My new article on Linkedin “What Can We Learn on World Teachers’ Day?”

This month, on October 5, to be exact, is World Teachers’ Day. A teacher used to be, and in some countries still is, a venerable occupation. A teacher was not simply someone who taught you math or English, but someone who taught you the wisdom of life and was a role model to follow. Judging by what is happening today, it seems we are in desperate need of good teachers. For all our knowledge, we feel lost. Unless we learn where we really are, what we are doing here, why we are here, and how to direct ourselves toward a better place, we will lapse into another world war.

To emerge from the slump, we must stop focusing solely on knowledge. Acquiring information does not create happy people. Where has the information about nuclear fusion gotten us, for example? We’ve got nuclear weapons that can annihilate humanity in minutes. We’ve got so much knowledge in every realm of life, but where is it all leading? We’re heading toward dire states.

Instead of teaching us what they should, our poor teachers regurgitate what the government instructs them to teach. They are forced to lie to the students, but the students know better. By age 9 or 10, most children know that none of what they are hearing is true. They stop believing their teachers, stop paying attention, while the teachers, who must make a living, keep repeating the same stories. There are no other motivations here but money and power; these are the rulers of the Earth, and no regime or government is free from their grip.

A change will come only when we realize that this is not the way to live, and resolve to change our motivation. But the change will happen either because we reflect on where we are going and stop ourselves before we get there, or because we did not stop ourselves in time and realize our mistake after the bombs have gone off.

To make the necessary changes in time, we cannot leave it only to teachers and excuse ourselves from the task. We have to reconstruct the entire system, the basis of our civilization. The fact that we are self-absorbed and narcissistic is no secret. But this is not the problem. The problem is that we agree to stay this way. We’ve known for decades that humanity is on a path of self-destruction due to its own self-absorption. Yet, we have done nothing to change course.

Now we must become our own teachers, and not just on World Teachers’ Day, but every day and every moment of our lives. Moreover, the world we live in has become so intertwined that it is not enough to implement the changes one country at a time. While some countries engage in reforms, others will maintain their abusive attitude and will ruin the progress for everyone. Therefore, the initiative to create a positive tomorrow must incorporate the entire world. However implausible this may sound, we must remember that the only other option to this route is war, a nuclear war.

Accordingly, the education system must adjust its values, curricula, and goals toward bettering humanity. By bettering, I am not referring to cutting CO2 emissions or limiting the use of fossil fuels and plastics. I am referring to something much deeper than that: Bettering ourselves means making ourselves better people. To do that, we must learn to be positive and caring toward each other.

Only when we learn to care for one another will we begin to care for the environment. When we care about other people, we will want them to live in a friendly environment, one that can support them and where they can be happy. When we stop wanting to exploit other people or overpower them, we will stop exploiting the environment in order to achieve our selfish goals. As a result, we will reduce consumption to a sustainable level that will allow nature to rejuvenate and restore its lost balance.

We have no time to waste. We must be our own teachers now, to teach ourselves to be human, meaning humane. Even if we do not know how to do it or where to begin, we needn’t worry; our intention to do good, to connect with other people, will be our guide. If we let care for others be our teacher, we will need no other teaching.
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My new article on Linkedin “Cyberattacks Require a New Code”

Over the past week, Hillel Yaffe Medical Center in Hadera, Israel, has suffered a cyberattack. The attackers demanded ransom, but the hospital management refused to cave in and switched to manual mode where possible or to alternative systems. All over Europe and the US, hospitals and other sensitive institutions face online threats since hackers believe that the necessity to restore functionality quickly will cause those facilities to give in quickly and give them what they want. To deal with the problem, facilities and governments must join hands and create short-term and long-term solutions. The short-term one requires disconnection of systems from the internet; the long-term solution requires increased connection and concern among people.

No system is hack-proof. Therefore, some systems simply need to be disconnected from any network. Everything from the generator that provides electricity to the server room must be isolated from the world. It may not be very convenient, but until humanity grows up, we cannot leave the lives of countless people to the mercies of heartless people who will kill for money.

While disconnecting sensitive systems from the internet seems to be the only solution, it is only a temporary one. Since people always devise new tactics and technologies to get their evil way, sooner or later, they will overcome even such drastic measures.

