Jerusalem is considered the center of the world, the eternal city. It was founded by King David as the capital of the Kingdom of Judah and it is the capital of Israel today. Jerusalem is mentioned 800 times in the Tanakh, which means it is given great importance in all three major world religions and especially in Judaism.

Jerusalem is considered an eternal city despite the fact that it has been destroyed and conquered by invaders several times over the course of history. Today, Jerusalem is at the very center of controversy for the entire world. Why is the attention of the world focused on this tiny piece of land?

The spiritual world, as well as the material world, must have a center. It was once believed that the center of the universe was the sun around which everything revolves. And this is actually the case if you look at our solar system from the point of view of astronomy.

And in the human system, everything emerged from Jerusalem even though Jerusalem existed as a small settlement even before Jews came to the land of Israel. They conquered the land by defeating seven other nations that lived on it, and they populated the place according to instructions from above. Since then, Jerusalem has belonged to Israel.

Jerusalem is a special place that is the heart of Israel. It did not immediately become a central city; there were several other such places before it. But after a while, Jerusalem became the most important center and received the names “city of peace,” “city of David,” “perfect city,” and since then, it has been proclaimed as the capital of Israel forever.

Why did King David chose this particular location for the capital of his kingdom? It is the place where the spiritual and material centers of the world come together. That is why people are so attracted to this point and many feel special phenomena in it. Even today, many tourists who come to visit Jerusalem say that it has a special glow, an unusual feeling of certain vibrations.

There is even such a phenomenon in psychiatry as the “Jerusalem syndrome” in which a person begins to imagine himself as a historical character from the Tanakh and forgets who he really is.

If we could look at Jerusalem from the inside, as if through an X-ray, we would see that it contains many spiritual properties: the Temple Mount, Mount Scopus, the city walls, etc. We would see the special atmosphere that reigns in every corner of Jerusalem. Every smallest fragment of this city bears the imprint of a special spiritual quality.

These symbols have existed in Jerusalem for thousands of years, but for us they have become familiar and commonplace. On the other hand, we must understand that the main thing is not the thousands-year-old walls, but the people who look at Jerusalem.

It is the people who must give a special spirit to this city, the correct spiritual symbols. Because on one hand, Jerusalem is called the city of peace, and on the other hand, it is constantly torn by strife and wars so it is not clear how to bring it to perfection and peace.

We still have a lot of work to do in order to understand what Jerusalem is and what needs to be done to make it whole and perfect. Jerusalem is not only a city of peace but also a city of perfection and integrity. How can we bring it to a state where the ten spiritual Sefirot would unite with the soil of this world, that is, so that the end of correction would come?

For this, we study the science of Kabbalah and strive to reach the state where this will happen. We ourselves must become whole and perfect. It is thanks to the people who live in this city and achieve unification of everyone—all races and nationalities—that it will become the city of peace, the perfect city.

To do this, we need to learn how we can create such a form of humanity where all people will be united by good, correct, friendly ties to the full extent. Then we will understand the power that is contained in this city. The more we unite together, the more we will reveal the power hidden in Jerusalem. Then it will be a perfect city.
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From KabTV’s “The Peace” 5/25/21

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Question: The Israeli Prime Minister and the Defense Minister met with foreign diplomats in Israel. They very logically, accurately, and visibly proved that Palestinian rocket launchers are stored in residential areas, in kindergartens, inside houses and hospitals, and that under residential areas of Gaza there is a huge underground city where militants are hiding behind residents and that our airstrikes are precisely targeted.

If there are threats to civilians, they are immediately notified to leave the area and are given time to evacuate. Evidence was presented that one quarter of the Palestinian rockets fell on their own territory, but that they do not care. They bombed Lod and hit the city of Tyre in the north of the country, which are populated by Arabs.

It was clearly proven that there is no army as humane as ours.

Do you think that we will always have to justify ourselves to the world—how good we are?

Answer: I do not think we need to do it because we will not be able to justify ourselves and because we are not so good. In fact, we are still the ones to blame. We will always be guilty, and we will always be the ones held liable.

As long as egoism exists in the world that causes rejection, hatred, and separation from each other, we will be guilty because we are the source of it.

And there is no getting away from it. Thus, everyone will be increasingly fixated on us, will accuse us, and will act around us and against us. We used to believe that as we develop, people would get smarter year after year and understand that it is not us.

But nothing could be further from the truth! Look at the Holocaust! We thought that when the truth of the Holocaust was out in the open people would see what it was and would change their attitude toward this long-suffering nation.

But no! We see what humanity is saying: “You have suffered? Suffer a thousand times more! Because we are all suffering because of you.” Humanity has this feeling that they are suffering because of us, that we are the source of suffering.

Question: Then I have this question: should we respond when we are attacked, and how should we respond?

Answer: We must defend ourselves in order to exist. It says in the Torah: “He who comes to kill you, kill him first.” But you must do so with the awareness that you must correct this state of being attacked. You must investigate the reason why others hate you and eradicate this hatred.

