Michael Laitman, on the Times of Israel: “Hostages of Our Division”
Two American hostages, Judith and Natalie Raanan, a mother and her daughter originally from Illinois, who were captured by the Hamas terrorist group during its deadly attack on Israel this month were released last Friday. But still more than 200 hostages who were abducted and taken captive remain in Gaza. While we need to make all possible efforts to bring them back, we should also realize that it is ultimately the connection between us that protects us and will liberate us from peril and suffering.

I pray from the bottom of my heart for the well-being of the hostages and hope we will be able to get each and every person out safely. I send condolences to all the families of the victims and wish a speedy recovery to each of the wounded.

We need to make sure that such horrors will never happen again and look at this war as the last one. We cannot sit quietly and wait to be slaughtered, we need to defend ourselves. At the same time, we should not engage in an endless conflict, but aspire to reach the desirable solution in which we live in permanent peace. However, we will be unable to eradicate war until we first attain peace between ourselves.

It is enough to remember the recent protests and shouts echoing in the Israeli streets and squares right before this war to realize how hatred had filled and clogged our hearts; the demonstrations aimed to cancel the “other side” of our disputes, and this weakened us greatly. While there is no problem in expressing differing positions and getting into disputes, it is imperative to respect each other and always keep in the forefront of our minds that we are one people.

Right now our pain is so overwhelming that our resentments are restrained, but looking back in our history, it is clear that as soon as the external enemies are defeated, our hatred from within will break out once again. And once our separation becomes evident, it plays right into the hands of those wanting to exterminate us, as they perceive us as divided, weak, and vulnerable.

The Jewish people have one particular quality through which we will either rise or fall—it is the potential of becoming “as one man with one heart.” As long as we strive for mutual guarantee, for increasing unity, we evoke a positive force capable of gradually neutralizing hatred and leading us toward a future of peace.

First and foremost as Jews, we must be an example of cohesion, understanding, and mutual solidarity above differences, which will transform us into an enlightening force for the rest of the world. As expressed by Rav Kook, the first Chief Rabbi of Israel, “The genuine movement of the Israeli soul at its grandest is expressed only by its sacred, eternal force, which flows within its spirit. It is that which has made it, is making it, and will make it still a nation that stands as a light unto nations.”

Only our thoughts and actions directed toward unity will free us from war and will lead us to a state of calm and prosperity.
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Michael Laitman, on the Times of Israel: “Would You Sacrifice Yourself to Save Other People?”
Many people now contemplate this question as several stories emerge of self-sacrifice to save others in the current Israel-Hamas war.

For example, on the first day of the war, six surviving friends had told how Cpl. Matan Abergil saved their lives by jumping on them to absorb a grenade’s force that had been thrown into their armored personnel carrier. Also, Tali Hadad, a mother of six, drove back and forth to take 13 wounded people to the emergency medical center in Ofakim while the city was under attack.

What goes through the mind of these people putting their own lives on the line for the sake of others?

It is simply that they are doing the right thing. They view saving others as the good and correct action to take in that moment, and this view gives them the strength to carry it out.

It is impressive because it goes against our survival instinct. We do, however, host an inclination to put our own lives at risk for the sake of others. Instinctively, we are like animals—even though the animal kingdom possesses several examples of self-sacrifice to save other animals—but acts of self-sacrifice to save others show us that we have capabilities beyond our base survival instincts.

We should learn from these acts of bravery that it is simply how we have to relate to each other. Every person hosts such potential. It is the potential to completely devote ourselves for the sake of others. In order to create a society with strong unifying bonds, we need to awaken this potential in our hearts.

One of the problems now in Israel is that stories of bravery and self-sacrifice circulate at a time of emergency, but where is our appreciation of these qualities in our day-to-day lives? In calmer times, we brush over such stories in favor of a more divisive discourse, taking sides against each other.

Since unity above division brought us together as a nation to begin with, then nothing will help us until we realize—at all times—that we are in a constant state of emergency until we achieve, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” We need to reach a state where we constantly uphold positive connections of mutual support, care and love above all of our divisive inclinations. When we do, we will see the world’s conflicts subside as a new, harmonious and peaceful world opens up.
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When thinking about how the catastrophe of October 7, this pogrom, could have happened to the people of Israel, you realize that apparently we ourselves allowed it to happen. After all, there is no unification among us as one nation, we do not strive for unity, we neglect each other, and we do not get closer from year to year. We do not meet the requirements that are necessary to be called the people of Israel.

If we were talking about some other nation, then perhaps this would be a normal state of affairs. But Israel became a nation only after it was united. And if there is no unity, then there is no nation—that is the uniqueness of the people of Israel.

