Feature Article in Kabbalah Today Issue 8

Natural Disasters Explained through Kabbalah
October 22, 2007 at 9:10 pm · Filed under Articles, Kabbalah Today

Feature Article in Kabbalah Today Issue 8

As Rav Laitman spreads the word around the United States and Canada this month on how Kabbalah holds the solution for the global crisis, the feature article “The Tip of the Iceberg” in Kabbalah Today Issue 8 presents the same message, focusing on natural disasters.

“The Tip of the Iceberg” discusses the major increase of natural disasters around the world in relation to what is causing them: the rules that control nature and our attitude to these rules. Nature’s most fundamental principle is interconnectedness and unity, and as human beings, we are not realizing our potential to actualize this interconnectedness and unity among ourselves. more…

Click Here to Read the Full Article

Radio Interview with Rav Michael Laitman, PhD on The Brian Sussman Show, San Francisco

Radio Interview with Rav Michael Laitman, PhD on The Brian Sussman Show, San Francisco
October 19, 2007 at 9:19 pm · Filed under Audio, Interviews

SAN FRANCISCO (October 11, 2007): Rav Michael Laitman, PhD was interviewed on the Brian Sussman Show, KSFO-560AM. Sussman tried clarifying both what is Kabbalah and also extended the investigation to see what Kabbalah’s outlook is on political and religious issues.

Expert says Kabbalah best understood as a science - an Article in the South Jersey Courier Post

Expert says Kabbalah best understood as a science - an Article in the South Jersey Courier Post
October 21, 2007 at 5:22 am · Filed under Interviews, News

COURIER POST (October 20, 2007): Spirituality columnist Kim Mulford interviewed Rav Michael Laitman, PhD for her Saturday column “Keeping the Faith.” As well as the usual ice-breaking questions about Kabbalah that Rav Laitman often gets asked by journalists, like whether it is a religion or mysticism, whether someone practising a religion can also study Kabbalah, and whether the Kabbalah Rav Laitman teaches is connected to the Kabbalah Madonna studies… Kim Mulford also asked unique questions about the experience of Kabbalah; what it’s like to connect to the Creator and how this is related to its dissemination.

Kim Mulford: What is it like to connect with the Creator?

Rav Laitman: It’s a personal connection. It’s as if you stop caring for yourself and you experience everybody else’s thoughts and cares. You become connected and related and you feel beyond. You don’t just feel it, you really are beyond time and place and motion. You become eternal in a way, because you have eternal perception. It gets you to a point where you just want to give and give.

Kim Mulford: Is that why you want to share this with other people, because you want to give them this same experience?

Rav Laitman: Yes, of course. You experience the harmony of nature and reality and you want to share it. Also, it’s not just a privilege. It’s really an obligation, because the whole of humanity must come to that point where all of us experience that harmony. Actually, the crisis we are experiencing today isn’t coming for no reason. It’s there to prompt us to think about life, to see how we can build our harmony with it. more…

Click Here to Read the Full Article in the Courier Post Online
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More than just Madonna: Kabbalah has millions of online students around the world

More than just Madonna: Kabbalah has millions of online students around the world - an Article in the Canadian Press
October 18, 2007 at 10:31 am · Filed under News

TORONTO (October 17, 2007): Without the Internet, studying Kabbalah every day would be more of a chore for Susan Morales, who already leads a busy life teaching and checking up on her nursing students.

But by going online, her class with her teacher Rav Michael Laitman, which is webcastlive every day from Israel, is just a click away for the Toronto resident who lectures at Ryerson University.

“The miracle of that is just fantastic,” said Morales, 58, who has been doing Kabbalah every day - a requirement for all students - for the past six years.

Laitman is the founder and president of the Bnei Baruch Kabbalah Education and Research Institute in Israel, which has branches all over the world including Toronto.

Kabbalah, which is Hebrew for reception, is an ancient “method of spiritual growth and development offering an inspiring path of self-discovery and spiritual elevation,” according to the centre.

It aims to answer life’s deepest question: What is life about?

In an interview during a visit to Toronto, Laitman said the Internet plays a major role in getting the Kabbalah message out.

“When I started building the academy in 1991, the Internet was basically non-existent,” he said in Hebrew as he spoke through an interpreter.

Laitman went through some difficult years using “snail mail.”

The web improved communication, and, “as a result now today we have approximately two million students worldwide - about 200,000 in Canada - using the Internet from 47 countries in 26 languages,” he said.

Thousands more practise it through The Kabbalah Centre, another Israel-based organization that uses the web and has branches worldwide.

Through Bnei Baruch, said Morales, classes can be done any time because it has one of the largest archives of downloadable lessons.

