Entries in the 'Anti-Semitism' Category

“Why Does Antisemitism Seem So Acceptable in Today’s World?” (Times of Israel)

Michael Laitman on the Times of Israel: “Why Does Antisemitism Seem So Acceptable in Today’s World?

Antisemitism acts as a law of nature. The more the Jewish people are divided among themselves, the more they activate supernatural forces that awaken hatred toward them in people’s hearts all around the world. Such hatred then overshadows any facts and evidence that might seemingly serve to portray the Jewish people in a positive light.

Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam) wrote about this antisemitic tendency in his “Writings of the Last Generation”:

“It is a fact that Israel is hated by all the nations, whether for religious, racial, capitalist, communist, or for cosmopolitan reasons, etc. It is so because the hatred precedes all reasons, but each merely resolves its loathing according to its own psychology.

In the same text, Baal HaSulam goes on to discuss how the unity of the Jewish people, and the global spreading of the unity that Jews establish, is the solution to dissipating the hatred toward them, replacing it with a positive unified spirit that leads to global peace and harmony.

The more people feel problems and crises entering their lives in a variety of ways, the more antisemitism rises. It is because the solution to all problems is ultimately the awakening and spreading of nature’s positive unifying force throughout humanity. Antisemitism is thus a form of pressure on a certain blockage that is not letting this unity to arise.

The Jewish people originally became known as “the people of Israel” and later as “the Jews” because they implemented Abraham’s method of uniting above their divisive drives, and in their unity, they discovered the single positive force dwelling in nature. Today, when darkness expands throughout the world in an array of increasing problems and crises, there is a subconscious feeling in many people around the world that somehow Jews are to blame for their troubles, and it stems from this need for unity to prevail—first among the Jewish people, and then in humanity at large. Therefore, there will be no peace until Jews unite “as one man with one heart” above their divisions.

Antisemitism is an eternal and inevitable phenomenon that is impossible to escape. However, if we Jews change our attitudes to each other, becoming more positively connected, loving and supportive of one another, then the forces of nature will influence and change people all around the world in a direction of support and respect for the Jewish people. When people feel a unifying spirit entering their lives, the problems and crises that they experience today will disappear and become replaced with a new positive atmosphere—a thriving, harmonious and peaceful world.

“Don’t Fall for Egoistic Unity” (Quora)

Dr. Michael LaitmanMichael Laitman, On Quora: Don’t Fall for Egoistic Unity

The recent tragic events of the Israel-Hamas war have made much clearer that our greatest vulnerability to terrorists is not in external threats but in our internal divisions. Our own very demonstrations, protests and vitriol that we spread among each other weakens us and emboldens those who wish to attack us. While the importance of unity is widely acknowledged, what remains less clear is that unity is merely the initial step in a more profound mission.

The story of the Tower of Babel serves as a poignant illustration of the consequences of misusing unity. The Babylonians, united in purpose, harnessed the power of unity to build a tower fueled by a group egoism. Due to their self-serving misuse of the unifying force, the tower eventually collapsed, scattered them and confused their language. Similarly, the history of communism reveals how a seemingly noble pursuit of equality and friendship, rooted in unity, can devolve into greed and oppression, resulting in the loss of millions of lives.

Unity, when constructed upon the flawed foundations of selfish motives, risks undermining its potential for positive change. It is not enough to proclaim, “together we will win.” Mere unity might ward off external foes, but it fails to address the persistent internal battle against our divisive egoistic drives that surface inside us at every moment. Without a higher guiding principle, the ego will resurface, perpetuating a cycle of conflict and drawing external threats.

What distinguishes this higher guiding principle is not a distant, cloud-dwelling grandfather figure but a positive unifying force that manifests in connections that we build above our divisive egoistic tendencies. This force is rooted in the fundamental laws of nature that reveal themselves through the intentions of those who unite in a common aspiration to project the very base qualities of nature—qualities of love, bestowal and connection—to one another and who wish for these qualities to spread to the world at large. Then, the unity that these people establish is based on the fundamental unity that exists in nature, which likewise attracts the harmony and peace that dwells in nature.

