Unite On A More Internal Level

Before we get to ask, the question comes down from above and enters our mind and feelings. Only then do we sense it and proceed to ask. The Creator answers us through books and teachers.

We are completely controlled from above, and all that is left to do is to annul ourselves. Only by annulling can we feel that we’ve done something ourselves and not just received from the Creator. Annulment involves our participation, our freewill. We may not know how or what to do, but through faith above knowledge we chose to be a part of the neutral zone above reason. If not for this tiny, but most important part, we would not exist as creations but would be similar to the still, vegetative, and animal nature.¹

In this world we are given the friends, the ten, the teacher, and the method. All together it is called my teacher, meaning that which ties me to the goal of creation, the purpose of my life.

The concept of the teacher includes the following:

· A person who studied longer than I have,
· A group of friends that I advance with,
· A method passed down to us by the teacher,
· The books that reached our days through many generations,
· The Creator that we aspire toward through our connection with the books and with the teacher.

All this I combine into one, so that through relating to it the right way and accumulating a certain amount of actions, I would reach a palpable result.

I must annul myself before the Creator in order to advance. This is where the teacher helps me by directing me not toward himself but toward the Creator, as well as the group that directs me not toward the group but toward the Creator. Thus, “Israel, the Torah, and the Creator” aim me toward the upper force. I can annul before the Creator by annulling before the teacher and the group that direct me toward Him.²

The teacher is comprised of two parts:

1. A man of this world,
2. The spiritual component.

It doesn’t matter which human image the teacher portrays to us in this world, for it all depends on the society he lives in and his culture. Each one of us is a product of their environment, we cannot make ourselves different. We need to discount our vision and perception of the outer image of a person and only account for the inner one.

We should treat each other the same way in the group and throughout the world, taking into consideration only their internal qualities, rather than external ones. There are many people from various cultures and nationalities among us. During the lesson on the screen I keep seeing Spain, Peru, the Baltic, Odessa, Plovdiv, Moscow, Kiev, and New York…  A multitude of cities on our screens and of course these are people with different mentalities, various standards of living and outlooks on life. We must erase all of that from our perception.

I don’t look at these differences and only see their connection with the Creator. This is the part I am looking for. I have to collect these connections with the Creator from everyone, as if I am gathering fruit. I want to join in their connection with the Creator, for they already have this connection or they would not be studying with me. I have to increase my connection with the Creator by means of connecting with this quality in every friend.

In order to achieve this, ten people are needed. If there are nine friends with me as the tenth, we can surely affect the Creator. As if we are ringing His doorbell and He opens the door. But on the condition that there are ten of us (Minyan), the minimum quantity that counts. Less than ten is not taken into consideration. In spirituality, ten is as one. This is the difference between this world and the upper world, where only the connection between the ten is felt.

And this is where we do not differ from each other anywhere in the world, and it makes no difference to me whether to unite with Spain or with Almaty, New York, Kiev, St. Petersburg, or Toronto. The main thing is to have ten people, and we will enter into contact with the Creator.

However, if we don’t have ten people, we have to seek them out, we must awaken the friends that stayed home to come to the meeting or to join in virtually. This is the only thing that’s important. We’ve built a virtual network of connections around the world between us, and I hope that we will develop a mechanism that will unite us on a more internal level. With the help of this tool we return to Babylon, but already in a corrected state. From the side of our nature the Babylonian breakage reigns between us, but above it we are united.³
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/10/19, “Baal HaSulam Memorial Day”

How Not To Be An Idol Worshiper

Question: There is a certain duality: on one hand, uniting with the Creator, on the other hand, connecting with friends.

I can’t manage to put an equal sign between these concepts. I have the feeling I am either with my friends or I am with the Creator. Is this some kind of idolatry and at the same time it carries you there?

Answer: This is true. Indeed, if your egoism draws you to the Creator, it is idol worshiping. It seems to the ego that it can be filled there. It wants you to relate to the Creator in this way: I want the Creator, I love the Creator, I will be filled with Him, unite, I will do everything for Him, we will succeed with Him.

Remark: Yes, but the Creator is in my friends, He is behind them, He is in this connection. But I only understand this, and very rarely feel it.

My Comment: That is your problem.

