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STILL OPEN: Win Prizes by Sharing Your Experiences with Kabbalah

Hi Everyone!

We are continuing to run the “Win Prizes by Sharing Your Experiences with Kabbalah!” contest for another week. Simply submit your testimonial of your experience with Kabbalah and/or the Bnei Baruch Kabbalah Education Center, and you go in the draw to win one of 3 $50 gift vouchers at KabbalahBooks.info!

Winners will be announced in next week’s Kabbalah.info Newsletter & KabbalahBlog.info.

For more details about the contest & the entry form, click on the following link:

Write Your Testimonial Here & Win Prizes! »

We’d like to thank everyone who has sent in their testimonials so far. It has been truly inspiring reading every one of your unique stories of your spiritual searches, and how finding the wisdom of Kabbalah has been like finding water in a desert for a person who has a desire for spirituality. It is our pleasure to share some testimonials submitted so far, keep an eye out next week for more!…

Daniela Mitrovic – Pompano Beach, FL

I was coming out of a bout of major depression that had landed me in the hospital. I kept shouting out to the world “Why am I here?!” My therapist told me that altruism was the key to happiness, so I began looking at the local Craigslist board for volunteer opportunities. I saw an ad that said, “Ever wonder why you’re here?” I gasped and clicked on the link. I was taken to a video from Bnei Baruch about the point in the heart, and how Kabbalah is not religion, science, etc. “That was nice…” I said as I closed the window. The next month, I began asking the question, “Why do I feel so disconnected?” I was again searching Craigslist for volunteer opportunities when I saw a link that said, “Ever wonder why you feel so disconnected?” I felt my soul jump out of my body, then right back in. I shakily clicked the link and was taken to a nice video about this little gear who was on the outside of a circle and couldn’t get it together. Finally, the gear got it together, got in the circle, and stopped feeling disconnected. I signed up for Bnei Baruch’s Kabbalah classes, and never looked back. Thanks to Bnei Baruch, I found meaning in my life. That’s how much joy these people have brought into my life. Thanks to what I’ve learned, I was able to overcome depression, find meaning in my life, and was ultimately led to a joyous path.

Write Your Testimonial Here & Win Prizes! »

Daniel Romero – Bucaramanga, Columbia

I have being dealing with extreme emotional issues all of my life. Low self esteem, depression, anxiety. I have had all kinds of psychiatric labels from OCD, borderline disorder, BDD, major depression, you name it. One year ago, I was helpless, nothing would help me alleviate my suffering and I asked God to show me the truth. Somehow about a month later God placed the Kabbalah Revealed series by Tony Kosinec on YouTube in my laptop. I was grasped in mind and heart about what Tony was speaking about. I thought to myself: “This is true spirituality!” In the upcoming weeks, I was searching again on the web for Tony’s videos and I found the link to the Education Center. I knew I had to take the courses so I subscribed for them willingly. It’s been 9 months since then and although I have had some ups and downs, it’s all part of the process. What is there is to reach?! The most exalted goal of all which is to reach revelation of God while we are in this lifetime. My life values have changed and to this day I have felt more peaceful and my life has found its meaning.

Write Your Testimonial Here & Win Prizes! »

Jennifer Cappabianca – Worchester, MA

I would call myself a spiritual seeker. I have read hundreds of books and I have taken dozens of classes in search of some understanding about life and my life purpose. I was learning a lot but my questions were still unanswered. When I found the Kabbalah Education Center free authentic classes online, I was very excited about beginning my studies. I cannot even begin to tell you how this changed my life!!!For the first time everything is coming together. My questions are being answered and I have found peace! This is truly an amazing journey and I have met so many great friends from all around the world.

 

Write Your Testimonial Here & Win Prizes! »

Main Post Image: CollegeDegrees360. “Student with Pen.” Flickr. Yahoo!, n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2013. 