Therefore, the long-term solution must deal with the source of the problem, which is human nature itself. Changing human nature is a prolonged educational process. Disconnection from the internet buys us time, but we must still hurry if we want to avoid far worse catastrophes than breaking into hospital networks.

The purpose of the educational process is to make us aware that we are all interconnected. If we truly realize that all of humanity is connected not only through the internet, but that even our thoughts and feelings are a part of the network, we will see that hurting others hurts us, too, and our motivation to do harm will evaporate.

This process will project positively on all the systems of life, and on all the people; this is why it is such a comprehensive process and requires the support of governments and international organizations. Hacking hospitals, water plants, and other sensitive facilities for ransom is only one symptom of a society that is sickened by alienation. If we cared about each other, we wouldn’t be able to do it.

The human network that we all form, consciously or not, functions properly only if there are care and concern among us. This is why the long-term process will heal everything, and not just eliminate cyberattacks.

To do that, we must “hack” the human code and reprogram ourselves from the self-centered mode we are in right now, to a more inclusive and caring one. Otherwise, as we can already tell, the code within us will cause us to self-destruct.
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My new article on Linkedin “The Balance a Year After the Abraham Accords”

A bilateral agreement between countries is always better than no agreement. A year since the signing of the US-brokered Abraham Accords for peace and normalization of relations between Israel and Arab states, the question is how have they truly transformed the region and how in particular has Israel benefited from it?

The Israeli parliament, the Knesset, celebrated the first anniversary of the pact with the launching of a new caucus dedicated to the Abraham Accords. The aim was to strengthen the ties between Israel and the Gulf states, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan, from an economic and tourist perspective. The commemoration was followed by a trilateral meeting in Washington between US, Israeli and Emirati officials.

It is good that the State of Israel, which endures hostile relations and is under constant existential threat from its neighbors, continues to preserve the agreements and its tenets. It also serves as a good yardstick for other countries who contemplate reaching out for peace.

We could have benefited much more from relations with the Arab Gulf states, and with the Middle East in general if only we had been more united and stronger among ourselves. Within Israel there are so many opposing and divided forces, each one disqualifying the other and preventing the other from succeeding, even when it comes to crucial agreements upon which the future of the State of Israel depends.

This is the way of the egoism—benefitting at the expense of others—that acts in us naturally and grows incessantly. Even 3,800 years ago human egoism brought us to a significant division. The inhabitants of the ancient kingdom of Babylon were self-centered and divided, which culminated in the construction of the famous Tower of Babel. This “skyscraper” symbolized the egoistic urge, the pretentious thought of the Babylonians that they had the power to reach up to heaven and control nature, even the supreme force of nature.

Abraham, our father, who recognized the egoism and its tendency to lead to serious trouble, gathered a group of people under his tent and taught them the doctrine of life—the method of connection. From this group of disparate residents of Babylon, the people of Israel were founded as a nation.

Abraham taught anyone who was interested how to reach cordial agreements between them, how to transcend conflicts that separate people, and to connect with love. He explained that from the desire to unite with each other in friendship the positive force that exists in nature arises, a unifying and connecting force. It is this supreme force of nature that elevates human beings above the miserable egoism and binds them together in love.

From the days of Abraham until today, the condition for all peace agreements, with any country, depends on our agreement to make peace between ourselves. If we continue to separate and quarrel amongst ourselves, then those countries that have already signed agreements and captured beautifully as a poster picture may withdraw their signature from the accords.

It is very unfortunate to live in such a time when we had supporters such as former President Trump and were given the opportunity to manage our destiny in a direction that is beneficial to us and all people, but we have disregarded and rejected that opportunity. Who knows when such a chance will return.

It seems to us that we live on the land of Israel by our resilience, intellect and the force of our hands, but the truth is that we exist here by the grace of heaven. Agreements are always preferable to fractious relationships, but first and foremost we must commit and agree among ourselves that despite the separating egoism, we will strive to increase the power of connection between us and be kind to each other. Only in this way the supreme grace will be aroused, and He will make peace among us and with the rest of the world.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What are the biggest challenges facing humanity these days? Why are they a big deal?“

Increasing pain and suffering around the world should end up sparking our realization that nature is guiding us to an eventual abstinence from the rat race for technological, industrial and financial dominance, and we should instead pay attention to our human development, to the education we need to give—not only to children, but to entire nations, to humanity.

