“When We Don’t Correct, We Corrupt” (Linkedin)

My new article on Linkedin “When We Don’t Correct, We Corrupt

Toward the end of his “Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” written shortly after the end of World War II, the great 20th century kabbalist and thinker, Rav Yehuda Ashlag, aka Baal HaSulam, wrote about his time: “In such a generation, all the destructors among the nations of the world raise their heads and wish primarily to destroy and to kill the children of Israel, as it is written (Yevamot 63), “No calamity comes to the world but for Israel.” This means, as it is written in the above Tikkunim [a part of The Book of Zohar], that [Israel] cause poverty, ruin, robbery, killing, and destructions in the whole world,” and this is why the nations of the world want “primarily to destroy and to kill the children of Israel.”

There is a reason why Baal HaSulam quotes the Talmud (Masechet Yevamot) saying that all calamities come because of Israel, and The Book of Zohar, which speaks about Israel causing “poverty, ruin, robbery, killing, and destructions in the whole world.” Since the inception of our nation, our sages and leaders have linked the state of the world with the state of our unity.

Rav Yehuda Alter, author of the book Sefat Emet, wrote that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were blessed “because the children of Israel were created in order to correct all of creation.” We’ve already seen what The Zohar thinks about the harm Israel cause when they are not corrected, namely disputed. However, when Israel are corrected, namely united, The Zohar views us with a completely different light. In the portion Aharei Mot, The Zohar writes, “‘Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to also sit together.’ These are the friends as they sit together and are not separated from each other. At first, they seem like people at war, wishing to kill one another … then they return to being in brotherly love. …And you, the friends who are here, as you were in fondness and love before, henceforth you will also not part from one another … and by your merit, there will be peace in the world.”

Rav Kook, a contemporary of Baal HaSulam and a great kabbalist and thinker in his own right, was quite poetic when he wrote about the role of Israel in bringing world peace through their unity. In the book Orot HaKodesh, he wrote, “Since we were ruined by unfounded hatred, and the world was ruined with us, we will be rebuilt by unfounded love, and the world will be rebuilt with us.”

These days, when we look at the unfolding climate cataclysm, at societies in the West disintegrating, when bellicose speeches are propagating war, we should think of the message of our sages. We may be alarmed by the ferocity of rabid antisemites, but if we are honest with ourselves, our sages carried a strikingly similar message to theirs: Israel is responsible for the bad and for the good in the world. When we don’t correct, we corrupt; when we don’t unite, we break apart, or as Rav Kook asserted, when we are divided, we divide the world; when we are united, we unite the world.

Some nations and some religions profess to be destined to conquer the world. No one but adherents of those faiths agrees with them. Israel believes in its duty to do Tikkun Olam, to correct the world, and the majority of the world agrees. As Sefat Emet writes, “Israel were created in order to correct all of creation.”

We are surprised at the fierceness of Jew-hatred, but we are blind to the fierceness of our hatred for each other. Our own hatred, so the greatest of our nation have always stated, is the cause of the world’s hatred toward us, and the cause of all hatreds anywhere. It is time we fight against antisemitism and hatred where they truly lie: among ourselves.
[285495]

Audio Version Of The Blog – 7/30/21

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

“IMF: Covid Scars The Vulnerable The Most” (BIZCATALYST)

My new article on BIZCATALYST “IMF: Covid Scars The Vulnerable The Most

On the homepage of its website, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) writes that it is “an organization of 190 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world.”

In a report the IMF published recently, titled After-Effects of the Covid-19 Pandemic, the organization concludes that “The degree of expected scarring varies across countries, depending on the structure of economies… Emerging market and developing economies are expected to suffer more scarring than advanced economies.” As usual, the rich and powerful get away with everything, and the exploited weak bear the brunt. We don’t need an organization of 190 countries to know that this is the case, but to change it. When it does nothing to change it, it means that its purpose is not to change the situation but to perpetuate it, mask the ploy from the vulnerable, and if possible, collect a few compliments on its great service to society.

The pandemic is a blessing for the rich and powerful. They use organizations like the IMF as lip service, and I have zero expectations from them. When they act, it is only in order to gain even more wealth and power. When you bring them an idea, start with what benefit they will get out of it. If you don’t, don’t waste your time or theirs. Things won’t change until the poor raise an outcry that they can no longer survive. Then, things will get interesting. But the clash will be short-lived. In the end, nothing will change because the ego has not changed.