To build a society that endures, we must rise above mere unity and establish a society founded on the laws of nature. Without such an alignment, any social construct risks collapse, endangering its members. Recognizing the need to match our unity with nature’s eternal and perfect form of unity is essential for breaking the cycle of internal strife and external threats. We thus need to cultivate unity in society that is built on the benefit of all, a unity made of attitudes of its members that align with nature’s quality of love, bestowal and connection.
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Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

“Antisemitism’s Global Surge: Lessons from History and a Path to Unity” (Times of Israel)

Michael Laitman on the Times of Israel:Antisemitism’s Global Surge: Lessons from History and a Path to Unity

He runs through the forest, escaping a pack of predators, stumbling, getting up, continuing, accumulating scratches and bruises. He looks back to check how close those after him are, and suddenly halts as soon as he flips his head forward.

There they are, encircling him. With no escape on the horizon, he instinctively looks to the sky…

The Jewish people have run across the face of the planet fleeing groups upon groups that wanted them gone, from Nimrod and the Babylonians in ancient Mesopotamia, to Pharaoh and his soldiers in ancient Egypt, to the Greeks, the Romans, the Spaniards and the Germans.

Today, as we look back on history, we observe ebbs and flows of antisemitism that, like a haunting specter, has erupted globally since Hamas’ attacks on Israeli civilians and soldiers on October 7, 2023. We once again find ourselves amid converging circumstances that urge us to think hard about what we are doing here and where we are headed.

Today’s crisis is like a global version of what we experienced nearly 4,000 years ago in ancient Babylon. Human culture, rooted in self-serving material pursuits, clashed with the vision of Abraham, the patriarch of the people of Israel. He called on us to rise above and embrace a desire to love, bestow upon and positively connect to each other, overcoming our innate self-centeredness.

Our tumultuous journey across continents, spanning thousands of years, served to prepare us for this monumental occasion. Yet, the transition from self-serving intentions to altruistic ones that lead us to positively connect is no easy feat. Surrounded by animosity today, we face the challenge of trying to bring about the best possible future amid crisis, and through much prayer and inner effort, seek unity beyond our self-aimed desires.

This pursuit of unity marks a pivotal moment in our collective history. By lifting our eyes up to see the need to unite with each other, we can rise above the predators surrounding us. The current wave of hatred against us can then serve as a catalyst for our escape from this horde, precisely by uniting and praying for our unity to strengthen above the powers that awaken to tear us apart.

When we unite in such a way, our surroundings will transform. We will no longer see a landscape fraught with enemies. Instead, we will see people around us who wish to learn and apply the art of unity above division. If we treat this kind of unity as our shared pursuit, we can then find the remedy to our common affliction and pave the way for a harmonious and peaceful future.
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“Where did all the antisemitism come from in the first place?” (Quora)

Dr. Michael LaitmanMichael Laitman, On Quora: Where did all the antisemitism come from in the first place?

Antisemitism lives in the foundations of human society and human nature. The human ego—the desire to enjoy at the expense of others and nature—evolves throughout history and during a person’s life. The more it grows, the more it feels an opposite force also dwelling within. That opposite force is called a “point in the heart.” Contrary to our egoistic desires that wish solely to absorb pleasures into themselves, the point in the heart is a desire that has potential to develop into a desire that loves, gives and positively connects to others.

The point in the heart is also known as the seed of the soul, as we can develop it to discover our soul—the connection that underlies those very points. The realization of the potential encased in this small point of desire is the ability to rise above the human ego, where instead of detaching from one another through our growing egoism, i.e. increasingly prioritizing self-benefit over benefiting others, we instead prioritize the benefit of others and positive human connection.

The point in the heart is the opposite of our egoistic nature. There are people who host only the negative egoistic force, and there are people who have both the negative egoistic force and the positive altruistic force. When both positive and negative forces coexist in us, then we become called “Jews” or “Israel” according to our inner essence. Likewise, if we solely host the negative egoistic force with no revelation yet of the point in the heart, then we are called “nations of the world” according to that essence.

