In the News (Russian Bazaar): “Americans aged 18 to 29 years continue to rapidly lose interest in marriage. If in 1960 55% of people in this age group were considered married, today only 19% of “millennials” (born from the early 80’s to late 90’s) officially live a family life.

“Today we can say with certainty that all attempts to return interest to the institution of marriage, undertaken by the government and religious institutions, failed miserably. …

“According to experts, young people no longer understand the meaning and the essence of the religious marriage.

“‘Many ‘millennials’ consider marriage obsolete and an outdated institution, which from a legal perspective only complicates life. Without marriage, as we know, there is no divorce, division of property and other litigation. …

“Getting a college degree, moving to their own homes, buying a house or car, the birth of a child – all of this is much more important for today’s youth, than a wedding. Even ‘meeting someone you love’ they rate much higher than official marriage. …

“Look who is protecting the institution of marriage today. By and large, they are conservative Americans aged 45 years and above. They grew up with other values and traditions, and now they want to instill in their children. But the 90’s and 2000’s greatly changed American youth. It thinks very differently and evaluates reality differently than the older generation.”

My Comment: Human behavior is based on a single feature: egoistic pleasure. This determines every aspect of our behavior. Therefore, the reason for a change in our behavior is a change in the basis of the phenomenon, egoism.

Egoism has developed and continues to develop very rapidly, especially qualitatively. At the heart of nature is its development program and the program of human development.

You can read about the lack of free will in any of our actions in my post “There Is No Such Thing As Free Will“.

According to this program a person has to penetrate nature’s program, to study it, implement it on himself, and act in harmony with it. Currently, we operate opposite to this program. But it is normal and this is also part of the actual program, which is called the growing period, similar to the way children grow in our world.

Today we are in the stage of transition to actively participating in the plan of creation. The program of creation will force us to attain its essence and to act specifically according to it. It is similar to the way young people become independent in our world. Some easily succeed and others find it very difficult.

The wisdom of Kabbalah is the science of human development and it is meant to tell us what happens to us and to prepare us for the correct interaction— Achishena, hastening time (along the quick and easy path)—with nature, with the Creator.
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New Life #590 – Moving On To Meaningful Learning
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Yael Leshed-Harel

Summary

The problem with education today is that we don’t know how to build a human being, how to provide a child with the tools for building himself. Therefore we have made great technological and scientific progress in the 21^st century, but humanity itself looks and behaves like savages.

If we look at what is happening in Israel today, it is a real shame. We have lost the basic value our nation is founded on, the foundation of “love thy friend as thyself.” We need to teach psychology, the way a person should behave with himself, with others, at home, in society, and in nature. Learning today lacks the right direction, the goal, which is to communicate nicely with others whoever they may be.

Children need to feel that they are appreciated only according to their connection with others. If we learn how to communicate with each other correctly, we will be able to bring together all the personal knowledge every individual has and to prosper together. This ability is missing in the world; there is no sharing of knowledge but only destructive, egoistic competition.

Schools should make each class in a friendly atmosphere where everyone supports each other. The competitive atmosphere, bullying and violence in schools disrupts children’s ability to learn. Even startup projects are based on cooperation when people who share an idea connect and develop it together. The approach of making each child outstanding is outdated. Today we need to educate about connection between people.

This has strong implications for our lives. Many people, for example, get divorced because they cannot get along with each other. We have to change the atmosphere in the classroom to positive competition like who helps his classmates the most, for example. The class should reach high achievements together, the teacher should give questions and everyone should work on the common solution together.

The teacher should check the cooperation between the students as they work, the level of their connection, and the quality of the connection. With such an educational approach the future society will be united, instead of in the mutual hatred that destroys us today.

What will motivate a lazy child to take part in a group assignment? The general atmosphere will make him want to be part of it. Very few rush forward in an individualistic competitive atmosphere. In a group atmosphere everyone is involved. The most important thing is to teach children how to be together. This is the main thing they will need in the future world.
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From KabTV’s “New Life #590 – Moving On To Meaningful Learning,” 6/23/15

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Question: In Europe there are kindergartens where children aren’t differentiated by gender; they are called “it.” They believe that, with time, a child must determine his own sex. How is this possible in a civilized world?

Answer: I don’t know how it is possible to call a person “it” when nature has created a precise division into either “she” or “he.”