Question: So in any case, the first thing is to fight back, right?

Answer: Otherwise, who will justify, correct the world, and so on? Yes.

But Jews cannot really be annihilated. After all, they are the ones who have to bring the world to correction. This is our problem.

Question: What has to happen for everyone to feel that this is our land, that we are defending our land?

Answer: The nations of the world will not only feel this, but they will lead us to this country, they will open all the borders for us and say: “Come in and live here! Reign in glory, we will glorify you.”

Question: When will this happen?

Answer: When we all come together and when out of our correct, kind connection, we influence the whole of nature so that all of nature comes to unity, to a good relationship with each other so that all nations will suddenly look at each other with love. It can be a startling change if only the Jewish people would act this way among themselves.

Comment: Didn’t your teacher Rabash worry about the soldiers as if they were his own children? I remember you said that even while praying, he would listen to the news. He was asked, “How can you listen to the news during a prayer?” He said: “My children are there.”

Baal HaSulam recognized this country and even met with the head of state Ben-Gurion. He wanted this country to exist. You came here and served and worked in the army. And in general, everyone knows that you are not a left-leaning person.

My Response: I am neither left nor right. I do not stick to the left or the right wing’s ideology.

Question: You have a Kabbalistic view that this country should become just that, and that is what it was created for. And for this purpose Jews were gathered here?

Answer: Yes, to turn it into the spiritual center of the world.

Question: And then, at that moment, we will be able to say that this land is ours, right?

Answer: Only then.

Question: How do you feel about the fact that they make fake news from your videos, from what you say? They cut the first part out, a little here, a little there, and the part that remains makes it look like you are against Israel, that you support BDS and the extreme left. That is, they cut out what you say about what Israel should become, about love of others and how to implement it. And then they begin to flag it.

How do you feel about this?

Answer: I am not even angry at them; it is their livelihood. They live off this, get paid for it. Hamas collects money, passes it to such scribblers, and they work.

Question: And immediately people look at you in a certain way and say: “Wow, look at what he said! He says this is an apartheid country!” And so on. But it was a cunning editing job. How do you feel about this?

Answer: Positively. Because truth cannot be spread in this world. But lies spread very quickly! So, thanks to a lie, the truth will gradually come out through this lie. “Truth will grow from the earth.” So, I am happy.

Question: Really? It doesn’t bother you?

Answer: On the contrary, I am glad that I am being turned upside down, and in general, cut into pieces. Why not?

A person in our world has reached such a state of egoistic development that he cannot accept the truth. Here, try taking a truth pill, your body will reject it.

But if you take one gram of truth with 20 grams of lies and swallow those 20 grams of lies, you will be satisfied with these 20 grams of lies! And one gram of truth will be absorbed through it.

And that is what these people do. So I am grateful to them for taking my words this way and cutting them up.

Question: So you believe that in the lies they spread, there is still this gram of truth that penetrates it?

Answer: Yes. Although it is completely invisible. Quite the opposite.

Question: Then I have another question. What would you say now in this difficult time to the citizens of our country?

Answer: I have nothing to say. I have absolutely nothing to say except one thing. You nevertheless have to take an interest in who we are, what we are, and why we exist, for whose sake.

Question: The people of Israel?

Answer: Not just Israel. Today, it already is the entire world.

If you start to take an interest in this, I talk about it and write about it in all my books. You will find that we have a grand and wonderful mission, which from day to day becomes more and more singular in the world.

Everything else is becoming irrelevant, everything else becomes null and void. And only we remain with our idea that we must implement. And everything that relates to implementing this idea—love your neighbor as yourself, the connection of everyone—all of this remains and becomes more and more clearly manifested in our world as a necessity.

Question: Do you consider yourself to be a Zionist? And if yes, how do you define this concept?

Answer: Well, I cannot use these definitions because they are used in a completely different way than how I see them.

The aspiration to Zion, of course, was everyone’s aspiration. I remember my grandfather and his trepidation when he spoke about it. This was in the 1950s. Of course, it was very sacred to him.

Question: And he passed that on to you, right?

Answer: I remember that, yes. When I first went up to Jerusalem, I was very, very anxious—I was doing something that my grandfather never could.

Comment: That is, he conveyed this feeling and aspiration through you.

My response: Yes. I felt connected to my ancestors. But then it went away. Then I developed a very different connection with the land of Israel, with Zion, only for the sake of a higher idea.

Real Zionism is connection with the upper force that passes through the spiritual land of Israel! Earth, “Eretz” comes from the word “Ratzon,” a desire, aimed at love and bestowal.

Question: And in this sense you are a Zionist?

Answer: Yes.

Question: And so were Baal HaSulam and your teacher Rabash, right?

Answer: All the Kabbalists.

Question: What is the land of Israel to you, to you personally?

Answer: It is a place that no one really wants, in reality. It was not needed. That is why it was abandoned for centuries. When the Jews came, it became needed by all.

