From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 7/2/23

We just held our World Kabbalah convention where thousands of students and friends gathered worldwide in person in several locations-from Australia to Ukraine, Georgia to Germany, and Argentina to Israel, among many others_and also virtually, to study, connect and delve deeper into convention’s topic, “Everything Is Obtained by the Power of Prayer.”

We chose this topic because nothing can influence humanity’s destiny like the power of prayer.

We learned what our prayer should comprise in order to receive an optimal response, that it should be aimed at reaching a state of wholeness.

We can understand it quite easily as follows: there are two desires in reality, reception and bestowal. By aiming our prayer in a direction of everyone’s harmonious connection, then reality’s guiding force of love, bestowal and connection, which Kabbalists call “the Creator,” will help us. The return to humanity’s state of wholeness is a state that Kabbalists call “as one man with one heart,” our primordial state as our single soul.

This soul underwent a shattering and a descent from its wholeness, which gave rise to our perception of an incomplete, fragmented and transient reality. In order to rise to the state of our single soul before the shattering, we need to undergo a correction of our perception of reality, and the means to do so is through a request—a prayer.

What does that request consist of?

It is us feeling a lack of a complete connection “as one man with one heart,” to feel no difference between people, countries, nations and various other partitions that our ego places between us. Simply put, it is the feeling of a need to be together above the ego’s boundaries in order to give ourselves an increasingly precise opportunity to bring ourselves closer to each other. By doing so, we come to the state of “as one man with one heart,” our connection as a single soul, feeling ourselves as belonging and acting in the spiritual world.

We went through several states at the convention, states of joy from such an immense global connection, as well as states of feeling how the upper light (the force of love and bestowal) acted on us, mixing us together like a salad. However, there was ultimately a feeling that thousands of people around the world acted in a direction to a single goal of harmoniously connecting “as one man with one heart,” with a readiness to connect and feel together above all differences.

If we continue investing in that direction, we will attain the feeling of our complete connection, the laws of the spiritual world, and the perception of how the world is one for everyone. It is my hope that we will come to this sensation soon.

At the close of this wondrous convention, the time has come to thank the Creator for this amazing opportunity, to thank everyone who invested their hearts into the event, and of course, to invite everyone who wishes to be a part of this immense connection experience to participate in our future conventions.

Based on Lesson 3 of the World Kabbalah Convention with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
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From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 3/20/23

First, what is the evil eye? In principle, the evil eye is the negative effect of negative thoughts from other people. Our thoughts indeed play a major role in our lives, and we are influenced by negative thoughts that others have about us.

The question then becomes how can we protect ourselves from such negative thoughts about us, the evil eye?

On this point, several people believe that they can protect themselves by wearing or using various amulets. But no objects protect us. They can provide psychological comfort, but they do not change reality. They fail to stop people’s negative projections onto us.

The way to truly protect ourselves from evil eye, negative thoughts from others, is by projecting positive thoughts onto them. By thinking favorably about others and doing good to them, we project positive forces toward them, and our projection of positive energy protects us.

We can thus rid ourselves of negative influences and find better luck, blessing and success in our lives by thinking favorably about others. Doing so enables us to rise above negative influences, including the evil eye.

In short, think positively about others and you will find a very powerful, exalted and trustworthy form of spiritual protection.

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From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 3/19/23

It is impossible to remain calm in any situation. Also, we do not have to always be calm.

Nature develops us by constantly growing our ego. If we look at eons of human development, we can see development from basic survival desires for food, sex, family and shelter—desires we had as cave dwellers—through the egoistic desires that appear when we develop as civilizations: money, honor, control and knowledge.

The more the ego grows, the less calm we become.

Aggravation, agitation and stress are all states that nature urges us to feel in order to reach the recognition of our human ego as the cause of the turbulence, and by doing so, develop a sincere new desire to rise above the ego.

At this juncture, we need a supportive environment where we feel encouragement and confidence in order to rise above the ego.

