Entries in the 'Ancient Babylon' Category

We Cannot Lie Down On The Ground

laitman_750_03Question: Does the world need to know that the wisdom of Kabbalah speaks about the mission of the people of Israel?

Answer: Certainly. We must tell everyone that we have discovered our essential role according to which we must attain the same unity that once was among us. Only this time we don’t apply this role to ourselves but in order to become the Light for the whole world and to give it as an example.

We understand those who hate us because of our “invalid operation.” Because they feel that they depend on us for everything. And so we truly begin to organize ourselves like that, to serve them faithfully. Now we understand why we have returned to the land of Israel.

We understand what our role is: we must establish a nation here as an example that demonstrates how to live together not according to the laws of the capitalists of the West, but according to the laws of the wisdom of Kabbalah, as one person with one heart, in equality, in reciprocity, in unity and love.

This is what we must show to and tell everyone. Humanity requires this already and it is suffering from not having this method of connection and unity.

And so the world will say to our Middle Eastern neighbors: “Be quiet! Let them do what they want. After all, they are doing this for all of us.”

If we behave like this, it will cause no opposition. After all, the people have been expecting this from us throughout all of history. For thousands of years they have said to us that we are the cause of evil for the whole world, in other words, that we have not carried out our mission. We have supposedly hidden away the key for happiness or we are sitting on the faucet of the pipe of abundance and are not opening it. So it follows that the world suffers because of us.

Question: Doesn’t this seem like arrogance on our part?

Answer: They acknowledge their dependence upon us themselves. What arrogance is this talking about? Apparently, according to our nature, we wanted to “bury” ourselves as deeply as possible among the nations, “to lie down on the ground,” to disappear from view. But again and again they focus their attention on us and elevate us so that we will show them the good life, provide them with a good example, and teach them how to live.

Even before the establishment of the nation of Israel we should have proclaimed openly: “We are going to the land of Israel to build a nation here according to the laws of the wisdom of Kabbalah, according to the inner laws of nature. We are going to show everyone how a nation that lives according to the laws of mutual unity and love should look. This is so all of the nations will ultimately unite with each other.”

This is what should have been done, then we would not have encountered any resistance, not even the smallest, from any side. For the force of nature, the law of nature is acting here. If we activate it, yearn for correction, the goal of creation, there are no obstacles on the way.

Question: And what is this law?

Answer: It says that all of us must be a single whole as one person with one heart. This applies to the whole world. It is written: “…for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples” (Isaiah 56:7), “…and all nations shall flow unto it” (Isaiah 2:2). The people of Israel must be “…a Light of the nations” (Isaiah 49:6), because in itself it is a “…kingdom of priests, and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6). This means that we must be teachers, an example.

This role has been incumbent upon us since the days of ancient Babylon and the global crisis that erupted at that time. Today we have reached its next and final round. That’s it; there will no longer be any more delays and setbacks. If we unite now and provide humanity with an example, we will solve all of the problems in the world and our own.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 11/25/14

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Uncontrollable Assimilations

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: If the Jewish people begin to implement the Kabbalistic method, what will happen in the world? How will it affect anti-Semitism in the world?

Answer: Instead of feeling anti-Semitism, people will begin to treat us with sympathy, respect, and love. The nations of the world will carry us in their arms because we will provide them with the method for a perfect eternal life.

The wisdom of Kabbalah explains how we should correctly work with our ego so that it will not be just an evil force but a help against us, a help that stems from its oppositeness. When we fulfill this work, we will attain the peak of our evolution.

Question: There are people who offer different solutions to the problem of anti-Semitism, like suggesting that all the Jews should come to Israel or on the contrary, assimilate among the nations. What can you say about that?

Answer: Nonsense. Such plans will not work. It is because nature itself is managing the whole process. Sooner or later we will have to discover the potential hidden in each of us and become teachers for all of humanity.

We will have to discover the wisdom of Kabbalah by which we will be able to restrain the ego so that we will be able to use it correctly. It is very powerful and can be very helpful when used correctly. Thus we will reach the good cause.

As for assimilation, it is useless, and we are incapable of it. On the contrary, we are yet to reunite with the ten lost tribes and we will see that they haven’t assimilated either. They will come from every corner of the world and will proclaim their Judaism.

Question: Do Jews really have a kind of a protective shield that guards them from complete assimilation?

Answer: Yes. It is because of the profound basic difference that is concealed in nature itself, in the inner Reshimot (reminiscences) that operate the Jews and the non-Jews. The Jewish Reshimo is actually found in the nations of the world as well, but it hasn’t as yet been revealed, and hasn’t started to speak with them as yet.

