Entries in the 'Israel Today' Category

Superfluous Apartments For The Ego

Laitman_115_05Ready For Flight

Question: Conflicts in Israeli society are becoming more severe because the ego of the politicians has grown and puts personal interests above social interests more and more. During the last military operation, the matter has produced a “short circuit” between the representatives of the authorities and the various agencies responsible for national security. How can this be handled?

Answer: The system has not been fixed. Achieving real changes must begin from the people and from its education. Only through social change can we change the government.

And today our leaders reflect the situation of the nation. We live in an egoistic society in which each one thinks only about personal benefit. We are not connected between us; we don’t feel that our fate depends upon unity, by being “like one person with one heart.” We are not concerned about the security of the nation together since first of all each one is trying to provide security for himself.

Moreover, many people are ready to flee to some place where it is possible to get along better. The main thing is that such a thing will be possible for them, and the fate of Israel is not important to them. If you were to give people the opportunity to get along anywhere in the world that suits them, just about nobody would remain here. According to surveys, half of the younger population would want to leave. And regarding the other half, they would stay here out of habit. And in the meantime, those who advance in the leadership of the nation are people possessing even more prominent personal interests.

Exposing The Ego

Question: If we were to support changes in society, what kind of a society should it be?

Answer: We cannot live and develop here if we don’t become the true people of Israel living in the land of Israel. This is talking about two concepts that we must approach and realize.

“Israel” means “Yashar-El.” In other words, all of us connect among us according to the principle “And you shall love your friend as yourself” and we direct ourselves towards a higher power.

The essence of the upper forcer is the force of love, unity, and mutual bestowal. We must aspire to this. This is not connected to religious or secular beliefs. This belongs to connection, the essence of which is formulated in the great and essential general rule in the Torah: “And you shall love your friend as yourself.”

Question: All of us have heard about this. But the ego has grown and grown, desires run wild and a person no longer sees anything outside of himself. So how is this old saying connected to people like us today?

Answer: This saying is eternal. From those days until today, this condition has not changed. And precisely in our day people are ready to see and discern how their growing ego is digging a grave for them. The ego indeed grows, but now the person sees where this leads. He sees that in front of him is only an abyss.

A New People – New Leaders

Question: In a museum of one of the Israeli leaders of the last century, the room in which he lived has been renovated, a small place with a simple chair and a table of a meter and a half. From there he led the nation. So how is it possible to speak about connection in our day when the nation is shaken by outrageous scandals and the leaders acquire luxurious houses? Where will the love come from here?

Answer: From despair. Ultimately we have attained nothing. Those leaders with the penthouses, their expensive apartments, and all the rest of the wealth and luxury feel dependent. That is how an ego that rises to the heavens plays with us. A person is compelled to steal; this need motivates him. He feels that this is not the goal, this isn’t life, and in spite of it all, he is not ready to do anything. He simply cannot avoid stealing, cannot avoid lying, because that is his nature.

So what is to be done with him? After all, it is clear that this way leads all of us to oblivion. Is it worthwhile to bring the matter to a new Holocaust, to World War III, and so on?

Everyone understands this yet nobody has a method that makes it possible to be saved from our internal enemy, which is the ego that pushes us towards theft, lies, forgeries, schemes. The truth is that nobody enjoys this, but everyone is compelled to take a bite out of the general pie and try to arrange a warm and safe corner for himself.

Yet in the world of today, no secure corners really remain. So security will come to us only by way of changes in society, in humanity. These are changes that will bring unity.

In the global world we must be so connected that each one will feel the others as himself. The wisdom of Kabbalah was revealed for this, providing a solution to problems and explaining what must be done. It is up to us to adopt it, and with its help, approach correction of the world. The time has come to consolidate everything into a unified system, a single family.

Only integral education and information will raise general interests above personal interests. The leaders of today are cut off from the people. And there is nothing to demand from them or from the people. Gradual education will bring about changes among the people and this will then produce people from whom it will be possible to educate new leaders.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 12/16/14

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The Secret Plan Of The Jewish People

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: In general, how do you see the situation that the Jewish people find themselves in today?

