Question: Biden and Lapid signed the Jerusalem Declaration whereby the United States and Israel affirmed strategic cooperation and the US committed to enduring support of Israel’s security. The main point is both countries commitment not to allow Iran to have nuclear weapons. How much value is there to these declarations?

Answer: Zero.

Question: That is, in “hour-x” everyone will still do what is beneficial to them?

Answer: Circumstances change, everything changes.

Question: Why do we sign these declarations?

Answer: It is politics, it is a game. They live by it.

Question: Do you think that both sides understand that this is all fiction?

Answer: Yes. Sometimes it delays advancement toward one direction or the other for a while, but no more than that.

Question: So Biden or someone else will not say: “I gave my word, so I have to keep it”?

Answer: Such words and generally such communications are not embraced.

Question: And when will the declaration be 100% fulfilled?

Answer: When you hold the opposite side by the throat.

Question: Are you talking about our world today? We have to hold someone by the throat and then he will do what he signed up for?

Answer: Sure.

Comment: In general, ideally two parties sign the declaration…

My Response: It is only if people and countries are under the influence of the upper force, then they perform. Then they do not need any extraneous restrictions or pressures.

Question: And what is it? Do they perform out of shame, out of some duty? When they are under the upper force, then they are, so to say, obliged to keep their word?

Answer: They are obliged because they determine their future by this. I am not signing with the opposite side, with some people, but with the upper force. That is all. So there are no other conversations here anymore.

Question: In that case, what works more, respect for the upper force or fear?

Answer: Respect that comes from the fear that I am under His power in an absolute sense. This is the most reliable. And I cannot break my word. It is the same as if I am killing myself, the people, the state, the world.

The declaration will work only if we are afraid of the Creator. Otherwise, nothing will work.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 7/18/22

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Do you think Israel is broken? If yes, how can we fix it?“

We have long been broken. We face alienation and generally negative relations toward each other, and it is indeed a problem. We need to reach a state where we take care of each other, to explain to ourselves that there is no other place for us.

The positive aspect of our broken state is that we have the power to change it. If we come closer together and decide that we are one nation, then we can mend our currently-broken connections. We certainly need to work on that more and more.

On the other hand, many would argue that we are familiar with slogans about our unity from a young age. We hear about it regularly throughout our upbringing. However, we see that it fails to bring us any closer together. It is because the explanations we currently receive about our unity lack the understanding of our foundation as a nation. Moreover, neither side of the political spectrum in Israel discuss it.

Our foundation as a nation resides in the tenet, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If we fail to sustain such relations among each other, then we are not Israel. There is a superior law to our existence as a nation that requires us to unite above our differences. If we adhere to this law, that “all of Israel are brothers,” then we can truly fix our broken connections, and build the State of Israel in a new and positive way.

Therefore, while we are broken, we have the power to fix our shattered state, and become a united nation based on mutual relations of love. We would then also see that the negative sentiment toward us would fade away, as we would positively affect everyone in the world with the positive unifying force that we would realize among each other.

Based on the video “Is Israel Disintegrating?” 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: “The Need to Get Out – My Personal Story”

I remember how everyone looked at me 50 years ago in Belarus when I said that I had to leave there and go to Israel, that I had no other choice and wanted nothing else in life ‎other than to come there, to Israel. People pressured me from all directions, “Don’t leave!” “What will you do there?” “They might put you in jail!” and many other warnings. But I could not listen; I knew I had to go, that that was my way.

After I submitted my application to the Soviet authorities to emigrate to Israel, I became a refusenik for several years. Refuseniks were people who applied for an emigration permit from the former Soviet Union to Israel, but the authorities rejected their application. Eventually, however, I received the permit and made Aliyah (lit. “ascent,” a term that designates ‎ emigration to Israel).

