If we could see how much we influence the fate of mankind with our personal subjective actions, how it goes toward the realization of the purpose of creation, then we, of course, would not be so indifferent, but we would understand the responsibility that each of us has. But without seeing, without understanding, and by not listening to the wishes of the Kabbalists, we let everything take its course and think that somehow everything will happen by itself if necessary. It turns out that we react completely incorrectly to the current events, and as a result, the following events that happen to us are even worse. Thus, the world gradually slips into more and more tragic circumstances.

If we could somehow overcome this point of indifference of not knowing the whole system and give each person an understanding that he influences his fate and the fate of others, and at least somehow make him feel responsible for the fate of the world and his own, then any smallest man among the multi-million population of a city, country, or continent, through his conscious participation, would have a very great influence in spirituality.

If this person could consciously participate, then indeed the world would be different every minute of its development, and people would become more and more consciously aware of the program of creation and the need to participate in it. By doing so, we would change our attitude toward life. It is very important to give each person the understanding that he can actively influence fate.

Question: Does a person always change when he is immersed in some kind of environment?

Answer: No, not always. But all the same, his knowledge about this, even the most passive, that he listened and left, still remains, subconsciously lives and develops in him like a seed thrown into the ground. It can stay there for some time, and then, under favorable conditions, will grow.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. The Impact of Football on a Person” 2/18/11

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Comment: Alexey asks: “Michael, it is not evident that you love people. But on whom then does the world rest?”

My Response: On whom does the world rest? Does the world rest on people? The world hardly tolerates these people; it suffers from them. They sit on it like flies and gnaw it from all sides. Why should I love such a picture? We just dig our teeth into this Earth, into this world, and we gnaw on it wherever possible and push others away.

And then we also want to fly to Mars to escape from here: “Apple trees will bloom also on Mars.” And we will chop them down in the same way.

Comment: “Then on whom does the world rest,” Alexey asks. After all, it does rest on something.

My Response: The world rests on the word, on the word of God. In the beginning there was the word, and the word was God, and God was eternity, and so on.

The world rests on the quality of good, on the quality of love. It all comes from the upper one, not from us. If it were from us, then this whole world would not exist for a second. We are the negative energy in the world.

The Creator holds us, holds the world. If not for this, nothing would exist. In the meantime, we are parasites on this world.

Question: What does the Creator hope for? What does He even want while holding us?

Answer: He does not hope. He governs so that a person eventually grows up to the realization of how to govern the world in general and takes the place of the Creator.

Question: Does it mean, according to your words, that people are created to govern this world? These, as you say, low creatures?

Answer: Yes. They were created to be the crown of creation, to govern the world, to convince the Creator to influence our world with the quality of good, which will be supported by all means by man, by people, and humanity.

They must allow the qualities of love and bestowal and kindness and compassion to be revealed in the world.

Therefore, they must go through this “bottom,” recognize their nature, suppress it in themselves, and come to the need for the opposite nature—the nature of the Creator.

Question: How does a person come to the conclusion that this is the path?

Answer: From suffering. There is no other way, but the recognition of the pettiness of one’s own powers, qualities, and capabilities. The Creator expects that we will turn to Him for help, ask Him for the force of the quality of good, bestowal, and love, and thereby rise to His level.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 2/2/20

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Comment: Governments of different countries allocate a total of almost two trillion dollars a year as state subsidies to businesses that are harmful to the environment, to the climate of the planet, and that pollute nature. This brings the extinction of humanity closer.

On the other hand, the same countries that sign all the manifestos and programs to clean up the environment also allocate the same crazy money for this.

My Response: And what is the big deal? A person smokes and takes pills. He drinks and is also being treated for it. What I mean is that a person consists of these two opposites. Everything is fine.

Question: So there are two halves in him? One gives money for destruction and the other for restoration?

Answer: I get a good feeling from participating in something good, big, kind, as well as from the opposite.

Question: And this is no different from normal human nature?

Answer: Yes. Look, after this war, there will be all kinds of awards, people will rise, and so on.

Question: On one hand there was death, on the other hand honor and glory. This is our world. And how to get out of such a world?

Answer: There is no way; that is how we live.

Question: Is it impossible to get to the point where I give money exclusively for prosperity?

Answer: How is that possible? You will not be able to give money for prosperity if you do not feed, on the other hand, everything that causes harm.

Question: Is there no middle line?

Answer: The middle line is not here. The middle line is only if a person rises above himself.

Question: But is it necessary to get out of this or not?

Answer: All this is just so that we understand that we are in a trap and that there is no way out of it.

Question: In principle, is it possible to get out of this trap?

Answer: Not by conventional methods. It is possible only when we are completely, absolutely completely disappointed in ourselves, in our lives, in everything. It is a dead end that makes you climb.

