The Benefit Of Imitation

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Do I have believe that everything Kabbalists say is true?

Answer: It is exactly what we call “faith in the sages.” You don’t really have a choice: You believe a Kabbalist like a youngster believes an adult in order to grow up.

In our world, a child also relies on adults; otherwise, how will he survive? Will he achieve anything if he doesn’t listen to, receive the necessary tools from, and learn what they do by imitating them like a monkey?

It isn’t an accident that apes are considered an intermediary link between the animate world and a human being. To learn “by aping” is the means to become human. A child watches adults and copies them over and over again.

If so, then where does a child display his own intelligence? He does so specifically by observing and copying external movements. Thanks to this he will later understand their inner essence.

It is described as: “From Your actions, I shall know You.” We don’t have a choice but to accept Kabbalists’ counsels above our reason since these recommendations descend from very exalted degrees. It means that we have to act as a child before an adult.

Sometimes, these counsels are even difficult to grasp since the words of a sage are always distorted in you. Nonetheless, inasmuch as you manage to decode and carry them out, you succeed. Some receive by “mouth to mouth” and advance very fast. Others receive by “mouth to ear” and grow more slowly. Yet, this is the way: A younger one learns from the older one.

The key is to accept the role of a “monkey” and learn from a human. After all, these are two [different] degrees of development.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/2/2011, “Above Reason in Divine Service”

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