We underwent several stages of development throughout history. The point in the heart first surfaced throughout human society in ancient Babylon. The Babylonians who felt the inner urge to seek something deeper in life beyond the earthly egoistic desires joined Abraham, who taught a method for how to nurture the point in the heart in order to rise above the ego and positively connect. Abraham organized the Babylonians who wanted to study with him into a group, and he called this group “Israel,” which is made up of the words “Yashar Kel” (“straight to God”), i.e. people who aim themselves directly at the attainment of nature’s upper force of love, bestowal and connection, which is opposed to the force existing in human beings, the force of reception.

Since Abraham’s time, the two groups—Israel and the nations of the world—have undergone much development. Some from the Israel camp left the group to pursue their natural egoistic inclinations, i.e. with an inclination to the nations of the world, while some from the nations of the world felt that they possess a special closeness and connection, which draws them to Israel. In other words, Jews are not a nationality, but they are people who host the point in the heart, which associates them with the positive force of nature, and which is opposite to the egoistic force that we are born and raised with by nature.

The source of antisemitism is in the contrast and conflict between the two opposite desires of our inborn egoism and the point in the heart that can develop our ability to rise above the human ego.

Based on the video “What Is the Essence of Antisemitism?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

“Is there a difference in the sensation of an anti-Semite from the Middle Ages and today?” (Quora)

Dr. Michael LaitmanMichael Laitman, On Quora: Is there a difference in the sensation of an anti-Semite from the Middle Ages and today?

Yes, there is. In the Middle Ages, people felt a much deeper dependence on the Jews than people today.

Today, we have medicine, chemistry, technology and other means by which we can use nature to our benefit. Humanity has accumulated much more knowledge, and many more people today engage in fields that Jews more typically occupied in the past.

However, the fact that Jews no longer uniquely hold certain positions and engagements in society does not lessen antisemitism in our times. On the contrary, antisemitism is rising and taking on a new evolutionary form.

The hatred of Jews in our era is not due to Jews’ disproportionate success in fields such as science, technology and medicine. It is rather due to a certain kind of force that the Jews possess: a hidden force that is rooted in what made Jews a united people in their establishment, a force capable of uniting humanity above all differences and divisions.

Before all the rationalizations of Jew hatred in our world today, there is a deeper feeling of hatred toward the Jews that antisemites themselves often cannot understand at its core: that as the Jewish people once united and became a conduit for the positive force of connection dwelling in nature to spread and cover human society, likewise today, the more people feel increasing troubles and dissatisfaction in their lives, the more they feel that Jews are somehow behind their problems.

Antisemitism today thus becomes sharper, subtler, more threatening and more global. If the Jewish people unite above their differences like they did when they first became the people of Israel, they become a conduit for the positive force dwelling in nature to spread and heal the world of its problems.

Therefore, antisemitism can be uprooted if we Jews start functioning according to what made us Jews to begin with: to start uniting above our differences, and by doing so, unclog a certain inner pipeline to human consciousness—to let the positive force of nature enter the world, and to let unity cover the growing differences and divisions in human society.

Based on the video “Antisemites in the Middle Ages Vs. Antisemites Today: Is There a Difference?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

“What might be the motivation behind the phenomenon known as “Jewish self-hatred”?” (Quora)

Dr. Michael LaitmanMichael Laitman, On Quora: What might be the motivation behind the phenomenon known as “Jewish self-hatred”?

Abraham, who researched the laws of nature, saw that the growing human ego of his time was a sign of a maturing society. He understood that nature grows the egoistic desire in people in order for people to positively connect above it. This is because by taking hold of two forces—our innate egoistic force, and the altruistic force above it—we can reach an understanding of the laws of nature, how the two forces of separation and connection act in nature.

There is a very special state between these two forces that we can attain, and which Abraham attained. Abraham started teaching the method of attaining the two forces in nature to the Babylonians of the time, and a special group formed around him.

What we need to understand from this story is that a group emerged in ancient Babylon, and the people in this group developed a sensation of two forces in nature—the egoistic force and its opposite altruistic force, the force of connection that connects the two. The people who attained these two forces received the name “Israel,” and later became known as “the Jews,” which means “unity” (the Hebrew word for “Jew” [Yehudi] comes from the word for “united” [yihudi] [Yaarot Devash, Part 2, Drush no. 2]), because these people received a desire for unity that they further developed into a unified sensation of the two forces. The other Babylonians of the time did not receive the drive to unite, as they were content enough remaining within the natural egoistic approach to the world, and they become known as the “nations of the world.”

