Deuteronomy, 11:26-16:17
 This Week’s Torah Portion | August 17 – August 23, 2014 – Av 21 – Av 27, 5774

In A Nutshell

The portion, Re’eh (Behold), begins with Moses’ words to the people to come and see the blessing and the curse, which the Creator commands them. If the people adhere to the Creator’s commandments they will be blessed. Otherwise, they will be cursed.

Afterward, Moses surveys before the people the preparations to enter the land of Israel, the duties and the prohibitions that accompany the entrance, the work of the Creator specifically in the Temple, and the prohibition to listen to false prophets that deflect the people from the serving the Creator. The portion also cites the laws of Kashrut,^[1] tithing, Shmita (remission), and the three festivals on which it is customary to make an Aliya la Regel (pilgrimage) to Jerusalem.

Commentary by Dr. Michael Laitman

The Torah speaks only about the inner meaning of all the matters just mentioned. It is written, “Behold,” referring to the reception of light of Hochma, which is seeing. Seeing is the highest of the five senses, and marks the highest level of attainment. When a person truly sees whether what is happening is a blessing or a curse, he is standing right before the entrance to the land of Israel.

Eretz Ysrael: Eretz means Ratzon (desire), and Ysrael (Israel) means Yashar El (straight to God). In other words, Eretz Ysrael is a desire aimed entirely toward bestowal, toward mutual guarantee, connection between everyone “as one man with one heart.” At the foot of Mount Sinai we accepted the condition, “love your neighbor as yourself,’ to be “as one man with one heart.” Forty years later we complete the correction and are ready to enter the land of Israel, where all the desires are connected in true mutual bestowal. This is why it is called Yashar El (straight to God). The Creator—the quality of bestowal and love that exists in the world—governs the whole of reality.

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In “Ask the Kabbalist” episode 11, Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman answers questions about whether “evil” people can attain correction, about why the word “God” has become a difficult word for many people today, and more…

• Are there people on Earth that have so much evil inclination in them that there is no chance they could ever be corrected, e.g. people who murder, in life sentences, has the soul departed them, or can they start making corrections in this lifetime?
• What was Adolf Hitler’s role in the correction process?
• Is it possible to use inclinations like stealing, raping, etc. in a good way?
• Why has “God” become a word that people do not want to accept?

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The science of Kabbalah explains that we all exist in a net that binds us together. Because of this, we have to treat each other as if we are in one boat, or like the members of one family. Baal HaSulam writes that the whole world is one family, and we must therefore build harmonious relationships of collaboration among us, instead of our present egoistic relationships.

The general connection among us that has been revealed obliges us to be in agreement with one another. This means that there must be agreement in our actions, thoughts, desires, and everything else. However, no one knows how to make seven billion people interact harmoniously with each other. And yet, the interconnection that is being revealed to us obliges us to accomplish this.

The revelation will continue to happen gradually, one step at a time. No one knows how the next stage will be revealed because this depends on how we realize the current stage. For this reason, Kabbalists propose that the entire society be taught about the law of interaction that is being revealed in the world. This knowledge will enable people to make the right actions. –Dr. Michael Laitman, in “Our Future Depends on What We Do in the Present.”

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Our development is heading towards freeing the human being from the animal level where it is necessary to take care of the body, so that at the moment when we begin to recognize the evil of our egoism and its finality, we could become fully engaged in our re-education and similarity to the next degree of our —the level of “human,” in the implementation of the Biblical condition of “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” –Dr. Michael Laitman, in “The Third Industrial Revolution.”

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Question: How can one describe balance on the human level, in relationships with the environment?

Answer by Dr. Michael Laitman: We don’t feel a division between us, we belong to a unified community, to one human body; we are connected into one system. And among us we want to arrange for balanced relationships of mutual cooperation.

Ultimately nothing separates us, we are a single whole. We depend upon one another and don’t even feel this dependence, for the answers to all of my requests come at that moment, immediately supplying me with what is missing, and I gladly give to others what they lack.

This is called balance in human society, this is a reciprocal interaction based upon two opposing forces that there are in everyone. One is for all and all are for one. We must reach this. Read More »

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