Audio Version Of The Blog – 05.24.17

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Haaretz: “A Few Words To The President”

In my regular column in Haaretz, my new article: “A Few Words to the President

President Trump, I wish you a successful visit to Israel, but your success in office depends on what you do back home.

Dear Mr. President:

Welcome to Israel.

While there is naturally a lot of hype surrounding your visit to Israel, I believe that your supporters at home are eager to see you putting America first. In my view, focusing on home affairs rather than on foreign affairs is key to making your term in office meaningful and effective. One American citizen put it very clearly on “Fox News Insider”: “Remember, the people that elected you are still strongly behind you. We have your back; move forward. Do the things you promised you would do, and we’re all going to be great together.”

Joblessness in America is a constant concern, as tens of millions are living on various forms of government benefits. Such permanent inactivity is a recipe for trouble. Prolonged idleness creates crime, violence, substance abuse, and can ravage entire communities. Additionally, solidarity among Americans is at an all-time low as politics creates factions and frictions within society that impede every effort for improvement. At times, it seems as though the very nationhood of the American people is at risk.

Such challenges require innovative thinking and bold leadership. In my view, America needs a nationwide program to strengthen communities and deepen the solidarity among the American people. The program would consist of two interdependent elements that together will guarantee both the livelihood of all Americans and their national solidarity.

To guarantee people’s livelihoods, some sort of Universal Basic Income (UBI) is required in this program. However, it must not be left at that. A permanent income that does not require commitment on the part of the beneficiaries will render people inept for work and will inhibit their ability to foster healthy social ties. This will turn them into hazards to society.

Therefore, reception of UBI benefits must be contingent upon partaking in courses and workshops conducted under specific rules designed to invoke trust, connection, and reciprocity. These workshops are part of a method called Integral Education (IE), which has proven itself successful numerous times over many years, and in countless places around the world, including the US, Europe, Israel, and Russia.

IE does not restrict itself to workshops. It also provides a package of practical tools for handling emotional and social crises, and includes learning about the history of the country, state, and city where people live, so as to make participants feel connected to their local neighborhoods and to the US society as a whole. IE makes people feel that solidarity and a sense of community create more value for them than isolation and alienation.

IE can be provided to millions of people online at minimal cost. People can participate from home or at public venues such as community centers. While facilitators will still be required in classrooms, professional instruction can be given online by a handful of trained professionals from one central location.

The decrease in violence and crime, and the increase in national cohesion and positive social engagement following the IE program will drastically reduce crime and violence levels, and will slash the prevalence of substance abuse. These transformations will save vast amounts of government and municipal resources, making the IE program exceptionally lucrative.

Beyond the economic value, IE transforms communities by creating an ambience of friendliness, trust, mutual responsibility, and strong engagement in pro-social activities.

Mr. President, as a pragmatic individual, I believe you should focus on America and do what is best for the American society, as you have clearly stated in your election campaign. Implementing a nationwide IE program will turn America into a role model of social stability and national solidarity. Or, to use your words, it will “Make America great again.”

With best wishes for a successful visit and a safe return home,

Michael Laitman
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Kabbalists And Group Organizers

laitman_947Question: The wisdom of Kabbalah teaches a person how to gather people into a group, into a community. What is the difference between real Kabbalists and ordinary people who organize groups and communities?

Answer: Kabbalists are able to assemble a community so that it will become a good community that everyone needs, in which people will want to be connected to each other and stay connected in every situation in life.

They teach the laws of nature in which we exist.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 1/8/17

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Who Rules The World?

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Question: Sometimes, the news mentions that Kabbalists rule the world. Is this fact or fiction?
Answer: The world is ruled only by a single force of nature. Absolutely, all people can affect this force, but only according to the degree of their positive influence.
We cannot negatively affect anything. It is only in our power to accelerate our development through positive actions. This is precisely what the wisdom of Kabbalah teaches.
Ultimately, all of us will reach our final state. However, drawing this state closer in a positive way can only be done with the help of Kabbalah.
The wisdom of Kabbalah was given for this purpose. It is the Kabbalists who have a positive impact on the world and who accelerate its development. However, they do not change anything. You cannot change anything, you can only accelerate its development.

