Question: There is an anecdote about a plane that crashes, and one passenger survives and gets to an island. Cannibals live there and they grab him and bring him to their leader, the chief. It turns out that the chief is an intelligent, attractive man of European appearance.

The passenger tells him: “You are a person of European education; you are so cultured. Have you not been influenced by civilization?!” The leader answers him: “Of course I have been influenced by it. When I eat you, I will use a plate, a fork, and all sorts of seasonings. Everything will be very smart.”

The question is this. We see that civilization has not stopped wars and has not stopped horrors. In theory, what should be the purpose of civilization?

Answer: We need to change all this from the inside. Only from the inside. That is, civilization is what happens inside, within a person.

Question: Within a person? This is a coup, of course.

Answer: There are no coups; there have not been any yet. But eventually, at some point, we have to come to that.

Comment: Right now with all this horror that is happening, with all these wars, with all this barbarism…

My Response: There is no horror, just people demonstrating who they are by nature. It is egoism, just human egoism. It needs to be corrected. Nothing else! Human egoism is not balanced everywhere, not in any country or in any system of the world.

Therefore, if you give people the freedom to devour each other with impunity, you will see how barbaric they are. That’s it!

Comment: But they will still use a spoon, fork, and plate.

My Response: Yes, it is a habit.

Question: Are you saying that they will use this civilization, but they will eat each other at the same time?

Answer: Yes.

Question: You said that civilization should happen inside a person. Please explain these words “civilization inside a person.” What should happen inside a person?

Answer: Imagine that you are in a stadium, and there are, say, a million people there. Do you have any idea what kind of a sight this is?

Comment: I imagine. Such a mass that is rooting for someone.

My Response: They are rooting for someone, for something, against someone, and so on. Do you think you can change them to be in a pleasant way toward each other?

Question: If they support different teams?

Answer: Of course. Who else goes to the stadium? Only because there is such a struggle there.

Comment: Hardly.

My Response: Hardly? That is, we see that humanity has practically not changed. It is in this form that it manifests itself.

Question: In the form that someone is rooting for someone, and he is already ready to eat the other?

Answer: Yes.

Question: And then what? If we are talking about a change in a person, what then? Should they start rooting for the same team?

Answer: No, I would just ban such events. Completely! All of such competitive actions.

Question: Are you now speaking against any competition?

Answer: Any. Because they make people hate the opposite side. This is the basis of civilization: we are better, we are wiser, we are more correct, we are stronger, and so on.

Question: What, in your opinion, should happen at the stadium in this case?

Answer: Some kind of games, but not one against the other.

Question: Do you include wars, different opinions, politics, and everything here?

Answer: Absolutely everything! People have to learn completely different relations. But they, on the contrary, go somewhere else from here. They are only engaged in competing with each other: who is better, who is bigger, who is stronger, who is more afraid of whom, and so on.

Comment: Then, speaking globally, there is a country with its borders, its anthem, its flag…

My Response: Destroy everything that separates people from each other!

Question: But first of all, within these boundaries, is it necessary for people to undergo some kind of correction?

Answer: Naturally, it should be a campaign for correction.

Question: Is the goal that the borders will fall? A long-range goal. What is today’s task?

Answer: Today’s task is for everyone to go against themselves.

Question: If we manage this task, will it then be possible to open borders?

Answer: Of course! There is no question about it.

Question: Then what does it mean to “go against myself”?

Answer: To go against yourself is to go against your egoism, against hatred of others. This is our task.

Question: What if I feel this hatred? How should I extinguish it? This exists in every person.

Answer: Educate people so that they are closer to each other, so that they love each other, and so that they feel that they depend on each other all the time. Not in a bad way that otherwise he would attack me, but in a good way.

Question: Should humanity have the goal that one way or another we should come to a family of nations?

Answer: This is what we have to come to.

Question: Will there be no people then and no nations then?

Answer: There will be none of this.

Question: Can you tell me what will be?

Answer: There will be one nation on the whole earth.

Comment: I really want to believe in it and live like this.

My Response: Only in this way will we be able to reach some kind of future correct state.

