Entries in the 'Anti-Semitism' Category

Everyone Is Jewish


In the News (from The Guardian):Genes reveal Spain’s forced conversions” Research has found that 20 percent of men in Spain and Portugal today still have distinctive Sephardi Jewish ancestry. The researchers compared the Y chromosomes with more than a thousand men currently living in Spain and Portugal. Use of the Y chromosome, which confers masculinity, was crucial because it remains unchanged as it is passed from father to son. In this way, the researchers were able to determine if a man’s Y chromosome came from a Jewish or Moorish predecessor or another source.

In the News: (from Israel National News):Charge: Ahmadinejad Rants to Hide His Jewish Roots” Several Iranian media sources are quoting Mahdi Khazali – the son of a leading supporter of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad – as having written in a blog that the president has Jewish roots. Khazali the son says that the president hides his Jewish roots by attacking Israel and the Jews, and by expressing strong Muslim religious beliefs. The accusations appear in an article Khazali wrote entitled, “The Jews in Iran.” He says the time has come to “reveal the truth” about the Jews’ role in Iran.

My Comment: Everyone is Jewish; it’s just that not everyone has admitted it yet.

A question I received: I find what you say about Kabbalah really interesting, but I have one problem with it. The Book of Zohar has a big connection to the Torah. And while I did not read the Torah, I know that it gives an order to destroy people who aren’t Jewish and are trying to learn the Torah, or in other words, it says to destroy the best of the gentiles. This keeps me from trusting Kabbalah completely. Can you tell me whether it’s true what I heard about the Torah’s study by non-Jews?

My Answer: It’s a wonder how certain you are about what is written in the Torah despite never having read it! But you’re right – it does say that a gentile should be deceived and destroyed. What does this mean? A gentile (or a non-Jew) is every person’s egoism, which he has to correct in order to attain the purpose of our creation – equivalence with the Creator. A gentile cannot study the Torah because it talks about receiving the Light, and the Light cannot be received into egoism. That’s the meaning of those verses.

For now, you still cannot be considered a gentile or a Jew because the Torah (Kabbalah) considers a person an animal until he gains awareness of his egoism. Then, when a person gains this awareness, he is considered a gentile. And later, when he corrects his egoism, he is considered Israel, which means, “directed toward the Creator.” But none of this has any relation to your physical origin!

So, you have a long way to go before you can be considered a gentile. Besides, a “gentile” (Goy) means “a nation” in Hebrew. When the Torah says, “Goy,” it is talking about a person’s egoistic qualities. And when it says, “Goy Kadosh” (Holy Nation), it is talking about the quality of love for your neighbor.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Nationality Results from the Soul’s Properties
Laitman.com Post: Israel Is All the People Who Aspire Toward the Creator
The Path of Kabbalah: “About the Study”
Shamati #21: “When One Feels Oneself in a State of Ascent”

Anti-Semitism Is Caused By Human Nature

The Source of All the World's ProblemsIn the News: (from BBC): According to a new BBC World Service poll across 21 countries, Iran had the poorest average ratings of the countries people were asked to rate… The largest number of countries – 19 out of 21 – give negative ratings to Israel. The two exceptions are Americans (where slightly more are positive) and Russians (who are divided). On average, 51% in countries polled say it is having a negative influence…

In the News (from The Jewish Week):Worldwide Anti-Semitism At Alarming High, Post-Gaza” The resumption of Israeli-Hamas fighting this week comes at a time of increasing Antisemitism around the world… “It has been the worst we’ve ever seen,” said Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League … there are calls for the a boycott of Jewish-owned businesses in Italy, Turkey, South Africa and Venezuela. This is reminiscent of the Nazi days.

My Comment: People’s negative attitudes to Jews and Israel will keep getting worse as the crisis becomes more severe. The only way to put an end to Anti-Semitism is to reveal to the world the means to come out of the crisis – the means to correct man’s nature and unify humanity through the study of Kabbalah.

What provokes people to attack the Jews is the fact that the Jews have this teaching. And even though none of the Jews or anyone from the nations of the world understand the true reason for Anti-Semitism, thinking that the reason is the Jews’ non-acceptance of Christianity (meaning, they think it’s on the level of religion), Kabbalah explains that the reason for Anti-Semitism is human nature, which is egoistic and hates correction.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Financial Crisis Causes Spike In Anti-Semitism
Laitman.com Post: Why Does Everyone Hate Israel?
Kabbalah Today Article: Mission Possible (and Mandatory)

Even Anti-Semites Are Governed from Above


A question I received: I have a question about Anti-Semitism: Last week, the world’s leader of Christianity, Pope Benedict XVI, said that he concords with the attitudes of the World War II Pope (Pius XII), who helped the Nazis. We know that the Vatican has influence on world politics. What can we hope from the society if we aren’t welcome to them? How can we show them Kabbalah if the leaders think and act against all that is related to the Jewish people?

My Answer: Everything in our world is governed from above, as it is written: “There is not a blade of grass below that doesn’t have an angel above, who strikes it and tells it: ‘Grow!’” The angel “strikes” it because growth can only happen under the influence of suffering, which forces us to replace the current state with a different and more advanced state.

Kabbalah allows us to avert the blows by recognizing that spiritual development is necessary and to grow on our own, without waiting for the angel to strike. In so doing we will advance at our own rate, drawn forward by the good force. We will then reduce the time it takes to go through the process and make the path pleasant. This is what the Kabbalists do.

