The following are links to abbreviations to articles of Baal HaSulam by Dr. Michael Laitman. They are arranged in a way where Baal HaSulam’s original text is on the left column, and Dr. Laitman’s abbreviated text is on the right column. Rabash, Dr. Laitman’s teacher, advised Dr. Laitman to make daily abbreviations and summaries to the texts of Baal HaSulam and Rabash as a means to process the material more deeply, and Dr. Laitman often gives the same recommendation to his students in his lessons. The following abbreviations to Baal HaSulam’s articles can be used both to better process the main principles in the articles, and also serve as examples on how to extract the main principles and communicate them in an easier language.

• Body and Soul – Abbreviation
• A Handmaid that Is Heir to Her Mistress – Abbreviation
• Exile and Redemption – Abbreviation
• One Commandment – Abbreviation

“We are here to create a better world…people who care enough, can change the course of history…”
Abby Hoffman, 1967

Precisely forty years ago, in the summer of ‘69, in a void between the Vietnam War and Neil Armstrong’s small/giant step/leap on the moon, an exceptional event changed the face of the world. Or at least it meant to.

It all began with an “innocent” ad, featuring a guitar and a little dove telling of an upcoming music festival. The rumor rapidly spread throughout America, and thousands of youngsters began flowing to the green fields of Max Yasgur, a Jewish farmer, north of New York State. Something took place, which no one had imagined, including the original festival’s organizers.

What actually happened? Superficially speaking, not much. No historical battles, no extraordinary speeches, no victims or dead (except for one poor hippy who was run over by a heartless tractor). A few thousand people sang together, bathed nude in the lake and slid down sticky mud the rain left behind. But for the most part they united, becoming one giant, hairy ball, sweaty, wild with a spark in their eyes.

It may have been for a short period of time, but that was enough to turn the Woodstock festival into one of the most impactful and important events of the 20th century. What has changed since then? Was Woodstock just a nostalgic, passing episode, or a significant event, with relevant ramifications for our time as well?

Separately Connected

“Everything is connected together, breaking and coming together, it becomes complicated and straightens itself out again, with no connection, there’s no connection…”
Rami Fortis, “No Connection”

Undoubtedly, we are clearly in a post-Woodstock era now. It’s an era steroid-pumped with technological super-connections and high traffic information flows: reality TV, SMS, Twitter, Facebook, and auto-answering messages “connect” people. Naïve romanticism and flowers in the hair have been swapped with sarcastic realism, and if you’re lucky, a flower-themed cellphone case or screensaver. Is there even one person around anymore who believes passionately in some power-shifting revolution? And is there even any “institution” left to fight? That’s just painting a small part of the picture…

In the last ten years, probably the most significant development is that one called “globalization.” People, money and technology have crossed national boundaries, and a global community has been created. On the one hand, people are becoming connected with one another in every realm of life. But on the other hand, the ever-growing ego is ever-active in separating people, making it difficult to accept that interconnection is a fact of life. Instead of consciously choosing to come together, human “togetherness” is involuntarily evolving and pressuring people to object and to deny that which ties one another together.

This is a result of two opposite needs operating simultaneously: (1) the need to be with everyone, and (2) the need to remain in each one’s own safe haven. People feel negative sensations like pressure, stress, insecurity and paranoia as a result of these two clashing needs, and in particular, as a result of holding tight onto the second of these two needs when the first is the one demanding attention. In short, the time has come for a true connection between people to form, one beyond that felt at a Woodstock – one that incorporates humanity as a whole.

Woodstock proved that a few thousand people equipped with a strong social agenda can arouse media buzz and widespread social response. It also proved that it’s not enough to truly better the world. For that, people must become equipped with a deeper understanding of the essence of their connection. It’s insufficient for people to simply be spectators of this grand performance of the world unfolding before them. Now’s the time for people to start participating in this process, to get backstage tickets and see the making of every personal, social and global event they find themselves in. And unlike a major music event, the backstage tickets for life are free…

The Wisdom of Kabbalah – Life’s Backstage Tickets

“We are stardust, we are golden, and we’ve got to get ourselves back to the garden…”
Joni Mitchell, “Woodstock”

According to Kabbalists, humanity was initially joined as one soul, an immense body composed of infinite cells that sustained a mutual and continuous connection among them. At a certain point, that collective soul shattered into an infinite number of parts, which are you, me, and the seven billion other people in the world. This shattering brought about a complete loss of a sense of connection, and since then, people have been constantly engaged in the search for substitutes of that feeling of wholeness that each one had experienced. Woodstock is but one of the many subconscious efforts people have taken to replicate that lost connection, that gone memory. But the feeling experienced at Woodstock was short-lived, just like all efforts humanity has made toward achieving that ultimate feeling of wholeness.

