From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 11/29/19

Each year, right after Thanksgiving, human nature runs amok. We call it “Black Friday.” Let’s not kid ourselves; retailers aren’t losing money on Black Friday, they’re making a lot more of it. So why don’t they sell at these prices all year long? Because we customers are not united.

I’m not trying to suggest that unity for the sake of cutting prices will get us anywhere. It won’t. If anything, it will make things worse because there will always be people who will take advantage of the situation at the public’s expense.

But if we’re willing to stand in long lines, spend a lot of time and effort to save a few hundred dollars (at best), think how much we could save by collaborating? How much we could save by building our commitment to each other, and not just to ourselves?

Filed under: Egoism, Facebook - No Comments →

From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 11/19/19

Black Friday is getting closer and people around the world are already getting ready for this year’s shopping spree. However, as soon as we begin to receive pleasure and the desire is fulfilled by buying something, we suddenly discover that the pleasure comes to an end.

Is it possible to get pleasure that will be endless and constantly increase instead of diminishing? Yes, but it depends on learning to use human desires correctly. Then our lives can become unlimited, infinite, and eternal. This is the secret of eternal life.

The wisdom of Kabbalah literally means ‘reception’ because this is a wisdom of how to receive; it explains how to fill ourselves in an unlimited and infinite manner.

The answer to lasting fulfillment lies in connection.

If we connect among us—if the pleasure passes through me, and I transmit it to you, and you to another, and he to someone else and so on, and this flow constantly happens between us—then the pleasure never stops, and no one becomes satiated.

In that state, the pleasures that pass through everyone are constantly renewed, and each one of us begins to feel the pleasure that comes back to him from everyone, thus he gets pleasure from everyone. It follows that we have an infinite growth of pleasure that results from a higher level of human experience, which Kabbalists refer to as “the spiritual world.” That is possible if we learn how to use the reception of pleasure correctly, and this wisdom is called Kabbalah.

See our course

Filed under: Facebook - No Comments →

From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 11/16/19

From Rockets to European Labeling of Israeli Products. When Will Threats Against Israel Stop?

Around 450 rockets have been fired at Israel in the last few days and still counting, despite the announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Beyond the headlines, residents in the south and center of the country, the areas directly under attack, are paying a heavy price, living in constant fear and uncertainty about the future.

Are we on the road to an escalation or is the current menace one that will die out soon? Either way, we have not solved the root of the problem, nor does it seem that a solution looms on the horizon. Our fate depends only on us, the people of Israel, on our unity.

Mounting Pressure Against Israel

Life in Israel is similar to living in a fortress, always on the alert against enemy attacks. However, we do not enjoy protection from any enemy: not Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the south, not Hezbollah in the north, or even from a Russian submarine that was recently located off the shores of the center of the country. If we widen our gaze, we will realize that the attacks come from all fronts. The European Court of Justice decided not to allow us time to even recover from the wounds of the current rocket attacks before inflicting a new blow. The EU’s highest legal court adopted a resolution stating that the European countries are obliged to mark any product originating in the Israeli settlements—territory that Israel captured, the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war, areas disputed by the Palestinians—so consumers could make “informed choices” when they shopped.

The court’s ruling has been considered anti-Semitic and discriminatory by Israeli authorities and producers, since Israel is the only country that has been singled out, despite the fact that there are over 200 territorial disputes around the world; the labeling measure only applies to Israeli goods.

How Should Israel React?

Wars in the field and in judiciary courts, ground attacks and psychological warfare, will be of no help. Nor will idleness. When the nations of the world rise against the people of Israel in one way or another, the only viable solution is to access our common arsenal: the power of unity. Therein lies a more supreme power, stronger than all our current forces. As the sages wrote: “The prime defense against calamity is love and unity. When there are love, unity, and friendship between each other in Israel, no calamity can come over them.” (Maor Vashemesh)

We ought to listen attentively to the message the world is screaming at us. We need to peel off our thick layers of stubbornness and absorb the essence of the demand coming at us, the reason an accusatory finger is pointed toward Israel. What is the world requesting? They are asking only for good and fulfillment.

Access to that good depends on the Jewish people. The key is in our hands. If we are united in one heart, we will be like a conduit of supreme power to the nations of the world. It will be through us that the good, the abundance, and the love for all will pass, without exception. In this way, without a lot of words and without noise, we will be recognized as “light unto the nations.” This is our unique virtue and role as the people of Israel. As the Kabbalist Rav Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam) wrote: “The Israeli nation had been constructed as a sort of gateway by which the sparks of purity would shine upon the whole of the human race the world over.” (The Arvut – Mutual Guarantee)

Light on the Horizon

We do not need another day of rockets or more sorrow of children crying in shelters before we react. We must undertake an incisive analysis now in the spirit of the saying, “the end of the action lies in the initial thought.” And the final outcome should be to unite as one, above our origins, ideologies, and preferences, to foster unity as a nation showing a positive example to the world.

