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Hi everyone, I belong to a Reform Synagogue and quite often lead services. From a “previous” life I have given many “sermons” although they have really been teachings. Since approaching Kabbalah thorough your many U-Tube videos I have realised, through this lesson that an orderly progression through the teachings is preferable otherwise it can get muddled, or is that just me. The congregation is quite convinced that I am out with the fairies as I expose them to just the basics of Kabbalah. It’s not got the greatest reputation even among progressive Judaism. I’ve a feeling that the essence of understanding and the route to sharing is better served from a position of attainment. Sharing from personal experience rather than an intellectual exercise. What do you think. Great teaching from Tony by the way
Hi Martin,
It depends on the situation. In our days, given that a systematic approach to studying Kabbalah exists, then of course that is the preferable way.
As for being in attainment in order to teach, that also depends. For example, we see in our world that in order to teach kindergarten a person does not need to be a Ph.D professor or a great scientist, etc. Such credentials might even make that person less suitable to teach kindergarten.
It’s the same with teaching beginners, being in attainment might make a person more distant from the audience and thereby less suitable to teach them. We see this from the example of Baal HaSulam, who asked to be lowered from his degree, in order to be able to pass this wisdom to more people.
So for us, in order to teach beginners, it’s more important to be a good instructor, one who knows how to pass the basics in a way that people would want to hear them. In a way that does not reject people from Kabbalah, which can ultimately cause harm to both the person and the instructor. We’ll learn about the proper way to disseminate Kabbalah in the more advanced semesters.
Albert @ KabU
Hello, and thank you for offering this course. I was so excited by the information provided by you that my mind got really restless and overexcited. The material triggered an enormous amount of associations to works of art I love, cultural history or autobiographical moments that are significant to me. I feel a bit weary of this excitement which makes it difficult to hear the message exactly as you conveyed it. Please apologize if I take the course at a more leisurely pace. I want to make sure I get the foundation right and not mix everything up fancyful, egotistic projections … I hope the course will help me in the long run to become more sober minded, practical and able to listen more carefully.
I would like to know what the levels of ego are. I heard them explained somewhere in a video but can’t find them. It goes something like: sex/food/procreation > money > power > knowledge > kabbalah?
Hi Kyle,
Yes. The top desire is not necessarily for Kabbalah itself, but rather it’s the point in the heart, the desire for spirituality, to desire to attain the meaning of life.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2015/08/on-the-threshold-of-discovering-the-goal-of-evolution/
Albert @ KabU
Hello Kabbalah team,
Do you think that with what is happening, expaceially the gender theory (trying to put in childrens’ mind that there is no difference between being a boy a a girl), the world is under the evil domination?
Thank you in advance.
Hi Lilianne,
Kabbalah defines evil as egoism. So it’s not just the world that is ruled by egoism, but every single one of us as well.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2015/07/a-devil-with-horns-or-our-own-egoism/
Keep in mind that in Kabbalah, we don’t work on eradicating egoism, but only on rising above it. This is because we cannot attain high levels of spirituality without the ego. In fact the more we advance, the more our egoistic desires grow. They turn into a type of mountain that we climb over. The bigger the desires, the higher we can climb, and the higher the spiritual degree that we can attain. On the other hand, if we were to eliminate our egoistic desires, then accordingly, we would only be able to attain a tiny degree of spiritual attainment.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2011/02/the-worse-the-better/
Albert @ KabU
When the Mashiach comes, will anxiety and depression end?
While it doesn’t completely resolve, I do feel a sense of peace in watching the morning and afternoon videos on the Kabbalah Media app (especially recently), and I feel like there is greater purpose and meaning to the “worst days.”
In communing with the 10 friends and world kli, should I be intending that nobody else has to experience those “dark times?” …or is it the perfect opportunity to engage in scrutiny of intention, and/or should I be engaging in such a way that I speak what I am feeling (short of disrespect)? I ask these questions because I want to be the best friend I can be… but what is a friend?
Hi Jarrett,
Great questions, although they are a bit advanced for where we are now in the fundamentals, but great questions nonetheless.
1. Our nature is egoistic. As long as we remain within this nature, we’ll continue to experience unpleasant things because that is the major motivating force for our ego. But once we rise above our ego, we’ll no longer need suffering to move forward.
The force that pulls us out of our ego is called Mashiach (Messiah in English), which comes from the verb “to pull” (Moshech in Hebrew). So in Kabbalah, the messiah is not a person, but a special force that has the ability to pull us out of our egoistic nature.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2011/06/how-can-we-justify-the-creator/
2. Friend (Haver in Hebrew) comes from the word connection (Hibur in Hebrew). So when we say “friend” in Kabbalah, we’re not talking about our corporeal acquaintances and buddies, but specifically the Kabbalistic group in which people are aspiring towards a spiritual connection within which we reveal the Creator.
3. Regarding talking about what we’re going through, the only person we can openly share every single inner state we’re going through is our spouse.
Whether to do so with the friends, it depends. Before we do anything, we need to make sure that our intention is to help the friends, not ourselves. With that intention in mind, there could be a scenario where sharing with the friends that we’re going through hard times can be beneficial for the friends. It can give them a push to unite and pray. There are other times when sharing such things can bring the spirits of the friends down. So it depends. But in general, if we’re aspiring to love the friends and do what is good for them, then we won’t be mistaken in what we do or don’t present to them.
But if we are not sure, then we should only show them a good example, that we’re full of energy, excited about the path, that bestowal is important, etc. Even if it’s just a game and not how I truly feel. Nonetheless, what is just a game for me is felt as real by the friends and actually inspires them. And they will do the same for me. In this way, everyone gets help to come out of their state.
We’ll learn about these things in the more advanced semesters, when everyone will receive their own Kabbalah group with whom they can practice these things. In the meantime, check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2012/03/building-blocks-of-the-first-spiritual-degree/
4. And yes, connecting to the Kabbalistic lessons is an important part of our spiritual work. That is the main way by which we extract the light. It’s ultimately the light that clarifies all the states that we’re going through and corrects us.
Check out this blog post from Rav Laitman for more details: https://laitman.com/2013/02/sunbathing-in-the-rays-of-the-reforming-light/
Albert @ Kab
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