The human ego has been growing and expanding over the years and is now reaching new heights. The ego leads people to impressive achievements, but in addition, opens a deep void in people’s hearts, and it successfully destroys any warm, human connection people attempt to establish. Today’s global age, Kabbalists explain, is the last phase of humanity’s preparation toward evolving into its final, preprogrammed state: its reunification as one soul, above the ego that divides one from another.

Kabbalists throughout the generations have developed the method of attaining true connection among people precisely for its use in our time, when the destructive nature of the ego would be reaching its heights of development. At the innermost core of this process is the need to change the person’s inborn egoistic nature to its opposite: the quality of giving to others.

But to anyone inexperienced with Kabbalah’s method, this would very much sound far fetched. How can people possibly give up being concerned about themselves? If anything, now more than ever it seems like each person needs to be on the lookout for him- or herself more than in any other time. If someone isn’t concerned for him- or herself, so who else will be?

With A Little Help From Friends…

“When humanity reaches its goal by attaining the complete degree of loving others, all bodies in the world will be joined into one body and one heart – only then, our desired happiness will be revealed before humanity in all its glory.”
Baal HaSulam, “The Freedom”

The renowned Kabbalist, Baal HaSulam (Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag), claimed that the only way people could ever give up their self concern would be if others showed concern for their welfare, one for another, just like in a small family where each one takes care of the other. He called this warm relationship “the mutual guarantee,” and through such mutual consideration and dependence, the force that once united everyone as one soul will become revealed from its concealment. The establishment of this mutual guarantee will grant people freedom – freedom of concern for themselves, and the experience a new, perfect reality.

Sliding in Woodstock’s slippery mud, growing long hair and singing freedom slogans with a dry throat are unnecessary for achieving this new reality, and moreover, the human ego has expanded to such dimensions that interconnection based on slogans and acid simply cannot be achieved. The united feeling at Woodstock will never be revived, at least not in its original form. People are now required to connect with awareness, insight, and with open eyes. It’s time for everyone to take off his- and her mask, and truly connect in heart.

And it is at that point, of all places, that the world of culture and music in particular, play a major role. Why?

The Power of Music

“Each of us has a huge ego, and the only way to survive together for 31 years is to create a situation in which the group’s ego is bigger than that of each of its members….”
Bono, on the secret of the group U2′s survival for many years

Music is the deepest and most direct artistic expression. It can cross boundaries, touch people’s hearts and carry them away, and connect them beyond their differences. Music has the tendency to reject and be free of existing customs. In addition, music has become the most popular and successful artistic platform in recent times. It flows with ease through modern media pipelines – the Internet, mobile devices, radio and TV – and is available everywhere and at all times. Famous artists and musicians are still cultural heroes who greatly influence the public. The only question is, of course, how is this all translated into actual changes in the real world?

In the initial phase, people began pointing their arrows in the right direction. In the 60s, the musicians’ revolution was mainly directed against the institution in all its forms. However, as time passed, people realized that the real problem is not with the institution itself, but with the inner force that operates and motivates all people: man’s egoistic nature. The true walls needing to be broken down are those between people, the walls in people’s hearts, walls of detachment and separation from one another that tear away at each other, causing all suffering and torment in the world. That doesn’t mean that the belligerent spirit flowing in the veins of rock music should be packed away. On the contrary, that spirit needs to be used all the more forcefully, sending new arrows of revolution, sharper and smarter, towards the true enemy residing within each and every person. In other words, the ego should not be cancelled or decreased, but used with a new intention – with the intention of attaining a true and complete connection with others, a connection that presents humanity with the opportunity for a higher and more elevated existence.