Repairing the world on all levels begins with our connection, the connection within the people of Israel. If we establish unity as a distinct trend, we will bear witness to a positive transformation throughout the world. As the wisdom of Kabbalah describes, the solution to our situation, whether negative or positive, belligerent or friendly, depends exclusively on us. The solution lies in our hearts, in our desire to either unite or not unite.

By virtue of our connection we will awaken great, unifying forces dwelling in nature that will affect our surrounding world in a harmonious way, and everything will calm down. Forces that currently oppose us will be reversed. Today’s enemies will approach us with love, and peace will reign.

Filed under: Facebook - No Comments →

From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 11/16/19

Mass protests are shaking the planet. Can protests really affect change in the world? What are people lacking in order to get into the right cooperation with the countries’ governments and make them really work for the needs of a particular society and the world as a whole?

The answer is connection. Protests give people a certain kind of unity, but it is a unity that is induced. They have an announced goal, several mottos, and blinding emotions. The main point of protest is “against,” not “for.” Therefore, those who come to protest connect around their personal hatred regarding something, or because of the external threat. As soon as it’s gone, or “a dog is given a piece of food” to calm down, the artificial unity disappears as it never existed before.

Can we get out of this locked circle?

Yes. Just as how hatred nourishes hatred, love nourishes love. Therefore, if people connect “for” something—a common goal aimed at building a new prosperous society—and show the government their unity “as one man with one heart,” their needs and requests will be immediately met and fulfilled.

How do we find that point of “for” unity? The wisdom of Kabbalah teaches us about it. See Less

Filed under: Facebook, News, Politics - No Comments →

From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 11/16/19

Nature plays a dangerous game with people. While a rare hole in the ozone layer becomes smaller, the general system is still unpredictable. Natural disasters and catastrophes can suddenly trigger mass tragedies and disruptions to people’s plans.

However, is it nature in and of itself that gives us a headache, or are we people influencing nature in a way that makes nature appear imbalanced toward us, and all disasters are just a response to our actions?

According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, there are four levels of nature: inanimate, vegetative, animate, and human (speaking). Each next level controls and influences the previous one. Following this logical chain, human beings are at the top of the hierarchy, and thus, we are responsible for all that we face. Nature’s balance depends on balance in human relations: If people reach a state of mutual consideration and consent, nature will come down.

Therefore, we need to recognize and understand our responsibility and start building positive human relations above the contradictions that we meet in contemporary society. By doing so, we will bring the planet to harmony.

Filed under: Facebook - No Comments →

From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 11/13/19

Hundreds of People Just Met to Unite Europe

Europe is in the most dangerous position out of all continents. It currently resembles a modern version of ancient Babylon, which either can start uniting above its growing divisions, or shatter completely.

Yesterday, I returned from a very special European convention in Borovets, Bulgaria, which we held on behalf of Kabbalah Info

It was a gathering of representatives from all European nations, people who came to discuss, think about and work on creating a unified society capable of acting as a model for the kind of unity above division that Europe will increasingly feel a need for.

If we take a bird’s eye view of humanity’s development over 1,000s of years, the European convention was indeed very special. Since the time of ancient Babylon, more than 3,000 years ago, any unified sensation that humanity shared has been in ruins. This is precisely why seeing such efforts of hundreds of people gathering from all around Europe with the goal of uniting above our differences holds profound significance.

At the convention, we discussed how unity can become a reality in Europe, and how the unity of Europe by a critical mass of people who feel the importance of such unity, can become a model for a new era of unity in humanity.

Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam), our principle study source, writes that today is the generation of the Messiah, “Messiah” (“Moshiach” in Hebrew) being a force that pulls (“Moshech” in Hebrew) us out of our involuntary egoistic, self-aimed desires, and into the altruistic desire to love, bestow and positively connect with others. In other words, by wanting to unite, we can draw the force dwelling in nature that constantly moves in a unifying direction, which unites us. We thus also achieve a certain extent of balance with nature, and experience positive feedback from such balance.

As today’s world sinks deeper into crisis, lacking solutions to the myriad problems boiling increasingly on personal, social, ecological and global scales, humanity somewhat manages to navigate itself by blurring the vast web of problems in the short term. However, in the long term, a growing sense of helplessness will corner us to face a fact that we do everything we can to avoid: that our lives will not improve by anything we try to change outside of ourselves. On the contrary, we will experience more peace, happiness, confidence and safety when we change ourselves.

Sooner or later, we will need to correct ourselves, changing our outlook on others, the world and nature from egoistic to altruistic, from divisive to unified, drawing nature’s positive influence upon us in the process. When we do, we will discover a newfound balance with nature, a sensation of harmony and perfection through our unity upon our differences.

