Entries in the 'Israel' Category

New Life 713 – The Seder And The Birth Of The People Of Israel

New Life 713 – The Seder And The Birth Of The People Of Israel
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Yael Leshed-Harel

How is our situation today as a people analogous to the situation of the children of Israel in the story of the Exodus from Egypt? From what must we be freed to become free people and why does the Passover holiday symbolize the birth of the people of Israel?

The night of the Seder symbolizes the birth of the people of Israel, the exit from the womb that became tight and oppressive. Even today we are living in a world full of pressures that they say will advance us toward our birth into a new world. The night of the Seder is like a family game, like a theater, and it connects us as a people. On the night of the Seder we go through everything that had been said to Abraham in the “Brit Bein HaBatrim” (Covenant Between the Pieces) (Genesis 15:7-21). Abraham wanted to know what would bring humanity to connection and love, and the Creator answered him with the exile in Egypt.

Egypt symbolizes capitalistic development, prosperity, and their problems. Like today, there is material abundance in our world, but without spiritual satisfaction. Therefore the disorder of depression has developed followed by the manufacture of sedatives.

The Torah tells about what seem to be an external situations to explain internal situations. So that we will decide that we want to escape from Egypt, ten plagues for our ego are required because the ego is what prevents us from being connected and feeling that we are one people rather than there being unfounded hatred and division. The destruction of the Beit HaMikdash (Temple) was the result of unfounded hatred, before we arose as a nation. In the meantime, we are an ingathering of exiles. Only connection and love between us can transform us into a people because the Light specifically comes out of the darkness.
[181942]
From KabTV’s “New Life 713 – The Seder And The Birth Of The People Of Israel,” 4/12/16

icon for podpress Video: Play Now | Download
icon for podpress Audio: Play Now | Download

Ynet: “It Seems Like Modern Blood Libel”


Published in my weekly column in Ynet: “It Seems Like Modern Blood Libel.”

The difficult history of the people of Israel has not made us experts in treating the disease of anti-Semitism. Now that the danger is in the doorway but still have the option for action, we must carry out preventative treatment. Rav Dr. Michael Laitman decodes the mechanism that is hidden behind the phenomenon of anti-Semitism of the leaders and politicians against the nation of Israel and challenges us with social experiments to neutralize the hatred against us.

Currently Channel 10 News is airing a documentary series that reveals the scale of the boycott against Israel (BDS) in the academic institutions of the United States. Therefore, it is no longer just the EU or the Swedish Foreign Minister. The venom and hatred against Israel also has permeated the citizens of our best friend, the United States of America. More and more statesmen, political leaders, academics, and key figures in many areas freely and openly express hostile and uncompromising hostility toward Israel.

Leading Experts – Result, None

In order to deal with the wave of virulent hatred, Israel has enlisted a front of information ministers, business executives, and representatives from around the world and has launched high budget Internet campaigns.

However, despite the significant allocation of resources, Israel’s image has not improved and the problem persists. Unfortunately, anti-Semitism is mounting, world public opinion has surrendered to an anti-Israeli perception, and racism against us is intensifying.

(Venom and hatred against Israel have penetrated everywhere) (Photo: citizenside.com)

Anti-Semitism has been our inheritance for years and has never had a logical explanation. The worldwide impression is backed by a strong inner feeling that Israel and the Jews are to blame for all of the troubles and crises in the world. It seems that the urge to condemn Israel, to annihilate and eliminate it, lies in the subconscious of the nations of the world, and in recent times erupts from the mouths of senior officials.

What do they want from us?

Henry Ford, one of the biggest anti-Semites, published a series of booklets entitled, “The International Jew.” Among other things, he wrote, “The Jew has been too long accustomed to think of himself as exclusively the claimant on the humanitarianism of society; society has a large claim against him that he cease his exclusiveness, that he cease exploiting the world, that he cease making Jewish groups the end and all of his gains, and that he begin to fulfill, in a sense his exclusiveness has never yet enabled him to fulfill, the ancient prophecy that through him all the nations of the earth should be blessed.” Ford is one example among many.

