Question: There was another tragic school shooting in America; an 18-year-old resident of Texas opened fire at an elementary school, killed 19 students, two teachers, and seriously wounded his grandmother before that.

“President Biden on Tuesday evening urged Congress to end the ‘carnage’ of gun violence after more than a dozen elementary schoolchildren were killed by an 18-year-old in Texas.

“’As a nation we have to ask: When in God’s name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby?’ Biden said in an address to the nation. ‘ … How many scores of little children, who witnessed what happened, see their friends die as if they’re in a battlefield, for God’s sake?’” (Washington Post)

If you were given all the powers, that is, if they told you: “Dear Michael Laitman, here is the money, here is the power, here is the law, here is the police, here is the army, whatever you want, just change this situation,” what would you do?

Answer: I think it is unrealistic to confiscate weapons from hundreds of millions of people. (And each gun has a couple of barrels.) I remember, I went into a basement in New York—there is a gun! And everything else as well—please, in bulk, take it away.

“A gun? Please, take it.”

And what can you do? It cannot be changed in a split second. For this it is necessary to educate people; it is not easy.

Comment: That is, for example, if you were given all the authority to forcibly take the weapons, pull it out…

My Response: It would not help. They can buy them in any alley.

Comment: Close all stores, close the alleys.

My Response: There is no way to do that. Anyone who wants—specifically wants to buy a weapon in order to kill someone—can do so anywhere in the world.

Question: This problem of America is well-known. What is the solution?

Answer: There is no solution except for gradual education of society.

Question: What should society come to?

Answer: Society must come to the conclusion that it is not good to kill another.

Question: This is the basis of all religions, all spiritual practices. What you said is repeated: killing is not good, only peace. But humanity is not improving in any way, and it is getting worse and worse. You see what is going on, right?

Answer: Naturally. Egoism is growing, people around me are getting worse, so I take a gun and start “correcting” society.

Comment: The “correctors” of society are a terrible thing.

My Response: Nothing can be done. I do not see anything else except what Kabbalah says: education, serious education, universal, from a young age and throughout life.

Question: What should it lead to?

Answer: To the fact that there is no place for violence. He who raises his hand against another must receive punishment.

A person must understand that he has no right to rule over the life of another. Only good, kind things can he do to another. Just set a good example. And he has no right to show violence; this is not his authority. To act against the wishes of another is not in his authority.

Question: Why have all the practitioners that talk about the same thing not succeeded and Kabbalah will succeed if you conduct education according to Kabbalah?

Answer: It is true that no practices have succeeded in this, and many are talking about it. But they talk, and they do it differently.

And Kabbalah will succeed because it uses the upper force. It causes the influence of the upper positive force on a person, and then a person changes.

I do not see any other way out. It says what needs to be done. It is necessary to be accustomed to “love your neighbor as yourself” from a young age. Literally each and everyone. If it happens on a daily basis and on the scale of, say, a country, then it will have an impact. This together with the media and everything else.

Question: So you say the whole task is to summon this positive force upon yourself. To do this, I have to understand that there is nothing positive in me or around me? Is that what I need to understand as a student?

Answer: Of course. This requires very serious explanatory work. Very serious! Who we are, what we are, and what is happening around us, with us, and where we are going. Everyone suffers from this.

Question: How can we invoke this positive force? What should I say, think, do?

Answer: It is invoked by constant patient explanation. Movies, clips, anything else, television, the Internet, all this should be filled only by what educates a person for good. Otherwise, we are going nowhere. It is nature. Go against it?

It is necessary to direct a person’s thinking only to the positive, and people will gradually get used to how to speak, how to address, how to think. At least, such excesses will not occur, and people will not be able to realize them because they will not exist.

They will not want and will not be able to do it because there will be nowhere to get firearms and so on.

Comment: You are talking now as if you are taking the supreme law and connecting it with the practice of this world. A simple law that you cannot get weapons and so on.

Answer: One by one. It is necessary to limit people from this. According to their own desires.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 5/26/22

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Filed under: Children, Crisis, Education, Globalization, News - No Comments →

In the News (BBC): “Some have called it ‘gender madness’, but the Egalia pre-school in Stockholm says its goal is to free children from social expectations based on their sex.

