My article in Newsmax: “Coronavirus and Emergency Economy”

At the moment, governments are trying to inject businesses and businesspeople with financial oxygen until the pandemic passes. But it won’t pass so quickly. In my estimate, we’re looking at 12-18 months before it fades away. But more importantly, when it’s over, people will have changed dramatically; they will not want to revert to the old way of life.

Graffiti in Hong Kong reads: “We can’t return to normal because our normal was the problem in the first place.” How very true. Some business will return, but a great many will not because they were redundant to begin with so resuscitating them is nothing but a waste of taxpayers’ money. Instead of wasting, governments should declare an “emergency economy” and freeze everything until the dust settles. After several months it will be easier to see what to keep and to what we should bid farewell.

So the first thing that governments need to do is make sure that everyone has food and shelter. Every family should get the same per capita, and this will alleviate the need for cash. Guaranteeing food and shelter for each person is much less costly than transferring money to people’s accounts, and guarantees that they will not waste it on unessential needs.

In the meantime, the business and finance sectors should be put on hold: All transactions, lending and paying of loans, everything and everyone should simply take a break.

The more obstinate we are recognizing the onset of the new phase in humanity, the more painfully that phase will impose itself on us. If you think of social changes like a train ride, then the train has left the dock on its way to a new station, and it will not stop until we’re there.

Alleviating the Transition

My intention in writing this article is not to intimidate anyone. On the contrary, I want the necessary transition we all have to undergo to be as smooth, quick and pleasant as possible. Humanity has suffered enough; there’s no need to add unnecessary agony.

To help us alleviate the shift, we should supplement the provision of food and shelter with information about the process unfolding the world over. Many people already feel that nature is rejuvenating quickly since we’ve been told to stay at home. They realize that we have done too much harm and that we cannot go on this way.

Now we should extend this realization to the relationships between us. Our ill-will toward each other has cost us far more pain and ill-health than the coronavirus. Worse yet, it has made us uncaring for each other no less than we are uncaring for nature. When we rear people in a dog-eat-dog mentality, is it a wonder that this is how they also treat nature?

Therefore, the healing must begin with us. Once we learn how dependent we are on each other, we will stop treating one another like enemies. We will realize that by seeing to each other’s well being we will be seeing to our own well being, and nothing teaches us this lesson better than COVID-19.

Our compulsory slowdown is not aimless; it is for us to reflect on our lives and their meaning. Now that consumerism has been stopped by force majeure, we have time to ask why we needed it in the first place, what we gained by it, and who gained from it. Certainly not us.

We are living in the twilight of one era and the dawn of another. It has not risen yet, but if we teach ourselves about it work shoulder-to-shoulder to embrace it, it will rise and shine on a new humanity: ready to welcome the new epoch with open arms that are joined together.
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Medium published my new article “Social Distancing: a Call For a Deeper Level of Connection”

We are in the midst of a very unique time. Humans are social animals, but in the COVID-19 era, the difference between being healthy or sick could be determined by our physical proximity to others. Thus, social distancing is encouraged by the experts to avoid a ripple effect of the virus. But staying away from each other at the corporeal level could also help us to reshape and improve our relations.

How? We can achieve such a goal by nearing our hearts, the ultimate purpose for which the pandemic unfolds.
From non-mandatory stay at home recommendations to imposed quarantines, an unprecedented lockdown is observed across the globe. With a naked eye it would seem as if life is throwing us in all directions mercilessly, imposing new rules on us, leaving us with very little time to grasp the rapid changes and get used to the new reality. So, humanity awaits its defeat impatiently, expecting to overcome the small invisible yet stronger than any flesh and blood enemy that disrupts normal life.

But there is another hidden adversary we have to defeat, which is dangerously moving freely among us. COVID-19 is just a byproduct, a reflection of what happens inside our society. It is not the disease per se. It came to ring a bell and warn us about an even more dangerous pest: the ego that has taken over the world and alienates us. By the ego, we mean the intention for self-benefit at the expense of others’ misfortune.

Getting Separate, Growing Closer

Humanity is in a battle against the coronavirus, but the most important struggle takes place within humanity itself. We are running after the virus and extract revenge over what it says, shooting the messenger. Let the doctors heal, let the scientists research, let the experts fulfil their role and find a vaccination. Even then, neither a vaccine nor social distancing and total lockdowns will defeat the plague, but our new attitude.