According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, there is no reason to be surprised. The age-old hatred of Israel is rooted naturally in every person (1). Moreover, there is a direct connection between the hatred of Israel and the system of relationships among the people of Israel. The source for this has its origin somewhere around 3,500 years ago when we agreed to walk in the footsteps of a Babylonian priest named Abraham. Abraham taught the Babylonians how to hold unity as the highest value despite the divisive ego that leads the people to mutual hatred (2).

Against the force that separates, a force that connects is available. Its function is to link the various parts, connect them, and bring unity. The people of Israel are the first who must realize this process. The connection must begin here between us because we are the initiators of the method of connection called the wisdom of Kabbalah (3). The moment we unite, a positive force will spread through the world that is capable of creating wonders (4).

Uniting Against The Anti-Semitism Within Us

At the foot of Mount Sinai, Israel contended with an additional dilemma when an unequivocal choice was placed before them: mutual responsibility or unfounded hatred, all or nothing. With Titanic effort, they conquered the mountain of hatred and connected “as one heart.” From there, the way to the land of Israel—the building of the Temple, and prosperity—was short until the poison of unfounded hatred swept the people, the Temple was destroyed, and we went into exile (5).

Two thousand years have gone by since then, and even though we have returned to the land, we still behave in it as if we were in exile. Divided tribes and communities alienate each other, engage in self-glorification instead of building commonality, emphasizing and sanctifying difference instead of building what unites, and we actually are detached from our spiritual roots (6). The world expects us to be “a Light of nations” (Isaiah 49:6), providing a good example of a model society in which everyone lives in connection and brotherly love above all differences (7).

Waves of modern anti-Semitism have visited us. They must be used as a reminder to us of the role imposed upon the Jews to make the world unite “as one man with one heart.”

According to Kabbalah, anti-Semitism is a law of nature that can be measured. Let’s challenge ourselves and arrange a nationwide experimental study, a practical tool by means of which we examine on our own flesh the immensity of the power of connection. For a limited time, we will try to create and adopt a warm, sympathetic, and connected social atmosphere in the relationships between us, above the cold feelings, above the alienation and indifference between us, and we will see how a change in attitudes toward others leads to a significant reduction in the hatred toward us (and improves political relations, productive and friendly attitudes toward us in the world) (8).

References:

1. “It is a fact that Israel is hated by all the nations, whether for religious  racial, capitalist, communist, or for cosmopolitan reasons, etc. It is so because the hatred precedes all reasons, but each merely resolves its loathing according to its own psychology.” Rav Yehudah Ashlag (Baal HaSulam). The Writings of the Last Generation, Part One, Section Nine.

2. “There has never been kindness as it was found with Abraham…and he brought peace between a person and his fellow, for he was the father of many nations, for this is the one who unites and makes peace between all creatures.” Gevurot HaShem, Chapter 6.

3. “Also, it is upon the Israeli nation to qualify itself and all the people of the world to develop until they take upon themselves that sublime work of the love of others, which is the ladder to the purpose of Creation, which is Dvekut with Him.” Rav Yehudah Ashlag (Baal HaSulam), “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee),” section 20.

4. “Through the people of Israel, who are more prepared than all the other peoples to approach the Creator, abundance will be bestowed upon the rest of the peoples.” Rav Baruch Shalom HaLevi Ashlag (Rabash), Letters, “Letter 18.”

5. “The house was ruined because of unfounded hatred. Their hearts divided and they were parted and were unfit for a Temple that is the unification of Israel” Rabbi Israel Segal, Netzah Israel, Chapter 4. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-laitman/when-we-are-united-isis-i_b_8717558.html

6. “It is a shame to admit that one of the most precious merits we have lost during the exile, and the most important of them, is the loss of the awareness of the nationality, meaning that natural feeling that connects and sustains each and every nation. The threads of love that connect the nation, which are so natural and primitive in all the nations, have become degenerated and detached from our hearts, and they are gone.” Rav Yehudah Ashlag (Baal HaSulam), The Nation.

