Hearing The Creator’s Voice

The Torah, “Numbers,” 7:89: When Moses would come into the Tent of Meeting to speak with Him, he would hear the voice speaking to him from the cherubim above the covering which was over the Ark of Testimony, and He spoke to him.

This refers to the state of spiritual contact of the point of Moses in a person with the Creator.

“Voice” refers to the attainment of the Creator by the created being. It is discovered between the two cherubim in the image of birds on the edges of the covering of the Holy Ark which symbolizes the right and the left lines: the attribute of Hassadim (mercy) and the attribute of Din (judgment). When the two lines get close, a person connects the attributes of love and bestowal, egoism and altruism inside him, which operate together for the same unique cause. At the same time the egoism crushes itself under the attribute of love and bestowal.

It is thanks to the rigidity and the sufferings that a person can now truly appreciate the connection, the love and mutual cooperation with the Creator. Otherwise, it is impossible to appreciate this state; it is simply impossible! A person doesn’t have the proper sensations and it is like asking a child: “Kiss me.” He approaches you and automatically pecks your cheek without really feeling anything.

The feelings emerge only if nothing about the past is forgotten and is even revealed more clearly. To the extent that the past appears to a person, he can assume what the near future holds for him because the past and the future have to be balanced and connected in one feeling of the Creator. The Creator appears between the two cherubim, the two opposite lines, the egoism and the altruism. The Godly voice, His revelation, is born between them. It is only the point of Moses in us that is in contact with the Creator and can hear His voice.

Hearing is the attribute of Bina, attaining the attribute of Hochma (sight) is fulfilled throughBina, through the attribute of bestowal. When a person ascends from the attribute of Binato the attribute of Hochma the revelation of the Creator takes place, the contact with Him.

The Tabernacle symbolizes more external attributes that a person has to correct in himself. When the point of Moses is gradually revealed, we begin to delve more deeply into our internal attributes symbolized by the Holy Ark that guards the book of the Torah inside it, the covering of the Holy Ark, the two cherubim at the edges of the covering between which the voice of the Creator is heard. These are all signs of the internal corrections, which we have to gradually perform and reach the state of contact with the Creator who is revealed to us in our understanding, recognition, and attainment, which bring us closer to Him.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 1/28/15

Getting To Know The Plan Of Creation

We are all in a system that operates on with different forces, and as a result, different desires, urges, and thoughts emerge in us.Everything depends on the extent to which we mutually participate with these forces correctly in order to reach a state of balance and harmony with them.

A person is under the pressure of segmented forces, and he must arrange his thoughts and desires and understand where we are headed. We see that everything is advancing very fast in a certain direction, but without a plan. Yet, nature has a very clear and accurate plan that man doesn’t understand. He doesn’t know how nature develops and what it demands of us. We are forced to participate in the evolutionary process together with the still, vegetative, and animate nature that surround us, and at the same time, within ourselves, like all of humanity.

However, we cannot even imagine the forces of our development, their goal and nature’s actual plan. We don’t know what tomorrow may bring, and thus we participate in this process passively.

In order to find the answers to the basic questions about the purpose of human existence and of humanity in our complicated times, we must pay attention to nature that surrounds us and try to understand its plan. Indeed, to date we have already passed along a large portion of the time axis of our development, and we see that we are developing very quickly. Of course, there are different periods, but it is an accelerated process. This acceleration is especially evident lately, and it is very frightening.

Our development takes place under the influence of our egoistic desires to understand and discover everything, to control and manage everything. Moreover, everyone’s egoism—of every nation, of every state, and the entire universal egoism—is only the human ego. All of the other parts of nature—the still, vegetative, and animate—have no egoism. They are managed naturally, instinctively, under the influence of nature’s mechanical laws. They do whatever nature spurs in them. This is the reason that they are not the problem, but it is only mankind. We also can divide mankind into four groups: the masses on the level of the still, vegetative, and animate nature, and human beings, according to their ability to understand the purpose of our existence.

Therefore, first and foremost, we must teach and educate those who are close to the perception and understanding of human nature.
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KabTV’s “Talks with Michael Laitman” 6/1/15

The Ancient Secret Of The Jews

Question: Why is it that throughout history the Jews have been hated so much?