One aspect of such an environment is regular learning and activity aimed at elevating us above the human ego, which shields us against any aggravations that come to unbalance us.

In other words, by regularly calibrating ourselves in order to recognize the ego as the source of our imbalance with our surroundings, and to rise above the ego, we would need to strengthen our supportive environment, which would in turn help us through any states we experience faster than if we were left to our own devices.

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From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 2/6/23

My heart is with the citizens of Turkey during the heavy disaster that befell them with the powerful earthquake. My students from Turkey update me on every development, and together we are closely following my dear student whose building he and his family lived in collapsed and has since disappeared. We will connect to one common heart and pray for their safety.

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From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 11/13/22

Today, at 5:30 p.m. Israel time, thousands of women from around the world will gather for a unity event. Women of all faiths, traditions, cultures, ages, and ethnicities will strive to bring their hearts closer together above all the differences that naturally set us apart.
This event is so special that I wish I could dissolve unnoticed among them and simply absorb their desire to unite. When women unite, it is far more powerful than when men do it; it can really change the world.

When the children of Israel came out of Egypt, the prophetess Miriam gathered all the women and with singing and dancing she united them, paving the way to freedom for all the people of Israel. Now it is time for the whole world to unite, and this evening, women from the world over will sing, dance, and read excerpts that talk about unity. I have no doubt that they are forming the basis for the exodus of all of humanity: liberation from the fetters of egoism to the freedom to love one another.

As a man and as a teacher of thousands of male students (in addition to the female students who are gathering this evening), I can say that we are all rooting for you and praying for your success. Just as women create life, and just as they know how to look after their homes, they can revive humanity and look after the entire world.

I have no doubt that if women were adamant and assertive, we men would yield to their will. If women want to correct the world, if they unite in order to achieve it, we men will rally behind them, and together we will form a spearhead that will lead the world out of the darkness of hatred and war, and into the light of unity and love.

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From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 10/7/22

Today is the eve of Sukkot (Hebrew: Huts), a Jewish festival where the custom is to build huts and dwell in them for seven days. The traditional explanation to this custom is that it is to remind us that our ancestors were wanderers in the Sinai desert and lived in huts, without a permanent residence. But in Jewish spirituality, namely the wisdom of Kabbalah, there is an additional, and very different explanation to this custom, which has to do with improving our connections, and nothing at all to do with where we eat or sleep.

The wisdom of Kabbalah is a method for bringing people closer, for uniting them. Its goal is to bring people to the same level of connection that existed among the people of Israel at the inception of their nationhood, when they were connected as one man with one heart.

All of the Jewish festivals have two levels of explanation. The superficial level usually pertains to an event in the chronicles of the Jewish people. The deeper level pertains to discernments concerning the level of unity or division among Jews, and their mission to be a model of unity, a light to the nations.

Jewish festivals mark particular stages in the process of establishing permanent unity and achieving the final correction in a process called Tikkun Olam (correction of the world). In this process, the world transits from division and hatred into unity and love.

Normally, we live in a permanent residence. This represents a well-established level of connection between us. At such a level, people feel connected to a certain extent, they know what points to touch and what points to avoid, and feel complacent in the level of bonding and care among them. However, their complacency prevents them from touching on points of division that can lift them to higher levels of connection if they rise above them.

At that point, we must relinquish the comfort of our permanent residence and venture into a temporary one, where matters are not so clear and the bonding not yet solidified. However, if we want to become a model nation, we must show the world how to rise above adversities, and division is precisely the adversity to overcome.

Once we are in a temporary residence, and the connection between us is shaky, we must raise unity above our heads, meaning make it the most important, superior value. If we do this together, unity becomes our shield, our Sechah (canopy), which covers and protects us from the elements, namely from division.

The unity that is revealed under the canopy is called Ushpizin (guests), whom we welcome into our hut. Once we have completed seven manifestations of division and unity that we have built above it, and have hosted seven “guests,” it is considered that we have established and solidified a new degree of unity.

