Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Prof. Stephen Bronner, co-director of the International Council for Diplomacy and Dialogue and the author of A Rumor About the Jews: Anti-Semitism, Conspiracy, and the Protocols of Zion discuss the roots and possible solution for anti-Semitism.

Anti-Semitism is a multifaceted phenomenon. It manifests in different forms and, according to the wisdom of Kabbalah, it is the consequence of the Jewish people who have no awareness of their role in the world, and thus, also have no willingness to carry it out.

What is that role? The role of the Jewish people is to implement the method of connection above our selfish attitudes toward each other and pass it to the world, becoming a “light unto the nations,” as it is written in the scriptures.

According to their historical background, Jews originated around 3,800 years ago in ancient Babylon as a collection of 70 different nations united by the ideological principle, “love your neighbor as yourself.” Since this principle contradicted the Mesopotamian lifestyle, King Nimrod expelled the Jews from Babylon, and they embarked in the direction of the land of Canaan.

Over time, people could not observe the condition of “love your neighbor as yourself,” and the original spiritual root of the Jews—unity above all differences—became forgotten and replaced by customs. This is how religions and practices emerged, as compensation for the method of connection that has since been lost.

Nevertheless, the Jews still bear this method within. Whether or not they are aware of it, or and whether or not they refuse to perform it, the Jewish people have an inner calling to unite and spread unity above differences to the world. Hatred from the nations of the world is a subconscious demand upon the Jews to carry out this role.

Therefore, to solve the problem of anti-Semitism, Jews need to present an example of uniting above differences, and by doing so, let the world follow them, ultimately paving the path to balance with nature, harmony and social cohesion.

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The People of Israel before the Construction of the Temple

Question: After exiting Egypt and receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai, the people of Israel with their newfound unity conquered the land of Canaan and turned it into the Land of Israel. “Eretz Israel” means the desire to be like the Creator.

This entire time, the development and implementation of Moses’ methodology continued. I wonder what people did before the construction of the Temple? After all, then there was no study of the Torah and the commandments. It was introduced much later.

Answer: There was no study because people did it in practice. The meaning of their life was to be constantly in increasing communication with each other and to reveal the Creator in their unity.

They felt this methodology, applied it and implemented it very clearly among themselves more or less. Although, in principle, this was the reason for the war.

Comment: The famous historian Josephus Flavius writes, “It is impossible to describe the differences in the customs and laws of many forms of rule that mankind had developed. Most could be subsumed under the following three types: monarchy, oligarchy, and democracy. And our legislator (Moses), abandoning all of the above, created the so-called theocracy.”

Theocracy is when a spiritual and governmental leader is represented in one person.

My Response: Spirituality rules over the people.

Comment: The state formed by the Jews existed for about 200 years without a regular army and without a centralized administrative apparatus. Spiritual mentors from the tribe of Levi were deprived of land allotment and lived in 48 cities that belonged to other tribes. They only taught people.

All the people were literate without exception. Moreover, children were taught to read and write at the age of three.

Besides, the Jews are the people who do not need a king. The first king Saul came after the death of Moses when he began a war with the neighbors. Before that the people managed without a king.

My Response: Spiritual communication was enough for them to exist.

In addition, they supported the Cohens and Levites, that is, all those who taught them and spiritually supported them. After all, the very first authority was based on upper governance.

Comment: Another interesting fact is that a Jewish king could be subjected to bodily punishment for various offenses. If, for example, he allowed himself to take more horses or money, he could be punished.

My Response: Yes. The upper spiritual governance was above the king.

Comment: Also, there was a special attitude to the weak, frail, women, and slaves. It was believed that if you had one pillow, you should give it to a slave.

My Response: That is, relations between people required them to aim for greater understanding, interaction, interconnection, and greater positive interdependence.
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From KabTV’s “System analysis of the development of the people of Israel,” 7/1/19

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Proverbs 13:3: He who watches his mouth guards his soul; for one who opens his lips wide there is ruin. (King Solomon)

Question: What is this about?