This is a place that I hope will be completely forgotten and everyone will look only up toward heaven. That is where one should look for the desire for love and bestowal, for connection! That is the land of Israel. Up there.

Question: Is it not the physical land of Israel?

Answer: There is nothing physical. Not in these rocks, not in this sand, not in anything here! Everything is only inside, inside the people who appreciate and strive for this ideal of love, connection, and ascent to the Creator, to the quality of love and bestowal.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 5/20/21

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Question: We have already been through four elections in Israel. Do you think there can be a government with different parties from different directions? They are already voicing slogans: “From Me to We.” That is, they will sort of try to annul themselves in order to come to a common decision. How will the system still work?

Answer: It will not work. There is no foundation for the system to work. In general, there is no foundation for Jews to get together and manage something together amicably. There is great egoism and a complete misunderstanding of the fact that egoism must somehow be controlled, suppressed, and not always rise above each other.

Everything will be as it was before, only the government will change with even greater frequency. People will no longer pay attention to who is there and who is not. You will wake up in the morning and find out: “Oh, we have a new government!”

Question: Will even this thought: “What if something changes? Maybe something will change after all?” disappear?

Answer: I do not know. We will reach a state when there will be military coups again, generals will seize power with the help of troops. And on our borders, our dear neighbors will wait anticipating victory.

Comment: Then build a perfect picture of how it should work.

My Response: The recognition of evil exists somewhere in the people: We cannot be together, we are like this. We are the most egoistic ones, the most so and so. On the one hand. But on the other hand, they do not want to admit it. Many, the masses, are ready to turn a blind eye to this.

Of course, there is also religion, which helps to suppress these thoughts, it talks about the chosen people, and so on. I do not know. I personally do not have any prescriptions for the future. You know my prescription, but no “pharmacy” will accept it. They cannot even read it!

Comment: That is, you only have one prescription—unity of the people.

My Response: The gradual education of the people toward unity, as a necessary, the only necessary, condition!

Question: Then what kind of government should there be, that they would agree to and bet only on it?

Answer: Only Kabbalists. The ones who would gather people and identify among these people the ones that are essential, necessary, able to take part in governing the country and the society.

Question: What about governing the country: is the entire foundation still only the unity of the people? Are all the laws made only on this basis, and all of life only on this basis?

Answer: Absolutely! I am building you a perfect picture! You think it cannot be real. Is it perfect? Yes, it is perfect. However, in these conditions and with these people, and in the state in which society is today, this cannot happen yet.

Question: What will we come to?

Answer: To the fact that there will be a big massacre. Has that not happened in our history? Such fratricidal wars that we do not need enemies, we will kill each other ourselves.

Comment: It mainly happened in the time of the Temples.

My Response: It does not matter. We can come to this. I do not believe in a good near future. As much as I can see how things are unfolding. I do not know.

We are nevertheless trying to do everything we can and to explain everything. But speaking seriously, soberly, people laugh at what we say. And this laughter causes great disappointment, fear, and sorrow. Because this is how people laugh when they really feel bad. This is how the gladiators used to shout: “Those who are about to die salute you.”

Question: What do you expect when you say all this? Let’s say it goes on the air.

Answer: It has to go on the air.

Question: To make them flinch? Is that what you expect?

Answer: I do not know. Let them curse me, let them do what they want. It does not matter to me at all.

They should just know that this is the opinion of a Kabbalist. I just want them to understand. Or if they do not understand, I want it to remain somewhere within them, and in some future, they might remember it. So that it would stop them somehow, alert them, and so on.

I want to help.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 6/7/21

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My new article on Linkedin “Israel’s Founding Principle – Unity Above All Else”

Israel faces an identity crisis. Over the years we have followed without much thought the rules imposed by the British Mandate after the Ottoman period in the Land of Israel. It has been a natural precedent to carry on, an easy and convenient one. However, the conditions for the governments of other nations cannot and will not suit us here. Therefore, we keep failing time and time again, from government to government, and have yet to get it right.

Nowadays it is already clear to everyone—for better or for worse—that we are a unique people. The world does not allow us to be like other peoples, and Israel is likewise revealed as a country that cannot be like all other countries.

The State of Israel must build itself and its form of government in accordance with its unique character and identity. While the current conditions in Israel are characterized by social havoc, by unruly hatred similar to that which erupted between us in the days of the destruction of the Temple, love of others and the unity of the people above all else is still the requisite state to which we must aspire. We are a nation founded on the supreme commandment to reach love above hatred, to transcend self-interest and to establish good mutual relations between us.

Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion understood this well. He said: “By these will the State be judged, by the moral character it imparts to its citizens, by the human values determining its inner and outward relations, and by its fidelity, in thought and act, to the supreme behest: ‘and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.’ Here is crystallized the eternal law of Judaism, and all the written ethics in the world can say no more. The State will be worthy of its name only if its systems, social and economic, political and legal, are based upon these imperishable words.” (“Rebirth and Destiny of Israel”)

Ben-Gurion was right. The Supreme Providence will not allow the State of Israel to function according to the conditions of other countries. Pressure will be put on us until we begin to fulfill our destiny. We must understand who we are, what is expected from us, what our role is towards the nations, and govern accordingly. The question is: will we reach such an awareness in a positive or in a negative way, out of awakening and consent on our part to connect as one people, or out of anguish from internal and external pressures?