But when I arrived in Israel, the story repeated itself. I started asking questions, looking for someone to explain to me why we live, what is the purpose of life. Again, people looked at me awkwardly. “Why? What is it you need?” they asked me. I had to get answers to the questions about the universe and existence, and I knew that here, in Israel, the answer must ‎be found.‎

In this way, I was led from above to the land of Israel, where, after a long search, on a rainy winter night, I was led to my wise and kind teacher, RABASH. He opened the books of Kabbalah to me and showed me the inner meaning of the teachings of Israel. He answered my questions one at a time, with scientific logic and in perfect order, questions that had been ‎haunting me since childhood.‎

Like RABASH’s father, the great kabbalist Baal HaSulam, my teacher lived and taught within the Jewish Orthodox community. My calling was to be a cornerstone in bringing the wisdom of Kabbalah to the general public, to secular people. When I began teaching, people had no need for it. “What is it, philosophy?” they asked, “Is it some kind of psychology?” “Why do I need it? Isn’t it a religion?” “Do I have to pray three times a day?” Very gradually, I learned to explain the wisdom, and people began to understand what it is ‎really about.

In part, my own efforts contributed to this process. I was willing to do literally anything to make Israelis realize what a treasure they have. In time, nature took its course and an inner urge to know the wisdom began to emerge in people, a craving to understand where we ‎come from and where we are going.

Today we are approaching the same state that I felt in Russia and in Israel, a state that until ‎today came only to a few. It will become a torrent that will push us into the straits, because if ‎previously, we could settle for an apartment that we bought with great efforts, a good salary, a guaranteed pension, and even occasional trips abroad, soon these satisfactions will no longer motivate us to get up in the morning. We will feel that we cannot go on ‎living like this; material satisfactions will no longer satisfy us.

The worsening situation in Israel will add to the heaviness, and we will feel that we are suffocating, that we are cornered and have nowhere to run, that we must break out, out of the dark and narrow dungeon and into the daylight, to a place where there is spirit!

This narrow place is our life, where we feel alone and our eyes are always looking for fleeting corporeal pleasures. We feel the spirit of life only when we break out from the straits ‎ into the feeling of others, when we include our brothers in us, care for them, and unite with them as one.‎

This duty is hidden in the teachings of Israel, in the wisdom of Kabbalah. It is the method ‎to break out of our own boundaries into the hearts of our friends, and from there to include the whole world, all the people, and even animals, plants, and minerals. Kabbalah is the teaching that leads us into connection with the upper force that creates everything and sustains everything, and includes everything and everyone within it.

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From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 8/12/22

When Operation Breaking Dawn broke out last Friday, Israeli journalist Gideon Levy harshly criticized Israel in an interview for the anti-Israel Al Jazeera network. Bella Hadid, an international model of Palestinian origin and a frequent basher of Israel, quickly seized the opportunity and shared the segment with her tens of millions of followers on social media. I cannot blame Israel haters for using Israelis who routinely demonize their own country, but we need to understand the origin of the self-loathing that they feel, why the fact that they are weaponizing our enemies does not deter them, and why it does not help them. Within every Israeli, there is hatred for one’s own people; it is hatred not for the people, but for the idea that Israel represents: love of others. When we resolve this hatred, we will resolve antisemitism.

On the face of it, Mr. Levy is a courageous man of integrity, justifying his enemy at his own risk. After all, he, too, could have been hurt by the more than 1,100 rockets that the Palestinian Islamic Jihad fired at Israel. Yet, Levy is not concerned about that. Being a hero in the eyes of the world is his goal, even if it is unclear where is the heroism in the act he took here with his anti-Israeli statement on an anti-Israeli network.

What is more important is that underneath the Israel bashing, there is profound hatred for Israel. Not only Israeli Israel-bashers have it, but every Israeli feels it, and in fact every Jew has that hatred. In some, it is latent, and in some, it is blatant, but no Jew escapes this inner schism.

Self-hate has been our bane throughout the history of our people, and for a good reason. Israel represents transcending the natural human disposition to care only for oneself. Being Israel means embracing mutual responsibility and solidarity with the goal of ultimately loving others as much as one loves oneself.

It is one thing to aspire for such a goal, but it is an entirely different thing to be obligated by the world to achieve it, to feel how formidable this task is, and then face the consequences of failing at it: the hatred of the world. Not surprisingly, the majority of Jews suppress the notion of mutual responsibility and love of others, or divert it toward loving their enemy and blaming their own people, hoping it will win them their enemies’ favor, which it will not.

