Morning Lesson September 22, 2022, Transcription
Transcription is made from simultaneous translation which leaves a possibility for differences in the audio
Part 2:
Baal HaSulam. The Nation (The Individual and the Nation. start with: "Indeed, the spark of nationalism")
https://kabbalahmedia.info/sources/Zo6BQz8E
Reading The Individual and the Nation: “Indeed the spark of nationalism was kept within us..” Twice
1. R. (05:59) Otherwise it would not survive, so we need egoism to exist in each and every one.
Reading continues
2. S. (06:54) He says that the only hope here is to arrange for ourselves this national education and from a new way to reveal again at this natural national love that's imprinted in us. This what from the text that it's not clear to me because the nation of Israel did not come from this natural love, it doesn't have this mutual root, so what does it mean to come back to it and revive it if it doesn't exist in us from the beginning?
R. He wants to say that as we once had, when we were in very, very primitive forms such as families and clans and we all cared for each other and instinctively, like you see in any primitive forms of mankind, so that kind of primitive concern but on a different level now above the height of the ego, its possessions, and so forth, now it has to dwell between us as well.
S. Yes but the nation of Israel doesn't come from these families, it's all these individuals that united around the idea of connection and not from something biological.
R. But we learned that in Babylon there was also a connection between people and there were singular things as he says, meaning people lived in a very calm and natural way, and in mutual concern towards each other, that's how they build their society and then when there was an eruption then it stopped, and what is the whole foundation of Israel the people of Israel that Abraham said we can go back to such a society where we all care for each other and we all live as one beautifully, that foundation that essence remains.
S. So meaning it’s something that exists within each person in some kind of sense that he needs to revive between us?
R. Yes it exists in each and every one and this is called the point in the heart that we long to discover and we aspire to reach that state because we recognize in our heart, even if we maybe don't understand, but it's left there as a Reshimot a record, that if we don't create such a commune, unique common between us where each one cares for the other as one man in one heart as well as our friends and so forth, so without that we will not be able to coexist it all and we're only moving towards nothing.
S. Meaning also between the people who don't have any biological original connection they have this?
R. As it was in Babylon, yes.
3. S. (10:52) He speaks here of this national education; will this not actually increase these differences and problems between us and then each person kind of gets together and creates more of a difference between us?
R. I know that first we need to create this form this education among those who are drawn to exist as it was in Babylon, that’s on the one hand, on the other hand our whole inclination should be that we want to draw after us all of Babylon like Abraham wanted to do, we are basically following his footsteps. Whether we understand or don’t understand it want it or not that's the situation, that’s where we begin our path and so first we have to educate ourselves and beyond us to spread this knowledge to all the people of the world as we begin, we’re beginning to do today, and that's how we’ll see the Creator helping us.
S. What kind of education does Israel need meaning those who came out of Babylon vs. the education the rest of the world needs?
R. I don't think there's a big difference, it’s just that each one takes this knowledge, accepts this goal from within his heart from where he’s aiming for and all the rest the Creator will organize it between all the people the nations of the world in a way each one will have his place to understand these things better and better and in a deeper and truer way.
S. When he says national education what is this emphasis here on national?
R. When he says national here it’s because for now he's addressing the people of Israel in his time that was what was forming, so that's why he’s addressing first of all the people of Israel there, he was writing in Hebrew, he was spreading this newspaper called “The Nation” to all those people, he wanted to awaken all of them, that first the points in the hearts, to begin with, should be in the people of Israel because that’s where they originated and the fact that they departed from there what can you do? It is also not a problem with regards to the last generation because anyway we have to advertise this knowledge to all the nations and attract all of humanity to that.
S. What is this nationalism that needs to be in Israel?
R. We must, we must understand what is our vocation, what’s in our hands, and what we have to publicize and clarify to all people of the world otherwise the Creator will force us to do that in a negative ways, forces, and the fact that we still don't learn from the blows we suffer only means there’s going to be bigger blows if we don't do what’s up to us.
S. The blows that you spoke about in the first part of the lesson that even humanity is here in this judgment and court. What’s this period of time that’s before us?