In order to avoid insurmountable divisions leading to terrible civil war, we must internalize the fact that the basic laws of the people of Israel are the spiritual laws of mutual care and unity.

This fundamental value must be the backbone of every governmental decision, law, and its implementation. From the top downwards, the idea of unity must permeate all avenues of Israeli society. Just as we care for our children’s intellectual upbringing regardless of their socio-economic background, we must provide education to build good and harmonious relations between all members of the nation, to establish close ties connecting each and every one of the people. This law of mutual responsibility and love is the founding principle of our people and should be our lasting recipe for success.
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My new article on Linkedin “What Proper Governance Should Look Like”

Yesterday, a new government was sworn in, in Israel. A new government is always a chance to reflect on, and hope for a proper government, which functions the way a government that works for the people should. If, theoretically, we were to have a government that had the people’s best interest in mind, we would see a two-section plan. Section no. 1 would detail the ideal situation, the greatest achievements we can imagine. Section no. 2 would slice Section 1 into small, digestible bites that we can carry out one at a time. In my view, the greatest achievement we can hope for, and that we should strive to achieve, is mutual responsibility and love of others, as in the verse, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If we achieve this, we will also achieve every other imaginary reward.

However, for this to happen, we first need to agree that the purpose of the existence of the people of Israel and the State of Israel is indeed to live in mutual responsibility and love of others. The foundation of our nation, the basic tenet of being Jewish, is love of others. The Jerusalem Talmud writes (Nedarim 30b), “‘Love your neighbor as yourself’; Rabbi Akiva says, ‘This is a great rule in the Torah.’” The book Likutey Halachot [Assorted Rules] elaborates on the topic and explains that all the different factions must achieve unity not in order to defeat a common foe, but in order to achieve love. “The vitality is mainly through unity, by all the changes being included in the source of the unity,” the author, Nathan Sternhartz, writes. “For this reason,” he continues “‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ is the great rule of the Torah, to be incorporated in unity and peace. The vitality, sustenance, and correction of all of creation are mainly by people of different views becoming incorporated together in love, unity, and peace.”

In light of today’s deteriorating societal situation in Israel and the country’s declining international status, I think we must all realize that returning to our roots, to the only source of power and legitimacy that we have ever had, is no longer an option; it is mandatory! We must start discussing on every channel and every panel how mutual responsibility and love of others pertain to our current state, why they are the most important tasks we have today, and what will happen if we don’t carry them out. We need to educate ourselves about this just as we educate ourselves about everything else that’s important to us in life.

Moreover, education toward love of others must be part of the education system, embedded in the curriculum of every school as one of the core subjects to be taught, and enhanced through extracurricular educational programs and activities. If we think about Sternhartz’s words, that “The vitality, sustenance, and correction of all of creation are mainly by people of different views becoming incorporated together in love, unity, and peace,” it is easy to see how far we are from it. The events of the past several months leave us no choice but to strive toward it above all the difficulties and despite, and even because of our inherent resentment toward each other.

We have to keep in mind that we are unlike any other nation. Every nation comes from someone and belongs to some core nucleus of people who start it. Jews come from everywhere and do not belong to any core nucleus of people. When Abraham gathered people around him and began to teach them about unity, just as we need to do now, his students came from all over the Fertile Crescent and the Middle-East. They came from different tribes and nations and had nothing in common but the idea of “people of different views becoming incorporated together in love, unity, and peace.” So, if we don’t reinstate our unity, how are we a nation? We return to being a crowd of strangers who don’t believe in the idea of unity and don’t see any reason to establish unity among them. Is it hard to see that in such a state, our days as a nation are numbered?

If we want to see Israel going forward successfully, we must establish it correctly, not the way other nations are built, since we are not like other nations, as is evident to everyone, but the way Israel is meant to be built—on the basis of love of others and mutual responsibility. Therefore, even before we think about the new government, we must think about the future form of our country and our nation.
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My new article on Linkedin “A One-Sentence Constitution”

Evidently, the Jewish nation is unlike any other. Even when we want to believe that we are, life, or rather, the rest of the nations, do not allow us to think so. When the State of Israel was established, we sought to run our country according to the rules that seemed appropriate at the time. As a result, we mainly followed the British Mandatory rule, with “leftovers” from the Ottoman rule that preceded it.

Yet, from one election to the next, we are realizing that our system of government is failing; people are dissatisfied and the government is dysfunctional. We cannot be like other countries because we weren’t formed like other countries, and we aren’t meant to be like other countries. We are meant to be an am segula, a virtuous nation, which serves as “a light unto nations” by following a one-sentence constitution: “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev. 19:18).