Music must return to its source, to individuals, to people – as a tool that connects and glues people together, making them feel truly closer to each other. If the guitar and the dove, meaning human culture and Kabbalah’s spiritual concepts, join together, they will be able to develop a feeling of eternal and complete life in people’s hearts. This time, as opposed to the past, all knowledge, awareness and necessary internal maturity are in people’s hands in order to succeed in reconstructing a universal, internal Woodstock, the Woodstock of the souls.

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With the world in crisis, parents everywhere fear for their children’s future. Yet, if we rise to the challenge, we can set them on the path to a future far brighter than any we ever dreamed of.

As I sit at my computer, the neighborhood rings with the laughter of children playing tag. It brings back memories of my childhood, and I can’t help but wonder what the future has in store for them.

Mankind has always invested superhuman efforts to assure that the next generation will have an easier, more fulfilling life. For many parents today, this dream may forever remain a fantasy. Economic uncertainty, environmental collapse, and violence promise to be the legacy we will leave our children. A Rasmussen Poll in January found that only 47% of American parents believe their children will be better off than they are.

This gloomy outlook should be a clarion call to action for people everywhere. But if we are to have any hope of finding lasting solutions, we must first retrace the developments that led to the problems we face today.

Did Someone Press “Fast Forward?”

Mankind’s needs were simple once: If there was adequate food, shelter and security from predators, life was good. But time marched on, and the necessities were no longer enough. People wanted more from life, and so the relentless quest for new pleasures began. By the time we reached the 20th century, everything had accelerated, as if someone pressed “fast forward.” We went from horses to trains to jets; from telegraphs to phones to the Internet. With each generation, the luxuries of the parents became the necessities of the children.

This continuous escalation of selfindulgence has finally caught up with us, bringing our world to the brink of collapse. Our culture of excess reached its culmination with ego-maniacs like Bernard Madoff, who swindled investors of $50 billion. And while it’s easy to put the blame on the likes of Madoff, the reality is that we all bear a share of the guilt, even if our excesses are on a much smaller scale.

If we are honest, we’ll see that success in our society is defined as more money, fame or power, no matter what the cost to others. So what can we expect for our future if these are the values that we promote?

If egoism is the root of our problems, then the solution is to transform our values to altruism and sharing. But how? After all, mankind has prospered with a “Me first!” mentality for thousands of years. Yet, in today’s globalized society, where everything that happens on one side of the world has an almost immediate impact on the other side, “Me first!” no longer works. In the words of Britain’s PM, Gordon Brown, “In this global age, we need solutions that can no longer be defined in terms of us and them, but can be achieved only together – as us with them.”

New Problems Call for New Solutions

We can’t buy our way out of the current crisis with taxpayer dollars or consume our way out through increased shopping. We have to approach life from a new perspective, taking advantage of three powerful tools.

• Education

People today are lost and confused, wondering: Why is this happening? What should we do? But we are resourceful, and if we understand the problem, we will perform miracles to solve it. This is why a public education campaign about the globalization of our economies, the interdependence of all people, and the benefits of cooperation could guide us to the solutions.

Our best hope for the future lies in educating our children. NY Times columnist Nicholas Kristof recently classified education as “our greatest national shame.” And he’s right: we are not providing our children with the knowledge they need to succeed in the new global era. If we offer them an education about the natural laws that govern interconnected systems, they will be prepared to easily navigate the stormy seas that are so baffling to us.

• Media

Most of our behavioral patterns come directly from TV and the Internet. As long as news, entertainment and sports glorify the pursuit of wealth and a “win at any cost” mentality, we will see greed and exploitation dominate our society. If, however, we insist that these venues reflect the values of compassion, we will turn today’s destructive media force to our advantage.

And in fact, the tide is already starting to shift. A recent series of ads bears titles such as, “In an Absolut World, Currency will be Replaced with Acts of Kindness.” CNN’s series on economic survival features stories about people who find happiness through the renewal of family connections, sharing with others, and a simpler lifestyle. We just need to give things a push!

• The Power of Society

The most powerful instrument for change, however, is us. Throughout history, social change has been driven by the people. The 14th century Renaissance is just one example of a cultural movement that led to exponential advances in all areas. And today, the desire for change among the American people was so strong that it swept an unlikely candidate into the highest office.

