Israel Isn’t What You Think It Is

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Michael! As far as I understand, God’s decree to come to know yourselves only applies to the people of Israel? Here’s the quote: “This means that every man from the nation of Israel is guaranteed to ultimately acquire all the wonderful attainments with which the Creator intended to please every creature in the Thought of Creation.” Why then are you preaching Kabbalah around the world? Am I missing something?

Answer: After the exile from the spiritual level (which happened in the beginning of our era), when Kabbalists attained the Light and mixed with the nations of the world over a period of two thousand years, the sparks of that Light, which was present only in the souls of Kabbalists, have also spread into the souls of the nations of the world, as it is said: “Israel has gone into exile so as to unite with the souls of the nations of the world.” This mixing takes place through existence on the egoistic level, which is common for all nations, and not through mixed marriage as some may think.

Today, this mixing of egoism and the sparks has been completed, and all that’s left for us to do is correct the egoism of every person who has a spark of Light, and ascend to the level of the Creator. This happens gradually, in those who already ask themselves the question about the meaning of life. These are the ones called “Israel,” which stems from the words “Yashar” – straight, and “El” – the Creator, that is, “Straight to the Creator,” according to their aspiration. Obviously this no longer has anything to do with nationality.

4 Comments

  1. Dear Molly,

    First of all, I am a Christian. I was baptized at the age of 7. Since then I have served as a deacon and Sunday School teacher for many years. Along with that, my wife has served as superintendent of Sunday Schools and is a soloist in our current church. I offer this information so you will understand you are speaking to someone that has very deep and serious roots and remains a Christian to this day. Now regarding your question, first of all Kabbalah is not doctrine. In other words, it is not a belief system – it is a process. It is not a "thinking" thing. The definition of Kabbalah is: The revelation of His Godliness to His creatures. So Kabbalah is not about belief in any way, shape or form. Kabbalah is the system to achieve what Jesus described as the two greatest commandments: Love thy neighbor as thy self and Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, thy soul, and thy might.  The problem I ran into is this: How in the world does one do that? As a young Christian man, I instinctively felt that these two commandments had nothing to do with what we here call love. Something was missing in what this word "love" meant and I wanted to find out what. I searched all through Christian doctrines first to see what they said about these two commandments and I was quite disappointed for they were all about doing some good corporeal deed. As this question burned deeper and deeper within me, I began to search outside of this arena. Finally I stumbled upon this process known as Kabbalah and began studying and reading.  What did I discover? I discovered exactly what I had felt for a long time, that the ability to love in the way that the Bible spoke about it was not what we think here. Here we love as in "I love fish". We love what brings us pleasure, even when we give to someone else. We give because we feel good about giving, feel good that we have done what is correct. But the love Kabbalah spoke about was something entirely different. First, it spoke of our current nature, how we act under a single program called the will to receive for ourselves. It described this program of operation and how it is like a field in which we exist, that we have no choice but to operate like this as long as we feel no desire to escape it.  Secondly, it spoke of a new program. This program is called the program of: acting only in order to bestow – to give. In other words, we currently act where if we cannot receive, we do not act. Under the second program, if we cannot give, we do not act. And this is the overall attribute of God – Bestowal, holiness, sanctity. So what does Kabbalah say about Jesus? Not a single word. Nor do the Kabbalists. Nor does the Old Testament. They speak only of the attainment of this quality called bestowal, the switching out of our current programming for programming of holiness.  Kabbalah is not about defining religious things. So to ask what Kabbalah says about Jesus is the same as comparing apples and oranges. It is a process, not a belief system – and now you can understand what that means. Kabbalah is the process of attaining this holy attribute. What are Kabbalists? Kabbalists are people that have entered spirituality – attained this quality called holiness, and then wrote down what they experience, how everything changed for them. They are people that sense from their soul, not the corporeal body. They then tell us "do not believe a word we say, for that is religion. Instead, go and find out for yourself. Attain this quality called holiness see for your self." This is why the Bible uses the name of God  "Boreh" more than any other name. For what does it mean? It means "come and see" in Hebrew. Finally, why do you think you are here? Examine what brought you here. You will find that you are here because no matter what corporeal definitions you get, something is still missing – and what’s more – you know it is missing. That missing thing is a tiny desire within, a desire to do what our Creator does, the desire to bestow. You know it better as another name…….the soul.  My Kindest Regards, Mike Kellogg

  2. What a beautiful comment, Mike.  What can I add that adds to this?  Only, my intense desire for the fulfillment of unification through the action of real unconditional love– one based on complete acceptance of all through the action of the Light of the Torah. 

  3. I am a Catholic Priest, elevated to the position of Monsignor in 1993. In my 20 years of the priesthood, I have slowly developed and after reading just a bit, a tiny bit on The Kabbalah, I have found a desire that explains why I am a Priest. It is time for the wisdom of Kabbalah to be revealed to the world. The more I study and understand, the more I am convinced from deep within it is my calling to bring this wisdom to my pulpit. I see more clearly than ever before what Jesus was telling us, and that He has been misunderstood for 2000 years. Succeed or fail, it is my duty as a Priest to do everything I can to show the Light that is all around us to those who are prepared to receive it. I understand that this can be done by simply preaching the wisdom, teaching the wisdom only omitting the name of the source of the wisdom as Kabbalah, thus avoiding the rejection of the wisdom and the light it brings because of deeply ingrained fear of the word. The wisdom stands on its own. Couch it in terms of the teachings of Jesus, which it is, and with the help of the Creator set those who hear me on the path, letting those who will discover it is Kabbalah, while guiding those who will not make that particular discovery to a science of spiritual growth, and aiding them to true enlightenment unavailable in most current Christian congregations. A diet of milk has been served for the last 2000 years, and the children are still children desiring like infants to receive for themselves alone. The time has come to feed them solid food, and that is the wisdom that turns these spiritual infants into mature souls that understand the time has come for them to transform themselves by abandoning the childishness of the desire to receive for themselves alone. “When I was a child, I thought as a child, spoke as a child and behaved as a child, but when I became a man I put away childish things.” I know and understand now that as a spiritual “Father” it is my task to help these spiritual children to ripen as fruit on the boughs of the tree of life.

  4. My comment is a follow-up to Mike Kellogg’s statement.
    I too am a Christian and studied with Bnei Baruch for several years with no ill-feelings toward the group. The question of Jesus is not as clear-cut as he presents though. Jesus, for most Christians, is not a religion. He is the Messiah. The one pointed to in the whole of the Old Testament and testified to in Jesus’ own words, John 5:39.
    Yes, the core teaching is one of faith expressing itself through absolute love. I disagree with Mike in that there are examples given both by Jesus and later by his followers defining that quality and what it entails which is completely devoid of what later became religions centuries later. However,there is never any mention in his or his followers teachings about a group of 10 men in a cave with Rabbi Simon who would come later with their writings, the Zohar, which would be mankind’s salvation. Nowhere is there stated that there would be need for an addition to this sacrifice.This is why when asked on this blog, “Where is Jesus in Kabbalah?”, Rav answered very honestly, “He is absent”. I have always admired and respected Rav for is straightforwardness and honesty.
    The question for me and anyone professing to be a Christian is, how can the very core of my salvation be “absent” from the teachings I follow? What was the point then of the horrific death he endured? The resurrection?
    I don’t say these things to turn anyone away from Kabbalah. I learned many wonderful things and encourage people to move forward on their own spiritual journey. I just could never resolve these differences. If Mike would respond I would appreciate it as we have corresponded before on this point.

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