Answer: In different times, various excuses have been cited. After all, the Jews weren’t always accused like they are today for running the world, manipulating everyone through the banks, and enslaving humanity this way. In the past, it was rumored that they were starving people, sending all kinds of infectious diseases, causing corruption and the evil eye, etc. In general, to every normal person it is clear that the Jews had some kind of secret that is impossible to grasp in any way, even if you were to grab them and strongly shake them. It isn’t clear, but they have something of the source that is unusual, and what is unusual is the fact that the Jewish people have succeeded in existing for so many thousands of years.

There are even various theories about their creation. They are different from the rest in that supposedly they came to Earth from a distant star or were created from a different type of ape, etc. There are a multitude of reasons for not liking Jews, and if some kind of negative event happens in the world, then it is always possible to pin this on them. On one hand, it is easy to make them a scapegoat, but on the other hand, there is really something about them that makes people feel that they are to blame for everything.

Among the nations of the world, this is a natural feeling. Suppose that I am not a Jew. I look at them and feel that they have something that we don’t have. It is not clear what it is, but it is there. How can one fight against this? What can one do with it? I don’t know.

The Jewish religion, even though it is the foundation of all religions, is directed against them for some reason. Christians, Muslims, Hindus, and Confucians, all of them, are centered on themselves, whereas, for some reason, the Jews have a relationship with everything.

The Inside Information of the Jews

Question: All people who become dispersed among other peoples must disappear after three generations according to geopolitical laws. Only the Jewish people have held onto their position for not only three generations but for 2,000 years in exile. On one hand, for the length of their existence itself, and on the other hand, the hatred of humanity toward them makes the Jewish people something illogical. Where does this irrational hatred come from?

Answer: From the point of view of the wisdom of Kabbalah, it is because in some way we truly are the source of evil for all of humanity. We have a remedy through which we can make everyone happy, and we not only don’t give it to others, but we also haven’t discovered it ourselves because we don’t know that we are the ones who possess this remedy. The idea is that the method for acquiring happiness is concealed within us and is kept as inside information, as something that could be revealed to the world.

This method has been latent in us from the beginning. We became a people based upon it. Around three and a half thousand years ago in ancient Babylon, we became detached from all of humanity and gathered together to the call of Abraham, “Whoever wants to understand the meaning of life, the essence of what is happening with us, what stopped us from understanding each other and why we built the Tower of Babel, whoever feels that salvation can only be through connection and consolidation, come with me!” That is how we consolidated around him. Moreover, Abraham gathered representatives of completely different tribes who didn’t understand each other and didn’t know what to do. But he explained what was happening to this mixed audience, and he showed them how it is possible to rise above the separation, above the hatred, above all the differences, and connect into a single whole, and this single whole became the Jewish people.

Question: Now, do we carry a genetic memory of this unity within us?

Answer: This is not just a genetic memory. It is a program that plays within us. We are connected to each other according to a particular algorithm, and from our connection, we have understood somehow that it is necessary to continue to develop the idea of mutual connection even though, at every moment, we really want to get out of it.

Question: So were those people who followed Abraham drawn toward this unity?

Answer: They understood through their inner sense that there is a method for salvation here because all of Babylon was in a terrible state and humanity dispersed throughout the world. In his historical writings, Flavius Josephus described in which directions all the various tribes (clans) scattered. Some went east, others to the north, to the south, and so forth, becoming the foundation for the present civilization. However, Abraham gathered tens of thousands around him who had the same outlook and actively showed them how to connect based upon the method of connection circles.

These were practical lessons that included all of the nuances of their common life within them. Abraham took them out of Babylon and led them to the land of Canaan (present day Israel), and with their adaptation to this land, it also was called the “House of Abraham.” They were engaged constantly with connection because, every day, every moment, the aspiration to scatter again appeared in them. After the ego grew in them, rejection constantly flared up between them, and they needed to connect again. So, their method constantly became more sophisticated, despite and thanks to the development of the egoism within them.

To be continued.
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From KabTV’s “About Our Life” 6/4/15

You Cannot Take A Vacation From Yourself

The method of Kabbalah allows us to really achieve a harmonious, balanced state. With its help, we find contentment, not in lowering ourselves from the human to the animate level like during a vacation.

Usually, a person goes on vacation to think about nothing, to disconnect from daily news, that is, to separate himself from human society with its problems.

He doesn’t worry about food or family concerns—only about what to bring pleasure to his physical body: to sunbathe on the beach, swim in the sea, then to have dinner, after dinner a little nap, in the evening to sit in a coffee shop to talk, drink beer or wine, to dance—everything is quiet, serene. The next day is the same thing; a person lowers himself to the level of an animal.

