What Does The Word ‘Kabbalah’ Mean?
The word Kabbalah comes from the Hebrew word “lekabbel,” which means “to receive.” Kabbalah teaches us how to receive pleasure from the Creator & by doing so correctly, receive infinite joy and fulfillment

Is Kabbalah A Religion?
No. Kabbalah is a science – the physics of the overall reality. Kabbalah has no relation to religion or to Judaism. It is the method of the soul’s correction and does not entail any obligations, restrictions, observance of religious rituals, and so on.

Who Can Study Kabbalah?
Anyone who wants to. Kabbalah reaches out to all those who seek awareness. In the past Kabbalists established a limitation on the study of Kabbalah to prevent people from studying before they were ready. Today, there are no limitations on the study of the wisdom of Kabbalah.

Who Is Bnei Baruch?
Bnei Baruch was established in 1991 by Dr. Michael Laitman. It is a diverse movement of thousands of students worldwide. Each student chooses his or her own path and intensity, according to one’s personal conditions and abilities.

Why Are the Learning Center Courses and Materials Free?
It’s written that one may not receive any money or material reward in return for teaching Kabbalah. Since Bnei Baruch teaches & spreads Kabbalah solely as a means for humanity’s spiritual advancement, then we make all our lessons, books and courses available for free online.

Still have unanswered questions? Check out the free resources below for more information:

Download the Guide to the Hidden Wisdom of Kabbalah by Dr. Michael Laitman

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Purchase Your Own Copy

If you think someone else would be interested in taking this free course with you, it’s not too late to send them a link to our sign up page

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If you want to know more and register click here to visit the course registration page

What is Kabbalah?

Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam) gives this answer:
“If you listen with your heart to one famous question, I am sure that all your doubts as to whether you should study Kabbalah will vanish without a trace. This question is a bitter and a fair one, asked by all born on earth: ’What is the meaning of my life?”

Many people are confused about the origin of Kabbalah and what it represents so here are a few points about what Kabbalah is & isn’t:

• Kabbalah is a practical study through which we undergo internal changes, unique to each individual.

• Kabbalah is a science and unlike what you’ve heard, red string, holy water & tarot cards have nothing to do with Kabbalah.

• Actually Kabbalah doesn’t speak about our corporeal world at all, it only deals with the way we are created and how we function at higher levels of existence.

Watch the video below to find out more about what Kabbalah is and isn’t:

If you think someone else would be interested in taking this free course with you, it’s not too late to send them a link to our sign up page

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Bnei Baruch Learning Center is hosting a free, live, interactive video course introducing authentic Kabbalah.

Fall Semester 2009 Begins September 9, 2009 at 8pm Eastern Time

Click Here To Sign Up

Learn more about Bnei Baruch’s Learning Center. Visit us at Kabbalahlearningcenter.info

Want to hear what other people have to say about our free Kabbalah course? Click Here to read course testimonials from students

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Everyone Is Invited!

When: The course will begin on April 19, 2009 and will continue through June 2009.

How much does it cost? The course is completely free of charge.

What: This interactive course will cover the basics of authentic Kabbalah, providing a deep understanding of nature, the world, and who you really are. It will give you practical tools with which to take control of every challenge in life by learning the real rules of the game. The study of authentic Kabbalah texts will allow you to sense a unique illumination that reveals and helps you realize your life’s true purpose.
During the classes, students can ask questions live over the Internet, and the lessons will also be available for free download for anyone who missed them. Students will also have the opportunity to participate in forum discussions about the classes.

The course will be taught in English and simultaneously interpreted into Spanish, Italian, German, and French. Over 17,000 students from 150 countries have already registered!

Here is what Brett Bailey of New York City, a graduate of the 2007 “Fundamentals of Kabbalah” course, had to say about his experience:

Click here for more information and to sign up

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In this video Bnei Baruch senior instructor Tony Kosinec introduces the upcoming course in authentic Kabbalah at the Bnei Baruch Learning Center.

*Click Here For More Information and to Visit the Registration Page

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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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Kabbalists discovered that our desires for pleasure evolve by 5 stages:

1) The first, and most basic desire, is the desire for food, health, sex, and family. These are necessary desires for our survival.

2) The second stage is the aspiration for wealth. Here we think that money guarantees survival and a good quality of life.

3) The third is the craving for honor and power. Here we enjoy controlling others, as well as ourselves.

4) In the fourth stage appears the desire for knowledge. Here we think that having knowledge will make us happy.

