decided to defy the forces of nature and actually oppose the process of separation. Burning within these people was an inner drive that compelled them to connect with each other.

This chosen group called itself “Israel” because their desire to be Yashar – El (straight to God), like the characteristic of the whole and eternal force of nature. Elsewhere, they were called “Hebrews” (Ivrim) because they already had moved (Avar) toward acting according to the laws of nature, or “Jews” (Yehudim) because they were acting to unite(Yichud) and harmonize with nature.

At the head of this group stood Abraham, an uncompromising researcher who was searching for the meaning of life. He was the first to identify the reason for the crisis: the developing egoism that separates and puts distance between people. Abraham urged his students to be strong, to rise up, and to strengthen the spirit of unity with all of their might above the terrible schism. Their efforts to connect aroused a positive force inherent in nature. This force balanced the negative tendency and connected them with a strong bond that was called “one man in one heart.” From these efforts, Abraham developed a method for connection that he taught to all who came to him. This method made it possible for the members of the group to begin to develop a system of relationships between them based upon giving, love, and mutual responsibility that they called Beit HaMikdash (Temple).

The Turning Point in Human History

Once the children of Israel reached a maximum level of connection between them, the situation deteriorated, and the connections weakened. They understood that in order to strengthen the connections between them, they needed to be connected to their Babylonian brothers who had dispersed and become the seventy nations of the world. Brotherly love was replaced by unfounded hatred, leading not only to the destruction of the system of relationships of the “Temple,” but also the destruction of the physical Temple and continued with the crash of the united kingdom of Israel. The force of ego continued to divide the Babylonians and sowed hatred in every direction.

A Good and Sweet Year.

For 2,000 years, the Jews assimilated among the nations of the world. On the one hand, the spark that Abraham sowed in the people of Israel began to flourish in the heart of humanity, and on the other hand, the Jews absorbed new egoistic desires and opinions. The conclusion of the global merging marks the starting point for a real process that is leading to a turning point in human history.

Slichah, the Error Between Reality and Desire

In the global and connected world of our day, the people of Israel and the seventy nations of the world are immersed together in a common trouble, a bit like Adam HaRishon 5,777 years ago, or Abraham 3,500 years ago. The dramatic crisis that has visited us today is the result of the same imbalance between the opposing forces of nature. The ego creates conflict and division, and causes us to become distant from each other. In contrast, the power of connection develops people, mending the broken parts into a complete, harmonious system.

In the first generations, we did not understand how the forces of nature operated because we didn’t have the tools in our hands for doing this, but once a point of connection was first created in Babylon, we were required to strengthen and develop it when faced with all of the states of separation. Abraham left us a method and a mission: to provide the world with the power of connection until it reaches a harmonious and balanced state.

In order not to make a mistake on the way to the destiny that nature has placed before us, we need to carry out a daily house cleaning and examine in depth how much we have advanced toward connection between us and whether we are still on our way toward the same network of complete connection that Adam HaRishon discovered.

This essential clarification is called Slichot, the discovery of the gap between the forces of nature that aim toward unity and our unwillingness to unite. It is symbolically customary before Rosh HaShanah for us to clarify together the degree to which we are acting in accord with the laws of nature of the entire system. Regarding this, we confess that, “We are guilty, we have betrayed, we have robbed …” and we regret the opportunity that was in our hands to realize the connection between us and we did not do it. Now is the right time to consider a new path toward connection.

I hope, wish, and pray for a year of change, a year of building a system of correct relationships between us.

Happy new year to all of the people of Israel!
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Ynet: “How Do We Build Jerusalem If There Is A Ruin In Our Heart?”

Jerusalem, the Temple Mount, and the Temple embody within them much more than what comes to mind when we first think about them. Their spiritual meaning leads us to the necessary understanding that the connection between us is not only for our sake, but for the sake of all of humanity.

Forty-nine years ago, paratroopers entered Jerusalem, liberated the Old City, and united it. It seems that there is no city in the world in which every stone within it is steeped in a history so important to the shaping of the human species. The city that gives hope to an entire people is today the focus of outrageous announcements devoid of all logic from UNESCO, that “the Jewish people have no religious connection with the Temple Mount and the Western Wall.”

International organizations are trying to sever the connection between the Jewish people and their heritage. The EU intervenes in every activity in the city, and given the pace of events, don’t be surprised if the enlightened world wakes up tomorrow morning and decides that Jerusalem is not connected to the nation of Israel, and this doesn’t just mean the separation of East Jerusalem.

Tireless efforts and money are invested in creating a false consciousness, which must awaken this question in the heart of each one of us: How can it be that the capital of Israel—an ancient city that encompasses within it the abundant history of the people of Israel, our religion, and our culture, the city in which two Temples were built and, unfortunately, also were destroyed—is liable to be erased from the map of the land of Israel? In general, from where has such a decisive opposition popped up among the nations of the world to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel? What does this say about the negative attitude toward us as a people?