It isn’t by chance that Abraham turned to all the people in Babel and said, “Let’s live differently and base our relations on a new principle.” But those who followed him were those in whom this Reshimo, this inner element of unity, was already revealed. Those who didn’t hear the message were those in whom unity hadn’t yet awoken, and thus they remained in their ego.

Today however, we are very close to the revelation and recognition of the seriousness of the crisis we are in and the uniqueness of this abnormal global world. People will feel that they have to unite and that they cannot keep on living any other life but the life that is based on mutual unity into one whole.

Question: Can we say that anti-Semitism is a call and a demand coming from the world “to teach us how to keep on living?”

Answer: Of course. This is the real reason for it. The nations of the world are actually telling us openly that we have the key for a good life. We may ask how it is possible to blame us for all the troubles in the world, but this is what they feel and they cannot get rid of this feeling.

The nations of the world are totally dependent on us. Only we have the solutions to the current situation by showing them how to organize and cooperate amongst themselves.

Question: Suppose I agree with you, what should I do now?

Answer: You should join the method of integral education and learn what it means to be a Jew. It makes no difference whether a person is religious or not, whether he is politically inclined to the left or to the right. We should understand what it really means to be Jewish (Yechudi), which stems from the Hebrew word “Yichud” – unity, mutual love, and how to attain it.

Then this wisdom and method should be passed on to your family and to others within your environment.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 11/25/14

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A People Woven From The Thread Of An Idea

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Recently a new wave of violent riots has swept over us. Stone throwing, stabbings, and vehicles running over pedestrians have become murder weapons.

The level of tension has risen, fear has returned to the streets, undermining the complex system of relationships that connect us with Israeli Arabs. They live alongside us, among us, and we cannot isolate ourselves from them, and their terrorist attacks have literally broken into our home.

Is it possible to say that recent events are the result of a new situation, a new trend, with which we must contend?

Answer: First of all, I would like to note that everything that I will say is derived from an understanding of the general world system within which is the nation of Israel and its population, from the wisdom that I have researched and acquired, and not from social research and analytic reports.

I won’t enter into these areas, I won’t research this population or another, and I am far from the events in the field. Besides that, I am not a psychologist who precisely understands the Jewish and Arab minds.

In other words, I will not express my opinion on the level of this world. So I feel myself free, and, on the other hand, everything that I will say later on is the truth in my eyes and not my personal truth. This is the nature of things; this is how the Creator, the higher power, the higher supervision and management, is behaving towards us. According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, everything is managed by the system of nature that is also called El-okim. In Gematria (numerology), the value of the two words “HaTeva” (nature) and “Elokim” (the divine) are identical.

This system was originally found in a state that was very similar to general chaos. Kabbalah calls it by the name of Shevira (breaking) or the sin of the Tree of Knowledge. Since then, the general system, which is similar to our universe, gradually got along according to laws that became increasingly clear.

They were not at work previously because the material suitable for scrutiny didn’t exist. For example, as long as there wasn’t any vegetation, relationships between the still and the vegetative could not be discovered. As long as animals didn’t exist, the laws of behavior of the animate and the relationships between the animate and the other levels could not be discovered. And especially, as long as the human species didn’t exist, lawfulness could not be discovered in the life and development of the human species, which also determines its unprecedented influence on the natures of the still, vegetative, and animate.

In other words, we see that at the same time that all materials develop, they are organized within the framework of a most precise system. And this system continues towards balance and a permanent state. All of its parts necessarily get their own place and form of expression. According to scientific data and as far as it seems, in the future this system will ultimately become balanced and reach inner harmony.

Besides this, we have discovered various phenomena in human society that have developed in unique ways and rates in contrast to the nature of the still, vegetative, and animate. While humanity has made a quantum leap within some thousands of years and especially in the last century, in contrast to this, nature hasn’t gone through meaningful changes during that time.

We are generally finding newer and newer phenomena that typify a system that is aspiring towards balance and which indicate its imbalance.

In time they will be revealed in increasingly detailed, subtle, and personal forms. We see how much the general system takes the imbalance between parts of the system into account and takes care of them.

In this way, we observe the process through which all of humanity is passing on the background of the still, vegetative, and animate levels that have scarcely changed.

This is a natural process that is called “in its time” in Kabbalah. In other words, it happens in its own time since everything happens according to a natural rate, like a watch that measures the rate of changes similar to the signal generator in a computer. The interesting thing in this picture is the development of various parts of humanity and the relationships between them. Before us is spread the historical process through which various peoples, groups, continents, and so forth have passed. Development intrigues us, even though we cannot always see the reasons for it. Also, the conclusions we draw are in doubt.

And so, first we watched what was happening, and after that everyone had different philosophical and historical opinions. But a unique phenomenon was discovered here—the people of Israel.

