A question I received: Do you really believe in a world without money?

As an answer, I’ll post a letter from my long-time American student, Tasha:

I work in a financial company, which, until recently, was one of the pillars of the financial world, but now is grabbing on to every last dollar trying to stay afloat. Only a year ago, there wasn’t a single vacant position in the company, but now, a year later, less than a third of the positions are occupied. There are layoffs happening every month and everyone is waiting their turn, hoping to postpone what is inevitable and trying to solve the question of how to feed their families.

So what happened? Why did everything fall apart? We are taught that we lived and worked for “virtual” money. But we still worked, and we gave others an opportunity to work and feed their families. So what changed?

The material world did not change, but offices are empty, flights are canceled, and no one is vacationing at resorts. Instead people are joining the lines for unemployment benefits. Why is everyone on the planet suddenly seeing a surreal world? Why isn’t the “established” system, where everyone received from each other, no longer working? The universal economic system has shattered.

Even if money flows into the system, the system won’t work properly since banks and businesses don’t trust each other. Businesses don’t receive credit from the banks, and therefore they don’t trust them with their money. As a result, everything closes down. In other words, right from the start, the system was based on trust (on the perspective of a profit) rather than on money.

But if there is no money at all, then I have to work “out of the goodness of my heart” (without receiving any money), take what I need from the store (without giving any money), and the store will receive goods from a supplier (without giving any money), which I have produced (for which I did not receive any money). Will such a system work, where everyone works out of the goodness of their hearts and receives what is necessary? It would be heaven on earth.

But how can we even attempt to work “out of the goodness of our hearts” if everyone around us will immediately begin to use us and there’s no guarantee that we will get back at least some of what we need? In other words, such a system will only function normally under the condition that all the participants will agree to work for free, putting in the maximum for society’s survival and receiving the bare necessities. This is how all living, natural system operate, where the parts of the whole live for the sake of the whole organism’s existence. And if the crisis continues to develop, this will remain the only workable solution.

So the real question here is: how exactly can we all curb our egoism and begin to live by helping and caring for each other, instead of exploiting each other? What is the reason that people are ready to step on each other in order to snatch up more money? What’s the importance of how many zeros we have in our bank accounts? What’s the difference between an infinitely large amount and a complete absence of money?

A large sum of money gives a person one thing: confidence that he and his family will always have what is necessary, that his children will receive an education, and he will be provided for in old age and receive the best medical aid whenever he needs it. So if there was a way to give people the confidence that the society will provide them with all the essentials, how much money would each of us need? We wouldn’t need any money, since, as it’s now becoming clear, everything that exceeds the necessities is only to our detriment.

The necessary amount is, of course, subjective. For one person, it is a second pair of socks, and for another, it is a third Mercedes Benz. However, if humanity will reach the point where the only way for it to survive is by consuming the minimum, then everyone will view what is necessary for them only as an opportunity to bring the most benefit to the society. So where is that magical force that can switch our essence from consumption to bestowal, from using everyone to caring about everyone?

It does not exist inside us. We can only place our hopes in the force that created us, this whole world, and every plant and living creature, with such immense wisdom. It is the force that’s pushing humanity to develop toward a qualitatively new level, still unperceived by us. We need Light in our darkness. It is the Light that will correct us and bring us into a new world, with new relationships.

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Our world (the universe) began with the emergence of an empty space. This space did not exist before. It emerged from the Upper Dimension, in the form of an informational rudiment (a Reshimo – recording), which expanded to form emptiness – a space for the universe.

There is a very familiar term in economics to designate the emergence of this space for a new world – “inflation,” which means, “sudden expansion.” It originates from the Latin word “inflatio” – “to blow up.” This is also what happens in the corporeal processes, where “inflation” is the birth of humanity’s new state.

First the space increases (similar to how the monetary supply increases during a crisis). This only creates the space that will later be filled by matter (or, in the economy, this only increases the monetary supply, but not the products or services). Once the space has gone through the inflationary expansion, the process of matter’s emergence begins, at the expense of the gravitational field’s energy (or, in the economy, people realize the nature of the crisis and create new socio-economic relationships, ones based on bestowal and love, which enables them to feel life on the Upper Level, above matter).

The expansion gives birth to a new sense – the soul, which perceives a new world or a new reality beyond time, space, and motion (the parameters of our world). The soul feels an an eternal and perfect existence, not confined by these parameters.

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In the News (from Times Online): “New age of rebellion and riot stalks Europe” It is, some say, just the beginning: 2009 could become another 1968 – a new age of rebellion. The LSE economist Robert Wade warned that large-scale civil unrest was on the way, “It will be caused by the rise of general awareness throughout Europe, America and Asia that hundreds and millions of people in rich and poor countries are experiencing rapidly falling consumption standards; that the crisis is getting worse, not better, and that it has escaped the control of public authorities, national and international.”

In the News (from The Telegraph): “1,000 immigrants break out of detention centre on Italian island of Lampedusa” The immigrants marched out of the detention centre in protest at their treatment by Italian authorities. They headed towards the town hall in Lampedusa town, the main settlement on the island after forcing open the gates of the camp.