Thousands of years ago we agreed to become the chosen people under special conditions. We must not forget about them because they determine the existence of our people who are obliged to be as one man with one heart and as “all of Israel are friends.” We must strive to become more united with every passing year. But the opposite is happening; year after year, there are only more and more street protests, as if the entire country is engaged in a fight between soccer fans after a match.

Therefore, it is not surprising that disaster befalls us. Before it happened, a massive political dispute broke out in the country and stirred up many emotions and aggression. This was the critical point of the internal split.

We need to rise above all disputes. Even though our opinions differ, we maintain good relations. Disagreement does not hinder our good relationships because we feel close and related, like a family in which there is love. Otherwise, we cannot be considered one nation.

From above, there is a desire to show us that nothing will help us if there are no heartfelt relationships between us, the people of Israel, i.e., when I am close to you and you are close to me and so we are all close to each other.
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From KabTV’s “An Inside Look” 10/15/23

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Question: Why aren’t there two separate states in people, love or hatred, so that a man can work between them, but there is also such a Klipa (impurity) when national love becomes fascism and chauvinism that unites people out of hatred for others. Why does this third form exist?

Answer: This is an extreme form of egoism. People just often confuse it with love for their people.

Question: If you ask your neighbors whether they love their people, they will say: “Of course we do, but in order for us to live happily, we need to destroy our enemies.” Why do people confuse this with love?

Answer: Because if you love someone who is against you, then you are an enemy of your people. And if you hate him and destroy him, then you are a hero for your people.

Question: It turns out that there is some kind of confusion in the world. Why did the Creator not make it so that there were simply two extreme states: hatred and love? Then you could choose.

Answer: People get confused and think that they are in love, although it has nothing to do with love at all. But if love and hatred were separate, then you could not transform hatred into love. It would be just like you tame animals, and they sell themselves to you for food.

Our goal is to transform hatred into love. That is the whole point.

Therefore, the hatred that develops among nations toward other nations must exist. It must be recognized as the wrong hatred and must be transformed into the right awareness of what I hate and what I love.

Question: Is it possible that in the corrected state your neighbors, who are now firing rockets at you, will love you and say: “We love our neighbors”?

Answer: This does not happen right away. This cannot be done in one step. But we know of cases when former mortal enemies became devoted friends.

Question: So, you see that sooner or later this will happen?

Answer: I am sure that this is the way it should be because the more hatred is manifested, the more love will be manifested. We need to explain to people that this is the law of nature.

Question: Should it be a global universal love so that a person can rise above all differences?

Answer: Yes. Ultimately, this will be so because from unity in the ten we come to unity with the Creator. And therefore, we rise above all the forces of nature in unification and love, and all the forces of nature unite within us: both love and hatred.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/14/23, “The Nation”

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Question: One should always see oneself as half guilty and half innocent. Is it the same for Israel and the nations of the world?

Answer: It is for those who advance toward their correction.

Question: How can we prevent the inner part or quality of Israel from sinking lower and lower?

Answer: Raise it higher and higher by uniting with each other, and the connection between us becomes stronger and stronger.
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From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/10/23, Writings of Baal HaSulam “Introduction to The Book of Zohar”

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Demonstrations, party struggles for power, screams in the streets, and hatred that split the nation—this is the situation in Israel on the eve of the war.

We must fight against our disunity. And the problem is not that people belong to different parties, have different opinions, and demonstrate, but that they want to cancel each other, and thus weaken each other. After all, if I argue with someone, I am obliged to respect him to the same extent, and recognize his right for his own opinion, which may be correct.

Now, in wartime, it seems that hatred has disappeared, and the people are united in mutual support. The pain is so strong that we have forgotten about our hatred. But we have not gone far away from the state that was before the war, and a few days may be enough for us to return to it.

While we are united by common pain, we present one front and have put aside our mutual hatred. But it has not gone anywhere. We see wonderful examples of mutual assistance and self-sacrifice, but all this is a consequence of the blow we have received. And as soon as the external threat weakens and moves away, all the hatred will again spill out from within.

After all, everyone remained devoted to their own opinion. Unity means that I am ready to cancel myself in order to unite with the other—and so we are all among ourselves. Meanwhile there is no such unity and mutual guarantee among the people, but there is a state that Baal HaSulam calls “brothers in misfortune.”

We see many examples of how people are now canceling themselves for the common good, and are ready to help each other, donate, and defend the country. But we should not delude ourselves because this is happening under the pressure of a common tragedy, and we cannot transfer this unity to another level in order to continue correct development.

