1,000s of People Open Their Hearts into One Giant Heart
We are currently in the midst of our World Kabbalah Convention taking place with over 2,000 participants from over 30 countries in Petah Tikva, Israel, and with thousands more virtual participants all over the world.
The theme of the convention is opening our hearts. How can we open our hearts as wide as possible to everyone? To open our hearts as wide as possible to everyone, we must recognize that such a gathering as this one takes place within each of our hearts.
All we need in order to reveal the Creator is for everyone to open their hearts to everyone, that everyone has a place in each one’s heart, then by doing so, we open our collective heart. That is what this convention is all about.
At the convention, we focus on directing ourselves to unite our hearts into one, and by doing so come closer to the Creator, the upper force of love and bestowal that reveals itself where our hearts unite. If our goal is to reveal the Creator, then that is the way to do it.
Therefore, those who seek to discover and attain the Creator have no alternative. Humanity, in the end, must traverse a path marked by suffering, challenges, thoughts and desires until we reach a state where the barriers within our hearts dissolve, and we unite as one heart. That is the ultimate objective.
Consequently, humanity progresses from year to year and from day to day, encountering a variety of challenges until it realizes that the only way forward is to combat the egoistic nature that constantly seeks to separate us from each other. In the wisdom of Kabbalah, we learn how the Creator maintains such a state of separation between people in order to give room for our efforts to bridge the divide, and by doing so, we can amplify our connection to the Creator and experience His presence much more profoundly.
Therefore, initially, we observe that each person is primarily focused on their egoistic desires, and there is no choice but to strive for closeness and connection among each other, uniting in a common desire. This is what we refer to as “one heart,” the goal that Kabbalist Baruch Ashlag (the Rabash) wrote to us about.
Humanity progresses from year to year and from day to day, encountering a variety of challenges until it realizes that the only way forward is to combat the egoistic nature that constantly seeks to separate us from each other.
I remember that after a few years studying with Rabash, I conducted Kabbalah introductory lectures in various locations in Tel Aviv, and several new students came as a result. I invited these students to a gathering, toward which, on one of my daily walks in the park with Rabash, I had asked him, “What should we discuss with them?”
He asked for some aluminum foil from a cigarette pack I had. I gave it to him.
He then proceeded to write his very first article titled “Purpose of Society — 1” with the words: “We have gathered here to establish a society for all who wish to follow the path and method of Baal HaSulam, the way by which to climb the degrees of man and not remain as a beast…”
It has been nearly 40 years since that day, but there is no change to the topic. Although many have heard of it, the process and method of correction remain the same as elucidated by ancient Kabbalists even thousands of years ago.
Thousands of people right now are making special efforts to come together as one, to connect their individual hearts into one collective heart. That heart is made up of many different parts, and their connection creates a vessel for the revelation of the Creator, which is one for everyone. In other words, all we need in order to reveal the Creator is for everyone to open their hearts to everyone, that everyone has a place in each one’s heart, then by doing so, we open our collective heart. That is what this convention is all about.
Based on Lesson 1 from the World Kabbalah Convention on September 30, 2023. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.