Question: Difficulties in communication between people usually arise from misunderstandings, fear, or disgust. The biggest problem is when two people do not understand each other and, because of this, they cannot establish contact.

How can I find the right communication model, particularly in integral education courses where people come to get closer?

Answer: First, students must imagine a future state in which they understand each other, are connected to each other, and have a common conceptual and logical sensory field.

They begin there, as if they really are already in that future state, and then they subsequently find out how different it actually is from what they have today and what they still have to do to get to it.

Then, they gradually include the current state, which all agree is contrary to the future and see how they can still get closer for the sake of it.

Question: So first, we need to describe the future to people so that they will want it, and when they begin to strive for it, further explore the present?

Answer: Yes. I think this is the best solution. Then they will understand why they have to sacrifice something in order to come to this future.
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From KabTV’s “Communication Skills” 10/14/20

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Comment: Some researchers state that 50% of information between people is transmitted, not verbally, but by facial expressions and gestures, 38% by voice intonation, and only 7% directly through words. From this, they conclude that the most important thing is how you look and not what you say.

My Response: We live in a material world. The people I teach are in various material and spiritual states. Therefore, one must take into account their ability to be close to the source of the information.

They can be repelled by the lecturer’s behavior, his image, his language, maybe his smell, etc. That is, there is a whole complex process of communication here involving words, facial expressions, gestures; communication occurs through whatever you want.

These factors must be taken into account and expressed in such a way so that the learner or person who you want to convey the information to can be as close to you as possible without having to make additional efforts to overcome all sorts of barriers between you.

Question: During teaching, is it important to you how you look and what you say? Are you careful with every word you say?

Answer: Firstly, I am dealing with students who have known me for more than one year, more than even ten years.

As for scientists with whom I often engage in conversation, they are very simple in their communication. Today, they are no longer as arrogant and vain as they were 30 to 40 years ago. They now understand how limited science is and how it depends on our understanding of nature because it acts within a very narrow framework that is set by human psychology.

Therefore, now, it is much easier to talk to them since they are ready to scrutinize all sorts of aspects of their science in the most simple way. I’m very happy about that. This happened not so long ago, about 10 to 15 years ago. They have a common feeling that there are no “sacred cows”; it is very easy to communicate with them freely, without any “gloves.”

Question: Do you think that facial expressions, gestures, and appearance are important when transmitting information?

Answer: Every year they become less and less important. Look how much simpler scientists have begun to dress.

Question: Why is it that such a small percentage of communication is allotted to words? Do you agree that words are rather difficult for a person to comprehend?

Answer: This is the way we are made. We perceive the biggest amount of information through our sight, a little less through our hearing, and even less through our taste, smell, and tactile sensations.

Question: What are the most effective methods of transferring information? Do you know?

Answer: From heart to heart, but this is a different technique.
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From KabTV’s “Management Skills” 7/24/20

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Question: What are the criteria for equality?

Answer: Equality is when both partners agree to relatively equal terms. That is, I want to be your equal in that we are both able to give away everything above the cost of living. In this case, we are equal. This is what we must start from and besides that, there is no common denominator, no bar.

Comment: You once wrote that equality is complementing each other and not equalization. “We must squeeze out the realization of the potential that they can bestow to society.”

My Response: “Squeeze” may sound somewhat rude, rather, we should help a person to realize himself.

It does not matter if it is a housewife or the head of government—each of them gives the maximum in their field. In this they are definitely equal. Let us say, there is some kind of heavenly court, they end their earthly life, go up there, and the head of government sees a housewife next to him.

Question: Are we all equal before God or is there some kind of hierarchy there too?

Answer: Everyone is equal, absolutely everyone.

Question: It turns out that we equalize not by becoming similar but by striving for a common goal?

Answer: Yes, and we understand that our goal is bestowing to our society.

Equality is defined in relation to my efforts to get closer to other people. For example, I devote ten hours a day to uniting other people and someone else devotes two hours to this. But this is his maximum, that is how he is built, and in this we are equal.

Question: Can this be called spiritual equality?

Answer: Of course, but spiritual equality also implies voluntary bestowal. All the hours, all the opportunities, that a person bestows for the good of society, regardless of anything, is spiritual bestowal. Then, according to this, we can judge the equality of people.
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From KabTV’s “Communication Skills” 9/11/20

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Question: How do I motivate mixed-age groups? For example, our integral education course will be attended by people of different ages: young people and the elderly. Young people, of course, have a problem with motivation. Are there any general principles for increasing it, because everyone is at their own level of desires?

Answer: We may have fewer problems with this than others because we can explain to all people, regardless of age, gender, or development, why we need to unite, why we need the science of Kabbalah, what it can give to a person, and how much we need it in our time.

Therefore, people of very different ages, levels, educational qualifications, etc. will be able to understand each other and work together.
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From KabTV’s “Management Skills” 8/28/20

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Question: Research shows that a small group of ten to forty people can demonstrate true knowledge of complex issues. Therefore, one cannot blindly believe in the wisdom of the crowd. There are matters that need specialists to be solved.

When can the wisdom of the crowd be used to solve problems and when is it collective intelligence? Why, when connected to wisdom, does it take it to a new level? And yet, this is not enough. Does one also need knowledge?

Answer: It depends on what questions you are deciding. You cannot gather a million people who do not understand anything, for example, about construction and expect that they could build a high-rise building. They won’t succeed. And if you bring together several specialists, you will get a positive result.

