If you look at the spiritual roots of men and women, you will find it amazing that we can even see each other, much less communicate. So what can we do? Just that – communicate, but do it right, for a change

When men and women work together toward the spiritual goal, they build their connection at an entirely different level – a spiritual level. In doing so, they transcend their mundane conflicts and differences, since they have a higher goal that fills their lives with content. When a man and a woman bond for the purpose of attaining a higher goal, they create a spiritual vessel between them, which doesn’t exist in reality. This vessel is neither feminine nor masculine, but a new vessel, in which they receive the sublime abundance – eternal and complete.

Such a life is unattainable alone. Couples who understand that mutual spiritual growth is the most precious gift that they can give to one another are the happiest couples. Their relationship acquires a deeper and genuine meaning, and they march together on a path of happiness and fulfillment.

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What is the attribute of mercy? Our sages defined it as: “what’s mine is yours and what’s your is yours.” And if all the people in the world were to behave that way, it would cancel all the glory of the attribute of truth and judgment, because if each and everyone would be naturally willing to give everything he has to his fellow man and take nothing of another for himself, then the whole interest in lying to one another would disappear, and there would be no room to speak of the attribute of truth whatsoever, because true and false are relative – and if there were no falsehood in the world, there would be no concept of truth. Needless to say that the other attributes that are there only to strengthen the attribute of truth because of its weakness, would also be cancelled.

Truth is defined in the words: “what’s mine is mine, and what’s yours is yours.” That contradicts the attribute of mercy and cannot altogether tolerate it because in truth, it is unjust to labor and strain for another, because besides causing his friend to fail, he accustoms him to exploit his fellow man. Thus, truth dictates that every person treasure his own assets for a time of need so he will not have to be a burden on his fellow man.

Baal HaSulam (Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag), in “Peace in the World.”

Read How to Maximize Free Will and Subtract Subjugation

The concept of freedom determines our whole life. Animals in captivity usually develop ill health and may even die – a sure sign that nature disagrees with any kind of subjugation. It is not by chance that for centuries humanity engaged in bloodshed and battles to obtain a certain measure of freedom.

Even so, we have a rather vague idea about freedom and independence. We assume that everyone has an inner need for freedom and independence, and that they are available to us at will. But if we examine our actions carefully, we will discover that we act compulsively and that we have no free will at all.

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To Reach Spiritual Attainment, Just Follow One Law

The great sage, Rabbi Akiva, (1st century CE) said: “Love thy neighbor as thyself is the comprehensive rule of all the spiritual laws.”

When Rabbi Akiva speaks about love for our neighbor (one of many spiritual laws), about our duties with regard to society and even to the Creator as the comprehensive law, he implies that all the other laws are mere constituents of this rule.

Kabbalah’s Absolute Litmus Test of Love That Applies Anywhere: ‘How Would I Like It If…?’

However, when we try to find an explanation for this, we are met with an even more unusual statement by the sage, Hillel. When his disciple asked him to teach him the entire wisdom of Kabbalah while standing on one foot, Hillel replied: “Anything that you hate, do not do to others!” Hillel’s answer teaches us that the whole purpose, indeed the reason for the existence of Kabbalah, is to clarify and fulfill a single law: “Love thy neighbor as thyself.”

Is Love an Impossible Dream?

Yet, how can I love another as myself? Loving others as myself would imply constantly fulfilling all the desires of all the people, when I am unable to satisfy even my own desires! Moreover, the sages explain that we have to satisfy others’ desires before our own.

Take this Self-Test! How Well Can I Keep the Law of Love?

Instructions:  Evaluate yourself in the following two situations on a scale of 1 – 10, “10” meaning “I would ALWAYS carry out this action”, and “1” meaning “I would NEVER behave in this way.”

1. If you have only one pillow, you must give it to your friend. How often would you carry out this  action? (Evaluate yourself on scale of 1 – 10)
2. If you have one chair, another person should take it, while you stand or sit on the ground. How often would you carry out this action? (Evaluate yourself on scale of 1 – 10)

If you could not answer “ALWAYS” to these situations, you will not be fulfilling the instruction of loving your neighbor as yourself. So, is this really a feasible demand?

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Genesis, 23:1-25:18
This Week’s Torah Portion | November 9 – November 15, 2014 – Cheshvan 16 – Cheshvan 22, 5774, 5775

In A Nutshell

In the portion, The Life of Sarah, Abraham gives a eulogy after Sarah’s death at the age of 127. He buys a lot for the grave from Ephron the Hittite for four hundred shekels of silver and buries her in the Cave of Machpelah, in Hebron.

Abraham objects to Isaac marrying a woman from the Canaanites, and sends Eliezer, his servant, to Aram Naharaim to find a wife for his son. When Eliezer approaches a well, he meets Rebecca and asks her to give him water. She gives him water, and offers water to his camels, as well. Eliezer takes her offer as a sign that she is the right woman for Isaac, and so he brings her to Canaan.

After the death of Sarah, Abraham marries Keturah, who bears six children, which Abraham sends eastward. Abraham died at the age of 175, and inherits all that he has to Isaac.

The end of the portion elaborates on the generations of Ishmael and on his passing at the age of 175.

 Commentary by Dr. Michael Laitman

We need to remember that the Torah speaks of what happens within, as one reveals one’s soul, the innermost part. The revelation of the soul is gradual, and manifests in the stories of the Torah. Abraham is the initial force with which a person reveals the soul and opens the internality to discover the upper world. He is the first force of overcoming, the force of bestowal, along with that force’s female, Sarah, which is suitable for the degree of Abraham.

To know with which desires we can work and with which we cannot, we must sort out our self-centered desires, leaving the degrees with which we still cannot work for the next degrees, for states where the desire is stronger. To scrutinize the desire called Isaac, we must first remove the desire with which we cannot work, and sort it with another female, with Hagar, from whom comes Ishmael, the Klipa (shell/peel) of the right.

The Isaac degree within us emerges only afterward, and is an extension of the Abraham degree. It is written about Isaac, “For in Isaac will your seed be named” (Genesis, 21:12), meaning that Abraham’s rise to a higher degree is named Isaac. At the Isaac degree, one should reexamine one’s desires, and sort out with which desires it is possible to work, and with which it is impossible.

A person cannot scrutinize alone, as that person (Abraham) comes from only one force, one side, from the force of Hesed (mercy). Abraham is still without Gevura, and must first acquire the degree of Isaac, which is the foundation of Gevura. This is the point where the force of Eliezer comes to the aid. Eliezer is like the upper light—scrutinizing the desires for a person, bringing one to the degree where one can sort the next stage of correction out of all of one’s desires. That stage is called Rebecca.

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