That struggle exists in every Jew, whether one is aware of it or not. It determines one’s relation toward the State of Israel, toward the Jewish people, and toward Israel’s enemies. Israelis who hate Israel are actually sensitive to their obligation to the world but respond to it in a counterproductive manner: They want to cut their ties to the Israeli people and its obligations. However, no Israeli can be liberated from it. Therefore, they express their resentment through hatred for the State of Israel. I feel sorry for them; they are in great distress.

Such people cannot change. They feel entitled and just, superior and self-righteous. They do not feel that they are spewing hate; they believe that they are fighting against it.

You cannot reach such people’s hearts directly. The only way to influence them is by changing the entire society around them. If all of the Israeli society increases its appreciation of the Golden Rule—which is love of others—and its manifestations, it will percolate into everyone’s hearts, and people will begin to realize that being Israel, namely setting an example of unity and solidarity, is possible, and the world really does appreciate it. In such a state, it will be easier to very gradually change the hearts of Jewish Israel-bashers.

Therefore, our goal should not be to mitigate the hatred of those who demonize the State of Israel. Our goal should be to eulogize solidarity and unity to the point of loving others as much as we love ourselves. If we operate in this way, all haters of Israel will disappear, from within and from without, and we will realize that they were only here in order to galvanize us toward strengthening our unity and setting an example of love of others for the entire world.

Image by Georges Biard (Wikimedia)

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Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “Don’t Panic, There Is Money Behind It”

A new TV series in Israel, titled Don’t Panic, examines if Israel is prepared for events of mass destruction such as earthquakes, tsunamis, or a leak of poisonous gas. Not surprisingly, the series concludes that Israel is unprepared for any such events: There are not enough rescue personnel, residents do not know what to do in what situation, and the infrastructure in the country is inadequate in many places. Moreover, people’s response to these conclusions is usually indifference. I am not an expert, but I tend to agree with the public’s sentiment because I do not believe that the danger is as grave as the series seems to portray. I think that behind this series, and other doomsayers, is the question “Whose interest does it serve?”

I think that the interest behind these shows is to intimidate people and intimidate the country. It is true that Israel is located in an area that is prone to earthquakes, but how this issue is presented and handled depends on the interests of politicians and scientists. Some want to use the information to gain more power, and others want to use it to gain funding for their studies, so the findings are presented in a way that serves the interested parties.

Once again, we see that the problem is not the dangers that nature poses, but the dangers that the ego poses. It twists everything in its favor and warps the truth to serve itself. People sense this and therefore doubt the credibility of the information.

If we want to avoid events of mass destruction, we must deal with the root of the problem, namely our own egoism and the fact that we do not have the common good in mind, but only our own. It is not only politicians and decision makers who act this way; it is all of us. The selfishness of politicians is certainly the most conspicuous. However, it is not unique to them but a reflection of our entire society.

Consequently, if we want unbiased information, we need to change people’s attitude toward society. Without an educational process that elevates the value of concern for others above concern only for ourselves, nothing will change.

We should not say that it is impossible because until today, we have not really tried. Moreover, the idea that it is impossible is the ego’s own protection against our efforts to dethrone it from governing our society and our relationships.

This effort cannot be limited in scope. It needs to be an educational process that encompasses all of society, everywhere. The impetus for such an ambitious feat should come from the fact that we see no future, from the realization that our mutual inconsideration will destroy us unless we become considerate. If there is one truth that we should not be afraid to expose, it is that nothing is true because our egos warp our ‎perception to favor ourselves. If we do not change this, the ego will indeed bring upon us ‎mass destruction.‎

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Comment: Eyewitnesses say that when the country of Israel appeared, there was a sense of a common family between the Jews who moved here.

My Response: Naturally, as in every young country. First, there were more men than women back then. Second, everyone united in order to survive. The first settlers came from one area, the south of Russia, with a common language and a common mentality.

From the 80s of the 19^th century to the middle of the 20^th century, the whole of Palestine was populating with refugees from Russia and Eastern Europe. Only then, after the country was organized, refugees from Arab countries began to arrive.

But over the years, everything has changed. Today, relations between people have acquired such miasmic forms that only spiritual correction will help correct them.

Of course, it is a pity to look at what is happening. Once they found themselves in one place, instead of jumping up spiritually, the Jewish people fell morally, spiritually, and culturally. I hope that this is the initial stage of development, and then everything will pass.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Who Rules the World” 2/9/13

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Question: There is a very big problem in Israel: a big number of police officers are resigning. It used to be an honor to become a policeman. Today, resignations are coming one after another. They are being given more and more tasks, more and more responsibility. The salary, however, is very low, below average.

