One Should Think, Not Cry On The 9 Of Av

The division took place in two stages, the First Temple and the Second Temple, until it reached its full measure. And now it is already possible to come to the construction of the Third Temple, that is, the state that we build on the basis of the past destruction and thereby achieve the correction of all reality, the whole world. This is the challenge we face today.

The 9th of Av symbolizes a special date on the calendar that reflects the spiritual root of the passed breakdowns: the collapse of the First Temple and the Second Temple. This division spread from top to bottom, and today we are at the very foot of this staircase, so the First Temple was higher than the Second.

The First Temple was at the level of the light of Chaya, very high, and the Second Temple was much lower, at the level of the light of Neshama. We had to go through this fall, the collapse of the First Temple and then the collapse of the Second Temple, to a complete loss of the spiritual. And this is so that today we can rise, correct these broken spiritual genes (Reshimot), and build the Third Temple.

Of course, we do not build it ourselves, but only clarify this state and raise the broken Reshimot, and then the light comes, which builds a spiritual vessel called the Third Temple.

Since the 9th of Av symbolizes the destruction of the Temple, this day is considered a day of mourning. But this does not mean that you have to sit and cry. First of all, we need to think in order to understand what is happening and why we have to grieve. This day comes in order for us to learn from it how to restore our house of holiness, our soul, in a corrected state, filled with the revelation of the Creator.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/29/20, “Tishaa BeAv (Ninth of Av)”

Disconnection Of Communities, Part 3

Ani-Semitism—a Natural Phenomenon

Question: You say that anti-Semitism is a law of nature. Can you not explain anti-Semitism as a coincidence?

To compare even a complex, unusual, yet still, a social phenomenon with the law of gravity is very extravagant. After all, what is a law of nature? It is a phenomenon that exists always and everywhere regardless of our attitude to it.

Answer: There are laws of nature that exist under certain conditions. Why take such a law that cannot incorporate everything? It is just silly. Besides, gravity also depends on where you are on the Earth and on how far from Earth the object is.

We know that there is mutual rejection, alienation, and hatred by non-Jews toward Jews. It exists almost everywhere. The more developed people are, the stronger the hatred.

It manifests itself even in those nations that have never been in contact with Jews. And since this feature exists everywhere and at all times, then we say that this natural phenomenon has been accompanying humanity for thousands of years.

Remark: Here are some facts. It is believed that there is no anti-Semitism in Georgia and never has been. Jews have been living there for more than two and a half thousand years, ever since the destruction of the First Temple. The term is unimaginable.

But after digging into the archives, I found that in the second half of the 19th century, there were six blood libels in Georgia. Incidentally, this period was marked by the highest number of pogroms not only within the Russian Empire, but throughout the world.

They also say that there is no anti-Semitism in Japan. But the Prime Minister of this country Okuma Shigenobu said that Jews around the world are destroying patriotism and healthy foundations of the state.

My Reply: Anti-Semitism is everywhere. It is a natural phenomenon. But the fact is that it can be especially interesting in Japan—where, how, and on what basis it manifests itself.

Remark: That is, we can safely say that anti-Semitism is a law of nature. It has existed for thousands of years and is constantly repeated under certain conditions, mainly when there is a disunity among the Jews.

My Reply: Quite right.

For more on this topic, read my books Like a Bundle of Reeds: why unity and mutual guarantee are today’s call of the hour, and The Jewish Choice: Unity or Anti-Semitism, Historical facts on anti-Semitism as a reflection of Jewish social discord.

Team Building Guide, Part 12

A Team Is a Network of Connection

Question: Many psychologists say that a team is a super-organism, a separate living entity. This is a connection network where the team itself is more than the sum of individuals.

Do team members have to come to this feeling themselves? Or is it not an artificially created organization, but a natural model? If we correctly connect to its field, like we connect to the Internet, then the team is a guide.

Answer: If we are correctly integrated with the team, it begins to affect us as a completely separate external upper force. Although it is created by us and we interact in it because we cultivate unity in it, it becomes above us and influences us.

Question: Does this mean that the team itself is a conductor for reaching some more elevated goal?

Answer: For reaching the next level of connection.

Question: What do people begin to feel through this team? Is it some kind of information field, a force?

Answer: A single force that unites them, which carries new information from a new level of nature because it is the force of connection, which does not exist in ordinary human society.
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From KabTV’s “Management Skills” 6/18/20

New Life 1169 – An Education For Healthy Relationships

New Life 1169 – An Education For Healthy Relationships
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Tal Mandelbaum ben Moshe

A proper education must bring a person to the point of truth, meaning recognition of the evil that is inside of oneself. Achieving healthy relationships requires that we change our egoistic human nature and attain the latent power of connection that is found between us. An ideal connection occurs when each one works for the benefit of others. When each one expresses an attitude of love for others, a new society will be born in which there will be health, wealth, and happiness for all.
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From KabTV’s “New Life #1169 – An Education For Healthy Relationships,” 10/24/19

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Where Does The Number 600,000 Souls Come From?

Question: 600,000 souls, is this a random number?

Answer: No. The wisdom of Kabbalah is the most precise science.

The number 600,000 stems from the structure of the spiritual system. Malchut, the created being, connecting with Zeir Anpin, the Creator, attains His six Sefirot, and is multiplied by the height of the discrepancy between them. The result is 600,000.

