Don’t miss the first class of the semester tonight at 8pm EDT (Americas class) and 8pm GMT (Europe class)

Kabbalah is a whole new approach to life which will most certainly change the way you perceive your reality. One of the unique features of this online Kabbalah course is the ability to ask questions and interact with your instructors in real time!

Also if you miss any classes you can download them for free from our lesson archive. Finally the student forum is a great place to visit to get answers to questions that weren’t answered in class.

If you haven’t signed up yet, don’t miss your chance

Click Here To Reserve Your Place In The Course Today!

We will be studying from Kabbalah for the Student, the official Learning Center textbook.

If you haven’t already, it is recommended to get a copy of this book to make the most out of your course.

Download as PDF
Purchase Your Own Copy

Tweet This Post  Delicious  Facebook  Stumble It

Question at the South American Kabbalah Congress: What is the proper education for teenagers who have so many problems, like drugs and depression?

Answer by Dr. Michael Laitman: As I’ve said, the proper education for teenagers, which is also the proper education for us and the whole world… Why is the wisdom of Kabbalah being revealed today? It is written (in Baal HaSulam’s article “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah“), that the wisdom of Kabbalah is no more and no less than the revelation of the higher force to the creation in this world. In other words, we need to reveal the higher system acting on us, on our world. We need to reveal it so that it is clear to us.

It is hidden. We see and feel only our world, and not the higher system. We don’t know how it operates on us, and how can we give back to it in return, in a way where we’ll receive only good commands and responses from above.

We need to understand the whole loop between the higher system and our world, how we raise MAN above, and how we receive a response from above, which is called MUD. How can we do that? – That’s what we need to know. That’s why the wisdom of Kabbalah has been opened, precisely in our times. And with regard to your question, it’s the same with the education of children, we need to go that same way.

How can we reveal to children the higher system as quickly as possible, how it acts, and not wait for them to turn thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, when there starts to be problems with hormones, sex, boys and girls, drugs, and all kinds of things? Children need to be taught from a much younger age. The wisdom of Kabbalah states that the age of three is necessary to start the education of children, boys and girls alike. What does that mean? It means starting to teach and develop them.

Today’s education is based one hundred and fifty years ago, at the time of the technological revolution that began in Europe. It’s when people started working unlike how they used to work in ancient times, where there was a blacksmith, a shoemaker, a tailor, and some mechanic who made some cart. This time marked the beginnings of the conveyor belt, and working with the conveyor belt required a lot of people. They then brought people from villages, and taught them quickly in order to place them in factories fast. And like it is in factories, they needed to just stand there and understand what they should do… We see this today in China. Have you seen the factories in China? There are ten thousand Chinese people sitting there, each one doing one activity.

What do they need to learn at school? A little bit of reading, a little bit of writing, and how to connect, say, two strings, or something like that. That’s all. So school was established like that a hundred and fifty years ago, and it remains like that until today. In other words, it exists only to give a person a certain measure of knowledge… physics, geography, history… to give him knowledge, and let him make his life out of it, because all kinds of people are needed in all kinds of places.

Today, we have come to a completely different time. We have already left these kinds of jobs. Most people are now sitting behind computers, and we don’t need all kinds of big factories anymore. In other words, there is surplus, and we don’t know what to do with it. The world is tipping over. Businesses aren’t closing for no reason. It’s because about 90% of what we produce are things that there is no need for. And the main thing we haven’t done throughout all these years: we haven’t built “a human being.”

School provides knowledge and learning in all kinds of professions, but it doesn’t build the human being that is in us. “Education” means “building a human being,” to talk with the student, to converse so that he’ll speak, to be together with him in dialogues and discussions.

You know how philosophers once taught? They used to just walk around with their students, and they’d talk about all kinds of things. And by doing this, the students would also be able to express something, in a way where the elder speaks with the younger, a constant dialog between them. As a result, the younger one develops.

We don’t only want him “to speak.” We want him to speak, and to do, and we provide him with all kinds of things for him to respond to. We play with him. And that we play with him, we descend to the same level as he, to be like him, and we play together like friends.