R. Humanity suffers blows and great pressures in its existence in order to exist and clarify in what direction to exist and it’s not a matter of technological development or economic development but that it more and more depends on the relationship between people, human development, and that's where humanity will begin to feel the central problem. What can we do in order to save ourselves from the threat of nuclear war, various diseases that erupt as the ten plagues of Egypt on us now yes, and here there's a problem, how can we explain to humanity that all those things depend on how much we escape Egypt, meaning escape our ego, transcend our ego that this is the only salvation from all the evil.
S. What's come between the nationalism of Israel and the blows of humanity? Where is this mutual point between them?
R. Israel, meaning those who feel, understand, hear about the means for the correction of the world, it’s not those who are registered as jews that's totally unrelated but those who hear that only connection between people is our only true correct effective cure that really helps healing everyone from all the troubles and plights, diseases, hunger, war, everything, to those who understand it, feel it, to some extent belong to it, they have to continue and publicize it in all of humanity in all the world, and then the world will start awakening the Creator and help us connect and then we’ll become as one bundle as he says, and by that we’ll understand our vocation.
S. What depends on the ability to hear this world? How can they hear it?
R. The plagues, the less food there is, the more hurricanes there are, the more diseases erupt.
S. There’s no other way, right? This is the only way, blows?
R. If we’re all the will to receive then only by blows. We can aim our ear to be attentive to what Kabbalists say.
S. So what’s the benefit of this whole path? How do we get out of this in a good way?
R. To the extent that they begin to listen, to the extent that some trouble begins to appear in the world, we already must go out and advertise as much as we can in all languages with all means we already have to advertise what is the reason for the troubles and what could be the solution.
S. They’ll hear that after the blows?
R. No it's possible as it says that the wise has his eyes looking forward meaning that they’ll hear before the blows.
S. That’s exactly the question, so maybe we can take this medicine before the blow?
R. By dissemination, nothing else. It’s like Jonah the prophet that goes out and cries and says soon, soon, until he’s hurt.
4. S. So then what exactly is the Creator good that does good if the ability to hear is only by blows?
R. So again we say we have to do our part, the Creator doesn’t want to deliver blows onto humanity but only to the extent that He adjusts them to hearing and it’s possible that there will be like some sort of a warning like there is now and some nations suffer more blows because they can't be adjusted and straightened without it and others could do well with just some threatening fingers and it depends on what, you see how it happens in the world.
S. Yes but from the Creator the trend is to just bring everyone towards Him but on the other hand we see that everything that happens it’s a process of just blows until a person is able to, from his own desire, go in the direction of the Creator.
R. Yes of course that's the beginning you are asking just now.
S. Where’s the good who does good if at the end of the day…
R. To the extent of equivalence of form we begin to reveal that the Creator is good that does good and the blows we suffered, it wasn’t us who suffered but it’s our will to receive our ego that suffered it, and we completely didn't suffer to the extent that we are in order to bestow.
5. S. (22:00) What does it mean that the extent that the egoism can bring peace in each is completely valid as long as it’s in order to bring a person’s existence.
R. We continue to be egoists in order to guard ourselves on the levels of still, vegetative, and animate and on the speaking level we have to resemble the Creator.
S. What does it mean in practice? Let’s say if someone’s going to go and be in competition with one another in the market just in the name of love?
R. I don't understand what you're saying.
S. I'm saying why is it saying egoism instead of just regular existence for a person in his regular will to receive a person.
R. No, no, no, it’s all egoism. All of nature besides the Creator is egoism and is arranged in such a way that he cares for itself, Baal HaSulam writes that it cares for itself in a minimal way that it doesn’t need more for its own existence and its relatives, descendants and so forth, and it's willing to be in a single pack and not thinking about how to rob others until it evolves to such a form that it wants to devour the whole world, so where it goes beyond its self-sustenance that's what we call, that level is what we call normal egoism, beastly egoism, and in that respect it’s not considered to be contradicting anything in spirituality but beyond that we already need correction.
S. Just to make sure that everyone has his connections of love regardless of if there still needs to be some kind of beastly concern that I'm able to exist? Do we still need to hold onto that basic?
R. Yes of course.
6. S. (24:14) Is it part of this final correction that in the last generation we’re those in the nation of Israel the ones with the points in the heart we’re spread amongst the nations of the world?
