March 19, 2016 at 10:00 pm · Filed under Torah Portion
Leviticus, 6:1-8:36
This Week’s Torah Portion | March 20 – March 26, 2016 – 10 Adar II – 16 Adar II, 5776
In A Nutshell
The portion, Tzav (Command), deals with rules of sacrificing, especially those related to priests. The portion mentions the commandment to donate the fertilizer, the gift offering, sin offering, guilt offering, peace offering, and the prohibition to eat animal fat.
Tzav also mentions punishments for those who eat non-kosher meat, as it is written, “The soul that eats from it shall bear iniquity (Leviticus, 7:18). One who eats fat from the offerings, “The soul that eats shall be cut off from its people” (Leviticus, 7:25), and one who eats the offerings’ blood, “That soul shall be cut off from its people” (Leviticus, 7:20).
Subsequently, the portion deals with the seven days of filling, and the inauguration of the tabernacle. The Creator commands Moses to assemble Aaron and his sons the priests, and the whole congregation at the door of the tent of meeting. Moses washes Aaron and his sons and dresses them with the clothes of priesthood. Moses puts the anointing oil over the tabernacle and all that is in it, and sanctifies Aaron and his sons, showing the priests—following the Creator’s command—what to do with the various organs of the offerings.
Commentary by Dr. Michael Laitman
The Korban (offering/sacrifice, from the word, Karov [near]) is the way to draw near the Creator. There is nothing but the offerings. Today we are in the worst state. There is nothing worse than this world and our current state. We must come out of that state and advance toward the Boreh (Creator), from the words Bo Re’eh (come and see). We will discover the Creator according to the changes and corrections in us because the upper force, namely the upper light, is in complete rest, and all the changes occur in us, as it is written, “I the Lord do not change” (Malachi, 3:6).
Nearing the Creator depends on our qualities. Therefore, we must all change ourselves and correct all the negative and egoistic desires in us, according to the order the Torah narrates. The word Torah comes from the word Horaa (instruction) how to correct our egoistic desires, turn them into aiming toward bestowal and love, and shift from unfounded hatred to absolute love.
The bad global crisis is happening due to unfounded hatred among everyone. There is abundance in the world, but we cannot share it among us. We cannot establish social justice, connection, unity, and arrange ourselves and our lives better because of our characters, as it is written, “The inclination of a man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Genesis, 8:21). To correct the heart, which symbolizes our 613 egoistic, corrupted desires, we need the Torah.
The Torah is the “light that reforms.”[1] One who treats the Torah properly discovers one’s wickedness, as it is written, “The world was created only for the complete wicked or the complete righteous.”[2] That is, we must discover that we are completely wicked, created with an evil inclination. Then, “I have created for it the Torah as a spice”[3] because “the light in it reforms them.”[4] Then we come to a state of complete righteous. This is how we must see it.
We are entering a system in which we are all cogwheels, i.e. we are beginning to make contact with each other.
Our entire world is mutually connected just like cogwheels in a system; none of the cogwheels can turn independently without turning all the other wheels and being turned by them. It’s just like two clutch discs when they touch each other.
The law of development operates in this mechanism. First, the clutch pedal is pressed and the connection between them is still weak–at this point we don’t disturb but rather help one another by spinning but not feeling that we are connected.
With time, cogwheels become more closely connected i.e., the clutch pedal is released and the discs get progressively closer to one another, until they are very tightly connected. This is how all of humanity develops towards mutual cooperation: countries establish connections, international commerce and industry flourish, societies change, the number of different professions grow, and people are becoming increasingly interdependent until they are totally interdependent.
The integral system possesses a remarkable property we can’t comprehend: everyone is just as vital in it as the whole.
March 12, 2016 at 10:00 pm · Filed under Torah Portion
Leviticus, 1:1-5:26
This Week’s Torah Portion | March 13 – March 19, 2016 – 3 Adar II – 9 Adar II, 5776
In A Nutshell
The portion, VaYikra (The Lord Called), deals with rules of sacrificing and the priests serving in the tabernacle. Some offerings are optional; some are mandatory. Some of the offerings are burnt to ashes on the altar, and some remain for the priests and the giver of the offering.
The rules of offerings speak of a “burnt offering” that a person brings voluntarily from the cattle, flock, and poultry. There is also a “gift offering,” which a person brings voluntarily from the flora. Also, there is the “peace offering,” which is an offering that a person brings from the cattle, sheep, and goats. The “sinoffering” is an offering brought by one who sinned by mistake. That person makes an offering to atone for the sin.
Commentary by Dr. Michael Laitman
The portion, VaYikra (The Lord Called), teaches us about the work of the offerings, which are also the main topic in the Talmud. We learn all the works from the works of the Temple.
People are nearing the purpose of creation and Dvekut (adhesion) with the Creator, to the human level, a life in a totally blissful world, and experiencing all the worlds and the sensation of nature as complete and eternal, as it was prepared for us. That nearing is called Korban (offering/sacrifice) from the word Karov (near).
We are approaching it step by step by correcting our nature. There are 613 desires in us, which we must correct one at a time, each desire with all of its parts. Our desires divide into four levels: still, vegetative, animate, and speaking. The work of the offerings teaches us how to sacrifice and correct them so they are in bestowal and love. The rule in our work is to correct our nature and achieve the state, “love your neighbor as yourself; it is a great rule in the Torah.”[1] By that, we become similar to the Creator and achieve Dvekut with Him.
The correction of the egoistic desire from receiving for myself into bestowal upon others is called an “offering” that a person offers. The offering may come from several sources. It may be from the still, as it is written, “On all your offerings you shall offer salt” (Leviticus, 2:13), or water or oil. It can also be from the vegetative or processed plants, such as the showbread. From the animate, only a certain kind is offered. The priests’ and the Levites’ daily work in the Temple is to sacrifice the flock and the cattle.
Larry King interviews Dr. Michael Laitman on Kabbalah, anti-Semitism, belief in God, hope in the face of multiple wars and conflicts, and what happens when we die.
Larry King’s questions in the interview:
00:17 – What is Kabbalah?
00:35 – Is Kabbalah part of Jewish theology?
02:09 – What does the word “Kabbalah” mean?
02:27 – Would many Jewish leaders deny Kabbalah? Why?
03:45 – Are you worried that anti-Semitism is getting worse?
06:30 – Do you remain optimistic?
06:51 – Do you believe in God?
07:11 – Do you pray?
07:35 – Is the Jews’ responsibility toward the world a curse?
08:15 – When you see all the wars going on, people killing people, what makes you hopeful?
10:15 – Kabbalah is not faith. It’s science.
11:35 – What happens to us when we die?
12:13 – Do you fear death?
13:05 – What is the message Kabbalah is delivering?
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