In other words, what we do with children, when they come to school afterwards, completely breaks them. They turn into being mechanisms, meaning that we give them knowledge in a few things, which the teachers, or the government, the Ministry of Education, chooses, and that’s it. And according to that they pass exams, and afterwards enter all kinds of jobs in order to succeed…

All in all, instead of seeing a human being, a personality, we see a mechanism. Whether it’s a lawyer, an accountant, a prime minister, or a simple worker, they are mechanisms. They know how to perform some role in some place, in the human society… to do something; to fix the plumbing, electricity, to do all kinds of things. That’s all.

We don’t observe, and also, we have never cared about building a human being. We don’t do that in any place… Today, from about thirty or forty years ago, we encountered a major problem in education, because by making a mechanism out of a person, we failed to achieve happiness (like you pointed out in your question). We failed to achieve any kind of delight out of life. The person functions – he has his job, family, children, vacations, pensions, and everything, but what does he live for? Why is he alive? We haven’t provided him with tools to check, and so they become despaired.

Today, everyone needs a psychologist nearby, medicine to treat depression, many use drugs. We haven’t developed their personality, so they turn to crime and all kinds of places. They cannot hold a family, because they have no value for it. What do they learn at school instead of that? They learn how to have safe sex. Instead of building a human being, they move in a completely opposite direction.

I’m not against it. But what they don’t do is add about a person himself. And also, where does that come from, don’t we want there to be good children? I mean, they’re our children, our future. In another ten, twenty, thirty years, they’d have filled our place on this planet, and we’ll be below them. So why don’t we care about them? It’s because we also don’t know this higher system. We don’t know it, and therefore we have a problem: Where should we be bringing them, to what form, what fulfillment? What will become of them?

And therefore, the wisdom of Kabbalah comes and says, whether it’s with the child or the adult, boy or girl, as age and sex don’t matter, one could be fifty years old or five years old… you need to relate to him as an equal, because the soul has no age. And we need to develop the soul. The soul is called the human being in us, not the beast in us, living in order to give our body life for as long as it’s alive. However, we need to extract something that relates to the person from this body. It is something infinite. It should bring one to a complete level, where the person will reveal his complete and eternal life, independent of one’s animate part that lives and dies, and that’s how we should relate to it.

We try to do this within our framework. We have started giving lessons to children in the last six months, and I’m amazed at the good results. First of all, children start understanding what is happening with themselves, what pressures they have, “Why do I want to hit that kid?” “Why did that kid do that to me?” “Why is it like this, and why is it like that?”… They understand how to develop things, and not just come up to you and cry, “Why did he hit me!?” He understands why that happened to everyone, because of his ego, and what he should to do to get along, and how we should build a society so that I’ll be able to give them my ball, and he on something else, and she on another thing… Meaning, in our framework, we want to bring them to a state where they’ll want, through practical learning, from a young age, to build a correct society by themselves, where they’ll know how to get along with each other in a way where they’ll have it good.

We hope that this will develop through our groups, and reach a state where the education ministries of the world will realize that there’s no choice, and that we have to learn how to build education. Meaning, throughout a person’s teenage years, to build a human being out of him, and not just some professional in something. First of all, a person, in that he’d know why he’s alive, he’s confident in his life, and even if he lives off bread, but feels like he knows why he’s living, etc.

That’s what’s missing. I think that’s the biggest problem in the world, because all in all, people live through a lot more today than they did one and two hundred years ago, and certainly five hundred years ago. But a person doesn’t know why he’s alive. In his current ego, he sees people who are living a hundred times the life he’s living. In short, he doesn’t know how to get along in life. That’s what’s missing. If he was able to make it, he’d be happy doing his part. That’s what’s important. Because we check everything relatively, me with respect to others. And if I know that I have something, that I’m connected to Divinity, that I open an exalted world for myself, that I am related to an endless stream, a global harmony, so whether or not I have another thousand in the bank doesn’t really matter.

—

This Q&A was taken from the second lesson in this weekend’s South American Kabbalah Congress in Buenes Aires, Argentina, where mostly Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking students gathered to celebrate humanity’s shift toward unity and mutual love at this crucial point in its history.

The lessons taught by Dr. Michael Laitman highlight the Congress’ events. Dr. Laitman spends most of the lessons answering questions that clarify Kabbalah’s fundamentals to people relatively new to the wisdom. There are also many answers to questions from people finishing their first Learning Center courses, who are looking to build and strengthen environments supportive of spiritual progress.