R. All of us in Bnei Baruch are scattered along the nations of the world as you see and we have to be connected between us and build such a network that covers all of mankind and then gradually all of humanity connects and recognizes that in our network there's now a method for how to coexist and this way we overcome all the separation there is in the world.
7. S. (25:18) Baal HaSulam writes here that we have to educate about the nationalism, national education. How is it connected to the education system we have now in our nations?
R. The difference between the education that should be in that there is now the goal. What are we educating the generation for? Are we educating them to be an example for others without pressure but only by connecting to everyone and together with everyone, transforming all of humanity to single bundle, to one man with one heart, one world or one nation, and then all of us with no differences of color or any other differences we all become simply human beings as one bundle and by that we all connect in a complete way to a single Creator. That's the whole education that the wisdom of Kabbalah brings us.
8. S. (27:07) You're saying that we need to bring or explain to people in our dissemination the necessity for connection and this is how we can influence the development of this crisis, more or less, but what kind of connection are we speaking about here that can avoid these wars, so what is it something about nationalism? What kind of connection are we speaking about here? What is it, a kabbalistic connection, something about in the ten and with the Creator?
R. To the extent that the people of the world feel themselves in a general shared single plight and that they have no choice and no path of understanding how to emerge from that state where they all just want to eat each other up, then we need to explain that the correction of the world is specifically in connection and instead of war we have to activate forces of connection and only in that way will we see how we reach a world filled with good because the negative bad forces that we reveal between us they work on all of nature and we’ll see how we are causing disbalance to planet Earth, to all of nature, the whole climate and everything, it’s not going to let us survive because we are causing this contrasts, these contradictions, specifically through our lack of connection between us, so there's no one to turn to, to blame or to complain to besides ourselves in our attitude of hatred and animosity and hostility toward each other we awaken these forces of nature in a way that they start going crazy and come back to us as plagues.
9. S. (30:09) I was required to move over here because, wait a second I just want to ask a question.
R. This I don't know it’s not a question to me, too bad you’re disrupting my lesson.
10. S. () at least according with the simple answer is that we hear that we are reading in the nation there's always this profits or sages and here even BHS it's even explaining from decide what we need to do but what can the sages had don't take some kind of action and do it why don't they just create some partying and just do?
R. We cannot be similar to all the sexy Center organizations today because they are in the struggle between themselves and they have all sorts of her calculation …More or less we let it go and then we are where we want to be in the government in the extent that we want to influence education, culture but in truth we don't really have so much fun to do together with politicians because we don't have the same tools that they have come on I don't belong to that and I can really tell you what's going on oh, if we are not limiting our friends they can participate whatever they want how much they want I'm unrelated to that, I am taking into the account doors who are in my lesson
S. Where is it realized in practice, everything that Baal HaSulam writes, who is he even writing this to?
R. We're trying to do this in practice as much as we can in our present conditions.
11. S. (31:04) In order for the nation to awaken this natural love do we build some kind of strong foundation like Baal HaSulam writes here? Do they need to receive the Creator as some kind of a partner or is it enough that they have education?
R. Yes it's sufficient, it’s enough that one will be educated without hearing or talking about it being the Creator the upper force but rather the force of nature or the force of societies, it’s the same thing, yes you can explain it like that.
12. S. (31:45) We know that the nationalism throughout the last two hundred or three hundred years only caused separation and where each group wanted to succeed by itself and they created their own thing and they have geography and language, and Baal HaSulam writes about Israel has within its people from all around. Why are they using a different kind of word? Maybe it’s not supposed to be nationalism and not understand it in the brain in the mind but understand it more internally?
R. It can be explained but it's not that simple because we don't have a nationality, we’re not a nation. The people of Israel is not a nation it’s a collection of various nations and clans that went after Abraham and came out of Babylon and so then they came together and over thousands of years many people joined them from many different places, from Egypt and from all of the peoples who existed here in the Middle East so it needs to be explained that it’s not nationality and there's no such nationality called Israeli. Israeli is the label we give today but really it isn’t, also a Jew, what’s a Jew? In terms of genetic tests too, we’re not exactly belonging to a single nation, we’re a collection of many different nations and throughout history mixed together and existed that way.
