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.
[318246]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 9/18/23

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Comment: We are used to the phrase “Israel’s Independence Day.” We are used to this holiday, and we celebrate it. In today’s world, the word “independence” is heard everywhere: independent countries, independent republics, independent press, independent experts… All sides of conflicts, all parties, speak about it, the rights, the lefts, individuals, everyone!

Besides, it is not just a word, but a very important concept in Kabbalah.

My Response: In Kabbalah, this concept is absolutely the opposite of what people, the world, society, countries, and nations understand.

What does independence mean? Independence from what?

Comment: This is the independence of my borders, independence from someone else. I want to live by myself, with my national independence, republican, state, and so on. If no one gets to me, this means that I am independent; I will build my own world. This is called independence.

My Response: But this is impossible because, in today’s world, everyone depends on each other. So how can we be independent? If you are going to be independent, you should go into the woods and provide yourself with what you can. You are condemning yourself to terrible conditions.

Question: You can say it in another way: “So that no one dictates to me how to live.” Is it also impossible?

Answer: This is the same thing. No one will dictate anything to you, but how will you provide for yourself? How will you create and preserve this independence? It is completely unclear how this is possible.

Today, a developing country in the world should be connected to all the countries by good mutual ties. Only in this case, can it feel comfortable for everyone; otherwise, it will feel crushed, limited, humiliated, and so on.

Question: If it will be on its own?

Answer: Yes, but no one will give it such an opportunity. After all, all countries surround each other and want, like wolves in the forest, to snatch from others as much as they can. This is our normal, egoistic world. It cannot be any different. It was always like that, only we covered ourselves up a little. We did not reveal it enough in our egoism.

Question: Do you think there is no point in demanding independence in this world? It does not exist and will not exist?

Answer: We can demand, but at the same time, we must demand from ourselves! This is the most important thing. If we observe such conditions then there are good neighborly relations, peace, and mutual assistance between us, which are contrary to our inherent, natural quality to receive, conquer, and force peace.

Comment: If we have a connection, then it is against someone. All this is vicious.

My Response: Of course. Therefore, everything we create is only supposedly for the benefit of ourselves and to the detriment of others. There cannot be one instead of the other.

Kabbalah speaks of independence where we rise above our egoism. Independence from our personal egoism. This is what real independence is, and then I only think about others. It is among the others, in good relations with others, which I create with all my capabilities, there I feel independent.

Question: Are you saying, “only about others”? Do I not think about myself at all?

Answer: I do not, I am a consequence. I exist even today as a consequence of the attitude of everyone else toward me.

Question: Does it mean that I can only think about others, and then the consequence will be how they treat me, how I am, and so on?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Should my first thought not be: “Will they treat me well if I treat others well?”

Answer: I do not think this is the nature of a person and our society. Therefore, to say such beautiful phrases as: “Do not hit others, and they will not hit you,” and so on does not work.

Question: Does what you say work? How is it possible in our world that I do not think about myself, but think about others? Publicly, for example.

Answer: The fact is that, of course, it does not work anyway. If I treat others well, I will only give them an additional reason to grab me and bite off all sorts of pieces of me. Thus, the whole problem in human society is for it to transform itself from a pack of predators into an organized, mutual, voluntary, and kind community.

Question: Do you believe in this fiction?

Answer: No, I do not believe it by any means, but I say it because in principle this is the only solution. Exactly when we realize that this is the only solution, albeit a fantastic and impossible one, then we suddenly can implement it.

Question: From where?

Answer: From above. We will be able to receive such a force from nature that will lift us above our egoism, and then it will be implemented. I will be above my nature, I will be above my thoughts, I will be above my decisions. How will it work out? It will work out because the second force of nature will be revealed—the quality of bestowal, connection, and love.

Question: Can you guarantee this to me? For example, I am a politician or an ordinary person, and I hear you. Can you guarantee me that?

Answer: I can only tell you again in more detail so that you understand that there is no other way. Or we are going to perish and die in every generation. And in the future generation, the same fate is prepared for our descendants. Nothing is changing, except that the sufferings are becoming greater, and the possibility of solving them with the help of wars and deaths is becoming more and more terrible.

