Why Was the Torah Given?

“There was a precondition from the beginning of the reception of the Torah, but afterward, since the time of the making of the calf, the package has been taken apart.” – Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam), Letter 60.

What was the condition for receiving the Torah? Why was the Torah given? The Torah was given only for one purpose: to reach connection between us at the level of “love your neighbor as yourself.” Within that love between people, we then reveal “love the Lord your God,” i.e., complete adhesion.

This was the condition, and it was clear to everyone. The difficulty, however, is that we must uphold this condition each time above the growing problems between us, i.e., the increasing will to receive that demands we strengthen our connection more and more. At every moment, the broken will to receive becomes revealed more strongly, and we must maintain connection, love, and mutual work, prayer, and support above it. And we failed in doing so.

Already in the First Temple, problems appeared in maintaining connection at the level of “love your neighbor as yourself.” As it is written, the “package” that had been established at the level of Bina (a spiritual level of bestowal), upon entering the level of the Land of Israel, i.e., when we began to truly engage in love, this package began to break apart. From then on, we have been in decline.

The Kabbalists say that this process is necessary, that we had to go through it. The construction of the First Temple, its ruin, the construction of the Second Temple, and its inevitable ruin as well, despite all this, we were still required to maintain connection, to uphold “love your neighbor as yourself,” as Rabbi Akiva demanded of his students. Yet even his students, the finest of that generation, were unable to sustain it, and hatred become revealed among them.

Today, we are in a completely different stage. After the ruin of the First and Second Temples, and after the exiles, we now stand before the construction of the Third Temple, which will undoubtedly be built. The only question is to what extent we can contribute through our own effort and support. To what extent we can assist this process through a correct and willing inclination to connect and to reach a state of mutual love, i.e., “from love of others to love of the Creator.” Otherwise, suffering can also bring us to that same harmonious and peaceful state, but by a much longer path.

Based on the Daily Kabbalah Lesson with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on the topic “Yom HaZikaron and Yom HaAtzmaut” on May 7, 2019. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

Do We Meet People by Coincidence, or Is There a Reason Behind Every Encounter?

Nothing happens by chance. All of our encounters are predetermined.

All of us are interconnected and interdependent from the outset, with each of us already being in a designated state. If we need to encounter each other in some way in life as an outcome of the common soul’s correction, then it has already been predetermined according to our spiritual genes.

Therefore, nothing accidental happens in our meetings or distance from each other, so we need not worry about that. What we should mainly concern ourselves with is that at every stage of our development, when we encounter others, we should be as kind, welcoming, and engaging as possible. Then, ultimately, we will not go astray and will always remain in the direction of correcting our soul.

Based on KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on May 6, 2026.

How Can We Attain the Upper World?

First, what is the upper world? The upper world is not a distant place somewhere beyond the stars. It is a state of perception, that of correct self-assessment. It is attained via thorough inner examination in which we evaluate our feelings, thoughts, intentions, and actions from the perspective of truth instead of the distortions of personal egoism, i.e., the desire to enjoy for self-benefit at the expense of others.

When people think about spirituality, they often ask whether life continues after death. However, a more fundamental question is not whether the body dies or survives, but whether we can part with our egoism.

As long as we perceive reality through egoistic desires, we see only a limited picture of existence. Everything is measured according to personal benefit, loss, pleasure, or suffering. This narrow perspective defines what we call “this world” in Kabbalah.

However, when we rise above egoism, an whole new perception emerges. We no longer perceive reality through a filter of self-interest Instead, we begin to see existence as it truly is. This perception is called “the upper world,” or “the next world.”

Importantly, this upper world has nothing to do with a place we go to after the death of the physical body. We can attain the upper world while still living in this world and inhabiting the same physical body. There is no obstacle preventing such an attainment.

The challenge lies not in reaching the upper world but in becoming prepared for it.

To perceive reality beyond egoism requires a special inner state. We need to develop a correct attitude to our desires, intentions, and inner forces. Without such preparation, we would have an overwhelming experience. Instead of using revelation correctly, we would immediately translate it into egoistic gain, and turn it into another source of personal pleasure.

For such a reason, spiritual attainment is not given before we are ready for it.

