Audio Version Of The Blog – 11/17/22
Posted on November 17th, 2022
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My new article on Linkedin “The UN May Declare, But Only We Determine”
On November 11, the United Nations’ Special Political and Decolonization Committee (Fourth Committee) approved six draft resolutions, one of which will “request an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”
What I think we should really do about this decision is nothing at all. We should ignore it as though it never happened, or we did not hear about it.
According to the resolution, the Assembly is to “demand that Israel cease all measures that violate the human rights of the Palestinian people,” as well as “have the Assembly decide to request the International Court of Justice to render urgently an advisory opinion on the legal consequences arising from the ongoing violation by Israel of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, from its prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967.”
The UN’s press release also noted that “Israel’s representative … said that calling for the Court’s involvement would decimate any chances of reconciliation between Israel and the Palestinians.” The representative also said that “such resolutions demonize Israel and exempt the Palestinians of any responsibility for their current situation.”
I can understand why the Israeli delegate would urge the delegates of the member states not to approve the resolution although he knew it was a hopeless effort. He is only doing his job.
However, what I think we should really do about this decision is nothing at all. We should ignore it as though it never happened, or we did not hear about it.
The United Nations has been against the State of Israel since day one. This resolution, which purports to decry Israel’s violations of human rights in the areas occupied during the 1967 war, is nothing but a pretext to exterminate the Jewish state one step at a time. This is why in 1955, long before the 1967 war, when Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion was told that the UN would oppose a suggested military campaign in Gaza, he replied, Um shmum (lit. UN [is] nothing).
If, on the other hand, Israel is to respond after all, it must unequivocally state the facts:
1. The one book that all three Abrahamic faiths recognize, the Bible, writes that the Land of Israel is the land of the people of Israel.
2. Every historic evidence ever found supports that the land of Israel was the historic land of our fathers, including, of course, the Temple Mount.
3. There is not one text that mentions a Palestinian people in this land (Philistines are not Palestinians and certainly have no connection to Jerusalem or Judea and Samaria).
4. The name Palestine appeared very late in history: It was given to Judea in the 2nd century C.E. by the Romans after they crushed the Jewish Revolt of Bar Kokhba. By doing so, they attempted to obliterate all traces of Jewish presence in the land, so the Jews would not try to return to it. However, according to Prof. of History Louis Feldman, Rabbi Akiva testified in the second century that Diaspora Jews still referred to the land as Eretz Israel [Land of Israel].
5. If any territorial demands are to be made, then according to what is written in the Bible and what has been found by archeologists, Israel should stretch from the Nile in Egypt to the Euphrates in Iraq.
I have no qualms about whether the world will agree to such demands, but I do think we should stop apologizing. Instead, we should insist on our rights, and—even more importantly—do what we came here to do: unite among ourselves and become a model nation, a nation of solidarity, mutual responsibility, and love of others as ourselves, precisely the legacy of our people.
Our presence in this country does not depend on this or that UN resolution, on the terror of Arabs, or on our sophisticated weapons. Our presence here depends on doing what I just stated—on our internal unity. Through our connection, we will determine not only our fate, but the fate of the world.
This is not my idea, but what our sages have been writing since the inception of our nation. It is something that every Jew feels, even if subconsciously, and that every antisemite feels, as well, even if they do not admit it. This is exactly why the Jewish people conceived the concept of Tikkun Olam (correction of the world) and made it the highest moral goal of a Jewish person. In fact, some Jews define the level of Jewishness by the commitment to Tikkun Olam, although disputes over the meaning of the term are often so deep that they prolong the correction of the world because they hinder Jewish unity.
Antisemites, too, feel that the Jews must correct the world. They may not articulate it to themselves in this manner, though some, like Henry Ford, actually did, but the fact that antisemites blame Jews for the world’s misfortunes implies that they believe that Jews are responsible for what is happening in the world—for better or worse.