Answer: This is about what you need to understand, whom you are dealing with, and acting only to the extent that you can influence the world in a good way, kindly. Lead it with your morals, your influences to the right actions.

Take care of what you give to the world so that it is clear to everyone, and so that they can use it for their own benefit.

Question: What is beneficial for the world?

Answer: The only beneficial thing for the world is connection.

Question: That is, everything you can do and everything you can say should be only in the direction of connection. Is it called “to guard my mouth”?

Answer: Yes.

Question: What does it mean “the one who opens his lips”?

Answer: This is when you do not control your influences on the world and can do a lot of harm to the world by this.

Question: Can a person not set the world on fire?

Answer: No. Our nature is such that we inadvertently act supposedly for the benefit of ourselves, and therefore to the detriment of the world.

Comment: But you are contradicting yourself. A person cannot avoid setting the world on fire with every word.

My Response: No, we are talking about an ordinary person, not a Kabbalist. The Kabbalist clearly controls and feels what influences he gives to the world, what his message is, and how the world will perceive it. Even if the Kabbalist himself is not very happy about it, in the end, he will teach the world. If not today, then tomorrow, the world will understand that it must move by a different path.

Question: Can a Kabbalist give only good information to the world?

Answer: A Kabbalist can give the world only good information because he feels the inner force of nature and from there draws the method of his entry into the world, that is, of addressing the world.

He can do no harm. The world might not understand this, but there can be no harm from a Kabbalist. Although usually his exit to the world seems very unpleasant, abrupt, and untimely.

Question: Does this stop a Kabbalist?

Answer: It does not because he sees what benefit he can nevertheless bring to the world, how much he can move the world forward in the right direction; therefore, he does not think much about himself. Although, later he suffers.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman,” 12/23/19

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What should couples do to improve their relationships?“

To improve their relationships, couples should first forgive anything that they hold against each other.

The same way we want others to forgive us for negative actions or mistakes we have done, we should try to forgive others in advance.

Moreover, forgiveness extends beyond relationships between couples. Ultimately, it applies to society at large.

Even in the smallest of acts, in all kinds of encounters with other people, when driving, shopping, waiting in queues, and so on, we would experience better lives if we tried to forgive people in advance. Today’s society lacks that a lot.

We need to internalize how small and weak we really are, and how easily our mood can drop due to some negative interaction. We thus need to lower our demands upon others.

After forgiveness, our next step is to work on love, i.e., “love your neighbor as yourself.” In other words, as we constantly consider our own benefit, and know all kinds of details about what we enjoy, trying to fulfill our own desires’ demands, we should try to understand our partner’s desires to the same extent, and seek to fulfill them as we do ourselves.

Love is thus grown through mutual concessions, where each partner concedes their self-focus and seeks to think about the other, trying to give them what makes them feel good.

This is why it is important to find a partner that has the same goal in life. Both partners can then enjoy from supporting each other to their mutual goal.

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Lesson Preparation

Lesson on the Topic “Pesach (Passover)” 

Selected Highlights

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Listen to an Audio Version of the Blog
Download:MP3 Audio

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The #coronavirus has powerfully altered the relationships between people in human society, making us face some serious questions:
1. We are very connected and dependent on one another
2. Our connection is not a good one, and we have to learn how to change it.
The coronavirus is exposing the full gravity of our state.
From Twitter, 3/12/20

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Thrive Global published my new article: “Coronavirus and the Value of Life”

We like to think of ourselves as conscientious, moral people. But COVID-19, or Coronavirus Disease, is exposing our true nature: selfish to the core.

2019 was a record year for Dengue Fever in Latin America. Some 3 million people were infected, and 1,500 of them died. Each year, the disease is claiming more and more lives but hardly anyone outside Latin America knows about it. Why? Because it’s Latin America, and in the eyes of the West, Latin American lives are worth less than West European lives or North American lives. If we in the Western World valued Latin American lives the way we value our own, the media would give it due coverage.

