Download the ONE Convention Preparation eBook for iTunes.

Instructions:

PC

• Save the file
• Right click “Open”. It will ask you to select a program to open it, choose iTunes
• Open iTunes
• Select your iOS device (iPhone, iPad, iPod)
• Click the Books tab
• Select Sync Books
• If iTunes is set to sync only selected books, select the checkbox next to the book you want to sync
• Click Sync

MAC

• Save the file
• Open it using iBooks
• Open iTunes
• Select your iOS device (iPhone, iPad, iPod)
• Click the Books tab
• Select Sync Books
• If iTunes is set to sync only selected books, select the checkbox next to the book you want to sync
• Click Sync

Numbers, 33:1-36:13
This Week’s Torah Portion | July 20 – July 26, 2014 – Tammuz 22 – Tammuz 28, 5774

In A Nutshell

The portion, Masaei (Journeys) describes the journeys of the children of Israel, the stops where they parked in the desert, and their final preparations to enter the land of Israel. The portion details several commandments, such as the obliteration of idol worship, cities of refuge, the rules regarding involuntary manslaughter, appointing presidents to the tribes under the leadership of Joshua, son of Nun, and Elazar the Priest, dedicating cities for the people of the tribe of Levi, and a description of the boundaries of the land.

The portion ends with the continuation of the story of the daughters of Zelophehad, the fear of the tribe of Menashe that they would marry men from other tribes, thus causing the tribe of Menashe to lose its lots. In consequence, Moses issues a warrant prohibiting the daughters of Zelophehad from marrying men of other tribes, as well as other prohibitions that concern marriages of people from different tribes.

Commentary by Dr. Michael Laitman

The portion is a preparation to enter the land of Israel. At this stage we begin the inner work, rising to a degree where our will to receive connects with the upper force. Here we discover the upper force because we are living inside that desire.

It is written that the land of Israel is the land where the Creator is present from the beginning of the year to its end. That is, He is always in the land of Israel—in a desire that is aiming entirely to bestow, Yashar El (straight to God). A person discovers the upper force within that desire and is in Dvekut (adhesion) with it. This is the intention of the land of Israel.

From this we can learn to what extent we are not in the spiritual land of Israel, but in the corporeal one. Kabbalists tell us that we have been given the opportunity to return to the corporeal (physical) land of Israel so as to rise to the spiritual one. For this purpose, we must all be together, united as a family, “as one man with one heart,” as in “All of Israel are friends” and as in “love your neighbor as yourself.” We have connected on the stipulation of mutual guarantee, and only if we meet this criterion will we enter the land of Israel.

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Edu & Brent reminisce about the 2014 World Kabbalah Convention & are inspired by the upcoming ONE Convention!

Listen to Ash speak about how the ONE Convention will be his first convention!

Due to popular demand after the first Q&A session with Dr. Laitman (which gave rise to the ONE Convention Preparation eBook), we’ll be holding another special Q&A session with Dr. Laitman in preparation for the ONE Convention in New Jersey:

• When? Thursday, June 17. 8:00 PM till 10:00 PM EDT (New York time)
• Where? Kabbalah TV – kab.tv
• Got a Question? Write your question in the “Ask a Question” form in order to have it answered by Dr. Laitman on the night of the special Q&A session:

Ask Your Question for the Special Q&A Event Here »

Why Kabbalah Is Necessary to Continue to Research Reality

Our perception of ourselves and reality determines how we sense ourselves and reality. This is the basis for all our research. We need to understand what a human being is, and if we have any existence in and of ourselves. Quantum physicists may be right when they argue that man, like all of matter, is merely a “bundle of waves.” Perhaps the actual reality is very different from that which we presently see. However, if we can establish a fundamental, objective principle that will not depend upon our subjective sensation, a principle that defines “us” and defines “reality,” we will have a standard by which to assess our present perception.

Many researchers believe that the more we progress in our research, the dimmer and vaguer we find things to be. They feel that we are groping in the dark. Our misunderstanding of ourselves and the world is at the core of the present global crisis we are facing. Without doubt, the scientific approach of researching the depths of reality is a good one, but we find there is a boundary, an impasse that we cannot penetrate.

Human nature, human perception, and everything science has discovered will not facilitate a forward movement. We will feel that from a certain point on, everything becomes “intangible” and “evaporates.” This is what quantum physics is already beginning to discover–that matter is suddenly “lost,” leaving researchers in a kind of vacuum.

A sensation of that sort stems from having lost the sense of the present reality, before having perceived the “approaching” Upper reality. This happens when one does not possess the tools to perceive that “other” reality. Baal HaSulam states (in his article, The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah) that the only way to obtain that method is to learn from a Kabbalist who has already mastered it.

Do You Know that You Exist in a State of Perfection?

Our state in this world is far from our real state, from the standard called Ein Sof, where we are all connected as one desire filled with the Upper Light. The separation, or “exclusion,” occurred to allow us to rise from the degree of desire to a higher degree than that of the desire itself, meaning the degree of intention. This enabled us to make free choices and acquire discernments and revelations with which we could transcend the creature-receiving degree and reach the Creator-giving degree.

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