Audio Version Of The Blog – 12/14/18
Posted on December 14th, 2018
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The largest portal Breaking Israel News published my new article “Ten Lost Tribes And Who Is A Jew?“:
Light penetrates the windows of a small brick hut and illuminates a group of African men dressed in white swaying. One shuts his eyes and shouts with a heavy Hebrew accent: “Oseh shalom!”
“Hallelujah!” the crowd responds.
He sings out again: “Oseh shalom!”
All of them together answer, “Hallelujah, making peace in its heights.”
As such, the Igbo people pray together with the sounds of longing in their voices for the Land of Israel.
The Igbo tribe lives in the Biafra region of South-Eastern Nigeria and is estimated to number some 20 million. Tens of thousands of these identify themselves as Jews for all intents and purposes. A significant number of the Igbo tribe are observant Jews, practice circumcision, read the Torah, wear yarmulkes and prayer shawls.
Throughout the generations, many indigenous tribes and ethnic groups from every continent have been identified as possible descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes who were exiled after the conquest of the Kingdom of Israel by Assyria in 722 BCE, and their fate remains unknown to this very day. Could the Igbo tribe and other groups be part of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel? How could we possibly determine which among these are Jews?
Can symbols, rituals, and customs definitively indicate that a person or tribe is Jewish? In order to trace Jewish roots, must historians and geneticists intervene, as well as authorities to deliberate on religious matters? The wisdom of Kabbalah views the answer to the question, “Who is a Jew?” from a deeper perspective that demands us to look back to the kingdom of ancient Babylon, to the cradle of humanity at the time, where Jewishness began.
About 3,800 years ago in Mesopotamia, which was a bountiful region located in today’s Iraq, humanity began to live side by side in brotherhood with a sense of shared destiny, like one great universal family. Without aspiring to great conquests, the pagan society of those days satisfied the small desires of its members for a peaceful life, shelter, and basic food. They established a thriving agricultural society that persisted undisturbed, as a single body.
Suddenly life changed in Babylon. The desire to receive pleasure, “egoism,” naturally began to grow and develop, demanding ever greater pleasures from life. Growing egos began to clash causing separation, urging each to view the other only in terms of their personal benefit, even if it came at another’s expense.
Troubled by the disintegration of society, a Babylonian priest named Abraham began to earnestly investigate why the Babylonians had stopped loving one another. In the process of his exploration, he discovered the natural system that connects all people under the management of a single enveloping force: love. He discovered that the root of human hatred lies in the ego’s development and its imbalance.
Abraham understood that in order to balance the negative power of egoism, it is necessary to awaken this positive force of love and connection inherent to nature. In other words, the common effort to build good relationships despite and atop egoistic rejection opens up a new spiritual space between people within which a sense of wholeness and harmony is found. Abraham’s brilliant discovery and the way to realize it was compiled as the wisdom of Kabbalah. Excited by his breakthrough, Abraham embarked on an extensive campaign to spread the wisdom among all the inhabitants of ancient Babylon.
As Rambam explained, tens of thousands came to the land of Israel from all the tribes and clans, representing all 70 nations of the world, and formed the foundation for the building of the Israeli nation. The rest of the ancient inhabitants of Babylon spread throughout the earth and developed into approximately 70 nations.
The Jewish people are not a people like other nation, founded on the common denominators of residential area, family relations, origin or color. The followers of Abraham were instead a conglomeration of different people whose one common denominator was a shared ideological basis. This special group would later be called “Israel,” which is derived from the phrase “Yashar-El” (Straight to God), i.e. a desire directed straight to the power that manages reality.
Since then and throughout history, anyone who joined Israel on the basis of the same unifying principle was warmly welcomed. French, Italian, African, Japanese—anyone in the world—was and could be a Jew. Kabbalah explains that the Jewish people is not a nation like the 70 nations of the world. Jewishness is an ideology, a person’s attitude toward others. Although Jews have lived and married among themselves as a relatively small group over the generations and have acquired a similar external form, when the Ten Lost Tribes are revealed, it will not be the genes that will bind us, but the ideology. The external form of the Lost Tribes will surely appear different from who we see today as Jews, but between all of them will be a spirit of mutual solidarity combined with the love of Zion.
The awakening and manifestation of the Ten Lost Tribes depends on the awakening of the Jews themselves. As the Jews become more and more connected, their unity will be projected throughout the network of connection that binds together all life and this will make the tribes emerge from their hiding places. At the same time, Jewish unity will build a kind of “womb,” an environment capable of absorbing the Ten Lost Tribes, to which they will be born.
