A Limousine As A Gift To A Sworn Enemy

From an article by Rabash, “What Is the Blessing, ‘…who has made for me a miracle in this place’ in the work?”: As it is written, “We were Pharaoh’s bondmen in Egypt” (Deuteronomy 6:21), being that they endured suffering in Egypt and it also says, “…and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage….” (Exodus 2:23), so the idea of the Mitzvah (commandment) “Remembrance of Egypt” was given to us, as it is written, “…that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life” (Deuteronomy 16:3).

This is not saying that the slavery in Egypt was difficult; rather, the difficulty was in the inability to bestow. I am ready to work and do everything necessary, but I don’t see that in some way I will at least bestow to the Creator through this. This is called, “exile” and “slavery.”

Pharaoh siphons all the results of my labor from me; everything goes to him. This doesn’t speak about the difficulty of the work, but about its result. After all, I cannot give the Creator any satisfaction. “The children of Israel sighed” because of that, and not because their work was difficult.

Without any connection to the difficulty of the work, it is difficult for me to see that I am not ready to bestow to the Creator in at least some way. This is a very important discernment. The cry was not from fatigue and exhaustion from the work; rather, this is only speaking about the relationship with the Creator. After all, I see that my sworn hater takes all of my effort.

This is a very strong feeling. Imagine that everything that you earned in this world went to your most hated enemy. Let’s say that you saved up some money for a period of time; you dreamed of buying a limousine and suddenly you see that there is no money and your neighbor is driving a new limousine.

Comment: The greatest frustration in the seven years of famine is that you continue to do the same work; you invest in the group and in dissemination as in the seven years of plenty, and you know that Pharaoh will get all the results and you will be even more discouraged.

Answer: No, you think that you are working “for the sake of bestowal.” And in the end, when you vigorously did all of this work with love and devotion, it suddenly turns out that all of this was for your sake and the Creator didn’t get anything. Nothing is considered to be bestowal and you are an even worse egoist than before. This is the slavery in exile.

And the problem is not that this cost you a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, but rather that the result didn’t reach the right destination, that the Creator didn’t get any satisfaction. And I am not sorry because He didn’t get any pleasure from me; rather, it is because through my action I didn’t succeed in giving Him satisfaction (even though I am in concealment from Him). A person climbs the ladder of detachment from himself and sees how much Pharaoh doesn’t let him bestow.

Question: I can’t imagine how it is possible to be detached from Pharaoh so that all the fruits of my labor will go to the Creator.

Answer: If part of your heart is found with the Creator, then you will feel this, like with your children and people who are close to you. Therefore it is said, “As one person with one heart.”
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/2/14, Writings of Rabash

More Precious Than The Whole Universe

The Torah, “Exodus” 39:33: Now they brought the Mishkan to Moses, the tent and all its furnishings, its clasps, its planks, its bars, its pillars and its sockets.

Moses is the point in the heart, which manages the construction of the Tabernacle (correction of the desires). Everything was created around this point in the heart and was brought allegorically with the words: “And they brought the tabernacle unto Moses.”

The “point in the heart” that is implanted in us has its root in the Creator. Thanks to that, we begin to adapt all of our egoistic characteristics to it, which are called “gold,” “silver,” “jewelry,” and so forth, to create the vessel of bestowal around it.

The establishment of the Tabernacle (Mishkan) for the Creator was more precious than the creation of the universe. The universe was created simply by a word from the mouth of the Creator, whereas the Tabernacle was created as a result of the effort of the greatTzadikkim (righteous), Moses, Bezalel…and all of the children of Israel. And why is the Tabernacle comparable to heaven and earth?

But what is heaven and earth witnesses on Israel, as it is written: “I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day….” (Deuteronomy 30:19), whereas the Tabernacle testifies about Israel, as it is said: “These are the accounts of the tabernacle, even the tabernacle of the testimony….” (Exodus 38:21). So it is said: “Lord, I love the habitation of Thy house, and the place where Thy glory dwelleth” (Psalms 26:8), and so forth. (Midrash Rabbah, “Exodus,” “Pekudei”).

The Tabernacle was the creation of the man in a person, so his creation is more precious to the Creator than the entire universe.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 10/16/13

Looking For Someone To Bestow Upon

Question: Why is it important to participate in dissemination and to be incorporated in the desires of the public? You say that if a person misses an opportunity he is given, he actually steals his own chance to advance.