To conclude, I do not think that Israel should altogether ignore the latest display of UN antisemitism; I think we should use it as a reminder of the urgency to unite. We need not respond to the actual resolution, but simply do what we must do: unite among ourselves and thereby put an end to our internal problems, to our troubles with our neighbors, and to all hatred around the world, since the world will follow the model nation, as Ford, Shulgin, and other antisemites had hoped to see from the Jewish people.
*For more on how Israel should relate to UN anti-Israel bias, read my latest publication, New Antisemitism: Mutation of a Long-lived Hatred.
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Comment: It often happens that a person is burdened with some problems and everyone says: “Well done! It means that you are strong since you were given such obstacles!”
My Response: No, not in our case. Of course it is necessary to understand these problems as obstacles to an ascent, but in a way that they are desirable, that you are prepared for them, and they do not put pressure on you.
In addition, there are also special obstacles that are specially given from above to help a person suppress egoism. He is sent shame and all sorts of other tricks. This is the specially-made program that helps a person annul himself. This is a complex system, but it corresponds to how complex we are in ourselves.
Question: For example, when friends from other countries flew to congresses, they shared how hard it was for them to get there and what difficulties they overcame. Is it good that this happened to them? Or did they not finish something?
Answer: The fact that they overcame the obstacles is good. But for now we still cannot sort out and analyze why there were such difficulties. Either this is because we did not finish something in the past or in order to rise in the future. This is not clear to us yet.
There will be such degrees where you will be able to see where it comes from, what you can remove from it, and to the contrary, what you can accept with joy and overcome now.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Varieties of Suffering” 10/5/13
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Comment: The Book of Zohar was written at the intersection of the analog system beginning to move to the digital one. This language should be close to us in our time.
My Response: Baal HaSulam wrote an addition to The Book of Zohar, called HaSulam, which means the ladder. There, in parallel with the sensory, fable-like description, with hints and all kinds of images, Baal HaSulam describes everything in digitized form, that is, step-by-step.
This gives a huge advantage to The Book of Zohar because from this moment onward it becomes suitable for practical use for the new generation. It did not remain in the state in which it was written 2,000 years ago when it could only be used by great Kabbalists.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. The Languages of the Zohar, Talmud and Torah” 10/16/13
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Question: The West believes that democracy is the best method of interaction between people with freedom, everyone can speak out, etc. Why are they trying to present this system in such a way? Supposedly, America was built on freedom and human rights.
Answer: The fact is that if it becomes unprofitable to keep a slave, he is given freedom. This is just like in the ancient world.
When a slave could provide for himself and his master, the master kept him. When all kinds of mechanisms and devices began to develop, the slave’s labor became not as productive because he was working only under the whip.
I would rather he work not under the lash; therefore, I will give him freedom, but he will give me as much as I need and keep some for himself. He will supposedly have freedom, but I will also receive more from him.
It all comes down to productivity. If it is profitable, the slave is given freedom. How was it done with Africa? When the question arose that slaves should be fed, they gave them freedom and left.
After all, people do not leave countries with such rich resources for nothing. They just do not want to take on the burden. Previously, they pumped everything out of there, but in order to pump it out productively, it was necessary to build and teach.
Question: What is the most optimal regime for human development?
Answer: I do not know what to call it. Most likely, “the last generation.” Maybe it sounds too cool or threatening, but, in general, this is the last egoistic generation, or the transition to an altruistic one. But this is real altruism, not what we mean by it today.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. What is Democracy?” 10/12/13
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There is no evidence that it was human activity that caused the critical climate changes taking place today. The globe is so huge and complex that it is impossible to prove that by our actions we can influence the deterioration of the climate.
We are trying to blame the increased content of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and other similar phenomena, but perhaps that is not the problem. The main reason is the egoistic relationship between people. But this dependence cannot be clearly demonstrated to everyone and proven.