This is the force we can harness to make the changes in today’s society. But how can we transform our approach to life from egoism to altruism when all we know is “taking care of #1”? Actually, our children can show us the way! When a child decides to become a doctor, he “plays” doctor, even though he has no idea what he is doing. Only when the child becomes a doctor will he know what it really means, but each of his imagined notions along the way is a necessary preparation.

So to begin with, we can “fake it until we make it.” Our first “altruistic” efforts will be purely egoistic: done to escape the crisis. Over time, however, an amazing transformation will occur: our simulated joy in altruism will give way to the real thing, providing real relief from the crisis.

Arne Duncan, the new Education Secretary, commented, “We have to continue to think differently and do everything we can to put our students … on the path to pursuing the American dream.” Let’s pressure our government to use part of the $150 billion education stimulus to create a new American dream, one that values activities that benefit all and frowns upon personal success at the expense of others. Let’s use the power of our collective will to show politicians and businesses that we are no longer buying into a consumer oriented society. Let’s encourage media to promote values of generosity and sharing, while shunning egoistic glorification of individuals. In this way, we will leave a lasting legacy to our children, and they will have the wisdom to know how to use it.

Related Material:

• Kabbalah on Education – a section within the Life, Love & Family section on Kabbalah.info
• Education – If we could provide a correct form of education and grounding to at least one generation, we could then be certain that all future generations would be brought up suitably and live optimally…
• Free Course in Authentic Kabbalah – Starts September 9, 2009. Click Here to Sign Up!

The Last Superman

The world is desperately looking for heroes, people who will lead us out of the crises that are pummeling us. Can President Obama rise to the occasion and defeat the villains of greed and egoism?

Recently, it was rumored that Barack Obama was tempted to enter the bidding for a rare edition of the first-ever Superman comic. The rumors began to settle when it was announced that the American President would not be participating in the auction (and besides, he’s a Spiderman, not a Superman, fan). And finally, all the talk came to a halt when the comic was sold to someone else for $325,000 (almost the yearly salary for Mr. Obama).

Still, the fact that the rumors started is much more than a coincidence. Superman is a clear symbol of the American Dream; he is the ultimate cowboy, the redeeming angel of a new era. Despite the decades that have passed since he was last seen flying above Metropolis, and the steady stream of heroes that have flooded the world ever since, there is no doubt that the blue knight in the red cape is still number one.

It’s no wonder that people are associating Obama with Superman, as if asking the two to join forces and defeat the escalating crisis. Obama’s sweeping inaugural speech before Congress was a perfect testimony to this. It was a classic Superman speech.

Superman, as we all know, always “emerges stronger than before” after a crisis. He always comes out on top and gains the upper hand even when all seems lost. He saves the world from complete catastrophe at the very last moment, and gets a big round of applause in the process.

Can Superman Still Prevail?

The only problem is that Obama is trying to be Superman in a post-Superman era, an era where there is no place for mythological superheroes, shrouded in an aura of heroic loneliness. Obama, like the rest of the world leaders, has to understand that none of the old methods will help him solve this crisis because reality has changed. It’s not just that the rules of the game have changed; we are playing a completely new game.

Until recently, we have lived in an individualistic world, where the planet was ruled by omnipotent financial opportunists and brilliant, cunning ego giants. Now, however, the situation has changed completely. It’s as if an invisible giant fisherman has caught humanity inside one global net and left it hanging, lost and perplexed. The sharks on Wall Street have suddenly found themselves tossed into the same boat as the smallest of the “small fry” in Istanbul, all gasping for air in unison.

In this new era, the collapse of the financial system is clearly showing us that an attitude of using others, or even just caring for yourself alone, is a vengeful, double-edged sword. Our ambition, also known as the ego, has ceased being a loyal friend that helps us get ahead and has become a dangerous enemy. And now, the big question is: who will save the world from itself?

New Heroes for a New Age

There is no doubt that we are in dire need of new heroes. To find them, we must rearrange our entire value system and change the formula for prosperity from the one that says: “success comes from using others,” to the opposite, “success comes from mutual concern.” Or, in the words of the British prime minister Gordon Brown to labor activists in Bristol, “Our task must be nothing less than to rebuild a financial system where it has failed and then to create an economy where banks are no longer serving themselves but serving the public.”

