Lesson 1 - Europe At the Crossroads: Understanding The Present Reality In Light Of Its Spiritual Roots

The purpose of Creation was for all to be as one bundle, to do the will of the Creator. As Adam HaRishon said to all the created beings, ‘Come, let us bow down and kneel before the Creator… But because of sin it was shattered, until even the best of these generations were unable to bundle together to serve the Creator, except for very few… And the correction started in the Dor Ha Plaga (generation of division), in which the separation between the people began… And in order for the correction to begin, a group of people assembled together to serve the Creator, which started with Abraham and his offspring, that there should be an assembly of people, to do the work of the Creator. .. for Abraham used to walk around and cry out in the name of the Creator, until a large group of people joined him, who were called “the people of the house of Abraham.” And it continued to grow until it became the Assembly of Israel… And the final correction will come in the future, when all will be joined as one bundle, to do their work with their whole heart.
Shem LeShmuel, “Parashat Ha’azinu”
The basis for any evil-doing in the world stems only from the will to receive… in general, it is nothing more than self-love, called “egoism,” since it is opposite in form from the Creator, who hasn’t any will to receive for Himself, but only to bestow.
Baal Hasulam, “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose”
The original egoism is nothing but self-love, which is all of one’s positive, individualistic power of existence. In that respect, it is not at odds with the altruistic force, although it does not serve it.
However, it is the nature of egoism that the manner of using it makes it very narrow, since it is more or less compelled to acquire a nature of hatred and exploitation of others in order to make one’s own existence easier. Also, it is not abstract hatred, but one that appears in acts of abusing one’s friend for one’s own benefit, growing murkier according to its degrees, such as deceiving, stealing, robbing, and murdering. This is called “narrow egoism,” and in that respect it is at odds with—and the complete opposite from—love of others. It is a negative force that destroys the society.
Baal HaSulam, “The Nation”
And all this agony is felt only by the Klipa of our body, created only to be perished and buried. This teaches us that the will to receive for himself was created only to be eradicated, abolished from the world, and to turn it into a will to bestow. And the pains we suffer are but discoveries of its nothingness and the harm in it. Indeed, when all human beings agree to abolish and eradicate their will to receive for themselves, and have no other desire but to bestow upon their friends, all worries and jeopardy in the world would cease to exist. And we would all be assured of a whole and wholesome life, since each of us would have a whole world caring for us, ready to fulfill our needs.
Yet, while each of us has only a desire to receive for ourselves, it is the source of all the worries, suffering, wars, and slaughter we cannot escape. They weaken our bodies with all sorts of sores and maladies, and you find that all the agonies in our world are but manifestations offered to our eyes, to prompt us to revoke the evil Klipa of the body and assume the complete form of the will to bestow.
Introduction to The Book of Zohar, Item 19
Reality shows us that there is no right to exist for an isolated individual without a sufficient number of people around him to serve him and help him provide for his needs. Hence, a person is born to lead a social life to begin with. And each and every individual in society is like a wheel that is linked to several other wheels, placed in a machine. And this single wheel has no freedom of movement in and of itself, but continues with the motion of the rest of the wheels in a certain direction, to qualify the machine to perform its general role.
And if there is some breakdown in the wheel, the breakdown is not evaluated relating to the wheel itself, but according to its service and role with respect to the whole machine...
It thus turns out that the collective and the individual are one and the same. And the individual is not harmed because of his enslavement to the collective, since the freedom of the collective and the freedom of the individual are one and the same, too. And as they share the good, they also share the freedom.
Thus, good attributes and bad attributes, good deeds and bad deeds are evaluated only according to the benefit of the public… And when each and every individual will understand that his own benefit and the benefit of the collective are one and same thing. In that, the world will come to its full correction.
Baal HaSulam, “Peace in the World”
In general examination, we find that there are only two Mitzvot to follow in society. These can be called "reception" and "bestowal." This means that each member must, by nature, receive his needs from society and must benefit society through his work for its well-being. And if one breaks one of these two Mitzvot, he will be mercilessly punished.
We need not excessively examine the Mitzva (singular for Mitzvot) of reception, since the punishment is carried out immediately, which prevents any neglect. But in the other Mitzva, that of bestowal upon society, not only is the punishment not immediate, but it is given indirectly. Therefore, this Mitzva is not properly observed.
Thus, humanity is being fried in a heinous turmoil, and strife and famine and their consequences have not ceased thus far. And the wonder about it is that nature, like a skillful judge, punishes us according to our development. For we can see that to the extent that humankind develops, the pains and torments surrounding our sustenance and existence also multiply.
Thus you have a scientific, empirical basis that His Providence has commanded us to keep with all our might the Mitzva of bestowal upon others in utter precision, in such a way that no member from among us would work any less than the measure required to secure the happiness of society and its success. And as long as we are idle performing it to the fullest, nature will not stop punishing us and take its revenge.
And besides the blows we suffer today, we must also consider the drawn sword for the future. The right conclusion must be drawn—that nature will ultimately defeat us and we will all be compelled to join hands in following its Mitzvot with all the measure required of us.
Baal HaSulam. The Peace
The law of development, which is spread over the whole of reality, is guaranteed to return all evil to good and useful acts through the power of the Government of Heaven Above, meaning without asking permission from the people who inhabit the earth. However, the Creator placed knowledge and authority in the hands of man and permitted him to accept the above-mentioned law of development under his own authority and government, and handed him the ability to hasten the process of development as he wishes, freely and completely independent of the boundaries of time.
It turns out that there are two authorities here, acting in the above-mentioned conduct of development: the one is the authority of Heaven, which is sure to turn anything harmful and evil to good and useful, but that will be in due time, in its own way, in a floundering manner and after a long time. And then there is the authority of the earth. And when the “evolving object” is a living being, it suffers horrendous torments while under the “press of development,” a press that carves its way ruthlessly.
The “authority of the earth,” however, is comprised of people who have taken this above-mentioned law of development under their own government and can free themselves entirely from the chains of time, and who greatly accelerate time, the completion of the ripeness and correction of the object, which is the end of its development.
Baal HaSulam, Peace in the World
this attribute extends to us directly from the Creator, who is single in the world and the Root of all creations, still, out of the sensation of singularity, when it sits within our narrow egoism, it affects ruin and destruction until it became the source of all the ruins that were and will be in the world.
And indeed, there is not a single person in the world who is free from it, and all the differences are only in the way it is used – for the desires of the heart, for ruling, or for honor – and this is what separates people from one another.
But the equal side in all the people of the world is that each of us stands ready to abuse and exploit all the people for his own private benefit with every means possible, without taking into any consideration that he is going to build himself on the ruin of his friend. …
But this era that we are in has already developed to a great extent and has already risen many degrees. It has already risen above its lowest phase …
Therefore, there are already people among us who use their singularity in forms of bestowal upon others. But they are still few, as we are still in the midst of the path of development. When we come to the Highest point of the degrees, we will all be using our singularity only in a form of bestowal upon others, and there will never be any case of any person using it in a form of self-reception.
Baal HaSulam. Peace in the World

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איזור אישי
כדאי להיכנס כדי להוסיף לייק לסרטונים, לשמור תכנים ולהירשם למינויים.

קבלה מדיה
© כל הזכויות שמורות 2003-2026 בני ברוך - קבלה לעם