“Rekindling Black-Jewish Relations In America Through Jewish Unity” (Newsmax)

My article in Newsmax: “Rekindling Black-Jewish Relations in America Through Jewish Unity

From rhetoric to actions, anti-Semitism from certain sectors within America’s black community has set off an alarm as a new disturbing phenomenon causing deep distress among U.S. Jews. As surprising as it may seem, the most effective solution lies among Jews themselves.

In the last few months, a sharp increase in unprovoked violent attacks against Jews by black individuals took place in cities with large Orthodox Jewish communities, particularly in New York and New Jersey, including the killing of three people at a Jersey City kosher market and a machete attack at a rabbi’s home in Monsey. Those officially-defined hate crime incidents were the most violent of recent links in a chain of harassment, beatings, and vandalism against Jews in those areas.

Anti-Semitism From All Fronts

We are familiar with extreme right-wing anti-Semitism from white supremacists, which blames Jews for helping immigrants, among other accusations. We have begun to address anti-Semitism from the Left, among the most prominent being the BDS movement, but lately we are becoming increasingly acquainted with a new kind of anti-Semitism from parts of the black community.

To further complicate the division, among African Americans there appears to be two distinct types of anti-Semitism. The first type arises from the Black Hebrew Israelites, a group whose members define themselves as “the original Jews,” as opposed to white Jews who are blamed for stealing their legal heritage. The second type seems to be arising from the melting pot of communal life in the U.S., where developing hatred against Jews claims that they want to take over their property and neighborhoods and “bring us back to the miserable slavery days.” It is a view that has even found sympathizers among members of the Jersey City Board of Education, the media has recently revealed.

Embracing Humanity’s Melting Pot

It is important to understand that original Judaism had no interest in exclusive ownership of the Torah. On the contrary, it was intended to reach everyone in the world, particularly anyone who longs for unity and mutual guarantee. Anyone who wanted to live according to the great rule of the Torah, “love your neighbor as yourself,” was welcomed and we would all unite and embrace one another in great joy. As Kabbalist Rav Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam) wrote: “It is certain and unequivocal, that the purpose of Creation lies on the shoulders of the whole of the human race, black, white or yellow, without any essential difference.” (The Arvut)

Therefore, the claims of those from the first group who claim that “Judaism is mine” and “I fit but you do not” are basically discriminatory. Such an attitude, from whoever it originates, does not derive from real Judaism which calls for love of the other. The second type of anti-Semitism in the black community mentioned earlier belongs to the exclusionary anti-Semitic line of thought just described.

As we have seen throughout history in every period, some particular groups of people hold a grudge against the Jews and find their rationale for hatred. Baal HaSulam wrote about it as follows: “The hatred precedes all reasons, but each merely resolves its loathing according to its own psychology.” (The Writings of the Last Generation)

Therefore, it is quite easy to incite any oppressed group into believing that Jews are responsible for their bleak situation and that they have to act against them. Undoubtedly, the members of such a group will gladly espouse hatred for the Jews.

It is important to remember that the people of Israel were composed of representatives of numerous clans from ancient Babylon, which had extended to become “the 70 nations of the world.” Abraham the Patriarch established one overarching rule: unity above and beyond differences. It might seem like the people of Israel are like any other people, but they are in fact unique. The people of Israel have a particular role: to be united and serve the rest of the nations of the world.

Jews Paving the Way to Unity

When the people of Israel overcome their differences, they attain a degree of spiritual unity that reveals the upper force. At this time, a positive force emanates from them. They then spread “light unto the nations” and become a beacon of peace for all. On the other hand, when Jews make no motions toward unity, but instead let their differences separate them, the nations of the world feel it subconsciously. This is because everyone is connected in a single network. In the absence of the positive upper force, the negative force begins to bubble through. Instinctively, the world manifests hatred toward the Jewish nation, holding it responsible for the lack of balance between the two opposing forces. This is the underlying reason for the increasing anti-Semitism.