If the rich can get away from the crowd by hopping on a private jet to a resort in the Maldives, what incentive will they have to change anything?

It looks like things will change only when humanity is lying face down in the gutter. As long as heads of states can get away from it all, and get away with it, nothing will change. On the contrary, there will be “world peace” based on a global economy where people have equally nothing, and a global moral system that says, “Steal as much as you can, however you can, and wherever you can.”

You would think that there is no point in talking about the situation, but that is not the case. A change will come, but it will happen only when the lie is exposed to the whole world, and the world cannot ignore it. When this happens, humanity will not sit idly when more than 400,000 people are diagnosed with Covid every single day in India alone, and 4,000 people die there for lack of oxygen and basic medical treatment or adequate facilities. A few weeks ago, this disgrace was happening in Brazil, now it is happening in India, in a few weeks it will happen elsewhere, and we don’t care until it hits us in the face. It isn’t just “aid” organizations that are indifferent; it is all of us.

If we cared, they wouldn’t dare. They wouldn’t have the audacity to contort their faces in phony frowns of sympathy.

Sincerely, I have no hope that a change will come from suffering. People will continue to ache until they feel that death is better than living, but they will still not change. The only thing that will eventually change us is the realization that our only strength is in each other. Then, when people turn toward each other, they will realize that they cannot unite, that their hearts are frozen, and this is why they’re suffering. Only when people try to merge their hearts will they realize that their egoism is their enemy, the cause of their afflictions, and that all along, it has been fooling them into thinking that it is someone else’s fault.

When we try to form a bond, we will finally find the strength and gumption that we need in order to overcome our ordeals. The horrific future on our path will materialize only if we remain oblivious to the solution of unity, the only solution that can work.

Human suffering is not written in stone; it is written in our hearts of stone. If we turn our hearts toward each other, it will soften them, and this will soften our fate.

Nature isn’t cruel. No animal suffers as much as we do, unless we afflict it on them. The only thing that’s cruel in nature is human nature. If we change it, by reaching out to one another and forming a bond that is similar to the bonds among all parts of nature, nature will cease its lashing at us. Then, and only then, we will begin to heal, and start living for real.

“We’re Our Own Cancer” (Linkedin)

My new article on Linkedin “We’re Our Own Cancer

From the beginning of creation to this day, the universe has evolved as one system, whose elements are all intermingled and interdependent. Because everything began from one point, everything is connected, will always stay connected, and whatever happens in one place affects the entire system.

As the universe evolved, higher levels of existence manifested themselves one at a time. The substratum of everything is of course the mineral level. Then, as life appeared, new levels emerged—the vegetative, then the animate, and finally the human level. Each new level both transcends the previous levels and relies on them for its survival. Accordingly, each level is built to carefully maintain the dynamic balance that brings stability and growth to Earth, and to the entire universe. Over billions of years, this is how our beautiful universe evolved.

But then came the human level and thrashed the system.

We, the zenith of creation, were made without any sense of balance. We take as much as we can, wherever we can, and nothing satisfies us. We do not strive, like the rest of the levels of nature, to sustain ourselves, but to surpass, control, and ultimately destroy everyone else. The organism called “Nature,” it seems, has got cancer, and we are it.

Like cancer, we metastasize; we have spread all over the globe, and now we are aspiring to metastasize to nearby planets. Wherever we go, we bring with us the same spirit: Take everything until there’s nothing left, then move on. Like cancer, which dies with its host organism, we will die with planet Earth, unless we change while we still can.

Evidently, Earth is very sick. This summer has proven that to anyone who still doubted it, that nature is out of balance. It is also evident that man is the key element in driving nature to imbalance. Therefore, man, and only man, can restore it.

We may be devoid of the inherent sense of balance that all of creation possesses, but we are smart; we can learn anything. It is a matter of choice. If we choose to develop caring and consideration, we will offset the negative impact of our inherent sense of exploitation. To create balance, we must develop these qualities to the point where they match the level of our craving to surpass, control, and ultimately destroy. Since we are the only element that is out of balance, and therefore causes all of the unbalanced symptoms that Earth is showing, if we balance our self-centeredness with its opposite quality, we will calm all of nature, as they are all symptoms of the cancer called “humanity.”