7. “Israel brings Light to the world as it is said, (Isaiah 60:3) ‘And nations shall walk at thy light’” Midrash Rabbah, Shir HaShirim, Section 4, Verse 2.

8. “When Israel will be elevated according to its true inner quality, giving the whole world a new and corrected form, then not only Israel will be elevated but the entire world. Then will begin a new era in which there is no mixture of evil filth; wickedness and insurgency will not work against it at all, anger and sadness cannot dominate within it, and worry about the balance of the world will not be able to arise in the heart. Then brute force will be essentially eliminated and the sword will lose its major importance and will become a complete disgrace.” Rav Raiah Kook, Ein Aya, Shabbat 2, Jerusalem 5660, pages 98-99.

9. Ford, H. (1949). The International Jew: the World’s Foremost Problem. Library of Alexandria. Pp. 51-52.
[181702]
From Ynet, 4/13/16

New Life 714 – Seder Customs

New Life 714 – Seder Customs
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Yael Leshed-Harel

What do the customs and symbols of the Seder stand for? How are they related to the developmental process we have to undergo as a nation? What is the exodus from exile to redemption that we should reach?

The Seder symbolizes the summary of the Egyptian bondage, the enslavement to the ego, to capitalism, to the endless chase. People don’t want to get married and to have children any more, which indicates that humanity has reached a dead end and we need a new way of life.

What do the symbols and the Seder customs stand for?

The Passover Seder plate contains the symbols of the states we went through in Egypt and that we have to undergo on the day we are liberated. The four glasses of wine symbolize the ego that develops in four phases, where the wine represents the Light of Hochma. The glass for Elijah symbolizes the force that brings us to love and connection, the peak of our development.

The verse we read in the Haggadah, “pour out Your wrath on the nations that did know You,” refers to the egoistic forces in us, that a man is a small world. The Afikomen, which must be eaten until midnight, symbolizes the upper force that corrects us that appears at the darkest moment.

As long as we think that improving our bank account is our redemption, we are not headed in the right direction at all, and so we are still in exile. We will be redeemed when we feel that we lack love and connection and we have to work in order to attain it. Instead of criticizing one another, we have to criticize ourselves, and to examine where we stand with regard to the rule love thy friend as thyself. So on the Seder eve we should think about the exodus from unfounded hatred and disrespect of others to connection and brotherly love.
[182092]
From KabTV’s “New Life 714 – The Seder Customs,” 4/12/16

icon for podpress Video: Play Now | Download
icon for podpress Audio: Play Now | Download

Jews Are To Blame For Anti-Semitism

laitman_547_06In the News (polosa.co.il): “According to a study conducted by the French Fund for Judaism, 6 out of 10 French people believe that the Jews are to blame for anti-Semitism. Within a few days, [the French Fund for Judaism] surveyed more than a thousand Frenchmen as to whether they believe that Jews are at least partially responsible for the anti-Semitism in France.

“An affirmative answer to this question is 59%, with 3% expressed confidence that on the Jews is a ‘very large share of’ responsibility, and 14% said their share was ‘substantial.’ More than half of respondents said that the Jews have a lot of power, and that they are richer than the French average. 13% admitted that, in their opinion, France has too many Jews, even though according to statistics the number of the Jewish community is only 1% of the population.”

My Comment: The anti-Semites are right: the Jews are to blame for the hatred against them. The hatred of Jews is both natural and real, and exists in places where there aren’t even any Jews and in places where they don’t even know what a Jew is.

This is because the hatred toward them stems from nature itself, from the Creator, because in relation to the Creator, the Jews who aren’t corrected, are in opposition to Him.

If they would change and reach the opposite state, i.e., bestowal, connection, and love between themselves and toward others, then in accordance, the hatred of the Creator would immediately turn into love for them. This is mentioned many times in the Torah.
[178906]

Related Material:
Anti-Semitism Has Provoked Emigration From The EU
Mistaken Concern At The European Jewish Congress
An Unpaid Bill

New Life 565 – Jerusalem: The Capital Of Love

New Life 565 – Jerusalem: The Capital Of Love
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Nitzah Mazoz

The religions are constantly bickering and arguing about who is right and which is the true religion. The religious wars that we have seen throughout history stemmed from this.