Question: Then what was the mistake of the Utopians who wanted to build such cities?

Answer: They thought to do it purely mechanically, without educating a person, without waiting for him to change. But this, of course, was utopia.

Question: Is the entire problem of utopians and those who dream of unity that they do not come to the fact that there is this evil in us?

Answer: Yes. Today we are getting rid of this last communist utopia.

Question: Do you think that with this current state, with all this madness, something will turn around in a person after all?

Answer: At least it seems that we are in a period of reformation.

Comment: That is, these horrors, these wars, everything that is happening…

My Response: All this should convince us that this is the wrong way, that you will not take anything by force, you will not win anything and you will never justify yourself in any way.

Question: Is this what you call civilization?

Answer: Civilization is when people understand that the most important thing is a good connection between them. That’s all.

Question: Where is the Creator here? Where is the upper force that you talk about all the time?

Answer: When we put good above evil, we build the Creator.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 10/19/23

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Rabbi Ila’a said, ‘The world exists only on account of him who restrains himself in strife (Hulin 89a) (One Who Restrains Himself in Strife, Rabash, Assorted Notes No. 292).

Question: It was written by our sages in the treatise “Hulin” 2,000 years ago: “The world exists only on account of him who restrains himself in strife.”

Can you please explain what kind of world we are talking about?

Answer: The world means our entire world, all of nature, especially human nature. It exists only because people restrain themselves during a surge of egoism and mutual hatred.

Question: Today no one restrains himself by and large. So what is going to happen to the world?

Answer: I must be afraid of the other, and then I will sit quietly.

Question: Is this what the world is today? The world of power and demonstrating your strength. Is this not true?

Answer: Of course. How can the world be truly based on this? This means that we will constantly strengthen ourselves and wait until we can attack the other side. And this is not true.

Question: How do we come to this wisdom that “The world exists only on account of him who restrains himself in strife”? How can we learn to restrain ourselves at the time of a quarrel?

Answer: The world is, in principle, moving a little closer to this based on the fact that there are some opportunities to put pressure on any state through public opinion so that it restrains itself.

But this is still very far from a concrete, correct influence on each other, moreover, a good influence, not under the threat of destruction, but because it simply cannot be otherwise. This is not my opinion; it is other people’s opinion and I submit to it, and so on.

Question: It is said “quarrels.” It is not said that if they came to kill you, then there is no escape, and you must get ahead of him and kill him. This is about a quarrel. What is meant by “a quarrel”?

Answer: It is when murder is not yet resorted to and there is a chance for persuasion, for some kind of negotiation. But this is still not the path to peace. “Be ahead of him and kill him” is not the path to peace.

Question: They say that if one restrains himself at the time of a quarrel, he himself is under a lot of stress. Even psychologists keep saying: “Do not restrain yourself.” And so on. What do you think about it?

Answer: My attitude toward this is negative. If a person does not restrain himself, he will destroy everything. Everyone surely has a stone or a knife at hand. And if you go further, then a pistol, and so on. That is, little good will come out of this.

Question: How do you restrain yourself if you are driven crazy?

Answer: Train yourself so that you are not.

Question: So you see this as just training?

Answer: Yes. And do not disperse. Restrain yourself.

Question: Do not disperse, you mean in the sense of using force? Is it possible to run away for some time?

Answer: You can run away.

Question: In order to get together later?

Answer: Maybe.

Question: Maybe and maybe not, do you think?

Answer: Maybe not.

Question: That is, above everything there still should be to restrain yourself at the time of a quarrel. Is this possible in our world?

Answer: I think that precisely in our world it is more possible than it has been because we do not have any special opportunities to gather an army, ride somewhere, and attack somebody. All this is not so real anymore. I think that nowadays, it is precisely deterrence that is the best weapon.

Question: So by and large, all the organizations that were created after the big wars—the United Nations, the League of Nations—was it all for this purpose?

Answer: Yes.

Question: But it did not bring tangible results. Why?

Answer: Human nature has not changed. They wanted to put up some kind of division, shutters, or something like that. But since nature does not change, they began to speak more beautifully instead, and nothing more.