“Nations of the world” is the term defining the egoistic force of human nature. When the altruistic force appears in certain people, then this altruistic force also starts urging a more accelerated growth of the egoistic force within the person. As a result, we find a group that includes both forces: the positive and the negative. Due to the growth of the two forces within, that group’s members become more developed. The group with the smaller egoistic force simply does not need as much of a desire, because they have enough in order to live their lives without developing the connection to the altruistic force.

Since the Jewish people initially emerged from the attainment of the two forces in nature, we then also find how this nation is in constant contradiction with one another and with themselves. It is because they host these two opposite forces, and they are thus people who cannot easily get along—neither with themselves nor with others—because they play host to a fundamental inner conflict. Therefore, until today, we bear witness to every Jew consisting of both gentile and Jewish parts, and they thus host an inner restlessness.

This is the root of Jewish self-hatred, i.e. in each and every Jew resides a force of self-hatred, a big egoistic force, and without balancing it out with its opposite altruistic force, then the self-hatred becomes apparent.

Based on the video “What Is the Origin of Jewish Self-Hatred?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

“New Antisemitism Needs Ancient Solution” (Times of Israel)

Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “New Antisemitism Needs Ancient Solution

In an attempt to counter rapidly growing antisemitism in the country, the French government updated its plan to combat antisemitism to include training teachers and requiring students to visit sites of antisemitic or racist incidents.

The problem of rising antisemitism is hardly exclusive to France. We see this targeted hatred rising dramatically in many places. One may ponder why this age-old hatred does not go away despite initiatives like France’s Interministerial Delegation for the Fight Against Racism and Antisemitism (DILCRAH), which it adopted in 2015 and updates every three years, and the multiple efforts in other places in the world where Jews are persecuted.

Hatred toward the Jewish people has been a regularly recurring phenomenon over the course of history that started in ancient Babylon and has taken on many forms up to the current time when we see what we call the “new antisemitism” is the same old hatred clothed in new dressings.

Ancient Babylon was a time of great social turmoil marked by the shattering of the Tower of Babel when the Babylonians felt an outburst of the human ego and lost their ability to understand one another.

In response to the demands of the time around 4,000 years ago, a Babylonian priest named Abraham discovered a method for rising above humanity’s divisive inclinations to reveal the single unifying force of nature.

Essentially, Abraham led his followers on a path to the discovery of this uniting force of nature through work in practical actualization within the relationships between people who applied the principle, “love your neighbor as yourself.”

The uniqueness of the followers of Abraham was that they shared no biological roots. They came from among all the peoples, clans, and tribes of the region. They coalesced as a group formed of people from different nations in the area who were drawn together based on a unifying ideology and joined together by a commitment to work on themselves in order to attain the quality of love of others above the pressure toward social division that existed at that time.

The Jewish people became a nation through a pledge to be “as one man with one heart.” This common ideological connection among the people of Abraham was formalized into a binding covenant at the time of the reception of the Torah at the foot of Mount Sinai.

Since then, it has been our duty to maintain this connection between us and to pass it on to other peoples, a role that does not involve entitlement, but rather service to others. Therefore, it is the duty of the Jewish people to fulfill the law of love among ourselves and to set an example of this brotherly love to others.

Unfortunately, since the time this covenant was made, we have completely lost awareness of our Jewish unity, and in its place, frictions and separations prevail. However, this shared experience of attainment made an indelible impression on the Jewish soul that is so profound that it could never be erased.

Thus, we should not waste energy thinking about how to make small fixes here and there. Instead, we need to put all our effort into achieving unity. I am certain that if the few million Jews on the planet today would think about how to unite in order to do good to all of humanity, the unifying tendency would expand throughout the world and everyone would join in.

In short, humanity will be able to connect on the condition that the people of Israel unite. Today, however, Jews are more divided than any other people. Therefore, antisemitism will gradually gain force and acquire forms that will unpleasantly compel us to unite. Eventually, an inner perception will form within Jews that we need to be closer to each other. And by finally doing so, we will save ourselves and the whole of humanity from all hatred, division, and crisis.

