About Me

Rabbi Michael Laitman's Biography (Books)

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Michael Laitman, PhD, is an international authority on authentic Kabbalah. His background is highly unusual for one renowned in the spiritual: he was educated in the sciences, holds an MS in bio-cybernetics, and has pursued a successful scientific career, later turning to Kabbalah to further his scientific research. He received his PhD in Philosophy and Kabbalah from the Moscow Institute of Philosophy at the Russian Academy of Sciences. In 1976, he began studying Kabbalah, and has been researching it ever since. In 1979, seeking new avenues in Kabbalah, he came across Kabbalist Rabbi Baruch Shalom HaLevi Ashlag (1906-1991), the firstborn son, and successor of Kabbalist Rabbi Yehuda Leib HaLevi Ashlag (1884-1954), known as Baal HaSulam for his Sulam (Ladder) commentary on The Book of Zohar.

Michael Laitman was so impressed with Baal HaSulam's son, that he became Baruch Ashlag's closest disciple and personal assistant, spending the bulk of his time in the company of his revered mentor, and absorbing as much as he could of his teachings. Michael Laitman was the student and personal assistant to Rabbi Baruch Ashlag from 1979-1991, follows in the footsteps of his rabbi in passing on the wisdom of Kabbalah to the world. This book is based on sources that were passed down by Rabbi Baruch's father, Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam), the author of ''the Sulam,'' the commentaries on The Book of Zohar, who continued the ways of the Ari and Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai and many great Kabbalists throughout the generations before them.

Dr. Laitman is the founder and president of Bnei Baruch - Kabbalah Education and Research Institute, which operates the largest and most extensive internet site on the subject of Kabbalah, www.kabbalah.info. The website provides unlimited access to Kabbalistic texts and media in over twenty languages, with 1.4 million hits per month. Since the year 2000, the Encyclopedia Britannica recognizes kabbalah.info as one of the largest internet sites for both number of visitors and quantity of educational and informational materials on the science of Kabbalah.

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