The coronavirus spread us apart in different directions and made us feel how far we are from each other. It revealed to us the truth about how we try to separate from each other and at the same time completely depend on each other.

In other words, the virus gives us the opportunity to think about what our correct connection should be. If we unite people, awaken a good and strong desire in them for the right goal, then we change our history, our state.

There is no other way to improve the situation, not demonstrations, nor protests, nor demands will help. After all, the government does not have the means to give the people what they want. You can print more money, but there will be nothing to buy with it. Therefore, the main thing is to organize human society correctly, and first of all to provide everyone with food, medicine, clothing, and housing.

And so gradually a person is provided with everything necessary to be able to exist with their family and children. There will be other attacks and viruses that will force us to defend ourselves and to build life correctly. If all this comes from above, it will certainly lead to good changes.

Any system, whether socialism or capitalism, wraps itself in the egoism of man and becomes destructive. The Soviet people suffered much more from socialism than other people did from capitalism. The proof is that in the end they left their socialism and themselves moved to capitalism, which is not good in itself, but still better than what it was.

Socialism, which Baal HaSulam writes about, implies something quite different: a society, a social system, which primarily cares about the people. It did not work and it will never work if it is wrapped in the egoism of a person. Only if you purify a person from his egoistic nature and form a concern for others, for the people, in him, then it will work.

But it is impossible to remove egoism from a person because the Creator placed this force in him. It is possible only with the help of integral education and the upper light to organize this egoism so that it works correctly. This requires the support of the entire society and the upper light.

We live in the last generation before the correction, but it may last for many more years. We will have to learn how to implement the method of correction in humanity, which is egoistic from birth, and therefore, any form of society that is beautiful in theory—socialism, capitalism, communism—in practice turns into egoism, and therefore, will not succeed.

It is only through the reforming light that our nature can be corrected and society properly organized. We will not do anything ourselves, our job is only to attract the reforming light that will do it for us.

If we connect egoistic humanity with the upper force that will correct egoism, we will get a correct, good result, above egoism. And to do this, we need to organize a large group of pioneers who will show everyone else how to advance.

This is the only way to succeed, according to a program that exists in nature, and not invented at a meeting of some committee. There is already such a precedent in history because in the time of the Sanhedrin, between the First and Second Temples, there were times when society lived according to the correct laws.
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From KabTV’s “Coronavirus Changes Reality,” 4/20/20

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Question: The head of the Israeli government announced that love is alienation and separation, meaning that by observing all the rules of the Ministry of Health, we show solidarity and concern for someone else.

According to Kabbalah, is this similar to the love of one’s neighbor, which is manifested not in the rapprochement between people, but first in alienation, then in restriction and the acquisition of the screen?

That is, first connection between people is reduced, second, the acquisition of a screen, the development of an anti-egoistic property and third is the right connection between people?

Answer: In principle, egoistic love lies in the fact that we use one another in order to make ourselves happy, as it usually happens between parents and children. After all, we give birth to children for our own sake, without asking the future children if they want to be born. It is the same thing here. Therefore, no one thinks of love for another, they think only of love for themselves. So we are programmed and automatically act.

But if we thought about others, then we would act differently. And the coronavirus that engulfs the world helps us in this, saying: “First of all, move away from each other. After you are independent from each other, think about why you need to get closer. If you come closer not for your own sake, but for the sake of others, then no virus will harm you, there will be no problems! Make it good for you because you are doing good to others, and all the viruses will disappear.”

Maybe I’m talking about too high a relationship, but in principle, this is the true deliverance from the coronavirus. Nature must lead us to ensure that we do not use others, but function as in an integrated system where each organ works for the whole system.
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From KabTV’s “Coronavirus Changes Reality,” 3/19/20

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Question: What should the world become after the coronavirus?

Answer: Very simple—a world where people love one another. And that’s it!

In truth, we do not know what love is. We love what gives us pleasure. This is what we call love. In other words, love is self-love for us. But we need to begin making sure that people are mutually involved in the correct integral relationships.

We are one system and we have to think about how to keep it in balance so that it does not lose its equilibrium, so that we all feel good and do not pay attention to appearances, “I don’t like people like you and you don’t like people like me.”

We need to rise above all the problems in the feeling of mutual integral dependence. Just like a mother does not see flaws in her child, be it his small eyes or a big nose, she just loves him the way he is. We need to achieve this state of love.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 3/15/20

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From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 4/26/20

Now that governments are “reopening the economy,” we think that things will go back to normal. This will not happen. Even if businesses open, the volume of activity will not return to what it was prior to the lockdown since people understand that many of the things they thought they needed were actually redundant. Governments may give incentives to individuals and businesses to reignite consumerism, but many people are losing the pleasure in shopping.

Now governments need to mobilize business owners whose businesses will not be sustainable after the lockdown. Instead of their businesses, governments need to “occupy” them in learning how to correct society and make it more connected. During the training, they will receive a livable allowance, and eventually they too will become teachers. The ultimate goal of governments should be to create sustainable societies whose people provide for everyone’s staples while individuals occupy themselves mainly in strengthening social solidarity.

