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Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “Symbols of Tradition Becoming Symbols of Disobedience”

Traditional and religious holidays in Israel are usually times of national unity. These days, Israel is celebrating Hanukkah, a holiday whose essence is the triumph of the Jewish spirit of unity over the Hellenistic spirit of exalting the self. Yet, precisely now, prominent elements in Israel’s society, including the (still) incumbent prime minister, are calling for civil disobedience to protest the policy of the newly elected government before it has even been sworn in, and they are doing it by advancing displays of Christian symbols instead of, or more conspicuously than the Hanukkah Menorah. Despite being a primarily political initiative, this disobedience symbolizes the level of division spreading in the nation, and a divided Israel is a short-lived Israel.

Not only politicians and opinion leaders are pushing for prominence of Christian symbols over Hanukkah symbols in Israel. Santa Claus, elves, deer, and of course, the Christmas tree can be seen in some shopping malls in Israel, and no trace of the Menorah. Universities also place large Christmas trees at the entrance to some of the buildings, either with a small Menorah next to it, or with none at all. Even the Tel-Aviv municipality has asked visitors to its Facebook page which holiday they like better, Christmas or Hanukkah.

Having different political agendas and maintaining diversity of views are the essence of democracy. It is a precondition for the advancement and development of society. Countries that maintain diverse opinions thrive, while countries that allow only one narrative to dominate, whether from the Right or from the Left, become degenerate and sink.

In the case of Israel, diversity is not only a matter of evolution or devolution. For Israel, smothering diversity poses an existential threat.

The essence of the Israeli nation is unity above diversity. The ancient Israelites came from many nations, held different ideas about everything, and were very adamant people. When they came across Abraham’s teachings (or those of his descendants Isaac and Jacob), they learned that if they do not suppress other people’s views, but unite with them despite the differences, they form a bond that makes them stronger and wiser than any biological nation. When enough people had adopted that principle of uniting without suppressing disputes and disagreements, they became a nation, the nation of Israel.

When they were united, their differences complemented one another creating a tapestry of views that did not exist in any other nation. The unity that they had had to form in order to maintain their nationhood above such diversity had to be that much stronger than any other nation.

Nature, too, consists of complementary opposites; this is what makes creation harmonious and evolving. When the people of Israel were united, they were just like the rest of nature, harmonious and evolving, and that was the secret of the success of the ancient Israeli nation.

But when the people of Israel were not united, they immediately split back into the many nations from which they came. This is why when Israel are divided, they strive to assimilate among the nations and not remain Israelis or even Jewish.

However, Israel cannot afford to lose its unity and vanish altogether. The whole purpose of the existence of the Israeli nation is to demonstrate that unity above division is possible, and that it creates a thriving society. If people do not realize that diversity must be nurtured and embraced, they will be embroiled in eternal conflicts, and humanity will destroy itself.

If Israel does not practice unity above division, it disintegrates. At that time, the world hates the Jews for advancing conflict instead of peace. However, it does not blame us because we pit countries against each other, but because the fact that we do not present an alternative to conflict forces the world to engage in the only solution it sees: eternal war. And it blames Israel for it.

Only when Israelis learn that their challengers from within are not their enemies, but their partners to the task of setting an example, they will be able to unite above their contradictions. Until then, Israel and the world can only expect strife and conflict to keep building up.*

*For more on this topic, read my books The Jewish Choice: Unity or Anti-Semitism, and Like a Bundle of Reeds.
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In the News (This Is Finland): “‘Finnish Reading Dogs Help Kids Learn and Grow’

“’Reading dogs’ are no ordinary canines. Reading out loud to a dog can give kids confidence, improve their skills and contribute to their creativity. …

“Reading to a dog can be a highly rewarding experience for kids in need of reading practice. ‘The idea is to encourage children with reading difficulties to read aloud,’ …. ‘Dogs will listen contentedly to a child, not caring if the reader makes mistakes or only reads slowly.’

“Kids who read to dogs experience a sense of fulfilment that boosts the children’s self-esteem and encourages them to pick up books more readily in future. …

“’Some children may normally be hyperactive in the classroom, but when they read to a dog, they calm down,’ she says. ‘They understand that they are the ones in control of the situation, and that they must consider the needs of the listener. They also learn to be empathic and interactive. And when they read carefully, they notice that they can actually read quite well after all.’”

My Response: Of course.

Question: Other countries are now adopting this.

How can we become like these dogs—tolerant of the mistakes of others?

Answer: No, this is very difficult. Only animals can do that. Animals have much more patience compared to us.

Question: What is stopping us? After all, we are intolerant even of our loved ones.

Answer: Egoistic desires!

There is inanimate, vegetative, animate, and human nature. The difference between animate and human nature is huge, and therefore a person has such desires and passions that cannot be compared with animals. An animal just stands on the side of the road. Cows graze.

Question: Why was this point of impatience, this evil, embedded in us?

Answer: In order for us to do a lot in our lifetime. For us to raise this desire even more, higher and higher, up to the level of the Creator.

Question: What desire?

Answer: Desire for everything.

Question: To raise all these egoistic desires to the Creator?

Answer: Yes.

Question: What is the highest desire? To what extent will we grow from this point of impatience for others?

Answer: To want the Creator with the greatest passion.

Question: Does He want this?

Answer: Yes, that is exactly what He wants.

Question: Does He want us to have a passion for Him?

Answer: Yes. “Return, O children of Israel, to the Lord Your God.”
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 12/1/22

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Question: It is said that the Creator has prepared the application of efforts in the Torah and the commandments for us in this world to turn the desire to receive into the desire to bestow. How can we understand this?

Answer: There is a tool with which we can change ourselves from receivers to givers so that we strive to give to another, and not receive from him. This is due to the influence of the Torah and the commandments on us.