Question: Can we solve this together?

Answer: No, you will solve this problem with your ten and with the Creator. There is no other way.

Question: What do I personally need to add to my ten so that I can finally stop focusing on this “mythical figure”?

Answer: Explain to them that the Creator is attained only within the ten itself. Otherwise, you will not find Him, otherwise it will be idol worshiping. This is called “creating an idol,” some statue.

Only within the ten, only in their right relations does the general image of bestowal between friends, called the Creator, manifest itself. Therefore, the Creator says: “You have created Me.” Indeed, with the help of the correct mutual relationship with each other, we create an image of the Creator. And before that, He does not exist. Therefore, the Creator is called Boreh: Bo u-Reh (Come and See).
From the Convention In Moldova “Day One” 9/6/19, “How Can I Affect the Society,” Lesson 3
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Creating The Creator

Question: How can we say that we are creating the Creator?

Answer: Of course, we create the Creator. There is an upper force around us called Atzmuto, (in Himself). This is not even the Creator but simply an upper force under whose influence the creation appears in the universe, a Kli (vessel), the desire to receive.

We do not deal with the Atzmuto itself because this is an abstract force called “the root cause,” which created a second force. The second force is the Creator, the light, the desire to bestow.

We, the creation, are currently totally broken into 600,000 main components, which in turn is fragmented even further into billions of particles.

If we unite among ourselves, then gradually, to the measure of our connection, we begin to feel the Creator within us. Meaning, we “create the Creator,” we manifest Him within us. And outside of us, we do not even know whether He exists or not.

Therefore, it is all about creating such a system between us that allows the Creator to manifest Himself.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabalah,” 7/28/19

A Special Illumination Through The Group

The group is the face of the Creator, His image. He has no other image but “Israel, the Torah, and the Creator are one.” Therefore, there is: “Me, the group, and the Creator”—three components that connect into one. Or we can say that behind each friend is the Creator. The same Creator that I wish to see, I must build in my relations with my friends.

To advance to the Creator, I need to perform a completely different action to build His image, as I imagine it, in my relations with my friends. Let’s check if I identify the image of the Creator in the group or not? Do I organize the group according to the image of the Creator that I imagine? Do we connect to each other to build the image of the Creator in our relations?

It is said: “You have made Me.” It is as if I take clay or play dough and form the image of the Creator in the relationship with friends. From above downward, the Creator creates a person, and from below upward, a person creates the Creator.¹

The light that leads to the connection with the Creator is primary. It is small, weak, but close. And the light that gives connection to the group is strong, multifaceted, powerful. They differ like an audio signal transmitting only voice in comparison with a video signal transmitting a complete picture with a lot of data.

First, the Creator awakens me with a thin ray in which there is nothing but this brief awakening. But through the group, a window through which I can reveal all of reality until the end of correction opens for me because the group represents the image of the Creator.

Final correction means that we expand our Kli of perception so that it contains the entire manifestation of the Creator, all His infinite bestowal. That is, I must discover a limitless connection in the ten, and this will be the final correction.

If I aspire to the Creator without a ten, then this is still an egoistic awakening due to the fact that the Creator excites me. Still, I already see that one should not drown in one’s egoism, but I supposedly want to find a desire belonging to the Creator. This is still an egoistic attitude but already a step forward.

If I want to connect with the Creator through the group, it means that a special illumination comes to me through it. Maybe I still do not understand this, but subconsciously I feel and begin to reach for the group. Therefore, the group becomes important to me.

The desire for the group suggests that a person receives illumination through it. I want to cling to the Creator so I cling to the group, which for me acquires the importance of the Creator.

To the extent that I imagine the Creator within the group and the group brings itself to be in equivalence of form with the Creator, to that extent I am in adhesion with both of them and really find the Creator in the group. This means that the vessel and the light become equal and the light begins to clothe itself inside the desire.²
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/14/19, Preparation to the Europe Convention

Connection Based On Concessions

Question: What is a connection based on concessions?

Answer: This is when I am ready to give way to my friends in everything in order to unite with them because without it I would have no opportunity to influence my fate, to influence the Creator, who is the master of my destiny.
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From the Convention In Moldova “Day One” 9/6/19, “Dissolving in the Friends,” Lesson 1

We Need A Unity Government!

