My new article on Linkedin “Put On a Mask, for Other’s Sake”

“Hospitalizations in at least nine states have been on the rise since Memorial Day,” wrote The Washington Post. And according to an Associated Press analysis, “Cases are rising in nearly half the states.”

The coronavirus isn’t considerate. It doesn’t care that we want to reopen our economies and go back to the life we had before. If we do not avoid contagion, it will keep returning until we do what we must.

And what we must do is change our whole perspective on life in this world; this is what the virus is impelling us to do. We thought that if we found a good job and made enough money, life would smile at us. But in a world where we affect everyone so immediately, we can’t afford to think only about ourselves if we want to be safe.

To be safe, we have to think about everyone’s safety, even more than about our own. We must wear masks not in order to avoid catching the virus, but in order to avoid infecting others with it, because we don’t know who’s got it and who doesn’t, who is clean, and who is infected but asymptomatic. The masks we should wear and the distance we should keep are not for our own sake, but first and foremost for everyone else, to keep them healthy. Only if we think in this way will we be able to clean up the country from the virus.

And as we are cleaning up the country, we will learn how to really think about others. We will learn that only when we think of others, we ourselves can be safe. If we think about our own safety, it forces us to arm ourselves with protective gear and weapons. This, in turn, creates violence and casualties. But if we focus on keeping our community and city safe, everyone will be safe, our personal safety will grow, as well, our confidence and calm will increase, and our lives will be easier and happier.

It turns out that by teaching us to wear masks not for ourselves but for others, the coronavirus is teaching us to develop mutual responsibility.

[Photo by pixpoetry on Unsplash]

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Question: There is something in people that prevents them from revealing their dependence on one another. This is what we call egoism. What do you, as a Kabbalist, consider egoism?

Answer: Egoism is love for oneself, which is the opposite of love for everything else: inanimate, vegetative, animate, and human elements of nature.

Question: A definition of this concept is that “Egoism is behavior that is entirely determined by a person’s desire aimed at his own benefit and advantage.” Do you agree with that?

Answer: Here it must be added that, as a rule, this is an aspiration contrary to the interests and benefit of everyone else . That is, I do not just fulfill myself, I do it through using others.

Remark: Moreover, that filling leads to devastation.

Answer: Of course, because when a person is filled with something, he immediately comes to a feeling of emptiness and an even greater desire to be filled.

Remark: In addition, our egoism is not controlled by us, but by a society that defines our values.

Answer: We get egoistic aspirations from the outside either in a simple way, when we compare our wealth with what our neighbor has, or they come from above, it is not known from where. But every moment egoistic impulses arise in us, the ego develops, and we are created with a general desire to satisfy it.
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From KabTV’s “The Post-Coronavirus Era,”4/2/20

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Question: What needs to be done to raise MAN for the friends as quickly as possible?

Answer: There is no need to wait for the right moment. You can constantly feel that you are in a group even if you are not physically with us and to always think about how you can increase the connection between friends. And that’s it.

Make efforts so that this desire is constantly excited in you. It will pull you all the time, and you will feel that you need to do something until you begin to feel the network of connection between yourself and your friends as one whole.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 3/1/20

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Question: Who are the Tanaim Kabbalists?

Answer: We will not see such Kabbalists as the Tanaim and the Amoraim. They lived thousands of years ago and were great people. Each one of them was in great likeness to the Creator.

For example, Rabbi Shimon, the author of The Book of Zohar, is called “Tana” because he belonged to the Tanaim group who were great Kabbalists. Then, what is called the decline of the generations occurred. Therefore, in our time, we are the smallest and most insignificant in comparison to them.

Thanks to the fact that we can use their methodology and be connected to them through their works and the implementation of their recommendations, we can also join the general correction.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 3/8/20

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Question: Usually, to calm the masses, they are given bread and circuses. The government will give bread. What spectacles can Bnei Baruch give to the world?

Answer: We are trying to organize a round-the-clock broadcast of useful programs necessary for humanity in all possible languages. For this, we have certain capacities, people, and all kinds of templates. I hope we can do this.