In such a state, it is considered that we return to our permanent residence with the new level of unity we have acquired. This marks the end of the festival of Sukkot, when we return to our homes. May we always strive to foster deeper and deeper connections among all Jews, above all differences, so we may be a model nation that brings peace to the world.

Photo Caption: RonAlmog, (Flickr page), CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 10/4/22

The start of a new year (according to the Hebrew calendar) is a good time to reflect on the things that decide the quality of our lives. Economy is certainly one of the key factors that determine whether we live well or not.

Someone once said to me, “Money isn’t the most important thing in life, but it’s reasonably close to oxygen on the ‘gotta have it’ scale.” With that in mind, we should look at what is happening today. First, inflation is soaring, and this is bad news for all of us. Worse yet, we do not know why it is soaring. The war in Ukraine no longer justifies it, there is no pandemic in sight that shuts down the global economy, no shortage of oil, and no other apparent reason for the skyrocketing prices.

There are countless other problems and changes in the global economy. The job market is changing and fewer people are willing to work office jobs and prefer to work from home. There is a wave of resignations. Employers that were used to selecting from numerous applicants, sometimes have to pay for people to come only to be interviewed.

Another shift is accelerating automation. The shrinking number of people willing to work, especially in low-paying jobs, is injecting fuel into the robotics industry and more and more stages of production are now given to robots.

At the same time, people are not getting happier because they have more free time. Even though they have enough money to sustain themselves, their behavior is unbalanced, with exaggerated consumerism, prevalent substance abuse, violence, depression, narcissism, and countless other problems that together turn everything we do against ourselves.

Therefore, I believe that the root cause for the rising prices, and for the countless other problems I just mentioned, has to do with our relationships with one another. The economy reflects the state of society, and not the other way around. The economy does not cause social crises. Rather, when there is a social crisis, it is likely to disrupt the economy.

The problem is that the more we develop, the more self-centered we become. If you look at all of nature, you will find that the more it develops, the more cooperative it becomes—the exact opposite of humanity.

For example, more developed animals on the food chain have more complicated organisms. These animals then form a complex system where the survival and health of each species depends on the survival and health of every other species.

Our universe is another good example. It evolved from separate particles of hydrogen and helium that condensed into vast and complicated systems of galaxies, stars, and planetary systems, with channels that connect them and transfer matter throughout the universe.

Human society has also evolved impressively over the centuries and has become a global mesh where each part contributes its unique skills to the benefit of humanity. Why then are we not thriving? Because we hate the idea that we are connected; we are utterly self-centered, and the very idea that we are dependent on someone else makes us cringe.

To avoid being dependent, and to assert ourselves as the rulers, we fight against each other. It does not have to be a war between countries; we are fighting all the time: at work, at home with our partners and children, on the road, in the supermarket, and often even in our sleep. We are miserable.

The global economic downturn, therefore, reflects our social disarray. Because we are growing increasingly connected and increasingly self-centered simultaneously, the contradictory trajectories are tearing the fabric of human society. As a result, the economic structure we have built, which relies on mutual support and global supply chains, is breaking up.

The soaring inflation is only the beginning of our woes. Unless we adjust our relationships to match our level of connectedness, we will suffer from shortages that will lead to hunger and social disentanglement.

Our task, therefore, is not to change the economy, but to change the ill-relations we have with one another, which are sickening the global and local economy. The economy will be all well and good when the society is well, and the society will be well when we start seeking how we can help each other rather than hurt each other.

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From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 9/25/22

Almost every culture celebrates the beginning of the year. Each tradition has its own customs, meals, gifts, and inner meaning. For Jews, celebrating Rosh Hashanah (the beginning of the year) comes with symbolic foods and a day of judgment. This judgment is the heart of Rosh Hashanah.

We can think of the spiritual significance of Rosh Hashanah as an operating system, like Microsoft Windows or Apple IOS. The human race did not come out of nowhere. Evolution has a purpose, and the operating system leads it toward it.

The operating system runs throughout nature, and all creations but humanity follow it instinctively. We, on the other hand, can study it and manipulate parts of it for our benefit.