What should the leadership of the country in the spirit of unity, which is so important now for Israel and for all other countries, look like? Theoretically, everyone wants the people and the government to be one, but in practice, it turns out that each political movement is pulling in its own direction, caring only about positions in the government and money. What should a government that works on the basis of genuine unity look like?

It is said: “As their faces are not the same, so their opinions are not the same.” We are all completely different, and therefore, it is clear that unity cannot initially be achieved directly based on our similarities. Something needs to connect us to each other so that there is a reason to cancel the differences. Like in a family where each parent concedes their own interests for the good of the child.

In the government, it is much more difficult to achieve unification because they do not feel that the country is their common heritage. Everyone understands that today they are in power and tomorrow they will no longer be, and therefore, they do not worry about what they leave after themselves. Their primal concern is to prove themselves right and their opponents wrong. Therefore, the worse it would be for the people and the country under the opposition party’s leadership, the better it would be for the current leader.

It turns out that everyone thinks not about how to improve the country and its people, but how to make it better for themselves, to gain power at any cost. This attitude is exactly the opposite of how it is in the family where we are united by common property, a home, and children that makes us dependent on each other. In government, there is nothing like this; therefore, egoism has the opportunity to roam in full force. There is a much more of a rude, selfish, and deceitful calculation.

I think that no party alone can lead the country. In Israel, there has never been a genuine peace party that works for the genuine unity of its people, its country, prioritizing the people’s interests above its own, and agreeing to give up its respectful position in the government for the people’s good. We are no different from other countries in this.

Therefore, there is no other way to succeed except by creating a government of national unity from those parties that really want unity and are able to give up their interests for its sake. It can be likened to a family life, which is a process of continuous compromise, with each member canceling something of his or her own interests for the sake of the other.

A unity government is bound to include many contrasting forces. It cannot consist of one party because it will pull the whole country and people in one direction, which can never be for the people’s good. We have already seen what distortions the rule of the socialist parties did decades ago. They created a problematic system of healthcare, finance, and trade unions, which still cannot be corrected and balanced with the general system.

Therefore, few strong parties that really differ in their views, not just names and leaders seeking power, should participate in the unity government. A correct, good government should consist of opposing forces that can communicate with each other and extract the correct results from their disagreements at every moment and on any issue.

The unity of the government means that everyone cares about the good of the country. There may be different opinions in the government, heated debates, almost fights, but everyone should understand that only in the spirit of unification can something good be done for the country and the people.

That is why a unity government must include opposing tendencies that are smart enough to know and understand how to move toward unity. It is like in a family where everyone has their own opinion, but for the sake of a common goal, members have to discuss each issue and achieve a solution that is acceptable to everyone. There are compromises here and each person adds to another in the daily work.

We need to immediately highlight the large parties that seek to unite. A small party, pursuing the interests of a small group and separated by religious or ethnic grounds has to be left aside. These parties do not care about the good of the country but about the interests of their small sector. Therefore, they should not be included in the unity government because its primary concern is the good of the whole country. They can exist next to it, expressing the interests of their specific voters. But they cannot determine the leadership of the country, take advantage of the contradictions between large parties, and gain great influence despite the small number of seats. Such bargaining must be disallowed. Everyone should receive the influence that corresponds to the number of voters standing behind them.

The unity government should work only for the good of the country and the people and be ready to serve people and not their own interests and benefits. It will show the people an example of correct behavior in which different people, even those hostile to each other, can rise above all contradictions for the sake of the success of the country, the common property.

The goal of a government consisting of different, opposing forces is the good of the country and the good of the people for which they act together, making mutual compromises. Only with a constant discussion of all problems and adding to each other, do they together achieve the correct answers.
From KabTV’s “New Life#1161–We Need A Unity Government!,” 9/24/19

Everyone Will Become A Jew

Question: How does someone become a Jew?

Answer: There are two ways to become a Jew: by birth or by becoming Jewish.

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

To become a Jew means to adopt a certain way of thinking, an attitude toward life and its purpose, when you realize what it actually means to be a Jew. What does it mean to be a Jew? It means to bring the method of correction and connection into the world, and to become a contributing member toward the world’s unification.

