Entries in the 'Israel Today' Category

That Is What Is Worth Living For

222Question: A survey of the medical staff of nearly all Israeli hospitals was conducted. Nurses and doctors were asked one question: “When heavily wounded soldiers regain consciousness after surgery, what is the first question they ask?”

“Where are my comrades?” Then they ask: “Are they all alive?” And then: “Take me back there.” That’s what they say.

There was an interview with a soldier’s father. He says: “When my son woke up after ten days of intensive care, he saw his mother and me and said, ‘I need to get back urgently.'”

Why is this?

Answer: This is what surfaces in such cases among the people of Israel. I hope this will grow, expand, and we will feel how much we need each other.

Comment: So not questions like: “What is happening to me?” or “Do I have arms and legs?”

My Response: No, no. This is the need to feel others.

Question: Such a brotherhood?

Answer: Yes, it comes from a deep place inside us. And that, actually, is the reason why what happened took place.

Comment: Please explain this if you can.

Answer: There is a need to bring people closer together here and now; this is a must for the Jewish people. This is why the event really awakened this miracle. We are paying a heavy price for it, of course, but in fact we will see that it is worth it. What even some of the people feel now, you can’t get any other way.

Question: We are talking about unity, which is the foundation of the people. But how can you want to go to a place of death where you are constantly walking under the threat of death?

Answer: This feeling is beyond death. Death is not considered anything special here. They feel what binds them together is beyond death.

Question: Do they feel, in this unity there, a sense of the life they want to live all the time?

Answer: They feel this is exactly what is worth living for.

Question: Is it true?

Answer: It is true. In this, they can be envied.

Question: What would you say to this soldier?

Answer: I would say he really is together with his comrades, that their merging together in one soul is a stage of their unity that has already happened, and that it will only get better from now on.

Question: So you can even envy these guys?

Answer: Yes, you can. They gain so much more from this than any injury or anything else happening.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 1/8/24

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Speak only Good about Others

917.01Comment: Again and again in Israel, over Israel, the words of parents about their fallen children are heard. Sergeant Yehonatan Luber died in battle in the south of Gaza. These are the words of his father. Listen, it is poignant!

“Luber’s father Hagai … had just one request after his son’s death: He asked for one day of unity in his memory and requested that journalists refrain from publishing items which cause contention and instead focus on the beautiful aspects of our nation.

“Luber prefaced his message, stating ‘From the great power of the Jewish nation, from perceiving the great hour in which the people of Israel are eradicating the essence of evil from the world, and from great and deep personal pain, we announce the falling of our beloved son Yehonatan Luber HyD… .

“’We have no grievance to Hashem, no grievance to the Israeli government and no grievance to the IDF and to the decisions of its commanders in the field.’

“‘May we merit to see a swift victory and the return of our hostages whom Yehonatan so much hoped and prayed for their return.'” (VINnews)

My Response: It is amazing  that parents were able to say such things under such circumstances!

Comment: On the most tragic day of their lives.

My Response: Yes, I have nothing to add.

Question: You know, I feel like I am reading the Torah. Do you feel this way?

Answer: Yes, certainly.

Comment: It is as if a call comes from there.

My Response: But in general, this is a great atonement, this is a great action of the Jewish people who pay with the most precious things they have and want it to serve as such great forgiveness and unification of the people.

Comment: You once said about a mother who spoke about her fallen son that it was instilled from above.

My Response: Yes.

Question: Do you believe and do you feel that such words are not spoken by a person?

Answer: Yes, it is what the Creator instills in the soul of a person, and then the person already transmits the Creator’s words through himself.

Question: Does this not diminish the merit of the parents?

Answer: No, on the contrary. To the extent they can nullify themselves, that is how elevated they are.

Question: To nullify—does that mean not to blame anyone?

Answer: No one! Just convey what they feel from above.

Comment: He even says there: “I do not blame either God, the Israeli government, the military, or the commanders, no one. Just give a day of unification.”

My Response: Yes!

Question: There is a sensation at this moment that these parents feel the root of the nation?

Answer: Yes, undoubtedly.

Question: Is this precisely the moment of truth?

Answer: This is indeed the moment of truth, the reason for all that is happening.

Question: Perhaps it is scary to say that these victims are calling only for this purpose?

Answer: Yes, but I would not say they are victims. Thanks to them our world is rising, is being cleansed.

Question: In your opinion what needs to be done for these sprouts, these requests to fall into soil worthy of this?

Answer: We must constantly live with the words spoken by people who feel these great losses. It is necessary to live with their feelings.

Question: Unite with these parents, and then we will perhaps break through?

Answer: Definitely then! And not just break through; we will simply become different and will live differently: in unity, in love, in forgiveness, in understanding, in striving toward each other. We will begin to feel others in our heart and not through words that are trying to penetrate the eardrum.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 12/28/23

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What Should I Do If My Son Is at War?