At first, Abraham taught them all to “Love thy neighbor as thyself,” and that is how he brought different people to the discovery of the Creator. As the ego grew, love for others was destroyed and the feeling of the Creator disappeared. As a result of the destruction of love for others, Jerusalem was destroyed and we went into exile and the revelation of the Creator was lost to us.

The people of Israel were left only with physical actions, Mitzvot (commandments). Instead of the wisdom of Kabbalah, Judaism developed. And then the city of Jerusalem and the stones in it were made holy, instead of love for others.

What is in Jerusalem today is Klipa (a shell) and not Kedusha (Holiness), hatred instead of love. When we return to using the Torah correctly and demand love to dwell among us, then Jerusalem will be rebuilt. And then there will be a new religion for all people, the religion of love, the wisdom of Kabbalah and the revelation of the Creator.

The way to peace in Jerusalem is through building connections of love between us. From us this will extend to the whole world. If we make peace between us, peace will come to all people, but it is up to us to be the first.

Why doesn’t the world recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel? It is because it is torn apart by mutual hatred. In fact we have not yet established the land of Israel and Jerusalem. The land of Israel (Eretz Yisrael) is the desire for love (Ratzon Le Ahavah), and we have yet to reach this.

Next year in Jerusalem: Today there is not one corrected brick from which it is possible to build a holy city. In the future, the whole world will become the “Land of Israel,” when the sovereign will be the upper force, the power of love; the whole world will be a desire for love, the Land of Israel.
[159118]
From KabTV’s “New Life 565 – Jerusalem: The Capital Of Love,” 5/7/15

icon for podpress Video: Play Now | Download
icon for podpress Audio: Play Now | Download

New Life 544 – Jewish Culture: The Passover Haggadah

New Life 544 – Jewish Culture: The Passover Haggadah
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Yael Leshed-Harel

“What makes this night different?” Tonight we feel free. We were slaves and now are free…

We were slaves: we were enslaved to Pharaoh and couldn’t escape by ourselves. Today we are also enslaved to our ego, the evil inclination that divides us and sparks disputes between us and doesn’t let us be. How can we be liberated? We have to decide at the Seder table that we will no longer relate to this egoistic form.

The Torah spoke about four sons: the wise one who is clever, the wicked one who doesn’t want to engage in connection, the simple one who doesn’t understand anything, and the one who doesn’t know how to ask and realizes that there is something sublime about connection but for the time being we cannot digest it.

This is what stood by our fathers and us: if we wish to ascend above our ego, we will be rewarded with a force that will help us, the connecting force.

And the Lord saves us: the Creator turns Iran and everyone against us so that we will rise above our ego. If we build corrected relationships between us, the attitude of Iran and the rest of the world immediately will change for the better.

The Egyptians treated us badly; after the material abundance comes a feeling of emptiness and pain so that we will ascend.

The Lord took us out of Egypt: there is an upper force that can bring love among us right now if we only want it. We want to aim at the right place, not at good food, but at love that will reside among us.

With a strong hand: you tear yourself from your bad attitude to others and switch to a good attitude to others.

The Lord himself: just as He created us with an evil inclination, He will also build the good inclination in us. Who is the Lord? The force of love and bestowal, the force of unity, connection, mutual guarantee, and cooperation.

The ten plagues are ten disconnections from the negative attitude towards others and the switch to a positive attitude.

The slaying of the first born: why did God kill the babies in Egypt? It refers to our ego, that should not grow anymore. We must not allow any negative attitude toward others to grow in us; we must immediately kill it.

It would have sufficed us: we can attain everything if we only have good relations between us, we don’t need anything else. It would have sufficed us, the warmth between us at the Seder table, the force of connection and love, we want it to be among the whole nation of Israel. It is with the help of this force that we can solve all our problems, get rid of all the troubles and really flourish.

Next year in Jerusalem: A new world will be built from the force of love that we have created among us.