Question: What is the only way out of this state? If a person feels trapped, if he has come to this feeling: “I’m trapped, I don’t know what to do. I understand that one way out is death.” What is the other way out?

Answer: It is when you are stuck in this trap, and you have two legs and two hands in it, you cannot do anything, then you quietly agree with this trap, stay in it, and look not for physical, but inner redemption. And everything will work out.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 4/4/22

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Today we are at the last stage of development when human society moves from an animal, egoistic society, which developed like all previous forms (still, vegetative, and animate), to the development of the next degree, I would even say, dimension, as it is opposed to all previous forms of nature.

The previous forms of nature began their development from the Big Bang. This is how the Solar System and everything on Earth appeared. And then, in exactly the same way, humanity evolved from monkeys. Moreover, man is no different from animals, except for even greater egoism. This develops him to the point that he is constantly improving technology, society, the environment, and his capabilities until his egoism begins to deteriorate, like at any previous stage.

For example, when egoism exhausted itself at the still stage, another stage began to appear, the vegetative one. This is the law of “negation of negation,” when the previous stage is no longer able to express itself further or be filled, and grows into another.

So plants evolved from still matter, animal organisms from plant matter, and so on. And now a person, developing as an animal organism, gradually comes to a state when he exhausts his egoism at the animal level and eventually discovers his incongruity: “And what next?”

This is a characteristic feature of our era when we ask: “What are we living for? There is no point in existing like animals. And if not like animals, then how else?”

In everything we have created, we find that technology is to our detriment, society is to our detriment, and we find no satisfaction in anything. That means, we have exhausted this stage. Practically, this is a very good state, the state of birth, the transition to the next degree.

But the next degree is radically different from the previous ones, it is no longer egoistic. Therefore, the entire multibillion-dollar process of the development of egoistic nature from the Big Bang to our state has ended. And now we are living in such a wonderful time, the birth of a new world.

This means the birth of a new person because the world does not exist outside of us, we perceive it within ourselves. Thus, if a person changes, he will suddenly discover that he exists in a completely different world.
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From KabTV’s “Close-Up. The Future of Humanity” 7/17/11

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My new article on Linkedin “At Highland Park, the Murderer Went for Jews”

Four of the seven victims of the Highland Park mass shooting were Jewish, and probably many of the dozens who were injured. According to a JTA report, “Although local authorities have not yet said whether they believe the shooter’s motivation was antisemitic, [a] Highland Park rabbi reported that the suspect, whom authorities said had pre-planned his attack for weeks, had previously visited a synagogue: his own.” Moreover, “Yosef Schanowitz, the rabbi of the Highland Park Chabad, told the Orthodox news site Anash that he recognized the alleged shooter, who … had been turned away from Chabad by its armed security guard during a Passover Seder this year.” About half of Highland Park’s residents are Jewish; this mass murder did not aim at random victims; the murderer went for Jews.

I have said it more times than I can count, but no one seems to listen: The Jews in the US are in danger, mortal danger. The danger is only increasing, and at some point, these warning signs will explode, as has always happened to the Jews throughout the bloody history of our people.

Nothing will change that trajectory unless American Jews do what they must. They will suffer such excruciating torments that will force them to change their ways. Currently, if you speak with American Jews, they still feel on the top of the world. They feel entitled and superior. It is bound to hurt them; pride is the bane that has always hurt the Jews, in the end.

If American Jewry wants to avoid appearing in Simon Rawidowicz’s next edition of Israel—The Ever-Dying People, they must reevaluate everything. First and foremost, they must realign themselves with the basic Jewish tenets of unity and solidarity.

By unity, I am not referring to sympathy with Israel’s enemies, thereby displaying their aversion toward the State of Israel. What I mean is placing unity among Jews above all other values and establishing it among all factions, views, denominations, and opinions in our nation.

Jewish unity is the cure for antisemitism and the road to safety not because it makes Jews strong, but because it is the calling of our people to show the world that it is possible to unite without encroaching on people who think or feel differently, but simply by placing the value of unity above all other values. This is what the world expects from all Jews, whether or not it articulates it in explicit words.

Our nation was born when our ancestors gave up their pride and united “as one man with one heart.” Since then, it has been our duty to repeat our ancestors’ feat in every generation. When we succeed, we thrive. When we fail, we suffer.

Currently, American Jews are failing miserably in the test of unity. Admittedly, Israelis are failing, too, but in this piece, I am referring to the situation in America.