He does not advance anywhere this way, but acts just to benefit his body with comfortable bodily sensations. Nothing but this concerns him. This is the same degree as that of a cat basking in the sun that behaves in the same way.

It is good to relax like this if a person is capable of it. But we are approaching such forms of development of the world where a person cannot be satisfied with this.

On the other hand, life will become so difficult that we will not be able to afford to go on vacation. The crisis will intensify. The times when people took time off and traveled around the globe will be over. All the hotels around the world will be empty.

The process of evolution, which is controlled by one egoistic force, will lead us to the full realization of evil. We will see that we are at the mercy of the evil force and can do nothing about it. We have all the potential to turn this world into paradise, but there is one evil ruler who does not let us live happily.

Hotels and beaches will become empty. Everything seems to be arranged for our pleasure, but we will not be able to enjoy this; we will have neither the desire nor money for this. Thus, we will become aware of the need to reveal the positive force, which will balance the evil.

All over the world there will be increasing tension, conflicts between countries, clashes, revolutions, murders, violence, and terror. The globe will shake so much as if it has gone mad. Why do we need all this, what for? No one will have an answer. The evil force will rule over us in everything.

Gradually, we will realize that we must reveal the positive force. For this, we will need thewisdom of Kabbalah that allows the Creator to be revealed by created beings in this world. We will not be able to accomplish this without it.

Meanwhile, the upper management hides the force of good from us and reveals the evil, egoistic force more. This will continue until we demand from it to reveal the good force. Then people will be drawn to Kabbalah and will feel the need for it. They will have the patience and desire to grasp this science because without it our life will become worse than death.

If we turn to the wisdom of Kabbalah, then with its help we begin to reveal the positive force of nature, which is manifested in our connection with each other. This happens very fast, like a miracle. As soon as we try to unite as a group, we will immediately reveal the power of good that is able to balance the force of evil.

We feel that a good force is added to our lives. And having two forces can bring order to our lives. It’s impossible to cancel or reduce one force at the expense of another, but it is always possible to arrange them to remain in equilibrium between these two forces and advance.

This is the practical application of the wisdom of Kabbalah that we need to learn.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 12/18/14

Youth And Beauty Of The Soul

Question: Why are so many people concerned lately about their appearance that they are willing to spend so much money to look younger and more beautiful?

Answer: In the old days, people did not give much importance to appearance. However, in today’s world, it has become very important because we are developing in our egoism and it increasingly binds us to the physical, material life.

Our ego wants to become similar in this material life to the spiritual world. Egoism is developing so much that it promises to provide us with the best life, to extend it endlessly to give us enjoyment and to look attractive, young, and strong in the eyes of others.

The general process of evolution, according to the program inherent in us, leads us so that we rise to the new degree of development, the spiritual one, and begin to live in the form of forces, spiritual qualities, not physical bodies, experiencing life only through the body.

To move to a higher level of existence, we first must make sure that we do not expect anything good from our bodily life. It can be neither eternal nor happy, and all its acquisitions are worthless.

Therefore, we must go through all kinds of states—the pursuit of wealth, honor, power, knowledge, and external beauty—to disclose the complete insignificance of these desires, that they bring no fulfillment. It is impossible to reach full and eternal contentment with life through them.

This is a time when we seemingly chase eternal life. In other words, we are trying to keep eternal youth. But as a result of this race and much wasted effort, we are to understand that this goal has no real value.

It is impossible to achieve either eternal life or true inner fulfillment in this way. The desire to look young and beautiful is given to us so that having been disappointed in it we would choose a higher goal.

This higher goal is really eternal. By reaching it we begin to live not in our physical bodies but in desires, aspirations, and intentions.

The desire to preserve eternal youth is just a certain stage of our development. After that, there will be the fashion to freeze one’s bodies, hoping to revive them in the future when more advanced technologies will emerge. But even in this approach we are destined to become disillusioned and realize that this is not the solution.

All of these efforts are intended to lead us to the fact that there is no choice; we must rise to the next level of existence, that is, to make the transition from life in the body to life within the soul. All our life is pushing us toward this goal.