The main uniqueness is its presence throughout all of history. In other words, this ongoing phenomenon is not clear. How can this be? After all, this didn’t happen with other peoples. This is strange, especially considering the troubles that were visited upon this people in the forms of exile, hatred towards it, internal conflicts, and so on.

In particular it should be noted that the whole world stands against the people of Israel. Everyone hates them, wants to annihilate them, and everyone acknowledges that they are not prepared to do this. They declare openly:

  1. We want to annihilate Israel.
  2. We are not prepared to annihilate Israel.
  3. We depend upon the people of Israel.
  4. Specifically, the people of Israel bring us troubles and problems and we are not prepared to do anything to them. We are weak in contrast to this nation.

It is possible to cite many claims and other oddities here. And the strangest phenomenon is the birth of the nation, which was essentially an absolutely artificial birth.

The rest of the nations arose naturally from tribes that populated various areas on the face of the globe on the basis of a common territory, common culture, common education, common and language, and later, on the basis of a common history. Smaller and larger nations appeared, and after that they combined into various religions and faiths, with everything continuing as usual.

On the other hand, the people of Israel appeared in a strange way from a unique organization, from an unprecedented social phenomenon. One person called Abraham threw a unique idea at humanity, which was a thought, an ideal, a vision that was connected to the role and function of the entire human species. He gathered special people from all of humanity for whom the essence of life, the goal of life, and an identity with the higher power and its discovery were important. This means that the idea upon which the nation was founded was very high, unnatural and “out of this world” as it is called. This isn’t saying that we must live in some isolated place, maintain our borders, and defend ourselves from our neighbors, etc.

These were not connections between people based upon material corporeal beastly factors, nor on normal corporeal needs. The people of Israel were founded around absolutely different principles, on another philosophical, conceptual higher level relative to the rest of the nations.

They didn’t even have a dwelling place. Rather Abraham simply said to them that connection around the spiritual idea demanded them to live as one person with one heart, all of Israel are friends, and also to live in fraternity and discover within them the characteristic of bestowal and love. So according to these principles, their place on the face of the globe was in the land of Canaan. So they headed there!

The residence of the nation was determined by its goal and according to its adaptation to the characteristics of the land. The artificial people populated an artificial place. So the connection between the people of Israel and its place is very unique. As long as the people maintain the concept of unity, it lives here [Israel], and the moment that it doesn’t stand on the spiritual conditions of one person with one heart and love of others, it enters into a dissonance to its residence and the place regurgitates it.

Never throughout history have we seen a precedent like this, that a particular territory, meaning something inanimate, reacts like this to those who are dwelling within it.

There are a multitude of other strange phenomena connected to this people. Without being aware of and feeling their character and their place, they will not succeed in understanding what is happening to them. And the role of history is to give a time and a place to the people of Israel to carry out its unique historical mission.

In this stage it is up to us to understand what Abraham taught his students. He explained to them a plan exists according to which the people of Israel must reach a particular level of correction, to be like one person with one heart through gathering. In continuation, they will need to pass through a Shevirah (breaking). In other words, instead of a good connection between them, they must discover the opposite state of separation and the internal and mental fragmentation.

According to this they passed through various situations with their neighbors, with the higher power that arranges everything. After that, during a period of exile and mutual distance, the people of Israel scattered among all the nations and did special preparatory work between them. After that they again gathered and again rose up to the level of connection, and with the same tendency, they attracted all of humanity towards connection. This is how history ends, meaning with the general correction of the human species. This is the goal of creation, the goal of existence of the human species in the state of this world.

For this to happen, a period of six thousand years has been allotted, beginning from the moment that a person with the name Adam discovered the program to the last person who will do the last correction and finish the historical process. And then this world will disappear, for it exists in our perception only because it is broken and without the right connections. And the moment that all of the broken parts become connected and the last among them becomes connected to them, the system will become united and circular. Then all of humanity will feel that it exists within a perfected and circular reality, in a state called the world to come. What will fill the people is called the Creator, the higher power, for they will attain it with the help of the connection between them, mutual bestowal and love along the entire path.

And so the historical role of the people of Israel is clear. They must go through various situations and according to this, they must function correctly to guide the whole world to the goal specified from the start. Without this nation it would be impossible to reach the goal. So it must be at the head of the process. It is not by chance that the letters of the word “Israel – ישראל” make up the phrase, “Li Rosh – לי ראש – I have a head.”

There were periods in which it was forbidden for the people of Israel to know its mission, so that they wouldn’t be disturbed from assimilating among the nations of the world in the period of exile. In other words, they were in a state of detachment from connection.

But today, If we want to explore the Jewish people at every moment throughout history, it is up to us to take into account the general program of human society and compare it to reality, to what extent the people of Israel maintain the program or, on the contrary, oppose the program. The range of its historical participation moves between -100% and +100%.