International relations have become sour, and the more sour they become, the more they pose a threat. I think that as a result of the increasing pain and suffering in the world, we will start understanding that we have no choice but to start nurturing positive human connections.

Nature will no longer let us progress in divisive directions, but will force us to unite—if not voluntarily then through suffering. Therefore, humanity’s greatest challenge is in uniting above division in order to reach balance with nature. Until we align with nature, the pain and suffering we experience, as bitter as it is, functions to heal us.

Based on talk, “Meet the Press,” between Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and David Rosenthal. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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In Contradiction to the Category of Truth

Baal HaSulam “Peace in the World“: One person in the society labors in one hour of work, due to his weakness, much more than another who works two hours or more.

And there is also a psychological matter here, since he who is very lazy by nature exhausts himself in one hour more than his friend in two hours or more. According to the perspective of the evident truth, we should not compel one part of society to labor more than the other part for the satisfaction of the needs of their lives. But in truth, the naturally strong and nimble in society benefit from the labor of others and exploit them maliciously against the attribute of truth, for they labor very little compared to the weak and lazy in society.

The problem is that a strong and clever individual exploits society when he works fewer hours. If he is hardworking and diligent, he does not make deep internal and moral efforts to do the same work as the weak and lazy individual does.

For example, a child comes to school to learn and sits quietly for five hours straight because he finds what the teacher says interesting. Next to him, there is a restless kid who cannot sit still for even ten minutes. He practically explodes and does not know what to do.

How can we expect the same efforts from both of them? They are different by nature. Who is going to measure this? It is like this throughout our life.

Another example is a person who does not forget to buy his wife a bouquet of flowers every week, while another individual’s only desire is to go fishing, but their wives expect the same thing. The fisherman’s wife doesn’t take into account that it will be a great effort for him even if he buys her flowers once a month, while for the other, it is no big deal and he does it automatically.

How can we demand the same thing from both of them if they are different by nature?
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah” 7/28/19

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Question: Is it possible that my enemies in this world will be revealed as my friends in the spiritual world?

Answer: Of course, this has nothing to do with spirituality. We are deliberately confused, pushed into conflict with each other, and become enemies in this world.

Question: So, there must be some force telling us: “This is how you are confused, let us untangle this confusion, keeping in mind that you are being played with.” Is there something deeper here? There must be some system, right?

Answer: There is a system, a very simple and clear one. The only thing is that it is revealed not through logic that enable it to be passed on to others, but through feelings. You can only suggest to another how to change oneself so that this system will clothe in him, and then it will become comprehensible, clear to him, will become his world.

When I give lessons, I do not speak from a book. For me, a book is an object, a topic, and then I begin to reveal it all, supplement and explain it. After all, everything comes not from the book but from your feelings.

There is nothing difficult about this, I do not need to memorize anything. I come to the lesson without preparing in advance, like a professor usually does who needs to know the topic he is currently discussing with students. This is not the case in Kabbalah. In Kabbalah, if you are at a certain level, you talk about it, if you are not there, you keep quiet.
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From KabTV’s “The Power of The Book of Zohar” #20

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Question: The number of people suffering from hunger has increased in the world. There are more than eight hundred million of them. The number of people dying of hunger has increased six fold. Researchers claim the reason for it is due to climate change and constant conflicts. The world will starve if this continues. They say that a great famine is possible.

Do you think it is possible that it will come to this in our world of abundance?

Answer: There is no abundance in the world. It just seems to you that there is. Everything can be emptied in one day. All these big supermarkets, malls, whatever you see, everything can disappear in an instant and there will be nothing in the world, not even what to wear, let alone to eat.

Question: That is, one little fright and everything will be sold out and will disappear in a blink of an eye? Do you think this option is possible?

Answer: Yes. I believe this will happen. Otherwise, humanity cannot be convinced.

Question: That is, it is not for nothing that it is written in the Torah that only hunger advanced humanity? Does it still work this way?

