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Editor’s note
No time is better suited for introspection than the Jewish holidays. In essence, a holiday is a spiritual state—intrinsic by nature—and the beginning of the Jewish year is especially so. The three adjacent holidays—Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot—denote a spiritual process of ascension on the spiritual ladder.
Kabbalah teaches that the Creator is a force, or quality, of love. Hence, the Jewish tradition of the holidays’ self-scrutiny and examination of one’s relations with others bears a much deeper meaning than their social aspects. It reflects our similarity with the quality of love, the Creator.
In Kabbalah, the goal is to achieve the Creator, to become like Him. And the means to do it is to love our fellow person, as reflected in the verse, “love thy neighbor as thyself.” If we keep in mind that the goal is to become similar to the Creator, the coming holidays will introduce new meaning to the ceremonies, something that will continue with us all year long.
As part of the effort to promote the goal of love of man, Rav Michael Laitman, PhD, founder and president of Bnei Baruch and publisher of this paper, co-authored The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Kabbalah. Immediately following the holidays, he will begin a month-long tour in North America promoting the message of the book: egoism is humanity’s only enemy, love of man is the only cure, and the wisdom of Kabbalah is the only means to achieve this love.
In the spirit of love of man, we dedicate this issue of Kabbalah Today to the internal, spiritual meaning of the holidays, and to a special interview with Rav Laitman describing the message of his new book. We hope you will enjoy reading Kabbalah Today and feel the love with which it was produced.