We need to reach absolute zero where there is no external influence obliging us to unite, and from this zero point begin to build our unity, not because an external threat is pressing on us, but because we ourselves decide to live this way in good connection with each other and want to get closer, feel, and love each other. This requires a change of consciousness, and not external pressure.
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From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/17/23, Writings of Baal HaSulam “Exile and Redemption”

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Question: If all people felt like citizens of the world and stopped dividing into nations and countries, would it help stop wars?

Answer: No. We have to do what is entrusted to us.

Despite the fact that we are divided into nations, into individuals by gender and other parameters, we still have to connect with each other in our hearts as one person with one heart.

Only in this case will there be world peace. By the way, we are coming to this. Of course, you may not believe it, but rest assured that we are going to do it anyway. So let’s make a little more effort and find ourselves in a kind, solid, peaceful world.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/12/23, “Reinforcing Ourselves with There Is None Else Besides Him”

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Michael Laitman, on the Times of Israel: “Global Support for Israel: Does it Strengthen or Weaken?”
Indeed, more than 80 countries expressed their support for Israel following the tragic events of the 7th of October, but as to whether such support encourages us, I’d have to say the contrary: it weakens us.
The strength and the future of the people of Israel does not depend on how others relate to us, but on how we relate to each other.

I do not feel any assurance from an upsurge of global support for Israel. We need to secure our future by ourselves through building relations of love, closeness and mutual consideration among each other. It is this construction of positive unifying relations that made us a nation in our very beginnings. We were originally not a nation, but a group of people who gathered under an idea to achieve love above our differences, and it was this form of connection that made us a nation. If we realize such attitudes to each other today, then no one will have any complaints against us.

Moreover, it is incorrect to think that the global support for Israel following the initial Hamas attacks on Israel’s civilians will help the world better understand and feel Israel’s side in the ongoing conflict. People can empathize with others when they can incorporate in their feelings, but the quality that made the people of Israel a nation is beyond our inborn nature, and thus nobody can incorporate in it. I thus also have no criticism on how people in the world relate to the people of Israel.

In order to truly receive a favorable response from the world, it is written, “When the Lord delivered them from Zion, it seemed like a dream. Then they said among the nations, ‘The Lord has done great things for them’” (Psalms 126:1-2). In other words, our unity draws a special force that comes to protect us, and when this force dwells in our connections, we draw a supportive response from the world.

We thus need to unite in a way where we are always there for each other. Such unification will draw a force that will protect us, and we need not be concerned about anything other than uniting and drawing this unifying force.
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Question: In the “Introduction to The Book of Zohar” it is said that the strengthening of the external nations depends on the internal nations of the world. How can we imagine a state where the internal nations of the world agree with Israel? Is it possible that the will to receive will agree? Usually, we overcome it.

Answer: They will agree. Parts of the nations of the world will gradually agree that there must be friendship, cooperation, and rapprochement with each other; otherwise, humanity cannot make any progress in its historical movement.

Therefore, we are approaching the point that eventually some part of humanity will begin to understand that rapprochement between nations not only prevents wars, but it is a necessity emanating from nature itself, from its source—the Creator. This is how people will begin to develop an understanding of unity.
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From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/13/23, Writings of Baal HaSulam “Introduction to The Book of Zohar“

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The horrors of this war have revealed how unhealthy the state has developed within our people, and our separation is the reason for what happened. Our duty is to correct ourselves and the whole world together with us, that is, to direct it toward unity.

The understanding must come in every heart of the people of Israel that unity is above all other calculations, above who becomes the head of government and what demonstration to attend. We have received a terrible blow, but it will quickly turn into mutual accusations, litigation, and disputes, and will provide plenty of food for the press.

Therefore, it is impossible to return to the same state that was in the people. We have already seen what this had led to and we do not want this to happen again; we want to enter a new world, that is, a new relationship, as it is written in the Torah: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

All sacrifices that accompany the long-suffering history of the Jewish people must not go in vain. Let them become the payment for our unity and correction of the whole world, and let them help all people understand that everything depends on their heart.

Our main weapon is our heart. If this heart unites with the hearts of friends, and if we direct this common heart to the Creator and give Him a place where He can enter, we will turn the whole world in the direction of complete unity between everyone. We just need to start, and then the Creator will finish this work for us.

We cannot blame each other and push each other away. On the contrary, we must feel that we are one person, one heart, one people, one group. We are together in one shelter from which we can leave only if we have reliable weapons. And this reliable weapon is our unity, with the help of which we can expand the walls of refuge to the entire width of the globe and turn all of humanity into one person with one heart.

We are talking about internal and not external unity. That is, not that we are on the same territory, in the same country, but in the same heart. And as far as this heart becomes a common one, the Creator enters it.
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From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/13/23, Writings of Baal HaSulam “Introduction to The Book of Zohar“

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