Answer: So it is said: “Love and hunger rule the world.” And it will be so. We will reach love but only through hunger.

Question: If love had been reached earlier, then there would have been no hunger?

Answer: This is true. But with hunger people will grasp that hunger is a not the problem but the lack of love, and then this will change.

Question: Pease tell me what will this hunger lead us to if there is one?

Answer: We will start to seriously analyze the problems of life, or rather our own problems, and simply ask the question: “What do we need to change in ourselves in order for nature to treat us differently?”

For this to happen, we need to change our attitude toward others. Then nature will treat us differently. That is, if I love others and try to block my ever-growing egoism with some kind of empathy, then nature will treat me differently. I have to show nature that I want it to change its attitude toward me.

Question: Is it enough that I understand why nature puts such pressure on me and that I want to change? Is my request “I want to change” enough?

Answer: Of course.

Comment: We can avoid coming to this and must say: “I want it.”

My Response: You cannot change yourself. Not in any way! But you can realize that you must change. And you can also realize that it depends on your request to nature. We will achieve this.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 8/5/21

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And the entire congregation of the children of Israel assembled at Shiloh, and set up the tent of meeting there. And the land was subdued before them.

And Joshua said, “How long are you slack to come in to possess the land, which the Lord God of your forefathers has given you?

Appoint for yourselves three men for each tribe; and I will send them, and they shall arise, and go through the land, and describe it according to their inheritance; and they shall come to me.

You shall describe the land into seven parts, and bring it here to me, and I will cast lots for you here before the Lord our God. (Prophets, Joshua, 18:1, 18:3 – 18:4, 18:6) 

The Torah speaks only about the inner states of a person. Therefore, we need to rebuild our understanding of it.

A person should take all his desires and direct them to the Creator, that is, to bestowal and love, to connection between people and the Creator. This is our correction and “taking possession” of the land of Israel.

This is done gradually as we immerse ourselves in the attainment of the Creator and approach Him, and then it is considered that we are conquering the land of Israel—Yashar-El (Straight to the Creator).

Thus, Joshua guides the children of Israel and teaches them how to reach this stage. Therefore, there is a struggle, a confrontation with one’s own egoism. There are no external enemies here. All enemies are internal.

The prophets are Kabbalists who are in direct contact with the Creator, in communication with Him. They seem to be communicating with Him.

And people who are considered Israel strive to conquer the land of Israel so that the desire called “earth” (“Eretz,” from the word “Ratzon”) would be directed straight to the Creator (Yashar-El). This is their task.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 8/16/21

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Question: Today, a great number of women do not feel very happy. Why?

Answer: This is because of the breakdown of the family. The fact is that the main thing for a woman is to feel her home, everyday lifestyle, children, family, husband, her kitchen, everything of her own. Without this, the rest of the world becomes very unsettled, uncomfortable, and ill-fitted for her. She looks at everything from her corner, from her territory.

Therefore, now when because of the growing egoism the family breaks down, when men and women too are unable to confide in their partner and lose each other, women suffer most of all. Although they try to hide this, to suppress loneliness with all sorts of activities or by having children and raising them alone, it is still a very sad picture.

Question: The fact that today a woman is so unhappy and cannot find herself in the family, is this a random process?

Answer: No, of course not! Over the millennia our egoism has developed and come to a state where it cannot tolerate anyone close to it.

Children cannot tolerate parents, parents cannot tolerate children, spouses cannot get along with each other. A person cannot get along with himself, he needs either drugs or sedatives to tolerate himself. This is a big problem.
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From KabTV’s “Close-Up. Emancipation” 9/16/09

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Question: The concept of truth is different in the spiritual world and in our world. Each one has their own truth in our world. How should we unite the concept of truth in our world and get closer to the spiritual truth?

Answer: If you cut off the concept of truth from yourself and accept the truth in others, it will help you detach yourself from yourself.

You will then be able to reach the level of Hesed, which means to relate to others at least as you relate to yourself.

Then you will move on to the level of righteousness, which is about everyone being equal, identical, and everyone needing only basic necessities according to their individual state. Eventually, you will reach truth again, and it will be the real truth.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah” 7/28/19

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