Question: So, the word “Jew” – “Hebrew – Ivri,” means “crossed over”?

Answer: A change from the egoistic attitude toward the world and others to an altruistic one.

Question: Is this how one becomes a Jew?

Answer: Yes.

Question: So, in effect, are you discreetly telling us that the whole world can become Jews?

Answer: Not discreetly, but indeed so.

This is a serious transition from egoism to altruism, which only happens as a switch that turns on inside each person when one asks the upper force for this change .

Question: You also say that those who are born Jewish are not actually Jews?

Answer: No. Those are not the Jews the Torah speaks of. A Jew is a spirit. One must be guided only by the calling in his heart.

Question: Is the ultimate goal of life to become a Jew?

Answer: To become a Jew means to unite all people, to be the force that elevates them toward the quality of bestowal, mutual love, and unity. It means reaching such communication between all people in the world so that they will be as one.

Being Jewish has nothing to do with whether or not one’s mother is Jewish.

Question: People of different nationalities will now suddenly hear that one way or another the goal of every person is to become a Jew?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Do you calmly say that it is so?

Answer: Of course. In other words, the goal of every person is to transition from the egoistic perception of the world into the altruistic one. This is considered as crossing (“laavor“) the egoistic barrier.

So, let them cross it.
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From KabTV “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 7/30/19

Appreciate Above All That Exists In This World

The holiday of Sukkot allows you to better understand spiritual work, that is, the way a person approaches the Creator. Due to our unity and the diminishing of our ego, we create a place for the Creator where He can dress and reveal Himself among us. The nature of this work varies depending on the depth of desire and its state at different stages of approaching the Creator. Therefore, there are times when the work differs: special days, holidays, days and nights, weeks, etc.

Now we are clarifying a special kind, a special form of approaching the Creator called “Sukkot.” In essence, this work always includes the same components: the desire to enjoy, restriction, the screen, and the reflected light, but with different types of connection between the corrected desire and the upper force, the source of light.

That is why we are studying holiday traditions not as folk customs, but as a method of special approach to the Creator. After all, there is a connection between the branch and the root, and therefore, the state of spiritual roots is reflected in our world. At a time when there is a special surrounding light that brings the corporeal holiday of Sukkot to this world, we should study the upper spiritual roots of this holiday.

Various states descend from the upper roots into our world, reflected as holidays and special traditions in our world.

We exist in the reality of our desire to enjoy, which pictures this whole world for us. And in order to see the true world, we must rise above this egoistic picture. For this, we need to make a cover (Schach), that is, to raise the importance of concepts for which there is absolutely no use from the point of view of a sound egoistic mind: faith, bestowal, unity, love.

No one appreciates such things in our world. As a rule, the most egoistic people striving for power, money, fame, like to talk about love for people, but we understand that this is only to confuse others and take power over them.

Sukkot is a radical transformation that occurs after a person decides to start the New Year, a new period. Everything that was previously insignificant garbage for him, rejected by our egoistic desire, he now collects and raises above his head.

These things cannot be at the level of the mind because there is no rational meaning in them. They need to be elevated above reason, against human logic, and appreciated above all that exists in this world. What becomes most important to me is unity, love, bestowal—everything related to the correction of the desire.

If a person thinks this way, it means that he is building the Sukkah and sanctifies it, sitting in its shadow and enjoying himself. Only in this form can he achieve Ushpizin and deserve to receive honored guests, approaching the Creator more and more every day. The seven days of Sukkot are against the seven Sefirot revealing in our corrected spiritual vessel (Kli).¹

Rabash, Letter #36: “…for it is known that Sukkah is the “shadow of faith,” and with respect to the judgment, its shade must be bigger than its sun.

And if one is rewarded and does not add shade on his own, there is mercy on him from above and the sun is covered for him. But then a person becomes angry because he understands otherwise.

And if a person overcomes the shade, he is given “a sun,” and then he must add shade. If he does not add, he is given shade from above, and so forth until he is rewarded with eternal Dvekut (adhesion).

This is called a dance. The Creator plays with a person, giving him sometimes more, sometimes less, and checking his reaction. A person must keep the shade all the time so that his screen covers all his knowledge, that is, he always remains in bestowal.²
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/15/19, Sukkot