Question: Why does it come to such an absurdity?!

Answer: Because people have lost their bearings, they do not know where to go. It seems to them that equality should be where nature specifically made a distinction between the sexes and put us in an unequal state.

If there were no male and female parts in nature, how could we give birth and procreate?! Destroy the difference between the sexes, destroy the influence, the attraction between them, and we will not have the next generation, we will end life on Earth. This is such a distortion of nature, above which there is nothing!

It will lead to the degradation of society. They will not give birth at all! Under the influence of such public opinion, people will lose interest in each other, there will be no family, no next generation.

Why today is there such an internal imbalance between the inner “I” of a person and his external manifestation? This was not the case before. Before, a woman was a woman and a man was a man. And now various egoistic mutations are taking place, that is, in the end, the most incredible, unreal, unreasonable egoistic forms manifest themselves in the world.

They must show their complete failure. Egoism must reveal itself as the only evil: We are such unreasonable creatures that we go against nature in its most basic part. This is the agony of egoism, it buries itself.
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From KabTV’s “Close-Up. The Future of Humanity” 7/17/11

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Question: Why are parents attached to autistic children? Can we say that this is a kind of permanent attachment at the level of souls?

Answer: Parents are very attached to such children because they begin to feel echoes of the inner world in him.

The fact is that there is a difference between the external behavior of an autistic person and his inner essence. He may be outwardly distorted, may not react outwardly, his movements and reactions, if any, are very limited. But those who communicate with him, those who are next to him, begin to understand and feel him.

They discover in these, from our point of view, unhappy people a huge inner world. When starting to communicate with autistic people, others feel how much gratitude and understanding come from them. This very much connects parents, brothers, sisters, and caregivers with such children.

Basically, we all are animals. The soul appears in us only if we develop it. Therefore, we feel each other well at the animalistic level. The only difference is that we feel this world better than autistic people. And they feel the world of inner sensations better.
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From KabTV’s “Close-Up. Special Territory” 5/17/11

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Question: Who is the driving force behind the changes in the society of the future: leaders, youth, scientists, or people?

Answer: Education that permeates all layers of society. It should be built in such a way that everyone cares about the balance between reception and bestowal.

All people are created as different, and therefore, everyone is given the opportunity to realize themselves as much as possible for the benefit of others.

Question: Does a person feel these differences? If I am 100% in the desire to bestow, then in theory I should not even feel them.

Answer: Everyone feels equal to others although they can work much less than others. After all, everyone is required to participate in the common work within his capacities.

A person does not feel himself as bigger or smaller relative to others and does not feel discomfort in the difference.
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From KabTV’s “Kabbalah Express” 6/24/22

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Question: A doctor writes to you. “Recently I have been observing that young people are under extreme stress. The demand for antidepressants is growing rapidly. The familiar world is collapsing for them. They lose their jobs, a quiet, stable life, it is unclear what will happen tomorrow.

I’m a doctor, and I see that we can’t offer them anything other than medication. All different training sessions are ceasing to work. My question to you, dear Michael Laitman: Where can they get a point of support? Where should they advance next?”

Answer: About 100 to 200 years ago people were not so disconnected from the earth: this is my house, these are my parents, and this is my village, town, or whatever. There is a friend of mine here whom I will marry, and my children will grow up here, and so on. In general, everything was obvious, clear, and simple.

Basically, animal life. But it did not give a person such uncertainty, huge uncertainty in everything.

Today, a person is inflated from the inside with questions about the universe, about life, about his own psychology and behavior. It’s on a mental level.

On a psychological level, he feels that the whole world is in some kind of incomprehensible state. The confusion is so internal for everyone: “Where to?! What?! Why?! For what?!” Nothing is known! This is a time that forces us to understand the overall picture of the world, the system of the world. It didn’t exist before. And today it does.

What will we do? Until we know the whole picture of the world and figure it out in such a way as to connect with it, understand it, perhaps even manage it at least to some extent, nothing will happen. It’s easy to forget and fall asleep. That’s why many people run away to drugs and other things.