Our new, interconnected, interrelated world demands new superheroes, who will understand that the true enemy is found within. A true hero will be someone who knows how to conquer his own evil inclination, his own greed and self-centered way of thinking. The leaders of tomorrow will be people or nations who know they have to encourage mutual support and strengthen the connections between people, and who are able to see others as heroes, too.

The new superheroes will communicate the laws of integration and unification, necessary for our existence, to the next generations. They will teach people to see themselves and others as organs in one body, existing inside one nature, as one universal Superman. And just like in a body, mutual care for the benefit of the whole generates harmony and life, whereas caring for the self alone results in cancer. The new Superman will help us all understand that this also applies to our single, unified body of humanity, and once we understand this, we will regain life in the systems that are now gasping for air.

Could Obama be that Superman? Only time will tell. He is off to a promising start. He shows a great desire to change the world for the better, and has a personality that embodies a unique mixture of countries and people. The only question is whether he will be wise enough to set the right example for the other world leaders to follow. Otherwise, he may find himself carved into the pages of history as the last egoistic Superman.

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In this Kabbalah Today issue you will find articles on the current economic crisis and the upcoming U.S. elections.
Also, just in time to close the period of submissions to Project 10^100 by Google an article on Google’s apparent success in the last couple of years.

To view previous issues of Kabbalah Today visit the KabbalahToday website

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A-Rod’s Divorce and Madonna Have Nothing to Do with Kabbalah

The news has been filled the last few days with stories about the problems baseball player Alex Rodriquez and pop star Madonna are having with their spouses. When Cynthia Rodriquez filed for divorce, she cited A-Rod’s involvement with Kabbalah as a key contributor to the breakdown of their marriage.

The news stories generate more questions than answers, so one can only speculate on what is really happening. A key question that comes to mind is what these two superstars are expecting to find in their pursuit of Kabbalah. Here are two people who have almost everything this world can offer – money, good looks, talent, fame and power – yet they are still searching for something to bring them happiness and fulfillment. Read the Full Article>>>

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Global Warming—So What!?

With the abundant information available to the mass public today, everyone knows about global warming and climate change. But as it turns out, knowing and caring do not always go hand in hand. Read the Full Article >>>

The more we know about global warming and the threats it poses—the less we seem to care! A recent survey of 1100 Americans, conducted by scientists from the Texas A&M University, showed that “The more informed one is about global warming, the less one feels personally responsible for this problem and the less one is concerned for global warming” (Risk Analysis, Vol.28, Issue 1, Feb 08). In total contradiction to what we would expect, research shows that the more actively the media publicizes the problem, and the more informed we are, the less concerned about it we become!

Kabbalah – The Antidote to Indifference

Perhaps our indifference can be attributed to the fact that no one has been able to offer any viable solutions for the impending disaster, or maybe it’s because we feel too overwhelmed by the overabundance of disturbing facts. Hence we choose to simply push the problem aside, for the time being. But clearly we cannot ignore it when it begins affecting us personally—for example, when you happen to be that person in New Orleans whose entire family is wiped out by Hurricane Katrina.

Because of the global nature of the problem, any one of us can be next—so why don’t we care?!
Kabbalah explains it very simply: What’s preventing us from thinking soberly and effectively about the problem is our cunning, narrow egoistic perception. It blinds us from seeing the broader perspective, from being able to evaluate the full gravity of the situation. Moreover, our ego blinds us to the fact that we are causing this to ourselves, and are therefore able to prevent it! Read the Full Article >>>

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Mankind’s Growing Hunger

The current food crisis has been declared a ‘silent tsunami’ in recent headlines. Kabbalah explains the root of the problem, and shows us how to avert this growing threat.

Actually, food shortages are nothing new—they have shaped civilizations since the days when Pharaohs ruled Egypt. In the past 50 years alone, famines in Africa, North Korea, China, and Cambodia have claimed millions of lives. So why are world leaders today so alarmed by the current situation?

In Pharaoh’s time, a famine in Egypt didn’t affect tribes wandering the plains of America. In contrast, today’s crisis ripples across the entire world. Global food prices have risen 83% in the past three years, making it almost impossible for the world’s poorest nations to feed their people. More than 70 countries spanning every continent are now facing critical shortages. Moreover, famine is no longer limited to third world countries. Even developed countries like the United States are facing soaring food prices that are impoverishing the once-comfortable middle class. This time, hunger is truly global. Read the Full Article…

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Zohar means Radiance, and The Book of Zohar is the fundamental book in the wisdom of Kabbalah. It is the key enabling one to reveal the spiritual part of the universe, hidden to our five senses, and the Upper Force that governs everything and brings everything into being.