Question: Will I come to what you say through understanding this and feeling this?

Answer: Yes, in the end, we will understand. Moreover, this is a very scary decision because we will feel like we are being skinned. Because this is the opposite of me.

But there is an opportunity to resolve this issue in a kind, peaceful way. It means to study our nature and study the force of nature that can help us change ourselves. Then we will be able to place ourselves under the influence of this good force of nature, and it will change us from little evil predators to big kind creatures.

Question: Do you think we are getting closer to this understanding that we are little evil predators?

Answer: We are getting closer. However, so far we are also approaching it in a bad way.

But according to the way all kinds of positive and negative forces are being revealed more and more, especially in our generation, and we are given the opportunity to talk about it and somehow implement them; that is, there is hope that we will be able to formalize for ourselves, for our understanding, and for our knowledge of this system of nature’s forces, and to understand how we can balance it and express the good force from it.

I think we can do it. Otherwise, we will still come to this, but in a very long way, a terrible way of suffering.

Question: It is said that the Messiah will come when the face of humanity will be like the muzzle of a dog. Does this apply to us, to our time?

Answer: Yes, it is people’s awareness of their terrible, bestial nature. We are getting closer to this now. But we can see it from afar, and that is enough. We do not necessarily have to get right into the dog’s den. It is enough just to see it and be scared.

Comment: God grant that it will be so.
[297387]
From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 5/3/22

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Question: We have reached a milestone date: 75 years of Israel’s independence. It has been 75 years since the Jews found their home, 75 years of wars, 75 years of proving that this is our place, that we want to live here, and so on. These have not been easy years.

How would you sum up this 75^th anniversary?

Answer: I would like us to understand that time is not working for us. We must admit that in the eyes of the world, despite all our attempts to present ourselves as the best, we still look like the worst.

Comment: This is a paradox. We have huge achievements in medicine, in progress, in everything.

My Response: Absolutely no one needs this from us. On the contrary, if we suffered, then maybe a certain number of non-Jews would love us. Or rather, they would feel sorry for us. But not in this way.

Comment: The great Kabbalist Baal HaSulam welcomed the creation of the State of Israel.

My Response: He hoped that this state of Israel would be the right one.

Comment: What do you consider right?

My Response: It is when the people who will inhabit it will try to show the entire world what the purpose of a person’s life on Earth is.

Question: You take it globally. What about the fact that a home was created for Jews who were persecuted and exterminated?

Answer: What for?

Question: To live at home, so that no one touches you. Is that not an idea?

Answer: This is impossible for the Jews. We were kicked out of our home. We have never had our own home in general. The fact that we lived for several hundred years, even less, in the land of Israel in the past, says nothing.

Question: How about the fact that Temples were built here?

Answer: So, what? We took the land from other nations and built them. Were there no nations here before that?

Rashi wrote that the nations of the world would come and ask: “Why did you take the land away from the nations who lived here?” And the Jews will have to answer. He asks, what can we answer?  “The entire earth belongs to the Creator. He gave it to other nations, and then took it from them and gave it to us.”

But this is correct if we follow His instructions, will, and desire. Yet, we do not do that. Therefore, there is no life for us here and there will not be. Will not be! I say this to everyone and always.

Comment: We started by saying that this is a holiday, but what you are saying does not sound festive.

My Response: This is a holiday because the people received the opportunity, as Baal HaSulam says, to exist on their land and fulfill their mission before all of humanity. So, if we fulfill it, because this opportunity still exists, then everything will turn out right and everyone in the world will understand why Jews exist and what we should do.

Question: What is the mission of the Jews, and why do they exist on this earth?

Answer: The Jews exist in order to live on this earth in unity with each other, in such a unity that will be called absolute unity. When they will be able to show all other nations an example of how to actually live without wars, without violence, without mutual hatred.

This is what we must show to the whole world. Then we will have the right to exist. Everyone will understand why we exist at all. And everyone will be happy to see that we exist on our own piece of land in order to translate all this into action and example.