We must understand that we need to change internally, and not sit somewhere beautifully.

Question: I understand what you are saying. Why do others not understand this?

Answer: It is human nature. What can you do with it?

Question: When will we understand this?

Answer: I do not have an answer to this. But I am sure that we will understand it some day.
[320163]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 10/19/23

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Question: Is there a difference regarding the correction of a person when he dies a natural death or dies during a war?

Answer: Of course there is a difference, but we cannot understand it. We cannot understand the reasons why a person dies this way or another, today or another day.

Question: A war is always accompanied by animalistic fear. Is it possible to turn it into trepidation toward the Creator?

Answer: It can happen only with a person undergoing training for a very long time. If he thinks about this, understands it, and desires to unite with the opinion of the Creator, then he gradually begins to realize what the Creator requires of him and how he can come closer to Him.
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 10/29/23

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Question: In the 70s of the last century the problem with AIDS emerged, before that there was a problem with cancer. And nowadays, even infants get cancer. How is this possible, considering that typically there should be some accumulative period for a person?

Answer: What kind of cumulative period can we talk about if all this enters the newborn from the bodies of the mother and father and has been happening for years and generations.

Moreover, it seems to us that this occurs at some biological or even genetic level. In reality, these are problems of a spiritual nature, because we are becoming increasingly disharmonious with nature. Hence, the cause of all diseases is that we are not in balance with the surrounding nature.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Causes of cancer and AIDS…” 10/29/13

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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 – Light and Sun).

Question: Today, most countries of the world support Hamas, even though Israel has given so much to the world and we have never been the first to attack. Something irrational is happening that defies logic.

Even in Western countries, the most progressive segments of society condemn Israel and say that it is an apartheid state. In other words, universally accepted principles of equality, truth, and justice obscure all the facts that we see. How would you explain this?

Answer: I will explain it very simply. The hatred that exists among the nations of the world toward Jews overrides everything. Everywhere! Absolutely!

Anti-Semitism acts as a law of nature. If Jews are not united, then supernatural forces are activated, and all our facts and evidence lose their basis. There will be no peace until Jews will change.

Anti-Semitism is eternal and inevitable, and there is no way to escape from it. Only if we change, will the Creator change others.
[320981]
From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 10/29/23

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A modern person seems to be moving further and further away from the Creator and becoming worse and worse, but this is because the advantage of light is revealed from darkness. Therefore, this distance is precisely one of the signs of approaching the Creator and a sign that we belong to the generation of the Messiah.

This does not mean that we will begin to reveal the upper light and soar up the spiritual ladder today or tomorrow. But it is clear that our world has entered a period where the upper force of nature is keeping a very strict account with us, and we need to hurry up and help this force with our advancement in every way possible.

We need to explain to people that only our unity will save the world and each of us; otherwise, humanity will come to self-destruction.

The era of the Messiah is a time when people become capable of better understanding the message conveyed to us by the wisdom of Kabbalah and The Book of Zohar. This message says that there is a force from above that wants to come closer to us and reveal itself. It seeks to change our feelings and minds so that we can discover, attain, and become similar to it.

“From above” means that this force is entirely directed at bestowal and not at egoistic reception as we are. From above means bestowal, and from below means reception.

Torah is a light that influences a person and develops all his desires, connects them correctly so a person can directly receive the message from above, be filled with it, and connect with the upper force.

To engage in the open Torah means to begin with the kind of work that a person is capable of, which is connecting with friends who want to discover the meaning of life and its purpose. To do this, we gather in a group that encompasses an ever-widening circle of people who act based on the principle of “each one shall help his friend” and who strive to achieve love for each other.

This war has clearly shown us that our entire right to exist depends on our unity. Today this is clear to everyone already.
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From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/20/23, Writings of Baal HaSulam “A Speech for the Completion of The Zohar”

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Question: What does the eruption of all our verbal information mean for the world?

Answer: We pollute the entire world.

Question: Why did the upper one need us to talk all the time so that we have TV and everything would be talking all the time? What is it for?