“If I wanted to sit in front of my computer and listen and study 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year, I could do it and not view (the same) lesson again.”

Rob Taylor, 56, a project management consultant in the power industry, says he’s up at 3 a.m. to study Kabbalah.

Generally he either studies texts or takes classes online with Laitman. Then throughout the day he’s always working on what he learned.

“You start evaluating yourself,” said Taylor, an eight-year veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps and a former undercover cop who lives in Toronto.

“Why do I see it this way? Why is it affecting me the way it does?”

In 1984, when he first learned about Kabbalah, there wasn’t a lot of translated material, he said. Until the late 20th century, it was closed to all but a few select and serious students.

“There were commentaries but nothing you could really get your teeth into, to really understand it,” he said.

Then in the late 1990s, things began to change, he said.

“I started coming across material mostly put together by Laitman,” author of “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Kabbalah.”

Now, more than 5,000 books are available on Amazon.com, most written after 2000, according to the Idiot’s Guide. As well, more than 200,000 lessons are available online.

Besides books, such as the Idiot’s Guide, making it more accessible to people, interest really ignited after pop singer and actress Madonna became heavily involved.

“When she went public about it, more people were asking about what this is,” said Jacob Kessler, 25, who helped established the Kabbalah Club at the University of Toronto.

“More people started coming out to study meetings or … taking a class here and there at The Kabbalah Centre,” said Kessler, who was introduced to Kabbalah by his parents when he was a young child.

Kessler, who is working on a bachelor’s degree in Judaic studies with a focus on mystical Judaism and Kabbalah, says lots of students are interested in Kabbalah - sometimes classes are full.

But Madonna is only part of the reason why Kabbalah is being studied by so many people these days, said Laitman.

“Humanity is in a global crisis: Divorce rates are soaring, drug abuse, depression. Globalization causes us all to be interconnected and at the same time we’re all hateful to each other,” he said.

“When you lose hope … you start searching. Instinctively people are discovering that the answer to it probably exists in Kabbalah,” he said.

“That’s why kabbalists for the first time in 5,000 years of Kabbalah’s existence are now exposing it to the whole world,” he said. As a result, “we see that Kabbalah is a method for correcting and for restoring balance.”

People of all walks of life are finding it helpful, said Morales. She has met devout Christians, Orthodox Jews, observant Muslims and agnostics studying it.

At the core of Kabbalah, she said, “is the correction of oneself.”

How does one become more like the bestowing creator, or God, said Morales. That’s how spirituality is defined in Kabbalah.

In Kabbalah, correct intentions will lead you closer to God, or the creator, who is a giving force, a bestowing force, said Laitman. “The whole of nature is a giving nature, a loving nature.”

Each organ in our body functions to benefit the body, he said.

If one, however, begins “to pull towards itself to consume the rest of the body” it becomes cancerous, he said.

“This is why Kabbalah states that if humanity rises above its egoism it will not be cancerous towards the whole of nature.”

Today’s interconnectedness “should compel us to rise above our personal egos and achieve the right harmony and connection among us in giving to each other.”

“When Kabbalah opens up the picture of the world to us it kind of forces us to become good,” he said.

Taylor says he gradually turned to Kabbalah during his stints in the Marines and with the police out of frustration.

“You spend a lot of time in those environments because you want to fix things,” he said. “Then you reach a point of understanding that you can’t.”

Finally, “you come to realize that the whole structure begins with individual correction,” he said.

“We have to fix ourselves internally before we can even think about going out there and correcting something else.”

That, he said, “has probably been the biggest change” in his life since he began … studying Kabbalah.

Click Here for the Original Article

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How to Understand Nature’s Program and Know What Path to Take - an Interview with Rav Michael Laitman PhD in Shalom Toronto

How to Understand Nature’s Program and Know What Path to Take - an Interview with Rav Michael Laitman PhD in Shalom Toronto
October 16, 2007 at 11:52 am · Filed under Interviews, News

In an interview with Shalom Toronto columnist Jonathan Dahoah-Halevi, Rav Michael Laitman, PhD explained that studying the Kabbalah can help humanity have a positive influence on the forces at work in the world and reach a high spiritual level to become one with nature and God. The following is an excerpt from the interview:

Shalom Toronto: Does the Kabbalah have the power to solve global problems?

Rav Laitman: The Kabbalah is the answer to all the world’s problems because it deals with the world in general. Man is driven by his ego. The development of the ego leads to hatred, despair, drugs, terrorism and air pollution, and for all those things there is the Kabbalah which teaches us how to relate to the world and our fellow men to reach harmony, to have a positive influence and to reduce human suffering.

Shalom Toronto: How can the Kabbalah solve the problem of air pollution?