Question: If we can not adversely affect the development of mankind, then do all the villains and tyrants, who massively exterminate people, do so?

Answer: All the negative forces of nature that appear to us in the form of historical figures of the past or the present time move history to a positive, pre-determined end. We are only moving in this direction.
But with the help of Kabbalah, we can shorten our path as well as make it easier and more pleasant.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 1/22/17

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Is There A Remedy For Cyber Attacks?

laitman_959The largest cyber attack in history: 200,000 people in 150 countries were impacted. The attacks not only caused various troubles, the attack also threatened people’s lives.

English hospitals couldn’t perform surgeries and rail operators’ computers in Germany and Russia were hacked. Banks, companies, state institutions, and private individuals also suffered.

The investigation has only just begun, but no matter who was behind this action and whatever goal they pursued, we received an instructive lesson.

Yes, attackers can easily damage a huge number of people and they can immobilize services and life support systems. Airlines, public utilities, for example, traffic light control systems can become blackmail victims.

Technology has tied us in a single tangle, and society does not have efficient solutions to emerging challenges. Social development is lagging behind the technical development. Computers that have provided us with great opportunities in irresponsible hands can become weapons of mass destruction.

And the problem is not in them; the problem is in us. Are we able to take control of our own nature, which in the world of global communications continues to live only in personal interests and maniacally seeks benefits at the expense of others?

Until we begin the process of educating Man (Adam) in ourselves, we all will depend on that monkey who holds the “grenade” of our achievements. Only Man will correctly use the global world connection and turn it for the benefit of all.
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Epilogue To The Holocaust Memorial Day, Part 4

laitman_527_09Baal HaSulam, The Nation: The Holocaust was the result of the poison of hatred that afflicted the nations of the world, which led to the horrific death of millions of our brethren. We cannot delude ourselves by believing that we are speaking here about some transient and passing event.

The most progressive nations calmly barred their doors to us without feeling the least sympathy or pity. Without expecting miracles, it becomes apparent that our existence, individually and as a nation, balances on the scales of life and death.

And help will come only if we find the necessary instrument that will be able to tilt the scales in our favor…If we miss the chance and do not stand all as one, then the events we are facing will take on dangerous proportions, because they will unfold according to the will of our enemies who plan on wiping us off the face of the earth.

Obviously this was not a temporary phenomenon, but it exists within our shared nature. Humanity must reach union with the Creator, and the part that is called upon to demonstrate this method of correction is called Israel (Yashar-El, straight to the Creator).

This group of people received the method of correction and actualized it among themselves during the time of the First Temple. After 2,000 years of exile, Israel has spread throughout all humanity and now must once again establish its corrected state and draw all the nations of the world after it.

Let’s not fool ourselves by believing that the Holocaust was a momentary mistake that cannot be repeated. It can recur in a much worse form, not be the way it was in the past when it was contained within a particular European country, even if it had the support of all other developed nations, but with the complete support of all humanity, without exception. It can be seen even now, whenever there is a vote in the UN against Israel, 200 nations unanimously support the resolution.

And even though it is not without reason that the nation of Israel is called “stiff-necked” who refuses to understand what is happening to it, nevertheless, we have evidence today of such acts of anti-Semitism that make the time prior to the Holocaust seem much calmer. And, as usual, we are trying to shut our eyes and not notice what is happening until the last moment or even after it.

If we lose this chance, it will be impossible to save ourselves from harm, just as it happened during the Holocaust when there was nowhere to run. And today, after this whole tragedy, we are still repeating the same mistake as if nothing had happened.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/24/17, Lesson on Topic: “Holocaust Memorial Day”

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Blitz Of Kabbalah Tips – 12/11/16, Part 2

Laitman_201_01Question: Dear teacher can I make you happy?

