Audio Version Of The Blog – 12/19/21

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Can The Miracle Of Hanukkah Be Repeated?

627.1Question: It is said that a miracle happened on Hanukkah: the oil, which should have been enough for only one day, burned for eight days. Do you think this could really happen in the material world?

Answer: There are many opportunities for such incidents and events in our world. This all depends on how we treat them. Of course, what happened on Hanukkah was a miracle from an earthly point of view.

Comment: But no one can repeat it.

My Response: Of course. There are no such conditions. But if there were, then it could be repeated.
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 11/30/21

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“Jewish Unity Against Extinction” (Times Of Israel)

Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “Jewish Unity Against Extinction

“I can see very strong antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment, and it’s beginning to be ‘okay,’” said Professor Israel Aumann, 2005 Nobel Laureate in Economics, in a recent interview with local newspaper Israel Hayom. I share his concern and “great sorrow, it is spreading within streams that are considered the bon ton of global society.” We have the diagnosis, but it is extremely urgent to begin intensive treatment to cure Jew hatred before it is too late. The cure is in our hands and in the hands of no one else, we just need to recognize it.

“There has always been antisemitism of the extreme Right in the world. But the extreme Right doesn’t lead the world and doesn’t set the tone. Those who really have influence are the progressives and the moderate Left in America and Europe,” Aumann added. That’s an accurate reflection, but whether the hate comes from the Right or the Left, it’s still hate, it’s still dangerous. Therefore, we should look at its source and not stop to ask why the Jews and the State of Israel are being attacked so violently. We need to examine how to neutralize all kinds of hatred against us and achieve a good life.

Already 14 years ago, in September 2007, when I met with Prof. Aumann at a round table discussion, he pointed out that relations in Israeli society have changed for the worse, as people only care about their small private slit. “Something has been lost here, and I think that is the reason for all the difficult problems that are overtaking us, including in the area of security,” he told me at the time.

“In my opinion, we will not be able to exist here much longer on the basis of post-Zionist ideals, which in reality are not ideals, but lacking ideals. First, because we are still surrounded by enemies, and second, because today there are elements within the state that do not want the State of Israel to continue to exist as a Jewish state.

“Then there may or may not be physical destruction, but if we continue on the current path, we will lose our identity completely, and I find that very unfortunate and disturbing,” he said.

In fact, the situation has only worsened because of the increased selfishness of Israel’s society which has permeated into many facets of our daily life. In the world, too, the same ego that grew from generation to generation and propelled humanity to development and prosperity in all spheres reached its peak at the end of the twentieth century, until all the boundaries we knew in the past were broken. And so today we all find that we are in a small global village and yet simultaneously there is vociferous hatred between people.

This hostility threatens the very existence of humanity and especially the people of Israel. The selfishness that has erupted in Israel over the last sixty years has led to a drastic alienation between us. The value of “love your neighbor as yourself” that bound us together as a people before the destruction of the Temple has completely disappeared. We have sunk to an unprecedented low, and as Prof. Aumann said, this poses an existential threat to us.

If the alienation between us continues, we will completely lose our identity as a people and as a society. And if we lose ourselves and disappear as a people, we cease to provide the world with its spiritual oxygen, we cease to function as a “light unto the nations.” Consequentially, instead of helping humanity we hinder it. In response, humanity rises up and shows intense hatred for us from all sides of the political spectrum, blaming us for all the evil in the world.

In order to contain the growing threat of antisemitism and preserve the existence of our people and our state, we must return to the principle of “love your neighbor as yourself.” That is the only solution; the cure for hate is love. Therefore, we must first agree that the realization of the value of love between us is the foundation and basis for our existence as a people. Without this love, we do not have the right to be called “one people”; we are just a collection of people living on a common piece of land with nothing to bind us.

