It’s time to enhance our definition of “family” to include all humanity! What it takes is to overcome the ego in us; the ego that gives us the illusion we’re not one family.

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“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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Baal HaSulam (Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag) wrote songs and composed melodies as expressions of his spiritual attainments. His music comes to us directly from the spiritual worlds, and has a deep emotional connection with the rises and falls a Kabbalist experiences in his coming into contact with spirituality.

The following are recordings of live performances of Baal HaSulam’s melodies by the band, Bnei Baruch.

1. Bnei Heichala

2. Chasal Seder Pesach

3. Kaddish

4. Kel Mistater

5. Ki Hilatzta Nafshi

6. LeHagid Ba Boker Hasdecha

7. Misod Hachamim

8. Mizmor le David

9. Nigun

10. Tzadik ke Tamar Ifrach

11. Waltz *

12. Ya’ale Tachnuneinu

* “Waltz” melody written by Rav Admor of Pursov (Baal HaSulam’s teacher)

Related Material:

• Melodies of Baal HaSulam – various arrangements of melodies by Baal HaSulam
• Click Here to Take A Free Kabbalah Course … & introduce a totally different perspective into your life!

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A group of friends from Los Angeles, Austin, Tel Aviv, New York, Toronto, Boulder, St. Louis, Brooklyn, San Francisco, Washington DC, Moscow and San Antonio collaborated to create this clip in an attempt to express the feeling of connection, to share that joyous feeling with the rest of the world.

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Who Wants Change?
[03:07]
Written and performed by Seth Breitman

To download this song, watch its video clip, and listen to more songs like this, visit the Music Inspired by Kabbalah section of Kabbalah.info.

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March
[04:14]
A melody by Baal HaSulam performed by Seth Breitman & Yoni Hayman

To download this song, and listen to more such songs, visit the Music Inspired by Kabbalah section of Kabbalah.info.

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Bnei Heichala
a song by Baal HaSulam

* Download the metal-ambient version performed by the band “Bnei Baruch”
* Download the 1st instrumental version
* Download the 2nd instrumental version
* Download the Rabash vocal version
* Download the live version performed by the Bnei Baruch small ensemble
* Download the midi version

Bnei Heichala means “the sons of King’s Palace,” those desiring to reach the Palace of the King. The King’s Palace is Bina—the property of bestowal, the force of the Creator, the spiritual. The sons are those who yearn to resemble the King in their properties, to become like Him. The word for “Son” (Ben) derives from the word for “understands” (Havana). They yearn to understand the King, and though their understanding, come closer to Him and feel Him.

Hence, Bnei Heichala are the souls aspiring to attain the state of uniting the King in His Palace, and to do so, they are ready to pass the entire system of corrections, change themselves from the beginning until the end—from the nature in which they were created to the nature of the King, as it is written: “Returned the sons of Israel to the height of their God.” This is what this song is about.

* FILM: Melodies of the Upper Worlds – Part 1 – features melodies of the 20th century’s greatest Kabbalist, Baal HaSulam, with explanations of how these melodies relate to the inner, personal quest for discovering the Upper Worlds—the source of our existence.

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When a Kabbalist experiences the Upper World, he or she enters another realm of reality. Past, present, and future merge into a single stream of life, and the Kabbalist experiences all the souls united in the eternal love of the Single Force that operates and governs life.

But most of all, a Kabbalist discovers that being in the spiritual reality is possible only through the bond of love between the Kabbalist and all other souls. It is for this love that Kabbalists try so diligently to share their spiritual experiences with us. Their sole wish is that we, too, will discover and feel the kind of life offered when we bond with the Creator of reality. In their songs, they call this “being filled with the Upper Light.” more…

Kabbalah Music Links:

* Singing the Worlds Beyond – an Article in Kabbalah Today issue 10 about Kabbalistic music
* Melodies of Baal HaSulam – authentic Kabbalistic music of the great 20th century Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam)
* Music Inspired by Kabbalah – music inspired by Kabbalah materials on this site by students of Bnei Baruch
* What Is Kabbalistic Music? – videos and articles explaining what is Kabbalistic music

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Inspired by the worldwide gathering of friends at the recent Bnei Baruch ARI Online retreat that took place in St. Louis, Missouri, Seth Breitman prepared this new song “One Man” together with two friends, Haim Cotton (NY) and Dima Graziani (Toronto) to celebrate the unity and bonding beyond all barriers that one achieves through studying Kabbalah.

“When I heard that 150 of us from around the world were going to meet for a weekend in the States, I needed to compose a song. Any gathering of friends stirs a feeling of unity. What made our retreat unique was that the thought that each of us carried in our lessons, at the meals, and at the bonfire, was the thought that our friends should be completely fulfilled. When each one relates to the others as an integral part of one unified organism, each has what he needs and has no worry, for he is supported by those that surround him.” –Seth

- Click Here to Download “One Man” (MP3)
- Click Here to Visit the “Music Inspired by Kabbalah” section on Kabbalah.info
- Click Here to Visit Seth Breitman on MySpace

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Hine ka Chomer
Melody by Baal HaSulam

1. Download Version by Seth Breitman and Haim Cotton
2. Download Instrumental Version
3. Download Vocal Version performed by Rabbi Baruch Shalom HaLevi Ashlag (Rabash)

“Those who sing praises at night raise, by their singing, all whose soul sings that song.