They are accused of abusing authority more and more often, they even are being tried for it. When an Israel Border Police (MAGAV) fighter who neutralizes a terrorist is forced to testify as a suspect, of course, he has a feeling that the country has betrayed him, that it is better to find another job and earn more.

Please tell me what our actions should be regarding those who protect us, the police?

Answer: I even feel uncomfortable talking about it. How is it possible that the policemen get so little and are so little protected?! We have to protect them with the whole country and pay them more than in any other job because they deal with riots, with crime every day, every minute.

When I was in Switzerland about 15 years ago, I talked to a policeman there. An ordinary novice policeman receives 8,000 euros a month. It is not easy to get a job there and it is not easy to work there. Yet, what is special about Switzerland?!

Question: Exactly. Who are you really saving there? And here you are always on edge. Does it mean that, by and large, these two points, and there are probably even more of them: respect from the government and the fact that they are engaged in important work and are always protected, should be present?

Answer: Of course, society should protect them.

Question: Is the fact that they receive very little money also a feeling that they have been abandoned?

Answer: Of course. We should raise their salary. Review the laws of resisting police officers, keeping arms, and so on. Give them a little more freedom in their hands. Strengthen them and recruit a normal number of police officers. Then everything will be different.

They should feel that the people are behind them. And the people should feel that they are protecting them.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 7/11/22

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Comment: There is an outbreak of violence in Israel’s hospitals.The statistics relating to doctors, nurses, and guards being beaten in hospitals are incredible. Examples include the doctor being hit on the head with an iron stick because a patient was asked to leave an office, or for rearranging queues for tests or for not being served the right way, etc.

And I’m not talking about insults, as there are a lot of them as well. 48% of hospital employees are insulted at least three times a month and 17% are physically abused. The government’s response is to strengthen police protection in hospitals.

My Response: I don’t think it will help. Firstly, it is necessary to work with the population. And secondly, we still need to make sure that thousands and thousands of people do not generally end up in the hospital and clinics. They should receive some kind of care prior to clinics and especially prior to the hospital, meaning, help at home.

Question: Tell me please, has this surge of violence that is happening now happened before? What is it in us that triggers it?

Answer: People are nervous. They are waiting, maybe for help and they can’t stand queues and so on.

Question: Is it correct to say that you would essentially turn almost all of it back to the ministers?

Answer: Doctors are not to blame here and neither are the patients. The wrong organization of labor is to blame. Whoever is doing this, let them figure it out.

Question: Do you think the police will be able to cope with this?

Answer: No! Some grandfather came, screamed, hit the doctor on the head with his stick. What can you do? He can’t take it anymore. It doesn’t matter that he’s wrong, it is simply a fact.

It is important to sort everything out to serve a person before that so that he does not reach a nervous breakdown.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 7/7/22

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My new article on Linkedin “ The Clash between Islam and Judaism ”

The never-ending clash between Israel and the Islamic world is far deeper than a dispute over land or territory. The ultimate purpose of Islam is to rule the world. It may take years, decades, centuries, or millennia, but the ultimate goal is for Islam to govern the planet. They have patience, persistence, devotion to their faith, and as we can see, Islam is making headway the world over. Jews, on the other hand, have no ideology at all. Currently, our only ideology is to indulge in selfish pleasures. But at the basis of our nation lies a unique idea that neither Islam nor any other religion can accept: love of others as much as one loves oneself.

Currently, Jews do not give a second thought to this idea; they are as afraid of it as any other faith, if not more so, since they are the ones tasked with spreading it around the world. But Jews, as we said, are immersed in the exact opposite of love of others, and therefore no one spreads this notion today, and this is what our world looks like: a planet whose inhabitants fight against each other to the death.

Because our current way of life has nothing to do with our vocation, and everything to do with indulgence, the tendency among Jews in Israel is to seek a quieter place elsewhere. When Zionists first came to Israel, they believed that our historic homeland was the place where we could build a safe haven for the Jews. We did not look for a place where we could realize our calling—to love our neighbor as ourselves and become a light of unity to the nations. Instead, we only sought a place where we would not be slaughtered and persecuted.