In our lives, everything depends on education, on changing human attitudes, on rising above our differences and strengthening the mutual guarantee and consideration between us. It will lead us back to fulfilling our role as a Jewish nation, which Rav Kook clearly stated, namely, “to unite the whole world in one family.” Only when we begin to internalize the importance and value of loving others can we save our people, our country and the entire world.
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“Why People Remember Love Only On Their Deathbed” (Medium)

Medium published my new article “Why People Remember Love Only on Their Deathbed

I was told that before he died, Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs wrote a letter where he reflected on life. According to the letter, he wrote, “Treasure love for your family, love for your spouse, love for your friends. … God gave us the senses to let us feel the love in everyone’s heart, not the illusions brought about by wealth. The wealth I have won in my life, I cannot bring with me. What I can bring is only the memories precipitated by love. That’s the true riches that will follow you, accompany you giving you strength and light to go on.”

Indeed, before a person dies, he begins to feel something of the truth. The approaching death makes him give up his ego and enables him to see the truth.

There is a boundary between caring for oneself and emerging into an entirely different realm where there is overflowing love. The ego prevents us from finding it because it is always looking inward — at what I have and what I can gain, rather than at what is really out there. Therefore, when it steps aside, we realize what we have been missing all our lives: a world full of love that exists all around us.

The ego “dies” just before the person dies. Freed from its shackles, we can now realize that we have not really loved before and do not know what true love is. It is a sad moment of reckoning when we realize that all our lives we have thought only of ourselves.

There are those who advise people on their deathbed — and I have witnessed it myself — that in that state we should drink, smoke, enjoy ourselves and take as much as we can from life while we still can. This approach may be honest, but I do not think it brings happiness.

We must remember that the soul never stops evolving; it continues to develop even after a person’s physical demise. Therefore, realizing the true meaning of love, that love is not about feeling my own existence, but that I exist for the sake of others and that satisfying them makes me happy, that realization is priceless and eternal.
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“Boycotting Beijing 2022 Games Proves We’ve Gone Backwards” (Medium)

Medium published my new article “Boycotting Beijing 2022 Games Proves We’ve Gone Backwards

Members of the Tibetan Youth Association in Europe (TYAE) and Students for a Free Tibet protest against the Beijing 2022 Olympic Games outside the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Lausanne, Switzerland December 11, 2021. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

The US, Canada, Australia, the UK, and other countries have announced that they will diplomatically boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing over China’s alleged abuse of human rights. In the past, the world viewed mixing sports and politics in a very negative light. This is no longer the case. The odium among countries has intensified to the point where any means of showing disapproval is legitimate. The ancient Greeks had what was known as the “Olympic Truce,” when all fighting ceased before and during the Olympic Games to ensure that the host city-state (Elis) was not attacked and athletes and spectators could travel safely to the games and return peacefully to their respective countries.

So much has changed since the days of ancient Greece. People had ideals then; we have none. We often think of people in antiquity as barbaric and of ourselves as civilized. In many ways we are the barbarians, and the Olympics are an example of that. We have gone backwards. We can no longer unite around anything. The selfish urge for self-assertion makes us impulsively and staunchly oppose any view of another person simply because it is the view of another person and I want my view to dominate, not anyone else’s.

Then again, the ego keeps growing, and we are growing constantly more hateful of each other, so it is better if the ego demonstrates its nature. At least now we can see who we are and not fantasize that we are somehow more humane or civilized than our ancestors, but quite the contrary. Since recognizing a flaw is inevitably the starting point for correcting it, now that we have come to it, we can start building ourselves better.

If we are still not sure who we are, we should consider the amount of drugs and other illegal and unfair advantages that countries encourage, and sometimes force their athletes to use and employ in order to get on the Olympic podium. It is a war, and in a war it does not matter how you won as long as you won.

If it were sports, all that would matter was how you played and not how you won or if you won at all. In Greece, they played for sport. We play to win.

