“Living With Covid” (Linkedin)

My new article on Linkedin “Living with Covid

To me, the news of experts realizing that Covid-19 isn’t going anywhere is good news. From the very beginning, I said that even if there is a vaccine or a drug that cures Covid, the virus will mutate or another bug will come along and render our efforts futile. As I have said probably hundreds of times since the beginning of the outbreak, trying to outsmart nature with technology will not work. We are products of nature, so trying to outsmart our producer is, to put it mildly, unwise.

Personally, I am happy that this is the way nature is directing us. I am not at all happy that people are suffering, but they are not suffering because of nature, but because humanity is obstinate and insists on going where nature isn’t going. When you bump your head against the wall of reality, you’re bound to get a major headache. In the case of humanity, this headache manifests in millions of needless fatalities and countless people suffering from long lasting symptoms because of our mulishness.

Like it or not, Covid is telling us to slow down. The technological rat-race we’ve been on has nearly devastated humanity, and we need to calm down and bring it under control. People need to stop fighting and start talking about what really matters: our relationships.

Since we cannot communicate with each other positively in the physical realm, nature has shifted us to the virtual one. If we learn to communicate positively in that realm, we will see Covid easing its grip and letting us communicate with each other physically, too.

Nature is using Covid to teach us that our real immune system is not in our bodies but in our hearts, in how we relate to one another and how we feel about each other. Since we are all connected, one person’s ill-will percolates to everyone else, and our negative emotions spread like viruses and sicken us. Positive emotions percolate and spread, as well, but those are desperately scarce, hence the pitiful state of humanity.

The vaccines are helpful in keeping the pandemic at bay, but as long as we avoid making the necessary changes in our relations, the virus will keep returning in various forms and intensities until we realize that we need a more fundamental change than just a new vaccine. Covid is not a strain of flu. The way to remove it is not physical, but emotional. Only when we comprehend this, we will be able to heal ourselves, after we heal our malignant relationships. Then, we won’t have to go on living with Covid.
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“The Power Of The Force Of Separation” (Linkedin)

My new article on Linkedin “The Power of the Force of Separation

These days, Jews are commemorating the Three Weeks. In the year 70 CE, the Romans breached the walls of Jerusalem after a several months long siege. However, it took them three weeks of bloody battles to finally defeat the Jews, destroy the Temple, and exile the residents of Judah from the land of Israel, thus ending Jewish sovereignty over the land of Israel for the next two millennia. In those days, the Romans defeated the Jews mainly because of in-fighting among the Jews, and less thanks to the military superiority of the Romans. When Jews commemorate these days, they lament the unfounded hatred that had conquered their hearts and defeated their nation.

Today, it is evident that the same force of separation that prevailed then still prevails now. We have been given the land back, but not thanks to our unity, but because of the world’s pity on us after the atrocities of the Holocaust. Yet, separation still rules our hearts, and unless we overcome it, it will destroy us once again. The Jerusalem Talmud writes about it very clearly (Yoma 1:1): “Any generation in which the Temple is not built, it is as though in those days it was ruined, for it was not built due to unfounded hatred, which is as though it is ruined, as this was the reason for its ruin.”

These somber weeks—and especially their beginning on the 13th of the Hebrew month of Tammuz, when the Romans first breached the walls, and their conclusion, on the 9th of the Hebrew month of Av, when the Second (and first, by the way) Temple was ruined—should be days of introspection for us. Mere bewailing the ruin of the Temple will not do us any good. Victimhood is a treacherous bait, and we must avoid it at all cost. We must take a proactive approach and reflect on the reason for its ruin, on our hatred for each other. Only if we realize that this was the cause of our downfall, we will be able to prevent its recurrence.

Since the beginning of our exile after the ruin, we have adopted the attitude of the helpless victim. Yet, if you read what our sages, the spiritual leaders of our nation, wrote about the same events that we regard as calamities we could not avoid, you will find a very different viewpoint.

Considering the ruin of the First Temple, for example, which we attribute to the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar II, our sages actually attribute it to internal conflicts. The Babylonian Talmud (Yoma 9b) describes the leaders of the Israelites in the following pejorative manner: “Rabbi Elazar said, ‘Those people, who eat and drink with one another, stab each other with the daggers in their tongues.’ Thus, even though they were close to one another, they were filled with hatred for each other.” The Talmud also emphasizes that “the hatred was only among the leaders of the nation, while the majority of Israel did not hate one another.” As we saw before, by the time of the ruin of the Second Temple, the hatred had spread to the entire nation, and we have not recovered from it since.

Today, the force of separation still reigns supreme. One look at what is happening in Israeli politics immediately brings to mind the events leading to the ruin of the First Temple. In fact, some pundits have even found similarity to the events leading to the fall of the Second Temple. Since Israeli politics reflects the state of the Israeli society, currently, we have no reason for optimism.

The bottom line is that we are treading the same ruinous path as our forefathers. If we do not veer off from hatred, we will find ourselves succumbing to yet another “villain,” who will be just like the rest of the villains that have tormented the people of Israel throughout the ages: a consequence of our own mutual malice.