Our sages knew this, of course. Rabbi Akiva declared that this was the great rule of the Torah; Old Hillel said to a man who wanted to understand the gist of Jewish law, “That which you hate, do not do unto others,” and countless other references in Jewish writings testify to the centrality of the concept of love of others and mutual responsibility in Jewish law.

The founders of our country were also keenly aware of this law and its vitality to our success. David Ben Gurion, leader of the Jewish community in Israel before the establishment of Israel, and the country’s first Prime Minister, wrote that “‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ is the supreme commandment of Judaism. With these three words [the length of the sentence in Hebrew], the eternal, human law of Judaism has been formed… The state of Israel will be worthy of its name only if its social, economic, political, and judicial structures are based upon these three eternal words.”

Aaron David (A.D.) Gordon, the ideologue and the spiritual force behind practical Zionism and Labor Zionism, echoed Ben Gurion’s words when he wrote, “‘All of Israel are responsible for one another’ … [and] only where people are responsible for one another there is Israel.” And finally, Eliezer Ben Yehuda, reviver of the Hebrew language, asserted that “We have yet to open our eyes and see that only unity can save us. Only if we all unite … to work in favor of the entire nation, our labor will not be in vain.”

Regrettably, we have not built our social, economic, political, and judicial systems on these three words, as Ben Gurion had stipulated, nor have we united “to work in favor of the entire nation,” as Ben Yehuda required, or have become “responsible for one another,” as A.D. Gordon specified. As a result, as a country and as a nation, we are failing miserably. If we continue on this path, we will have no future here. In the best case scenario, we will “escape the discomfort until too few remain to merit the name State, and they will be swallowed among the Arabs,” as kabbalist and thinker Rav Yehuda Ashlag put it. In the worst case scenario, we will be dispersed by force, either through war or through civil war.

If we want to avoid this dreadful, but certain fate, we have no choice but to comprehend that our nation is a spiritual one, and as such, our country must be founded on the spiritual law of love of others: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” This is the only constitution that is suitable for our country and our people, and the only mode of governance that will make Israel a welcome state among the nations.

Even Henry Ford, who loathed the Jews of his time so vehemently that he became Hitler’s idol and received from him the highest award that a none German could receive, admired the Jews of antiquity precisely because their social structure was based upon these “three eternal words,” as Ben Gurion put it. Ford wrote, “Modern reformers, who are constructing model social systems … would do well to look into the social system under which the early Jews were organized.”

Today, the paramount task before us is to establish such education in the nation that will lift us above all our disputes and quarrels and establish unity, mutual responsibility, and indeed, love of others in the nation. And since hatred is so entrenched within the nation, this education must encompass the entire nation, on all its factions, equally, and apply to all ages. We must reform our society from one where envy and hatred govern, to one where support and love set the tone until we realize the tenet “Love your neighbor as yourself” in practice. This is Israel’s only viable governance.

Filed under: Anti-Semitism, Israel Today, New Publications - No Comments →

Comment: Nowadays, in connection with the latest events in the world, there has been a terrible increase of anti-Semitism. They do not like Israel, they do not like Jews.

In Europe, in Germany, they burn flags, call us child killers. In England they tell us not to wear kippahs (yarmulkes) and traditional Jewish clothing and to dress as if we are English or tourists. In France, the situation is quite bad. In America, Jews remove mezuzahs from the doors so that nobody knows that Jews live there. And so on, you can list many facts. We have come to this state.

My Response: What could be better than what is happening now? This is to put the Jews on the right track so that they fulfill their purpose. After all, if they do not fulfill it, then literally the world will slide into darkness more and more.

How else can you bring them to their senses? Only by applying more and more pressure. Still, I do not see that it helps much. Although there already was such suffering, such blows upon them, it still did not help.

We must understand why everybody hates us. Also, the anti-Semites must understand why they hate us. We see throughout the history of the Jews and the world, how it is wrapped around the Jewish people. Therefore we have to ask ourselves: Why is all this happening?

They hate us, they love us, no matter how they treat us, they are clearly treating us as something special. What is special about this ethnic group, this people, this race? They even think this is some special race. We need to explain that.

The fact is that it all began in ancient times, somewhere around 5,000 years ago when humanity began to reveal its attitude to its condition: “Who am I? What am I? Where am I from? What am I for?” And so on. These questions were asked by a man named Adam. This is what he was called, supposedly by accident, Adam.

This person began to ask this question, began to reason, to investigate. As a result of his special passion, his thirst to answer this question: “What is a human? What is his purpose, what is he for?” Adam revealed that the world exists in order to attain the upper force that governs it.

It is possible to attain this force only through special exercises when a person tries to rise above egoism, above himself, and to attain the upper force of nature, which only wishes to be in the quality of bestowal and love for others, in universal connection.

In this way, the upper universal connection between all parts of creation is revealed. This upper general force of all the parts of creation is called “the Creator.”

This person Adam revealed this force. He described it in his book Raziel HaMalach (The Secret Angel). This is a small book because at that time they wrote on clay and with sticks.