In the first years of Israel’s existence, there was an intense feeling of existential threat. This made us come together whenever the conflict with our neighbors became violent. Over the past several decades, we have come to realize that our enemies are not strong enough to annihilate the Jewish state. They can hurt us, but they cannot demolish the country.

As a result, we turned once more toward indulgence, just as we did while we were in the Diaspora. Since the modern State of Israel was not established on the ideology of mutual responsibility and love of others, but as an attempt to find safety, the minute we did not need unity as a means of survival, we threw it out the window.

Now, our enemies rejoice when they see us clashing with each other. They know that if they are patient, we will disintegrate from within and they will not need to fight against us on the battlefield.

If we want to have a foothold in the land of Israel, we must rethink our reason for being here. Israel is no longer considered a safe haven. Even for those who do come here for reasons of personal safety, it is no longer a strong enough motivation to remain here. The future of the country depends on understanding the real purpose of the Jewish people and embracing its vocation.

The “ideology” of the Jewish people is love of others. This was the basis of our peoplehood when we first became a nation at the foot of Mt. Sinai. Therefore, only if we strive for it do we merit the title “people of Israel,” and the right to live in the land of Israel, the land of the people who strive to love each other as themselves and set an example that will be a light to the nations.

We currently have no idea about our vocation, yet our existence in this country depends on knowing it. Therefore, educating ourselves and our children about the meaning and purpose of the Israeli nation is vital for our future. If we want to win the ideological war with Islam, then just as they are taught to hate Jews from infancy, we should teach our children to love others. If we bolster our solidarity and increase our unity, no enemy will stand against us.

Real Judaism is not about services and customs. Real Judaism means rising above our selfishness, uniting above the ego, loving (or at least striving to love) each other as ourselves, and doing these in order to be a light to the nations, to set an example for the world.

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Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “Bring Back the Pioneer Spirit”

When I came to Israel in 1974, I was sent to a hotel that accommodated new olim (Jews who had just immigrated to Israel). Each family was given a room and we slept, dined, and learned Hebrew there. One day, I found out that one of the waiters serving us in the dining hall was actually the owner of the hotel. He had donated his hotel for several years to help new olim in their first steps. I was amazed to discover that there were people with such spirit. That man was a true pioneer, and it was the pioneer spirit that drove him to do what he did. That spirit did not let him sit by, but galvanized him to do something meaningful in his life. Today, this spirit is a rarity, and we desperately need to find a way to bring it back to life.

The pioneer spirit exists in the heart of every Jew. After all, every Jew is a descendant of pioneers who paved the way for a new social model of mutual responsibility and solidarity, which was unheard of at the time. Until Abraham began to spread his ideas about mercy and love of others, and until Moses had turned the descendants of Abraham’s group into a nation, the idea of a nation fashioned by transcending one’s ego was unthinkable. The prevailing conduct was that the strong rules and subjugates or annihilates the weak, both among nations and among individuals. Here, however, was a new concept, embodied in the words of King Solomon (Prov. 10:12): “Hate stirs up strife, and love will cover all crimes.”

The Golden Rule, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” represents the core of being Jewish. It is not a commandment to do something or say something. Nor is it a commandment to praise a deity or worship it. It is simply a commandment to love others as much as you love yourself.

The pioneers who established the State of Israel did a great job at founding a sovereign country in a land that was largely swamp and desert when they came here, and against six charging armies that sought to annihilate the Jewish presence in the Middle East. However, they did not finish the job. They established a state, but now it is up to us to nurture the soul and spirit of that state so as to merit the name the “State of Israel,” a country that hallows one and only law, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

If we take the next step and fill the heart of the Israeli people with the Israeli spirit of solidarity, mutual responsibility, and above all, love of others, it will be our final triumph. No one will challenge our presence here because everyone will realize that we are not here for ourselves, but for the world, to carry out our calling and be a light to the nations, spreading the light of unity and friendship above all differences and conflicts. If we rise above our internal divisions toward unity and love, we will complete our ancestors’ task, and their pioneering spirit of caring for others will spread around the world.

Therefore, the only war we need to wage is against our egos. The only victory we need is the victory of unity over division.
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