My Comment: In the article “The Last Generation,” written in 1930, Baal HaSulam describes how governments will use force to pacify the people, to repress hungry hordes moving from Asia to better-fed Europe, and use weapons of mass destruction…

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In the News: (from APP): As Group of Seven finance ministers prepare to meet in Rome this weekend, officials from Tokyo to Berlin are signaling their concern that a “Buy American” clause in a U.S. stimulus package marks the first shot of an international trade war. … The fear is that unless checked, governments will repeat the mistake made in the Great Depression when protectionism choked global trade and prolonged the economic slump… The “Buy American” clause in the stimulus package moving through the U.S. Congress would require steel and other goods used in infrastructure projects to be made in the U.S… A November commitment by leaders of the Group of 20 not to establish new trade barriers was ignored within a month as Russia increased duties on automobile imports, China reintroduced tax breaks for exporters, and India imposed caps on steel imports.

In the News (from Elnotes): “In Hong Kong, a second wave of financial crisis is predicted” According to Joseph Yam, a second wave of crisis may be a growing phenomenon triggered by financial protectionism, which is to replace the practice of trade protectionism and threatens to take on a global nature. This is a “freezing” of foreign financial and investment channels as a means of protecting national economies in crisis.

My Comment: Today we have revealed the global, integral interconnection and interdependence between everyone. Therefore, these measures of protectionism and separation between nations will lead to horrible consequences, since they are opposite to Nature’s tendency. Countries should act on the contrary: implement a curriculum about the integral world and remove all barriers from all the communication and trade channels.

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A question I received: I don’t know if Kabbalah views Obama as the coming Messiah, but I believe that the world looking to this man as the Messiah is a major mistake. His preacher for 20 years hates whites. He is friends with Farrakhan who openly hates the Jews. I don’t know if you believe in the Anti-Christ, but Christian belief teaches that this may be the man who leads the world to destruction.

My only question is: is it possible to avoid being part of the destruction that is heading our way? I read The Book of Zohar and have developed a screen. I have a Sabbath meal with my family, I constantly try to do Mitzvahs and, being born Catholic, I follow the Catholic religion to a point. I am very fearful as to what is in store for humanity and I want to avoid it. Any suggestions?

My Answer: The way you practice religious observance is your own business. As for your fears, if you are thinking about love for people, and about how to connect their feelings similar to how they are connected by Nature, through a global, integral connection, then you have nothing to fear or to worry about.

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A question I received: You often say that there’s a multi-faceted crisis going on, including a crisis of science and religion. But what’s the right way to define the crisis: A crisis of what?

My Answer: The crisis we feel and observe demonstrates our lack of similarity to Nature. Everything in Nature is interconnected, and since we are a part of Nature, we have to behave as an integral part of It, interacting harmoniously with all parts of Nature, as one organism.

Therefore, I view this crisis as the birth of a new world, as the breaking of an eggshell and the emergence of a baby chick into the world, or as the labor pains felt by a woman, the contractions that precede the birth of humanity’s new state.

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A question I received: I watch the children’s lessons with my baby, play him Kabbalistic music and read your children’s books and stories to him. I try to teach him as I learn. How can a mother perceive when the first spiritual Reshimo surfaces in her children? And how can we connect to our children on the spiritual level?

My Answer: Continue showing your child the children’s lessons and studying the materials on our children’s website. The rest is no longer up to you.

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In the News (from National Geographic): “Cows With Names Yield More Milk, British Study Finds”  “By giving a cow a name and treating her as an individual, farmers can increase their annual milk yield by almost 500 pints,” scientists at Newcastle University in the UK say. “Just as people respond better to the personal touch, cows also feel happier and more relaxed if they are given a bit more one-to-one attention,” explains C. Douglas, who works in the School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development at Newcastle University. “Calling a cow by her name or interacting with the animal more as it grows up, we can not only improve the animal’s welfare and her perception of humans, but also increase milk production.”

My Comment: You can achieve more through love and relaxation than through hatred and force. Maybe it’s time we tried the same approach with people?

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In the News (from Times Online): “Hitler returns to front page as Nazi era papers hit the streets” The headlines leaping out from German newsstands yesterday were shocking… “Hitler Chancellor of the Reich!” was the lead story… Masterminded by a British publisher, facsimiles of original Nazi-era newspapers are being reproduced… kiosks in Berlin are reporting brisk sales… Mr. McGee has been given special dispensation to reproduce the Nazi propaganda with all its insignia for its historical value.

My Comment: Kabbalah explains that there are two ways out of the crisis:

• “The Path of Suffering” – Nazism in the developed countries and terrorism in the third-world countries;

• “The Path of Light” – correcting ourselves to become similar to nature.

Actually, the path of suffering isn’t really a path, but a brief period until we realize that this path leads to a dead end. It may also include the third and fourth nuclear world wars, which will last until we realize that it’s necessary to correct ourselves.

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Baal HaSulam article: “Building the Future Society”
From Chaos to Harmony: Chapter 5. “Obeying Nature’s Law. Changing Our Attitude Toward Others Brings All of Nature into Balance”

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In the News (from The Wall Street Journal): “Russian Gloom Overtakes Rhetoric” “The situation in 2009 will be rather harsh,” said Igor Shuvalov, first deputy prime minister… “You can’t turn this situation around by force,” Mr. Shuvalov told legislators Friday. “No one can.”

My Comment: People are no longer making predictions that the crisis will be over in “a few months” or “a few years,” but are starting to understand that the world is becoming different forever! They are gaining a qualitatively new understanding of what’s happening!

Now we have to wait for more people to start thinking this way. They will then look for a way to exist and interact in the new world. And if they’ll be able to hear Kabbalah’s solution, they will reduce the period of searching and suffering.

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