Happy Passover! Enjoy a short Kabbalistic explanation of the inner essence of Passover…

From the video clip:

Passover is much more than a historic tale. Let’s look at this holiday through the eyes of the wisdom of Kabbalah.

In the Haggadah, the land of Egypt represents a relationship of separation. A sort of living in a pool of ego, exploitation and despair, a state where everyone takes care of their own interests leaving the others to eat bupkis.

Israel represents the opposite situation. Life is full of joy, love of others, mutual guarantee… hang on a second, who are we kidding? Even if some of us physically live in the land of Israel, we’re still in that inner state of Egypt.

To be in Egypt means to be ruled by Pharaoh, the representative of the ego culture. He loves to turn us against each other, separate us, divide and conquer us, and eat Hummus every morning even though it’s bad for his digestion.

Moses, in contrast, is the representative of unity who doesn’t stand a chance if he goes head to head with Pharaoh, unless he’s got the entire people of Israel united around him.

And now we are ready for… the Exodus. The burning bush, staff and snake, blood, fire, charoses, and a mighty arm… all it’s really talking about is our choice between a reality of hatred and separation vs. a path of hope and connection.

Because that is how it always worked – either Pharaoh is ruling over you or you lend a hand to Moses. And it’s true even now.

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Dr. Michael Laitman discusses the Yom Kippur holiday and the story of Jonah with “Like A Bundle of Reeds” executive editor, Chaim Ratz.

“Like A Bundle of Reeds” is a TV series originally broadcast on JLTV based on the book of the same title. It deals with the following topics, among others:

• Are Jews different from other nations?
• Why is there anti-Semitism?
• Could the Holocaust happen again?
• What can I do?
• Why are there Jews?

Read the rest of this entry »

Have you read the new Yom Kippur eBooklet, “The Secret to a Happy Year,” by Dr. Michael Laitman?

If not, then we’d like to give you a free copy, which you can read and/or download at the following page:

Get My Free Copy of the Yom Kippur eBooklet: The Secret to a Happy Year »

Just click the “Read Online” or the “Download for Free” buttons on the above-linked page to either read the Yom Kippur eBooklet now in your browser, or to save it on your computer or mobile device for a later read.

Bread – Pleasure we feel in Egypt (i.e. in the ego).

Bread of affliction – Before we exit Egypt (the ego), we don’t understand how we can reach bestowal and love, nor what the big deal is with such an attainment. Such attainment becomes flavorless, dry and insipid.

Egypt – The ego.

Egypt, a land flowing with milk and honey – our egoistic desires envision all kinds of pleasures.

Egyptian bondage – Being ruled by the ego.

Exiting Egypt in haste – Spirituality looks so unattractive and repulsive that exiting into it must be rushed due to the aggressive, external force pulling from egoism. I, myself, am unable to step out of this marvelous world as it seems to me in my egoistic desire.

Land – Desire.

Matzot (unleavened bread) – An inner readiness to exit Egypt (the ego). One prepares oneself to live for the sake of love and bestowal, and to receive only what is necessary to revive oneself (i.e. this poor bread, i.e. necessary pleasures for one’s sustenance) in order to be able to love and bestow.

Moses – the point in the heart, desire for spirituality, in the person.

Moses’ demand to Pharaoh: “Let my people go! I want to leave!” – A prayer where after much effort to attain the quality of love and bestowal, one cries out to the egoistic inclination within oneself: “Stop controlling all the inclinations in me with this constant intention to get personal gain all the time! I want to be able to love and give with a pure desire!”

Pharaoh – Our stubborn “evil inclination” that holds us hostage and doesn’t let us rise above our jealousy, hatred, lust and ambition.

Pharaoh’s response to Moses’ demand “Let my people go!”: “What do you lack, Moses? You grew up in my arms. Stay the Egyptian prince. Be a prince! Why are you making a revolution here? For the sake of love for the neighbor? You’ve gone crazy!” – The ego’s response to the spiritual demand of being freed from the ego in order to love and give purely: “The point in the heart emerged as an egoistic desire among all the self-aimed desires you’ve had since you were born. You’ve always managed to get along, find pleasures and make your way in life through all these egoistic desires, and there’s nothing for you if you love another as yourself. What would you get from that?”

To learn more about how Kabbalah describes holidays and many other concepts at their root level, before they dress into the material world, it is recommended to take the Free Kabbalah Course. The reason is that many of the concepts and terms we have heard a lot about in our upbringing have completely different definitions in Kabbalah, and it takes a while to process them properly. Therefore, if you’re interested in this topic, then we recommend taking the free course and start learning about the world around you and inside you anew. Click the banner below to sign up for the free course …

Egypt (i.e. the ego) becomes a dungeon only when you start to think about spiritual exile, i.e. when you lack the Creator, the quality of bestowal and love. If not for the need for spiritual redemption, Egypt (the ego) by itself is a land (i.e. a desire) flowing with milk and honey (i.e. our egoistic desires envision all kinds of pleasures). Here you have everything besides the Creator, besides the answer to the question about the meaning of life. You have everything else in abundance. You are living the life of a king and you lack only to want bestowal and “love for the neighbor.”

When you desire precisely this, then Egypt (the ego) will seem like exile to you. This is the only thing missing here – love for the neighbor. Thus, it turns out that we celebrate Passover to commemorate the good life in Egypt and not the redemption, which no one really needs. After all, coming out of Egypt means throwing away everything we have besides love.

Do we feel that we are in exile? On the contrary, people do not understand what this means. However, love for the neighbor has to become your only desire. Moses (i.e. the point in the heart, desire for spirituality, in the person) demands from Pharaoh (i.e. the intention to receive personal gain in the person), “Let my people go! I want to leave!” (i.e. “Stop controlling all the inclinations in me with this constant intention to get personal gain all the time! I want to be able to love and give with a pure desire!”) To which Pharaoh replies, “What do you lack, Moses? You grew up in my arms. Stay the Egyptian prince. Be a prince! Why are you making a revolution here? For the sake of love for the neighbor? You’ve gone crazy!” (i.e. “The point in the heart emerged as an egoistic desire among all the self-aimed desires you’ve had since you were born. You’ve always managed to get along, find pleasures and make your way in life through all these egoistic desires, and there’s nothing for you if you love another as yourself. What would you get from that?”)

Only at the end of the path does Egypt (the ego) become a land of exile for us. But until that happens, we are satiated with everything besides bestowal. [Based on Dr. Michael Laitman, “Egypt Flowing with Milk and Honey“]

To learn more about how Kabbalah describes holidays and many other concepts at their root level, before they dress into the material world, it is recommended to take the Free Kabbalah Course. The reason is that many of the concepts and terms we have heard a lot about in our upbringing have completely different definitions in Kabbalah, and it takes a while to process them properly. Therefore, if you’re interested in this topic, then we recommend taking the free course and start learning about the world around you and inside you anew. Click the banner below to sign up for the free course …