Comment: The Swedish Global Challenges Foundation in collaboration with the University of Oxford’s Global Priorities Project recently released a report on the issue of global catastrophic risks. The report outlines the key risk factors that could seriously threaten our way of life on the planet in the next five years as the basis for risk management policy of governments.

So what are the global catastrophes we’re most at risk from now? According to the report, even today the greatest risk are pandemics either natural ones or ones engineered by humans, and the prospect of nuclear wars. Other high-risk threats are catastrophic climate changes, being hit by an asteroid like the one that wiped out the dinosaurs. Global earth quakes or disruptions from artificial intelligence are considered low risk events, at least in the short run. The authors of the report give considerable weight to unknown factors to which it seems more difficult to prepare for, but which certainly increase the risk level (Global Catastrophic Risks).

None of the experts believes that the major risk for humanity is the separation and disunity between people

Answer: Unfortunately, we are not trying to solve the problem on the level of human relationships. These relationships are the basis of all the negative phenomena, including the impact of asteroids and volcanic eruptions. There are studies today that prove and verify the fact that different mutual mental connections do affect our environment, but these studies are few, and in the meantime we don’t see all the connections in nature.

Humanity understands that it is impossible to change human nature and that we should look for the solution on other planes because it is impossible to demand a person to be better to others or to nullify or soften his bad mutual relations with others because this issue is still on the sidelines.

“What can you specifically offer, add, to change us?” This is what people ask scientists, political scientists, sociologists, and philosophers. “You still cannot do anything for us; it is impossible.”

Their claims are absolutely justified and are based on a very realistic perspective of what is going on, because the only force that changes man is the upper force. No one can get close to this force. It works only when using the wisdom of Kabbalah. All we have to do is to understand that there is a method that can change our nature.

Therefore the wisdom of Kabbalah must be revealed to people to explain to them that there is no other way, none of tricks will yield the desired outcome because all the tricks we have are only a way to the disappointment we have encountered in the past.

Only the upper force that created the human ego can change it into the opposite force, into altruism, into love. Human egoism is world’s stumbling block. Mankind has already realized that it is necessary to act in other ways. If we remain within the framework of human solutions, without the help of the upper force, we will not be able to advance. Even if we try to improve, vote for disarmament, rush to outer space, and explore the moon, humanity will not change.

Question: Is it possible to bring humanity to an impasses so that it will feel the need for the wisdom of Kabbalah and begin to work with it just as Newton did in his days? After all he felt that there was truth in it.

Answer: No one can do it but Kabbalists. We have to disseminate the wisdom of Kabbalah, and on the way we will meet people who are very disappointed with life. Although they cannot understand our method, they will want us to fulfill it because there is no other way. The idea of the wisdom of Kabbalah is basically communistic. And today not only we ,but the world as well, is advancing toward the same principle. Communism and socialism are not obscene words anymore. There are many socialists today in America and in England, and the only danger is that the awakening of socialism will turn into nationalistic socialism, into fascism.

Fascism stems from the word “fascio” in Italian, which is a method that unites the people, but it unites them against something else. We are at a crossroads and have to choose which road to take, whether the road to socialism and communism, the road of brotherhood that unites the world above all the differences, or socialism within an independent state that intends to defeat and enslave others. This is the problem the world faces again, just like at the beginning of the 20^th century. Let’s hope that when it comes to Nazism people will feel that there is an alternative so that we don’t return to the same vicious cycle.
[182995]
From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 5/1/16

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Torah, Deuteronomy 10:08-09: At that time, the Lord separated the tribe of Levi to bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to serve Him, and to bless in His Name, to this day.

Therefore, Levi has no portion or inheritance with his brothers; the Lord is his inheritance, as the Lord, your God spoke to him.

The tribe of Levi are special people who were engaged in education of the people and served in the Temple. They were on the corresponding upper degree of the spiritual level. Cohens, Levites, and Israel were three classes, three spiritual levels that should be clearly delineated.

Question: Is there a chain of records in a person that shows who he is: Cohen, Levite, or Israel?

Answer: Studies of the genetic codes say that there is such a chain. This is especially apparent in the Cohen because during thousands of years they didn’t mix with the other tribes and married only among themselves. It is harder with the Levites.

I don’t think we need this separation today. On the contrary, when mixing reaches its maximum, all the differences disappear and the spiritual separation of people begins, not by their past records, but by their spiritual attainment. As soon as we start to rise, each one will take his level according to his efforts and achievements.

Question: Do you think that the Cohen’s genetic code will stop working?

Answer: I don’t know whether it really exists and to what extent, but today it doesn’t have any power and has nothing to do with spiritual growth and spiritual work.

If we are talking about spiritual growth, it is said in the Torah that the tribe of Levi didn’t have any portion of inheritance, apart from serving the Creator. They fully depended on the people. They had nothing, even for personal needs, as, for example, Chinese doctors who had nothing and went from house to house and received money only from healthy people but not from the sick ones. This is how it should be.