The Torah and the commandments are a mechanism that affects us and changes us from recipients to bestowers.
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From KabTV’s “The Study of the Ten Sefirot (TES)” 12/4/22

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Comment: I am hosting the program “Portraits” in which people tell how they came to the wisdom of Kabbalah, what sufferings they went through, and how they suddenly felt that they had found what they were looking for. Everyone is touched. A person cries and is not ashamed of tears.

My Response: It is because the surrounding light (Ohr Makif) is greater than our Kli (vessel). When it overwhelms you, it causes the state of infancy (Katnut), as we call it. The light shines, but there is no place for it to enter. This is when tears appear, and they drip like the release when something excessive is released from the body.

Tears are also shed in spirituality because you cannot contain this feeling, this shock inside you. This is why tears in Hebrew are called “dmaot,” from the word “dam,” blood. Internality is blood, externality is tears. After all, the feeling that something huge is in front of you overwhelms you. The same thing happens at all the degrees!

Question: Why is it said that tears are the state of smallness (Katnut)?

Answer: Because there is no vessel.

The state of smallness is when you cannot fit into yourself the whole great light that is before you. Then the light comes out in the form of tears. There is no other way you can respond to this huge influence on you.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 2/12/10

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Comment: In the show “Dialogues about Kabbalah,” you said that at some point the student and the teacher become like one blood vessel.

My Response: Yes, of course. In principle, the teacher exists for the sake of the student. This is unequivocal.
What are parents for? They give birth to children, raise them, and die. The next generation gives birth, raises children and dies.

Everything exists for a specific purpose.

This goal does not exist at the level of our world. The goal is higher than our world, in the souls.

Naturally, it is the same in the spiritual world, not a single degree exists for its own sake. Everything exists only for the sake of reaching the final state, the ultimate goal: adhesion of all souls with the Creator.

Therefore, the whole life of the teacher is aimed only at preparing the student.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 2/12/10

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Question: What kind of gifts should we give to a friend?

Answer: Show him such signs of attention that he understands that you are doing this for the sake of advancing with him to the Creator, to rise together with him.

It can be any kind of gift, expensive or cheap, small, just some kind of token of attention, completely immaterial and insubstantial. It does not matter.

Question: What is the best gift for you?

Answer: I do not need anything material. There is nothing that I would like. The best thing is when the student understands what kind of work I want to see from him and performs it. This is all.

Question: Should he get feedback that this is exactly what you need?

Answer: Yes, I will tell him.

Question: But can you tell him the exact opposite so that the person will not be proud?

Answer: As a rule, I say that I really need it, and I am not lying or flirting. He should be next to me, feel, or even ask me when I need something, for example, to translate something, put together or correct something from the material that the world needs. Nothing else!

If a student wants to please me, he himself must succeed in his advancement, which means to be a teacher, organize groups, and engage in dissemination.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Best Gift for Laitman” 12/21/13

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Question: How do we know when and what question we can ask you?

Answer: It is impossible! To do this, you need to understand what state I am in, what can be revealed, what cannot be revealed, and so on. The answers to the questions are given in accordance with the needs of society, general and personal ones, the needs of individual groups, the world group, and the entirety of humanity.

All this changes like water in a raging sea, it flows and moves in different directions. Everything is unpredictable.

Comment: It sometimes happens that one can prepare for a lesson and just go through the questions. But when we adjust to your condition, the answer can be much more effective.

My Response: Of course. But do not buy me by saying that you can adjust to me, and you will be effective, and so on. To do this, you need to feel what I feel, and be in the same state, direction, rhythm, and movement. Then you will feel that now is the time to ask a question.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Ask a Kabbalist a Question” 3/6/13

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “How do you cope with anxiety?“

One of my students told me that when he discussed his anxieties with someone close to him, like his wife or a close friend, then he found that the moment he started opening up to them, the anxiety decreased—even before he received any advice or support.

Togetherness definitely decreases anxiety. There is a saying in the wisdom of Kabbalah that “a sorrow shared is a sorrow halved,” i.e. when we share a sensation, we divide it up, and it in turn becomes more manageable.

Since it is quite easy to see how sharing our experiences lessens our negative feelings, the question is why do we not use this ability more? Why is it so hard for us to share our anxieties with others?

We are indeed afraid of opening our hearts, letting everyone see that we have certain fears and anxieties. In addition to whatever anxieties we hold within, we usually have additional anxieties about sharing them with others, that it might cause others to perceive us as weak. Since society in general values stronger, smarter, wealthier and fitter individuals, opening up our anxieties to such a society makes us vulnerable to exploitation. We thus need to seek a social environment that would not exploit us for opening up, but would rather give us a sense of faith and confidence that it can help us cope with any negative feelings.

A social setting that can guarantee faith and confidence in its members is one that actively draws itself to the upper good and benevolent force—the force of love, bestowal and connection. It is this very same force that awakens negative feelings in us, whether they be fears, anxieties or several other painful sensations, in order for us to draw closer to that force, and we do so by drawing closer to each other.

If we wish to connect with the upper force and let its perfect quality of love, bestowal and connection fill our lives with a sensation of faith and confidence, then we need to emulate such a quality toward each other—giving others a sense of faith and confidence, and for them to do the same toward us. By wanting to positively connect with each other, we then start awakening the positive force dwelling in nature into the connections we create, and we then feel a new sense of faith and confidence wash away any anxieties that we might be holding within.
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Based on the video “How to Cope With Fear and Anxiety” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash.

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Preparation to the Lesson

Zohar for All “Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” “Mother Lends Her Clothes to Her Daughter” 

Writings of Baal HaSulam “The Freedom”

Selected Highlights

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