When the lower ones begin life by song, the Upper Ones help the lower ones with power, so that the lower ones realize and attain what the mortals are not able to attain. Earth and heavens, Zeir Anpin and Nukva, rise by this power, thanks to this singing.”

The Sulam Commentary on The Zohar, Shemot, pg. 104.

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Tzadik ke Tamar Ifrach
a song by Baal HaSulam

1. Download Instrumental Version
2. Download Electronic Version performed by the band “Bnei Baruch”
3. Download Instrumental Version performed by the band “Bnei Baruch”
4. Download Vocal Version performed by Rabbi Baruch Shalom HaLevi Ashlag (Rabash)

Basically, there are two states in every song. One is the state of the Kli, the soul on which man has worked, corrected, and then attained delight and excitement; and he now sings from this delight.

This is why in Tzadik ke Tamar Ifrach there is a sensation of the previous state when one lacked fulfillment, suffered, and searched, and that he reached the state in which he knows that this is how it was supposed to be, because a righteous man eventually comes to justify the entire process through which he passed.

Thus, the rapture that comes from before being in the outermost oppositeness of sensing himself very distant from the Creator, and now entering the palace of the King, the Upper World, bursts out in his present state in the form of a melody—from within the sensation that fills him.

This sensation encompasses two opposite states: his previous, most distanced state that seems hopelessly far from the Upper, and the present state when he has reached adhesion with Him.

In essence, this song is special because what one is grateful for is not his state. Rather, one is grateful for being able to be righteous, meaning for being able to justify the Creator in all that happened to him on his path. Now he sees the causality and the pressing necessity of all the states that he passed. He understands that all of them were arranged for him from above so that he can attain this elevated state.

—Rav Michael Laitman, PhD in the film “Melodies of the Upper Worlds – Part 1.” See it at Kabbalah TV in the “Films” category. You may also download the film’s transcript here.

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LeHagid ba Boker Hasdecha
a song by Baal HaSulam

In the spiritual there are also states called “day,” “evening,” and “morning,” only that, in the spiritual, all of them happen because man himself creates “day,” “night,” and all of the times; he puts himself through all these states by himself. If he does not take himself through these states, if he does not push himself, does not advance, then time does not pass, for there is no time in the spiritual. There are only actions, cause and effect.

So until one “goes to sleep,” in the spiritual sense, meaning, disconnects from the spiritual reality and puts himself into drowsiness, disconnection from the spiritual – the Creator, the Upper Forces – a question arises: “Due to what will he awaken again?” This is why one performs special corrections whereby he prepares the desire to “rise” inside of himself. If one prepares himself correctly, the Upper Light comes against these desires and awakens him, just as the sun awakens us in the mornings. However, without the Light that comes from above, one will not be able to wake up.

Rav Michael Laitman, PhD, in the film Melodies of the Upper Worlds – Part 1. View it free at Kabbalah TV under “Films.”

Click here to download the file “LeHagid ba Boker Hasdecha”

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Ki Halatzta Nafshi
a song by Baal HaSulam

1. Download Instrumental Version
2. Download Version Performed by the band “Bnei Baruch”
3. Download Quartet Version for violin, bassoon, guitar and piano.

The melody to this song was composed by Rabbi Baruch Shalom HaLevi Ashlag (Rabash).

Perhaps this melody seems sad, but the truth is that it is not sad, it is tender, and it expresses the feeling of someone who entered the property of Bina – bestowal, the properties of the Creator – where there are no cries and everything rests in peace. Rabash expresses the entering into this state through this melody, when he undoubtedly sees that all of his Kelim, his entire soul, all of his desires submit to this Upper Force and begin to reign in it.

It is a short song that sings about serene peace, about a man entering the Upper Force and staying there in the state of absolute, eternal rest.

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Chasal Seder Pesach
a song by Baal HaSulam

1. Download Instrumental version
2. Download Acid jazz version performed by the band “Bnei Baruch”
3. Download Version sung by Rav Baruch Ashlag

Chasal Seder Pesach expresses the state of a person in the beginning of his path: full of energy, ready for this journey, and knows that the process of correction lies ahead, until he corrects himself to receive the Light, the Torah. But in exodus from Egypt, rising above his nature, he already sees a full guarantee that, with the help from above, he has the power and he is able to, in all that is prepared for him, pass these 49 gates, corrections, the so called Lag Ba Omer (the 33rd day of Omer), in the middle and all the days of Omer in order to come to the reception of the Torah, to Shavuot (Pentecost), for then the entire Kli (vessel/tool/receptacle) of man will be ready for the 50th gate, and he will be worthy of receiving the Light.

This is a fairly simple song. It particularly symbolizes one’s readiness to go and pass all Sefirot of Omer – the entire correction of the Kelim (plural for Kli)that we must perform in each Sefira, in each of these 49 states.

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