We Have the Key to the Gates

The wisdom of Kabbalah maintains that the reason for this persecution lies in our not having realized our role as a people, a role that is rooted within us from the nature of creation, upon whose basis the people of Israel were established. According to ancient wisdom, humanity is connected by a network of mutual links. Within this network, the people of Israel were intended to be “a light unto the nations[FD1] ,” which is to say, connected so that the positive force that is inherent in nature would stream into the world and function to connect people and nations.

The world subconsciously feels that the source of all evil and the root of the suffering that it is experienced is derived directly from the fact that the people of Israel are not realizing their role. This feeling continues to bubble up more and more, and is crystallizing into an agenda that is expressed in the attempts to boycott the nation of Israel. Voices from the international community are calling for a recognition that the world was mistaken when it allowed the establishment of the Jewish nation in the Middle East and that perhaps the hour has arrived to take back the scepter.

Rav Yehudah Ashlag (Baal HaSulam) writes:

“Judaism must present something new to the nations. This is what they expect from the return of Israel to the land! It is not in other teachings, for in that we never innovated. In them, we have always been their disciples. Rather, it is the wisdom of religion, justice, and peace. In this, most nations are our disciples, and this wisdom is attributed to us alone. …”

“This would certainly prove to the nations the rightness of Israel’s return to their land, even to the Arabs. However, a secular return such as today’s does not impress the nations whatsoever, and we must fear lest they will sell Israel’s independence for their needs, needless to mention returning Jerusalem.” (Rav Yehudah Ashlag (Baal HaSulam), “The Writings of the Last Generation,” Part 1, Section 12, pp. 75-76.).

UNESCO, the UN, the EU, and the rest of the international bodies that protect us are a kind of reflection for us of the lack of fulfillment of our function. In other words, we are determining our fate with our own hands. If the world is exhibiting so much hatred and anti-Semitism toward us that it denies the connection between our people and our home, it depends only upon us. In our hands is the choice to decide the future of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, for better or for worse. All that is up to us to do is to decide to implement an essential change in the interpersonal relationships between us, connecting as “one man in one heart” instead of each person being concerned only about himself. As a result of the positive force that we create among us, we balance the forces of separation and bring to completion the system of connection between people. The forces of connection between us also will permeate the nations of the world and oblige them to begin a similar process as well, to connect and recognize us as the origin of connection and goodness.

“The built-up Jerusalem is like a city that was joined together within itself.” (Psalms 122:3)

According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, there is a parallel and direct connection between the system called the spiritual land of Israel and the state of the physical land of Israel. The desire (Ratzon -רצון) that is in the heart of a person is called Eretz -ארץ, the land of Israel (Eretz Yisrael – ), which has a desire Yashar El (Straight to God), meaning that it has narcissistic desires, but only love for others (The Writings of Rabash). “Jerusalem – ירושלים” comes from the words “Ir Shalem” (Perfect/Whole City) and Irah – יראה (Fear), a city that is built on the fear of separation, representing the sense of necessity in preserving the perfected connection between us.

In the center of the shared fear of Israel, right in the heart of the connection between us, a unique spiritual stratum is revealed that is called the Temple Mount. In it, we build the Temple, a term for a more internal connection between us, a shared desire for love. The moment we stop striving for inner connection, the links begin to unravel, and the people of Israel are expelled. When the roots hidden in the earth are uprooted, this kills the entire tree. That is how the first Temple was destroyed, that is how the second Temple was destroyed, and that is how it has continued until today. And this is not the destruction of a building constructed from wood and stone, but the destruction of the network of love  between us that connects into one. This is because “The house [Jerusalem] was ruined because of unfounded hatred” (Rabbi Israel Segal, Netzah Israel, Chapter 4).

The same general rule applies in our day, “According to the connection of the people of Israel and their awakening to love and fear, Jerusalem is built” (Koznitzer Maggid). Jerusalem will be built only when we establish it first in our hearts with corrected relationships of connection and love. Until then, the unfounded hatred will continue, and Jerusalem will remain as a ruined capital until then, as a torn city full of conflict and bloodshed, for instead of a place where love dwells, after the destruction, the power of separation and hatred dominates.

“The Messiah sits in the gate of Jerusalem and waits for people to be worthy of redemption. He is in cuffs and needs complete people to release him from his chains. …now he craves men of truth” (Sayings of Rabbi Menachem Mendel). The wisdom of Kabbalah, the wisdom of truth, is a method that teaches us how to connect and apply the general rule, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18). With the help of the power of connection, we can realize our role as a nation and restore the spiritual concept of Jerusalem to its full glory.

Then, Jerusalem will become the capital of love for all of humanity. As it is written, “In the future, Jerusalem will be like all of Israel, and Israel will be the entire world” (the Yalkut Shimoni). Then the world will understand the words of the prophets: “…for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples” (Isaiah 56:7), and “for they shall all know Me from their smallest to their greatest” (Jeremiah 31:33 ).
What else did the sages of Kabbalah write about Jerusalem?
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From Ynet article 6/2/16