In Hebrew, there is no neuter. Hebrew is the language of the roots, and it comes from the higher system of management where a clear division exists between the masculine part and the feminine part. It is not possible to call something by a masculine name and then switch to a feminine name, and vice versa. So, the concept of “it” doesn’t exist in nature. There is only a male or female part, male or female property.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 3/6/16

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New Life #589 – Overcrowding In Classrooms
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Yael Leshed-Harel

Summary

Even if the number of students in the classroom is reduced, the problems that are the essence of education will not be solved. The educational system is special because it can plant today the principles of life tomorrow.

We must give a child an education that will prepare him for the world of tomorrow. To do this, I must see the future. It is like when preparing for a flight to Mars all kinds of possible simulations are used; that is how we must prepare them for the future world.

The world is changing rapidly. We must give our children the tools today that will make it possible for them to deal with the future. The world is becoming increasingly connected. The mutual relationship between all the parts of nature, the still, vegetative, animate, and all people is being created. Our children need the tools that will make it possible for them to have the right connections with others and with nature and the ability to see everything as a whole picture.

This is very important in Israel because the world is expecting us to provide an example of the future form of connection. When children are connected, they understand each other, they will have a good connection so that they won’t feel a lack of space and overcrowding.

The schools must provide a “safety cushion” for our children in the form of preparation for life in the world of tomorrow. With an expanded view, it is possible to see that the entire Earth is becoming overcrowded. We must learn to connect as quickly as possible.

Even if the parents have lots of pressure and find a budget, in another few years they will find that the problems remain as they were. A person must leave school enriched and full of all kinds of information, with tools for life. The new education must impart the feeling that whoever is near me is there for my own good; they are my relatives and are loved by me. The relationship between the students, the guidance of the teachers, the classroom atmosphere, these are what determine everything.
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From KabTV’s “New Life #589 – Overcrowding In Classrooms,” 6/23/15

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New Life #583 – Mother And Baby: Coping With Challenges
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Tal Mandelbaum ben Moshe

A baby suffers from the moment it is born. The suffering is part of the correction of our shattered soul. In order to ease the suffering, parents should have the right intentions to draw the Light that Reforms in order to correct the suffering in the world.

Summary

The suffering in the world stems from the fact that we are all parts of one shattered soul, and this is the reason we hate one another. The correction is to change our relations from hatred to love, to reconnect into one soul again. Just like a mother and a baby, nature suffers and when we suffer; this is called the sorrow of the Shechina (Divinity).

When a baby suffers, a mother feels that she isn’t in control; this is a very important lesson in life in general. We should remember this feeling of losing control and yearn to fill it with the presence of the upper force. Nature gives us a chance here to get to know the upper force that controls us, “there is none else besides Him.” A good mother is a balanced, settled mother who controls her responses.
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From KabTV’s “New Life #583 – Mother And Baby: Coping With Challenges,” 6/9/15

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New Life #582 – Becoming A Mom
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Tal Mandelbaum ben Moshe

Where do the feelings a mother has for her baby stem from? Why is the whole family obliged to take care of the baby and what is the connection between motherly love and the idea of “love thy friend as thyself?”

Summary

The purpose of our evolution is that the desire to enjoy that was created would reach the level of love and bestowal. This means that we will transcend from the nature of self-love and hating others to the nature of “love thy friend as thyself.”

This may sound like a fantasy but it is the direction of evolution. Nature has implanted a love for her baby in a mother. It is a kind of correction, as one soul takes care of another. The perfect correction is to develop such love for strangers. Motherly love is an example for us.

In the past it was very easy for a woman to take care of her baby. She was in a supportive environment, whereas today there are different modern disturbances. The relatives should take an active part in caring for the baby. It is part of the correction of their soul. Nature is like a mother for us; it is a complex system that raises us and teaches us.

A tip for fathers: Do everything that your wife asks you to do with the baby. This is part of the correction of the soul.
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From KabTV’s “New Life #582 – Becoming A Mom,” 3/31/14

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New Life 581 – Eternal Beauty
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Nitzah Mazoz

Our desire for immortality is natural; the aspiration for beauty, power, and appreciation motivates us in life because we are social creatures. The ego constantly develops. Today, it assures us of happiness through the prevention of aging and beauty care. But the investment in anti-aging will not bring us to eternal and complete satisfaction, to which we really aspire.

Ultimately, we realize that to remain young forever it we need to develop the soul. It is very important to be concerned about the health of the body, but interest in beauty is something else. There is internal beauty and external beauty.

The spiritual source for the feminine concern about beauty and facial appearance is the radiation of Light, a good attitude toward others. Instead of running for operations, it is worthwhile to invest in an “internal operation,” upgrading your attitude toward others for the better.