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Miketz (At the End) Parsha – Weekly Torah Portion

Genesis, 41:1-44:17

This Week’s Torah Portion | December 1 – December 7, 2013 – Kislev 28 – Tevet 4, 5774

In A Nutshell

The portion, Miketz (At the End), begins with Pharaoh’s dream about seven healthy and well-fed looking cows coming up from the Nile, followed by seven meager and malnourished looking cows. In a second dream, Pharaoh sees seven plump and wholesome looking ears of grain, followed by seven ears that were thin and scorched, and the thin ears eat the plump ones.

None of Pharaoh’s counselors could solve his dreams. The chief cupbearer, who was saved, remembered Joseph and his gift for deciphering dreams. He took the opportunity and asked to bring Joseph out of prison. Joseph came and solved Pharaoh’s dream. He said that there would be seven years of wealth and abundance in Egypt, immediately followed by seven years of hunger, and that Pharaoh should prepare for them.

Joseph also suggested how Pharaoh should prepare for them. Pharaoh appointed Joseph in charge, second only to the king, so he would set up the warehouses.

Indeed, the seven plentiful years were followed by seven years of famine, and the entire nation turned to Joseph to relieve their hunger and help them through it. Everyone, including Jacob’s sons, who were in the land of Israel, came to Egypt due to the hunger.

Jacob’s sons came to Joseph and did not recognize their own brother. At first, Joseph thought they were spies. Afterward, he sent Simeon to prison and said to his brothers, go back, but without Simeon. Joseph hid a goblet in Benjamin’s belongings and declared that if the thief who stole the goblet is caught, he will be put to death, and everyone will be punished.

The brothers returned to Jacob and told him of Joseph’s request that their brother Benjamin should go down to Egypt with them. Initially, Jacob refused to send Benjamin back to Pharaoh because he has already lost Joseph and Simeon, but he finally agreed to let him go.

The portion describes the different predicaments that Joseph puts his brothers through, causing them to separate, but the brothers reinforce their unity.

The portion ends with everyone being in Egypt, Benjamin is accused of stealing the goblet, and Joseph decides to keep him as a slave.

 Commentary by Dr. Michael Laitman

These stories represent different states that we must go through as we advance in the correction of our souls. The Torah tells us how we must perform the correction.

There is no need to correct our bodies because they are part of the animal kingdom and exist as do all other animals. Our souls, however, we must beget out of the current state, and this portion narrates how we should approach the correction and achieve the birth of our souls.

It is written, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created for it the Torah as a spice.” In other words, our foundation is the evil inclination, our ego. When we recognize the ego and begin to work with it, we experience first hand the entire process the Torah describes.

The previous portions dealt with the point in the heart that awakens and develops in a person. This portion deals with how that development takes place. We all come from a broken Kli (vessel), which must be corrected, connected. This is the correction by which we achieve the rule, “love your neighbor as yourself; it is the great rule of the Torah,”[1] inferring the connection of all of us into a single Kli, when all the people are as one.

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Glossary – Miketz (At the End) Parsha – Weekly Torah Portion

Years of Abundance and Years of Hunger

Years of abundance and years of hunger are the ups and downs that we must go through, which divide into years. The number seven represents the Sephirot Hesed, Gevura, Tifferet, Netzah, Hod, Yesod, and Malchut.

These years connect Zeir Anpin, which contains six Sephirot, with Malchut. This connection creates a new Kli between the qualities of the Creator and the qualities of the creature.

The wisdom of Kabbalah refers to the six qualities as “the Holy One blessed be He.” The seventh quality is the Shechina (Divinity), which is currently Pharaoh, also known as “Divinity in exile.” After the correction, Pharaoh becomes a holy place—in order to bestow—the place of our souls, the place of connection between us.