Answer: Have you heard kids screaming and running around at a playground? That is the same kind.

Question: But we use words differently, we humiliate, lower. If we are talking about TV, this is our way. We give such power to speech. What does it produce in the world?

Answer: It produces new corruptions over and over in the world. We cannot escape it unless, we begin to transform ourselves.

Comment: It happens that one can kill with a word, but it is unlikely with silence.

My Response: You can never make it worse with silence. It is better be silent.
[320754]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 9/21/23

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Regarding the war, the world has split sharply in two: for or against Israel. This confrontation manifests itself in every society and every corner of the world. What role does it play in the process of correction, and why is it happening this way?

I see this confrontation as a force that will oblige the people of Israel to unite. This pressure has no other purpose than to act on us so that we unite with each other.

The world is boiling, and everyone is looking at Israel as if it is an open wound on the body of the world. Why is such attention drawn to it? After all, if you look at the geographical map of the world, Israel is a very tiny country. However, this material map does not show the spiritual connection of Israel with the entire world.

It is not clear how it is possible that the whole world, billions of people with all their weapons, cannot cope with a tiny country that is almost invisible on the map. Here, the connection between the corporeal and spiritual world is clearly manifested, and we are at the most decisive point.

Despite the smallness of the State of Israel, the world feels particular importance in what is happening there. If you look at the size of this country on the map, it seems there is nothing to talk about. And yet they cannot do anything to us.

It is written in the prophets that at the end of correction, every person from the nations of the world will cling to a Jew to lead them to the holy land. It turns out that it is not enough for us to go out into the spiritual world, but we must bring everyone along with us, and the nations of the world will push us to rise to additional, still higher levels.
[320800]
From the 3^rd the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/14/23, Writings of Baal HaSulam “The Shofar of the Messiah“

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Everything in reality, good or bad, and even the most harmful in the world, has a right to exist and must not be destroyed and eradicated from the world. We must only mend and reform it (Baal HaSulam, “Peace in the World“).

Negative phenomena is our egoism when a man wants to act in the name of good only for himself.

Question: Negative phenomena manifest themselves very clearly during war. Is there any way to correct them?

Answer: No, there is not. Baal HaSulam means that we can gradually bring ourselves to the feeling that all manifestations of egoism are evil and all anti-egoism are good.

Question: On one hand, he says that not a single phenomenon should be destroyed but only be corrected. On the other hand, there is a clear principle in the Torah: If they come to destroy you, you must stand up first and kill them, that is, destroy them, not correct them. How do these two principles interact?

Answer: If they come at you with weapons, you must defend yourself and do what they wanted to do to you. That will be your correction.
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 10/29/23

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Question: In the primary sources it is written that the Creator Himself, the upper force, is waging war with the evil inclination, with evil forces. So, it is said that He is a warrior. How should I understand this? Whose side is the Creator on when there are two fighting sides and each prays from the heart for victory? Who is the Creator with?

Answer: The Creator is with no one. He is completely uninvolved in these problems, although He initiates them. The thing is that His task is to call humanity to understand its nature and do everything to correct it. Therefore, a person must recognize himself as an absolute egoist and, based on that, find the key to self-correction.

Question: Let’s say there is a war going on, and both sides are praying for victory. How does the Creator, the upper force of nature, react to these prayers? It is said that the Creator feels everyone’s prayer that come from the heart. I am sure that from both sides, the prayer comes from the heart because everyone wants to win.

How can you, as a Kabbalist, determine who the Creator is with?

Answer: The Creator is with those who are closer to Him according to the criteria of goodness, unification, and the desire to help close ones, distant, strangers, everyone, no matter who. That is, we must study the properties of the Creator and try to understand them, and then accept and incorporate them into our environment.

Question: But if both nations are united and go against each other and each believes that they are fighting for freedom, for their people, for their families, then who is the Creator with? Is it possible to judge by the results; whoever wins, that is who the Creator is with?

Answer: No, it cannot be said that way either. We should just study the properties of the Creator, His laws, and see how close we are to them or not. Based on this, we will understand who  the Creator is with and how He guides creation.
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 10/29/23

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