When an internal attitude of warmth and love is radiated from you toward others, your outer expression will also improve. In principle, a person is supposed to look as nature created him. The appearance reflects his internal forces. As much as a person relates well with others, they will accept him nicely, as in the relationship of children to their mother. A person who corrects his internal attitude toward others to love will also feel younger.

Try to relate to others as if you were their mother, radiating love and trust. They will feel that you are more beautiful.
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From KabTV’s “New Life 581 – Eternal Beauty,” 6/2/15

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New Life#580 – Remaining Young Forever
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Nitzah Mazoz

Why does a person want to remain young forever, how is it possible to attain immortality, and why is the matter contingent on the correction of the basic characteristics we were born with?

Summary

There is a hidden power in the world, the power of love and bestowal, the power of life. This power radiates goodness and love to everyone, like the sun. And we, the human masters of nature, are its opposite. We absorb and receive the power of life from it, but ultimately the power of life weakens and we grow old and die.

To reach a state of eternal life, it is up to us to be like that life force, to be love and bestowal.

This life force is called Light. It is found everywhere. We are capable of absorbing only a small spark of it. The secret of life is that a person must correct his nature from reception to bestowal, resembling this eternal Light. A person who corrects his nature from reception for himself to bestowal of goodness to others, merges with eternity.

Our physiological body is condemned to die. We have the ability to develop a spiritual body, a “soul,” and live in it forever.

Every person naturally strives to escape death, and for women there is a natural inclination to strive for beauty.

Spiritual beauty is beauty that radiates from you as love for others. If we cultivate inner beauty, a relationship of love for others, this will radiate outward and people will love us.
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From KabTV’s “New Life#580 – Remaining Young Forever,” 6/2/15

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New Life #579 – Admiration And Worship
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Yael Leshed-Harel

Summary

We feel something around us only to the extent that it is important for us. Our egoism has grown as we developed, but it lacks education. We have become more primitive than our forefathers.

If someone in class or at school is admired, your children will admire him or her too. The public can be manipulated by the media in any direction one wants. We are social creatures and so the environment can greatly affect who we admire even to the extent of worship. When people admire a football team, for example, they must hate its rival team.

To see the effect of the environment: stand in a rock concert among thousands of people and see how it affects you. Why is a person willing to do things that may seem irrational when he worships someone? There are, for example, people who commit suicide when someone they admire dies because they feel that they are eternally connected to him. In fact, we all yearn to connect to something big, whole, and eternal. We simply need to learn what it is.
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From KabTV’s “New Life #579 – Admiration And Worship,” 5/31/15

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In the News (worldcrisis.ru): “There is a very interesting innovation in the structure of the electorate on both sides of the Atlantic: the youth do not vote the same as the older generation. A significant difference in the electoral preferences are now determined not so much by the level of income and education, or gender differences, but by how many voters belonging to a particular generation.

“There are good reasons for the emergence of this difference. The old and the young generations of today live differently. Their past is also different, as well as prospects for the future.

“For example, when the Cold War ended, many young voters were not yet born, and others were children. Some words, such as “socialism,” no longer have the values that they once did. If socialism means a society in which collective problems are not ignored, and where people care about other people and the environment in which they live, then what’s the problem with it? Yes, perhaps a quarter of a century or half a century ago, unsuccessful experiments were conducted under the rubric of socialism; but today’s experiments have no similarity to those of the past. In other words, the failure of the experiments of the past does not allow drawing conclusions about the new attempts….

“Today, the expectations of young people, regardless of their level of income, are directly opposite. Throughout his life, he looks forward to a lack of job security. …

“Today’s college graduates are burdened with debt – and the poorer they are, the more they owe. …

“Often these college loans are hanging over them 20 years or even more. Buying a home for them is a distant dream. …

“The feeling of social injustice (the feeling that the game in the economy is fraudulent) increases, since young people see bankers who caused the financial crisis (the reason for the continuing illness of the economy) are fired with mega bonuses. And almost no one bore responsibility for their misdeeds. They committed massive fraud, but for some reason did not. Political elites promised that ‘reform’ would bring unprecedented prosperity. And they brought it, but only one percent of the population, the richest. All others, including young people, are in an unprecedentedly unstable position.

“These three realities – social injustice of unprecedented scale, massive inequality and loss of confidence in elites – define our political moment, and deservedly so.”

My Comment: Only a drastic restructuring of society on the basis of a general obligation will be able to fix the existing situation. And this is only possible after the preliminary spreading of nationwide public education.

Educating the people instead of stupefying it through the media is the necessary condition for our survival. Therefore, Kabbalah specifically teaches about this action, and the goal of the work of its students must be this!
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