It depends on the people of Israel, it depends on how much they attract themselves towards fulfilling their role and attracting everyone else towards it. And if it doesn’t work correctly and in time, then this delay is expressed in the negative forces of nature that don’t get engaged in connection in the general system of connection, that are not counterbalanced by positive forces.

For the people of Israel, their role is to balance the opposites at all times. If they don’t balance them at every moment throughout history, then both the plus and minus work on them negatively. The minus pushes them from behind and the plus pulls them forward. And when the people don’t agree with either of them, don’t want to take the initiative, and don’t want lead the whole world after it, then as a result of this there will be the many great problems and disasters that continue to this very day.

But a unique time has arrived. After a long exile of two thousand years, we can and must reveal to all the people of Israel and to the whole world what is on the agenda. It is up to us to tell everyone:

“Friends, we are on the threshold of a critical period because the reins have been placed in our hands, which are the two forces of nature, the plus and the minus. They were prepared for us and with their help it is up to us to reach an integral connection between us, to bring society into harmony and rise to the level of bestowal and love ourselves. It is in our hands. The two forces will help us in such a way that even the negative force will become a ‘helpmate against’ (Genesis 2:18). The task is great. So come, let’s begin to implement it.”

In this manner, it is up to us to approach the entire world, ourselves, and also the higher power with the help of all means at our disposal. We have been given freedom of choice; we have been given a program and a process including a script that describes the happy ending in the completion of correction. So we must see the present situation, not from this trend, but from the higher aim of the program and to understand what it demands from us.

By watching in this manner and not from the point of view of the communications media or the point of view of the psychology of our neighbors, I am looking at what is happening today in Israel. What is the reason to go deeply into the Israeli and Arab mentality if this whole picture is absolutely superficial? Analysis like this doesn’t make it possible to extinguish the fire. We must understand the natural trends at work in these processes and it is then that we will truly know how to solve the problem.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 11/13/14

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In The Same Place After A Few Thousand Years

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: You say that only the Jews are ready to help the world in the conditions of the global crisis. How exactly?

Answer: It is according to the method that was discovered by Abraham. Specifically, he understood why the ego is constantly growing and that human development is summoned in this way. During this process, more and more disasters are experienced.

For together with all of the successes and achievements, the ego pushes us further and further into an abyss, makes life difficult and fills it with unavoidable tension. More than this, in our day, the ego is growing exponentially, not linearly.

So by discovering all of this, Abraham also discovered a further unique power in nature, which is the power of bestowal and love. We can derive that from nature and through this positive force, dominate our egoistic negativity.

How is this done? It is done through connection and unification with each other. Through our convergence, we discover this power of unification between us that can cover our entire ego. Then we feel as if we are under a safe umbrella. Nature doesn’t bother us anymore and we are not threatened by any harm. We don’t lose anything, we have no need for competition and we don’t need to devour each other. Everywhere there is absolute abundance, peace, and tranquility throughout the world.

This is what Abraham discovered and taught his students with whom he disengaged from Babylon and went to the land of Israel.

We are the owners of this wisdom. And the nations of the world feel this, especially at this time of the global crisis. It is expanding and we don’t see an end to it. There will be further pauses, but the trend is moving us towards an abyss. Under such conditions, the nations of the world understand that we have a solution. This is because they are like the ancient Babylonians from whom we once branched out in a different way.

At that time, Abraham said to everyone, “Much later you will still have to face the facts and understand that this method of counteracting evil, the ego, with good, the power of altruistic love, is compulsory. You don’t want to realize this now? So you will realize it in another few thousand years.” There is no choice, and this period has been like a moment in our reality.

And now thousands of years have passed. Today we are already close to the end of the process. Ultimately all of humanity must be aware of this, that the same wisdom of Kabbalah that was given to the Jews and which they have themselves forgotten, is imperative for this. It is necessary to counteract the ego that is killing humanity and devouring itself, like a cancer that devours the body.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 11/25/14

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Genetic Socialists

Laitman_167Comment: Recently, in one of the radio programs, a presenter asked the question: “Why did American Jewish people overwhelmingly vote for a Democrat rather than a Republican? I think it is because the Jewish people genetically are socialists, the genes of helping their neighbors prevail in them.

Answer: Of course. But, unfortunately, it’s all in the past. Recently we have significantly grown apart and have ceased to engage in mutual assistance. Everything has turned into a business.

The world is moving towards a big crisis that Kabbalah looks at as a prelude to World War III, and wants to keep the world from war.

Everything depends on us. The Jewish people should show an example of unity to everyone. They should create a state within Israel with such internal communication between people that would serve as an example for all.