Rav Laitman: The Kyoto Protocol [an international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions] and other agreements cannot reduce air pollution. Nature has another program. Nature needs to bring us into a state of balance. It is a mistake to think that all we have to do is burn less. What we have to do is understand nature’s program and then we will know what path to take. Air pollution is not the main issue, but human thoughts and behavior are what influence nature and everything else is completely marginal.

Click Here for This Issue of Shalom Toronto, and Read the Full Interview on Page 49

Rav Laitman will be giving a public lecture tonight in Toronto at the B’nai Brith Building, 15 Hove Street (Bathurst & Sheppard).
Click here for bookings, and for more information on Rav Laitman’s United States and Canada tour

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Australian BB Kabbalah Group: Now Is the Time for Kabbalah to Enter the Education System

Australian BB Kabbalah Group: Now Is the Time for Kabbalah to Enter the Education System

http://www.kabtoday.com/epaper_eng/content/view/epaper/5697/(page)/3/(article)/5702

What is Kabbalah? Don’t ask Madonna

What is Kabbalah? Don’t ask Madonna - an Article in the Chicago Daily Herald
October 12, 2007 at 11:22 am · Filed under Press

CHICAGO DAILY HERALD (October 12, 2007): In advance of Rav Michael Laitman’s Oakton Community College Skokie campus lecture “From Chaos to Harmony: Kabbalah as the Solution to the Global Crisis,” Journalist Jamie Sotonoff of the Chicago Daily Herald focused on a key disclaimer Rav Laitman has been questioned about repeatedly throughout his United States tour, that the Kabbalah Rav Laitman teaches is completely different and unrelated to the Kabbalah that Madonna is associated with.

Click Here to Read this Full Story in the Chicago Daily Herald

Click Here for More Details About the Lecture and to Register

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Kabbalah Introductory Lecture by Rav Michael Laitman PhD in San Francisco, Oct. 11 2007

Kabbalah Introductory Lecture by Rav Michael Laitman PhD in San Francisco, Oct. 11 2007
October 13, 2007 at 9:03 pm · Filed under Lectures

SAN FRANCISCO (October 11, 2007): Rav Michael Laitman, PhD gave a public lecture at the Embarcadero Center, Le Meridian Hotel entitled “The Kabbalah Experience”—an introduction to the wisdom of Kabbalah.

Rav Laitman opened the lecture stating that the wisdom of Kabbalah has it written that the year 1995 would see the beginnings of the disclosure of the wisdom of Kabbalah to humanity. In order to explain this, Rav Laitman compared the state that humanity is in today to the state that humanity was in 5,000 years ago, and why this difference has come about.

Rav Laitman was asked to clarify what makes the Kabbalah he teaches authentic, as well as answering questions on how Kabbalah treats the ups and downs of everyday life, who or what is the Creator, how is peace found in one’s life, Kabbalah on the family, Kabbalah on the education of children, and whether there are age restrictions on the study of Kabbalah.

Download the Lecture: wmv video | mp3 audio

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Michael Laitman's Book Tour October 2007

USA Sydney
City Day Date Time
Chicago Monday 15th 7am
Toronto Wednesday 17th 10am
Miami Friday 19th 10am
Philadelphia Wednesday 24th 6am
New York Thursday 25th 10am

Day/Date/Time Sydney EST

Log into http://www.kab.tv to see it live at the above times

Australian Unity Congress!

Australia BB Group Invites the whole world Kli to our Unity Congress

It will be held on the weekend of November 2nd to 4th.

Starting Friday afternoon till Sunday afternoon.

Location Blue mountains (Leura),

Transport 1 ½ hours drive from sunny Sydney, also close to train station. We have space in group cars going up and coming back.

Cost $100 per person.

Program

Lectures and workshops
Song writing workshops for the World congress in Israel,
Cultural night,
Local area circulation for group effort, newspapers, dvd, and books.
Lots of homemade wholesome food and locally made and distilled pyrtzofka (lots of).