We need only accept what the virus is communicating to us. If it is understood, we can all turn and be victorious over ourselves, namely over the hooliganism that we have developed among us: clashes, hatred, friction and intrigue. Any attempt on our behalf to improve our attitudes to each other, to develop relations of mutual consideration and responsibility, will be considered a wonderful triumph.

Building an Internal Bridge Between Us

In this period, we would be wise to take a look at the big picture and not at the small virus. We are integral parts of nature. Therefore, the nearer we become to each other, as we balance negative forces with positive ones, as we bridge the gaps among us, overcoming distances that separate us, we will defeat the separation with the power of connection.

We will then feel that the world is less of a combat arena, and that it has become softer and friendlier. It will not happen in one shot. We will heal slowly. It is like a patient who recovers one day after the next, until becoming strong enough to finally be healthy again.

Connection is our remedy, social cohesion is our healer. If instead of selfish struggles and control over others, we get along among each other and develop relations of mutual responsibility and cooperation, we will certainly be able not only to get over the coronavirus outbreak, but we will also break the walls that separate us.

We will then realize that the only distance is the one between our hearts.
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Question: The Passover holiday symbolizes the exodus from Egypt. Egypt is the personification of our egoism, the consumer perception of the world. Can we say that we are standing on the threshold of the ten plagues of Egypt? Suppose the first of these is coronavirus. Are there any other blows awaiting us?

Answer: I would really like for this to be true. 🙂

Question: Why are you always so happy about the blows?

Answer: Because I look at them as a remedy, not as plagues.

Question: Can you teach us to look at them like that too?

Answer: Start studying Kabbalah and you will see that all blows of fate are aimed only at curing us of egoism. And then we will be able to unite, ascend, begin to see other worlds, the higher ones, while living in this world, and to feel ourselves existing eternally in the vast expanses of the upper world.

Man is destined, as they say, for the Garden of Eden. You need to understand what it is to see this world while living in our world.

I hope that all of these viruses are the last ones. And although there will be more and more of them, they are more and more clearly aimed at changing a person.

Question: Do You think that further blows await us?

Answer: It all depends on us. If we do not learn from the first virus, there will be a second, a third, like the ten plagues of Egypt when leaving Egypt.
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From KabTV’s “Coronavirus Changes Reality” 3/19/20

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Nature is showing us through the coronavirus that if we move away from others with our egoism, then we have no right to be close to them physically. If we want to be connected, we must first establish an internal connection, and relate to each other correctly and kindly.

To the extent that one wishes everyone well, he can come close to them. And if he has no desire to love and help another, then he can not come close to him. Let the person see how his selfishness alienates him.

Everything is so simple: the properties of the upper world are already emerging in our world, and we must use this to educate ourselves, to know when to approach or to move away. Imagine how good it would be if we kept the right distance, approaching or moving away from people according to our inner attitude.

You and I can be in two different galaxies separated by many light-years, and at the same time, we will have a feeling that we are connected and will certainly come closer in the future because the Creator between us is awakening us to this. Then we would search, each from our own galaxy, how to get closer to each other despite the distances, how to express our love and to nullify ourselves.

Thus, we would gradually come closer and unite in one Partzuf in which the Creator is revealed in all His might, that is, in eternal and perfect love between us. We would merge with our hearts and desires and discover that the Creator is fulfilling us. This is the end of the correction.

But first, we need to discover how different we are. And this is exactly what the coronavirus is doing. There will be other ways that will make us feel the distance between each other, and we will finally realize that the virus is connected to our desire, to our internal property, and that I cannot get closer to another individual because this is how it works.

I do not want closeness with another person, that is why I cannot physically approach him! It turns out that our world begins to take the form of the spiritual world.

Imagine that we are all suspended in a vacuum, and to the extent that we want to become kinder and closer to each other, we get closer. And if we treat each other badly, then we move away. That is, everything is determined not by the physical distances in this world, but by our internal, spiritual properties. This is exactly what is happening in the world, and now we can reflect upon how to change ourselves.