Answer: One cannot be a serious student if he does not “continue” in the public. If he doesn’t, he has no spiritual vessel. I have to be connected to the upper, to the Creator, and also to the lower level in order to have someone who can receive from me and someone I can bestow upon. I am in the middle, the level of Bina, and below is my Malchut.

It is impossible to work without this lower level. The more massive it is compared to me, the more attractive it is and the more it obliges me—like little chicks with open mouths or children who are crying and demanding from mom—the better. I need to feel the pressure from them; I need them to come to me and demand.

First I come to them, but then they come to me and unbalance me. Then I have no choice but to raise their deficiencies to the Creator. They ask for food and peace in the family, and I ask the Creator for the Surrounding Light.

I need them because otherwise with what can I turn to the Creator? I mustn’t ask for myself because I am the level of Bina and cannot worry about myself. If I don’t receive deficiencies from the outside, I will have no opportunity to turn to the Creator.

Therefore, dissemination is important for a person’s well being. Otherwise, he will not raise MAN (a prayer) and will not receive anything from above. The level of Bina is absolutely neutral. It doesn’t want anything; it is absolute bestowal, Hafetz Hesed. Therefore we must go out to the public.

Our world is absolutely managed from Above, and we could easily pull it behind us even with the spiritual power we have now. But this heaviness is intentional so that we will ask the upper Light for the people. This is the reason that so much pain was sent to them and this is the reason that all the nations blame Israel for their problems.

We have to be incorporated in everyone’s desires and to ask the Creator for them and pass on His response to the people so that they will feel good. Then they will depend on us since we convey the upper Light to them, the filling, the force, the way. Unless we connect this whole chain in which we are the central part while the Creator is from Above and the created beings are from below, things will be bad for us and for the world.

This is the reason that dissemination is so important and without it there is nothing we can do and no way we can advance. I turn to all my students all over the world: You must understand this simple drawing!

Everyone must disseminate, as it says: “I have learned much from my teachers, more from my friends, and most of all from my students.” To learn means to receive a deficiency and to ask for a filling for it from Above. Everything is received only from Above.

When I go out to the public I feel that I must fill them since I have promised them. These are not promises of politicians before the elections that are usually forgotten the next day. Here you cannot forget your promises because you absorb their deficiencies inside you and have to process them into the demand for the Light.

You feel fear and awe because nothing can help them but the Surrounding Light. You cannot give them what they want by yourself. You have nothing, and this forces you to raise a prayer. It is impossible to connect to the Creator otherwise.

This is called from the love of the created beings to the love of the Creator. The love of the created beings is aimed downward toward the people and the love of the Creator is aimed upward, and there cannot be one without the other. There is nothing you can turn to the Creator with other than the deficiency of others.

Dissemination is a gift from Above. We are suddenly given such an opportunity. When we go out to the public and explain to people that we have to be united, we receive from them the need to turn to the Creator even though their desires are totally corporeal.
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From 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/14/14, Writings of Rabash

Everything Is Closed In One Circle

Question: What is the unity of friends that Rabash talks about?

Answer: Unity is when we clarify the teacher’s advice among us and examine it according to the sources in order to grow stronger and then to fulfill them together when we are equally connected. We try to make the connection between us into a mutual force field in which everyone is equally connected and focused in the right direction when everyone helps one another in mutual guarantee in order to reveal the attribute of bestowal among us, the force of bestowal that operates all of reality and is external to us.

We ascend from below wishing to establish this attribute by our desires, our vessels. We want this attribute to be dressed in us and to be revealed in the vessel according to the equivalence of form. All this happens between us. This is how we want to attain all the levels of our general soul, which we now build between us.

Then we will have to attach all of humanity to this unity so that our small circle would grow bigger from internality to externality. We will discover all the levels of the desire in it—0, 1, 2, 3, 4— and all the Lights—Nefesh, Ruach, Haya, Yechida—all the 125 levels that determine the intensity of the connection between us if we attach all the other shattered parts.

It is a very clear picture. Everything is closed in one small circle, in its central point.

Comment: The picture is clear, but I cannot fulfill this connection with the friends.

Answer: Of course you can’t because you have to add the Creator to the connection. He is the one who stands in your way and doesn’t let you connect. You are used to doing everything by yourself in our world. You depend on your mind and your feelings, on your energy and your power, but in spirituality you cannot do anything but discover a deficiency and aim it at the One who performs everything, at the operating force.