Adam created the first school where he taught his knowledge, everything he had learned, to the people who were interested in it. Quite a number of people came to him, listened to him. All kinds of beliefs also came from him since different people understood this teaching differently.

This lasted, in principle, 20 generations of his disciples: 10 generations until the disciple called Noah and another 10 generations to the disciple called Abraham. And all these generations of disciples created more disciples around them, and so it went on for hundreds of years.

In the generation of Abraham, the understanding of the knowledge that Adam passed on to them already begins. Abraham taught this to his disciples in Ancient Babylon where at that time were also special conditions. Why special conditions?

Because if before Babylon, before Abraham, the teaching of the system of the universe and the knowledge of where we exist, what surrounds us, what we are connected with, who’s governance we are under, and so on, was all purely individual, then, from Abraham onward, it was already happening in the connection between people. Therefore, Abraham is the first person who created the school of Kabbalists.

In principle, they were studying in some way before, but they were not so dependent and connected with each other. Abraham had already realized, understood, and revealed that the attainment of nature and its upper force depends on the connection between people. Therefore, he put forth the slogan “love your neighbor as yourself.”

This is already such a revolution, when you need to move from just pulling yourself up to the level of bestowal and love for others to starting to arrange people to such a state. Here he came into conflict with the egoism that at that time represented by Nimrod, the king of Babylon. And, of course, Abraham had to leave him.

From here begins the group of Abraham, which he called “Yehudi” from the word “Yehud,” connection, unity.

Jew (in Hebrew, Ivri) is from the word “ever,” meaning that they pass from this life, when everyone is for himself, to a life when everyone is for others. They also called it “Israel,” meaning aimed “straight to the Creator,” “Yashar-El,” Israel. This is where the wisdom of Kabbalah begins. That is, in principle, this is the wisdom of attaining the Creator.

Question: If we move from that time to the current time, then is the hatred because Abraham instilled this principle to live not for yourself, but for others, into the people of Israel, and the Jews do not live like this? Can we say that this is written in the spiritual genetics of a person and also not in the spiritual one?

Answer: Of course! Absolutely! This is a record, informational data, that exists in a person. They cannot be eradicated, nothing can be done about them. The only thing that can be done is to change hatred into love through an explanation.

Question: How do the nations feel that there is this record in the Jews and in Israel?

Answer: Subconsciously.

Question: Will this continue until we reach the root?

Answer: That would be good. Let us hope that it does not get any worse.

Comment: But it already was very bad, really. Look what we went through in our history!

My Response: Yes, but you can see how it does not affect anything. It turns out that the only thing left is a really serious mass explanation through an appeal to everybody and especially to the nations of the world, not to the Jews.

It is because the Jews are stiff-necked people. They will not believe and will not go, and will not do anything unless the nations of the world force them. Therefore, we must appeal to the nations of the world and explain to them what the Jews should do. To force the Jews to fulfill this purpose. Then it will work.

This is what we need to do. I really hope that with the help of all our students from all over the world, we will be able to do this.

Question: Is it the responsibility of the Jews to explain to the world and to give to the world the method of connection, unity, and love for one’s neighbor? To do it by themselves and give it to the world?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Will they continue pressing on us until we get to that point?

Answer: “Pressing” is putting it mildly. But the thing is, it will not help. The only thing that will help is dissemination, explanation to all the nations of the world what Israel’s mission is and what their mission is.

It is written that they must raise the people of Israel up on their shoulders and lift them to the mountain of the Creator. This means that they must force the people of Israel to climb the mountain of the Creator so that the Jews will pave the way for all the nations of the world.

Comment: This explanation should enter into the heart, that is what’s important.

My Response: I think that, in general, the ground is prepared for this, and as much as it is impossible to accept it, it will be accepted precisely from its opposite.

The idea in itself is simple. It goes through all the generations, through all the persecutions, through all the exterminations, through all the destruction of Temples, and so on, right up to the Holocaust and our current state. The same thing, again and again.

Comment: But the idea that Kabbalists convey does not enter into ordinary people, into their hearts; that is the difficulty.

My Response: It affects everyone. But the understanding of the idea itself: Where it comes from, why, what drives it, what is the engine, the source of this historical movement, this is known only to Kabbalists.

Comment: I see that it has been mostly present in Baal HaSulam and present in you very vividly! You feel that the time has come, has arrived. This is almost the central point of history for you, the central point of the world!

Antisemitism is a segment in history, and for you it is the central point of the world.

My Response: The world revolves around this.

Comment: To bring the Jews to an understanding and to the fact that they pass this instruction to the world.

My Response: I think not even the Jews, but the world.

I do not think the Jews can take it upon themselves. They are too egoistic, divided, weak and do not understand their purpose and place, their role, nothing! They will never be able to do it with their egoism.

Question: Will the nations of the world be able to force them?

Answer: Yes! Exactly in such a way.

Comment: Yes, but hopefully it does not come to another Holocaust.

My Response: Therefore, we need to do it quickly.