This has always been hidden and confusing for us, and now everything is revealed. I want to be closer to others because in this way I can reveal the Creator and the higher world, which manifests itself only in the connection between us. But to get closer, it is not enough to take a few steps without changing yourself from within.

First, I need to change myself, change my attitude toward others from hatred to love, and only then can I get closer to them. We draw closer or move away according to our intentions, our attitude. Everything becomes clear and understandable, and all spiritual work is done openly.

Therefore, I ask my friends: pull me toward you, let’s turn to the Creator together so that He would help us! And so we work, but as if suspended in the air so far. We communicate with each other and with the Creator, ask for help, begin to move toward each other as if floating in zero gravity, until we unite and reveal the property called the Creator between us.

This is all already in our hands. We now have the opportunity to work in the corporeal world but with spiritual properties. Imagine what the coronavirus has done!
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From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/7/20,

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Question: You say that if we begin to take others into our consideration, take their desires into account, then this will neutralize the virus?

Answer: No, I don’t suggest you do it now because you cannot get rid of your selfish intentions. You would apply, as it seems to you, a different, supposedly unselfish attitude toward others, but you cannot get out of egoism in any way, it is your nature.

There is a method of getting out of egoism, rising above it. A special science deals with it, the science of Kabbalah. But this is not given to an ordinary person, this must be learned.

If you are thinking about how to get out of yourself, rise above yourself, and begin to feel a different nature, meaning the upper world, then you need to seriously begin to engage in Kabbalah. Visit our website and take an interest in how it is done.

As soon as we really begin to get closer, not physically, not by selfish attraction for the benefit of our beloved self, but for the benefit of others, outside our own interests and, perhaps, even to our own detriment, then all negative phenomena in our world will immediately disappear because they are the product of our egoistic relationships.
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From KabTV’s “Coronavirus Changes Reality,” 3/19/19

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The whole reality of this world needs to be incorporated in our relations with the upper force of nature. But in today’s reality there are many voids. After all, what is coronavirus?

The virus shows that instead of the connection between us, there are empty areas that need to be filled with the right relationships. And revealing these gaps between us allows us to see that it is impossible to relate through them, because through this corrupted connection we transmit the virus to one another.

The virus revealed huge gaps between us that need to be filled with friendly relations. And if we cannot build such bridges of connection, it is better not to go there at all and sit at home.

The distance between people is desire, and the virus reveals new desires, new qualities, new relationships that need to be established between us. If through this two meter distance from each other we connect in a new way by becoming as one person with one heart, then the Creator will be revealed between us.

The virus shows empty spaces that need to be filled with a good attitude. And then we will achieve a new connection, more similar to the system of Adam HaRishon. All parts of this common system will begin to work together, in unison, in mutual understanding. Instead of imposing on the other what is good for me, I will give him what is good for him.

And then the distance between us will begin disappearing and the world will start connecting precisely through these gaps between us. All parts of reality will unite and form a new, corrected system of Adam HaRishon, within which the Creator will appear, and organize and fulfill our connections. This is not a distance of two meters, but desires filled with the revelation of the upper force.

It will take time to understand this and begin to implement it, but it will happen, and the whole world will talk about it. We just have not yet begun to close these gaps between us with right, good, kind-hearted relationships. But as soon as this happens, the world will immediately see that this is the solution and cure for the coronavirus, that this is a new reality, and that the world should be exactly like this.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 4/7/20

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The coronavirus is a force that awakens humanity to perform a full audit.

Our entire egoistic development, the whole evolution of man from the time when he left the cave, climbed down from the trees, and became different from a monkey happened only inside egoism. And now, for the first time in history, we are changing the course of our evolution.

The egoistic method has exhausted itself; it brought us to Egypt and made us complete slaves of the desire to enjoy. And now, humanity must shift its intention toward bestowal, that is, it must leave Egypt for the land of Israel.

We are now at a turning point before complete transformation. This is a historical moment; for the first time there is a spiritual revolution in humanity. We need to work in order to attract the light that returns to the source (the reforming light) that will change the face of humanity. We must be that group, that instrument that pulls on this thread, thanks to which all of humanity will begin to advance.

