Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Suddenly, a War in Israel“

In an abrupt and unsettling turn of events, the specter of war has descended upon Israel. From the morning hours, Israelis find themselves glued to a web of information sources, receiving constant news updates, and sharing their thoughts with family, neighbors and friends. A palpable sense of anxiety weighs heavily among Israel’s residents as Israel suddenly finds itself at war again.

Indeed, we had a major security lapse. It is a failure characteristic of our tendency to underestimate our adversaries and our lack of military readiness. However, we should not mistake this lapse for an isolated incident. It is rather a symptom of a deeper enduring malaise afflicting our nation.

The heated divisions in Israeli society of recent times have been recurring for 75 years, if not centuries and millennia. Today, as in the past, we find ourselves again completely missing the point when it comes to our role in the world, and the overblown ego within each and every one of us intensifies our division.

Israel—i.e., the people of Israel—is a nation founded on the timeless principle, “love your neighbor as yourself.” Whenever we stray from the path to unite above our divisions, letting our connections become polluted with mutual animosity, we invite tragedies upon ourselves.

It is worth asking, then, what else could we expect? By letting hatred relentlessly accumulate toward each other, how could we think that hatred would not also surface toward us? This enmity clings to us like an unshakeable specter. The demonstrations of hatred in Tel Aviv, and all of our insults and the attempts to harm each other can only yield one outcome, for which we must all shoulder accountability. We need to acknowledge that we alone bear the responsibility for drawing these conflicts upon ourselves, as is it written, “No calamity comes to the world but for Israel” (Talmud Bavli, Yevamot, 63:1).

Our catastrophe is that we let the egoistic and divisive drives within each of us get the better of us, a sentiment King Solomon wisely cautioned against when he urged, “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth” (Proverbs 27:1).

How can we avert more severe trials in the days ahead? It is by fostering humility and cultivating a genuine yearning for heartfelt connections today. As the text Maor va Shemesh (Light and Sun) attests, “The primary shield against calamity is love and unity. When love and unity prevail among the people of Israel, and they abstain from harming one another, calamity finds no foothold.”

The pivotal factor for achieving a life of harmony and peace is our attitude to one another. We should hold no concerns or fears other than that of letting divisive drives overpower our motion to unite.

Everyone following the unfolding events would thus be wise to contemplate the deeper reasons behind the situation that has befallen Israel today. Only unity above division can lead us to a peaceful resolution, one that assumes paramount importance in these trying times.
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Based on the Daily Kabbalah Lesson with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on October 7, 2023. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Photo by Cristina Gottardi on Unsplash.

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Question: Today Israeli society has become divided between those who are for judicial reform and those against judicial reform, those on the right and those on the left. Demonstrations that demand a change of government are taking place, and so on.

I am concerned about the issue of the army. We have reservists who are essentially the backbone of the army. There are special units and pilots, those who continue to serve with consent and willingness after completing their regular service.

And now for the first time, certain incidents have started happening where they refuse to serve. They say they don’t want to serve under a dictatorship. It’s all related to judicial reform with which they disagree.
In your opinion, do they have the right to do this or not?

Answer: I think this is a problem in all armies around the world.

Comment: But still, I’m considering the fact that we have a unique army. After all, it’s a defensive army. We are a small piece of land where every person is important and has his or her place, and suddenly they expose the front.

My Response: Yes, I believe that the army should be above everything because life is above everything, and then we can deal with the rest.

Question: So do you mean that a person’s life comes first?

Answer: Yes, and the life of the state as well.

Comment: And we are specifically here to protect the lives of people and the state. And if they revolt from within and say, “This is a dictatorship. I don’t want to serve under this regime. I want a change.”

My Response: They are obligated to protect people’s lives!

Question: Another question is if an incident were to occur, and considering that we are still in constant wars, from the government’s or the army’s perspective, do you think they should call these officers back or not?

Answer: They should call them back. There should be no leniency, no postponement, nothing! Everyone has their place, and everyone should be in their place.

Question: What do you think a person feels when he exposes the front? Why can he do it today? In the past I would never have thought of such a thing. In the past they all served willingly; it was a duty. But today they can suddenly say such things and suddenly expose the front. What do they feel when doing that?

Answer: I can’t even say. I have a very clear opinion about it.

Question: Do you remember how it was in your time? I know you served in the technical support units of aviation. That’s the most serious part of our army.

What was the feeling then? It’s called miluim, those who serve after the army until the age of forty and beyond. Did they have a strong sense of duty?

Answer: Of course. There was no question about it.