All our life values—food, sex, family, money, honor, knowledge ,and all the fulfillments of this world—are designed to disappoint us and aim us to the only direction, which is to lead us from existence in the physical body to life in the soul.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 2/6/15

Light From The Depth Of The Well

As it is written in The Book of Zohar, When a Cohen stood up below, he spread his hands, all the sacred Sefirot above were awakened and corrected to be blessed and receive Light from the depth of the well of Bina that constantly comes down to them.And the blessings don’t stop; they come down and turn into sources for all the worlds.

A Cohen (priest) is the upper part of the spiritual structure called a Partzuf. When he stands up and spreads his hands, his blessing comes down from above to Malchut. In this way, she is awakened below, and then all the characteristics of Malchut ascend from below to above with bestowal and love. They ascend to the upper worlds.

All of the Sefirot from Bina to Malchut are called a “well.” The more that Malchut is connected to Bina, this well is alive and flowing. Otherwise, it is just a pit without any water. If the well is full of water, but it is covered with a stone, it means you must carry out particular conditions to open it and draw water from it.

In the Torah, the meeting of the patriarchs with their future wives almost always happened next to a well. If the woman accepted water from the hands of the man, this meant that she was appropriate for him because water is the connection between Malchutand Bina. In this way, by means of the upper and lower waters, mutual interaction took place between them.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 1/28/15

Beauty For The Sake Of Prestige

Question: Formerly, plastic surgery was available only to Hollywood stars. But these days it is popular among ordinary people who want to look younger and more beautiful.

People say these operations free them from many psychological problems they had.

Why doesn’t a person agree with what nature gives him instead of trying to reach perfection with the help of such corrections to his or her appearance?

Answer: A person seeks to preserve his youth because of  his natural desire to live eternally. He knows that he is bound to die and no one knows what will happen afterward.

Even despite the fact that our life in this world is not serene, requires a lot of exertion, and tries our nerves, it is better than total darkness and disappearing.

Therefore, no matter how hard life is, a person’s instinct for self-preservation makes him strive to continue to exist.

There are cases of suicide, but this is an exceptional phenomenon. From nature, the human being tends to protect his life and extend it as long as possible. Only greatsuffering can force a person to agree that his life be cut short, but not otherwise.

That is, the desire for eternal life is a natural phenomenon. And it is very important for a person to feel beautiful, strong, dignified, and confident. He is willing to invest a lot of effort and money for it.

It would be possible to work for half a day in some simple position to secure the necessities of life. But we want to be as good as our neighbors and show off our expensive cars and fashionable clothes and, therefore, must work hard.

External beauty is the same object of pride as a new car, which has value in the eyes of society and determines our status. If we didn’t live in human society, we wouldn’t worry about our beauty and would care only about what is necessary for existence and nothing else.

It would be possible to wear pajamas all the time—soft, warm and comfortable—and just as easy to arrange our entire environment. But our pride and desire to show off in front of others make us care about our appearance.

If we did not live in a competitive environment, neither men nor women would have cared about their looks. This occurs only under the influence of society.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 2/6/15

The Meaning Of Life: The Question That Cannot Be Avoided

Question: Why do you popularize the spreading of the wisdom of Kabbalah?

Answer: As a result of our development, we are beginning to ask about the meaning of life, about its purpose, and about the nature of suffering. So, we must give the common man, far from attaining the meaning of life and the nature of the suffering, the possibility of knowing about this. This is because the depression, sadness, and lack of understanding of the purpose of existence appearing in our time brings aggression, violence, hatred, and wars. We see how peoples and nations clash in a mad, wild “sword dance,” and all of this is because they don’t understand the meaning of life.

Look at what is happening in politics, in the economy, everywhere and in everything! Ignorance and stupidity—people puff themselves up like turkeys, harming others and annihilating each other. Today, many internally ask this question, but don’t express it out loud. Subconsciously, it presses down on them. They would like to find the answer to it, but they cannot, and so it depresses them even more. Instead, they begin to occupy themselves in “games” with bombs, airplanes, terrorism, etc, which end in terrible events, especially these days.

So, we must invest maximum effort so that people will understand how and what is truly carried within the question about the meaning of life, the meaning of the universe, the meaning of our existence here and in other states.

We must make it possible for our people to become the people of Israel, meaning that they yearn for a goal, because they don’t have the right to hide from their destiny. They are obliged to discover the characteristics, foundations, and qualities that exist in them, and thus save humanity from great suffering that would otherwise await us on the way of development.
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From KabTV’s “Conversations with Michael Laitman” 6/1/15