RSVP 25th October

Now Is the Time for Kabbalah to Enter the Education System

Now Is the Time for Kabbalah to Enter the Education System
October 9, 2007 at 12:10 am · Filed under Education

The Soul Is Ageless
Article in Kabbalah Today issue 8

In times when the education system is being criticized for its inability to turn children into mature, confident adults, Kabbalist Rav Michael Laitman, PhD, believes that now is a unique time to introduce a new concept into our schools—the wisdom of Kabbalah. more…

Click here to read the full article

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New Kabbalah.info Website Delivers the Power of Kabbalah to the World

“There has been rapidly growing interest in Kabbalah. For this reason, we have renewed www.kabbalah.info taking first-time visitor needs into specific consideration,” reports Kabbalah.info spokesperson Tony Kosinec.

read more | digg story

New Kabbalah.info Website Delivers the Power and Wisdom of Kabbalah to the World

New Kabbalah.info Website Delivers the Power and Wisdom of Kabbalah to the World
October 5, 2007 at 4:43 am · Filed under Press

Expanded and revised Kabbalah.info website delivers comprehensive information and tools to meet worldwide demand

Tel Aviv, Israel October 5, 2007 – www.Kabbalah.info, the world’s largest online source for free Kabbalah content, has updated and expanded its site to meet the growing worldwide interest in the wisdom and study of Kabbalah. The new site offers quick and easy access to a wealth of information and resources for learning the science of Kabbalah.

“There has been rapidly growing interest in Kabbalah. For this reason, we have renewed www.kabbalah.info taking first-time visitor needs into specific consideration,” reports Kabbalah.info spokesperson Tony Kosinec.

In the past twelve months alone, www.kabbalah.info has attracted 2.5 million visitors – three times more than the preceding twelve months. Kosinec expects this boom to continue rising: “Whether it’s through pop celebrities or quantum physicists, people are hearing about Kabbalah from all kinds of directions, and this media-influenced curiosity is bringing them to our site. Our aim with this new site is to serve this curiosity, providing initial explanations of what Kabbalah is and isn’t, letting people know who it’s for and why it’s studied, and to do this in an entertaining, quick and easy-to-understand way.”

The site offers all of its materials and services free, using the latest Flash technology, video clips and list-style articles to present its message to first-timers. Two minutes on the home page already gives the visitor “3 Things You Should Know About Kabbalah” – an introductory Flash presentation explaining (1) What is Kabbalah? (2) What is not Kabbalah? and (3) What is the goal of Kabbalah?

Visitors can get this information elaborated in the “What is Kabbalah?” environment, or go directly to a guided introductory course (either with a live instructor or recorded lessons). There are options to download free eBooks and audio books, participate in live daily lessons, listen to Kabbalistic music, browse an extensive library of authentic Kabbalah texts, watch video clips and films, and even ask questions and get answers live, daily, with internationally renowned Kabbalist Rav Michael Laitman, PhD – the principle teacher and founder of Kabbalah.info.

“In the end, this site is for everybody because today, Kabbalah is for everybody. Kabbalists throughout history have pointed to our era as the one where the secrets of Kabbalah would become disclosed to humanity. While there is definitely growing interest in Kabbalah, there is still a lot of confusion as to what it actually is and what it can do for people. Our new site has been developed to eliminate this confusion. It makes clear the essence and purpose of Kabbalah, so that after a short time on the site people can see what authentic Kabbalah entails, and decide whether it’s a path they want to take or not,” says Kosinec.

Kabbalah.info was founded by Rav Michael Laitman, PhD, Israel-based kabbalist, professor in ontology and the theory of knowledge, and author of over thirty books on Kabbalah. Rav Laitman will be touring the United States and Canada during October 9 – 24, 2007, publicly lecturing on authentic Kabbalah. Click here for location, date and time information.

Read this press release at PR Web

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International Authority on Authentic Kabbalah Brings Ancient Wisdom and Insights to Nine US Cities and Nationwide

International Authority on Authentic Kabbalah Brings Ancient Wisdom and Insights to Nine US Cities and Nationwide
October 4, 2007 at 1:34 am · Filed under Press

Is Kabbalah a religion? Spiritual practice? Science? - What is a Kabbalah Spiritual Boot Camp? - Who studies Kabbalah and how is it compatible with Christianity and other world religions? - Celebrities including Madonna and Demi Moore ignite interest in Kabbalah; learn how their practices differ from authentic Kabbalah teaching. - Find the answer to life’s deepest question “What is life about?” - Where is Kabbalah practiced? Find out about Kabbalah’s dramatic growth and how many people practice Kabbalah in the U.S. and around the world. Worldwide, some 1.3 million people study and practice authentic Kabbalah through the Bnei Baruch Kabbalah Education & Research Institute, and from October 9-28, the world’s leading authority on authentic Kabbalah will be traveling on a nine city tour of the US, speaking to audiences on this ancient science. Rav Michael Laitman, Ph.D., the founder and president of the Institute, will be available for interviews and can discuss the Kabbalist position on a host of current issues including terrorism, the Iraq War, the difference between celebrity and pop culture practices of Kabbalah and authentic Kabbalah, global warming, etc. At the conclusion of his US trip, he will travel to Monterrey, Mexico, where he will attend the World Wisdom Council and present at the 2007 Monterrey Forum. more…

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