627.2Inna writes:

Dear Michael Laitman, I am trembling all over when I write to you.

I have been living in Israel for 30 years. My children grew up here. Now the oldest one is in the army. He is in a combat unit at a closed base. The connection with him is very rare. He was just next to me, my child, warm, kind, and loving, and suddenly childhood is over.

This realization that childhood is over is terrible! I have a very strong feeling of emptiness! Here neither faith nor mind helps. The younger children do not help either. It is like a piece of me has been taken out of me. I am afraid for him! I feel like I am sinking into this worry! How do I survive this? How do I hold on?

My Response: You just have to believe. There is nothing else to say here. Believe that everything will be fine, that there is the upper force that arranges the fate of everyone, and it will treat each of us with kindness.

Question: My son, and in general, all our children?

Answer: Yes. It is very difficult to imagine a mother’s feelings. Nothing will calm her down except that he would be near her.

Question: Is that what she should want?

Answer: Yes. He should be near her! Under her heart!
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 12/7/23

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“What Has Changed in the People of Israel since October 7?” (Times of Israel)

Michael Laitman on the Times of Israel: “What Has Changed in the People of Israel since October 7?

Following the tragic events of October 7 and the ongoing war ever since, the people of Israel have become much more united. I sincerely hope that we will continue increasing our unity to its fullest possible extent, i.e., a state of “love your neighbor as yourself” through which the tendency to unite will spread throughout humanity.

Despite the anguish that has led us to unite, it is nonetheless beautiful to discover a sudden upshot of mutual concern and appreciation.

Such states bring upon us certain corrections. Many people from all walks of life suddenly feel that the best position to be in is a unified one. Soldiers feel it on the battlefield, that it is their place, voluntarily wishing to remain, and feeling better than if they were in the center of the country. There have been several instances of soldiers returning home for a few days, saying that they feel much more alive when they are with their friends on duty.

Who would have thought that in our generation, people would willingly leave thriving urban centers and pleasant suburban neighborhoods for dangerous combat zones, putting their lives at risk? We are learning a major lesson and I hope it will remain with us. I thus pray for this newfound togetherness to strengthen, that we will not return to divisiveness, and that the power of unity will spread throughout humanity.

More important than the external conflicts that erupt out of necessity are the inner conflicts against the true enemy: the egoistic inclination dwelling within. At any given moment, a sabotaging thought can take us by surprise, making us reject and distance ourselves from each other. It is precisely at this juncture that we need to fight for the success of our unity over division.

I trust, though, that as we become more aware of the harm we cause ourselves by letting our divisive drives materialize, we will become readier to better manage them. We will then voluntarily push in the opposite direction—to support, encourage, respect and care about each other—and infuse a fresh new positive unifying spirit among us and into the world.
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If This Is Not for Unity, Then Close Your Mouth!

294.4Comment: Our reservist soldiers are fighting in Gaza. They are already fathers, businessmen, have life experience, and are established guys; they are already mature, you could say. They fight shoulder to shoulder and live in military unity, for them the words “mutual guarantee” are no longer just words, but actions.

They want unity in everything and everywhere. It is good for them to live like this. But they see that the country is again in strife, disputes, and criticism. Political campaigns have started again, and they feel bad about this.

Now short videos have started to spontaneously arrive from the battlefield; there are already thousands, maybe tens of thousands of them. The soldiers speak in front of the camera and say: “I, so-and-so, have been fighting since October 7th. To all commentators, politicians, everyone: If you have nothing to say about our unity, close your mouth!”

The question is this: What do we have to do for them today?

My Response: Support them with our desire for unity so that we do not harm, but only help each other.

Question: Should we then really close our mouths if it suddenly says something against this?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Is it possible to do this, at least in a time of war? Are we really that corrupted?

Answer: I think that at least for the duration of the war, we can do this, artificially. Then it will become a norm.

Question: Can a person say to himself: “I will keep quiet. I am full of criticism, but I am keeping quiet”?

Answer: I think he can.

Question: What is important here? To have some kind of examples or what? How should one feel about this?

Answer: It should just be such a nationwide appeal, to the whole nation. We must understand that otherwise we will not survive.

Question: Do you mean to keep one’s mouth shut if a person wants to criticize something or say something against unity?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Do you like this appeal: “Shut your mouth”?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Is it a correct assumption that if we do not close our mouths, if we are in arguments, if we are even in hatred, then we betray them?

Answer: We are not only betraying them, we are betraying ourselves and the country, and in general we are leading everything to destruction.

Question: Are we betraying our children too? That is, God forbid, their death, is it on our conscience? Can you say that?

Answer: Yes.

Question: What should a politician, who warned that this would happen, knew what to do earlier, and turned out to be right, do? Today he does not hold back, he talks about the fact that he was right that they did not listen to him. What should he do?