Question: What do you think has changed over the years?

Answer: Decline! Simply a decline because personal interests have become more important than national interests.

Question: Is this what you constantly say, that egoism is growing?

Answer: Yes, and it is even worse. It means that a person starts to prioritize their own opinion over the existence of the state.

Question: What do you think awaits us if this continues?

Answer: I think that in this way society will find a new worldview system.

Question: So do you see a positive aspect in this as well?

Answer: Where else can it go? If this weren’t going on with the Jews, we could talk about a civil war. But here I think it won’t come to that anymore.

Question: In your opinion, what kind of army will protect and see this as a great privilege? What should there be?

Answer: There should be an internal restructuring of society—the army, political parties, and the entire state.

Those people who consider the state their own should understand that they are mutually obligated here. There is no escaping that.

Comment: It’s interesting that our enemies, who in principle surround us and do not wish for the state to exist, do not force us into a rigid position where you cannot leave the army—it’s your post, you are obligated! Something has happened.

My Response: Their concept is different, new. They believe that gradually over time we will disintegrate on our own.

Comment: Yes. Hezbollah, our neighbor to the north, says that they can calmly deal with us now that we have internal discord and instability.

My Response: Yes. Today, thanks to our neighbors, the army should be strong, and everyone understands this more or less. And to some extent we can allow ourselves to argue and debate. But we must understand that there is a border and our life is within it. So thanks to our neighbors who keep us on our toes!
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 3/30/23

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Question: Was King David a Kabbalist?

Answer: Of course! Otherwise how would he be able to be a king, a judge, and a military leader at the time when Israel was a spiritual society?

He is considered to be the basis of the spiritual structure of Israel. Therefore, the force that will come for the correction of humanity is called his descendant—Mashiach Ben David. Moses (from “limshoch” – to pull) means to pull us from egoism. Ben David—son of David.

He is considered to be the personification of Malchut, from the word “kingdom”. This is why he is called Melech Israel, King of Israel. However, it is not a kingdom of force and power, but rather a property that fills desires.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Star of David” 10/1/11

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Question: Do the people of Israel belong to one spiritual root?

Answer: Israel is not a nationality or a people. This is a group of people who have gathered in order to direct themselves to the Creator.

All those who wish to reach the Creator are called Israel. For them there is the holiday Rosh Hashanah (New Year) when they want to determine that from this moment onward they go to the Creator.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/16/23, “Rosh Hashana“

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Comment: The Day of Atonement is coming—Yom Kippur. I would like to talk about it precisely this year when you see everything that is happening in the world.

My Response: I think the world should at least already feel the need for this.

Question: So, after all, the Day of Atonement is special this year? It is believed that this is one of the most important holidays in Judaism. It is when people read prayers of repentance, ask for forgiveness, and generally prepare for the fact that the seal will be placed in the Book of Life. And, as I understand it, you are now going to say that it is an important day for the world too?

Answer: For everyone.

Comment: This holiday is always perceived with some awe. At least here in Israel everything stops. Silence, religious, non–religious, everyone is in some way afraid, let’s say trembling, facing this day. Tell us a little about this holiday.

My Response: Actually, it is hard to call it a “holiday” because a holiday is something fun, light, and bright. I think that Yom Kippur is precisely that: a Day of Atonement, when we can really rejoice that we are able to redeem ourselves.

Question: So it is still a joy?

Answer: Joy, this is a day of joy. And then, I do not know how people actually celebrate this day. It seems to me that they should, of course, be scrutinizing themselves. As it is said that a person should think about how he lived throughout this year, how he aspired to be kind, to do good, to be a conduit of the good Creator in the world.

Question: Is it desirable for a person to think about this on this holiday?

Answer: One should, yes. I think that ordinary people, in principle, are not so immersed in evil; therefore, there is nothing to fear from in the Day of Judgment. What can they be judged for? Evil was born before man, evil, envy, and other negative qualities. So, a man is a man. What else can be said about him?

Question: Please tell me then, what is this holiday for?

Answer: I think that this holiday is most likely about a person thinking about why he was created in this way. And how he would like to correct himself a little. Although creation is the creation of the Creator, let’s assume that a person has the opportunity to correct himself a little. How would he do it, in what way?

Question: That is, his intention is in some way for good, for warmth, for love?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Then why does he ask for forgiveness? There are a lot of prayers; this is called Slichot. “I am sorry! I am sorry!” All the time “I am sorry!” To forgive what if man was created this way?