Question: Then will everyone want this piece of land to exist, for Jews to live here, and for them to prosper?

Answer: Yes. In particular, our cousins the Arabs.

Question: In that case, what is independence in light of what you are saying?

Answer: Independence is independence from our egoism, when we can rise above it and show this example to all the nations of the world how to live in connection, in friendship, and in mutuality. Everyone will want to follow it.

This is our mission from above. Therefore, we are a special nation in this sense, and we cannot escape anywhere from fulfilling this mission. But it may take several thousand more years until we come to this.

Question: Thousands of years?!

Answer: Thousands. Has it been 2,000 years? Another 2,000 years will pass. It does not matter how long it takes, but we still will not be able to run away from fulfilling our mission.

We can hope that over the next 2,000 years, we will understand something after all.

Question: Is there such a layer in us that it cannot be penetrated?

Answer: The egoistic layer is such that maybe the next 2,000 years will do something to us.

Question: But anyway, one way or another, this is not our work, this is the work of the Creator. He might as well do it tomorrow. Why do we have to wait 2,000 years?

Answer: We are obliged, we have to agree to this job. We must wait for such a revolution in ourselves when we want to be not competing with each other but loving each other, to “love your neighbor as yourself” and be able to convey this as an example to all other nations of the world.

Comment: You have always said that a good businessman is a strategist, he looks forward to many years. A bad businessman wants to quickly grab something right now and that is it. You are such a businessman that you are looking forward to 2,000 years. You are engaged in this, you are disseminating this, and at the same time, you are saying that this is…

My Response: I live in this every day with the hope that after some time, I am not saying 2,000 years, but as we understand, not yet today, the people will begin to change.

Comment: And for this, you are ready to keep saying it today and repeating it.

My Response: In order for this to begin to be implemented in a few thousand years.

Question: But are you still an optimist?

Answer: I am not an optimist. I say that this is the law of nature, and we will still be obliged to implement it.
[311981]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 4/20/23

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Comment: To correct oneself for the sake of correcting the world sounds unthinkable for modern Jews.

My Response: Yes, exactly. It is much easier to raise any other nation to this precisely because there is less egoism and less potential for correction in it.

The Jews have internal genes from past incarnations. Therefore, dig a little bit, and they jump out. We see that among the people of Israel there is an opportunity for communication, unity, and mutual assistance.

All of this is not superficial, it lies inside. These are internal genes that are records of the information in which we existed. And now it is necessary to revive it and raise it.

We are trying to do it through dissemination. Of course, we still need to make a lot of efforts to pull the masses living in Israel with us.

They will gradually begin to be imbued with this since we that are correcting ourselves penetrate them even if we do not want it because the whole world is interconnected. And through them the correction will pass to the rest of mankind. It will pass! Internal forces will seep through everyone, and people will begin to understand, think, and solve all problems in a different way.

I believe that we can still make a correction and implement it in a good way. I believe in it.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Gaza Helps the Jews” 11/24/12

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Is there any hope that today’s people of Israel will be able to escape from the division in society like they once managed to escape from Pharaoh and exit Egypt?

Unfortunately, there is no basis for this yet. After all, when we left Egypt, we felt that we belonged to the same nation and opposed a common enemy, the Pharaoh, that is, the egoistic inclination that separates us.

When we left Egypt, we had already achieved some recognition of evil, but today this is not the case. Today we see evil only in those who oppose us; the left sees evil in the right, and the right in the left, and that is it. We do not notice our true enemy—our own egoism. Therefore, we are still far from exiting Egypt, and there is still a long way to the recognition of the evil of our egoism.

It depends on the education and preparation of everyone, and we see how difficult it is to accept this. Egoism is so deeply embedded in us and has grown so widely that it is difficult to understand where it begins and where it ends.

Unfortunately, we do not try to move to correction in a good way by ourselves, but we advance only because the Creator pushes us forward. Therefore, it is difficult to say what other trials we will have to go through until we reach the final redemption.