Don’t forget that! Have you ever thought of connecting to a group of egoists and attaining everything? This is called “the seat of the scornful,” and this is clearly no way of attaining anything.

You sit and cry that nothing works out, which means that you discover that you cannot do the work and that you need a partner. It is through the group and the teacher that you feel the need for a partner that has to help you. Then your prayer will solve the problem.

All you need to do is to reach the right request. This has to do be a prayer of many in which everyone connects to the same goal and understand that only the Creator can fulfill it; only the Light corrects the vessels, which means that only the Light connects them. If there is the right demand ( more or less), it is fulfilled.

The factor of time operates here as many pennies add up to a big account. In the mean time, we have to go through additional phases of scrutiny and clear up different concepts, and then it will happen.
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From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/26/14

Independence Day: The Beginning Of The Redemption Of Humanity

The great Kabbalist, Baal HaSulam, considered the Independence Day of Israel to be a sacred holiday because he saw in it the beginning of the complete redemption of humanity and its ascent to the level of the Creator.

Question: For most people, this holiday embodies the independence of the Jewish nation.

Answer: There is no such thing as a nation that can be absolutely independent. We see that everyone in the entire world depends upon each other and a person depends upon other people because he cannot live by himself. So it is impossible to call our physical existence independent.

Independence can be attained only when you are in complete contact with those forces that determine your existence and you know how to manage them. Then, it is still possible to speak about some kind of independence, even though this concept is too facile. No one can be independent! Even a stone depends upon the environmental conditions that surround it.

A person’s independence can be discovered only when he feels full dependence and finds within it the possibility of being independent. Basically, this is a psychological intention. If a person is in the right, good, and eternal connection with all the parameters that influence and act upon him, then he is considered independent. He depends upon them completely, but because he begins to determine their relationship to him by himself, he is independent.

It is said that the Creator is good and benevolent, and in His system there is nothing that can cause us harm. But a person, himself, invites actions and negative influences within himself because he is not compatible with the system of the Creator. This means that in order to become independent from himself, he needs to correct himself and adapt himself to the level of the Creator; in other words, he must change to become good and benevolent, and then nothing will frighten him. He would be in a field of positive forces. Only in this  form are we independent! We need to reach this state.

It follows that, on the one hand, this is a state of full resemblance to the Creator, full dependence upon Him, but on the other hand, we also utilize His full dependence in us. This means that we are equal with Him, resemble Him and are absolutely connected with Him, and this is a state of full independence.
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From KabTV’s “A Talk About the Independence Day” 4/2/15

What Is Prophecy?

Prophecy is a level of spiritual attainment. The prophets appeared after the Temple was built when the nation of Israel began the descent from the level they were on. The prophets come after the Torah. After the time of the Torah comes the time of the Prophets, and then there is the time of the Writings.

The state of Prophets was revealed after the nation entered the land of Israel. A prophet is a certain level of connection with the Creator. Basically, every Kabbalist is on that level, but a prophet is a person who reveals the Creator either on the level of Bina or the level of Hochma, according to his internal attainment.

On the level of Bina he says: “I heard,” because Bina symbolizes the spiritual hearing and on the level of the Light of Hochma he says: “I saw,” because Hochma symbolizes spiritual sight.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 12/10/14

The Third Temple For All Of Humanity

Question: An independent state of Israel has existed for several decades. What does Israeli society lack in order to achieve security and full independence?

Answer: Universal education is needed to explain to the people of Israel that it is impossible to achieve any success until we learn to awaken the positive force of nature and, through it, to counterbalance the negative force of our egoism. We must show the world how to use these two forces and thereby constantly maintain our independence.

By doing this for ourselves, we also must think about how to teach this to the entire world. After all, humanity must accomplish the same thing, to be all together at the point of equilibrium between the two opposing forces, in other words, to build the third temple.

The third temple is not a building, but the concept of all of humanity achieving complete balance and harmony.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 4/12/15

How To Achieve True Democracy

Singapore Experiment: The Right Dictatorship

Question: In March this year, Lee Kuan Yew, one of the founders of the “Singapore economic miracle,” died. On an empty spot on the edge of a swampy Malaysia, with nothing around but an English military base, within a short period of 50 years, the most prosperous nation in the world was established. But in this nation, there is not a speck of democracy in the sense that we understand it in the developed nations. How did this nation succeed in doing what large nations like America and England have done, while maintaining the strictest leadership and dictatorship of law?