Competition should bring out the best in us, make us improve ourselves. It should not make us better than others, but better than our former selves. The fact that we compete to create an incentive to improve ourselves is welcome because it makes us push our limits. However, when we compete for the sake of winning, we are not focusing on improving ourselves, but mainly on outperforming others. In this case, it makes no difference whether you achieved your goal by improving yourself or by affecting others. Therefore, we have no concern about hurting others. On the contrary, it is easier and more enjoyable to hurt others than to improve yourself.

In the current form of the Olympics, they have no use other than to show us how far we have strayed from their original intent. The real gold medal should go to those who improve others. That is the true spirit of sportsmanship.
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The Way Truth Is Revealed

283.02Question: Why is pursuing the truth, even if it is wrong, restricted by censorship? Basically, the whole world is censored.

Answer: The whole world is a totally egoistic field only engaged in planting weeds at the level of still, vegetative, animate, and human, trying to create something out of them to conquer the world, win, defeat, and break it. It is natural. Our whole world is built on a completely different nature.

If some company creates a website where people would advocate an ideologically correct direction of human development, then, of course, they will have to come to Kabbalah.

Question: Could there be disputes and differing opinions?

Answer: Of course. There can be disputes in revealing the truth. But these are disputes not about who is right and who is wrong but what the truth is. The main thing is to have the correct ideology. It does not matter to me who is right or wrong. We need to find out the law of nature that is outside of you and outside of me. We scrutinize it, and we strive for it together.

Question: We know that Kabbalists of the past always had different opinions. Were these disputes aimed to identify a higher level?

Answer: Of course! They greatly encouraged the difference and variety of opinions. This is how truth is revealed. As it is said: “Truth is born in a dispute.” But not in disputes that are currently taking place in parliaments of different countries.
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From KabTV’s “Kabbalah Express” 12/6/21

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A Teacher Is Just Below God

504Question: Who is today’s teacher?

Answer: A person who teaches our children to read and write.

Question: Is this what should be expected of a teacher to teach today?

Answer: I don’t see any teacher teaching anything else.

Question: What would you like a teacher to teach?

Answer: It should be a different question. If I want a teacher to teach something else, society has to be different and parents have to be different. They should know what children lack and need to learn in life, and so, parents should also educate them. A teacher is a public representative who should educate the public, the new generation, correctly.

Question: What should a teacher’s salary be?

Answer: It should be the highest possible. No other profession is more important than teaching.

Question: And compared to a doctor?

Answer: A doctor is less. A doctor cares for the body while a teacher helps students develop their soul.

Question: How should parents relate to teachers?

Answer: With respect. A teacher is just below God because he teaches us how to relate to God. A teacher is a guide, he is the one who opens and teaches about the correct attitude to society, to life and death, to everything. A teacher is actually the representative of the upper force here in this world.
From KabTV’s “Introspect—Current Affairs in the Light of Kabbalah” 12/6/21

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We Are Holding The Key To Happiness

400The UN has issued another statement condemning Israel. However, we must understand that the main reason for the hatred of Jews is the fact that we are not fulfilling our purpose in the world, which is to explain to all nations how to achieve good connection and peace; otherwise, the world will slide further down its downward spiral.

The growth of antisemitism comes from the general law of development of humanity. If humanity has to develop and we do not sweeten this development through our correct behavior, then we cause hatred toward us. This is a law of nature.

Therefore, antisemitism will grow, and there is only one solution, which was described in the wisdom of Kabbalah and in the Torah thousands of years ago. We will not be able to escape from our mission. We have nowhere to hide. There is no place on Earth where we would be able to exist if we do not establish correct relationships.

Then it will influence all the nations of the world and they will look at us differently. Everything depends on the good and correct connection between Jews because the people of Israel were assembled from representatives of all the nations of the world. Only in this form can we oblige all nations to good association and connection, and then peace and tranquility will come to the entire world.