It’s the same here. The Levites had to serve the people and receive only what the public brought them. Naturally, at the level of our world, they were happy to see good prayers, good rain, a good harvest, and everything else, but on the spiritual level everything is much stronger.
[193611]
From KabTV program “Secrets of the Eternal Book”, 5/16/16

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New Life 626 – Yom Kippur:  Self And Social Realization
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Tal Mandelbaum ben Moshe

What is the source of that special feeling in Israel during the Tishrei holidays? How can we go back and again be a cohesive nation in its land and what is the role of Yom HaKippurim for the people of Israel?

Yom Kippur is a special day because people in Israel make it like this here. It is felt differently abroad, for example. On Yom Kippur one should take stock personally, but this cannot be done alone; it can only be done together.

Rosh HaShanah is a day to recognize that there is a king, an upper force, the total power of nature that takes care of everything. The wisdom of Kabbalah teaches us how to expand the boundaries of our world and discover this force. To do this, a person must transcend his narrow egoism, abolishing the boundaries between himself and others.

Abraham spoke about this principle, “And you shall love your friend as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18), which was the basis for making us the people of Israel. When we nullify the boundaries between us, we are truly the people of Israel and are worthy of the land of Israel. After 2,000 years of exile we have returned here to rebuild. This is only an opportunity.

We must do some introspection. This is represented for us on Yom Kippur in the story of the prophet Jonah. Jonah represents the nation of Israel and its role in the world: teaching people to connect with each other better. It is known that people pay a lot for the right to read the “Maftir Yonah.” This is a remedy for success. Indeed, if we understand what our mission is and realize it both within Israel and in the world, everything will be good.

After all, Europe is collapsing, the Middle East is burning, and the entire world is shocked and blames us, as always. And this year within Israel, we are beinning to understand that there is no link between us except when there are external troubles. It is up to us to find a way to connect, and there is a clear and precise method for this that comes from the wisdom of Kabbalah.
[166922]
From KabTV’s “New Life 626 – Yom Kippur: Self And Social Realization,” 9/17/15

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Torah, Deuteronomy 10:10 – 11: And I remained on the mountain like the first days forty days and forty nights, and the Lord hearkened to me also at that time; the Lord did not wish to destroy you. And the Lord said to me, “Arise, go to lead the travels before the people, so that they may come and possess the land I promised their forefathers to give them.”

Forty days and forty nights is a spiritual state, the level of Bina.

From this moment on, the people go forward through the entirety of their egoism to conquer the top of the world with the new instructions, “You will be able to correct egoism, change yourself, and become worthy of the state that is called the land of Israel.”

The land (Eretz from the word “Ratzon”) is desire that is directed straight to the Creator (Isra-El).

The Creator seems to say, “You will reach a state of complete adhesion with Me if you fulfill all the commandments throughout the path that I point out to you.”
[193673]
From KabTV program “Secrets of the eternal book” 5/16/16

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Question: What will be the future form of humanity?

Answer: The future form of humanity is qualitatively new internally, rather than externally; it is a desire to bestow, opposite to today’s egoism. And according to this desire, we will have a new thought that will develop infinitely.

This is completely different scale of thought and mind development. It doesn’t mean becoming a little or even a lot smarter, but refers to a totally different dimension. It is impossible to imagine it now.

Question: You say that the transition from one level to another, from still to vegetative, and from vegetative to animate, requires a complete compression of all the previous steps in order to produce from this concentrate one cell of a new level. When all people will compress into one person in order to produce one cell of a new level, what new features will be discovered in it?

Answer: The force of bestowal will be revealed; a new force that doesn’t exist in our world. It is called the Creator or upper force. We will reveal it, use it, and as it once created a human from an ape, so now it will create eternal and perfect creatures from a person of this world.

Question: How will it affect the entire universe?

Answer: Once we move to a new dimension, we will cease to feel this universe. It exists only in our present egoistic perception, and therefore will disappear when we transition to a new perception of the world.

Question: If this universe disappears, where will we live? What would be our home?

Answer: We will exist in a spiritual vessel, in one common soul that already exists within us; we only need to develop it. This form of the new man will be unlimited, eternal, and perfect in comparison to the one familiar to us today.
[193635]
From KabTV’s “A New Life” 8/30/16

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Question: How is it possible to work with a blow to the ego that comes from an external source and to correctly rise above the subsequent state of hatred? Can I correct negative emotions in work that devours me as a result of conflict?

Answer: First of all, you need to carefully read the materials about the uniqueness of the Creator and the management of creation very carefully. You must understand how to relate correctly to these situations, analyzing all the articles and discussing them with each other.

They are very important for forming the right attitude toward the world we live in and to help us understand through this world how to begin to feel the managing system of upper forces and behind them the singular supreme will, how it projects its management over our world and through whom everything moves. Everything comes only from the Creator; you can call it, Allah, Elokim, or the Creator, it makes no difference. It is the singular upper force that manages the world.

If you consider all of humanity, you will see that there are people in our world who manage and there are those who obey according to a hierarchy that is managed entirely by the Creator. We need to see how to cooperate with the environment to be directed toward the Creator through everything that is happening in the world.

Question: In principle I have to be grateful to the Creator for indicating the location of the “illness” to me?