The Sages of Egypt

The sagacity of Egypt is called “external wisdom.” It maintains that you need not change within in order to obtain all the good in this life and in the spiritual life, that you can settle for the intellect. Study without changing; don’t think about the correction of the heart, about your ego, that you need to change; study a couple of pages and you will be happy. This, in essence, is the wisdom of Egypt, as it is written, “there is wisdom in the nations—believe.”[5]

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VaYeshev (And Jacob Sat) Parsha – Weekly Torah Portion

Genesis, 37:1-40:23

This Week’s Torah Portion | November 17 – November 23, 2013 – Kislev 14 – Kislev 20, 5774

In A Nutshell

In the portion, VaYeshev (And Jacob Sat), Jacob dwells in the land of Canaan. The protagonist of this portion is Joseph, Jacob’s youngest son. Joseph was gifted with a knack for prophetic dreams. In one of them, he sees himself ruling over his brothers. He tells them about it and turns their envy against him.

His brothers lead the cattle to Shechem to graze there, and his father sends him to them. On his way he meets a man and asks him about his brothers: “I seek my brethren” (Genesis 37:16). By the time Joseph finds his brothers they are already conspiring to kill him because of their envy. Reuben manages to prevent them from committing the murder and the brothers decide to throw Joseph in a pit, instead, in order to sell him to the Ishmaelites. A convoy of Midianites that passes by takes Joseph with them down to Egypt.

When Joseph arrives in Egypt, he hides in the home of Pharaoh’s captain of the guard, Potiphar. Potiphar’s wife tries to seduce Joseph but he refuses. She avenges by saying that Joseph tried to force himself on her, and he is thrown to the dungeon.

In the pit, Joseph meets Pharaoh’s two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker. He also discloses his gift for prophetic dreams. He predicts that within three weeks the chief cupbearer will be released, and the chief baker will be hanged. Joseph asks the chief cupbearer that upon his release he will go to Pharaoh and tell him that he, Joseph, is jailed for no reason and that he should be released.

 Commentary by Dr. Michael Laitman

This portion contains a profound spiritual message. It narrates the correction of the soul, which is man’s purpose in life, and the reason why the Torah was given. Initially, the evil inclination appears, as it is written, “I have created the evil inclination, I have created for it the Torah as a spice,” for “the light in it reforms it.” “Reforming” means returning to a state of “love your neighbor as yourself.” That is, it brings a person back to the quality of bestowal, similarity with the Creator. This is what we should achieve, as it is written, “Return, Oh Israel unto the Lord your God” (Hosea 14:2).

The Torah demonstrates how the ego, the will to receive, keeps changing until it is corrected. In the example shown in this portion we see how all our qualities connect, then separate, manifesting imbalance among them until they beget more advanced qualities, closer to bestowal.

Jacob is the beginning of the quality of bestowal within us. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are the three patriarchs. Jacob is actually the senior, containing both the desire to receive and the desire to bestow within us, as it is only possible to elicit the middle line using both. The middle line, Jacob, is still not attributed to the level of execution in us, but to the level of decision making.

The expression of Jacob’s execution level is his sons, from Reuben, the eldest, to Joseph, the youngest. And precisely in this hierarchy do the qualities within us hang down. This is how our ego, in all its (still incorrect) forms, is corrected. The one who completes them is Joseph, the righteous. He gathers all the previous qualities into the quality of Yesod (foundation), which is called “the righteous Joseph,” or “a righteous, the foundation of the world” (Proverbs 10:25).

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Glossary – VaYishlach VaYeshev (And Jacob Sat) Parsha – Weekly Torah Portion

Joseph

Joseph is Yesod, a quality that summarizes all the good qualities in us, the qualities of bestowal. It is a collection of all the qualities of bestowal, and because it has nothing of its own but the collection of prior qualities, it can connect with the quality of reception.

This quality can connect within it all the qualities of bestowal in its higher part, and all the qualities of reception in its lower part. It is Joseph because it collects all the qualities within it.

Joseph is also called “the foundation of the world” because the world truly appears in this quality, which is a collection of two forces—bestowal and reception—where the Creator and the creature meet.

The Striped Tunic

The striped tunic is three stripes, which are actually two, seemingly black and white, because it is made of wool, which is both black and white. However, out of the black and the white emerges a middle line that does not really exist. It does not exist in the tunic, but it is the human who makes it. When wearing the striped tunic, a person becomes the middle line between the two stripes.

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