As you read these lines, dear reader, and if you want to feel the single force that operates in creation, Bnei Baruch, our worldwide organization teaching the ancient wisdom of Kabbalah, warmly welcomes all those yearning to know the meaning of life through our connection as one human family.
Question: Every moment billions of changes take place in the world. If the world is portrayed differently for me according to changes in me, does this mean that I change every moment?
Answer: Yes, specifically you are the one who is changing every moment, and the world is a projection of yourself. You see outside what you feel within you as if it is happening in the surrounding world.
Question: If the higher governance is eternal and whole, how can it disappear when the general soul is corrected?
Answer: The higher governance does not disappear. Correction means my full integration into the higher governance.
Question: How do you know that the physical world will disappear? Did you feel similar states in your spiritual path?
Answer: First, that is what is written in the Kabbalistic sources. Second, a person who studies the wisdom of Kabbalah feels this to a certain extent.
Question: What is the main criterion of agreement or disagreement with the Creator’s management?
Answer: In every state be happy, goodhearted, smiling, enjoying life, simple and easy. This is already acceptance of what the Creator does to you.
Question: You do not want to unite the egoists? I thought that the whole idea of Kabbalah was their unification.
Answer: It is impossible to unite egoists. It is necessary to elevate them above egoism and unite them at this level. Each one has different desires. We cannot unite in the desire to receive—only in the desire to bestow. We build the upper world in the juncture between the desires to bestow between us.
Question: A fisherman always sees a fisherman from afar. Is it possible to say this about Kabbalists?
Answer: Yes and no. The fact is that if a Kabbalist does not want it, you will not reveal him, you will not feel that he is a Kabbalist. On the other hand, if both of you want it, you can talk and exchange sensations of the upper world between you.
Question: How is it possible to rise above the ego while we are still in it? Is this like Baron Munchausen, who pulled himself out of the swamp?
Answer: No. For Baron Munchausen, there was no external power that could help him pull himself out of the swamp. And for us, there is such a power—the upper Light! We turn to it and it draws us out of the swamp.
Question: What is the most terrible thing for a Kabbalist: when he is not given the opportunity to talk to people about the Creator, that is, to engage in dissemination, or when his students cannot find a common language between them and they break up the group?
Answer: Breaking up the group is the most terrible thing because the inner part is the most subtle and the most vulnerable. But sometimes mistakes are needed in order to access decisions and solutions in a healthier way the next time.
Question: How can we understand correctly the response of the teacher—Kabbalist? When he says: “No” and scolds us, do we need to accept this directly?
Answer: In general, yes. You have to understand that he is acting this way for your benefit.
[236826]
From The Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 7/1/18
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Thrive Global published my new article: “A Jewish Thought Network: The Most Powerful Weapon to Combat Anti-Semitism”
The power of thought is tremendously powerful and its scope of action lies in the network of our connection: we are as strong as we are united, and as weak as we are divided.
When the word “Jew” becomes an insult there is a reason to worry. That is the reality a school teacher experiences in today’s Europe, as she needs to hide her religion out of fear for her safety. A recent poll conducted by CNN confirmed that hatred against Jews in Europe has never disappeared. It has just transformed itself into a more evident menace. It is in our hands, or more precisely, in the power of our thoughts as Jewish people to change this situation, because thoughts have transformational powers.
The CNN survey revealed that one-in-five Europeans justify anti-Semitism. However, these are only the ones who admit to it. The problem is not only on Europe’s soil. It’s global. At a recent summit to combat anti-Semitism, European Jewish Congress president Dr. Moshe Kantor mentioned that “Europe doesn’t have a monopoly on anti-Semitism anymore. No Jewish community anywhere in the world, however strong and well-organized, is now immune from Jew hatred.”
Exceptional situations prompt the proposal of extraordinary measures. At the conference held in Vienna, a “Catalogue of Policies to Combat Anti-Semitism” was drafted with the help of academics from Vienna, Tel Aviv and New York. One new approach suggested a call for new editions of the Bible and Quran to carry warning messages to highlight “anti-Semitic passages” within the holy texts.
Are such texts really a source of incitement against Jews? Would such markings really serve to “combat anti-Semitism”? And more importantly, what power do we have as Jews to eradicate the hostility against us?
Religious Anti-Semitism?
Researchers connect anti-Semitism to sections in the Bible about Jews being responsible for Christ’s crucifixion and to sections in the Quran that fanatic jihadists use to justify their crusade against the Jews and Western values. Back in April 2018, a group of 300 French intellectuals and politicians signed a manifesto to Islamic leaders in France asking that “verses of the Quran calling for the killing and punishment of Jews, Christians and unbelievers be rendered obsolete by theological authorities,” to avoid what they consider as incitement to violence.