“Egypt” today is a common mutual hatred between everyone. Whichever way you look at a person, all his relationships with the surrounding society are permeated with hatred. Egoism is our Pharaoh, as it has always been. We will be able to exit Egypt only when we erase brotherly hatred from ourselves and replace it with brotherly love and connection.

People should learn how to treat each other with love, no matter how contrary it is to today’s reality. The revelation of evil must precede the revelation of good, but in the end we will implement the program of creation.

The exodus from Egypt is an exit from mutual hatred, mutual rejection, and the common evil that has poisoned Israeli society. It is the people of Israel who are in Egypt, not the nations of the world who have everything in order.

Unfortunately, the people of Israel are experiencing such a manifestation of evil that does not yet lead to a solution and does not allow them to recognize the evil contained in mutual hatred. Everyone is still only trying to prove to others that they are right. Therefore, nothing good will come from it, and we will continue to fall.

The army, the police, and all circles of Israeli society are already involved in this two-sided conflict. Such an attitude is completely unbecoming to the people of Israel and has led to disastrous consequences in the past.

The problem is that no one wants to be cured of this disease. Everyone thinks that the solution is that his opinion should prevail because egoism always requires: “I will rule!”

However, we must continue to disseminate the method of connection and hope that the Creator will save us from all troubles, and from this division too.

The Creator cannot open our hearts in order to enter them. We have to open our hearts ourselves by working from below, and then the Creator will enter them from above and fill them. Our hearts are opened by the fact that we try to come closer to each other and pray to the Creator for help. We must know the essence and purpose of the people of Israel.

I wish the people of Israel greater wisdom and greater understanding, a greater sense that we are a very small nation surrounded by other nations who want to destroy us. We can be saved only on condition that we understand how this can be done, and we end from this moment onward all wars between us in order to live by the rule: “They helped everyone his friend!”

The people of Israel must live by such a law, and then we will end all these quarrels and come to the final redemption.
[311597]
From the Writers Meeting – Q&A with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman 4/4/23

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Question: You said that we can correct the external manifestations of various events within ourselves. In particular, you cited what happened in the Gaza as an example. What does it mean to internally correct the external manifestations of the Gaza Strip?

Answer: Why else are external manifestations given to us? They are only given to us so that we can improve internally.

The whole world must reach correction. If we do not correct it in a normal way, that is, by revealing the Creator, then we are given all sorts of external problems that still force us to go toward this. But then we come to the Creator because of them.

Look at how many problems and suffering accumulate and how much time passes until we begin to realize that all this is only to solve our internal problems. This takes time! But by working internally, we can immediately get down to business.

Question: But if there were no external Gaza Strip, how could it manifest inside a person?

Answer: Under the influence of our dissemination, under the influence of some other milder problems. But if not, then by means of war, serious losses, and serious beatings, because then one starts asking, “How can I correct this, what should I do?”

Jews are very stubborn people. It is almost useless to say anything to them. To do this, we need to properly tune in because their heart, hearing, head, and brains are closed. Everything is closed! On the other hand, they are smart, wise, and receptive people, but very far from changing themselves. Very far! This means they are stubborn!

This stubbornness will require many more sacrifices until they finally agree that something needs to be done.

Question: What will their agreement be? In participation or just awareness?

Answer: In serious participation! In correcting themselves for the sake of correcting the world, for the sake of the Creator.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. The Gaza Strip Helps the Jews” 11/24/12

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Why is social division in Israel becoming more extreme?“

There are different kinds of divisions in every society and nation, but in the Israeli nation, the division is much stronger. This is because, as it is written, we are “a stiff-necked people.” It means that we are incredibly stubborn, and this stubbornness comes from us having an overblown desire.

It is unlike the desire in other nations. We can see it clearly among Israelis, among Jews in general, and everyone feels it one way or another.

How is it expressed?

We each feel as if we have a certain power, and accordingly we are ready to stand up to anyone. We do not care who it is. If you put the Prime Minister in front of any Israeli, you will see that there is an attitude as to a person of equal status. Moreover, it is common to feel smarter than others, no matter what position they hold, and to relate to them accordingly.

