Audio Version Of The Blog – 2/16/22
Posted on February 16th, 2022
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Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “Antisemitism – in Service of the Media”
The increasing frequency of antisemitic incidents around the world is mainly due to the media’s deliberate emphasis on such incidents, which incite antisemites to act. If the media does not lower the flames, it will end in a catastrophe. The only way to limit the insidious reports is by Jews standing shoulder to shoulder and showing a united front.
A few days ago, at the behest of the antisemitic organization The Rights Forum, administrators at more than a dozen Dutch universities instructed their staff to list their interactions with Israeli and Jewish organizations, reports the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA).
The request demanded “to receive all information about the period from January 1, 2012 to January 24, 2022, more than ten years. And all of this must be submitted, if possible on paper, within 28 days.” One university employee quipped, “What is the next step? That Jews in universities should all wear a yellow star?” Holland’s Chief Rabbi was not amused at all. “What really concerns me,” he said, “is the number of universities that were so compliant with such an evidently antisemitic request. It reminds us that most mayors cooperated during the occupation to pass on the names of their Jewish citizens to the Germans.”
Reports about antisemitic incidents are flooding the media, and all carry the same message: Antisemitism is rising. It is true that antisemitic incidents have risen, but I do not think that Jew-hatred is rising or falling. Jew-hatred always exists in the heart of every non-Jew; it is a constant. What does change, however, is the extent to which people allow themselves to express it, and this depends on the media. The more the media reports such incidents, and especially, the more it reports them with a “somber” tone that implies escalation of antisemitism, the more it emboldens and galvanizes antisemites.
By media, I mean all forms of media: social media, TV and radio channels, newspapers, books, journals, magazines, and anything that hits the air and somehow reaches the public. If the media were to stop reporting antisemitic incidents, the frequency of antisemitic incidents would drop instantly. It would not diminish Jew-hatred, but it would diminish its overt, and mainly violent expression.
Regrettably, this will not happen. “Antisemitism is the scourge that God has sent us in order to lead us together and weld us together,” said Dr. Kurt Fleischer, leader of the Liberals in the Berlin Jewish Community Assembly, in 1929. The hidden hatred keeps looking for ways to vent itself, and the best place to air hatred is the media.
The only way to curb expressions of hatred is to dissolve it, and the only way to dissolve hatred toward Jews is to dissolve the hatred among Jews.
Wittingly or not, the people of Israel are always at the center of attention. From the very beginning, when we forged a nation out of descendants of outcasts from every nation in the Fertile Crescent, we were designated to be the world’s heroes or pariahs. The unbelievable feat that the early Hebrews had achieved in establishing their nationhood against all odds and above all the hatred they had felt for one another was a precedent no one since has managed to replicate. Even the Jews fell in and out of love with one another until they finally dissolved in a bloody civil war that dissolved their nation and brought upon them Titus, who conquered Jerusalem, destroyed what was left of the Temple, and exiled the starved relics to Rome.
Since then, Jews have been persona non grata wherever they went. If they were tolerated, it was only because the ruler exploited them for political or monetary gains, usually the latter, but it never lasted.
The Jews will be welcome wherever they go only if they first unite among themselves. Unity is not their shield against adversaries; it is the example they must give the world. When they unite, the world welcomes them and says, “It is becoming to cling only to this nation,” as the book Sifrey Devarim writes. When they are divided, what happens is what is happening today, what happened in 1492, and what happened in the 1940s.
We need to understand that the media opens and closes the valve on expressions of antisemitism, but our actions for or against each other determine whether the media opens or closes the valve.
More on this topic in my book The Jewish Choice: Unity or Anti-Semitism, Historical facts on anti-Semitism as a reflection of Jewish social discord.
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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Will Israel let Iran go nuclear?“
Recently, Israel has been discussing an attack on Iran, and the Iranians are not holding their tongues either. They published a map with targets in Israel, stating that they can hit any place in Israel, and that all it takes is for Israel to do one mistake in order for Iran to finish Israel off.