Answer: In this way the Creator makes it possible for you to be constantly corrected. Ultimately you will reach being similar to Him, eternal and whole, and all of creation will be in front of you.
[193560]
From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 5/1/16

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In the News (Le Monde): “The number two of the Brussels Commission writes in his book Fraternity: ‘This is the first time in my conscious experience of European cooperation, I think the project could actually fail.’ In Italy, where he participated in early September at the Ambrosetti Forum of reflection on Europe, the Dutch Social Democratic Frans Timmermans has certainly qualified his remarks, but the evidence is there, implacable: the European Union (EU ) confronts so many simultaneous crises that it might not recover.

“‘Is Europe under threat? Yes, or worse … With the economic crisis that persists, that of refugees, terrorism, Brexit, this disaster has undermined the very idea of the project, the situation is unprecedented,’ said Enrico Letta, former Italian Prime Minister, now dean of the School of international Affairs from Sciences Po Paris and President of Jacques Delors-Institute. Questioned by Le Monde, he paints a darker conclusion yet: ‘My biggest fear is that we remain in the status quo, we expect the results of the elections to be held in Germany and France in particular, and that the end there are no longer Europe … ‘

“This specialist [Mario Monti, former European Commissioner for Competition] in European policy believes that the EU can still get out of the rut? ‘I always considered that it is through crises that Europe has progressed.But for the first time, I expressed [in 2015] doubts about the fact that we could still be beneficial. What has changed is that the mechanism is broken. Crises seem to generate more new political energies, able to make us move forward.’

“The preservation of social models may well be, in any case, one of the great issues of the forthcoming years. ..

“The ambition of Europe, however, must also be strategic, insists Enrico Letta. Facing the challenges of migration, terrorism, destabilization of its neighbors, it can not simply condemn or limit the damage. ‘It’s the fact that the EU did not want to solve the Syrian issue that put Britain out of the EU, he stressed. What determined the behavior of voters, this is not the question of immigration from Eastern Europe, but the daily images of the chaos in Greece, in Lampedusa or Calais.’”

My Comment: On one hand, egoism ceases to grow and push us to develop further, and on the other hand, it takes on a form of an integral system that is connected, unified, and closed. Consequently we cannot manage ourselves, the family, society, the country, and the world. This is the uniqueness of the current crisis. It can be corrected only by changing man himself. We have to change ourselves in order to resemble the network we are in.
[193822]

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In the News (WebMD): “In just one year, almost 3 million U.S. teens suffered a major bout of depression, a new government report shows.

“‘Adolescence is a critical time in a person’s development, and battling with depression can be devastating for teens unless they receive effective treatment,’ said Paolo del Vecchio, director of the Center for Mental Health Services at the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). …

“The overall rate of depression among young people jumped to 11 percent between 2013 and 2014, up from 9.9 percent the previous year, the SAMHSA report found. The report was published July 7.”

My Comment: The rate of depression will grow increasingly faster among youth according to the general growth of the ego. Adults have to provide youth with meaning in life, but they don’t have it either. The Bnei Baruch organization should start disseminating their ideas on the Internet, which is where the youth spend their time.
[190729]

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New Life 773 – Rosh HaShanah Customs
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Tal Mandelbaum ben Moshe

The root of Rosh HaShanah (Head of the Year, New Year) is the spiritual birth of the first man who discovered the general force of nature. This is a hidden force that includes all the laws and forces of nature that can be discovered if we become equal to it. Rosh HaShanah is considered to be the day when Adam HaRishon (the first man) discovered the Creator, Bore, from the Hebrew words “Bo-Reh” “come and see.”

We were created with an egoistic desire to receive and we must recognize the evil in it, to keep ways from it and to turn to goodness. Rosh HaShanah is a phase on the way to correction in which we want to crown the good force on top of the evil in us. All our customs are a replica of the internal spiritual actions of correcting the evil in us.

Blowing the Shofar symbolizes sublime spiritual actions, which are very hard to explain in plain language. The greeting “a good and sweet year” symbolizes the need to sweeten the evil inclination, to peel the desire to receive from the egoistic intention, and to cover our raw desire to enjoy with a good intention of in order to bestow. This is the good inclination. The key to a sweet year is how we use the desire to enjoy and whether it is for my own sake or for the sake of others.

The saying “may we be the head and not the tail” means that we should not follow our egoistic thoughts but that the Creator should control us, that by the power of love, bestowal, and connection, He should reign over us and guide every action in our life.

“That our rights (Zchuyot) should be many as a pomegranate” stem from the root “Zachut,” which means “purity” and refers to the purification of our ego, to bleaching it, to performing as many actions for the sake of others, and on the way, also for the sake of the Creator. Good actions are actions that come after the correction of the evil inclination and before that everything is ego.

Rosh HaShanah is in fact the time for the recognition of evil, the desire to change our head and to crown the Creator instead of having the force of receiving, which we were created with, manage us, we want the force of bestowal to manage us.
[194259]
From KabTV’s “New Life 773 – Rosh HaShanah Customs,” 9/27/16

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