We are a group of descendants of Abraham, the unity of which he wanted to demonstrate for ancient Babylon. Today we have to give an example of this combination of ancient Babylon that settled all over the earth, and to become “a light to the nations of the world”,  as is written in the Torah.
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From  KabTV’s “A Special Opinion” 8/17/14

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The Whole World Is Ancient Babylon

laitman_944Question: Recently, you gave a series of lectures in the United States. Who was your audience?

Answer: My audience is ancient Babylon from where Abraham wanted to take all the people and bring them to the next level of existence.

We do not divide anyone by their skin color nor on any other grounds; we relate to all of humanity exactly in the same manner. After all, who are the Jews? They are those who in their desire try to find the meaning of life followed by Abraham. There are millions of such people today.

Question: Do you believe that the Jewish people are chosen?

Answer: By the Jewish people, I mean those who are descendants of the Babylonians who followed Abraham and created the people on the basis of the rule of “love thy neighbor as thyself,” i.e., connected to each other, and those who today aspire to attain the upper existence as once did the disciples of Abraham. And it does not depend on skin color.
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From KabTV’s “A Special Opinion” 8/17/14

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Returning To The Origin

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe Book of Zohar, Devarim (Deuteronomy), 32: The sons of Ishmael will possess the Holy Land, where she will be empty for many years. They will obstruct the children of Israel, returning to their land.

Question: The first sign of the Messiah’s arrival is the return of the Jews’ to their country. Does it happen at this time?

Answer: I think that currently we are experiencing a reverse process. The process of segregation of the people of Israel from the land of Israel is ongoing. The number of people leaving this land is greater than those who return. Moreover, the people who come to this country do so involuntarily, whereas those who leave, do so out of their freewill. I look at this process very soberly.

Babylonian Talmud: Tractate Sanhedrin, Folio 98-a: R. Abba also said: There can be no more manifest (sign of) redemption than the one written in the Prophet Yehezkel’s (Ezekiel) Book (36:8): O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of Israel, for they are at hand to come.

This excerpt is about the fact that people are being attracted by the notion of Eretz Israel (the Land of Israel). “Eretz” is derived from the word “Ratzon” (desire); “Israel” stems from “Yashar-Kel” (directly to the Creator).

It means that the aspiration to the Creator, the force that defines each moment of our life and constantly animates and directs us, prevails in all of our desires. Thus, it becomes very clear that the Creator is the general and governing force of nature. In every moment of our life, it shapes us, our surroundings, and the world in which we live.

This force establishes relationships that help us understand our purpose: Where do we come from, what is the essence of our existence, and for what reason are we here? We start realizing that the chain of circumstances, conditions, timing, and everything that ever happens to us and/or that takes place in the world we live in has the upper thought behind it.

This is what is meant by the return to Eretz Israel (the Land of Israel), meaning to the desire that is oriented towards the Creator, to the revelation of the upper force. In this case, the governing force shows up in us as the Messiah (Mashiach) from the word “Moshech” (pulling out). This is the power that pulls us from the inanimate, vegetative, and animate levels to a state called Man (Adam), the sensation of the Messiah.

Question: What does it mean “and yield your fruit to my people of Israel”?

Answer: Under the fruit means the desire (Ratzon) that rise from the Land (Eretz).These desires lead the nation to authentic, eternal, perfect fruit, meaning attaining the Creator.
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From KabTV’s “Will the Messiah Come?” 11/14/14

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As An Eyesore

laitman_749_02We live in a special, exciting time that is full of unpredictable events. The last 60 to 70 years after World War II, we thought we had created a good, viable environment.

In America, Europe, Israel, and many other countries, the Jewish people began to feel more confident, not as exiles at mercy of the hosts who could do whatever they wanted with them. Rather, they started behaving as equals.

It is quite surprising how fast things change. After we gave the world numerous outstanding scientists, flourishing cultures and economics, made enormous contributions in all spheres of human life, all of a sudden there appeared a new astonishing waive of anti-Semitism.

The intensity of it is so bad that in some cities of America the Jews are afraid of wearing kippahs (yarmulkes) in the streets. Our children are beaten in the universities and accused of all sorts of sins.

Ancient, primeval, dense prejudices that repeat the old slander about the Jews who supposedly “drink blood for Passover,” head a secret world government that wants to take over the world, and in general are guilty of all disasters that humanity is going through have been revived again now.

We see that this feeling is inherent in humans by nature and doesn’t depend on developmental or cultural levels. The nations of the world live next to us; we exist among them, and yet, all of a sudden a wild, medieval, depressing animosity wakes up in them.

Where do these problems come from? Why do we end up being in the center of all predicaments? Why do we provoke hatred in them? Millions of people around the world take part in demonstrations against the Jews. Students and university professors sign petitions against the State of Israel.

Even the Jews who are not willing to associate with Israel still fall into a category of hated and persecuted people only because of their Jewish ethnicity.

