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I had a video conference with two Toronto TV stations - one in Hebrew and one in Russian. I found that Israeli television outside of Israel is exactly that - “Israelis outside of Israel,” or in other words, the greatest and most primitive egoism in the world. There are many primitive egoists, but only theirs is both great and primitive at the same time.

Nevertheless, it appeared as if they too are starting to ask questions, have doubts, and feel desires “above the stomach.” Canada, Australia, and similar countries squeeze everything that’s human out of people, and all that remains is an animalistic aspiration for a full stomach and a peace of mind. You can see this with every person who enters that environment.

One’s environment determines one’s destiny - whether he will go through life worrying only about the comfort of his animate body, until it finally dies, or he will actually think about something besides this. By no means does Kabbalah encourage people to deprive themselves of anything or to suffer. It only explains that a society which eliminates a person’s questions about the meaning of life, turns him into an animal.

But to be frank, lately even the “bourgeois” are beginning to ask questions about the meaning of life. In the past they couldn’t even comprehend the possibility of someone asking such questions, and would look at anyone who spoke about it with a blank, dumbfounded gaze…

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On Sunday July 13, at 5:45 – 6:30 PM Israel time I gave an international lesson for children that was recorded. It was translated into English, Spanish, French, German, Russian, and Turkish and broadcast on Kabbalah TV.

 

 Lesson for Children [07-13-08] [49:49m]: Play Now | Download

 

 Lesson for Children [07-13-08] [49:49m]: Play Now | Download

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On Sunday, July 6, at 5:45 - 6:46 PM Israel time I gave a children’s lesson. It was translated to English, Spanish, German, French, Russian and Turkish, and broadcast on Kabbalah TV.

 

 Lesson for Children [07-06-08] [48:02m]: Play Now | Download

 

 Lesson for Children [07-06-08] [48:02m]: Play Now | Download

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A question I received: The state of Israel has fallen into a depression. The newspaper Yediot Ahronot stated that “According to data received from hospitals, there has been a 23% increase in the use of antidepressants and medicines against fear.” Are you in favor of using these medications?

My Answer: If a person is afflicted by depression or fear, or any other kind of illness, he should treat it through any means possible, and once it stops controlling him, he should start studying Kabbalah, because one way or another, there is and will never be any other medication. It’s written: “It [Kabbalah] will cure any affliction.”

It’s because the only thing that was created is desire. And then it received an intention – to use the desire either “for one’s own sake” or “for the sake of something outside of oneself” (for the sake of another, one’s neighbor, or the Creator). When the intention is “for the sake of another,” it makes the desire similar to the Creator - bestowing. And then, according to the law of equivalence, this desire becomes a vessel for the Upper Light, health, goodness, vigor, and eternal life!

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 How Can the Global Suffering Be Avoided? [03:35m]: Play Now | Download

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News Story (translated from Cursorinfo.co.il): Israel is a unique nation trying to survive a deadly battle. It’s a nation that worships life at a time when it’s surrounded by enemies that worship death. And it has to solve a two-sided dilemma: How to use the advantages of the “society of life” in the battle with the “society of death”?

A mandatory condition in this battle is a tacit social contract according to which every Israeli pledges to risk his life whenever necessary, under the condition that the other citizens will do the same. The spirit of this tacit contract is that we all agree to place our lives in danger for the sake of our mutual survival.

For Israel, breaching this social agreement is much more dangerous than HAMAS and Hezbollah, Syria and Iran. Breaching this unwritten document leads to a situation where less and less young citizens want to become soldiers who protect the country and risk their lives doing so. As a result, the country’s leaders also have less and less moral right to send people into the heat of battle. Less and less Israelis feel protected, and it’s not because the enemy has gotten stronger, but because the social contract is disappearing from our life.

My Comment: And its only solution is in the mutual guarantee of helping one another survive. Then, in such a connection, we will discover a special fulfillment - the perception of the Upper Governing Force. We will understand that everything was created for the sole purpose of revealing this force to us. When we connect to it, we will feel that we exist eternally and perfectly. However, we can go through this path by means of the Light instead of suffering. See Baal HaSulam’s articles “The Arvut” (”Mutual Guarantee”), “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah” and “The Freedom.”

Following Israel, the whole world will feel that it is in the same situation - that its existence is endangered. And whether by the path of suffering or by the path of revealing Kabbalah, it will have to come to the Light.

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 Weapons of Mass Destruction [03:25m]: Play Now | Download

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And I prayed to G-d: Lord! Let me cross Jordan, and I shall see this good land! But G-d became angry with me because of you and said: Do not speak to Me of this anymore! Rise to the summit, look west, north, south and east, for you shall not cross Jordan! And give an order to Joshua, and strengthen him, for he shall become the head of the nation and he shall conquer for them the land that you will see.

And now, Israel, hear the rulings and laws that I teach you to observe, in order that you will live, and come, and take possession of the land that G-d, the Almighty of your fathers, is giving you! Do not add to what I command you, and do not subtract from it, in order to observe the commandments of your G-d.