Those who attended the European Convention in Bulgaria are those learning and implementing the wisdom of Kabbalah—a method for how to achieve unity above division. The time is coming closer to when humanity will feel a need for the kind of unity that this method guides us to, and I’m very happy to see so many people of different backgrounds, ages and genders applying themselves to achieve such exalted unity. As the future appears bleak for humanity if it fails to make a significant shift, there will be a growing demand for guidance on how to live more positive lives from a critical mass of people who have advanced in unity above division. What we went through at the European convention was a major step in that direction.

Filed under: Facebook - No Comments →

From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 11/12/19

And these are a handful of my African students, who made a tremendous effort to gather together this past weekend to watch a series of lessons I delivered from Bulgaria as part of our international Kabbalah convention. Yes, you can also learn the wisdom of Kabbalah in Africa.

Next month, I will meet with them and other students from Asia and Australia for a unique online conference. I will broadcast from our studio in Petah Tikva, and they will connect to a global conference call where we will discuss uniting above our differences—the central message of the wisdom of Kabbalah.

Filed under: Facebook - No Comments →

From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 11/11/19

Nine hundred students, three days, one heart—our international Kabbalah convention held last weekend in Borovets, Bulgaria, took us to new heights. Above differences in languages, cultural gaps and geographical distances, crowds gathered for lessons and discussion circles, and learned to connect. Have a look at the photos. The results are in the radiant faces of the participants.

Filed under: Facebook - No Comments →

From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 11/11/19

Even if you didn’t attend or hear about the Unity Convention in Europe, stop for three minutes to be wowed by this beautiful summary of our international Kabbalah convention, held in Borovetz, Bulgaria.

900 men and women from across the continent gathered to unite above the many differences that separate people. Together they made it. See the looks, the smiles, the excitement, the tears, and ask – only then will all the good between us be realized

Filed under: Facebook - No Comments →

From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 10/29/19

From Chile to Lebanon: The world is protesting—but the responsibility is on Israel

In the cedar country, the wave of violent protests has not stopped. Reforms intended to end violence may have been approved, but millions of Lebanese are not calm. Within them, the bubbling demand to replace the government and eradicate corruption continues.

The protests in Lebanon are the latest in a series of insurgencies around the world—from Hong Kong to Quito in Ecuador, from Barcelona to Santiago in Chile—all share a common ground: despair from the government and the desire to make ends meet with a shred of dignity.

This is reminiscent of the “Arab Spring” demonstrations in 2011, at the end of which some Arab regimes crumbled. That rage did not subside, it just got worse. And today, a single match is all it takes to detonate a barrel of explosives; to drive millions of people to the streets.

If we had a bird’s eye view of the situation, we would find good in all the evil that unfolds. Humanity is gradually discovering a better attitude towards life. Understanding that there is no real benefit in excessive consumption, that with all the technology and abundance that exists, we lack an inner, deeper meaning in life. At times, the essential questions arise, but no one has any clear answers. After regimes change and the anger seems to subside, the questions fade and life returns to its imaginary course.

From one protest to the next, we are gradually recognizing that without changing human nature, which favors self-interest at the account of others, no protest will bear fruit. If we don’t start rebuilding human relations from the ground up, if we do not connect to each other positively, the result will not be good and this will be felt at every level—familial, social and political.

So who can bring about such a significant change? Who holds the method for unifying human beings above all differences? The Jews. Why? Because hold the key to the authentic wisdom of Kabbalah – the ancient method of human connection. A method that was handed down from one generation to the next, and now it’s time to shake off the dust and start realizing it.

Maybe the connection to the Jews sounds far-fetched at the moment. But in six months or os, try asking the Lebanese who is to blame for their situation? They will point to us, their Jewish neighbors. And not only them, but even the citizens who take to the streets in Chile, Barcelona and Iraq. And it doesn’t matter at all that there is no direct link between political instability and dissatisfaction with the governments, and blaming the Jews.

The truth is – they are right. The link is invisible, but it’s there. There is an inherent relationship between Israel and the world’s nations. As written by the early Kabbalists: “No calamity comes to the world, but for Israel”, or as it is written in the Book of Zohar‘s commentary that when the Jews fail to carry out their role, “they cause of poverty and sword and robbery and killing and extermination throughout the world.”

Simply put: All the evil that happens in humanity originates in the role of the Jewish people. The only question is what degree of suffering a person or an entire nation feels. If the pain is still tolerable, they find ways to solve the problem or live with it. But if the suffering increases, it takes the form of violent protests. And when the suffering becomes too great, a burning feeling of hatred starts brewing. At first it’s irrelevant to the Jews; but as it increases, it becomes sharp, focused, and toxic – against the Jews.

In the eyes of the world’s nations, Jews are seen as the world’s greatest corruptors, robbers, and scammers. And only by destroying the Jews – they think – they make life peaceful. However, as the Kabbalists wrote, all of humanity is a single network, and all parts of it are interdependent.

Therefore, if the Jews begin to activate the method of human connection among themselves at first, they will serve as a conduit through which the positive and unifying influence will flow through the entire network, to the whole world, and they will be “a light unto nations.”

Filed under: Facebook - No Comments →