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Michael Laitman, on the Times of Israel: “What Triggered the Attack on Israel on October 7”
We, the people of Israel, are far from being united. Leading up to the tragic events on October 7, we seemed like anything but one nation. We made little effort to draw closer to one another, and we disregarded our fellow citizens. With each passing year, it feels like we drift further apart. And as a result, we must ask ourselves, can we truly be considered the nation of Israel?

In other nations that have histories of wars and internal strife, division might seem like a natural phenomenon. However, the people of Israel are different. We are a nation that earns its title only when we unite. When we remain divided, we cease to be a nation in the true sense. That is what being Israeli truly means, and specifically that point makes us unique.

Many people around the world often wonder about us, asking, “Who are the people of Israel?” They form distinct opinions about us, recognizing our unique status.

We willingly accepted the challenge of being a nation under specific conditions thousands of years ago, which remain relevant today. For us to be the nation of Israel, we must uphold the condition of uniting “as one man with one heart,” where “all of Israel are friends.” This requires an ongoing commitment to unity, a commitment that should only grow stronger with each passing year. Unfortunately, however, the reality is quite different.

Instead of growing closer together, we do the opposite. This past year in particular, Israel became an ugly spectacle of more and more people taking to the streets shouting slanderous and hateful vitriol upon one another.

Before the tragedy on October 7, there was significant division in Israeli society, and that is the crux of the issue. It is true that having multiple opinions is a well-known aspect of Jewishness, but we must rise above it. We can disagree in our views and still maintain a strong connection. The key is to have a constructive relationship alongside our differences, like a family, and uphold the unifying principle that initially brought us together as a nation: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Without this bond, we cannot truly be close, nor can we candidly consider ourselves a nation.
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Question: We are at war. Terrorists, Hamas, have entered Israeli territory. They captured the border kibbutzim and even entered our cities.

There are a lot of tragedies around. We hear blood-chilling stories—both stories of courage and stories of killing. All this is filmed on phones and posted on the networks. It is terrible!

There was a festival where 3,000 young people gathered in the south. Hundreds of them were killed. The number of deaths is already approaching a thousand. I am afraid to name numbers. There are thousands of wounded, and what is even more scary for Israel is that there are lots of captives. Once the whole country was talking about one captive. Now there are a huge number of them.

How should we relate to all this?

Answer: This is terrible! This is terrible. I understand the grief and the feeling of those who are now in captivity in the hands of those who hate us. They really do hate us. I felt this hatred. Of course it is terrible!

Question: We are talking with you on the third day of the war. There are still terrorists there who are fighting, and our guys are dying. Their names are published; they are from our most elite special forces, real heroes. Why do the best die first?

Answer: It is like that always and everywhere.

Question: What kind of law is this?

Answer: The fact is that war reveals the true structure of society. Therefore, those who belong to its best parts find themselves ahead. It is they who are sent first, who go and die.

Comment: That is, this is the hope of the country; these are the best ones.

My Response: The best ones that we have.

Comment: Just imagine! It takes years to raise such soldiers. And they go and die. This is, of course, very frustrating!

My Response: It is impossible to put it in words!

Comment: What we see now is all being filmed: how they kill and how brutally they do it all. They came to kill us, and it feels like they are animals.

My Response: Yes, of course, they are animals. They have been prepared for this, and they are fulfilling their “national duty.” That is what they think.

Question: That is, for the other side they are heroes?

Answer: Yes, definitely!

Comment: For all of them.

My Response: For everyone.

Question: Is it possible to kill and be considered a hero?

Answer: Absolutely all residents of Gaza are prepared to kill and in general sweep Israel away from its place.

Comment: And not just kill—kill like that! Just like that in a totally merciless way.

My Response: They do not consider it at all.

Comment: There are such ruthless, cold beings demanding our destruction in front of us.

My Response: Animals.

Question: Animals. Then what should our attitude be? What should we do? Now we understand this. What should we do?

Answer: We must totally destroy this territory because it will remain the source of all problems. There is nothing to be done about it!

Question: You said “destroy this territory.” What do you mean?

Answer: I mean that the several million people living in this territory simply need to be resettled. Not to allow this territory called Gaza to exist anymore. To keep such a flammable, explosive mixture at your side, and to provide for it, and to feed it above all. There is no such thing anywhere, and it is not acceptable anywhere.