It was written by Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, or Rashbi, a great Kabbalist who lived in the 2nd century CE. Rashbi attained all the wisdom that was to be recorded in The Book of Zohar while hiding from the hostile Roman authorities in a cave in Northern Israel. Together with his son Rabbi Elazar, Rashbi spent 13 years living in this cave, eating fruits of a carob tree and drinking water from a nearby source. In that time, the father and son had attained all the degrees of the spiritual world, and were able to feel the Upper Force or the Creator with utter clarity.

13 years later, Rabbi Shimon and his son reemerged from the cave, assembled a group of disciples, and wrote The Book of Zohar along with them. Kabbalah explains that ten men were necessary to write this unique book, because their souls corresponded to ten spiritual forces called “Sefirot.” Only together were they able to create the common spiritual vessel able to perceive the highest degrees of the spiritual world.

Therefore, when The Book of Zohar describes Rabbi Shimon and his students, it actually refers to the qualities that exist in the spiritual world. The ten sages had attained these spiritual qualities through their souls and were able to record them in a book.

The book was written in a special way. Rashbi knew that the text had to conceal its spiritual content, because this information was intended for those who would live two millennia later—us. This is why he had one of his students, Rabbi Aba, write it. Rabbi Aba was able to put the spiritual information in a concealed manner. He wrote The Book of Zohar by listening to Rashbi and recording what he said in a way that an uninformed reader could comprehend only the shallowest, most external layer of the text. For instance, here is how the book starts: Rabbi Chizkiyah opened, “It is written, as the rose amongst the thorns.” The text is beautiful and poetic, yet requires a spiritual attainment in order to decipher its true meaning.

Hence, when we read The Book of Zohar without the needed preparation, it appears as a series of fantastical tales and legends. And to learn how to read it properly, we should start with the writings of Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag, also called Baal HaSulam, after his Sulam (Ladder) commentary on The Book of Zohar. Baal HaSulam composed a comprehensive, accurate, and systematic interpretation of The Book of Zohar. His goal was to unveil the book to the public and make it suitable for the souls of our time.

The Book of Zohar was to be concealed for two thousand years, waiting for humanity to desire spirituality. And this is happening in our time, when more and more people are asking about the purpose of their very existence. That is why The Zohar is now becoming revealed to all by the great Kabbalists who have concealed it until now.

Excerpt from Baal HaSulam’s Preface to the Book of Zohar:

“1. The profoundness of the wisdom in the holy Book of Zohar is enclosed and caged behind a thousand locks, and our human tongue too poor to provide us with sufficient, reliable expressions to interpret one thing in this book to its end. Also, the interpretation that I have made is but a ladder to help the examiner rise to the height of things and examine the words of the book itself. Hence, I have found it necessary to prepare the reader, to give him a way and an inlet in reliable definitions, concerning how one should contemplate and study the book.

2. At the outset, you must know that all that is said in The Book of Zohar, and even in its legends, is denominations of the ten Sefirot, called KHB (Keter, Hochma, Bina), HGT (Hesed, Gevura, Tifferet), NHYM (Netzah, Hod, Yesod, Malchut), and their combinations. Just as the spoken language, consisting of the twenty-two letters with their various permutations, are entirely adequate for uncovering the essence of any object or learning, so too are the concepts and permutations of the ten Sefirot sufficient to disclose the entire wisdom contained in the book of Heaven…”

Related Pages:
* 5 Things You Should Know About The Zohar

Articles by Baal HaSulam:
* Introduction to the Zohar
* A Speech in Celebration of the conclusion of The Zohar
* A Speech for the Completion of The Zohar

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Kabbalah Chronicles

The Rambam (Maimonides) wrote that when the whole of humanity was deep in idol worship, one man could not go with the flow. His name was Abraham. He pondered and searched until he found the truth: that the world has only one leader. When he discovered this, he realized he had discovered life’s eternal truth and ran to tell the world. Since then, the world has had a method that reveals this truth. Today this method has a different name – “Kabbalah” – but it is essentially the same. If we open our hearts to it, it will teach us why things happen, and how to make them happen better. Read the Full Article…

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Generation I

In our generation—generation “I”—every person is unique. But the true art is in knowing how to be unique. Read the Full Article…

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Man, Woman, and the Snake Between Them

For centuries, the story of Adam and Eve has captured the imagination of children and adults alike. It’s time to know the true meaning of the story, who that cunning little snake was, and of course, how all this relates to the fact that 50% of American couples today are getting divorced. Read the Full Article…

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Obesity: A Lack of Spiritual Food?