Comment: That is, suppression by antidepressants.

My Response: Even the suppression by work. I don’t want to know anything. I have a house, a store, and a job. I go to the store from work, go home from the store, eat, go back to the computer, do something there, and go on vacation.

Happy is the person who finds some hobby, builds something in the computer or physically. That’s it. I don’t want to know anything else! There is nothing else left. It will really be an escape from the prison of our world.

This is such a natural antidepressant that many people use. Or they get into all sorts of beautiful or ugly hobbies. Nothing else can be offered to a person.

And all this is escape, absolutely everything! Up to the point that one goes for theft, for murder, goes for anything, sports, all this is just an escape. You name it. Great compositions, anything else, just an escape from the same question: “Why?” When there is no answer, then any other answer, if I consider it important, saves me.

Question: You said, “Why?” Why do I live? Why all this? It is not worth asking this question. It will drive you completely insane.

Answer: Of course. It chases us, hits us from behind every time until we come to our senses. This is what Baal HaSulam writes in the “Preface to The Book of Zohar.”

Question: Should we stop and take this question on ourselves?

Answer: We have to figure it out because it is not for nothing that it arises in every person and does not allow us to do anything else. Either we forget ourselves or do something, compile some herbarium, or we have to raise this issue and solve it.

Question: Will we ever dare to do this? It’s already a little scary to ask the question: “Why? What for? Why?” about everything.

Answer: It is very good. Then every minute of a person’s life will be filled with a higher meaning. Let’s try.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 3/28/22

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Comment: Parents send you their children’s questions. The questions are actually deep.

Eight year old Marina asks: “When my parents were fighting a lot, I would come to school very sad. Because of this, children did not want to be friends with me. It is a war now and my mother went to my grandmother’s. And now everyone is sad. And I am glad. Because now they understand what it was like for me. Is it bad that I am happy?”

My Response: But the parents are sad. So what are you happy about?

Question: She is glad that they now understand what it was like for her when they were fighting and she was sad. And how is eight years old Marina supposed to get out of this? Or how should she behave? I see my parents sad, for example, or everyone around me sad.

Answer: Set a goal to make them joyful.

Question: That is, by the fact that she is glad, she gradually understands her nature? This is an eight-year-old child! Suddenly she feels that she rejoices when others feel bad. What does this say about our time?

Answer: That we can already approach a state that we are able to understand.

Question: If children understand this, then can we even more so? Can we already start teaching children this?

Answer: You can teach children everything. They are ready for absolutely anything! We have already entered what is called the period of the last generation. As for adults, those children’s parents, it is not known whether they are ready for this or not.

Question: Because they have one foot in the past?

Answer: Yes. It is quite possible that these are dinosaurs that should give way and be reborn again. And to come into this world as a child again—so naive, so open.

We have grown-up children, just like adults!
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 3/14/22

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Question: The German philosopher, Johann Gottfried von Herder wrote that the moral upbringing of people in a spirit of justice, humanism, and aversion to war is necessary to achieve eternal peace.

Overall, throughout the ages, it has been recognized that it is necessary to re-educate people in a way so it would be possible to establish peace. Why have they still not become re-educated?

Answer: Because it is impossible. Don’t history and experience speak of it? Egoism, contradictions between people, mutual hatred, rejection, and thirst for power all is incurable, and we are unable to do anything about it! We must accept it and look for another way for how we can work with this correctly and how we can transform despicable and abhorrent qualities into beneficial ones.

Here one needs to add the outer force that can correct egoism into altruism. Then we will receive the altruistic force that does not exist in our world. We only suspect that it might, but it does not. However, egoism does exist.

The only thing that exists in our world is the egoistic force and there is no opposite to it. We kind of wish it existed, but in truth, we don’t desire it. We simply think that yes, it would be good. However, we see that it cannot happen.

What can we do to find the kind and unifying force, which is opposite to egoism, in our world? There is nothing else we need besides this force.