We are moving from a paradigm of measuring success in terms of wealth, to measuring it in terms of happiness and satisfaction, and these will come from social cohesion, not from money. The faster we transition, the easier and more pleasant it will be on all of us.

[Pedestrians wearing masks walk past shuttered businesses on Broadway as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in the Manhattan borough of New York City, U.S., April 25, 2020. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson]

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Medium published my new article “Baby Steps to Love.”

With all the talk about the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and other relief packages in the U.S. and other countries, you could think that the vanishing of COVID-19 is just around the corner. It is not. It will be with us for a long time coming. Temporary relief packages that are not accompanied by nationwide job restructuring programs are as good as throwing that money down the drain.

Just look at what the National Institute of Health (NIH) writes: “There are hundreds of coronaviruses, most of which circulate among such animals as pigs, camels, bats and cats. Sometimes those viruses jump to humans — called a spillover event — and can cause disease.” Such spillovers caused the SARS epidemic in 2002, the MERS epidemic in 2012, and now the second SARS epidemic, known as SARS-CoV-2, which causes Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). That last one has become a pandemic, paralyzed the world, crushed the world economy, made tens of millions of people unemployed literally overnight, and is still wreaking havoc all over the world. Worse yet, we have not found a vaccine to even one of the strains of coronavirus.

Yet, a vaccine isn’t the only way to deal with the virus. In fact, it is the least efficient since, as it happens nearly every year with the flu, new strains of the virus are appearing all the time, and it is likely that a vaccine will not be effective against all of them.

It is no accident that spillovers from animals are happening so frequently in recent years, as we have cultivated a mindset of exploitation of human resources and natural resources that has become so invasive that it is ravaging the planet and destroying society. Now it is finally backfiring against the perpetrators of these wrongs: humanity, and Western society in particular.

Therefore, we need a deeper transformation. Eliminating COVID-19 is like blocking the flow of sewer out of one hole in one place only to find it is flowing out of another. We need to stop the flow altogether, the flow that is caused by our behavior. And the only way to permanently change our behavior is to change ourselves. However you look at it, the root cause will always be human behavior, and human behavior can be changed only by changing humans.

As long as we continue to cultivate a culture of ruthlessness, alienation, and destructive competition, we will end up losing. We will lose to nature as we are losing now, and we will lose to our own nature as we are seeing in today’s skyrocketing violence, suicide rates, and substance abuse mortality. We are competing ourselves to death, very literally.

The coronavirus is a force of nature, but we can decide whether to take it toward the positive or negative direction. It has set us apart, deprived us of our favorite occupation of hurting one another. In separating us, it has shown us that our connections are the problem. If we transform our connections from abusive to supportive, we will find that we are treating not only each other in this way, but all of reality. In return, reality will transform its attitude toward us and the world will become a welcoming home once more.

The hiatus from the rat race of consumerism that was destroying the world is our chance to block it before it drives us off the cliff. It is an opportunity to reeducate ourselves on life, on the things it has to offer, such as love, friendship (real, not the social media kind), and mutual responsibility. We should use this time to cultivate new jobs and occupations, ones that strengthen our society and not divide it. In today’s job market, there is no justification for ruthless capitalism and senseless competition. Only those who dedicate their time to others will find success in what they do.

The mind of a caring person is infinitely more open than the mind of one who sees nothing but his or her own interest. Caring for others is a chance to learn, experience what others’ lives are like, feel what we did not know exist, and do it in the baby steps that the virus is allowing us to take, one video chat at a time. When we are ready for more contact, the virus will leave and let us meet in person, this time with all the good intentions.
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Medium published my new article “What Nature Wants From Us”

It may feel like an eternity, but in a matter of a few weeks the entire world has changed dramatically, awakening existential questions and soul searching in us. What have we done for nature to unleash upon us this COVID-19 virus that has paralyzed the planet? Is there something I personally can do to end this hardship, beyond wearing a mask? Let’s take a moment out of our now less-busy lives to consider our situation. What we will discover is that we have been given this breather precisely for such contemplation.

I live in this world and make an impact on all that happens. I influence my immediate surroundings every single moment, but I also impact the distant environment. Each of us creates changes in the entire system of nature since the system is global, integral, and spherical. It is a system, connected in all its parts and moving toward comprehensive balance. When we disrupt its equilibrium, the imbalance manifests in all kinds of phenomena such as the current pandemic. In a sense, it could be said that everything we come up against from nature is actually the reaction of the system to our good or bad influences on it.

How can I relate this to myself, sitting at home with no idea what will become of my work, my children, my future? How can my personal life sway the system? Each day that passes never returns, so before falling asleep it is worthwhile to take stock of how my day went, what I did, did I hurt anyone? Did my actions and thoughts contribute to harmony or to the contrary? I should keep a daily accounting of my life.