In other nations, there is a feeling of knowing one’s place and degree in society, an unspoken code of how to speak to one person or another. In Israel, however, no one cares about other people’s seeming status. It is the nature of the Israeli nation and of the Jewish people in general.

In the past, religion tied us more tightly together. It calmed and restrained us as it made us fear all kinds of punishments, and it also attracted us to various rewards for being nice people.

When we move away from religion—and this happens in all sectors, including the ultra-religious—it is called “the decline of the generations.” That is, we believe less and less in a common path, in the various higher forces of nature that we think might punish or reward us. We then become more and more stubborn from one generation to the next, and it leads us to a point where we take no one else into account.

In such a state, however, we cannot return to how we acted toward each other when we had smaller desires. Rather, we need to learn how to rise above our bloated desires today, to unite above our divisions, i.e. to realize the state of “love will cover all crimes” that we once discovered when we first became a nation. Our lives will become harder and harder in our stubborn divisiveness until we eventually realize the mutual detriment we bring to each other in such a state. We will then need to shift our course to unite above divisions through our mutual positive influence on each other.
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Based on the video “Why Is Social Division in Israel Becoming More Extreme?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman, Oren Levi and Yael Leshed-Harel. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “What Makes People Right-Wing and Left-Wing?”

How Do People Who Have No Political Connections Become Left or Right-Wing?

Nature consists of two forces: giving and receiving, plus and minus, positive and negative.

We each also play host to these forces. They exist on all levels of our lives: material, psychological and spiritual.

As for political right-wing and left-wing inclinations, I would first stay clear of defining them as such because nowadays these terms have become very convoluted, making people confuse one for the other.

In its origin, however, a left-wing inclination leans toward completion, connection and compromise, while a right-wing approach is its opposite: leaning to defining borders, limitations and boundaries. In other words, by nature a left-wing approach is “what’s mine is yours, and what’s yours is yours,” and a right-wing approach is “what’s mine is mine, and what’s yours is mine.”

However, in our distorted lives today, which are far from nature, we see nothing that expresses true left-wing or right-wing inclinations. This is because we live in times where an overblown human ego—the desire to enjoy at the expense of others and nature—stands at the foundation of everything we think and do, making us far removed from any kind of natural approach to these inclinations.

There are no genuine examples of real left-wing and right-wing inclinations in today’s world because they are blended with the desire to exploit anything and anyone possible in order to fulfill egoistic pursuits. For instance, a person might naturally have a left-wing or a right-wing inclination, but due to the ego’s powerful urge for fulfillment today, then that person could very easily find themselves on the other side in practice.

I thus think that dividing people and nations into left-wing and right-wing brings us no lasting benefit. Instead, we should focus on upgrading our education around the world so that we learn how nature works, how we develop, where we are headed, and what we would like to see in a better future state. If we start elevating our awareness to understand how we can reach balance with the new globally-interdependent conditions we find ourselves in, then we would start seeing an expression of our more natural inclinations. We would then see how people and nations are left-wing or right-wing inclined by nature, and accordingly we would be able to guide everyone to a more harmonious and peaceful future according to every person’s and nation’s natural inclinations.

Part and parcel of this new educational process requires running a serious ongoing examination into how we could reach equilibrium among the differing inclinations in humanity and guide a positive course of development. We need to constantly scrutinize humanity’s and each nation’s optimal form, while understanding each nation’s different nature and thinking about how to piece all people and nations together in complementarity.

There is a need for competition and the use of power that lets the stronger win, and there is also a rightful place for the weaker desires that demand government support for their lives. Both inclinations need to find their expression, and we can each make decisions according to our respective characters.

We need to understand the complex richness of nature, which does not let us simply be good people that can agree on something and hold that agreement. We change from one moment to the next. That is why, even during the process of signing a certain agreement, we can already find ourselves thinking about how to breach it and benefit ourselves at the other party’s expense.

The human ego today does not let any person or side hold onto anything that holds us all together. Accordingly, we can expect more and more friction between the left and the right as we further develop. Moreover, if we fail to regulate the friction, then the conflicts between the two sides could lead to major destruction, like another world war.