There may not be so many of us aspiring to the Creator. But the main thing is to establish the foundation of connection, as it is said: “Open for Me an opening like the tip of a needle, and I will open for you the upper gates.” Nothing more is required. From the side of humanity, it is necessary to open for the Creator in the entire space between us only a tiny hole, like a prick with the end of a needle, and through it all kinds of connections will begin to open and develop, and we will enter the spiritual system of bestowal.

We will not return to the past. The old world is dead; it does not exist! We will come to a new world, and we will be new people. Of course, this will happen not at once but in stages. As it is described in the story of the Exodus from Egypt, many times Moses went to Pharaoh and returned. This is not an easy process, but it has already begun. And it will not stop until the coronavirus turns into a real crown, Keter, and brings us to connection with the Creator in multiple forms on all levels. He will definitely do it.

Therefore, we need to appreciate the time we are in. Humanity is unable to perceive this because it does not consider this process in the scale of the whole of history, from the creation of the world to the end of its development. But we see that everything unfolds as described in the Kabbalistic books.

A hundred years ago, Baal HaSulam wrote that we were entering the days of the Messiah, that is, the time when a huge pulling spiritual force begins to act on and advance us.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 4/3/20

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This year, due to the coronavirus pandemic, we will not be able to hold the Passover Seder with a thousand guests like we have in previous years. I hope this is very similar to the state of the people of Israel when they left Egypt, which was also in darkness and while disconnected from each other.

They understood that they needed to connect, but they still did not find the strength in themselves for this. And we are in the same state and I really hope that because everyone is sitting in their corner, each will feel that an upper force has divided us and crushed us. We are far apart and do not feel each other.

The virus acts to explain to us who we really are so that we can rise above this virus with the help of the upper force. The Creator will unite and correct us, and we will break ahead to the free land, free from our egoistic desire. There we will unite all together with the Creator in one merger: Israel, the Torah and the Creator are one. Let’s hope this happens.

The external world and internal properties are becoming closer to each other: men, women, children—all come out of Egypt. I really hope that we will do it tonight. Prepare yourself internally for the exodus.

And it doesn’t matter what we have on the table, the main thing is in our hearts: how much we want to get out of our egoism, rise above it, and join what we pulled out of Egypt so we will collect our bright soul. I wish you a happy Passover, that is, a great way out of selfishness together.
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From the 2^nd part of the Dily Kabbalah Lesson 4/8/20, Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar”

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New Life 1211 – Coronavirus, A Global Emergency
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Nitzah Mazoz

A small virus is disrupting the entire network of connections that we have built, because they are egoistic connections. The problem is not the coronavirus, but that in spite of all of our abilities, we have not created a good life for all human beings. The egoistic need in a person is insatiable. And integral nature doesn’t agree to this. Therefore, the virus has erupted. Nature is an integral law that connects all of its parts together and doesn’t let any of them dominate. Human relationships determine everything. If we balance them, all the levels of nature will be in balance and our lives will be perfect.
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From KabTV’s “New Life 1211 – Coronavirus, A Global Emergency,” 3/10/20

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Question: Today, great solidarity and mutual guarantee are required in order to understand the situation because people transmit the coronavirus one to another. Moreover, they may not even know they are doing it because they have no symptoms.

How do we reach such solidarity? The government demands this from us, but we are all different, each one has their own principles.

Answer: Very interesting phenomena are appearing in society today, which we did not notice before. We understand that we should stay away from each other, not to sneeze, not to cough, not to talk, and not to approach within two meters of each other. We understand that people have their own free space, and we should be separated in our room or apartment.

All these states, basically, are not very logical and not very natural for our world because we are used to constantly jostling in the subway, trams, buses, we mix in the streets, etc.

And today, if a person sneezes a few meters away from me, I am immediately seized with fear. In general, we see how the state of people has been changed, and it is not imposed by anyone or anything. So, what if you get this virus? In principle, there is nothing to worry about. Are people dying from it? They are. But they die from ordinary flu too.

It turns out that a completely different attitude to this state has appeared, and it is as if it is not dictated by any phenomena in our world. It is just that people have become different. They perceive it as if we are in a state of chemical war.
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From KabTV’s “Coronavirus is changing the Reality,”3/19/20

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