Answer: It is not necessary to say that he was right, so as not to arouse contradictory opinions and reviews against him. We just need to call more and more for unification.

Question: What if it burns in him? He was right!

Answer: It does not matter. He must put peace, connection, and unity above the fact that he burns.

Comment: For the sake of all these guys in order to win.

My Response: Yes! Of course.

Comment: But he is not just a man, he is a great politician.

My Response: It does not matter. No matter what kind of politician he is, and no matter what he is right about, we know that all this is relative.

He should bend himself and act only for the sake of peace and unification.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 1/1/24

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272Question: What are your wishes for Israelis in the new year 2024?

Answer: Precisely for Israelis, apart from striving for connection, I have nothing to say. This striving for connection should be above all, and then we will defeat all those who wish us destruction.

Comment: When you say “striving for connection,” what does it mean to you?

My Response: We must raise the importance of connection above all of our other actions, states, and problems.

Comment: There are political problems; there are security and economic problems.

My Response: It doesn’t matter. The most important thing is connection. All problems can be solved through it.

Question: So if the basis is connection, then will all other problems disappear?

Answer: Yes.

Question: How can we get this into the heart and into the brain?

Answer: I don’t know. Each of us just needs to shut up when he wants to say something against someone! That’s all.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 1/1/24

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Turn External Wars into Internal Ones

538Question: Can we say that the external wars that are taking place in the world now are a consequence of the fact that we are not fighting enough internally with the so-called nations of the world?

Answer: Yes, that is right. Since we are not united internally, various problems arise in the world, and therefore, the whole world screams that Israel is to blame for everything.

Question: Is it really only prayer that can transfer these external wars into internal ones?

Answer: I think so, because we have already fought enough, and it did not help. Nothing in the world will help in any war.

We must come to the decision that help can come only if our hearts are united.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/21/23, Writing of Rabash “And It Shall Come to Pass When You Come to the Land that the Lord Your God Gives You”

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New Year’s Garland From Heart To Heart

572.02I think that the coming 2024 year will be better than previous ones.

Humanity is slowly but steadily approaching the understanding of how to get out of this dangerous state it has brought itself. Everything will be fine!

We must remember that everything depends on us, on how we are connected with each other, and from this connection we turn to the Creator. This is the main force in the world that will defeat all wars and all the forces of evil.

Let’s all hug together, unite from heart to heart, and then we will see how silence, tranquility, and peace descend on this world from above.

I wish you all the best! Good luck!
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/31/23, Writings of Baal HaSulam “What Are Three Things that Broaden One’s Mind in the Work?”

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All the Nation Involved in the Spiritual War

961.1Internal war and external war are both parts of one single whole. Each spiritual root must clothe in a corporeal branch. It seems that the spiritual root has already touched the corporeal branch and the nation of Israel has already conquered the land of Israel. Why is there a war again?

The point is that the root and the branch must completely grow into each other and exert mutual influence. The root comes in a form that is completely inappropriate for the branch; it must receive a restriction, a screen, and reflected light in order to gradually clothe in the corporeal branch.

War is always caused by a mismatch between the branch and the root. The war that is going on now is the war for the conquest of the land of Israel described in the Torah! This is a process that takes time. We need to internally accept it, agree with the upper government, and believe in salvation.

Only with the help of the army, the force acting from below, and the force of the Creator from above can we build ourselves in the correct form and win. We have no other forces than these two. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are truly a holy army.

In Israel, it is customary to treat the army with sacred respect. But in the Israeli army there really is a spiritual force that raises the people of Israel to the level of the Creator.

Even soldiers who are far from studying the Torah and Mitzvot are eventually included in this system that leads us all to the holiness of the Creator. That is, they, perhaps without knowing it, are waging a spiritual war in Gaza.

And everyone’s duty is to support them with everything possible. It means not just material support, but connecting our hearts, and from our common heart to help them succeed in everything they are doing. And thus, the entire nation will be involved in this spiritual war.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/21/23, Writing of Rabash “And It Shall Come to Pass When You Come to the Land that the Lord Your God Gives You”

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The Never-Ending War

294.2Question: You said that war ends when its purpose is realized. What kind of purpose can a war have and who sets it?

Answer: The war ends in Gmar Tikkun (final correction).

But this is not a war we fight with weapons; it is a confrontation between the forces of bestowal and the forces of reception. Therefore, we can say that the war has been going on constantly since the creation of the world until Gmar Tikkun.

Question: Does conquering the land of Israel mean mastering a specific desire, or can any desire be made the land of Israel?

Answer: The land of Israel does not exist just like that. When past desires with the intention for one’s own sake, under the influence of coming closer to the Creator, become desires for the sake of the Creator, they are called conquests of the land of Israel.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/21/23, Writing of Rabash “And It Shall Come to Pass When You Come to the Land that the Lord Your God Gives You”

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