One, who knows (what it stands for): we begin to know the upper force from the connections of love, the one force.
[156825]
From KabTV’s “New Life 544 – Jewish Culture: The Passover Haggadah,” 3/31/15

icon for podpress Video: Play Now | Download
icon for podpress Audio: Play Now | Download

New Life 541 – Jewish Culture: The Ten Plagues In Our Day

New Life 541 – Jewish Culture: The Ten Plagues In Our Day
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Tal Mandelbaum ben Moshe

What is the Torah really telling us, what is revealed to us through the ten plagues, and by means of the proper education how can we build a balanced world so we can live in peace and tranquility?

The Torah is not talking about things that happen in this material world, but the upper world. Every person must realize all the stories of the Torah by himself, and within himself: Adam, the period of the flood, the Exodus from Egypt, and so on.

Every person must write a Torah scroll for himself, meaning he must correct his characteristics according to the letters in the Torah.

We were created with an egoistic nature; we only do things for our own benefit. Our goal must be transcendence to love. To correct ourselves, either through blows or through awareness, we must feel that the ego is detrimental to us.

Pharaoh symbolizes the ego in a person; it doesn’t let us be considerate to others or develop love for others. So Pharaoh, the ego in us, must receive blows. Today all of humanity is in a state of “Egypt.”

The 10 plagues led the children of Israel toward breaking away from the ego that is divided into 10 parts. An example of a plague: The world is full of abundance today, but as a result of bad relationships, half of the world is starving while the other half throws large quantities of food into the garbage.

The rampant ego is the cause of the high cost of living, housing and retirement problems. In addition, nature assaults us mercilessly. The education of children, divorces, drugs, murder, violence, and terrorism—it is up to us to recognize that all of this is derived from the ego.

The situation in the world necessitates publicizing the method for correction, the method for connection above the ego, how to remedy the situation, and that there is a cure. In addition, through connection we can rise to a new, eternal, and whole dimension of existence. And the Haggadah of Pesach (Passover Haggadah) tells us about this, about freedom from the angel of death, freedom from the ego.
[156598]
From KabTV’s “New Life 541 – Jewish Culture: The Ten Plagues In Our Day,” 3/26/15

icon for podpress Video: Play Now | Download
icon for podpress Audio: Play Now | Download

New Life 539 – Jewish Culture: Between Chametz (Leavened Food) And Matzah

New Life 539 – Jewish Culture: Between Chametz (Leavened Food) And Matzah
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Yael Leshed-Harel

What important phases in our lives do Chametz and the Matzah symbolize? What is the meaning of the burning of the Chametz and why don’t we use a strong light when we search for it at home?

Matzah symbolizes our detachment from our egoistic desires so it is called the bread of affliction. Pesach (Passover) symbolizes the state in which we break away from our ego and operate as much as we can in love and bestowal.

The term “ego” does not refer to personal pleasures but to the enjoyment of hating others, using others and taking advantage of them. We have to treat others nicely. First, we will not feel any taste in it, just like the Matzah, but later it will grow and expand.

Leavened bread, Matzah, and Chametz are like kids who enjoy irritating others, for example, and then learn to restrain themselves and become loving and giving.

This is the way the world is today: it is under the domination of Pharaoh, under the domination of the ego, and so people need tranquilizers, drugs, and alcohol. The phase of restraint results from the recognition of evil when we all realize that the ego is destroying us. Eating Chametz after Pesach symbolizes a new world, connections of love and bestowal and the revelation of the upper world.

The burning of the Chametz symbolizes the elimination of the ego inside me, when I don’t agree to suppress others and dominate them. We search for the Chametz by the light of a candle since we have no more than a slight illumination that signals that the ego is bad and awful. The selling of the Chametz symbolizes that I am getting rid of the ego in order to exit it, and then I bring it back in order to correct it.
[156406]
From KabTV’s “New Life 539 – Jewish Culture: Between Chametz (Leavened Food) And Matza,” 3/24/15

icon for podpress Video: Play Now | Download
icon for podpress Audio: Play Now | Download

Jewish Newspaper’s Anti-Semitic Activity

laitman_561Question: Today Israel is fighting against BDS, a boycott declared on it by other nations. Simultaneously, the newspaper Haaretz has organized a campaign urging Jewish Americans to stop supporting us because Israel sent Danny Danon as ambassador to the UN who allegedly is an emissary of Apartheid. How do you relate to the activities of the Haaretz?