The nations look to us for leadership. And just as every IDF commander learns, one leads by example, and by nothing else. If we do not set an example of unity, the nations will revoke our right to this land. We think this land is undeniably ours, but it is ours only if we are Israel: united “as one man with one heart.” If we are like the rest of the nations, then we are not Israel and we have no right to sovereignty over this land.

The forces of separation are gnawing at our ranks and weakening our power. We are strong only when we are united because then we are Israel, “a light unto nations.” When we do not strive to love each other as ourselves, however difficult it may be, then we have no justification being regarded as Israel, and therefore no right to the land of Israel.

New Life 1310 – The Reasons For Losing The Sense Of Closeness In The Family

New Life 1310 – The Reasons For Losing The Sense Of Closeness In The Family
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Nitzah Mazoz

Connections in the family are fading away because the ego continually grows and doesn’t want to be dependent on anyone. This is a natural process. People no longer feel obligated to their siblings or parents.

We can still learn how to develop a warm human connection in the family if we teach our kids about the ego and how to work with rejections and envy correctly. We need to show everyone what they will gain from being connected to others by doing exercises like, for example, helping a different sibling each day in every matter that comes up.

We can learn positive competition by comparing who can ascend higher above their own egoism in order to get closer to the other family members and awaken love in them. Family should provide a sense of support, communication, commitment, and being closer on a new level when we rise above the ego together.
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From KabTV’s “New Life 1310 – The Reasons For Losing The Sense Of Closeness In The Family,” 6/27/21

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“When I Look At Them I See My Fault” (Linkedin)

My new article on Linkedin “When I Look at Them I See My Fault

I look at the state that our nation should be in, “as one man with one heart,” and the state we are actually in—unwilling to recognize each other—and it pains me. When I look at our politicians, I see the state of our nation. Since they represent the people, their relationships reflect the relationships among the people: No one is friendly; no one even bothers to be politically correct.

Look at the Knesset, our parliament, and see where we are: Each with a knife behind the back or in the pocket, very similar to the days preceding the ruin of the Temple. This is what unfounded hatred looks like, and we know where it is leading.

Even worse, when I look at what is happening around the world, at all the hatred that prevails the world over, I know the ruin among them points to the ruin among us. When I see what is happening in Russia, Germany, or Poland, at the yelling and corruption that we see in every government, I see that I am the cause; I am the cause. I don’t look at them and say, “It’s not so bad; we have that, too.” No, I know that I am the reason it is happening to them, and I must be the reason that they will connect “as one man with one heart” through the example that our people should give them.

I have no grievances against anyone but myself. I know that I, and the whole of the Jewish people, can tilt the world for better or for worse through our internal unity or separation. This is what our sages have always told us; this is what our history throughout the centuries has shown us; and only our obstinacy prevents us from recognizing the obvious truth.

“How Can Cities Help Fix Gangs And Gang Violence?” (Quora)

Dr. Michael LaitmanMichael Laitman, On Quora: How can cities help fix gangs and gang violence?

We need to shift our focus to teaching and promoting the science about the purpose of human life. When we reach the understanding that we live in a single system that leads us to a life of perfection, absolute fulfillment, happiness and balance with nature, above our bodily life, then we will shift our concern from our bodies to our soul, i.e., to what is outside of us.

Then, instead of focusing on how to enjoy for personal benefit alone, we will think about how we can give to others and exit our egoistic way of life. We will appreciate and aspire to altruism, and by our general focus heading in a new giving direction, we will start feeling a completely different life. Instead of our current lives that we feel as several transient fleeting moments, we will feel nature in its unfiltered state: as an eternal and perfect flow of life.

This is where we need to bring humanity, and especially the younger generation. Only thanks to the education and spreading of such wisdom, if done successfully, will we gain the ability to overcome the evil that exists in the world, including the negative phenomena in big cities, the force of the fist that is accepted among several youth in their ghettos.

Based on a Q&A with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on September 9, 2006. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

On The Swing Of Light And Darkness

232.05The work in ascents and descents is given to us from above, from the Creator, who pushes us to this work. Sometimes He reveals a new will to receive to us that was hidden inside and forces us to fall, then He helps us rise and explore our egoism in the upper light, in the will for bestowal.

Ascents and descents alternately reveal increasing egoistic desires and an increasing desire for bestowal so we get to know ourselves and the whole creation. We study our nature compared to the nature of the Creator and get an opportunity to advance toward Him by combining one with the other.

All this comes as a result of ascents and descents. Therefore, a lot of preparation is needed. Patience is needed in order to go through many thousands of ascents and descents until the very end of correction where the highest ascent occurs, preceded by the lowest descent.

The further we advance along the spiritual path toward correction, the deeper the descents and higher the ascents become. The Creator created one against the other for us, and we move forward studying His work as the advantage of light from darkness.

It always happens only in such a contrasting form: the greater the darkness, then the more light is revealed. The time axis that leads us to the end of correction takes us along a sinusoid (sine wave)—from ever greater descents to ever greater ascents where plus and minus always correspond to each other in absolute magnitude.