Everyone today is counting their calories—but the obesity problem only keeps growing. Kabbalah explains that this epidemic is yet another symptom that the modern human being is not getting his “spiritual food” Read the Full Article…

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The Story of Stuff – Untold Story of: a Consumer Nation

Stuff. It fills our closets, our garages, and our lives. We gauge success in life by the stuff we own, and spend incredible amounts of time shopping for it. A new documentary, The Story of Stuff, shows how our entire lives have been taken over by “stuff.” And the wisdom of Kabbalah shows what we can do about it. Read the Full Article…

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Tom, Jerry and Our Children

Today, even Tom can’t help us teach good values to our children. Not to mention Jerry…

Modern psychological research shows that a child’s cognitive development and patterns of behavior begin to form very early on. The acclaimed Swiss psychologist, Jean Piaget, showed that soon after birth, a baby begins to learn through observation, adopting mental concepts from the environment. The incoming sensory data that the child receives, even as a toddler, has a major effect on his development. Later on, the child only continues developing and perfecting what he had absorbed from his surroundings during the early years.

In light of this, just imagine how sophisticated we must be in order to give our children the right examples, literally from the age of zero. On the other hand, how can we give our children positive examples when even the children’s entertainment industry feeds them countless negative values and images?

To cite just one example, here is the latest description of Tom and Jerry, as it appears on the Cartoon Network website: “Tenacious cat Tom is forever on the tail of his elusive nemesis, Jerry the mouse, and no tricks, traps or cast-iron frying pans will stop him in his timeless pursuit.” And that, dear parents, is what our toddlers learn from.

But apparently, our children are not the only victims of their environment. Society doesn’t ask any of us, “What would you like to want?”—it rather dictates to us what to want, from dawn to dusk. Whether it’s Coca Cola, Nike, iPod or Benz—“you just gotta have it!” But when it comes to our children’s education, it’s up to us, the parents, to choose the values and patterns of behavior that will influence our children.

The Oldies and the Newbies

Take a look at the games our children play or the movies they watch. Chances are, you’d be hard pressed to find even one cartoon that doesn’t use elements of violence, scorn and degradation. There will always be someone who suffers—and someone who enjoys it. Systematically, the cartoons’ plots revolve around the pleasure derived from deriding and abusing one or more of the characters.

On the other hand, think of the oldies—they, at least, had a touch of goodness. So what happened? Let’s go back to our beloved Tom and Jerry: They started off with the tiny, likeable mouse struggling to escape the big, bad cat, who was always eventually punished for trying to pick on the harmless creature. But over the years, along with the scriptwriters’ steadily growing egos, the little mouse also gained some nerve. Today, he’s a real snake, plotting how to best snare the sleepy, silly cat, and revels in making that cat suffer! Anything less than that is already boring for the mouse, and for us, too.

Time to Grow Up

The fact is that this is how we were created—as self centered creatures. However, today, nature demands that we grow up. Even as we keep encouraging our egoistic tendencies, reality is forcing us to realize that we are all part of one, big, integrated whole, and we have to start acting like it. Otherwise, we won’t survive the 21st century.

For millennia, Kabbalists have been telling us that Nature’s higher law is one of love, reciprocity and unity. But even more vital for us to know is that the law of Nature treats us the same way we treat our children: When they are young, it’s OK for them to make mistakes, but when they grow bigger, they have to learn how to play by the rules.

So today, let’s do ourselves a favor and start changing our values, if not for ourselves, at least for our children.

* Read this article in Kabbalah Today Issue 13

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* Read the Full Article “Facebook – What’s All the Fuss?” in Kabbalah Today Issue 13

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