On Rosh Hashanah, before we taste from the fish’s head, we say a blessing: “May we be the head and not the tail.” These words express our wish not to remain oblivious to the operating system and governed by it unconsciously, but to become aware of it and able to steer our development in a positive direction.

The operating system invariably leads toward a state of harmony and balance among all the elements in reality. It is aiming to bring all of humanity into a state of unity and closeness as though we are all a single warm and loving family. The system does not strive for sameness, to make us all the same, but for complementarity, to make us complement each other so that each of us contributes our unique skills and talents for the common good, and enjoys the contributions of everyone else, just like a loving family where everyone helps everyone else because they care about them.

As we study the system, we gradually realize how opposite we are from the state of closeness and care. These realizations precede Rosh Hashanah, and they are called Selichot (asking forgiveness). Selichot are prayers we say when we feel how opposite we are from the state of balance and mutual care.

The Hebrew word for “prayer,” by the way, is Tefilla, which comes from the word Haflala, namely criminalization. During a prayer, we “criminalize” ourselves, namely discover that we are criminals, and therefore ask for forgiveness. The crime we realize we have committed pertains to the operating system, namely that we have been selfish, thinking of ourselves and loving only ourselves rather than embracing all of creation and working for its favor. In spirituality, selfishness is always the only sin, since every wrong we do comes from thinking only of ourselves.

The physical Rosh Hashanah happens once a year. However, the process of reflection, regret, asking forgiveness, and praying to become more loving is not limited by anything. It can, and should be a constant cycle that we do internally. Each time we complete a cycle of requests for forgiveness, we reach another Rosh Hashanah, until the next realization of selfishness emerges in us through our efforts to correct our egoism and become more caring.

When the cycle of Selichot is over and we reach Rosh Hashanah, we not only wish to be the head and not the tail, we also celebrate the correction of our corrupt qualities. We symbolize this by dipping an apple in honey. The apple represents the heart, and the honey stands for sweetening (correcting) it from selfishness to caring for others.

Another custom is to eat a Rimon (pomegranate). A pomegranate has many seeds in it. Each of them stands for one selfish desire. Eating them stands for correcting them from selfishness to giving, which gives us a feeling of Romemut (elation, note the similarity to the word Rimon).

Finally, on Rosh Hashanah, we blow the Shofar—a festive horn. The blowing of the horn stands for our yearning for correction from carelessness and hatred of others into being loving, connected, and united as one with all the people in the world. The word shofar comes from the Aramaic word Shufra (the best of the best). This is the state we achieve once all our desires have been corrected and we become united as one loving, global family.

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From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 9/14/22

A few days ago, Ronen Bar, head of Israel’s Shin Bet security service, gave a lengthy presentation where he outlined Israel’s security problems. The presentation made waves all over the Israeli media not because there was new information about our enemies that was not known before, but because Bar blamed us for our problems, and not in the military sense, or because of some inherent problem with Israel’s intelligence service. The fault he pointed to was internal division.

Bar did not mince words: “From the intelligence that we have read, from the interrogations of attackers we have conducted, and also from many years of familiarity with our adversaries, wherever they are, we can say today without a shadow of a doubt that the political instability, the growing internal division, the breaking up of the historical common denominators, and the radicalized discourse — all these are a shot of encouragement to the countries of the axis of evil, to terrorist organizations, and to lone threats,” he said. “The prevailing feeling among our adversaries, Bar added, “is that our historic comparative advantage, the same one that stood to our credit for thousands of years and is our national resilience, is dissipating,” he added. “This insight should trouble us more than anything else.”

Clarifying what he meant by “national resilience,” Bar said, “[The] deep rift that is developing within Israeli society” is the “most complex” challenge it is facing. However, Bar also admitted, “In this matter the Shin Bet can only warn; it certainly cannot deal with it,” he said. “It is in the hands of each and every one of us.”