China Is Taking Over The World

405In the News (Daily Mail): Seventeen schools are already owned by Chinese companies, but that number is set to rocket. …

“Nine of the 17 schools under Chinese control are owned by firms whose founders or bosses are among China’s most senior Communist Party members; …

“Schools are using educational tools for teaching children a ‘whitewashed’ view of China;

“One firm admitted its acquisition of British schools is aimed supporting China’s controversial Belt And Road strategy, which aims to expand Beijing’s global influence. …

“Last night, Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said: ‘China’s strategic understanding and reach means that they have an advantage in seeking to influence others and using established brands, including some of our own, to achieve that position. …

“The revelations will add to concern about the growth of Confucius Institutes at 29 British universities, and Confucius Classrooms, an offshoot, at almost 150 schools… .

“They claim to promote the Chinese language and culture, but critics say they are a vehicle for Beijing to spread propaganda and curtail free speech.”

My Response: The thing is that we do not know what is really happening. The fact that they tell us a little bit that they bought some schools is all child’s play. The Chinese are pragmatists. Absolutely clear ones.

Question: What is China for humanity?

Answer: This government policy is based on conquering the world without destroying it.

Comment: Without wars.

My Response: Yes, this is the new strategy. Therefore, they will enter into this gradually, step by step.

Comment: They enter into contracts with Iran, contracts with Iran’s enemies, contracts with us, with Israel, in some incomprehensible way.

My Response: They do not care with whom and how. They need hegemony. The hegemony of China. Although, in general, there is no ideology. This is not socialism, not communism, not capitalism. They only want power. Pure power.

Question: Do you think that power is an ideology?

Answer: Yes, the usual egoism. They had it locked up for years and years, and now it has started to break through. Thus, they implement it.

Question: Do you think they will implement it? Is humanity powerless before them?

Answer: No. The fact is that at the same time it all seems to be leveled. If I go somewhere and use something and pay someone for something, then I do not care who the owner is. The main thing is that I receive the service and I can pay for it. This is why I do not see anything Chinese or European in this.

This is the paradox. That is, they bought a factory, and the factory continues to work, but it now belongs to China. But I do not feel this and I do not know this and it does not matter to me.

I do not pay attention to what belongs to whom at all. A completely different card is played here—one from above.

Question: Can you tell what card is being played?

Answer: Eventually, we must understand that it does not matter who owns what. Everything is toward the Creator. It is important for us to know that if we want to use something correctly, we can only do that through mutual dependence, mutual connection between us.

What difference does it make to me to whom this belongs according to the banks or something else! It does not matter. This world in which we paid attention that this is German, this is Soviet, I want to live with this, I do not want to live with this, is over.

Comment: But we wanted quality service.

My Response: There will be quality.
[282060]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 4/8/21

Related Material:
Communism In China
American Debt To China
A Chinese Dream

Cannot Conceive A Child

291Comment: “I can’t conceive and give birth, and I really want a child. But we have already seen all the doctors and healers, and it has not helped. How does one maintain balance and harmony? They tell me that I have to accept it, but I want a child.”

My Response: No, you should not accept it in any case. You can continue to conceive a child in any way, through doctors, of course. Because naturally, you have already seen that this does not work in any way. This means that you should try to do this through any scientific, medical possibilities. Do not calm down until you are at least 60 years old. Today there are such cases.

Comment: This woman is told that she has to accept it, this is fate.

My Response: No way! And what is next? Take someone else’s child for upbringing? Maybe. Sometimes, by the way, this in turn helps to conceive. But still try to do it yourself. Don’t calm down.

Comment: You said an interesting phrase that taking an adopted child sometimes helps you to conceive yourself.

My Response: This excites additional internal, female systems in a woman, and then she is more capable of fertilization.

Question: And what is happening? What was sleeping in her, what was aroused?

Answer: Motherhood, connection, and attitude to the child, all this begins to be excited in action, in life. Then she is able to get pregnant.

Question: Why do they give a woman such a test?

Answer: It is impossible to guess. To this day, we see how everything is shrouded in such a supreme mystery that nothing can be done. Here one does not conceive and cannot conceive. Everything.

We see from the Torah that all our forefathers had problems with conceiving children.
But do not calm down in any case.
[278511]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 1/18/21

Related Material:
The Result of Spiritual Problems
Everything Has A Spiritual Root
Diseases Are The Result Of The Ego

The Task Of The Group

544Question: What instruction can we give to the group in order to cultivate a sense of internal connection, understanding of each other, and contact between them? What might a group task sound like?