Just protect your soul, so you won’t forget what your eyes have seen, and so it won’t leave your heart for the rest of your days, and tell of them to your sons and to the sons of your sons: Of the day when you stood before G-d at Chorev. [Read more →]

Filed under: Spirituality - 2 Comments →

Three questions I received on the notions of nationality and Israel

Question: If a person is physically born a Jew, does it mean that he will always reincarnate as a Jew?

My Answer: Yes, because his soul came from Babylon and took the path of correction, then ascended to the level of complete personal correction during the times of the Temple, and then fell from that level to the state of all the souls in this world, in order to spend 2,000 years together with them (and even worse off than them), while being in exile from spiritual life. Precisely this soul must ascend and help everyone else do the same – help all the souls attain the full correction.

Question: If the answer is yes, then is it because the nation of Israel was chosen to carry the plan of the Creator, and this would mean that all the other people will also continue being born with the same nationalities that they started with?

My Answer: Yes. However, we don’t know about the other ten tribes, where they are and who they are today. It’s possible that today they are several billion people - those who were on the spiritual level and fell from it during the times of the First Temple. We learn about this fall and its correction from the breaking of two Partzufim, DACHGAT and NHY, in the World of Nekudim, their common fall and then their common correction. See parts 6 and 7 of Talmud Eser Sefirot.

Question: What if a person converts to Judaism and works very hard trying to attain the Creator? Does he also become a part of the nation of Israel (physically and spiritually)?

My Answer: There is no such nation. These people are ancient Babylonians who began correcting themselves back then. The others, who continued developing egoistically, went on to develop from the 70 forces of Zeir Anpin of the World of Atzilut, and this is why they are called “nations” - and each one has its own form of egoism.

The former are called “Hebrews,” which comes from the word Ever, meaning “across” (across the Machsom), “Jids” - because they await the correction or the Mashiach, and Yehudi (Jew), which comes from the word Yehud, meaning union (with the Creator). This is what set them apart from their brothers, the other Babylonians. So one doesn’t just “convert to Judaism,” the way we see it in our world, but rather spiritual Judaism is when one corrects oneself to the level of the Creator, one attains the Creator through studying Kabbalah. Just like in ancient times, those who are the “nation of Israel” today are those who separated from the other Babylonians by starting to correct their egoism.

You should see the world as that same Babylonian civilization, a part of which temporarily corrected itself, and today everyone must become corrected and become like the Creator. There is no such thing as corporeal Judaism, just like there are no religions, faiths, and so on. All of these things are incorrectly, egoistically understood Kabbalah. Where did people even get such notions, even if they’re mistaken? They came up with them either because their soul hinted at them from within, or from the fall of Kabbalah to the egoistic level. Who were the ancient nations? They were pagans or believers like Romans and Greeks. Everything else came from the spiritual fall, in order to accelerate the development of the Babylonians and bring them to the necessity to become equal to the Creator.

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 The Role of the Nation of Israel [04:31m]: Play Now | Download

Filed under: Israel - 1 Comment →

A question I received: You insist that a person studying Kabbalah shouldn’t make any external changes in his regular life, and that he should be concerned just with the inner work. In addition, you speak exclusively to the secular audience. So why does everyone in Bnei Baruch in Israel, where all your lessons are broadcast from, wear skullcaps? After all, for a secular person this is a dramatic change in outer appearance.

My Answer: As long as society hasn’t reached a complete understanding of what is Kabbalah and what is religion, we must be acceptable to the entire society. And the society, even a secular one, thinks that a Kabbalist has to look religious and wear a skullcap. In addition, this is a tradition, part of the Israeli nation’s culture, its custom, and this is why we observe it in Israel. Of course, it completely doesn’t matter what I wear around my animate body, but to people who are still uncorrected, such an external aspect also makes a difference.

 

 A Kabbalist, a Scientist and a Religious Person [05:24m]: Play Now | Download

Filed under: Spirituality - 1 Comment →

On Sunday, June 29, between 5:45pm and 6:45pm Israel time, I held an international children’s lesson which was translated into English, German, Spanish, Russian, French and Turkish, broadcast on Kabbalah TV.

 

 Lesson for Children [29-06-08] [49:00m]: Play Now | Download

 

 Lesson for Children [29-06-08] [49:00m]: Play Now | Download

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The Torah. The Book Bamidbar. Chapter Baalotkha (abridged)

And G-d said to Moses: “Tell Aaron: when you light the lamps, seven lamps shall turn their light to the front of the Menorah.” And the structure of the Menorah is as follows: it is forged from a single ingot of pure gold, to its very foundation. According to the image that G-d showed to Moses.”

And G-d said to Moses: “Take the Levites out of the environment of the children of Israel and purify them: sprinkle them with purifying water, let them shave their bodies and cleanse their garments and purify themselves. And you shall lead the Levites to the Tent of Revelation, and you shall gather the entire community of the children of Israel. And the Levites shall come before G-d, and the children of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites. And Aaron shall devote the Levites to G-d on behalf of the children of Israel, so they shall serve G-d. Thus you will separate the Levites from the environment of the children of Israel and the Levites shall become Mine.” [Read more →]

Filed under: Spirituality - 1 Comment →