Therefore, it is necessary to specifically look at what the problem is that you want to solve. One either walks in knowledge or walks in faith above knowledge. If you go in knowledge, you must gather specialists. If you are faced with a task that is practically unattainable, for example, how to cope with the coronavirus, then experts will not be able to help.

We see that this form of epidemic simultaneously affects everyone in the world, It is becoming more and more dominant and spreading throughout the planet. I do not think that we will be able to limit, stop, or kill it in any way.

Then we will have to take into account the wisdom of the crowd. How do we find a solution? It is very simple. If we take a huge number of people without putting them in an office that would exploit their mind and knowledge but would collect them and try to raise them above their level so that they work for unification, then the result will be only unity, an ascent over their personal egoism. Then, they will be able to successfully identify what the problem is.
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From KabTV’s “Communication Skills” 9/25/20

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Question: The sources of moral norms can be customs, traditions, public opinion, authorities such as Buddha, Socrates, and finally, the person himself. He can also set some moral standards for himself that he has received from society. In your opinion, is the source of a particular moral behavior important?

Answer: The fact is that we exist in a certain system of forces. We do not determine the egoistic qualities within each individual, and therefore, we cannot order and define the relationships between us. They change in the course of our development along the time chain.

Therefore, our morals are based on the conditions in which we are forced to exist. They are the consequence of our historical development.

Question: What is its source? Where do man’s moral principles come from?

Answer: They arise from his egoism because he understands that this is not the way to live that we must live differently. It is better this way than the other way around, and so on.

Egoism determines our morals by bossing us around.
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From KabTV’s “Communication Skills” 10/9/20

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Question: Let us say I am the minister of health and you are the minister of finance. We need to make a decision in an hour whether to close the country for quarantine or not. It is clear that we will have different opinions. So, should you annul your opinion and I mine?

Answer: No. Neither of us can annul his opinion. It will not do any good. Here we need to create a completely different system of decision-making but definitely not from the cabinets of ministers.

We need to assemble a group that wants to rise above their egoistic opinions. Not to take the side of one or another egoist but to rise above themselves. This is possible only when each of us annuls himself before the others.

The ten (Minyan) is enough for this. If everyone in the ten starts annulling themselves to the others, then we can feel the community, feel what it means that we have annulled ourselves.

This point of annulment will be the starting point of our spiritual development, which is the foundation of the degree of Bina—the degree of new knowledge. We should start with this.

Question: Does it mean that even if we concede to each other and find something in the middle, we will not get anywhere either? Does the solution lie at a different level?

Answer: Yes. Unfortunately, this level is still unclear because it is really special and unique.

Comment: You are talking about feelings that are impossible to grasp.

My Response: In this case, humanity will have to suffer a little more before they close their eyes and accept this from people who already have this feeling.
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From KabTV’s “Communication Skills” 9/25/20

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Question: It is interesting that the law of mutual guarantee covers the whole world. Why is one nation not enough to achieve correction?

Answer: We are all part of the same system, and therefore, no one can escape from the law of mutual guarantee.

Question: Can I reach mutual guarantee in the ten or is it not enough?

Answer: Yes, you can reach mutual guarantee in the ten, but not an absolute one. Absolute mutual guarantee is achieved after all of humanity, being divided into tens, comes from tens, to hundreds, and so on, and turns into one single ten consisting of billions of individual tens.

Question: Do you see in the near future each country being divided into such tens?

Answer: How it will be, I do not know. I do not want to think ahead and let alone notify you about it. But I believe that the world is coming to this and will inevitably come to it.

Question: Baal HaSulam writes that everyone should contribute to creating a critical mass in order to achieve social harmony. So, a huge number of people must do it?

Answer: Yes. Everyone will agree. We are moving toward it. Nature will force us either by the path of suffering or by the path of light.
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From KabTV’s “Communication Skills” 8/21/20

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Question: Morality is a special form of social consciousness or a type of social relations. It is not certain when moral laws became an essential part of human society, but they can be attributed to the time of the writing of the Tanakh. There is evidence of King Solomon’s writings that already contain some moral principles.

When do you think morality appeared?

Answer: It depends on what kind of morality. The morality that we rely on today appeared about 6,000 years ago. 3,500 years ago in ancient Babylon, it began to take shape in the form of laws.

All the pharaohs and rulers of the world who were coming to power wanted to pursue their own policies, their own views, and their own philosophy about the structure of government and society. All moral systems emerged from there.
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From KabTV’s “Communication Skills” 10/9/20

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New Life 1287 – The Challenge Of Distance Learning
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Tal Mandelbaum ben Moshe

Distance learning puts teachers under a lot of pressure to cover the material while it is hard for students due to the many distractions. Teachers and administrators need to ask themselves how to make studies seem more important in the eyes of children. Parents need to see their children’s studies as very important and also take part in them by, for example, depicting the teachers as kings and queens. Cell phone companies should disconnect phones during school hours.

We need to arrange the education system differently so that teachers and students will work together, integrating and sharing in mutuality and connection. The study has to be done in a group and should include many exercises and activities so that the students will remain focused. Competitions can be held in which the kids are divided into two groups in order to encourage and motivate them.

We need to take problems from daily life, from the family, and from what happens in the country, things that the kids are familiar with, and work on them as part of the study material. The social aspect is important to students as well so we need to establish the right communication between them during the lesson. We have an opportunity today to really change the outdated education system and to participate in the building of man.
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From KabTV’s “New Life 1287 – The Challenge Of Distance Learning,” 11/6/20

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