Question: To explain quickly? That is, the nations of the world should understand what they are doing, what they are doing it for? Is this the understanding they should have?

Answer: Yes.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 5/24/21

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My new article on Linkedin “It is the Turn for Jews in America”

After a decade in Silicon Valley in the United States, Maya Greenberg returned for a short homeland visit to Israel. Maya is a longtime student and active in spreading the wisdom of Kabbalah, someone who helped me a lot in organizing one of the lecture tours I gave across America in 2014 to warn about widespread antisemitism.

Today, mid-2021, I no longer have to warn of the impending danger of hatred against Jews. It is rampant everywhere, from colleges across the US to social media. The voices of hatred toward the Jewish state and toward Jews in general resonate loudly and hostilely.

Like many Israelis living in America, Maya also learned that as soon as Americans hear in the news or read about another Israeli military operation, it immediately ignites a heated debate about the role and tactics of the Jewish state and its right to self-defense. Maya often reluctantly stands at the forefront of information, becoming an ambassador who feels obligated to answer every question that arises.

We talked this morning, and I advised her—and all Israelis in America—to divide their answer into two parts: what they should answer to those around them, and what they should answer to themselves. The message to each part is completely different.

What the Israelis try to say and explain to the Americans will not really give them a satisfying answer. Maybe at best it will only soften their perception until the next controversy. On the other hand, what the Israelis will say to themselves should be a scrutiny of the highest importance because the fundamental change that the dire situation requires stems from internalization of the bond between the Israelis and the Jews in general.

God forbid, I do not belittle anyone who is not a Jew. Their role is simply different: to awaken Jews to unite. Therefore, the real work to change the current predicaments lies on Jewish shoulders.

As Baal HaSulam, the greatest Kabbalist of the twentieth century, wrote, “Bear in mind that in everything there is internality and externality. In the world in general, Israel, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, are considered the internality of the world, and the seventy nations are considered the externality of the world.” (“Introduction to The Book of Zohar”).

In other words, all of humanity is connected in one system of communication, in which Israel is the innermost part, the essence. The people of Israel are like a small world that reflects all of humanity within it. Because of this, Israel is responsible for everything that happens in the world for better or worse.

As Jews, it surprises us over and over again that subconsciously the world feels more than we do that the key to all of humanity’s problems is in our hands. This fact is the origin of the natural, instinctive hatred toward the Jews and the cause for the great pressure on Israel to accept its responsibility to fulfill its role. The fate of the world will be decided by Israel.

If we, Jews, were fully aware of our internal function within the universal network of communication, if we would rise above our egoistic nature, then humanity would also rise to the top of its potential and flourish over separation and hatred. Then the nations of the world would honor Israel, as it is written, “Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations, and set up my standard to the peoples: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.” (Isaiah 49, 22)

On the other hand, if the Jews in America—locals or Israeli expatriates—who are the focus of hatred, abandon their role and let their hearts be washed away by the currents of life and become indifferent to their role to unite, then the pressure of antisemitism will increase, the torments will intensify, and the next blow will be only a matter of time.

Maya paled at what I said. But unfortunately, just as in every period throughout history, bloodshed and bloody events have knocked on the door of Jewish communities around the world; now it is America’s turn.

The Jews in America feel the future is uncertain and there is a reason for that. They are disconnected from their roots, self-centered, only concerned about where to live in peace and comfort under the radar, even trying to shake off their link to Israel. Their connection to Judaism is very often relegated to making three visits to the synagogue per year, showing off their expensive Menorah at home, and paying their annual dues to their Jewish congregation.

The very detachment from the spirit of unity among Jews leads me to expect a worrisome future for Jews in America, a situation that could deteriorate as in those dark days in Nazi Germany where soldiers would roam the streets looking for Jews to pick up and haul to a train station and from there to a local concentration camp.

I expressed this concern at the annual conference of the Israel American Council (IAC) which was celebrated in Washington, DC in 2014. There, too, I tried to explain the many similarities between the conditions that motivated Germany to carry out the Holocaust and the current situation in the United States, which pose a great danger to Jews. I repeat my concerns again here and now.

Unlike during the Holocaust, American Jews still have a chance to be saved. Their unity would eliminate all evil and the antisemitic storm would subside.

Both American Jews and Israelis in America must understand the magnitude of the danger and solidify their connection as a united people who share the feeling of being one society in which a unique force binds them together. American Jews and Israelis in America must support each other, be guarantors for each other, because only reciprocity and mutual care will save them from a gloomy and dire fate. It is not too late to start, but the time to start is now.
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My new article on Linkedin “American Jewry and Jewish Israelis in America – Worlds Apart”

An Israeli student of mine, who has been living in Silicon Valley for quite some time, described the situation between American Jews and Jewish Israelis living in the US in the following words: “As an Israeli, I feel that I have no connection to American Jews. I am in a community of Israelis, we speak Hebrew, live the Israeli culture, the news in Israel … and it feels like a completely different nation.