We are holding the key to happiness for the entire world. I cannot express how painful it is for me to see how people suffer and do not find solutions because they do not understand in what form nature operates and what interconnections exist in it. Yet, there is a solution. According to what the wisdom of Kabbalah and the Torah say nothing is required except for one thing: to bring the people of Israel to unity, and we will thus cause all the nations of the world to unite.

Unfortunately, it is easier for Jews to unite with their enemies and haters than with each other. After all, uniting with each other belongs to correction, and uniting with haters belongs to corruption. Our stony heart is drawn to corruption.

While we do not do that, nature will be beating us. Two days ago, more than hundred people died as a result of a tornado in the US state of Kentucky. In a few seconds, the city turned into ruins, an apocalyptic scene. And nature is already preparing more tornadoes.

It is possible to stop all natural disasters by uniting people. Let’s try. Maybe it will help right now. The force of unity of people is more powerful than any tornado, any natural disaster. It is even stronger than the upper force.

Any disaster—a hurricane, a financial crisis, a viral epidemic—all these are blows of nature in response to the lack of unity between people. The connection between people is the most internal force in the world, and if it is not sufficient, then nature reacts with blows.

Yet, people cannot unite because there is a group in humanity called Jews. This group is mandated to come to unity first and thus awaken the feeling in all the nations of the world that unity is the cure for all troubles.

Therefore, the nations of the world need to turn to the Jews and demand that they start working on their unification. This is what the United Nations is for. Instead of condemning the State of Israel, let them protest against the people of Israel all over the world for not working on unification in order to prevent natural disasters in all corners of the world in any form.

It does not matter in which country a Jew lives, in Russia, in America, or in Israel, whether he is rich or poor, any Jew who does not work on unification causes disasters in the world. Therefore, time is running out, we need to unite right now. Only if we show the entire world an example of unity, will we fulfill our purpose.
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From KabTV’s “Conversation with Journalists” 12/12/21

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Human Nature: Everything Is For My Sake

559There are only two forces in the world: the property of receiving and the property of bestowal.

The property of receiving is found on all levels of nature: inanimate, vegetative, animate, and human. We see its manifestations.

We do not see the true property of bestowal at all, as if it does not exist. This is what manifests itself as the upper force, the power of the Creator, which animates everything and controls everything; but we do not feel it.

We see only egoistic forces, each of which is aimed in some direction for its own benefit. This is the nature of our world. Its inner strength, the force of the Creator, energizes all matter. This is not a force that we can talk about, catch, or measure.

Spiritual actions differ from material ones in that they are not carried out for the benefit of the person who produces them.

Therefore if a person does something, it must be done for himself. If he is told: “Do it, but not for your own benefit,” he will not be able to fulfill it. Even if he is put in a certain framework and he does something in order not to be punished, it will still benefit himself.

Other actions are not inherent in us because we do not have the properties corresponding to them: the properties of bestowal, disinterested love, something that does not bring any benefit to the person who produces them.

That is, in addition to egoistic actions where a person clearly understands that he performs them for himself only, there are also spiritual, altruistic actions that he does not do for himself, are not directed at him, and do not return to him.

We cannot perform such actions, but we can gradually master this nature with the help of certain skills by attracting a higher altruistic force on ourselves, which, acting on us, gives us the opportunity to act in this way too, not for ourselves.
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 12/7/21

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How Will The State Of Israel Be Accepted In The World?

962.6Question: What should Israel do to be accepted in the world?

Answer: It should be a spiritual state. We need to educate the nation to be a spiritual nation, to follow the rule of “love thy friend as thyself.”

Question: Who wants to do this in the first place?

Answer: The question is how much pressure will be put on us until we want to.

Question: Is there another solution?

Answer: To explain to the whole world that we need to build a special state here that will be a model for all of humanity, the moment we insist on that, explain it, and build ourselves in correct relationship between us as “They helped Every One His Friend,” we will be accepted in everyone’s eyes and will be able to build one nation and one state.
From KabTV’s “Conversation with Journalists” 11/28/21

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