Comment: If we leave it as it is and play our game again somehow…

My Response: Nothing will help, and in the future we will have to deal with this on an even larger scale.

Question: And what is going on in the north! There we have Nasrallah, Hezbollah, and Iran. What can we do with all this, with these instigators?

Answer: There is only one thing that can be done about all this—we Israelis need peace, unity, and understanding among ourselves, and then we will not have any problems with our neighbors. In general, all the problems in the world will disappear.

Question: Does it mean that you see this basis of everything to such an extent?

Answer: I am constantly talking and warning about this. Personally, I believe that this is the only way to deal with it.

The reason is that Israel exists within such a framework, under such terrible pressure from the outside world in relation to the fact that we are not bestowing to the world what we should bestow.

We must bring the world an example of unity between us in the first place. And if we choose all kinds of mutual hatred, internal demonstrations and other things happening with us, if we, in principle, are ready to kill each other internally, then naturally we will see a reflection of these relationships from the outside.

Our internal hatred, which flared up before the war, led to this war and to the way our enemies behave with us.

Question: To this ruthlessness toward us?

Answer: Yes. In principle, they are not enemies. We set them up this way through our attitude toward each other. So we do not need to talk much here. We only need to convince ourselves that we must love each other and then everything in the world will calm down, and there will not be a single person nor a single nation that would be against us.

Comment: Today the world sees these horrors, and all this is posted on the internet. These images are being sent everywhere, and yet I am sure it will not be long before everything is erased from the world’s memory.

My Response: If we forget about this within Israel, then we will have to feel how it is to be reminded of this again.

Question: So we should not forget about this?

Answer: Not only not to forget, we must correct it completely.

Comment: For this we must understand the basis of everything you are talking about.

My Response: The basis of everything is our hatred of each other.

Question: The question is whether we should rely only on ourselves or whether we should rely on some kind of help and regret on the part of the world? What should our attitude be?

Answer: We must not rely on anyone! Only on ourselves and on the Creator! Only in this case can we see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Question: In 1973 there were regular armies standing in front of us. They say that what is happening now is similar to the Yom Kippur war 50 years ago. By the way, it started almost the same day.

Then entire armies opposed us, but we won. Now these are terrorists who have entered our land. What has changed in us since then?

Answer: We neglected the opportunity to unite, to build ourselves, to build a normal state and a normal society. Everyone thinks about themselves. Everyone wants to have more and better than their neighbor. This is the difference between us today and what used to be before.

I do not think that everything is lost, but the point is whether we have achieved the kind of connection between us that will give us a feeling of the right attitude toward each other and security—that we are a single people and not one that is divided and is simply breaking into many different pieces.

Question: Can we say that at that time we were still, as it were, children of kibbutzniks—was there such a state then? And today are we already children of rich parents?

Answer: Yes, definitely!

Question: Terrorists easily penetrated the security structures on the border with Gaza. We built this wall, invested a billion dollars, and installed cameras and sensors.

In the end none of this worked, and there are a lot of questions about this both on the Internet and in interviews with people. How could this happen?! How could our intelligence forces, which are considered the best intelligence forces in the world, miss all this?

Why was the army so slow? Only six hours later, as it was reported, they entered the kibbutzim, and began some kind of action. For six hours people stayed there, hid, and locked themselves in their houses.

Where does all this come from? How could intelligence screw this up? Tell me, please, even in just an earthly way.

Answer: A war begins when it is clear that we do not know how to defend ourselves, that we have lost our strength. Then enemies begin the war.

Question: That is, then intelligence and vigilance are put to sleep, and war begins?

Answer: Yes, it is already coming from above. It is our problem, and there is a big showdown ahead. Unless it makes it still worse for us. Our internal enemies will dance on the ashes.

Question: Do you want to say that in this matter the Creator is, as it were, against us?

Answer: Of course, the Creator is against us. This is what the Torah says. If we are not united between us, then we are absolutely naked in front of the enemy, he will do whatever he wants with us, and the Creator will guide him. He will lead us to the next correct state not through ourselves, but through our enemies.

The fact is that almost everything we are doing does not bring us anything. We can create a fence only from our unity. Of course, I am not in favor of not building fences, but they are castles in the air. This does not help us at all. Neither intelligence nor the army, nothing can replace the nation’s unification. If this unification does not exist, the nation is naked. It faces its enemies without a weapon in its hands, without an ounce of courage or intention to hold on.