3 Lessons from the South American Kabbalah Congress in Argentina (Video & Audio)

Kabbalah LIVE Video Q&A Celebration
Wednesday, September 02.09 – 8:00pm EST (U.S.)

Tweet This Post  Delicious  Facebook  Stumble It

Question by a Student: I’m at a dead end, because [as one who studies Kabbalah] I can’t talk to others about the “connection between souls,” because they’d think I’m crazy. Even in the situation we’re in today, if I’d talk to another person about “taking others into consideration,” they’d continue calling me abnormal…

Answer by Dr. Michael Laitman: No, explain it to them consistently: Our problem, in every unsuccessful area of our lives, is in the connection between us. Whether it’s in finance, banking, security, in everything there is in the world…

The world lacks nothing. You know what, there are studies showing that, in terms of what each nation contains, humanity doesn’t have to suffer, and we can live a good life, but the problem is in the connection between us. We’re incapable of correcting it, but what can we do? Whether we like it or not, Nature necessitates us.

You have to bring them all kinds of scientific proofs of how Nature necessitates us to be in connection with one another – from evolution, genetics, biology, it doesn’t matter… there are plenty of articles like that, a lot of research has been done about it.

By doing so, you stand the person before the fact: “Look! That’s humanity’s path, and that’s what we need to reach – balance with Nature, everyone connected together. Nature is pressuring us, we have no choice. If you want to go through it with beatings, wars and plagues, then go for it – but there’s another possibility.”

The problem is that we escape from it because we can’t make it by ourselves. There is a way… and you explain a little about the wisdom of Kabbalah. It doesn’t matter whether or not he agrees with that, rejects it, or whether it goes in one ear and out the other. It’s already a connection. Disagreement is also connection. He is incorporated into it, and it starts working. That spark already operates within him. It’s not up to you what happens after that, you can only do what you know, try for the best, and that’s all.

Question by a Student: I want to ask you something about that, because if we don’t explain to a person “What are souls?” and that whole explanation… so what am I actually doing then? Do I explain nature to him, and about the reality that’s brought him to the state he’s in today, and then say “You know what, get yourself a plumber to fix your problem”? By doing that you’re not going to a deeper level, you’re telling him, “Go fix your problem among yourselves.” He understands…

Dr. Laitman: Not at their level, you…

Student: That’s not…

Dr. Laitman: I’m sorry that you didn’t listen – you’re listening to yourself. I explain to him that there’s a solution in the wisdom of Kabbalah, and that solution comes to us from a higher world, that all the forces descend from there and act in our world. I don’t get too deep, but I explain that whole system to him, I explain it to everyone – that it’s clear how our world is incidental, how we don’t know what’s going to happen in the next moment. Why don’t we know? It’s because half of our reality is closed off, and our activities come from there into our world. And if we enter into and connect with that, so then we’ll operate our world better. How can we do that? We can do it through the wisdom of Kabbalah. That’s what I explain to him. At the end of it, I give him the wisdom of Kabbalah, not socialism.

Taken from the Daily Lesson on 28 August, 2009 [Time: 40:13, Lesson: Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot]:

• Baal HaSulam’s Igeret (Letter) #21, 1927
  Download: WMV Video | MP3 Audio
• Talmud Eser Sefirot, Volume 4, Part 12
  Download: WMV Video | MP3 Audio
• Baal HaSulam’s article, “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot”
  Download: WMV Video | MP3 Audio

…with commentary by Dr. Michael Laitman, as well as questions by students of Bnei Baruch and live viewers on Kabbalah TV.

The lessons will be continuing daily at 8:10pm until 11pm EST, Saturdays through Thursdays, on Kabbalah TV, and will be available for free download in the Kabbalah Media Archive.

Kabbalah LIVE Video Q&A Celebration
Wednesday, September 02.09 – 8:00pm EST (U.S.)

Tweet This Post  Delicious  Facebook  Stumble It

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!

Tweet This Post  Delicious  Facebook  Stumble It

Machsom (Hebrew for “barrier”) is the barrier that stands between this world and the spiritual world. Here’s what Rav Michael Laitman wrote about the Machsom in this must read post…

A question I received: You’ve been the leader and mentor of the Bnei Baruch group for nearly twenty years. Maybe it’s time to make a public summary? How many people have crossed the Machsom over this period of time, and how has the world changed as a consequence? Or is this no longer the objective today? Are you now simply trying to change the world without your students’ personal correction?