We can engage in all kinds of efforts that do not primarily focus on our unification in order to try and palliate this phenomenon, but they will bring about no meaningful and lasting positive changes. Anti-Semitism will only continue increasing unless we tackle it at its root through the only possible antidote: unity of the Jewish people, first and foremost, and then unity of the rest of the world. Such an intervention will neutralize all animosity toward us, and will bring about a peaceful existence and cordial relations among all people.
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The Creator Is Within Connection

laitman_938.02Question: During the convention we went through many things. How can we keep this so that we will not live from one convention to the next, but will multiply the experience every day?

Answer: At the convention, I tried to prove to you that when you connect you get closer to the Creator. You must clearly remember this, engrave it on your heart.

Only by connecting with each other do we approach the Creator because to begin with He is inside of our connection. That’s all.

Question: In both concealment and revelation?

Answer: Everywhere, always.
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From the World Kabbalah Convention in Moldova 9/8/19, “Collecting All the States Toward the Creator,” Lesson 7

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laitman_938.02Caring about Each Other

Baal HaSulam, “The Love of God and Love of Man”: It is clear beyond doubt that if 600,000 men have no other engagement in life but to stand guard and see that no need is left unsatisfied in their friends, and they even do it with true love, with all their soul and might, there is absolutely no doubt that there will not be a need in any person in the nation to worry about his own sustenance, for he will have 600,000 loving and loyal people watching over him so not a single need is left unsatisfied.

Question: We are speaking about some kind of society since one person cannot do this?  A person needs to see such examples, and not only examples, but these kinds of relationships among people?

Answer: Naturally. Mutual guarantee is when everyone backs each other up, mutually guaranteeing for each other when each one thinks of others rather than of oneself, this is the law of mutual guarantee.

Question: Baal HaSulam later writes that a certain number of people is required to carry out the law of the mutual guarantee. Why is that?

Answer: It is because one person cannot provide himself with all that he needs. However, if a certain number of people are concerned about it, which depends on the time we live in, our lifestyle, and so on, then we have nothing to worry about. Only if we care about others do we not need to worry about ourselves.

Remark: However, Baal HaSulam writes that even if a single person falls into egoism and starts thinking only about himself, everyone else also stop caring about each other.

My Comment: Here we are talking about a perfect system, as Baal HaSulam describes absolute laws. In general, this is how it should be.
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From the KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 2/7/19

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709Becoming a Human

Question: Kabbalists say that “The task of a person is such an existence when there is no sense of life and death. If this feeling exists, it means that one has not yet risen above his animalistic level, has not yet become a human. A person is someone who exists forever and feels like that.” What does it mean?

Answer: If a person does not feel this world around him, it means that he or she is one degree above it. However, one uses the whole world for the sake of moving toward spirituality.

The spiritual world is our connection with each other when in our unity we reveal a common, mutual force of bestowal and love called “the Creator.”

Question: What is this human degree?

Answer: The human is Adam, from the word “Domeh” (in Hebrew), meaning “similar to the Creator.” He is like the Creator in the quality of bestowal and love. In this measure, we can already talk about who among us and to what extent someone is a human.

Question: Do I understand correctly that a person who has reached a certain spiritual level dies and then has to be born again in a certain body?

Answer: This refers to the desires and intentions, but not the body.

Question: Let’s say a Kabbalist dies, then he is born again and goes through a few stages. The first stage, like any other person, is unconscious development. After a few decades, he quickly becomes a Kabbalist, and then he already helps others. Is that right?

Answer: This is very primitive. After all, there is Ibur Neshamot, separation, mutual adhesion of souls, their movement, and combination, and therefore, we cannot say that everything happens in this way. Everything is much more complicated because it is a single system.

As soon as we leave our world, we immediately become included in the upper world, where there are very different states. There is no separation between souls as in our world where they are as if separated by bodies. When our bodies, that is, our earthly egoism, do not exist, then the relationship between the qualities of bestowal and love is completely different.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 1/14/19

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