More on the subject in my book, New Antisemitism: Mutation Of A Long-Lived Hatred.
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“Holocaust Remembrance Day: Reflections on New Antisemitism” (Times of Israel)

Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “Holocaust Remembrance Day: Reflections on New Antisemitism

Holocaust Remembrance Day is a time to reflect on the past, and how modern-day circumstances prove that the ominous specter of antisemitism didn’t simply die with World War II.

Indeed, Holocaust survivor Manfred Goldberg, recently stated that social media had given antisemites propaganda power “that the Nazis could only dream of.” Mr. Goldberg also shared his fears of a “bleak” future without survivors to tell their stories.

In my book, New Antisemitism Mutation of a Long-Lived Hatred, I emphasized the fact that antisemitism is alive and kicking and should serve as a wake-up call to Jews all over the world. Like Mr. Goldberg, many in the Jewish community have grave concerns for the future.

For example, Steven Spielberg, who established the USC Shoah Foundation to preserve the memory of the Holocaust, has expressed deep concern that genocide is as possible today as during the Nazi era. “When collective hate organizes and gets industrialized, then genocide follows. We have to take it more seriously today than I think we have had to take it in a generation.”

Within three months of Hitler’s coming to power in Germany in 1933, a nationwide boycott of Jewish businesses and professionals was ordered. The Nazis’ official explanation for the boycotts was that they were implemented as a counter-reaction to the demands of Jewish organizations in the US and Britain that were boycotting German-made products due to the Nazis’ rise to power. This action legitimized anti-Jewish activity and gave it official support which had not existed until that time, and it marked the commencement of the war against the Jews, with the penetration of the German consciousness with antisemitic ideology.

The Nazi boycotts were accompanied by harassment and vandalism of Jewish businesses, people, and institutions. The boycotts were followed by a widening cyclone of actions that led to the deaths of six million of our brethren. For this reason, it is understandable that when Jews hear the word “boycott,” it still triggers a brutal reminder of the beginnings of the Holocaust.

There are differences between the 1930s and today, the major one being the existence of the State of Israel. The position of Israel today in relation to worldwide Jewry is similar to that of the Jews of Germany in the 1930s: it stands at the frontline and bears the brunt of a new war against the Jews. Antisemitism has been repackaged under the guise of anti-Zionism.

Israel is an intrinsic part of the collective Jewish identity and is perceived as such by the nations of the world. So, when judgment is passed and punishment is imposed on Israel, it falls on the entire Jewish collective and not only an individual part. The increasing pressure against Jews and the State of Israel is a wake-up call for Jews to come together and ask essential questions: Who are we as a people? Where do we come from? Where are we headed?

The Jewish people are a unique example in humanity. The fact that our ancestors originally came from a wide variety of backgrounds, united above their differences, and became one nation, united “as one man with one heart,” makes us unique. But this uniqueness does not mean we are to look down on others; it means we are to serve others by using our ancestral wisdom to benefit humanity. Giving the world an example of unity under the motto, “love your neighbor as yourself,” is what the nations subliminally demand from us. They instinctively feel Jews hold the keys to peace and prosperity in the world, and their complaint for our not sharing these keys manifests as antisemitism.

It is incumbent upon each and every Jew to unite above our differences yet again. The only thing that will put an end to the new war against Jews is our making the entire Jewish people as one. As the great Kabbalist Rav Yehuda Ashlag wrote about the pivotal role of the Jewish nation and what is expected from us to fulfill:

“[The Creator said] ‘You shall be My Segula [remedy/virtue] from among all peoples.’ This means that you will be My remedy, and sparks of purification and cleansing of the body shall pass through you onto all the peoples and the nations of the world. The nations of the world are not yet ready for it, and I need at least one nation to start with now, so it will be as a remedy for all the nations.” The Writings of Baal HaSulam, The Arvut [Mutual Guarantee]

Over time, Jews have abandoned the unique connection we once cultivated and have become self-centered. However, the pressure of globalization is forcing us toward interdependence once again as humanity seeks a way to live together peacefully but cannot find one. Until Jews relearn how to create unity between us as before, the world will lack access to the knowledge of how to accomplish this necessity for integration and will continue to blame us for its woes. It is mounting pressure upon us until we finally change our course of action toward cohesion rather than division.