I think it is an accurate depiction: These are two different nations, two different nations with a similar history and similar names, but they have grown so distant that they are worlds apart.

In fact, this is how it should be. We came from the various nations that occupied ancient Babylon and joined into a single nation when we agreed with Abraham’s teaching that mercy and friendship were the values to live by. Later, under Moses, we pledged to unite “as one man with one heart.” We fought to maintain and solidify our unity for centuries, but eventually, we succumbed to the hatred that prevailed among us before we first came to Abraham, and this is where we stand today.

While we were united, the nations saw that peace was possible, that there could even be love among sworn enemies, and Israel became a role model nation, a pilot society, a miniature implementation of world peace. Later, when we failed, we failed the whole world, and it hates us for it.

Now, it waits for us to reinstate the covenant between us and become a role model nation once again. It won’t forgive us for not trying, and it won’t forget our debt to humanity. It doesn’t care that American Jews hate Israelis who come to live there. If there is no unity among Jews, the world hates them, since they dim all hope of peace and unity. If they unite, they are what they were meant to be, “a light unto nations,” and the world gives them its full support.

The Jewish nation must bring about shalom [peace], from the word “shlemut” [wholeness], the wholeness of all of humanity above all differences. Antisemitism is the world’s way of telling us off, admonishing us for not trying to unite. If Jews in America, from every faction and denomination, bridge the rifts between them, their future will be bright and beautiful. If they do not, they can already see where this is going.

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My new article on Linkedin “The Future of Israelis Living in the US”

An Israeli student of mine who is living in the US approached me with some questions regarding the future of Jews in the US, and specifically that of Israelis living in the Land of Unlimited Opportunities. The student said that Israeli Jews are feeling uncertain and described the disconnection between Israelis living in the US and Jews who were born there. The student also described a sudden burst of support for the State of Israel among Israelis living abroad following Operation Guardian of the Walls.

Indeed, the situation of American Jewry is becoming increasingly uncomfortable. The same goes for Israelis living there, if not more so. Because Israelis still feel connected to Israel, either through family ties or because it is where they grew up, they cannot cut it off from their system altogether. However, by and large, Israelis living in America want the least connection they can have with Israel and with Judaism. This may be a conscious or unconscious state of mind, but this is where the majority of Israeli Jews living in the US stand.

There is a very interesting process happening here. A new reality is forming, and as always, the Jews are at the heart of it. The world is becoming increasingly interconnected and interdependent. The Covid-19 pandemic is just one example of it. Another example is the recent global spike in prices of transportation, staple foods, and utilities. Evidently, we have entered a phase in the evolution of humanity where what affects one part of humanity affects all parts of it.

If we want to resolve today’s crises, we have to think in terms of what’s good for humanity rather than what’s good for me, my city, or my country. Whether we like it or not, mutual responsibility is the call of the hour, and Jews, as the ones who first conceived this notion, are expected to lead it even if no one is verbally expressing this request. Jews are not requested to take over the world, but rather lead by example: We need to show that we are responsible for one another, and the rest of the world will learn from our example, just as it did in the days of the second Temple when non-Jews would come to Jerusalem to witness the unity of the Jews during the festivals of pilgrimage.

According to the book Sifrey Devarim (Item 354), “Nations and kings would say, ‘Since we have troubled ourselves and came, let us see the merchandise of the Jews.’ They would go to Jerusalem and see the Jews eating together and praying together, and since among the nations, the God of one is not the God of another, and one’s food is not another’s food, they would say, ‘It is befitting to cling only to this nation.’”

In his essay “About the Laws and Their Details,” philosopher Philo of Alexandria offered a beautiful depiction of the unity of the Jews that was so appealing to the nations: “Thousands of people from thousands of cities—some by land and some by sea, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south—would come each festival to the Temple as if to a common shelter, a safe haven protected from the storms of life. …With hearts filled with good hopes … they made friendships with people they had not met before, and in the merging of the hearts … they would find the ultimate proof of unity.”

These days, Israeli Jews are standing up to defend Israel, but I don’t feel that it is done for the right reasons. Unity should not be a step Jews take in response to antisemitism; it should be the step Jews take in order to prevent antisemitism altogether, at first, and ultimately because by this they are serving as a role model, just as our ancestors did in antiquity, before we gave in to unfounded hatred among us.

I am not optimistic that Israeli Jews in America will accept what I am writing here, but perhaps in a few years, when the pressure on them mounts, they will find them pertinent. In the past, we did not unite in the face of antisemitism, or if we did, we did too late. I hope that this time, we will be more attentive to the message and will wake up to the call for unity before another heartbreak lands on our nation.

We cannot defeat our enemies with arms, but only with our spirit. When we raise our connection to the level of mutual responsibility and solidarity, we will deter all the negative forces, and even our enemies will become our friends.

For more on this topic, refer to the books Like a Bundle of Reeds: Why unity and mutual guarantee are today’s call of the hour, and The Jewish Choice: Unity or Anti-Semitism, Historical facts on anti-Semitism as a reflection of Jewish social discord.

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