But the fact is that there is further division to reach the required quantity because everything depends on the resolution of our emotions, our awareness, connection, and mutual integration into each other.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah” 9/16/18

Can Hypnosis Change The Values Of Society?

Question: Do you consider it correct to use various manipulations of human consciousness, in particular hypnosis, to change values in society.

Answer: No, this will absolutely not help because society does not change at the same time. It can be hypnotized, as they say, but it cannot change itself.

This happens only under the influence of an external force of nature when we very clearly, purposefully strive to change social values, knowing our present and future state.

The external force of nature is not within us. It is simply the power of goodness and love that holds all nature and develops it. After all, everything developed from inanimate matter from which plant and animate nature later appeared and then humans.

The quickening force constantly develops matter in four stages. It exists in nature, but not in us. And we must stimulate it on ourselves and try to constantly correct ourselves in order to use it in the best possible way.

Egoistic matter cannot exist on its own, there must still be some part of altruism in it. We see this in nature: evolution – coevolution, good – evil, plus or minus.

Therefore the Kabbalistic methodology allows each person to call upon himself this force of nature, and under its influence, his worldview changes.
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From KabTV’s “The Post-Coronavirus Era” 5/7/20

Leadership Behind An Idea

Question: We see that cardinal changes in history are associated with special personalities: Alexander the Great, Napoleon, Lenin, etc. Has something changed now? What is the role of the modern leader?

Answer: I do not think that the role of the leader will be relevant at the present time. Now the role of the idea will emerge. The world needs it. And if the world accepts this idea, begins to change in accordance with it, then, of course, it will reach the next level of existence to the level of integral interaction of everyone with everyone.

Question: Can a small group of people become an example, a catalyst for change, for all of humanity?

Answer: In general, it can. But for this they need to work well on themselves.
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From KabTV’s “The Post-Coronavirus Era” 4/30/20

“COVID-19 And The Futile Race For A Vaccine” (Medium)

Medium published my new article “COVID-19 and the Futile Race for a Vaccine”

Throughout the world, companies are racing to find a vaccine for COVID-19. They are hoping to be able to abolish the pandemic, restore the capitalistic, over-consumerist way of life we’d had before the virus took over the world, and make billions of dollars in profit in the process. It is a hopeless pursuit. There will probably be no vaccine and no cure for the virus. Even if one is found, soon after, another, stronger pestilence will ravage humankind.

We are positioning ourselves against the whole of existence, claiming entitlement that we are not entitled to claim, and feel deprived when we don’t get what we weren’t supposed to get in the first place.

If we want to cure the coronavirus, we have to do it where it begins. The appearance of the virus is itself a symptom; it is not the illness. The illness is our bad relations with each other. Our relationships with one another are sick, and that sickness manifests in various ways, such as divorce rates, depression rates, substance abuse, obesity, violence, and recently, a pandemic.

We cannot treat the virus as a stand-alone crisis because everything in reality is tied and connected to everything else. We already know that about the rest of nature, and even about our own bodies, but we conveniently exclude our psyches from the rule. We shouldn’t; it is destroying our lives, our livelihoods, and now our entire civilization.

In fact, it makes no sense to think that our ill spiritual state, namely our ill-will toward each other, has no bearing on our bodies. If we can treat depression with antidepressants, or take pills that make us feel friendly, why do we think that a bad disposition will not have a negative impact on our health?

Moreover, since our bodies, minds, and spirits are one system, and since we are a part of all of nature, our ill-spirit negatively affects all of nature, again, because it is all one system. And when all of humanity suffers from ill spirits, the impact on the rest of the world becomes massive.

Wherever you look at nature, it is a balanced and harmonious system. On the mineral, plant, and animal levels, animals and plants feed on one another and thereby preserve the health and balance of the ecosystem. Within our bodies, too, homeostasis is maintained as the body continually generates new and robust cells and kills old and weak ones. This keeps us healthy and strong.

The only part where nature does not run on autopilot is our psyche. Our spirits are free to choose whether to be united as one system or run solo. So far, we have chosen to go solo, but we see the costs. We are positioning ourselves against the whole of existence, claiming entitlement that we are not entitled to claim, and feel deprived when we don’t get what we weren’t supposed to get in the first place.

If we want to be healthy, strong, and happy, we first need to learn how all of nature works. We need to recognize that the whole system is integral and interconnected, that all parts support one another in an interdependent network of pieces that promote each other’s well-being. The apparent competition in nature is only a misinterpretation of our self-centered mindsets. Species support one another and strengthen one another since they are all interdependent.

Once we know that, we will understand how we can become similar to nature, and therefore truly happy. We will realize that people who hold different views are not our foes, since without them we wouldn’t be able to define ourselves, our views, our thoughts. It is exactly the conflicts and contradictions in our lives, the things we disagree with, that make us think, grow, articulate, and become more complete human beings.

In the end, the human ecosystem should resemble the rest of nature, create a network of different and opposing views, colors, races, religions, nations, personalities, and cultures that together make a beautiful whole, as diverse as nature itself. We all love and appreciate nature’s diversity, so why not love and appreciate our own? Just as we love nature because all the pieces in it make a beautiful whole, we should learn to love humanity because all the different pieces of us make a beautiful whole, of which we are all equally important parts.