The need for cohesion is as crucial today as it was in those days. Jews must embark on a shared path to become a unified and thriving people once again with a desire for a common spirit and vision. We must set aside our materialistic impulses and our fears for the sake of this and future generations.
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“Why Deny the Holocaust When We Can Simply Forget about It?” (Times of Israel)

Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “Why Deny the Holocaust When We Can Simply Forget about It?

January 27 is the International Holocaust Remembrance Day. In recent years, there has been a sharp resurgence of antisemitism, which seems to be accelerating. The Jewish Agency’s Fighting Antisemitism page states, “With violent instances of antisemitism on the rise across the world, we are devoting more resources than ever to expunge this epidemic and ensure Jewish safety.” However, the efforts are not working. A report that the Jewish Agency recently released has found that antisemitic incidents on U.S. campuses have gone up by almost 50 percent during 2022, compared to a year earlier.

Even worse, as time passes, people forget about the Holocaust, or come to think that it was far less horrific than it actually was. This fork-movement of forgetting what had happened, on the one hand, and the spreading of antisemitism around the world, on the other hand, has reached levels that remind many Holocaust researchers of the venomous atmosphere that prevailed in Europe before the Holocaust, and which eventually allowed it to happen, if not accelerated and exacerbated it. I believe we have every right to be worried that what occurred might recur.

However, I also believe that we should acknowledge that our efforts are futile, and unless we overhaul them, matters will continue to deteriorate at an accelerating speed. But in order to change course, we need to know in which direction to turn, and for this to happen, we need to understand the roots of antisemitism.

Antisemitism has a very deep root. In fact, it is embedded in the laws of nature; it is one of its foundations. Allow me to explain.

The people of Israel are not like any other people, as much as they would like to be. The whole world treats us differently, and there is nothing we can do about it because the reason for the world’s attitude toward us is buried deep within us, deeper than we can see.

Two forces drive the universe, drive all of existence, all of creation. They are contradictory forces that always operate one against the other. The only way to reconcile them is to be aware of them and make a conscious effort to harness both of them for a higher cause.

On the inanimate level, these forces manifest as darkness and light, spring and fall, or as magnetic forces that pull or push away. On the animate level, they manifest as life and death, and love and hate. On the human level, they manifest as altruism and egoism, giving and taking, kindness and cruelty.

Because they are contradictory, the two forces are locked in an eternal struggle. However, they are of equal power, and therefore neither ever “wins.” Instead, they “take turns” dominating, and as a result, our universe evolves and changes ceaselessly.

Humans are the one exception. In every human being, the inherent tendency toward egoism wins. If we examine the history of humankind, we will see that the motivation behind all the changes that have ever happened was the glorification of its perpetrators or other self-centered drives.

The only people who have ever managed to rise above the innate selfish tendency in human nature and balance it with kindness, as it is in the rest of nature, were the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who united “as one man with one heart” and were declared a nation—the Israeli nation—at the foot of Mt. Sinai. However, the Israeli nation achieved what it achieved not for its own sake. It did this so as to become a model nation, a proof of concept, or if you will, a startup nation.

Yet, like most startup companies, Israel’s idea was great, but its product never reached the market. The Israelites operated it for a while but eventually, even they abandoned their own invention and joined the rest of the self-centered world.

Nevertheless, the seeds of love of others, of the commitment to build a society based on mutual responsibility and loving others as ourselves, remained buried deep within every Jewish person, even though they do rarely feel it, if ever. Yet, every Jew carries a hidden spark of love of others, which puts us at odds with everyone who wants to remain self-centered, which is all of humanity, including the Jews themselves. This is why everyone hates Jews, and Jews hate Jews more than anyone.