Answer: We must understand the current development of mankind, understand why we are so hated in the eyes of the world, why we are, at best, pushed into a corner, and in the worst case, mankind wants to annihilate us.

All of this has been determined by the historical role of the people of Israel, and especially in our time we must be an example of the correct unification for humanity, making it possible to move to the next stage of our development.

Today, the dead end of human development has been revealed, the dead end in familial relationships and in different areas. This exists on the scale of individual nations and also the entire world. The time has come to ascend to the next level, but we still don’t understand this. In the meantime there is no solution in our world, so everyone is suffering from not having found it.

Philosophical outlooks are collapsing, plans are upset, and everything is coming to an end. In the past, humanity aspired to something, but today parents no longer have hope for a better future for their children.

An Alternative Possibility

And here the Jewish people should understand their purpose: Specifically now, we must show and provide an example of the method of connection and unification to humanity. For it is precisely through this that humanity will connect according to our example. It will unite in a good way through which we will come into line with nature, its general law and its evolution. And then we will develop further, not just to survive but to ascend to a new level.

The key for this is latent in the Jewish people. This is the secret of the people of Israel, that secret plan that they attribute to us. And we must finally reveal it to ourselves and to the whole world. This is the order of the day.

I hope the Jews will understand that the time has come to implement the stimulus program that has been waiting for thousands of years, to apply it to ourselves, and in this way to provide an example to everyone. We must transform into a “Light unto the nations,” as it is called.

If we don’t do this, the general course of things will press upon us so much that in the end, we will need to act in spite of it all.

And conversely, if, for a start, the Jews will at least discover and know why they are hated by the world and what their destiny is. This will make their lot much easier. After all, this knowledge itself is a rudimentary, albeit passive, participation in the general process derived from the thought of creation.

Even though people still don’t understand its general meaning, even a first contact with the truth, the beginning of a familiarity with the real state of affairs, can change the situation for the better. And the contact itself opens channels to a new power and new management of the world.

There Are No Accidents

The main thing is to explain to every Jew what their mission is in this life, in the world, and why humanity displays such a negative attitude towards them. The reason is that they are not carrying out their role.

It is not by chance that they attribute bad intentions to us and explain that all troubles come from us. We must examine and analyze these eternal slanders. We are talking about a natural phenomenon, not about spontaneous unconnected outbursts. Even those peoples with whom we were never actually in contact are experiencing this same real feeling. We must understand that there are sources and a basis for this natural phenomenon.

The wisdom of Kabbalah describes the inner mechanisms of what is happening and explains to us how we can actively implement our role.

First of all, the people are right in their hatred towards us. For we have really turned off the faucet to the abundance that must come into the entire world. Of course, I am not justifying the haters, but I am saying to the Jews, “Come, let’s implement what has been imposed upon us by nature itself. Come, let’s do this as quickly as possible.”
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 From KabTV’s “Like a Bundle of Reeds” 1/11/15

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The Roots Of Anti-Semitism, Part 4

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: In the world today, we feel a very negative attitude toward Jews, but it is not related to anti-Semitism, nor to the hatred that appears naturally in the other nations toward the Jews. Rather it is related to politics, the fight between Arabs and Jews, and to anti-Zionism. These seem like understandable reasons.

Answer: A Jew born and raised in Israel can’t understand what anti-Semitism is.

Question: In America there are even Jews that act against Jews and repeat the accusations of the anti-Semites.

Answer: It has always existed and especially today. The survival instinct obliges them to act like that and to distance themselves from the sufferings by identifying with the anti-Semites. It has always happened to the nation of Israel.

It’s also because in our spiritual work, there is a constant struggle when we try to enforce the force of bestowal and love over the force of receiving and hate. This struggle exists inside every Jew in order to elevate to the top, where only one force rules, the force of love and unity.

But in order to reach this top, we constantly need to fight. Therefore, inside man, the forces of rejection, hatred, and egoism constantly grow more and more. And each time, he must cover the increased ego with love and connection.

Therefore, a Jew always feels that his ego grows. He is searching for all kinds of inventions that allows using this ego in a more comfortable way. He feels that he is closer to the nations of the world and is willing to adhere to them and blame Israel and other Jews, and so he becomes anti-Semitic.

