Bnei Baruch Management with European Kli

We're having a special discussion today - first of all we were in awe of the great questions you sent. This is an open discussion so feel free to ask us anything - things you're happy about or concerned about. We'll start with the questions you sent.

Many friends want to know about Rav's health. He is great. We're in a ten with him and meet him for at least one hour every day. Teaching takes too much energy, so unfortunately he can't do that now. Once a week we try to go on a short outing. Once in a quarter we go away for a few days. No matter how he's feeling he tries to be equal in the ten - he really wants to be an equal friend. We still don't know how to work with that yet in the ten. When people ask him how he feels - he says "I'm at ease." Some of the friends are afraid a day will come that he'll no longer be with us. First of all, this fear is totally legitimate.

When you ask yourself why did I come to this world and who taught me everything? Of course it is Rav. He is our upper one. But the question is what does it mean to be with Rav - we're implementing what he's saying in a lesson and then we're connected to Rav. Without any connection to his body he exists in eternity. Rav is our attitude to him. He has everything. All of the tens of thousands of students here - you can hear a bit of Rav from each of them. He always tells us "first connect and then you can reach out to the Creator" - those who do that are with Rav. And this is how we try to overcome this natural fear together.

Also, the connection with the Rav depends on the student's desire. Rav is more connected to Rabash more than he was when he was next to him. We're doing the exact same exercise - to be in adhesion with him no matter what. Every day he may be further from us physically - but it all depends on how much we want to get the method from him. He never asked us to stick to him like other big Rabbis - he asked to be glued to the method and the Creator.

We often heard Rav say - I gave you everything. And now we're seeing this on a daily basis how Rav is guiding us more and more. A person needs to verify what he's afraid of - because Rav is always giving. Whoever wants to can connect to Rav and receive from him. So there is nothing to be afraid of. We will give Rav your regards - sending your love from all the friends in Europe.

The next question is whether the management is also about spiritual leadership. Whether to treat it as a spiritual body.

We're not replacing our dear Rav. He was always our teacher, he is currently our teacher, and will always be the spiritual teacher guiding us. Rav is connected to Rabash, Rabash to Baal HaSulam - and we're connected to that chain through Rav.

Rav gave us some conditions - for example that we need to make decisions as one. It's more of a feeling that we all really need to have this common feeling. If one of the friends isn't happy about a decision - if he's just agreeing externally the decision won't be made. We try to make decisions out of our genuine concern for the integrality of the group.

We really need your prayers, because we're already starting to build our future now. Let's pray that in this group of six friends there will be love - the attribute of bestowal. So we'll hear Rav guiding us and be able to use the light that Rav is bringing down to this world. Our whole life revolves around Bnei Baruch - and for there to be light we need it to come through the upper one. It all depends on the power of our prayer.

We know how organizations work. But from a spiritual perspective - we made Rav great to be able to receive his advice. Those that couldn't left. If you'd like us to be a spiritual body - it all depends on how you see us. And it has nothing to do with the people sitting here. We heard Rav say that there won't be one person leading the group in the future - the days of having one charismatic leader are over. So we need to make sure to have this head of the group, made up of a group of people.

Next question: What is the vision for Bnei Baruch for the next 5-10 years?

As the CEO I often asked Rav this question - I never really received an answer except that we need to connect. At the end of the day we know what needs to be done - how long it will take and the results are unknown.

In the upcoming period we're doing a few things - we need to build a stronger connection between the management and European kli. There is a manager for each country/language. We'd like to have heads of community working closely with us, and they will need helpers. We have a head of the ten, a representative of the ten, and a head of the community - because we want to know what's going on. This whole chain needs to work. It only partially exists at the moment. We want to use our experience to help you all advance to spirituality.

One of our main roles is to build an optimal environment for anyone on the path - that's why we need to understand exactly what's going on. We also want our meetings to not only be about learning - but really engaging. We know what Rav did with us 30 years ago - but we were a very small group and only men. We went on picnics, on trips and played football. Today we're 100 times bigger and a far more diverse group. How to bring us all closer together is still a big challenge - and we want to figure this out together.