The wisdom of Kabbalah explains that before we can perceive the upper world, the higher reality, we must acquire what is called a “screen,” which is an inner force that enables us to resist egoistic reception. The screen lets us relate to spiritual revelation correctly, without exploiting it for selfish benefit. Only when this inner readiness exists can we reveal deeper states safely.

The process for such attainment resembles that of preparing a vessel before filling it. The greater the light that is to be received, the greater the preparation that is required.

Spiritual states that await us are states of immense fulfillment, love, understanding, and harmony, far beyond anything ordinarily experienced in our corporeal lives. However, such states can only be appreciated and sustained when we develop corresponding inner qualities.

Therefore, spiritual development is not about escaping the world or waiting for a future existence. It is about transforming our perception while living here and now. The upper world becomes accessible when we gradually free ourselves from the limits of egoistic perception and learn to view reality through a broader and truthful lens.

Moreover, every person has the potential to attain this. The opportunity is open to all. The only requirement is the desire to prepare oneself for it. If we genuinely wish to rise above egoism and discover reality as it truly is, the path is available.

The upper world is hidden from us only as much as we need to attain a different way of perceiving. When we acquire that new perception, we discover that the higher reality was present all along.

Based on KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on May 13, 2026

What Is a True Hero?

Heroes are those who, while immersed in their egoistic self-centered nature, build another person out of themselves, one that is in equal to the altruistic force of nature.

Imagine that you are in a closed dark space, like a worm inside a rotten apple.

You start slowly emerging from it.

You peek outside and see a wonderful bright new world filled with love and care, people happily enjoying their lives together.

You then exit yourself and enter into a completely different space with a blazing sunlight and a blue sky, out of the darkness that you were previously in.

After you exit the darkness, you need to process it—that following the dictates of your egoistic desires leads you to darkness, as the ego itself extinguishes pleasure in a self-aimed direction.

Is this transformation really doable?

Yes, it is—by building yourself, from your ego, in similarity to the altruistic force of nature.

You study the laws of nature.

You grow a demand for them to reveal themselves in their pure altruistic form, to show you an example like an adult to a child.

You then overcome your ego as much as possible.

You then use your ego not for yourself, but in order to resemble and reach balance with the altruistic laws of nature.

What does it mean to resemble the altruistic laws of nature?

It means that you develop love for all people.

You then gradually learn the laws of nature, bit by bit, making yourself more and more similar to nature.

As a result, you come to see that your ego—this mass of desire to enjoy that is your whole nature—exists in order to invert the intention upon it. By doing so, you gain the full altruistic quality—love and bestowal—for everyone, like the altruistic force of nature.

You then reach balance with nature: a new state, experiencing a special force of a great loving and giving connection with others and with nature—the opposite of how we currently use our desire to enjoy (selfishly, at the expense of others and nature).

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Rav Avigdor Miller on Improving the Perfect World

Q:

Have doctors, have physicians, has the medical profession not improved things? 

A:

And the answer is, they haven’t improved anything. I’ll explain that to you. But don’t be in a hurry to run away though. Listen to what I’m saying. 

Mankind was perfect from the beginning. According to the original ecology, the cooperation of all the forces of nature made life the happiest and the best. And nobody took aspirants. Nobody needed vitamins. And they lived close to a thousand years. That’s because nature was then performing as it was created to perform. Now you need every link in the chain of nature. You must have dinosaurs, and you must have mammoth elephants. You must have saber-toothed tigers. Each one of them is essential in the chain of the ecology. 

When they attempted to get rid of wolves in Australia — they made a big campaign to get rid of wolves and jackals — then they discovered a worse plague. Rabbits began to increase over Australia in the millions. And they devoured the crops. And then they look back now and long for the good old days when the wolves and the jackals used to keep down the rabbit population. 

When in Pennsylvania they made a campaign to get rid of the blacksnake, and they gave a bounty. Anybody that brought in a blacksnake to the local sheriff got a certain amount of money. Then they discovered that the field mice were so numerous now that they were destroying all the crops. So quickly they repealed that law and they said don’t touch the blacksnake. 

Because every animal, every creature, and every plant is essential in the original ecology. 

Today, if you go to certain places, you are overwhelmed by mosquitoes. But in ancient times, the mosquitoes were kept down by other, bigger insects and by birds that preyed on them. If that species of bird becomes extinct then the mosquito increases without any inhibitions. And that’s why Hakadosh Baruch Hu, when He made the world, it was perfect! But mankind and also other things — Hakadosh Baruch Hu brought misfortunes on the world — and little by little, species began to become extinct one after the other, and certain plants died out, and therefore the balance of ecology was upset. And now we have to use artificial things. 