Examples like this are known from the Middle Ages, from the period of the inquisition. The chief inquisitor in Spain was a Jew. And there are many like this throughout history. Even Hitler had Jewish advisors. He tolerated them because he needed them.

That’s how it was and will be, but I don’t want to go too deeply into it. Our mission is to investigate the root of anti-Semitism because it does not change. It is eternal and will remain so until final correction of the whole of Creation.

Therefore, I don’t wonder about those Jews that identify with the nations of the world and their hatred toward Jews. In addition, if we investigate those that are the organizers of terrorist organizations, we will be surprised to find many Jews.

If you examine the Pashtuns in Afghanistan, who form the basis of the terrorist Taliban, it turns out that they are Jews and part of the lost ten tribes. To this day, they keep Shabbat, light the candles, and at the same time, hate Israel. Throughout history, in the absence of proper care, their customs have become distorted, but they are still Jews.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 11/25/14

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If We Don’t Intervene

Dr. Michael LaitmanKabbalistic sources relevant to our era consider it as a kind of prelude to the War of Gog and Magog. About Ishmael, who is a symbol of today’s Arabs, it is said: And he will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be upon all, and everyone’s hand upon him, and before all his brothers he will dwell. (Genesis 16:12) In the wisdom of Kabbalah, the present trends are precisely and clearly defined.

Moreover, every stage is explained in the writings of the Kabbalists as to how it will happen if we don’t intervene and don’t “sweeten” the situation. Through the right actions, we can dramatically change it to the opposite situation.

But otherwise, we can expect very great, dangerous, and terrible wars between Russia, China, Europe, America, and the Arab nations. And of course, Israel will find itself in the middle.

But at the same time, this place will be the safest. So, we invite all of our Jewish brothers from France to come to us. We accept them with open arms and together we will carry out the correction.
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From KabTV’s “Like a Bundle of Reeds” 1/11/15

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Gathering In The Land Of Israel

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Can it be said that the Jews were scattered among the nations to provide an example and present the method of unification on the ground?

Answer: First of all, the people of Israel were scattered among the nations to absorb their characteristics and to insert its characteristics into them. The wisdom of Kabbalah calls this process mutual integration.

If the people of Israel hadn’t gone into exile, humanity’s development would have taken place completely differently. This is because all the areas of development be it finance, technology, economy, culture, and other areas all actually derive from one source. So, considering the modern means of mass communication, we have no need to remain “on the ground.”

Question: Does this mean that today it is preferable for Jews to gather in the land of Israel today and spread the wisdom of connection and unification from here?

Answer: I see that the higher supervision is arranging everything in such a way that whether we want it or not, we are compelled to come here.

I came to Israel during the Yom Kippur War, after four years of being refused permission to emigrate. Everyone in Russia, including the Jews, said to me: “What are you going to do there? After all, your situation here is excellent.” But over the years, I saw how even these people moved here. So therefore, it is only a matter of time.

In the meantime, I am not talking yet about North America, but the general trend is accompanied by pressure on the Jews, at least in Europe. The pressure will continue to grow so much that they will begin to seriously think about complete assimilation. But this won’t happen either, because there is a higher plan.

Ultimately, after many troubles, even though they might delay, from the lack of any other solution, they will need to flee from there in any case.

The same thing happened in the twentieth century with the Jews of Germany who supposed that they still had time, but ultimately, only a lucky few fled with nothing; and the fate of the rest is known.

Question: Why is specifically the area of the land of Israel so important to the Jews?

Answer: This is derived from the laws of cause and effect, of root and branch. A person who is attracted to Israel, is in fact drawn to spiritual development. Even though externally, the nation doesn’t seem appropriate as an example, nevertheless, despite all the negative phenomena and internal discomfort, this place is important to a person. It means that a connection with the program of creation, with the higher forces of nature, has been awakened in him.
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From KabTV’s “Like a Bundle of Reeds” 1/11/15

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Don’t Fix A Rusty Engine

laitman_547_05Question: The issue of minimum wage reaches the headlines more and more often. This is a matter of growing interest not only in Israel but in other countries as well. We would like to examine this issue not from an economic  but a social point of view. After all, the minimum wage can say a lot about our society and it raises a number of problems that are related to the social relationships in our country.