5) But only when the fifth, and last stage of desire appears, we become attracted to an unknown “something” that is beyond us. Here we feel that connecting to this unknown “something” can bring us greater and lasting enjoyment, and we search for ways to make this connection. This desire for something higher is called “the desire for spirituality.” more…

Taken from “Kabbalah in Our Times: Spirituality, Kabbalah and the 21st Century” in the “What Is Kabbalah?” environment of Kabbalah.info

VIDEO: Rav Michael Laitman, PhD explains the process of evolving desires:

Watch more videos like this at Kabbalah TV

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LOS ANGELES (October 9, 2007): Rav Michael Laitman, PhD was interviewed on LA radio station “The Connection – 1590am” on The Maria Sanchez Morning Show.

Interviewer Maria Sanchez asked basic questions to clarify what Kabbalah is, how to study and what does it mean to study Kabbalah, and about common myths connected with Kabbalah today, such as the use of red wristbands.

Click Here to Download the Interview (MP3)

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QUESTIONYOURREALITY.com – the world’s first ever interactive video FAQ site on authentic Kabbalah, spirituality, world crisis and natural law.

QUESTIONYOURREALITY.com uses cutting edge flash video to deliver the authentic wisdom of Kabbalah in an entertaining, informative and dynamic fashion.

Choose from 5 categories of questions, asked by people off the streets, and receive answers and guidance to free further study on the topics.

Click here to go directly to QUESTIONYOURREALITY.com

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Kabbalah for Beginners is a book for everyone who is seeking answers to life’s essential questions. We all have problems; we want to know why we are here, why there is pain and how we can make life more enjoyable.

The four parts of this book tell us exactly how the wisdom of Kabbalah came about, who discovered and developed it, and what they discovered. Afterwards, the book tells us about the world we live in and finally, it explains how we can make our lives better for ourselves and for our children.

Part One discusses the discovery of the wisdom of Kabbalah, and how it was developed, and finally concealed until our time.

Part Two introduces the gist of the wisdom of Kabbalah, using 10 easy drawings to help us understand the structure of the spiritual worlds, and how they relate to our world. These drawings are accompanied by explanatory texts that make understanding Kabbalah very easy.

Part Three reveals Kabbalistic concepts that are largely unknown to the public. For example: the Creator exists nowhere but within us; our senses reveal what they sense, not what is really out there; and reality is nothing but a reflection of our perception, and hence changes when we change.

Part Four elaborates on practical means you and I can take in order to make our lives here better and more enjoyable for us and for our children. It explains how we can implement Kabbalistic principles such as freedom of choice and the power of society, and thus become more whole and fulfilled individuals.

View/Download/Purchase Kabbalah for Beginners:
- PDF version
- MS Word version
- Purchase the Book from our Bookstore for only $7.00

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PART OF AN ENTRY SENT BY MARY DARE: I thought the Kabbalah had something to do with Numerology. Since I had never been good with numbers, I stayed away from it…

Numerology and Kabbalah

FROM THE BOOK: The term numerology did not exist in authentic Kabbalah; contemporary scholars linked the two. Although numerology is not an accurate term to describe Kabbalah’s treatment of numbers, there is probably no better word to use if you want to translate the Hebrew term Gimatria into English.

Gimatria, in simple terms, describes a Kabbalist’s experience of the divine. In Kabbalah, the ego performs Yihudim (unifications) with the Creator. The shape of Hebrew letters depicts such unifications through dots and lines over a white background. The dots and the lines symbolize the states of the Kabbalist, who perceives the Creator. The white background symbolizes the divine light, the Creator.

In Hebrew, each letter of the 22-letter alphabet is assigned a specific number… The correlation between letters and numbers created a way for Kabbalists to describe to each other what they experienced in a concise and accurate manner. For example, the word Nega (affliction) and the word Oneg (pleasure) have the exact same letters (in a different order) and, therefore, the same numeric value. The inversion in the order of letters indicates that when affliction is corrected (from egoism to giving), a person experiences pleasure.

p. 11 in The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Kabbalah by Rav Michael Laitman, PhD and Collin Canright.

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“Visit Bnei Baruch’s “What is Kabbalah?” page

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Click here to view the video at Kabbalah TV

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Journalist and anchorman Vladimir Molchanov interviews Rav Michael Laitman, PhD on the purpose of egoism, the situation with Israel in relation to its neighboring Muslim countries, the restoration of Nazi regimes, the behavior and practise of religious leaders, the increase of hatred, Kabbalah as a supranational concept, how Rav Laitman began studying Kabbalah, the laws of nature, the use of science in the world and its relation to Kabbalah, the spiritual root of political unacceptance of drug legalization, Kabbalah’s view on new-age gurus and movements, Zephath as a Kabbalistic center, Kabbalah’s view on amulets and icons as symbols of faith, the upbringing and education of children, the reason for Kabbalah’s widespread dissemination today and the sixth sense.