Bar is correct. Our weakness stems from our division. His statement said nothing new. Our very peoplehood is based on unity, we introduced to the world the concepts of mutual responsibility, solidarity; and unity, and we built a society whose kings taught not to change others, but to connect with them just as they are. In those days, “Love your neighbor as yourself” was not an election slogan; it was the prerequisite that enabled the proclamation of our people as a nation.

At the foot of Mt. Sinai, we heard the threat for the first time: Unite “as one man with one heart,” or the mountain will turn on you and bury you like a vault. Since then, every time we disunited, a different kind of “vault” had buried us. It started with Nebuchadnezzar II, who destroyed the First Temple and sent us to exile in Babylon, continued with General Titus, who destroyed the Second Temple and sent us to an exile that has only recently (partially) ended. In later times, King Ferdinand expelled us from Spain, and in the previous century, Hitler wiped out European Jewry almost in its entirety.

In all those calamities, Jewish division intensified prior to the onset of the evildoer’s onslaught. Moreover, in many such cases, Jews, or Jews who converted into another religion (or their parents) were among the fiercest and cruelest enemies of the Jews. The commander who led the attack on Jerusalem in the destruction of the Second Temple was Tiberius Alexander, a Jew who was born in Alexandria, and whose father built the doors to the Temple. Before he charged into Jerusalem, he slaughtered 50,000 Jews in his hometown Alexandria.

In Spain, the prime ideologist behind the Spanish Inquisition was Tomás de Torquemada whose parents or grandparents were conversos (Jews who converted into Christianity). Even when the Nazis came to power, there were German Jews who joined the Nazi Party and were avid followers of Hitler. And when Arab rioters slaughtered Jews in Palestine before the establishment of the State of Israel, mutilated their bodies, and violated the women before they butchered them, some Jews hailed those Arabs as heroes.

Berl Katznelson, among the prominent Zionist leaders of the Labor movement in Palestine before the establishment of the State of Israel, said about such self-hating Jews in May 1936: “Is there another nation whose members have come to such emotional and intellectual deformity that everything their nation does … is despicable and detestable, and everything their people’s enemies do, every murder and every rape [and there were countless] fills their heart with admiration?”

The current audacity of our enemies is therefore nothing new. It is merely a continuation of the same pattern we have seen throughout the history of our people.

The only way we can emerge from the cycle of destruction—because this is where it is leading—is to re-embrace unity “as one man with one heart.” This is our legacy; this is our only source of strength; and this is our only way to avoid another turning of the vault over our heads. As Bar said, “This insight should trouble us more than anything else,” and “It is in the hands of each and every one of us.”

For more on this topic, see my book The Jewish Choice: Unity or Anti-Semitism: Historical facts on anti-Semitism as a reflection of Jewish social discord.

Photo Caption:The head of the Shin Bet, Ronen Bar. Wednesday, October 13, 2021. Photo credit: Amos Ben Gershom / GPO.

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From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 9/9/22

This weekend, more than a hundred friends are gathering together for the 2022 Kabbalah Retreat in the Catskill Mountains in New York, and more than two hundred friends will join them online. I would like to express my wishes for the success of the retreat. These are great friends who are gathering there, I have seen what beautiful conferences they put together, and I wish for them to continue to succeed in their efforts. But most of all, I would like to wish them a strong and close connection, as close as possible to the final correction.

The wisdom of Kabbalah introduces us to forces that no other method does. Through these forces, we can unite between us and elevate ourselves above all the forces of nature. If we acquire these forces, which are forces of connection and love, we will succeed in anything we want. I truly wish for them to acquire these forces and use them correctly.

These days, we are witnessing a great imbalance in nature. Using the forces of nature in the way that Kabbalah teaches, balances these forces and mitigates their ferocity. Kabbalah teaches how to balance the negative forces overpowering the world today with positive forces that we engender between us. It is my hope that we will achieve this and complement the negative qualities that are inherent in us, with positive forces that we create between us, and the whole world will benefit.

Good luck to the friends at the retreat, I will rejoice in your connection, and I wish you success.

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