The thing is that anti-Semitism is a part of nature. All great thinkers pointed out this phenomenon. Einstein wrote that anti-Semitism is a shadow of our nation from which we cannot hide.

In fact, animosity to the Jews even emerges in the countries where the Jews have never settled. Really, we never had any connection with these nations, but somehow we still are the objects of their detestation. Irrespective of the fact that we help many nations of the world and express our desire to maintain good relationships with them, they still consider us to be outcasts: the strangest, most incomprehensible creatures that do not belong to this world.

Where does this sensation come from? What is it: a curse or a blessing? What is the root of the problem?

In order to understand this phenomenon, let’s turn to the history, to the moment when our people were born. Approximately 4,000 years ago, in the ancient civilization of Babylon, its inhabitants lived in peace and friendship. All of a sudden, there appeared a growing discontent among them, an escalation of mutual reproaches, and an increase in the sensation of detachment among their people.

Good friends who spoke the same language and who understood each other very well turned into a hostile entity based on jealousy, hatred, and rivalry. The striking changes that they went through triggered a question in them: “What is going on with us?”

At that time, an ancient Babylonian priest, Abraham, one of many who explored this phenomenon, found a solution to it. By studying nature as a philosopher, astronomer, and a great scientist of his time, he arrived at the conclusion that this state stems from the very nature of human society that purposely develops the way it does so that it submerges into its own egoism and eventually would have to rise above the ego.

According to Abraham, a peaceful period that Babylonians once enjoyed was given to them as an example. Later, there appeared the era of the manifestation of the ego, a negative quality that endangered their good state.

It was not accidental. Rather, it happened because the people had to grow consciously, thus rising above the egoism that tore them apart, detached them from each other, and threatened to completely destroy the entire civilization. Abraham explained that the inhabitants of Babylon had to regain positive cooperation among them in spite of the egoism raging in them at that time.

Since he was a great scientist, a spiritual leader of the nation, he made his theory clear for public consideration. He also started disseminating this idea everywhere he could. Thus, within a short period of time, that ancient Babylonian society learned about his point of view.

A part of the people who understood his approach and accepted his solution to the problem responded to his appeal and supported him. However, the vast majority of people were not ready to accept his ideas. According to their internal developmental stage, they were confident that they should calmly continue their existence, which seemed very good to them.

“Why is it bad?” they asked. “Yes, we compete with each other… So what? By that, we develop sciences and promote culture. Competition gives us additional stimuli for a rapid development.” It was true since the egoism enhanced in humans to push them to the next developmental stage.

This state of affairs opened two paths that Babylonians could choose from. The first path was about the development of morality in the society where a benevolent interconnection among all of its members prevailed over scientific and technological achievements. This method was based not on destroying the egoism, but rather on rising above it and building an even stronger connection amongst everyone.

The second path was about the internal, egoistic advancement. It was based on competition and suppression of others. However, it stimulated technological progress.

This explains why only a small part of the Babylonians joined Abraham’s group. He took them to the land of Israel. From this moment on, his followers were called “Israel,” which means “directly to the Creator,” i.e., to the upper force of nature that governs and motivates us to unite. This is how the Jewish nation was born.

Humanity split into two ideologically opposite parts: the Jews who pursued the goal of unity in accordance with the rule “love thy neighbor as thyself,” and the nations of the world who went contrary to this rule due to their intense antagonism and inclination for technical and material development.

Both parts totally contradict each other in their philosophy toward life. This is the main difference between the Jewish people and the rest of humanity. This is the origin of a constant, centuries-long animosity to the Jews.
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From KabTV’s “Short Stories” 10/24/14

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Spiritual And Physical Exile

Dr. Michael LaitmanFrom ancient Babylon to the destruction of the Temple, the group of Abraham went through many various states, ascents and descents. It is due to egoism that they were forced to unite with each other to the extent that they revealed the inner anti-egoistic laws of nature that they wrote in the book called the Torah. The Torah is the guide by which we must live today.

Through cultivating good relationships with each other, consideration, mutual trust, and support, they revealed a special force of connection within this unity, which is the force of nature. This force holds within itself the entire universe and causes its movement towards harmony.

This was the major discovery of the descendants of the group of Abraham. Having understood the fundamental force of nature that causes the development of humankind, they saw the process by which it develops.

Over time, coming out of slavery in Egypt, they again returned to their country called Israel, the land of those who seek the Creator, where they built a state based on love of others and laws of mutual trust.

These laws were introduced into everyday life through the Sanhedrin, which was a council of sages who had achieved a high level of altruism that clearly told them how to move forward and what to do. Thus, the sages dealt with the people’s problems and led it forward. The people existed in this state before the time called the destruction of the Temple.