Answer: I don’t perceive democracy in the same way as it exists everywhere, or that that deserves to be called a democracy. This is not the rule of the people, but its imitation: A handful of people take control over all the economic, political, social, and military resources; they say there is a democracy, and that they operate in the name of the people.

As long as we are under the influence of internal egoism without the altruistic force of nature to balance it, there cannot be a democracy. A democracy is built on contrast, a counterweight and a balance between two forces, which are positive and negative: our ego and the force of bestowal and love. There is a force of hatred and rejection and a power of attraction and connection, which must be balanced with each other. If the ego is balanced by a positive force, then it cannot be evil. And conversely, love and bestowal without the ego can lead to even worse extremism than the ego.

In other words, we were created in a system that is in a balance of plus and minus, between which what remains is only to ignite some kind of tension that gives the right orientation for all the work of the system. And if the positive force doesn’t exist or it is minimal and exists only in fear of annihilation, then we don’t have the conditions for a democracy. We “fall out” of the system in which the two forces are revealed. And therefore when we exist only in an egoistic system, what is most suitable for us is the correct dictatorship.

If a king rules a nation, then he takes care of his nation, his subjects, he doesn’t annihilate them, and they consider him to be great! He is the master! But in a democratic nation, there is no master. We let an election decide who operates the steering wheel for two, three, or four years, and then what? What do the elite care about what will be after that?! They will not be elected again, so they need to grab everything they can while they are in control.

So the dictatorship in Singapore is a wonderful system of government. Democracy in the form of a Sanhedrin.

Question: I have heard that the correct head of the state should be Kabbalists, who knowing the laws of nature,  will manage it in the interests of the entire society. What will be the basis of the moral drive of their behavior? Wouldn’t they be infected with greed; won’t they want to get rich after they attain control?

Answer: There is a concept such as the Sanhedrin (great assembly), where 120 Kabbalist sages gather, connect in a circle, and discuss all the issues on the agenda. The discussion is not based on differences of opinion, which is typical of our world, where it is believed that truth is born through debate. There is no truth in debate, because from the start it keeps us on a beastly level and we cannot rise above that. And we must rise above ourselves, because our stage can only lead to a higher level. We seem to rise to our next level, from which it is possible to see how to reach it.

This happens when people unite into a single, complete unit in spite of all the differences of opinion, and by annihilating their ego, they reach a common heart and mind together. This is a unique inner tension and practical work. From a state of unity, and only with this, they complement each other; they begin to come to a common opinion. But it is not connected to personal opinions; rather, is felt through a common unity. It is in this form that the system of governance for the nation and the people should be manifested.

How can strife and discord be avoided?

Question: Today many nations are trying to recreate this model to one degree or another. Take for example Turkey, in which the government has gradually become concentrated in the hands of one person, or Russia, that doesn’t even hide that it lives and thrives thanks to one person. There are also a multitude of other examples in less developed nations. Does it follow that the formation of governmental pyramids like this is the only way it is possible for humanity to go? So, where is it possible to take people like these who are satisfied with such a method of management?  And eventually in Singapore, which was not originally corrupt, all the key places became occupied by relatives of Lee Kuan Yew. Ultimately, some kind of caste was created.

Answer: Certainly this model cannot exist forever in an ideal state once bribery, power struggles, and the like begin. For some time it can hold its position on some ideal, but after that, everything deteriorates along the usual egoistic tracks.

Question: How would the Kabbalists avoid reaching this situation in the management of the nation?

Answer: The fact that they are united among themselves, the 120 greatest sages of the people would avoiding conflict and differences of opinion. Specifically in this situation, they would begin to discuss some issue and from their unity, they would receive an answer. After all, the unity between them is their next goal, which they must reach and include all people with them.

Question: Do discussions in circles, which your students organize, constitute a small version of this form of unity?

Answer: Yes. Discussions in the form of roundtables are organized all over the world, not just in Israel. We actively create a gathering, a discussion circle of men and women, who implement the unity by detaching and rising above themselves. Each one invests himself in the others and everyone yearns to be absolutely equal, with none greater or smaller in any way. We aspire to find a precise system of inner balance between us and pursue it so that all will be equal and integrated with each other, will lose himself in our unity, and from “I” will come to a state of “we.” Then, from the state of “we,” come to a state of “one,” as one person with one heart.
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From KabTV’s “Conversations with Michael Laitman” 4/1/15