Click here to read full interview

This is a section of the interview, on the laws of nature:

V. Molchanov: You claim that there exist objective laws of society, and no one, including Bush or Stalin, can do anything. What are these laws? Are the millions of people who were destroyed by Stalin and Hitler a consequence of these objective laws? Do they fall into these laws?

Rav Laitman: Unfortunately, yes. If we talk about laws, we need to part from our feelings. We just need to learn what happens with the forces that influence our world.

The picture is the following: a single, all-encompassing and absolutely altruistic force directing humanity toward equivalence with it. Like any physical force, it performs actions without taking our feelings into account. This is the state we are in.

You are talking about a kind God, feelings, and the fact that He takes care of His creatures. There is no such thing. Objective laws of nature are described in Kabbalistic sources, as well as in my books and our translations, which are all recitations of old books. A scientific description of Kabbalistic knowledge was first done in the times of ancient Babylon, when Sefer Yetzira (The Book of Creation) was written. This whole conception, the whole scheme of Upper governance, is already described there.

If we look at what is happening to us from aside, not like creatures that experience various feelings and suffering, we will see that it is the influence of forces. And they will continue to lead us further ahead in this manner. If we don’t come to understand them, and if we don’t begin to know precisely how to act, like in physics or chemistry, how to implement and realize these laws with a benefit to us, we will continue to suffer further. more…

Click here to read full interview

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We are continuing to post responses to the “Misconceptions of Kabbalah” competition…

ENTRY SENT BY JANNET: My encounter with Kabbalah was when I went to the library and out of curiosity borrowed the book entitled “Qabbalah Magic.” It told of what magic you can achieve and things you can acquire by performing all these rituals. However I didn’t finish the book as I felt it wasn’t what I was looking for.

Myth: Kabbalah Is All About Magic

FROM THE BOOK: It is a common mistake for people to think that Kabbalah deals with fortune telling, revelations of the past, and the study of the present. The definition of Kabbalah is the revelation of the Creator to people in this world today, not after death. Perhaps some draw this parallel as a result of the perception of secrecy that surrounds Kabbalah.

Either way, Kabbalah has no connection to magic. In fact, Kabbalah forbids fortune telling or any attempt to find out about the destiny of the physical body. The body is temporary, negligible, and, thus, insignificant. It is not worthy of attention beyond the question of how it serves the soul.

pp. 55/6 in The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Kabbalah by Rav Michael Laitman, PhD and Collin Canright.

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The Difference Between Kabbalah and Religion 03:26
Kabbalah is not religion. Revelation of the spiritual world (in Kabbalah) and belief in a spiritual world (in religion) are two separate issues. Rav Michael Laitman, PhD discusses the difference between Kabbalah and religion in this interview with European MTV host Eden Harel.

Click here to view the video at Kabbalah TV

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We will continue featuring various entries in the daily Kabbalah Blog posts (Click here to receive them in your e-mail) and in the newsletter (subscribe on the right of this screen).

The following entry, sent by David D. Garcia of New York, was chosen to receive the free copy of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Kabbalah because it most closely fits the Jewish themes of this week’s newsletter and the new issue of Kabbalah Today.

WINNING COMPETITION ENTRY: As a Jew, my biggest misconception of Kabbalah before encountering Bnei Baruch was that I had to be fully ‘Torah Observant’ before being able study Kabbalah. I was always taught that one must have an extensive background in Torah and Talmud before even contemplating Kabbalah. I always accepted this because I had always assumed Kabbalah was ‘only for Jews’, and further, only for ‘observant’ Jews.

Once I learned through Bnei Baruch that it is essential for all people to study Kabbalah, this discovery made me begin to question my preconceived ideas of prerequisites to Kabbalah study. And it was through Bnei Baruch that I came to understand that Torah, and perhaps to a ‘lesser’ extent, Talmud, can only be properly understood through a Kabbalistic lens. This allowed me to dispel all my previously held ideas and begin to Kabbalah study in earnest. Thank you!

Myth: Kabbalah Is a Religion

FROM THE BOOK: This is a common misunderstanding, and one worth addressing from the start. The wisdom of Kabbalah is related to no other religion or belief. It does not deal with meditations, prophecies, questions of religion, or even one’s mental state. Religions, however, are combinations of rituals designed by humans to support them in their earthly existence. While religions such as Judaism and Christianity have similar concepts of the Upper World (heaven, the afterlife, etc.), much of religion teaches how humans should exist in this temporal world.

Kabbalah, however, is better thought of as a science, not a religion. As such, Kabbalah studies and provides a way of understanding of the essential core of humanity, the Higher World, the entire universe, and the Creator. The outcome of that study is the discovery that humankind wishes to become like the Creator. The wisdom of Kabbalah is the science of the system of creation and its management.

pp. 53/54 of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Kabbalah, by Rav Michael Laitman, PhD and Collin Canright.