Every day we prepare all kinds of programs, video clips, songs, and lessons to convey to a person what, in principle, he should know about his life, his purpose, why he lives, what he meets after the death of his animal body, and what to do with his soul, with the spiritual point in it that is eternal, perfect, and does not die with the body. We must tell a person all of this.

We need to help him find contact between himself, his “I,” and his soul so that he does not divide himself into two parts: the body and the soul, but rather, combines them into one “I.” We want every person to have such an opportunity. I hope we can do this. At least we will try.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 3/22/20

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Every person has a desire that should be corrected to bestow to all people and to the Creator. He must become an active element in the system of the common soul of Adam HaRishon. The small amount of light that he can personally draw from the Creator cannot be drawn by anyone else.

In the general system, everyone has his own part which he has to bring the light that reforms to, and then pass it on to others feeding the whole common soul, similar to the way the cells in the body work. This is his responsibility, because the body lives only on such cells.

A person raises MAN, a prayer, to the Creator, that no one else is able to raise. Draws MAD, the upper light, from the Creator, which no one else can bring down. And through such actions by each soul, there comes the end of correction, the general light that fills the entire soul of Adam.

Mutual hatred and confrontation in society can only be corrected by the power of love, above all differences. All hatred will be covered by love.
Soon the hatred will explode, we will start killing each other, nothing will hold us back.
We must draw the power of love from above, from the Creator.

Love is the highest quality of nature, the quality of the Creator. When it comes and clothes into us, we will see what the real connection between us should be. Everything will be corrected—we just need to want it, not to hide but to constantly strive to reveal the power of love more and more. It will correct everything!

Globalization, as it was understood before the coronavirus, is dead. A global egoistic world is not in the works anymore. It is clear to those who understand that it is possible only after annulling egoism. Or rather, rising above it. Perhaps, because otherwise the problems of humanity cannot be surmounted!
From Twitter, 6/12/20

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My article in Newsmax: “No Police, No Justice, No Peace”

WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 08: People walk down 16th street after “Defund The Police” was painted on the street near the White House on June 08, 2020 in Washington, DC. After days of protests in DC over the death of George Floyd, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser has renamed that section of 16th street “Black Lives Matter Plaza”. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

The death of George Floyd and the demonstrations protesting it could have sparked many plausible ideas for mitigating police brutality and racism. Complete disbanding of the police was not one of them. How can a society maintain law and order without the police? Who will protect honest retailers from looters such as we saw in the past two weeks?

According to Webster’s Dictionary, the police are “the department of government concerned primarily with maintenance of public order, safety, health, enforcement of laws and possessing executive, judicial and legislative powers.” The police are also “charged with prevention, detection and prosecution of public nuisances and crimes.” Clearly, without policing, we will find ourselves in a lawless country and who wants to go that way?

Yet, this is exactly what the Minneapolis City Council decided to do — disband the police. Especially after the riots following Floyd’s unwarranted death, this decision seems capricious, irresponsible and defies any common sense. If it is carried out, there will be no justice and no peace, but only bloodshed and anarchy. It will be Hell on Earth.

There are many problems with today’s police forces in America, but they only reflect the hate-filled society whose building blocks are falling apart. Undue violence is not the sole property of the police; America has the most violent and weaponized civil society in the world, far more than any backward regime you can imagine.

If things are to change, they must start from the root, from the people, the citizens and residents. Without blaming others, without self-righteousness and with a lot of sincerity and courage, people have to look inside at the values and feelings they have helped instate within society.

There is no question that we are all self-centered and see only our own interests. But today, our self-interest requires that we see to it that everyone gets their fair share. We cannot afford to neglect any part of society, since that part is certain to rebel and bring down the whole of society in flames along with itself. In other words, every person’s safety has become completely dependent on the safety of all the other people in society. Today, acting according to this premise is mandatory, since the consequences of not doing so are anarchy, destruction and death.

In a society whose members all feel dependent on each other, policing really can become redundant. If people care for others as much as they care for themselves, they won’t hurt anyone, and everyone will help one another. Therefore, today’s primary goal of every community, city, state and country must be for every person to learn about the laws of the interdependent society, gradually come to live by them and in this way develop love toward other people in the community.