And therefore, certainly when the doctors came forward with remedies, it’s like somebody once had a beautiful house and the builder put in everything. He had air conditioners set into the walls under each window. But after a while the tenants were so careless that the air conditioners fell into disuse, and now all you had was just useless things in the walls. So along comes a mason and he takes out the air conditioners because after all they are rotted and now air is blowing in, cold air is blowing through the holes in the wintertime, and he has to patch up the holes. Now the patching that the mason does is not as good as the original building when you had functioning air conditioners occupying all those places. Now you walk by, you see there are cement blocks. It’s a great thing. Now you can live at least there. But it’s not as happy as it used to be. 

The physicians are patching up what once was more perfect and didn’t need them. Once upon a time — we’re talking about the time before the Mabul and right after the Flood when the world was as near perfect as it could be; because Hashem cursed the earth because of the sins. But before, everything was so perfect that the germs were kept in check by the protozoans. The protozoans fed on the germs. And the insects fed on the protozoa. And the birds and the reptiles fed on the insects. And the bigger animals fed on the birds and the reptiles. And so on. And so everything was a perfect chain, and therefore, we didn’t have these ills and ailments that came into existence later. Certainly when people come forward and they’re able to stuff in cement blocks and fill in the hole, they deserve gratitude from us. 

And certainly physicians have done a great job to help mankind in accordance with the present circumstances. Suppose somebody comes today and he invents a plan to filter water and make it pure. It’s a great thing. But when Columbus came to America, they didn’t need it. Because the water was as pure as could be. When Columbus set his foot on the soil of the islands, he found water that was sweet and pure. And nobody had to fluoridize it. But because mankind polluted it, now we needed somebody to clean it. And therefore because things became deteriorated, we need the physicians. No question that they’re doing great work. 

(Nov 1977)

Decide To View Yourself as 10 out of 10

If you feel that you are not yet able to internalize the Torah awareness of your TRUE value, at least decide to view yourself as a "10 out of 10" ~ the tops! Why? Because you decided to, that's why. After all, there's no law that says you can't.

Imagine the following scenario: A young fellow walks by and we ask him what his self-image is. He says, "I'm 10 out of 10" We are interested in hearing more about his life history. A dismal picture of one failure after another emerges; He never even graduated elementary school, he has never held a steady job, and is penniless; he lacks even basic social skills and has no close friends; his appearance is unkempt. Why, we wonder in amazement, does this ne'er-do-well think he deserves a 10! The only thing going for him is that he is a basically good person and seems happy to be alive.

We ask this apparent failure, "How can you view yourself as a 10 out of 10 when you are not intelligent and don't know very much?" He replies, "Yes, I am lacking in this are, but my total value as a person is a 10 out of 10."
"But you don't have money," we probe further.
"True, I am poor. That is my financial situation. But my self-image is dependent on how I view myself and I view myself as a 10 out of 10."
"But you aren't popular or handsome," we insist.
"You're right, but those are only technical problems. My value as a person is what I decide it will be, and I've decided it is 10 out of 10. After all, why in the world should I decide that I am any less than that? Sure, I would like to have more knowledge, more money, more friends, better looks and so on. But even before I figure out a way to do this, I will maintain my decision to view myself as a 10 out of 10."

Most of us have encountered people whom we might see as less than resounding success in may areas, yet they seem to have high levels of self-esteem. The secret is: Self-image is how we decide to view ourselves.

As children, we were given messages, both subtle and not so subtle, about our self-worth ~ from our parent, siblings, teachers and fellow students, friends and relatives. Some of those messages were positive ones while others were negative. We weren't old enough to winnow out the negative ones, and we took them all in, more or less, at face value. We believed these messages to be the total reality. Now that we are more mature, we can reevaluate our old conclusions and decide for ourselves who we REALLY are.

Choose Torah outlook of WHO you are. You are created in the image of the Creator, you are a child of our Father, our King, and the entire world was created for you! Make the decision to view yourself as a 10 out of 10 ~ because that's what you REALLY are.

The decision is in your hands.

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