When, God forbid, we are hit by a serious illness or loss, thoughts and soul searching about what is happening in life come to the surface and we ask, why me? Today, this blow of the coronavirus has fallen on all of us — regardless of status, origin, or the balance in the bank — and has activated our collective soul searching.

Redeeming the Planet

Nature seems to be telling us now that the best thing for us is to stay at home without approaching anyone until we understand how to interact properly. We are being forced to look at the life we have built for ourselves, the kind of world we have created; the ways we relate to each other, our mutual lack of consideration; how we have destroyed the planet, in complete opposition to the integral system of nature where every part responds to the wellbeing of the whole, and because of such wrecking, how the earth is responding in self-defense.

Nature is demanding that humanity achieves complete integration, to feel and perceive the collective. Why? Because in such a state we become similar in form to nature itself, and this is exactly the compatibility we need in order to perfectly harmonize with the system. In fact, this is the next level in the evolution of humankind. Whether we are aware of it or not, nature will not wait for us and will force us to be considerate of one another. Everyone would have been glad to forgo this coronavirus era, but this option is not on the table.

Therefore, the key question in our personal soul searching should be: Do I understand that I must develop love for all within me in order to fix the global system’s breakage? Without each of us developing this sense of personal responsibility and love inside, it is impossible to start to care properly for each and every one and attain the collective cohesion we need.

Obviously, each of us personally cannot love eight billion people, the entire world’s population, or even the inhabitants of our own country. Sometimes, we can hardly get along with our own family members. That is clear, natural and understandable, but it doesn’t mean that I can’t request it. Each of us needs to request to be given the power of love. From whom? From nature, the supreme power that unites all of reality into one. And why are things organized in such a way? In order for us to address this supreme power consciously, learn to know it, to exert our free will and demand to be connected as one bundle, with mutual love. Then we will attain complete harmony with nature.
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Question: What is the human immune system from the point of view of Kabbalah and what is its role? Why, according to scientists, can only the immune system defeat the virus? Do you personally do something to boost your immune system?

Answer: Only good thoughts can boost the immune system. When you care about the entire humanity rather than yourself, you develop immunity against all viruses.

Question: Where does this formula come from?

Answer: From Kabbalah.
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From KabTV’s “The Coronavirus Is Changing The Reality,” 3/26/20

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Question: The actor and musician Arkady Dukhin spoke on IAC television and said: “We actors were remote, at a huge distance. Now, if we get closer than two meters, something new will happen, new music, new art will appear, we will feel some kind of breakthrough in life.”

Why does the upper force of nature get turned on and give a new impulse that people have begun to talk about now, about feeling the difference depending on distance?

Answer: The corona virus reveals to us how we are treating each other. “You do not love each other? Do not come close, otherwise you will feel bad.”

This is a manifestation of our egoism in a sharper form. The word “virus” comes from the word “avera,” that is, a violation of the good connection between people. This is what a virus is.

I hope that people will begin to understand how to restore our connection, and then the virus will turn into something good. There is nothing evil in the world, it all depends on the way we apply it. It is similar to, let us say, atomic or any other energy that has its pros and cons, which, in principle, are equivalent in their possibilities of being applied.

When we correct ourselves to the extent that this virus turns into a positive property, we will see that with its help we can become so close to each other and that a feeling of the upper world will arise between us, meaning the next state in which we can already exist outside the body. In principle, this is the hint the virus gives us.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 3/22/20

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From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 4/25/20

The world is an integral whole, and humanity will come to realize it whether or not we are willing to acknowledge it. The coronavirus is helping us see that we are all in one boat. Yesterday, we were in a god-eat-dog mode; today we are all dependent on our neighbors’ good will because if they don’t keep their distance, I might catch the bug. The coronavirus is our common enemy, and we have to be considerate in order to defeat it.

But the virus isn’t our real enemy; it’s a byproduct of an enemy we have inside, who is so sophisticated that we don’t even know he is our enemy. Our own ego struggles each day to prove to us that we are better and more entitled than others. But it does the same to everyone else, setting us off against each other in an endless war that no one wins, and everyone loses: we, humanity, and the world. Only if we act in unison we will be able to beat it, through our common resolve and determination to change ourselves. When the virus made us change our behavior and shelter in place, it proved that when circumstances require, we can unite. COVID-19 demonstrated that we can act as one and change even our own nature, if we only choose to do it. The world is an integral whole, and humanity will realize it, but it is our choice to take the hint that nature has given us, or wait for a more painful indication.

[Photo by Louis Maniquet on Unsplash]

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Question: How can we explain, from the point of view of the connection of spiritual roots with material branches, why the main remedy against the coronavirus is washing hands?

Answer: The virus manifests itself in our weakest point. However, this is not about dirty hands covered with material dirt but about vessels of reception, which hands symbolize.

We get our hands dirty all the time by the fact that we want to grab more for ourselves. Because the coronavirus is transmitted mainly through dirty hands, saliva, and air it directly affects our organs of reception.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson for Women “Questions and Answers,” 4/4/20

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