This learning is not a course; it is ongoing learning that accompanies every person in society and adapts itself to the changing society. In today’s society, too few people know about the system of governance that makes so many crucial decisions about their lives. Educated people will behave in an educated manner. So the learning must consist of both theory and practice. The theoretical part will familiarize people with the institutions and regulations that allow a modern society to function, as well as a broader outlook on the interconnected nature of contemporary society. The practical part will consist of exercises that nurture the feeling of mutual connection among people. This is the part that will enable them to transform their lives from a life of suspicion and tension to a life of openness and joy.

To achieve this transformation, the practical part focuses on building solidarity with one’s community, city, state and country, a sense of mutual responsibility and the confidence that by working together toward these goals, it is possible to transform one’s life.

While the theoretical part can be taught to individuals, the practical part requires learning in groups. These can be either physical groups or online groups, but the group needs to work together and develop a group dynamic. In the process of overcoming ego clashes and other social tensions, people will learn the benefits of caring about the society and what to do when a conflict becomes too heated to mitigate. When there is good will all around, there will always be a solution.

Only if a community achieves a substantial level of mutual responsibility is it possible to reduce the level of policing. Instead of law enforcement, the mutual concern of the members of the community will abolish offenses within the community almost entirely and deal effectively with such cases when they arise. But until that happens — No police? No justice, no peace.
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Medium published my new article “The Unfounded Reasoning Behind Police Defunding”

Calls for the defunding of US police departments would put security in handcuffs. The demand for divestment of police budgets and diversion of funds to community initiatives that emerged in the wake of the death of George Floyd in the custody of four Minneapolis officers is a dangerous move. If societies want to improve police-community relations and reach a safe and harmonious relationship, the solution is not to weaken the police force but to strengthen collective education.

The police force, like every citizen, needs to undergo a significant learning process regarding how to curb outbursts and work together with the community.

A US movement brought to the national spotlight in the past few days, calls for the defunding of police departments and the reallocation of resources into job-creation initiatives as well as social and health programs. Under this initiative, some functions traditionally performed by the police would be turned over to others and community members would patrol the streets.

The simple notion of abolishing or debilitating the police is difficult to understand or justify. How can a nation ensure that the laws are obeyed and civil order is maintained without the police as a link between the government and the people? What other system has immediate knowledge of what’s happening at any given moment on any alley or street in America’s complex network of neighborhoods, towns, and cities?

if we want to restore trust in police-community relations, prevent crime and reduce incidents of police abuse or misconduct, we should invest even more in police training and society’s education.

Nowadays, as man’s egoistic nature grows increasingly cruel, one feels superior to the other and strives to squeeze and exploit, crush and loot, abuse and rape. Thus, we must be monitored. Confronted with social issues like drug addiction, severe mental health problems, and street violence, police corps that maintain order are a sine qua non. In an age of social disarray and instability, law and order must be guarded. As it is written, “You shall appoint judges and officers in all your towns that the Lord your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment” (Deuteronomy 16:18).

An Unruly Nation Has No Future

Those trespassing the law need the inhibiting influence of police, and the deterring fear of reprimand and punishment in jail to restrain them from committing crimes against individuals and communities. The ego requires boundaries; otherwise it incites anarchy, as we have recently seen in the streets of New York and other cities in America. Particularly in our generation, with its turbulence and plethora of particular political, religious, and social agendas, the scene must be calmed down and brought to a state of balance.

We cannot do without a type of father figure — tough and strong on one side, and empathetic and sensitive on the other — whose role is respected and enhanced through generous funding.

The police are, in fact, caught between a rock and a hard place of modern life: under pressure from policy makers, under public scrutiny, in the midst of sizzling political and social brawls, sometimes ill-equipped to respond appropriately lest they take the heat. Police officers often find themselves caught in the middle, not always knowing how to reconcile the conflicting differences of politics, ethnicity, and race.

Therefore, if we want to restore trust in police-community relations, prevent crime and reduce incidents of police abuse or misconduct, we should invest even more in police training and society’s education. The police force, like every citizen, needs to undergo a significant learning process regarding how to curb outbursts and work together with the community. Officers, robbers, and every citizen is in dire need of an educational undertaking where we scrutinize human nature, each person’s rights and obligations, and how to find common grounds for the common good.
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