Question: What will happen to us? How do we build a real, warm, and safe world?

Answer: It all depends on how those several million Jews who live here can build themselves into a correct society. This is what the Torah says. I have been convinced of this for decades.

Question: So you cannot be moved! How can one hear this in this case? Should we expect more and more blows, or can we draw a conclusion from this? Such a thing has practically never happened to us, even during the Yom Kippur war.

Answer: Of course. Each subsequent war will be even worse. It will be even worse because, in principle, all this is happening to us in order to teach us how to live among ourselves. And this will give the world a new path of development.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 10/9/23

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Michael Laitman, on the Times of Israel: “Together We Will Prevail”
The international support that Israel is receiving in this terrible war, including aircraft carriers from the Americans as deterrence and backup, provides Israelis with a sense of reinforcement and protection. However, we must not forget that no amount of preparation and weapons can replace the connection between us: our primary shield against all threats.

It is our division that fuels, emboldens, and strengthens our enemies. The more divided we are, the more determined our enemies are to destroy us. If we take the initiative and strive to build a cohesive society here in Israel not only at times of national anguish, we will have permanent security and peace, since they depend above all on our unity.

The relationship that exists between us should give us the confidence that we are one people who always remain connected despite our differences. Where the opposite situation exists is where the war begins. When it is clear to our enemy that we are not united enough to defend ourselves, the fences that are supposed to protect us are easily breached.

We must eradicate the enemies who want separation between us: both the external enemies and internal enemies. The external enemies are the terrorists from whom we have the right to protect ourselves, and our internal enemies, which we also need to annihilate, are the negative and harmful thoughts, intentions, and desires which divide us and cause mutual rejection.

Therefore, military measures aside, our first and foremost effort must be to unite our ranks and create an unwavering force between us; otherwise, every other war will be worse and more painful than the previous one. History has provided us with living proof that if we do not connect as one, our existence will have no meaning and we will remain forever as a persecuted people.

Our greatest challenge is to build a solid force field of connection, a sense of unity that will remain in times of peace, and not only as a comfort or as support in times of war. It is vital that we achieve this. Unity is our shield at all times, and the lack thereof brings trouble upon us. It is written in the book Shem MiShmuel, “When Israel’s unity is restored, evil will have no place in which to install error and external forces within them, for when they are as one man with one heart, they are as a fortified wall against the forces of evil.”

The book Maor VaSehemesh echoes these words, saying, “The primary defense against calamity is love and unity. When there are love, unity, and friendship between one another in Israel, no calamity can befall them and by that, all the curses and suffering are banished.” We therefore see that unity is not just a shield we should only erect during times of trouble for the Jewish people; unity is our ultimate weapon for achieving success, prosperity, and safety always.

Before the destruction of the Temple, due to unfounded hatred, our forefathers developed a unique method of connection as the foundation of the people of Israel. Rather than suppressing one’s characteristics or viewpoints, they harnessed individual skills for the collective good, creating a society that upheld personal fulfillment while strengthening the social fabric.

In order for us to unite, we need not suppress or downplay our differences. What is required from us is to rise above all that separates us and to find a common ground. Today, the same simple-yet-effective method of connection that our forefathers perfected and committed to sharing with the nations of the world is imperative for us to implement for the sake of the survival of our society.
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Question: I have a question about reading the news. I can skim through the headlines and feel one internal impact from it. I can also go deeper and after seeing some terrible things, my internal demand for correction naturally increases. Or I can generally isolate myself from everyone, not read the news, but focus, say, on working with the ten. Such inner sensitivity to what is happening seems to depend on me.

Depending on the extent I immerse myself in the news, I can sort of change my sensitivity. Where is the correct balance of the extent I should immerse myself in these things?

Answer: Immerse yourself in them as much as you can and by doing so direct yourself more precisely to the purpose of creation, which is to connect with the entire humanity and with the Creator into one whole.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/11/23, “Growing Stronger in There Is None Else Besides Him”

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Question: How can one not feel evil when it is really revealed in the world? How do we justify the Creator’s governance?