Likewise, the coronavirus aroused very little interest as long as it remained inside Mainland China. Would we really be alarmed if the virus killed, say, 100,000 people, or even a million people in China, but did not migrate to other countries? What would it take for us to move uncomfortably in our seats? The answer is not a number, but the identity of the affected.

We like to think of ourselves as conscientious, moral people. But COVID-19, or Coronavirus Disease, is exposing our true nature: selfish to the core. This is why the world started panicking over the coronavirus only when it spread to the rest of the world; this is the sad reality of our lives.

Two Lessons from the Virus

So far, the coronavirus has taught us two very important lessons:

We are all equal in the eyes of nature. Whether you are rich or poor, a tyrant or a servant, the tiny bug could not care less; it’ll hit you just the same.

We are all mutually dependent. We are passing the germ from one person to the next and one person’s irresponsible behavior, even if inadvertently, can cost other people’s lives and numerous others pain and agony.

What the virus will not teach us is how to turn this negative interdependency into a positive one. This, we will have to learn on our own, through our efforts to build a new paradigm of living. If we focus our efforts on improving life for everyone rather than only our own, and often at the expense of others, we will transform our environment, the social and ecological ones.

The pandemic is an opportunity for us to develop a new outlook on ourselves, to envision success not as a triumph over others, but as empowerment of society as a whole. True, this thinking goes against our nature, but nature itself is going against our nature nowadays, so we had better start thinking outside the box. If we don’t change our mode of thinking, reality will force us to, and much more painfully.

Coronavirus Disease is a prelude to a stream of ordeals that will befall humanity until we’re willing to become mutually responsible on the social and ecological levels. It does not take a lot to see that the virus is a test to our mutual consideration. Look at how China reacted in the beginning of the outbreak, pretending that the virus was no big deal, and look how it has managed to slow down its spread—by placing everyone in quarantine until the spreading dwindles. And it worked. Look at how Italy initially dismissed the danger, and look at the catastrophic results.

Now we need to take the mandatory mutual responsibility to the next level and start reaping its fruits. We can do much more than heal society from the virus. We can heal it from the spreading alienation, loneliness, and depression that have plagued our societies long before the virus. All it takes is our willingness to accept that we are responsible for one another.

Cherish the Difference

If we accept mutual responsibility, we will learn to cherish each other’s differences. Our unique characters will no longer separate us; they will connect us and will give each of us unique ways to contribute to society, which no one else will be able to give.

Questions of race or gender equality will become extinct since each person will be priceless. How can you evaluate a person who has unique qualities that no one else has, and who is ready and willing to use those qualities to benefit all of society? Will it matter if that person came from Latin America, China, or Germany? Will it matter if that person is well educated or not, rich or poor, black, white, or yellow? None of it will matter. All that will matter is that that person has a priceless gift to give to all of us. This is the reality of people living in mutual responsibility.
— Published on March 11, 2020

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My article in Newsmax: “Sooner We Learn Coronavirus Lesson, Sooner We’ll Heal”

We’re still not getting what’s coming.

COVID-19, or coronavirus, is messing up our lives and we have yet to grasp the consequences. The masks, the quarantine, but mostly, the fear, are telling us that a new phase in our existence is emerging.

So, the sooner we get a grip on things, the better it will be for everyone.

Imagine this:

You’re sitting at home, cannot go to work because your employer went out of business, cannot buy food because the stores have all been emptied and there’s no supply to refill the shelves, and supply shipments have virtually stopped. But you have children to feed. What will you do? You can’t even send them to school where they can get a meal since all schools have been shut down by the virus!

What will you do, grow vegetables in the bathtub?

If it sounds mad, it’s because it is. But in a matter of months, this scenario could be the reality of tens of millions of Americans, Europeans and people in every country in the world.