Therefore, the whole work is comprised of accepting the descents, trying to annul oneself, to bend down, as it is said about King David: “O Lord…You hid Your countenance and I became frightened.” And in fact, it is unpleasant when each time weakness, indifference, and disappointment overcome us in a new way. That is, new forms of lack of desire for spirituality are revealed. But then an ascent comes, gives us more strength, clarifies the past descent, and allows us to justify it.

Therefore, it is necessary to learn one thing from the other. This study does not end until the very end of correction as the advantage of light out of darkness. The more darkness manifests itself in all its forms, the more light and elevation unfolds after it. And thus we get to know the light, the ascent, the Creator, the forms of nearing Him precisely in contrast with the forms of distance and darkness that were in the descent.

It is said about Rabbi Shimon that he felt like just Shimon, a simple merchant in the market, an ordinary person. And then he realized that this descent was so significant that apparently after it, there would be a special, unusually high ascent.

This is how we should try to hold ourselves through the ascents and descents so that these two forms will support each other, because one is impossible without the other.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/7/21, “Working in Ascents and Descents”

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An Infinite Moment

214Maimomides (Rambam) writes that our world is below the axis of time and the spiritual world is above time. Therefore, as we move closer to spirituality, we suddenly begin to feel that one second is a very long time. We can fit many events into the period from the beginning of one second to its end.

In modern technology, devices work at high frequencies and are able to process millions of impulses per second, which they could not do before. The spiritual world is way above modern technology and works at an infinite frequency. Therefore, there are no short moments in spirituality, and every moment there is infinite.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/7/21, “Working in Ascents and Descents”

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Living For Friends

530Question: Is it possible to teach a person that the team is more important than himself?

Answer: We see this in examples of people who work in special teams—in submarines or with climbers—in general, those who are constantly faced with the question of survival depending on their connection in the team. They hold on to each other so much that they are ready to give their lives if their friends die.

Question: In principle, are we talking about the fact that the whole process of upbringing is a change of an egocentric worldview to an altruistic one, even without going beyond our nature?

Answer: Yes, it is still within the framework of selfishness.

Comment: But we can see that this does not work. No matter how much they tried to educate us in kindergarten and in school.

My Response: They did not work on us properly. A person can be made into such a being who will see his destiny only in serving its collective. This usually works in small, closed groups when a person identifies his existence with the collective so much that if the collective dies, he also dies. He cannot exist without them.
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 6/25/21

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Garbage Truck And No Politics

511.01Comment: Ann-Sofie Hermansson, formerly mayor of the Swedish city Gothenburg, retired from politics at the age of 56. She has connections everywhere and had a vast choice of positions, yet she choose to drive a garbage truck.

My Response: Well done! She is a smart woman!

Comment: Her dad once told her: “Daughter, you need to have a real profession in life.” Now she has an opportunity to use it. She says: “The responsibility is the same, just without meetings and phone calls.”

My Response: This is a Swedish character.

Comment: How do you like this decision of a person who was in politics, to suddenly leave everything behind?

My Response: This person understands that all this politics is such dirt and it needs to be washed away.

Question: Is this why she became a garbage truck driver?

Answer: Yes. Very good. What else do you need? You get up early, finish your working day early and you are free.

Question: What is it that attracts people to politics, to all this dirt?

Answer: This is petty egoism. Maybe it will be transformed into something somehow, but I cannot see this yet. Look how everyone tries to climb everywhere, and how much they fight and pay for it. Everything is around politics—money, the media, whatever you want!

Question: What do you think? Is it possible to compare: to give a person a role in politics and give him the opportunity to work somewhere for a year, and then decide where he will go? I wonder what he would choose.

Answer: There is nothing you can do, his egoism decides this.

Question: Are you saying that a person cannot escape from this?

Answer: No, you cannot escape from fate.

Question: What conclusion can we draw from this?

Answer: The conclusion is very simple. Make your way into politics, but think about the fact that it would be nice to work on a garbage truck and clean up the city.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 5/31/21

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Kabbalah’s View On Anti-Semitism

448.9Question: You talk a lot about anti-Semitism and you even wrote the book  From Chaos to Harmony: The Solution to the Global Crisis According to the Wisdom of Kabbalah. In addition, books have been published by some of your students, in particular, Anti-Semitism as a Law of Nature: A book for Jews but not only  by Michael Brushtein and Time to Gather Stones by Mikhail Palatnik. What is this layer of books?

Answer: These are books that talk about the application of Kabbalah in our world, about how we should influence our destiny and the destiny of humanity.

Antisemitism is not a problem for the Jewish people. This is a problem of the world. Humanity does not understand the historical mission of the Jews and Kabbalah explains it. So, here we just take Kabbalah and try to find out what it says about our world.

Antisemitism is not some kind of emotional attitude of the peoples of the world toward Jews. Kabbalah tells us where these people came from, why they are hated, why they are to blame for not being loved, why they do not fulfill their historical mission, etc. It completely overturns the attitude toward antisemitism and explains that this is a law of nature.
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From KabTV’s”Questions about Kabbalistic Books” 10/22/19

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