Answer: I am sorry that You made me so nasty, mean, insignificant, and harmful, that I bring only evil and misfortune to everyone. And I ask You very much, help me straighten up, improve, and be at least a little better.

Question: That is, man’s aspirations are not to ruin another, but on the contrary, to nevertheless become better?

Answer: I think that if a person would seriously think about everything that happens to him, how he was created, and what he could be, then he would ask for correction of what God created in him.

Question: There is such text in the prayer of the Day of Atonement; it is very vivid. “And all creatures will fear You, that is, the Creator, and all created ones will prostrate before You, and they will form a single union to do Your will with all their hearts.”

Explain please, is it still necessary to be afraid?

Answer: The fact is that it is very difficult for us to understand this imbalance between the absolutely good Creator and the absolutely evil person created by the same good Creator. Why? It is in order for a person to realize the reason for such creation and to want to be like the Creator.

Question: What is the reason?

Answer: The only thing is to want to be like the Creator.

Question: So I am so far away from Him and I want to be like Him?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Am I intentionally far away from Him?

Answer: Initially.

Question: And then “they will be afraid of You”—what does that mean?

Answer: This is already an appeal to the Creator. When people feel that all this comes from You so that they will be afraid and beg You for correction.

Question: And when it is said “and they will prostrate themselves before the Creator,” what does it mean?

Answer: They will wish to subjugate to the good inclination of the Creator.

Question: “And all created beings will prostrate before the Creator and form a single union to do Your will with all their hearts.” What is this—this last part?

Answer: This is when everyone will help others so that everyone together will be in goodness and in love for the Creator and for everyone.

Question: What is the peculiarity of today’s Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, for you? How do you feel?

Answer: We see that the world is not getting better, that is for sure. People are not getting better; they are just tired. They are tired of this world, of this life, and of what is happening to them; they see that there is nothing good in the future for children, and therefore, it is impossible to slander a person. This is him, he was created that way: an evil, indifferent person.

Comment: And you do not slander a person.

My Response: I do not slander either the person or the Creator. It is just a given that we must clearly realize and then begin to ask—ask for the correction of a person and the whole world.

We still need to realize that this evil is a consequence of our relationship with each other. We cannot rise above ourselves in order to wish well for everyone. We cannot. This is the reason for our impatience with each other and everything that happens to us.

I hope that these recent events, the fact that we are now discussing what is happening to the world, to a person, to each of us, I hope that they will eventually lead to the realization that we need to correct this world. And it depends only on our desires.

I think that the Creator deliberately unravels all this in front of us so that we realize the need for changes.

Question: Can we not wait for this Day of Atonement, but do it during the day, do it now, suddenly decide and do it? Is it possible?

Answer: Of course! We do not have to wait for anything.

Comment: But people usually wait for this day, prepare for it.

My Response: They postpone, it is not good. We should consider every day as a day suitable for apology, for redemption, so that we change our attitude toward everyone and everything. It all depends on us.

Question: One more question: what is this holiday for the world? We started with the fact that Jews have such a holiday, a very special one. And what does this holiday mean for the world?

Answer: It means nothing to the world. Most people do not know what it is about at all. And it doesn’t mean much to Jews either because they think they are afraid, they each care for themselves and not for everyone.

Question: Should there be a thought for the whole world, for everyone?

Answer: Absolutely for everyone! Good, bad, all people. Not even just people, but for the whole world, for everything that exists. It should be a universal thought and a universal prayer of everyone and everything. This is the Day of Atonement.

The Creator has specially given us such conditions so that we feel the need for our change toward the world.

Question: What would you wish people on this day?

Answer: Only to realize that they can change this world for the better through their appeals to the Creator, to each other. I do not wish anything else for them. And I hope that they will eventually understand.

Because, in principle, such serious actions are coming, sensation that the world will have to realize the personal participation of each and everyone in why the world is like this.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 9/18/23

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Question: There are well-known periods of egoistic development: a sharp surge of the Roman Empire, then Byzantium and the Crusaders. But why did all this revolve around the Holy Land?

Answer: If we talk about the earthly level, then I believe it was all about politics, nothing else. However, in principle, all this happened in order to further and further develop humanity toward a gradual understanding of today’s spiritual processes. Everything was moving only forward, only toward the future goal.

With the emergence of the great Kabbalist Ari, the process of Renaissance began because the world started moving toward its correction. Prior to Ari, there was a period of breaking and mixing of various internal fragments of shattered humanity. But starting with him and onward, a period of purposeful flow toward correction had begun.