But for all the hatred and attempts to annihilate the Jews, it will never succeed. Since it is impossible to annihilate a force of nature, it is impossible to eradicate its expressions. Moreover, the more self-centeredness prevails around the world, the more the world deteriorates, and the closer we are getting to another world war. The only way to escape another global cataclysm and another round of punishment against the Jews is if the Jews become what they are supposed to be—a model nation based on mutual responsibility and love of others.

There is no point protesting against antisemites; it will not deter them or diminish their numbers. The only solution to the oldest hatred is to stop looking outward, and start looking at one another. We need to put our heads and hearts together in search of ways to unite and nurture mutual concern despite the deep division and profound hatred among the various factions of the nation. If we do this, if we only try, it will dissipate the hatred of the world toward us and will usher in a new era in the history of the relationship between the Jewish people and the world.
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“What Kanye West Respects about Jews” (Times of Israel)

Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “What Kanye West Respects about Jews

Over the past several weeks, there has been a tense debate over the apparent rise in antisemitism among blacks in the US. The debate centered around comments that Kanye West, who has changed his name to Ye, has made, and which many regard as antisemitic, as well as Kyrie Irving’s endorsement for an antisemitic book on social media. However, there is much more to it than that. Extremists among the Black Hebrew Israelites have held marches chanting, “We are the real Jews,” which Ye also claims, and physical attacks by blacks against Orthodox Jews in New York have become an almost daily incident.

On the face of it, there should not be antisemitism among blacks. By and large, Jews have always stood by the struggle of African-Americans for equality. Most Jews also support the progressive ideology, which prioritizes mistreated communities and ethnicities at the expense of privileged ones, among which are the Jews themselves. Since Jews are, and have always been, a minority group, they tend to sympathize with other minorities.

In the case of antisemitism among blacks, however, there seems to be a new variation to the most ancient hatred. It is not the usual case where a dominant majority or the ruler turns against the Jews, but rather a group that used to be an abused minority, but has been given a voice, which it now turns against those it considers the privileged oppressors: another minority group—the Jews.

To me, it seems like this is first and foremost a case of envy. The Jews lifted themselves from indigence to affluence, and they did this on their own, despite vocal, and often institutional antisemitism. Today, many Jews occupy key positions in American society, far beyond their proportion in the US population. Naturally, not everyone likes it, especially those who feel underprivileged.

Ye’s words concerning the Jews are a good representation of these grievances, and we should pay attention to them because they not only express hatred, or at least anger, but also imply the solution to the problem. On November 30th, JNS published a piece titled “TIMELINE: Ye’s path to antisemitism.” The piece listed Ye’s words on social media and in interviews that, at least by some people, sound or feel anti-Jewish.

However, within one of the items in the list was a very interesting statement, which I think we should look at carefully. The statement read, “I respect what the Jewish people have done, and how they brought their people together.”

Unity and separation among Jews catch the eye of every non-Jew. But for people with keener awareness of the Jews, whether because they like them or because they dislike them, it is as if there is a knob that marks the level of unity or division among Jews. When the knob turns toward increased division, the dial of antisemitism shoots up. When the knob turns toward decreased division, the dial comes back down. If the knob turns toward Jewish unity, the dial of antisemitism slides to zero, and a dial of Philo-Judaism climbs up.

Adolf Hitler, Henry Ford, and Winston Churchill all noted the power of Jewish unity and related to it from their respective perspectives. Hitler, for example, feared it; Churchill treated it with reverence; and Ford advised social scientists to learn from the Jews how to build a cohesive society. While these three are notable examples, countless other known or unknown individuals have noticed, and noted the significance they attribute to Jewish unity.

When we look for ways to fight against antisemitism, we usually leave out the element of internal unity because it obligates us to reach out to our brethren, whom we often detest far more than our haters. However, we will not escape the simple truth that no measure curbs antisemitism besides internal unity. This is the only thing that earns us the world’s respect, and even sympathy, and the lack thereof is the only cause of the world’s antipathy and aversion toward us. If we do not see this, then we are in denial, and if we are in denial, the world will open our eyes the way it always has—with violence.

*You will find elaborated explanations on the causes, history, and solution to antisemitism in my books The Jewish Choice: Unity or Anti-Semitism, and my ‎latest publication, New Antisemitism: Mutation of a Long-lived Hatred.