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Part 1 of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Kabbalah explains the general phenomenon and its popularity, and gives an overview of what exists today in the world regarding the word Kabbalah. It also discusses what Kabbalah is and what it isn’t, and gives some background on how it got started.

We have been receiving many responses to the competition showing the many misconceptions we all have about Kabbalah prior to encountering the authentic study through Bnei Baruch. We will post some of these coupled with explanations about these misconceptions from Part 1 of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Kabbalah in coming newsletters and blog posts.

Next Thursday we will publish the winning entry. You still have until Monday, June 3, 2007 to enter! Send all entries to english@kabbalah.info

Click here to pre-order your copy today!

——————————————————————————–

Meditation and Kabbalah
The Meditation Misconception

COMPETITION ENTRY FROM PAULA: Prior to coming to Bnei Baruch to learn what the wisdom of Kabbalah really is, I spent 12 years intensely studying Judaism and so-called “Kabbalah.”

My biggest stumbling block was meditation and so-called “Kabbalistic meditation.” I fully expected to attain the upper worlds by sitting in stillness with my eyes closed and chanting various permutations of names of G-d. All my closest “divine” connections came from my meditation practice and that was my ultimate pleasure, that sweet “divine connection.”

Imagine my surprise and shock to learn that meditation was actually reducing me to the level of a stone! Sure I could feel the divine, but in the same way a stone does It was like settling for the teeny-tiniest fragment of the upper light. Now I wrestle to become a fully speaking human in this world, thanks to Bnei Baruch.

FROM THE BOOK: Meditation is considered by many as part of the spiritual work or practices of a Kabbalist. But not all Kabbalists have practiced meditation, and even those who did meditate did not practice it in the sense we do today.

Today meditation is associated with Eastern teachings, something that Kabbalists in the past did not know. Generally, Eastern meditation is used for relaxation and for uniting with higher levels of existence by “removing” the ego. In Kabbalah, the ego is not removed, but elevated to a higher level of practice. It connects with the divine instead of canceling itself. This embrace of ego and Creator is called Yihud (unification).

pp. 10/11 of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Kabbalah, by Rav Michael Laitman, PhD and Collin Canright.

Click here to view a related video: “Can a Kabbalist also be a Buddhist?”

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TORONTO (Sunday, 13 May): In a lecture aimed at the students of the ARI Online Education Center course, Rav Michael Laitman, PhD lectured on the essence and the purpose of Kabbalah, its role in human evolution and specifically in the world today (aired live on Kabbalah TV’s Live Stream).

As Rav Laitman motioned to open the lecture with the first sentences of Baal HaSulam’s article The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah, he quickly detoured, stating in a lot simpler words “What is it?” then proceeding to give his modern version of Baal HaSulam’s definition in the article:

Definition of Kabbalah:
“The wisdom of Kabbalah is the revelation of nature’s laws that are systematically arranged before us so as to bring us to the recognition of the Creator.” –Rav Laitman (from the lecture)

Rav Laitman continued the lecture with a discussion of how nature arranges life on the still, vegetative, animate and speaking degrees of nature, how a person living in this world perceives evolution through this arrangement, and how we develop through these degrees in order to achieve blissful, eternal life, perfectly balanced with nature.

The following quote by Rav Laitman (from the lecture) defines Kabbalah’s approach to the state we are being led to, and the ultimatum that Kabbalah states nature is placing before humanity in our era:

Kabbalah on Balance with Nature:
“Balance with nature is expressed in the wisdom of Kabbalah by the words ‘equivalence of form.’ In other words, nature’s form is in giving everything, and man wants to receive everything, and thus our nature is opposite from nature in general. We therefore have to bring man to the degree of the Giver, to equalize with it. In the wisdom of Kabbalah, the degree of the Giver is called ‘equivalence of form’ or Dvekut (adhesion).

This is how, in the wisdom of Kabbalah, we define the final goal that we should reach. If we achieve it, we will have an eternal, perfect and tranquil life, as is nature itself. If we do not achieve it, nature will constantly pressure us until we completely improve and correct ourselves.”

The rest of the lecture was a Q&A session between Rav Laitman and the ARI Online Education Center students, questions dealing with how we should relate to violence, the role of religion in humanity’s evolution, how we should relate to Kabbalistic books, as well as many other questions.

Follow the links for the full lecture:
Rav Michael Laitman, PhD, “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah.” Lecture presented at the Toronto Bnei Baruch Education Center (13 May, 2007):
wmv video | mp3 audio (86 min)

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