Answer: From the point of view of Kabbalah, their actions are perfectly natural for Jews. An “uncorrected” Jew hates his Jewishness and does not want to be a Jew. He constantly carries out an internal scrutiny about how to avoid it.

After all, he consists of two opposite characteristics: an enormous egoistic heart, which is called “desire,” and a small point in the heart, which is the beginning of the existence of a truly spiritual, altruistic attribute. This was built in us since the days of ancient Babylon where 3,500 years ago under the leadership of Abraham we attained contact with the upper force, the Upper Light.

The spiritual point will not let us rest, and a person feels great contradictions and oppositions within himself. So, many anti-Semites involved in all the actions against Israel are Jews, who want to suppress this point.

It does not allow them to live. And only if a person understands this and begins to develop the point in the heart within the power of desire, it gradually raises to the level of the Creator, and it returns to being above this world, above everything.

Therefore, it is completely natural that each of us has a potential true anti-Semite inside us that is incomparable to the anti-Semites of the world.

Among the Jews, there is a sharp anti-Semitism that appears in the contrast between the egoistic and altruistic desires. Therefore, it is no wonder that when people like the members of the editorial board of Haaretz or members of the leftist parties gather together a wave of hatred is ignited in them.

But, on the other hand, I still hope that it will be possible to approach them and explain how the outcome of their special relationship to the State, to the people, and that their way is absolutely dead-end, because it does not bear correction,
In this way there is no way to combine the two desires: a great little egoistic and altruistic.

On the other hand, I still hope that it will be possible to approach them and explain where they get their unique relationship to the nation and the people and that it is a dead end because it doesn’t bring any correction with it. According to their way, it is impossible to connect the two desires: the enormous egoistic desire and the small altruistic desire. This must be done so that the altruistic desire would begin to conduct a higher energy, Light and love, according to the enormous egoistic desire. Then, these two desires would transform into a single, complete desire, and this state is called a soul.

There is nowhere to escape from this because our lives exist only to make one more step toward the creation of a common soul. In the future, the present time also will become the ancient history of humanity, but it is up to us to take a step forward, struggling for the soul of our distant descendants so that in the following incarnations we will not be sorry that we didn’t prepare the future state. So, let us join together to begin to carry out the true work of the Jewish people within us, and after that, we also will work with all of humanity.
[180855]
From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 3/30/16

Related Material:
Jewish Anti-Semitism, Part 1: Our Own Hangmen
Soros Is Not Our Brother
You Won’t Be Able To Hide

New Life 538 – Jewish Culture: Pharaoh Among Us

New Life 538 – Jewish Culture: Pharaoh Among Us
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Tal Mandelbaum ben Moshe

Pharaoh, the power of the ego, controls us even today. So in Israel there is a huge division among people.

The story of the Exodus from Egypt is more relevant today than ever. We left Egypt, we achieved loving relationships, we went through destruction and exile. Today we must once again get out from the control of the ego and sweep the entire world after us to connection and love.

Because there is no connection between us and there is war between us, our neighboring enemies rise up against us on the outside, and so does the world.

When we talk about the “ego,” I mean the desire to exploit, oppress, subjugate, and control others—“Pharaoh.” Pharaoh is considered the king of Egypt because he dominates people, giving orders every moment.

The Passover Seder comes to remind us that in the past our people left Egypt, the ego, and today it is up to us to leave this situation again. We need a general process of social education that will bring us to feel that all of us are one family. The exodus from Egypt is a story about an educational process, the development of consciousness through impulses that move us.

One family means that everyone will relate to others as their children. Only life in a state like this is called living in paradise.
[156347]
From KabTV’s “New Life 538 – Jewish Culture: Pharaoh Among Us,” 3/22/15

icon for podpress Video: Play Now | Download
icon for podpress Audio: Play Now | Download