For many hundreds of years and with each generation fighting with their ego and rising above it, they came to a state when an unexpected surge of egoism occurred within them and which they could not cover by getting closer to each other. Through this egoism, the society fell apart.

It was then that internecine wars, distrust, and disagreement began, leading to the invasions by the Greeks and then the Romans. Thus the path of the state of Israel ended. The entire group of people went from its spiritual state into exile, from a state of “love thy neighbor as thyself” to a descent to normal, everyday egoism.

In their physical life, the spiritual exile was manifested in the form of physical exile. The Romans who conquered the land of Israel expelled the Jews who were forced to begin their centuries of wandering.

Holding together purely egoistically in order not to perish and to somehow survive, they were compelled to move from country to country where they were given temporary shelter. Thus, the 2,000 years of exile of the Jewish people passed in this way.
[147954]
From KabTV’s “Short Stories” 10/24/14

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Reaching Heaven

Dr. Michael LaitmanAt the time the people of Israel left Babylon, there were two tendencies. Since then these two tendencies, two worlds, have existed one within the other. The Jewish people were mixed with humanity, and at the same time, they did not dissolve into it. They were scattered, yet they couldn’t disappear; for at their source, they are a completely different society that is connected and linked with each other in another way.

These two tendencies cannot intermingle. The Jewish people and the other peoples have such different natural, spiritual sources that a very clear and tangible separation has existed and still exists between them. This is impossible to describe and understand.

There was a time that Babylon, the cradle of humanity, was like a family. Then a great eruption of ego occurred and King Nimrod came into power. Babylon, in a fundamental way, became the capital for all the advancement of those times: mysticism, the occult, and so on.

Babylon was really at the center of humanity. And in this center a small point was created. This was a Babylonian priest by the name of Abraham, his father Terah, and his grandfather Nahor. They were great masters of wisdom, were learned men, astrologers, and scientists. They were a very educated family for those times.

And so suddenly in Babylon problems and differences of opinion suddenly broke out. The eruption of ego separated people and caused fights, conflicts, struggles between brothers, and other problems that hadn’t existed in the past. A need was discovered for courts, lawyers, guards, police, etc.. In fact, capitalist principles suddenly began to materialize.

The family of Abraham actively participated in this because it was essentially involved in ideological work with the population.

And so the Babylonians reached a situation where they decided to build the Tower of Babel, meaning that allegorically, it reached the heavens. Their arrogance grew in such dimensions that their power, I would say, their audacity and boldness exploded so much that they wanted to reach the stars.

Abraham began to investigate the subject because this subject touched him directly. I think that he began his investigation for absolutely egoistic reasons. After all, if people wanted to reach the stars, this threatened his profession, wealth, power, and authority.

Question: So in the beginning Abraham decided to go in a simple scientific path?

Answer: He had to solve this problem. People first turned to him for advice regarding simple daily problems: Should they water the fields or not, should they go fishing or wait, whom should they marry? They asked things like that. But people became so egoistic, so immersed in narcissism, and so sure of themselves, that it was as if they stopped feeling a need for him.

Abraham felt that they avoided him, and this situation threatened his future.

Understandably, I am exaggerating a bit, but in principle, it must be noted that in the beginning he was a regular egoist. He made statues of idols and sold them profititably to the community that worshipped them. In the end, everyone profited from this, since the community received a feeling of security and Abraham received his profit.

And suddenly people stopped being satisfied with statues. They felt that they were above them. This was threatening to Abraham himself, his future, his profession, and his status. And so he began to investigate what happened.

It is necessary to say that in his heart, he was a true investigator. In other words, the truth was more important to him than his personal gain.

And so when he explored the nature of the phenomenon that he had encountered in the Babylonian environment, Abraham saw a very interesting tendency in the development of the ego. During this process, people began to neglect his idols, for their ego became like a god for them. And accordingly, the fulfillment, the desire, and the glorification of the ego replaced all the other cults.

In the modern era, we see the same processes throughout the world. Why do people move away from religion? It is because the ego has grown in them. “What do I have with a divinity that is sitting who knows where if I have my own divinity: my ego, my self, that is more important to me than anything else?”

Until now, Jews and Christians have broken away from their religion in droves, and in the Muslim world, a struggle against fundamentalism is happening since they are also going through a process away that takes them from religion. As for the Indians, they also have the same struggle, but quietly and covertly. Their way is slightly different, but it is also leading towards the same goal.

There is nothing to do about it, since this is the universal way of development. Yet since every nation has a different purpose, it comes to be expressed in different ways.

In any case, the ego has become a new religion. This is just as it was in ancient Egypt when Pharaoh said: “Who is the Creator that I should listen to His voice? I myself am supreme.”