Until that happens, do not force people, do not try to do something kind and good with them. Nothing will work! In the end, every time they will bump into their egoism, which develops more and more, and it will be destroying everything that they will try to do.
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From KabTV’s “Kabbalah Express” 3/4/22

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Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “The Summer Break Should Not Be a Break”

Israel has a lot of children. Out of approximately nine million people, 2.5 million are younger than 18. Tomorrow, July 1st, they will all begin a two-month summer break. While many teenagers work during the summer, many do not, and they and the rest of the children in Israel are idle most of the summer, looking for things to do with their time. This is very bad for them and for society. If I had a say about it, there would not be a break. The summer would be used to provide children with extras: fun sports, exciting science lessons, improving social connections, and understanding what it means to be Jewish, and, in particular, Israeli.

The last two items on the list—improving social connections and understanding what it means to be an Israeli—actually go together. Children should not be oblivious to the world they live in. They should know the purpose of their existence and their goal in life since childhood. This will give them orientation and prevent confusion, frustration, and depression.

Children need to understand the system that binds us all together. Specifically, Israeli children need to understand the role of the people of Israel, since as Israelis, they bear the responsibility to do what the world needs the State of Israel to do: exemplify unity.

This is also why it is important to teach children, especially Israeli children, how to nurture good social connections from a very early age. They need to know not only how to be friendly to others, but why disagreements between them occur, how to relate to them, and how to actively overcome conflicts between them.

In order to help Israeli children accept the responsibility they bear, they must be made to feel proud that they have been given such a worthy task, to be a model of unity for humanity. At the same time, they need to learn that the bonding between them is not for their own sake, but for the sake of humankind.

I am writing about the program I would propose because although Israeli children are “born into” the responsibility, as is proven by the fact that the world blames Israel for every problem in the world, the necessity to learn to get along applies to all of humanity.

When every country in the world is tied to every other country, it is essential that we all learn to improve our social ties and understand the purpose of our existence. Teaching children why the world exists, why their social relationships are so important to the survival of humanity, how to maintain and even improve good relationships will not only impact children, but will also have a positive impact on adult society.‎

Granted, summer break should not be all work and no play, but this program is vital for the children. It should include sports games, exciting science lessons, and they should also have free time. But by the end of summer, when the children return to school, they should be better, more educated individuals than when they left for the summer.
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Filed under: Children, Education, New Publications - No Comments →

Question: Can autistic people be engaged in correcting their soul?

Answer: Yes, there is no problem. There are of course, different degrees of correction, in a similar way as how ordinary people have different levels of development of the soul and their “I,” their human essence. After all, there are people who do not understand this and live automatically, there are more developed people, and there are those who already want to develop spiritually.

The same thing is true for autistic people. Among them are individuals who are in very deep inner processes, there are those who are between the two states, and there are those who are unable to carry out spiritual processes, i.e., they act like most people in our world who mechanically deal with a narrow specific area such as mathematics or computers.

This attracts them since these are absolute things that are in their control, do not involve contact with other people, and are not under the control or changes of others.

This gives them a sense of security, a base from which they can walk, and somewhere they can find themselves, like a closed room, like something of mine, my order, and everything in which I keep myself. Otherwise, they simply do not understand and will, in a sense, fly away. For them, this condition is very disturbing because they yearn to be only in a limited space.

It is the same with math and computers. A place that has a very clear question and answer and rigid communication is clear for them, understandable, and therefore attractive.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Special Territory” 5/17/11

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What is the most important emotional skill to teach a child?“

Friendship. There is nothing more important than being with friends. By that, children develop closeness with other children, how to talk to each other and connect, and in general, the construction of friendly relationships lets us enjoy happier, more balanced and calmer lives.

A friendship is a different kind of a relationship to one where we try to outcompete others and come out as number one in society. Friendships imply that we develop ties of love between us, whereas the individualistic success approach demands us to be constantly stressed in an attack-and-defense mode.

Today, we see more and more children with all kinds of psychological and psychiatric problems, and we see how these mental problems follow them into their adult years. Therefore, the most important emotional and social skill to develop in children is friendship, to develop a feeling of mutual reliance and responsibility among everybody, a state where we could all literally close our eyes and feel at peace.

Based on the video “What Is the Most Important Emotional Skill to Teach a Child?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

Filed under: Children, Education, Q&A, Quora - No Comments →