Answer: The members of the group should reveal:
What is pushing us forward?
The meaning of our life and the meaning of development.
What is the difference between individual and group development?
Why does our egoism not allow us to develop but bring suffering?
What can I gain by being connected?
What is the interrelation between each person being above others, below others, equal to others?
How can we check whether we can achieve such a homogeneous state where we will all be equally aimed toward each other in a circle and determine the center of the group?
What does the center mean? Where my “I” will be no more, but only “we” as one common “I.”
What would we feel in our new identity? Not each feeling himself or others but feeling “us.” How can we yearn for this?

Such gradual training introduces people to a new state.

At the same time, they begin to feel that there is a completely different level of perception here. A sixth sense appears: the feeling from within “us.” But this “us” is absolutely common, collective, and today we cannot even imagine it. This is not just a detachment from oneself, but inclusion of everyone into each other.
[284869]
From KabTV’s “Videoconference”

Related Material:
How To Not To Lose The Center Of The Group?
The Prayer Of The Group
New Life 1304 – Group Discussion

The Serpent—The Driving Force Of Nature

571.03Question: The whole world thinks that Adam sinned because he fell for the temptation of the serpent.

Answer: He did not sin. What could he possibly do—this piece of animal flesh that could not even become a human?

Comment: It is written that God warned: “But of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat of it, for on the day that you eat thereof, you shall surely die.” But the serpent came and began to persuade: And the serpent said to the woman, “You will surely not die.” And when Adam tasted the forbidden fruit, God said: ” And He said, “Who told you that you are naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”

My Response: “You shall surely die” is good. It means that your egoism will die in you, and you will reach another level.

The serpent is a necessary egoistic desire that finally begins to awaken in a person. And then he sees that he is opposite of the Creator, and he has where to advance to, what to correct in himself, and what to ascend to.

Today such a snake is necessary for many people in the world. I would say—for everyone! Everyone thinks that everything is fine: “We live just fine. We were born, we live, we die, everything is okay. Just let me calmly stretch out these years and that’s it.” But why does man need these years? What are they for?

The serpent shows you that you live in vain, that you are an animal, that you have the germ of evil in you. It does not allow us to live in peace. The serpent is a strong, powerful driving force of nature, i.e., a huge egoism that starts to awaken us and sets us against each other.
[284989]
From KabTV’s “The Power of The Book of Zohar,” #16

Related Material:
A Heated Chess Game Against The Snake
Just Like In A Light Bulb Filament
When The Serpent Unfolds

Exist In Love

528.02Question: There is a well-known phenomenon in physics regarding the effects of a nuclear explosion. I do not exactly know the process, but when two protons with the same charge are connected, they repel each other. And if you apply a certain force, overcome some barrier, and connect them, then an explosion occurs and energy is released.

The same thing happens to people. Trying to unite with each other, at first there is rejection between them, but if they overcome this barrier, they begin to unite and energy is released. What is this energy?

Answer: This is spiritual energy. If people overcome selfishness, mutual rejection and try to get closer to each other, then this is a completely different state. They begin to regenerate between them, to equip the higher world, the higher relations, the property of bestowal.

These are not the attraction and repulsion that exist in our physical world, but the properties of attraction that we must create over our negative, egoistic properties. There is one property in every person—what is considered egoism, that is, the desire to please oneself—which can be satisfied either by rapprochement, or rejection from something, to something, and so on.

If we try to create the property of love in ourselves over the properties of egoism, then we begin to feel how it is possible to exist in the property of love. This existence is called the property of the Creator.
[284835]
From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 7/2/21

Related Material:
Turning Hatred Into Love
Turning The Hands Of The Clock From Hate To Love
Go For Love

Our World Is The Darkest Place

424.02Question: Does the mind change according to the material a person studies? Is the mind of a person who studies the wisdom of Kabbalah different from the mind of a person who studies astronomy for instance?

Answer: Yes. A person who studies the wisdom of Kabbalah studies about the actions of the Creator. He thinks differently.

There are five worlds, one inside the other. The upper light goes through all the worlds, all the way to the center. These worlds are called Adam Kadmon (early man), which means the prototype of man, Atzilut, Beriya, Yetzira, and Asiya. The smallest circle in the center is called our world, in which we live.

We live in the darkest place, while the upper light reaches us through all the worlds from the world of Ein Sof.

Question: There is so much light around us, but the section of our world remains in the dark.

Answer: A person has no need for this light, because we cannot stand the light of bestowal. It is death for us. We can only perceive the egoistic light and we live within it.
[249794]
From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah” 4/21/19

Related Material:
All The Worlds On One Skewer
The Illumination Of Malchut
Between Keter And Malchut