Either way, both communities will pay heavily for their division, and will have to choose between unity and success or division and destruction. This, in fact, has been our choice throughout the generations.*

* For more on the link between Jewish unity and antisemitism, read my publications The Jewish Choice: Unity or Anti-Semitism, Historical facts on anti-Semitism as a reflection of Jewish social discord, and Like a Bundle of Reeds: Why unity and mutual guarantee are today’s call of the hour.
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Filed under: Anti-Semitism, Crisis, New Publications, Unity - No Comments →

Question: What are the key points of the development of humanity, in which it has the opportunity to make some kind of choice?

Answer: The main point is the search for one’s own path, which started several thousand years ago by representatives of the nations of the world in ancient Babylon. As a result, they realized that all of nature is aimed at making humanity one.

They partly accepted this condition, although they consisted of many different small nations. But one of the wise men of that time, Abraham, the son of Terah, the spiritual leader of the Babylonians, rebelled against his father and began to preach that the essence of the development of mankind is to unite so that all people become one nation.

Since that time, a study called Kabbalah was created. It explains how we can unite together as a single nation. And although it has been going on since those ancient times, it still remains only an idea, a dream, a philosophy, nothing more.
This idea has not yet begun to approach people, and they have not yet begun to adapt it in themselves.
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From KabTV’s “Kabbalah Express” 6/24/22

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Question: Can we call the current state of the world a reference point when humanity is close to choosing a new path of development?

Answer: Without a doubt. The wisdom of Kabbalah speaks about this. We are currently entering the last state of humanity, the so-called “last generation.”

This state can be lengthy, including wars and all kinds of destruction. But it can also be based on a peaceful development along the path upward. It depends on the people.

The final social formation will consist of recognizing our egoism as evil and the ascent above it to connection, to coming closer together of all the nations around a common core, which is the principle of “love your neighbor as yourself.”
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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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Medium published my new article “What Breeds Ongoing Violence in the U.S.?”

America hardly recuperates from the shock of a mass shooting in a certain city when a new incident takes place somewhere else. Seven people were killed and more than 30 wounded in the shooting perpetrated by a 21-year-old man at a 4th of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois. Gun violence in America has become no less than a social epidemic, and as with any other illness of such magnitude it is important to find the right treatment from the root cause of the problem.

Jacki Sundheim, a senior staffer at a local synagogue and Nicolas Toledo, a grandfather from Mexico, were among the fatal victims of the senseless parade attack by a gunman who according to the police acquired the guns legally. Undoubtedly, it is important to keep guns away from unstable, dangerous individuals, but the gun violence epidemic goes beyond laws and regulations since those willing to cause harm will always find ways to achieve their sinister goals.

In order to offer a true solution, we have to go beyond the symptoms of the problem. Human beings are social creatures and individuals cannot be separated from their culture when we are trying to understand a behavior that repeats itself. It is true that in America it is easy to purchase firearms, but what pulls the trigger is the growing egoism and division in American society.

In such a social climate of “every man for himself,” tension and frustration accumulate daily until people with violent tendencies explode in cruel ways. In their unbalanced minds a mass shooting is a way to “fix” the system and compensate for their fears and insecurities.

Lack of meaning and purpose in life are also key triggers. More and more people have no idea what they live for, and life with no meaning and purpose makes human life lose its importance and preciousness. Mass shooters feel that human life is cheap and worthless, and the more this lack of direction spreads throughout society today, the more mass shooters surface.

The remedy to this problem is education. America must treat the deep cultural and social conditioning that breeds these events by initiating a massive federal educational program to infuse people from an early age with new examples, norms, and values. They should be regularly trained to cooperate, build trust, as well as develop social sensitivity to each other through workshops, discussion groups, and collaborative projects.

Education does not refer only to formal systems for providing and acquiring knowledge. The aim of education should not be to simply create a workforce of trained individuals. Education must now focus on cultivating the human being. This means building a value system within a person and an adequate social environment around a person to balance the human ego and direct it toward positive realization.

Such a state will never come about by simply drafting new laws, but only through a change in the way human nature operates in society. Instead of relating to each other through egoistic lenses, we need to learn and develop new supportive, encouraging, understanding attitudes to every person. In order to reach that level of positive change, society needs to forge meaningful and healthy connections through a new socio-educational shift, which will become doable and realistic when America realizes that it has had enough suffering and it is time for an integral solution.

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Now it is vitally important for us to examine nature’s Mitzvot, to know what it demands of us, lest it would mercilessly punish us. (Baal HaSulam “The Peace”)

Question: Could humanity develop in a different way and move from degree to degree without any particular problems and suffering in an easier form?

Answer: Humanity could develop in a different way, more correctly, if people understood what exactly is said in the Torah, what the science of Kabbalah wants to convey to them, and applied this knowledge to their development.

An alternative path exists, but only starting from a certain degree in the history of mankind.
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From KabTV’s “Kabbalah Express” 6/24/22

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