This is when the Hasidism of Eastern Europe and many Kabbalists emerged. Simultaneously, there was a general development, the discovery of lands by Columbus, Gutenberg’s printing press, and other discoveries and technologies—everything started to develop.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. The Evolution of Discoveries” 10/31/11

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Yom Kippur is the Judgment Day. Who is judging? Who is being judged? What should a person do on this day? What will happen if a person does everything right?

On Judgment Day, a person judges himself, rises above his own egoism, and reveals the world as a single system. It is no coincidence that Jews have always been accused of cosmopolitanism—after all, all distinctions are conditional, and our primordial, internal basis is alien to them.

Today, when the world is in desperate need of unity, the Jewish people are divided. However, we cannot deceive other nations—they instinctively, without realizing it demand from us to take on the mission of unifiers, to merge hearts into one heart.

This is the essence of our Judgment Day.
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It seems to us that we, today’s humanity, are in some way the heirs of two civilizations: Rome and Ancient Greece. The government structure and the structure of the judicial and banking systems come from Rome. Philosophy comes from Greece and in a later period partly from Byzantium. But in principle, all this concerns the corporeal development of humanity.

However, the internal altruistic spiritual development of the world came from the Israelites, a group of people who fell from the spiritual level to the corporeal one. All world religions originate from them, and today they have given the nations of the world a certain preparation for the perception of spiritual ideas.

Thus, humanity was prepared for the fact that the story of mutual infiltration and communication would move to a new level. According to Kabbalah, this is bound to happen either by awareness or by being pushed to happiness by a stick.

Question: Do corporeal and spiritual development, in fact, occur simultaneously?

Answer: In spirituality, the beginning, the end, and all the stages of development exist from the very beginning. On the corporeal level, however, there is none of this; it all unfolds only in us. We can go through these stages either with a good feeling or with an evil feeling. We choose between good and evil.

Every time you have to be in a certain state. If you want to understand and feel what is good for you, you need to transform yourself so that the next state prepared for you is desirable. If you are ready for this, you will perceive your whole path well. If you are not ready, you will perceive it as bad. But that does not change the path.

There is a mechanism inside you that shows you a movie that you have to go through. You just order your attitude to this movie with your constant frame-by-frame development.

In other words, in spirituality, all this already exists in one single picture. And you gradually reveal this picture for yourself as you develop either under the influence of suffering or under the influence of awareness.

It is as if you begin to see clearly and you receive a new vision, a new opportunity to feel, to see, to realize, to understand, and to absorb. In this way, a new world opens up to you.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. History According to Kabbalah” 9/29/11

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Question: We are familiar with the history of humanity based on the external picture of its development. But what has happened with spirituality over the past 2,000 years if there is neither time nor space there?

Answer: Shattering and mixing between those who came out of Babylon, developing; they were inhabiting the globe and then mixing with each other since the Middle Ages, the discovery of new lands, and so on.

At the same time, within them, there was a group of ten tribes, which were physically completely dissolved into them. To this day, we do not know where they are or what happened to them.

The group that today is called Israel, the Jews, did not dissolve physically, but dissolved spiritually; they descended from their spiritual level of loving your neighbor as yourself, all Israel are brothers to each other, etc.

Before the ruin of the First Temple, they were in complete union with each other. But 2,000 years ago, at the point called the ruining of the Temple, they fell from a state of mutual love to mutual hatred and passed 2,000 years of history as a thin stream through all of humanity, sprinkling it with their various talents and discoveries, as if in connection with each other.

In fact, all this was intended only to create within humanity the rudiments, a predisposition, for today’s unification.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. The History of Kabbalah” 9/29/11

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In science, diversity of opinions and disputes are useful and help global advancement; but in politics disagreements, on the contrary, can lead to division in society and civil war. Is it possible to have different and even opposite opinions about what the character of the country and its purpose should be and at the same time feel like one nation and one family?

Everything is possible in this life only if we look at how to strengthen the connection between us despite all the differences of opinion. If the difference breaks our bond, then we should not reveal it until we have strengthened our connection.

Each step should begin with greater unity, and only then can we discuss where our opinions don’t match. And then, despite the fact that one thinks one way and the another thinks another way, we will decide how to unite, and from this unity we will see the answer.

In fact the answer is simple: the right decision is the revelation of the Creator. When the Creator reveals Himself in us, He gives us all the right decisions.

After all, society is not a laboratory where we can conduct experiments and verify an unambiguous result. It turns out that there are not those who are right and those who are wrong because the truth is above all our disputes. The truth is that “all transgressions will be covered by love.”
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/3/23, “A Dispute For the Sake of The Creator”

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