That is also what happened in ancient Babylon. When Abraham investigated this phenomenon, he discovered its essence: The ego grew to such dimensions that it became the central active image, the supreme power. Highest in the hierarchy of personal worship—for me there is nothing higher than my ego.

And so Abraham wondered: How in general is it possible to contend with this ego? “Suppose that he truly is the crown of creation, the supreme power of nature. In fact, from what I see, the impression is created that the human ego dominates everything. It destroys and builds; everything good and everything bad is done only by it, with its help, and for its sake. But if we go after it blindly, we will destroy everything and annihilate each other and all of civilization.”

This is what Abraham saw. And he was helped by King Nimrod who offered his own solution: separate and distanced from each other, to calm things down, and  scatter all over the shared space.

Nimrod was very clever. He understood that he could not do anything against what was happening by himself. So he worked for the sake of the separation process.

But Abraham looked forward: “Okay, we are dispersing. And what will happen then? After all, this is only half of the work. We truly must calm the Babylonians down who formerly lived as one family and became hateful to each other. But this only delays finding the solution, and from this aspect it doesn’t bring us closer to it at all.

“The true egoistic direction demands that, on the contrary, we cooperate and consolidate. It is true that the ego separates and incites us against one another where different interests conflict. But on the other hand, it connects us so that we can enjoy each other.”

So egoistic development is both, and within it exist opposite aspects. So everyone felt this, yet didn’t know how to use it.

“I know that I cannot get along without my neighbor. Yes, I need to stay away somewhat, to be distant from him where we disturb each other. I suppose that there is a river flowing between us now, or there is a staircase found between us. But on the other hand the neighbor produces something and I produce something, so we can help each other and, in spite of it all, we need to be connected for the sake of our egoistic fulfillment.”

Here the problem of how we correctly cooperate with each other is immediately revealed. The clearest example is the Europeans with their common market. When they were separate, they existed in a reasonable manner. Clearly, they were fighting all the time, but they existed. They wanted to connect and didn’t know how to do this. In other words, it was bad on one side and bad on the other and they didn’t know how to work with the ego.

But in fact, it is impossible to work with it. This problem was clear from the start. Both Abraham and Nimrod stood before the problem of how to transform the ego into a vital force.  How do I use my hatred towards others, my dependence on others, my desire to dominate others in a positive way? And accordingly, the same attitude exists from others towards me, which is the desire to dominate, hate, conquer, and so on. How does one bring all of this to common denominator?

After all, if we don’t solve the problem, we will be constantly immersed in disputes, annihilation, wars, etc. This is what we have seen up to today. People are already tired of all this.

Look at the modern world. From the start, there has always been unrest everywhere. Soon there won’t be any place that is calm. Latin America, China, and Japan will rise up again; everywhere there are the first signs of future wars.

How can we package our ego correctly? If this is a natural force, how can we use it correctly?

The correct use of the ego was Abraham’s discovery. Not one-sided, according to the principle of separation, nor according to the military principle of who will defeat whom, which leads to self-destruction, but a clear calculation: We require the ego so that from the hatred that typifies it, we will create the characteristics of love and mutual connection.

In conclusion, Abraham solved the problem of how to transform the ego. Without getting into philosophical, historical, technical, and psychological details that are inherent in the characteristics of nature and its laws, in general, this is Abraham’s legacy.

As a result of many years of investigation, Abraham succeeded in understanding this natural phenomenon, and after penetrating more and more deeply into the ego, there he found the higher power of nature.

He understood why it was necessary for humanity to pass specifically through this development so that a person will truly rise to the level of the Creator. And then it follows that the aspiration of civilization to build the Tower of Babel to the heavens was right, but it is necessary to build it specifically according to a supra-egoistic technology. The human ego, the construction material of the Tower of Babel, will constantly grow, but each one must stand above it. The little man stands above the pile, above the mountain that is constantly growing.

Abraham researched all the components that appeared, against their will, in that small humanity of Babylon. He used them according to their designation, and he discovered that in fact there is only one solution. And he realized this solution.

He realized it by gathering a group of his supporters, his students, that truly rose up to the heavens, meaning that they built a spiritual Tower of Babel above their ego. And as a result of this, they reached the highest point of nature, the characteristic of bestowal and love. They grew to this level.

In other words, Malchut, the egoistic foundation of humanity, reached the level of complete bestowal and love, the level of Bina.

To reach this, Abraham’s group had to leave Babylon and work for many years. Abraham lived around the year 1,700 BC, and built the correct Tower of Babel, in other words the First Temple attributed to the year 900 BC.

Generally, the concept of the Tower of Babel has passed through all of human history and humanity aspires to it subconsciously. Abraham, in the end, built it, and clearly in an absolutely different form than the Babylonians themselves imagined.
[145679]
From KabTV’s “Babylon Yesterday and Today” 9/24/14

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