We will gradually fall lower and lower, and move away from the conditions of normal life to such an extent that our life will really become abnormal. And perhaps then people will agree that it is impossible to continue like this and we need to start changing.
There is no other way to fix the situation, the Creator will not allow us to do it. He wants us to become kinder to each other, and then the whole of nature will change for the better. And the fact that we will make the air cleaner won’t fix the climate. The Creator wants us to reveal that our life depends on our relationships, not on fresh air.
We must take into account the advice of Kabbalists who tell us that the whole problem is in our egoistic relationships, and if we correct them, then our whole life will change for the better.
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From KabTV’s “Conversation with Journalists” 10/31/22
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Question: Are all eight billion inhabitants of our planet part of a single mind? What will they be next?
Answer: They will represent a single mind then. But now, when they are broken, there is not any mind.
As they unite, a common collective mind will arise that is based on connection, on mutual leveling before each other, on mutual union, where each one lowers himself in order to unite with the other and is included in the other and the others are included in him. As a result of such mutual inclusion, this mind will appear among people.
When everyone wants to unite with each other, suddenly a light emerges among them, and the upper force appears, a state called “adhesion with the Creator.” Thus, He appears among them.
Question: What is the difference between small personal minds of people and this single mind?
Answer: Personal minds are egoistic, and they serve only themselves. It is a mind of a small animal body that takes care of itself and tries to ultimately extract from the surrounding world everything it can in order to grab and energetically and corporeally fill itself.
The universal mind is when you connect to the entire universe, when you are part of it, part of the common brain, and you participate in everything together with it. Our current mind is not a mind because it exists in a small cell only to maintain its existence.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Collective Mind” 9/7/13
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Comment: You recently called modern education of children coercive.
My Response: Our current education is, of course, coercion.
A poor child is given a backpack or a briefcase, and that is it. He goes off to school for half a day. And what does he see there?
Suppose young children still have underdeveloped egoism. A child is placed at the desk, everyone is sitting, he is sitting, and using the herd instinct.
But, in principle, it is necessary to educate in a live manner, in nature, in motion. Children are already sitting with their computers with all sorts of cartoons before school. They sit more than they move and play.
Proper education is in movement, in games, in interaction with each other, in live interaction with the teacher, in understanding the world, animals, visiting all sorts of enterprises, in discussing everything that happens.
It is also in discussion that children find a common language with each other that develops for up to twenty years. At the same time, you are building a new society; from school to school, to enterprises, to hospitals, anywhere, they must walk together, discuss together, and thus gradually adapt to another world, feel it closer and better. For them, loaves of bread do not grow on trees.
This is what we need. In this way the whole section of the population, class by class or group by group, moves toward entering the world. They become properly interconnected by integral education, upbringing, and so on.
This should be done literally from kindergarten.
Comment: But you said that one should not put pressure on human nature.
My Response: Is this putting pressure? This is to attract the upper light in order for it to correct it. We have to do this as parents.
Why do you think that you do not put pressure on a child? Now you turn him into whatever you want, you force him. What does he understand, this little one? You take him to various activities, here and there.
Question: Does this mean that from childhood it is necessary to educate a child, but to educate him correctly?
Answer: In the integral community, of course. They, in general, are drawn to this because their egoism develops much later.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Proper Upbringing of a Child” 10/5/13
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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What are the things that are prohibited in the Torah?“
Prohibitions in the Torah relate to our inability to use our ego—the desire for benefiting ourselves at the expense of others and nature—in the variety of ways it can be used, when we are in a spiritual connection.
The most important prohibition in the Torah is “Don’t do to others what you hate.” Likewise, the most important commandment in the Torah is “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Based on the video “What Is the Most Important Prohibition in the Torah?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Preparation to the Lesson
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Lesson on the Topic “Faith Above Reason”
| [media 3] | [media 4] |
Writings of Baal HaSulam “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)”
| [media 5] | [media 6] |
Selected Highlights
| [media 7] | [media 8] |
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