The simple reality is that we cannot exist without provision from the outside, and the coronavirus is decimating that provision. If we don’t find a way to reboot the chains of supply that have been frozen still by fear, we could be facing hunger of a magnitude that will destroy our society and claim the lives of millions of people who aren’t even sick with the virus.

The Key to a Successful Reboot

Why is all this happening?

Because we are ignoring one simple, natural law: interconnectedness. Interconnectedness means that everything in nature is connected to, and therefore dependent on everything else.

We, on the other hand, live under the assumption that we needn’t recognize anything other than our own needs. Herein lies the problem: While the inanimate, vegetative, and animate levels of nature function in harmony and balance, the human level seeks only to exploit: We use nature and abuse each other simply because we can.

Now, in what seems like the first time, but certainly not the last, nature is saying, “Enough!” Reality is demanding that we become responsible, mature, but mainly, considerate of one another and of the environment.

Now we are called upon to raise our eyes, acknowledge the world around us, and begin to think more in terms of “we” and less in terms of “me.” This is how all of nature operates, and it demands that we do, too.

Becoming More Like Nature, and Less Like People

In order to start balancing our approach to reality, we should begin to work more like nature, and less like people, or at least less like the people that we used to be until the outbreak of COVID-19. To do that, we should start including other interests in our thoughts. What animals and plants do instinctively, we are required to do consciously.

While it is much harder for us to do than it is for animals and plants, it holds a unique reward: an enhanced perception of the whole of nature. The more parts of reality we include in our awareness, the broader our perception of reality becomes. It is an endless process of growth with infinite rewards, bound only by our willingness to exert in it.

As nature is interconnected, so we can become, if we set our minds and hearts on it. In that sense, the coronavirus is an unprecedented opportunity for growth, and it would be a horrible mistake for us to miss it.

By disconnecting our supply chains, the virus has reminded us that we are inseparably connected. By thinking about this interconnectedness and what it requires of us, we can defeat not only COVID-19, but also the “viruses” that sicken our society, pollute our minds, and make us destroy each other and the world around us.

In that sense, the coronavirus is a vaccine, not a pathogen, and the sooner we learn what it teaches, the sooner we will all heal.
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The Main Commandment and Its Derivatives

Comment: Baal HaSulam writes, that at first the Torah was given on a condition of mutual guarantee (Arvut), although later, when the golden calf was made, this condition was no longer observed because wars were fought about this issue, and the sons of Levi killed 3,00 people.

All this, of course, did not add love and unity. Later, when they came to the land of Israel, there was no peace either. Therefore, there was no one who could observe this main commandment. Literally several decades passed after the giving of the Torah, and there was no one left to observe this condition.

My Response: I think it took longer. In any case, the entire period was accompanied by huge conflicts among the people. There were many different currents, opposing groups, that were ready to destroy each other.

Comment: Further, Baal HaSulam writes, that in order for the people of Israel not to forget the Torah they began to observe the other commandments, although the main commandment was abandoned because they had no other advice.

The main commandment of the Torah “love your neighbor as yourself” was abandoned because egoism grew and people began to observe other commandments. What does it mean “other commandments”?

My Response: “Other commandments” are the reflection in our world of the main spiritual commandment and spiritual connections between people. There are 613 desires in a person, the so-called TARYAG, and all of them must be directed to the connection with others and with the Creator.

However, in our world, they are used to fulfill our egoism. Changing them to “love your neighbor,” to the fulfillment of others, of society, is called observing the commandments.

Question: So, are 613 commandments the internal actions as a result of which a person corrects his egoism in order to connect with other people in sensation, that is, through the souls?

Answer: Yes. In any case, the general rule of “love your neighbor” is broken down into many inclinations, desires, and actions. And all of them together make this rule.
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From KabTV’s “System analysis of the development of the people of Israel,” 7/1/19

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