Since all the governance descends onto the world from above, we shouldn’t criticize the things taking place, because people are governed by angels. Instead, we should act in such a way that will cause better forces of governance to descend onto the world. The “Introduction to the Book of Zohar” talks about this from item 66 on.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: How Do You Get Rid of Anti-Semitism?
Laitman.com Post: Why Does Everyone Hate Israel?
Laitman.com Post: What Is the Spiritual Root of the Holocaust?
Attaining the World’s Beyond: Chapter 20-2  “The Path of Kabbalah”
Basic Concepts in Kabbalah: Chapter 6 “The Essence and the Purpose of Kabbalah”

Financial Crisis Causes Spike In Anti-Semitism

Financial Crisis Causes Spike In Anti-SemitismNews Report (from PRNewswire): NEW YORK, Oct. 2 — In the wake of the collapse of major investment banks and the government’s proposed bailout of financial institutions, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is reporting a dramatic upsurge in the number of anti-Semitic statements being posted to Internet discussion boards devoted to finance and the economy.

Hundreds of anti-Semitic posts regarding Lehman Brothers and other institutions affected by the sub prime mortgage crisis have been submitted to discussion boards dealing with finance, with many more arriving by the minute. The messages rail against Jews in general, with some charging that Jews control the government and finance as part of a “Jew world order” and therefore are to blame for the economic turmoil.

My Comment: Introduction to the Book of Zohar,” items 66-71, (summary):

When the people of Israel make efforts to elevate the soul, then the nations of the world recognize this and value them. But when the people of Israel lower the greatness of spirituality, they cause the nations of the world to prevail over them, to accuse and humiliate them.

Spirituality can only be elevated through the study of Kabbalah. Then the nations of the world acknowledge that Israel is special, because it has the method to correct the world. But when the people of Israel do not engage in elevating the goal of creation, then the nations of the world degrade them, considering them useless and harmful to the world.

Hence, Israel’s fate depends only on the study of Kabbalah, and its entire descent was caused by the neglect of Kabbalah. Woe to them who neglect Kabbalah – their actions cause hunger, poverty, war, violence, pillage, killings and destruction in the world.

The Talmud says, “No calamity comes to the world but for Israel.”

The Tikkuney Zohar says: “Woe to them who cause poverty and ruin and robbery and killings in the whole world.”

But if they will reveal the method of correction to themselves and the world, then all the nations of the world will recognize the importance of Israel and they shall carry out the words: “And the nations of the world shall take Israel, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall posses them in the land of the Lord” ((Isaiah 14:2). And the words of The Book of Zohar will come true: “That through this composition, which is The Book of Zohar, they will be freed from spiritual exile by the Creator’s mercy” (Nasah 124). Amen!

Additional Comment: However, it’s also possible for things to take a different turn. The “patriotic” forces of every country, combined with the middle class that has fallen into poverty, may create a situation similar to Germany in 1929, when people will start demanding a powerful centralized government and compensation for their degraded state. This is how Fascism and Nazism arise.

Baal HaSulam writes about this alternative to the path of Kabbalah in the book “The Future Generation.” Russia is perhaps closest to this than any other country.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Why Does Everyone Hate Israel?
Laitman.com Post: The Solution – Excerpts from the Writings of the Last Generation by Baal HaSulam
Laitman.com Post: The Writings of the Last Generation
Laitman.com Post: Where Is the World Going – Nazism or Global Unity?
Kabbalah Today Article: Unraveling the Zohar – a Wakeup Call

Israel Is All the People Who Aspire Toward the Creator


A question I received: In this blog entry you say that Israel is “a nation that worships life at a time when it’s surrounded by enemies that worship death.” In fact, it is with such arrogance, insensitivity and crass generalizations, that violence is perpetuated. The way you speak of Israel’s neighbors is shameful. They suffer too, or did you not know that? As Shlomo HaMelech (King Solomon) says, “Sweet words dispel wrath.” Will peace really come from a tongue like yours, Laitman? Dr. Arthur Cohen

My Answer: Dear Dr. Cohen! It’s useless to keep waiting for people to love you! Hasn’t history taught you that people can only hate you? If you really desire peace and love, then disseminate the method of man’s correction – Kabbalah.

When I said “those who worship death,” I meant the terrorists who praise death, regardless of their nationality. I have many Arabic students, and unlike you, they understand me perfectly. Meanwhile, you’re still worried that people will stop loving you.

Israel isn’t a nation, nor the Jews. Rather, it’s all the people who aspire toward the Creator (Isra-El means “straight to the Creator”). I recommend that you study Baal HaSulam’s main articles – then you will understand where the hostility comes from, why people hate you, and how to dispel the antagonism.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: How Do You Get Rid of Anti-Semitism?
Laitman.com Post: Can a Gentile Study Kabbalah?
Laitman.com Post: How to Read the Torah
Kabbalah Today Article: Love, Love, Love
Chapter from Rabash’s Book Shlavey HaSulam (Steps of the Ladder): “Above Reason in Divine Service”

How Do You Get Rid of Anti-Semitism?

How Do You Get Rid of Anti-Semitism?Three questions I received on anti-Semitism:

Question: Why do people hate the Jews?

My Answer: Because the Jews hold the key to the correction of this evil world.

Question: How can I learn to view the Jews in a positive light?

My Answer: Only by understanding their history and mission.

Question: How can I get rid of anti-Semitism, which has become obsessive and won’t let me live a normal life (I can’t avoid constantly thinking in terms of “mine – theirs”)?

My Answer: Correct yourself together with them and help others find out about it.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Why Does Everyone Hate Israel?
Laitman.com Post: The Jewish Nation Can Only Be Revived By Restoring “Love for One’s Neighbor”
Interview with the Future: Part 5, Spiritual Exile -Two Parts to the Soul-Israel and the Nations of the World