S. We see that the nationalism, as much as the ego grows, it can take us to very extreme places even to kill the friend next to me only for the nationalism that distinguishes between us. Baal HaSulam here is talking about some kind of nationalism that brings us closer together, connects us together. How can we keep this balance, this balance of the line that doesn't let the ego to go wild and explode?
R. That through education, nothing else to do. By education we come together and explain to people that we belong to a group that moves towards the general upper force of nature and we want to be connected to that higher force and this way that's what brings us together.
S. Education. If not the scholarly work it needs to come from in a certain emotion. What is this emotion that we need to acquire?
R. That's by what we see on ourselves, it’s not a simple thing that by study by carrying out all kinds of conditions we come to a state where we begin to be better understand each other, we relate ourselves to a certain unique group and that group better than better feels that is under a unique influence unlike like the rest of the nation's but there's some sort of unique umbrella over it let's say, some law, some force that works on it and so we accept ourselves as belonging to some new group you can call it a nation and that group has a goal in its development.
S. When Baal HaSulam writes here that you need to keep this middle line between egoism and altruism. What’s the middle here?
R. The middle here is the recognition of evil, that if I use my ego I have to use it in a specific form on the levels of still, vegetative, and animate, in order to sustain myself but above it I’m using the force of connection with everyone.
13. S. (36:50) As a result of the thought of creation can we say that the idea of national education is maybe some other nation can implement it before Israel then that will be the example for the world?
R. Of course we can, and we are working to advertise this to everyone in the world as much as possible and where will a higher level of development will come from, we’re expecting everyone because everyone can accept that and become a light unto the whole world. On my part there's no limitation at all, take it and realize it all. Just as much as possible don’t spin it in different directions, different forms, as happened in religions.
14. S. (38:04) In the ten, what is more correct for a friend to ask the ten to pray for him or is it at that point that he should take the opportunity to pray for the whole ten? What is more correct?
R. Of course it is more correct that he will pray for the whole ten but for that he has to include the whole ten in himself to some extent and then from this incorporation he should pray. This is the most accurate thing.
15. S. (39:13) Inner connection is on Israel. Is it enough for the nations of the world to have just external?
R. No, everyone ultimately has to achieve their complete connection .
16. S. (39:41) Is the pandemic this help against that the Creator sent us as some kind of push so we connect toward final correction?
R. Of course. Each and every blow that comes to us aims us towards correction, in what form we don't even know yet but we need to accept it as truly coming to ultimately correct us.
S. I don’t know if it’s correct but I imagine to myself that education also depends on the customs of people. They say that there’s some people that have these customs that don’t allow them to even see a broader perspective. If we develop this part in people where because of their customs they’re unable to think outside of themselves to a greater area but really can think of this broad general goal.
R. I do not think that customs are disturbing of course there's a certain condition from each and every nation about what it is and they have their own genetic disturbances and all kind of things, cultural and things that evolved over the thousands of years but still we have to exist according to the general laws and each one should try from his education from his culture to conduct himself but that's still ahead.
17. S. (42:10) How to include the ten within me?
R. I do not hear well.
S. How to include the ten within me so we can have some kind of form of prayer?
R. We need to try and connect between us this single heart as much as we can and from what we establish as a single desire from that we raise the prayer to the Creator.
18. S. (43:07) What is happening now in the world is pretty worrying, it’s a true concern, we're a little bit lost on how to correctly disseminate. We’re learning about connection, that's what we understand correct, but the question is can we somehow influence through this means this tool called connection, there’s a lot of people that speak Russian and Ukrainian, what is the role here of the women and the world Kli as well?
R. I can’t offer you connections between countries that are at war, it’s not my job and I'm afraid also that I will also do some harm to you by that so I’ll just say one thing, in the heart without external revealed actions, of course it is good if you are connected together and that’s closer to the final correction and that draws the light that reforms from above but in terms of your revealed actions if you start writing about it and talking about it, I don't know. I really recommend to first think about it seriously and be certain that is not going to evoke any bad forces against you, so be cautious and it’s better if we all pray for you for you, these two nations that they will truly connect internally and finally throughout all their long history come to connection because they always had some struggle between them..