I understand that this question will be deleted, but at least someone will read it. But if you do decide to publish an answer, then please don’t beat around the bush: give us real numbers and results, and the actual improvement in the world.

My Answer:

* Number of students in the world – around 2,000,000.
* Number of groups in the world – 73.
* Number of people who have crossed the Machsom – 19.
* Number of people who are about to cross the Machsom – 210. The rest will cross it by the year 2012.
* Annual growth of students – 700-900%.
* Number of hopeless students – 1. It’s you.

Related Materials:
*Register for Free Online Kabbalah Courses
*Your First Course in Kabbalah

Click Here to Sign Up for a Free Kabbalah Introductory Course – Starts Soon!

Tweet This Post  Delicious  Facebook  Stumble It

A New Generation of Children Knows Much More
than Those Who Are 20 Now

Our generation is very special. Today, children aren’t just cleverer and more sophisticated than their parents, they possess inner wisdom about life. They don’t want to experience what we have already experienced. They know it all in advance, and have already rejected it. Thus, our generation is the generation of crisis. It’s just the beginning. Very significant changes are waiting for us in the future.

An absolutely different civilization is growing up, one of absolutely different people, in their attitude toward the world, life, themselves and others. Read the Full Talk>>>

Related Material:
* Video Clips of Talks and Interviews with Rav Michael Laitman, PhD

Click Here to Sign Up for a Free Kabbalah Introductory Course – Starts Soon!

Tweet This Post  Delicious  Facebook  Stumble It

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

View/Download Kabbalah Today Issue 13:
* E-Version
* PDF Version
* MS Word Version

Click Here to Sign Up for a Free Kabbalah Introductory Course – Starts Soon!

Tweet This Post  Delicious  Facebook  Stumble It

What began as a daily Kabbalah lesson with Rav Michael Laitman, PhD turned into a 2-and-a-half-hour long question-and-answer super session on the subject of education—its crucial state in our world today, and how to optimize education for our following generations.

Bnei Baruch are now clarifying a new system of education based on revised study methods, new teacher requirements, how to train the world’s next generation of leaders, how to use media and globally-connected technologies in the most beneficial way for humanity’s development, and how to fulfill the educational needs of our future generations.

Download the Full Lesson: wmv video | mp3 audio

Click Here to Sign Up for a Free Kabbalah Introductory Course – Starts Soon!

Tweet This Post  Delicious  Facebook  Stumble It

The Soul Is Ageless

In times when the education system is being criticized for its inability to turn children into mature, confident adults, Kabbalist Rav Michael Laitman, PhD, believes that now is a unique time to introduce a new concept into our schools—the wisdom of Kabbalah. more…

Click here to read the full article

Click Here to Sign Up for a Free Kabbalah Introductory Course – Starts Soon!

Tweet This Post  Delicious  Facebook  Stumble It

by Rav Michael Laitman, PhD

According to the World Health Organization, someone around the globe commits suicide every 40 seconds. In the year 2000 (a long time ago, but things have only worsened since), 815,000 people lost their lives to suicide — more than double the number of people who die as a direct result of armed conflict every year (306,600). For people between the ages of 15 and 44, suicide is the fourth leading cause of death and the sixth leading cause of disability and infirmity worldwide. Also, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, “Combined 2004 and 2005 data indicate that 8.88 percent of youths aged 12 to 17 and 7.65 percent of adults aged 18 or older experienced at least one major depressive episode (MDE) in the past year.”

Millions of people the world over, and especially the younger generation, are committing suicide or suffering from suicidal tendencies, depression, drug addiction and violence because they’re hopeless. They have real questions and they need real answers, and there is no one to provide them with answers except us — the parents.

In his book “Man’s Search for Meaning,” Viktor Frankl quotes Friedrich Nietzsche as saying that “He who has a strong enough why can bear almost any how.” more…

Click here to read the full article

Click Here to Sign Up for a Free Kabbalah Introductory Course – Starts Soon!

Tweet This Post  Delicious  Facebook  Stumble It