Yet, after years of anti-hatred plans and meetings to discuss the frightening times, do we see any change? Indeed, something has changed, but not in a positive direction. Anti-Semitism is relentlessly on the rise worldwide and the future looks increasingly dark.
Since none of the proposed solutions have worked so far, maybe it is time for a new approach? We Jews need to look no further than our own heritage to discover the infallible weapon, a force sufficient to eliminate anti-Semitism once and for all. The wisdom of Kabbalah claims that with a shift in our collective consciousness, we can create a force field powerful enough to erase anti-Semitic manifestations from earth.
Our inner state of division or unity creates our outer reality and not vice versa. By changing our intention to unite as one, we harmonize with the force of creation, and reality is affected by the energy we radiate. How does it work? In order to understand how this defensive shield is built we need to explore the development of humanity’s defense systems.
The Power of Thought
The evolution of defense systems up to the atomic bomb, demonstrates that the stronger a weapon is, the more hidden it is to the human eye, and the heavier are its consequences. Cyberspace, for instance, could be the modern-day battlefield for potential world war if the imaginary “red button” falls into the wrong hands.
Taking this trend one step further, the most powerful and precise weapon being revealed today is the power of thought, although similarly, we are unaware of its magnitude and dimension because of its invisibility. The scientific community claims that we are connected at the human level in a field that is activated through our collective consciousness or thoughts. This field is similar to the force of gravity, electricity, or the electromagnetic field in that its exact operation is hidden from the human senses.
Kabbalah explains that such a unifying force is a law of nature—a network of forces that bind us together—not yet apparent to us, but it influences every aspect of our reality more than any other force. The power of thought is tremendously powerful and its scope of action lies in the network of our connection: we are as strong as we are united, and as weak as we are divided. We are the ones who constantly operate this network, we just need to become aware of it and discover how to consciously make it work for our collective benefit.
The power currently controlling this network is a negative, divisive force of rejection and hatred activated by our egoistic nature. It strikes back at us as waves of bigotry and animosity from the nations of the world. Unconsciously, the nations of the world feel that Jews hold the keys that activate this network for positive change, urging us to recognize our mission.
They are correct.
As stated in The Book of Zohar: “Just as the organs of the body cannot exist for one moment without the heart, so all nations cannot exist in the world without Israel.” So how can we effectively make a meaningful impact on today’s reality? This can be easily accomplished through effective use of the most widespread net encompassing humanity: cyberspace.
First, Jews must be an example of cohesion, understanding and mutual solidarity above differences, which would turn us into an enlightening force for the rest of the world. As expressed by Rav Kook, “The genuine movement of the Israeli soul at its grandest is expressed only by its sacred, eternal force, which flows within its spirit. It is that which has made it, is making it, and will make it still a nation that stands as a light unto nations.” (Letters of the RAAIAH, 3)
Our thoughts drawing us toward unity and softening critical attitudes toward one another have the power to evoke a positive force within the network of communication between us—a force capable of gradually neutralizing hatred and bringing about balance. This is the power capable of protecting us and leading us toward a good future.
As every path starts with a first step, every little thought from each of us toward positive human connection will increase exponentially and cause great changes in our reality because the power of thought is the most powerful weapon.
“Do not be surprised that one person’s actions bring elevation or decline to the whole world, for it is an unbending law that the general and the particular are as identical as two peas in a pod… Evidently, the value of an act of a part elevates or declines the entire whole.”
– Kabbalist Rav Yehuda Ashlag, Introduction to the Book of Zohar, item 68.
New Life #108 – Building a Business Strategy for the Future, Part 1
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Nitzah Mazoz
Summary
We should prepare in advance for the coming social evolution that will arrive no matter what. Revolutions and terrorism will soon force us to change our ways in the business world and function according to mutually responsible relations. Today, we measure personal success from an individualistic mindset. Tomorrow, however, success will be measured by the amount of good connections we have with others through an integral mindset. The new product or service of the future will be positive human relations. Consumers will become increasingly sensitive to human connection and enjoy it more than their own personal pleasure. New products based on this new awareness will be developed by being sensitive to the needs of the public in the same way that a mother cares about her baby’s well-being.
[109774]
From KabTV’s “New Life #108 – Building A Business Strategy For The Future, Part 1,” 12/12/12
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Lesson Preparation
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Lesson on the Topic “Israel Is Responsible For The Correction Of The World”
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Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Disclosing a Portion, Covering Two”
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