We need to understand that these opposite inclinations are embedded in our nature and they will increasingly unravel so that we create a system that balances them. It is similar to how, in electricity, we place a resistor between plus and minus where they connect and perform some kind of work. We similarly need to approach our inclinations, but we require something common for us all to work toward.
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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Are Israelis united enough?“

In order to unite, we need to annul our egos toward each other.

What are our egos? They are our self-aimed inclinations that make each of us consider ourselves the greatest, that there is no one like us. Such an egoistic approach obstructs our unity.

Our problem is that we unhealthily seek how to overpower each other instead of searching for closeness.

Our egos stand in the way of us building a true nation. We might prosper in many fields, but that is only due to the competition in our midst. However, there is no unity.

Unity is at the basis of nature, and of the Israeli nation, and today it is nonexistent here. Moreover, our lack of unity is our greatest threat because unity is what should support us. We thus become increasingly vulnerable to our enemies the more disunited we are.

Based on the video “Are Israelis United Enough?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “On the Eve of Passover – No Sign of Unity”

Passover is the most festive of all the Jewish holidays. It is a celebration of freedom, when the people of Israel became liberated from the yoke of slavery in Egypt. Back then, the Hebrews united around Moses, and despite internal disagreements, maintained their unity. The reward for their insistence on staying together despite their disputes was not only their freedom, but the declaration of their peoplehood by God.

Today, on the eve of Passover, I am sad to say that we have none of the unity our ancestors had fought for; power struggles reign supreme, and everyone wants to be king. This is a recipe for inviting a modern-day Pharaoh to come and rule over us.

Israel has many enemies. Iran has sworn to destroy it, its proxy terror groups incessantly try to maim it, international movements such as BDS try to cripple its economy, and countries that pretend to be friendly finance anti-Israel movements. Yet, none of these entities pose an existential threat. The only existential threat to Israel is its social division.

Two thousand years ago, we lost our sovereignty due to baseless hatred of each other. For the past two millennia, we have not healed that hatred one bit. If anything, it has only intensified.

Therefore, before we begin to work on “improving” the political situation in Israel, we must understand what it is we must improve. Today, almost everyone takes sides in Israel’s political altercation. Everyone thinks that the country’s deterioration is the other side’s fault.

But the country is not deteriorating because of the Left or because of the Right, if we even know what these words mean today. The country is deteriorating because the Left hates the Right, and vice versa, the secular hate the religious, and the other way around, the rich despise the poor and the poor hate the rich, and the only winner in these—and countless other divisions in Israeli society—is hatred.

Back in Egypt, Pharaoh loved Joseph. He entrusted his entire kingdom in Joseph’s hands, and at that time, the people of Israel were happy in Egypt. When Joseph died, the Israelites became divided and wanted to disperse among the Egyptians. This is when “a new” Pharaoh, who did not know Joseph, arose and began to afflict Israel.

Division also caused the coming of Nebuchadnezzar, who sent Israel to the Babylonian exile. Internal hatred intensified even more during the time of the Second Temple, and brought upon us the Roman general Titus, who destroyed Jerusalem and exiled the relics of the people of Israel in Judah. Even before the onset of the Inquisition, Spanish Judaism experienced an extended period of growing disunity, and the same trend was visible before the rise of Hitler to power.

It is convenient to believe that our enemies appear without cause, but if we ever want to break the vicious circle of periodical expulsions and extinctions, we must begin to search our souls and find where and how we contribute to the empowerment of our haters. If we do so, we will find that our sages have been telling us since the inception of our nationhood that we empower our haters with our hatred of each other.

If we realize that Pharaoh is alive today, governing our hearts and pitching us against each other, enslaving us to his whims and making us think that we are working for ourselves, when in fact we are working for him, then we might choose to follow Moses, the voice of unity within us that says, “No matter how we feel about each other, we are one nation.” It is our choice whom to empower. If we keep empowering Pharaoh, our internal slavery to him will become an external destruction. If we empower Moses and choose unity above all else, our good future is guaranteed.
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