Answer: We are obliged to justify the governance of the Creator in all cases, whatever they may be. We must constantly return ourselves to the state that any revealed evil leads to good, to correction, to improvement of the state; otherwise we would never change.

The perception of everything that comes to us and attributing it to the Creator depends on us. Moreover, one must relate to everything in such a way that there is none else besides Him, and thus make efforts in all circumstances not to break away from the feeling that this comes precisely from the Creator.

Question: When evil or some kind of suffering is revealed, can a Kabbalist align this with the Creator and enjoy the connection with Him?

Answer: When a Kabbalist feels evil and understands that it seems to come from the Creator, he raises himself to a state in which he feels that it is truly good.

In this state he connects with the Creator, and this connection gives him pleasure and the opportunity to justify the Creator.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/8/23, “Growing Stronger in There Is None Else Besides Him”

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Question: Wars and fear for oneself, for one’s life, still drive a person into the same dead end where he wants to save himself and not think about others. How can we feel the friends and other people? Where can we start to feel that we are on the correct path?

Answer: To do this we need to ask the Creator to help us connect with our friends so that we feel not ourselves, but our common unity, and thus we move forward.

The first step toward connection begins with the fact that we want to rise above ourselves and connect together in one desire and in one intention toward the Creator.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/9/23, “Growing Stronger in There Is None Else Besides Him”

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Question: How do we understand what we really invest into each other as much as we can? How can we increase our sensitivity to the other in order to feel what he or she needs at this very moment?

Answer: It depends on your attitude toward him or her. You have to put yourself in his place, make sure that you feel him. In this way, you will gradually reach a state where you will feel the same as he does.
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From the 1^st part of the Lesson of the International Kabbalistic Convention “Opening Hearts” 10/01/23, Lesson 3 “Overcoming the Burdening of the Heart”

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There is one main question: How can a person help himself get out of a descent? In fact, a trusted remedy that saves us in the most difficult conditions is the help of a friend. The friend is at the same degree, the same level, and in the same nature as me.

And if I am not able to save myself and rise from the state of falling, then I can do it with the help of a friend. When a friend connects with me, he can add strength, energy, and awakening to me, and thus save me.

Therefore, if we want to advance and climb the spiritual steps higher and higher, then we have the only means, which are to look for friends so that together with them, by helping each other, we can ascend into the spiritual.

There is no one to expect help from, except friends. The main thing is to support each other and hope that friends will help. In fact, the whole system is built in such a way that we must unite and move forward together. Therefore we have no other option but to help one another. We will all unite, and the greater the connection, the greater the ascent, the higher and higher we rise toward the goal of creation.
It turns out that it is possible to climb the spiritual ladder only to the extent that we unite and help each other.

It is necessary to understand that by helping a friend, I am actually helping myself. By wanting to give strength to a friend, to help him climb his spiritual degrees, I raise myself up. With the help of “they helped every one his friend,” we can rise higher and higher.

Once the final goal is reached, everyone connects with everyone, and everyone incorporates into a friend and a friend into him, and we all turn into a system similar to the first man, Adam HaRishon. But the power of this system, this Adam, becomes 620 times greater than what it was before.

Due to the fact that the Creator created this system and then broke us, He gave us the opportunity to connect above our egoism. And when we overcome our separation, our egoism, we raise ourselves to the peak of human existence 620 times higher than the one we had at the beginning of creation.

Therefore the more we connect and interconnect with each other, starting with a ten and then wider and wider, we get much closer to the final correction and eventually we will achieve it.
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From the 1^st part of the Lesson of the International Kabbalistic Convention “Opening Hearts” 10/01/23, Lesson 3 “Overcoming the Burdening of the Heart”

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Each of us lacks only one thing—to try to open his heart. If a person opens his heart, in comes love of friends, which is the root of the love of the Creator. That is, love of the Creator is established in him, and he begins to feel the upper force.

Love of friends is a necessary condition; it is the stream through which love of the Creator flows, absolute love. It solves all problems and connects all hearts. And then a person begins to feel what is really happening in the world.

A person realizes that there is no material world but only absolute love called love of the world that embraces him from all sides. And in the light of this love, he reveals the whole reality, the whole universe from one end to another.
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From the 2^nd part of the Lesson of the International Kabbalistic Convention “Opening Hearts” 9/30/23, Lesson 2 “Connecting As One Man with One Heart”

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