In terms of whether or not Israel will attack Iran’s nuclear facilities, I think that it is just talk. The Iranians—a civilization dating back to ancient times—are no fools.
So what if Iran has a nuclear bomb? Americans and Russians hate each other more than Israel and Iran, and they continue their existence with their nuclear bombs.
I am not afraid of Iran having a nuclear bomb. If Israel truly wishes to put an end to the Iranian threat and enjoy peace as any other country does, it is up to the people of Israel to establish peace with the upper force.
The upper force is a force of love and bestowal. When we meet the conditions to let the upper force envelop our planet with love and connection, then we will see how the Iranian threat, as well as several other negative processes taking place against Israel, will simply fade away.
Unfortunately, we Jews are not letting it happen, which is why the world increasingly turns against us. The law of nature is to be in wholeness, perfection and peace with everyone, to love all people in the world, and this process starts with us Jews first implementing such an attitude among each other. Until we undergo a shift in a direction of positively connecting to each other in order to be a conduit for connection to spread worldwide, we will continue bearing witness to increasing pressure upon Israel and the Jewish people.
Based on the video “How Should Israel Respond to the Iranian Nuclear Threat?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Question: What is the role of prayer in revealing the laws of mutual guarantee?
Answer: Prayer is essential for everything.
We must observe it, develop it, and understand that only with the help of our appeal to the Creator can we move from degree to degree.
If we wait and do not turn to Him, this slows down our development very much.
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From the International Convention “Rising Above Ourselves” 1/9/22, “Working in Mutual Responsibility” Lesson 6
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Question: If I start loving a friend whom I hated a minute ago, then it knocks the strength out of me. How do I deal with it?
Answer: There is no way to deal with it. There’s nothing you can do. This is the action of the upper light that can turn you over like this every minute.
And you must always be in the direction, in the intention, toward this light, to the quality of bestowal. And then you won’t have any problems.
You will perceive everything very easily, you will be pleased in all your states.
Question: All I have is only egoism, the ugliness of which I can still understand. So, on what basis should I bring the greatness of the Creator to the group?
Answer: On the basis of constant work on yourself. Based on the fact that your group will be present at lessons all the time, and this way you constantly move forward.
It won’t all fall on you in one go, just regular studies. We need to let the light affect us, and this takes time.
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From the International Convention “Rising Above Ourselves” 1/8/22, “Deriving the Greatness of the Goal from the Friends” Lesson 4
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Rabash, “What Does It Mean that One Should Bear a Son and a Daughter, in the Work?”: The work above reason should be unconditional surrender.
A person should say, “I want to be a servant of the Creator even though I have no idea about the work and I feel no flavor in the work. Nevertheless, I am willing to work with all my might as though I have attainment and feeling and flavor in the work, and I am willing to work unconditionally.”
This is exactly how we must act. Despite the fact that I do not understand and I do not know and I do not feel, and in general I do not want to, I must constantly force myself to do this. As a result, such work in faith above reason, meaning despite my egoistic desires, leads to the revelation of the Creator.
As a result of our efforts, we create such a Kli (vessel), such desires, intentions, and conditions in which we can reveal all this with our own eyes.
I do not want to stop at the level of a purely theoretical depiction. I want to reach a state where the quality of bestowal and love of the Creator is really revealed within me.
I am preparing myself for connection with the next higher degree, which in relation to me is called the Creator.
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From the International Convention “Rising Above Ourselves” 1/8/22, “Going with Faith above Reason” Lesson 5
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Question: Has the world group already passed the stage of what you yourself hate, do not do to your neighbor? Or are we in two stages: to love and to hate?
Answer: I think that at least we have dealt with hatred. It is clear to each of us that there should be no place for hatred among us! Then we will think about love.
Question: What is spiritual love?