Answer: Of course, you can promise to make me happy when together with you, I will reveal your spiritual level.

Question: How can I love others as myself if other people in the world don’t want that?

Answer: You can do it on your part only. There is no need for others to love you in order for you to love them.

Question: What attributes should a Kabbalist’s wife have?

Answer: She should be a loyal companion, which means that she should provide her husband with everything that he needs in order to study the wisdom of Kabbalah.

Question: How can we maintain good family relations other than by mutual concessions?

Answer: It is only through mutual concessions. You should compete between you as to who makes more concessions. This is the guarantee for good relations in the family.

Question: Isn’t it a coincidence that all the fairy tales end in a wedding, but in real life everything only begins with a wedding?

Answer: Fairy tales are wise stories. They teach us that it is better to end everything in a wedding.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 12/11/16

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Clean Ecology

Laitman_509Torah, Deuteronomy 23:13 – 23:14: And you shall have a designated place outside the camp, so that you can go out there [to use it as a privy]. And you shall keep a stake in addition to your weapons; and it shall be, when you sit down outside [to relieve yourself], you shall dig with it, and you shall return and cover your excrement.

This is about clean ecology, even in those old times. After all, if we recall medieval France or Germany, it was impossible to walk on the streets because slop was poured directly through the windows. There was a terrible stench everywhere that also came from people.

According to the Torah, a person must wash himself at least once a week, and wash his hands before each meal. Why was everyone surprised that the Jews never became infected with anything, and believed that they sent the plague to everyone, but they themselves didn’t get sick? It is because nobody observed the laws of hygiene except the Jews. They are described in the Talmud with such thoroughness that it would be good for us to keep them today.

It even indicates how to wash hands. If you touch body parts that must be covered, you must wash hands after that. And you shouldn’t touch your body at all during prayer.

Question: What does this mean in the internal work?

Answer: It is a very complex thing. Klipot (the impure desires) give us systems for removal of body waste.

The system itself isn’t simple and is very interesting. Why aren’t we created in an optimal way? If I absorb some energy, and it dissolves in me and gives me life, then why should some amount of it be ejected from me to the outside?

And not just from me. This also happens on the vegetative and animal levels because there must be a circulation of any unification in nature. We see it even in inanimate nature: discharge of various gases from stones, radiation and so on.

Waste from most levels can be used as fertilizers. This is a completely closed ecological system. Everything is designed so that one nourishes another.

In spirituality, this means the processing of desires that takes place on several levels: for the sake of the Creator, for the sake of others, through oneself, and so on. Therefore, even in things that a person discharges from himself, there is a connection between him and the general ecological system.

The organism was initially created this way. Even an embryo in its mother’s womb segregates waste that enters the mother, and she releases it from herself.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 10/19/16

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My Thoughts On Twitter, 5/23/17

twitter

Jerusalem, the symbol of our people, will be rebuilt once we’re united. If we unite, we will also unite #Jerusalem and the world.

Jews will feel at home in Israel only if they aspire to unity and the Creator’s revelation. If not, they will leave Israel once again.

We were given Israel as an advance—so that in fighting for it, we would discover the need for unity. Once we unite, it will become ours!

#Jerusalem is the center of the world. It exists inside of us—in the corrected heart and contains the eternal power of love.

#TrumpInIsrael Israel is granted the ability to govern the world, and she foolishly pins her hopes on a foreign ruler…

Despite the ruinous structure of our world, thoughts, and desires, it’s striking how all of nature’s parts inwardly aspire to harmony.

From Twitter, 5/23/17

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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 05.24.17

Preparation for the Lesson

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Shamati #66 “The Giving of the Torah”  

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Talmud Eser Sefirot, Part 8

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Selected Excerpts for Jerusalem Day

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