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The teachers have begun their work…

I got this letter today. I cried as I read it. I feel so lucky to be able to be a part of helping people. I found the above sentence to be very inspiring.

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In this month of Taurus, we have the anniversary of Rav Shimon Bar Yochai’s passing from this world (known as the holiday of Lag B’Omer). As you probably know, he is the author of the greatest kabbalistic text in existence, the Zohar.

During his lifetime, Rav Shimon was an immense channel for the Light force of the Creator, which he embedded into the pages of the Zohar.

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I am working on a documentary that will tell the story of Kabbalah and my parents’ struggle
to get this wisdom out to the entire world.
I am working with director Tony Kaye (american history x).
These are a few rough cuts from what has been filmed.

I was reading an article in Newsweek about the Gospel of Judas and was struck by this sentence: “This Gospel tells us that Judas was Jesus’ only true disciple, to whom he imparted secret mystic knowledge…” To me, at least, it seems clear that the mystic knowledge is the ancient wisdom of Kabbalah. Rav Shimon bar Yochai, the author of the Zohar, the canon of Kabbalah, lived around the same time and led a school of great mystics. My father the Rav always said that there is a lot in the story of Jesus that has not yet been revealed or understood…

We have brought a number of teachers from the African nation of Malawi to Los Angeles. This is part of our Raising Malawi initiative. They will be learning the Spirituality For Kids curriculum for the next 3 months. After that, they will go back to Malawi and teach the children there these empowering spiritual life lessons. I am very excited about this project. This morning we welcomed them to the Centre.

I will post some pictures soon.

It is a very exciting day.

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(from a speech I gave this weekend)

On one of the nights in Miami, we had people from all over the world in the Rav and Karen’s room. There is a story often told by students of the Bal Shem Tov that helps us to put things in perspective. It’s a powerful story and I think it can open our eyes in many ways.

On the last day of Pesach, all the students would have what is called the meal of the Bal Shem Tov. This meal occurred during Pesach. One of the grandsons of the Bal Shem Tov should tell this story every year.

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(from a speech i gave this weekend)

The second lesson: This was on the 8th day. It says Moses began the process and then asked Aaron to come close to the altar. Rashi writes that Aaron was scared and embarrassed. He was thinking to himself, “I don’t have the merit to be part of the revelation of Light.” Moses said to Aaron, “Don’t think you don’t have the merit. This is why you were chosen. You were chosen because you have this feeling of lack of merit.”

There is a very important lesson here. For thousands of years, people have said that you have to be very holy to study from the Zohar. We at the Centre know the Zohar is for everybody. In reality, it is very difficult to do the transformation, to achieve lasting fulfillment without the connection to the Zohar. Therefore the Zohar is for everybody.

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WHAT IS RAISING MALAWI?

It is Michael Berg’s vision to bring light to all parts of the world. What better place to start than in the african nation of Malawi.

Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world, suffering from famine, drought, poverty, and diseases like HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and hepatitis.

Out of a population of 12 million, at least 1 million are orphans.

Raising Malawi is a grassroots initiative offering lasting solutions to the orphans of Malawi. Our approach is comprehensivee, compassionate, and effective. Unhindered by obstacles such as bureaucracy and red-tape, Raising Malawi is run and staffed by volunteers, allowing us to raise these children up from powerlessness into self-empowerment – quickly and directly.

Our solutions are:
•Provide immediate and direct physical support such as food, medical care, clothing, clean drinking water, psychosocial counseling, and schooling.

•Provide sustainability. We are partnering with agricultural, medical, and educational experts to teach Malawians how best to improve these areas in the long run in order to create continuity and prosperity.

•Create a sense of self empowerment. This is where real societal change begins. To this end we are co-creating a curriculum with local Malawian teachers (based on the principles of the Spirituality for Kids Program) that empowers children with universal life skills.

Through an improved inner dialogue and strengthened sense of empowerment, Malawi’s orphans will grow up in control of their destiny and able to reverse the destructive patterns that have permeated their society for generations.

for more information go to - http://www.raisingmalawi.org

Sri Lanka Kabbalah Centre efforts in Sri Lanka

Rav Brandwein Michael Berg is teaching about Rav Brandwein

WHAT IS RAISING MALAWI?

It is Michael Berg’s vision to eliminate chaos in the darkest parts of the world. What better place to start than in one of the most challenged places on the planet, the African country of Malawi. Malawi is the second poorest country in the world, suffering from famine, drought, poverty, and diseases like HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and cholera.

OUT OF A POPULATION OF 12 MILLION, 1 MILLION ARE ORPHANS.

OUR SOLUTION:

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(From a lecture I gave this weekend)

In this week’s Parashah, there’s an interesting discussion, actually an argument between Moshe and Aaron. This is actually the mid-point of the whole Torah, and we know it’s a very significant point, the Central Column.

In this section, it says there is a specific sacrifice. This whole week’s portion deals with the 8th day, the day the Tabernacle, the Mishkan, was being set up for usage. There was a tremendous union created on this day between Zeir Anpin and Malchut.

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Last week we had a great event in Miami, Florida, with thousands of students from all over the world. I would like to share with you some of what I said there. These talks are unedited so please forgive the mistakes in the text. I hope you are inspired by them.

Chag Sameach. Happy Holiday. I wanted to share with you two ideas. We did a lot of work last night at the Seder, but we really manifest that Light and can hold onto it and reveal it for ourselves and the world through the Torah today.

It is really all about consciousness. I would like to share a letter Rav Brandwein wrote to the Rav when the Rav was living in the U.S. and Rav Brandwein was living in Israel. The Rav would go to Israel, they would talk on the phone, and they would study in letters. We are blessed to have some of the letters.

This was written in Pesach, 1965.

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We don’t appreciate the power of the work that everyone of us by ourselves can do.

I would like to share something I am terribly excited about. One of our friends in Israel came to me after checking for the chametz, and she had a letter from a friend who knew Rav Brandwein. She wanted to give it to the Rav, but it hadn’t happened yet.

I asked to borrow the letter. There is much to understand. This year, this letter came to us.

This letter was written by Rav Brandwein in 1968. He wrote it to a person who had assisted Rav Ashlag in the writing and printing of the Zohar.

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