Answer: Spiritual love is the highest connection between people or between people and the Creator, which can only be at the level of the absence of any actions and thoughts about oneself, but only for the sake of the Creator.
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From the International Convention “Rising Above Ourselves” 1/7/22, “Adhering to the Friends” Lesson 3
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Question: How can I check whether I am causing harm to the society?
Answer: We have to check and adjust ourselves so we act solely for the benefit of the group.
Question: Why should a person try to become the lowly part of the body and not its higher part like a heart or a head?
Answer: Because one needs to annul oneself.
Question: Yesterday I heard that we are not annulling our egoism, but are rising above it. Today I hear that we are to annul our egoism. Could you please explain?
Answer: You can hear many different things: how we destroy something, burn it, behead it, and so on. Here we mean intentions for our own sake. But desires themselves remain, and we correct them by adding the correct intentions to them.
Question: When I annul myself in the ten, I feel the state of light, happiness, joy, and love. How do I know that this is not egoistic joy but that it comes from the Creator?
Answer: Enter the group again with these desires and intentions and check if this is perceived correctly by all the friends. Then you will know.
Question: Does the process of annulment, growth, and birth repeat itself?
Answer: It is a repetitive process at each degree. It is, of course, in different qualities but at each degree.
Question: What remains of a person after he has managed to annul himself in an ideal way?
Answer: What remains is a Kli (vessel) that gets filled with the upper light, the revelation of the Creator.
Question: What does it mean to ascend if our goal is to bring contentment to the Creator? What should I think about when I annul myself?
Answer: Think exactly about this: I am doing this in order to bring contentment to the Creator, to become equal to Him, close to Him, and to adhere to Him.
Question: What should I do if I no longer understand what annulment is? Is it that I ask the Creator for the friends as a great one asks for the small ones because this is adhesion with the Creator?
Answer: Annulment is when I replace my concerns with the concerns of the group. This is called annulment. Everything else is just words.
Question: If at least one friend in the ten does not annul himself, will the ten not be able to feel the Creator?
Answer: It does not matter. The main thing is that there should be at least two friends who can annul before each other.
Question: If a person successfully annuls himself through the group, does this allow him to create a personal Kli?
Answer: Of course. I cannot be responsible for others. I am trying to do everything I can by annulling myself toward others.
Question: How can we not confuse annulment with indifference or laziness?
Answer: Annulment is not laziness and indifference. In order to annul, I have to work very seriously on myself.
Question: What qualities strengthen the desire of everyone to annul before the ten?
Answer: By what he sees in the friends.
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From the International Convention “Rising Above Ourselves” 1/7/22, “Annulling before the Friends” Lesson 2
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Annulment Is The Condition For Revelation Of The Creator
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Question: At workshops you often ask questions about the importance of measuring closeness to the friends, connection between them, caring for the friends, etc. And each time it makes us very upset, we get lost, because it is completely incomprehensible how to measure emotions in changing situations. So what is the purpose of these questions? And how can we properly approach working with them?
Answer: It is good that you are worried and feel that you do not perceive the questions and cannot give an answer to them. It’s already good! And then we will continue like this until a real feeling comes to you.
Question: It seems that all my efforts and ability to do the right things are not my own actions, but are the result of the group’s influence on me. So how can I stick to a group when I don’t feel their influence?
Answer: Just stick to it as you can, internally. There is no other way out. Start working on it all the time! And suddenly you will find yourself glued to the group.
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From the International Convention “Rising Above Ourselves” 1/7/22, “Adhering to the Friends” Lesson 3
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Preparation to the Lesson
| [media 1] | [media 2] |
Writings of Baal HaSulam “Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Item 49
| [media 3] | [media 4] |
Writings of Baal HaSulam “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” Item 144
| [media 5] | [media 6] |
Lesson on the Topic: “Everything Is Obtained by the Power of Prayer”
| [media 7] | [media 8] |
Selected Highlights
| [media 9] | [media 10] |
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