As an advisor in the field of employment, I can personally see how the middle class is gradually reduced to the category of those who live on minimum wage. Generally speaking we are talking about almost a third of the workers who receive minimum wage or a bit more than that. It is about a million people including people who are highly educated, teachers, young architects, social workers, etc. Today, many people find it hard to make ends meet because of the low salary that they receive.

There are many debates with regard to this issue that also include moral aspects: Is there a point in creating artificial, imposed equality? Or rather, should we keep the laws of the free market in every aspect?

Economists also find it hard to agree on this issue. Some claim that a high minimum wage increases unemployment and weakens the economy. Others believe that these claims have no basis. Seven Nobel Prize winners, for example, deny the connection between unemployment and minimum wage and hold that raising the minimum wage benefits society. What is your opinion on this matter?

Answer: I engage in a different type of systems. Different laws than those accepted in modern society control them. These are the laws of nature and not the artificial laws of this world that are imposed by egoistic rivalry.

Therefore, I find it hard to deal with a completely rotten structure of society where “dog eats dog” and everyone hates the other and sees others as his enemy. In such circumstances, it is impossible to give any advice on specific matters since the whole system is hopeless. The only thing we can do is to get rid of it and create something new.

On the other hand, we have already seen how the old world is being ruined without anything new being built that is better in any way. After all, the structure still remains with the same egoistic basis.

Today we are subject to the market economy that works according to its own rules. This means that the employer usually wants to pay less to his employee and actually give him zero wages for a 24-hour shift without any breaks or holidays. The employee, on the other hand, would like not to work at all but only receive a salary into his bank account and not the minimum wage for that matter but a maximum wage.

In such circumstances, a society exists on the account of the competitive potential of its members. They all try to obtain as much as they can by power games, negotiations, agreements, and many other factors.

For example, there are labor laws and law enforcement authorities, trade unions, and workers’ committees, etc., which operate between the employer and his employees. All the parties involved also want to benefit from what is going on and no one wants it to end.

After all, companies, groups, and organizations who are interested parties are still thinking only about themselves even if they try to fight for the rights of the workers and the employees and the lower classes, trying to win for them minimum wage, pension funds, and other benefits. These people have good jobs and get their share. and, in other words, also operate egoistically.

In that case, there is no one from whom we can demand a correction. It is impossible to correct only one part of the mechanism. If we have to change a certain part in this rusty engine with another part made of gold, which is perfect in every parameter, it will be useless at best and in the worst case scenario the fixed part will actually disrupt the whole system even more.

I remember when a girl I studied with decided to clean part of the window in the student flat where I lived with some of my friends. As a result, we discovered that now we have to clean the whole huge window, which was practically the size of the whole wall. Then the light came into the room and we found out that the whole room needed a good cleaning.

In short, if we intend to fix something, we have to take the whole system into account. It is a whole system and every part in it is mutually connected to the other parts, and it is impossible to isolate the minimum wage as a single factor of success. We have to approach the whole system integrally and to shake it well. In other words, we have to take it apart and put it together again anew. No single corrections will help the general picture.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 12/23/14

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Anti-Israel Hysterics In The ICC

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the News (The Huffington Post): “The State of Palestine’s strategy of joining the International Criminal Court (ICC) is a qualitatively new approach to the bilateral negotiations with Israel and the US brokerage of the “peace process.” This strategy does not undermine the pursuit of a two-state solution, which is the title of the international consensus for a peaceful solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Rather, the strategy puts everyone before the test of choosing between the earnest implementation of the two-state solution, or putting the Israeli occupation and settlements on trial before international courts.

“What is new is that the Palestinian side, which is traditionally considered weak and has been forced to submit to dictates, today has the right to go to the ICC to sue Israel for war crimes and other practices related to occupying another country, from building illegal settlements to forcibly deporting Palestinians.”

My Comment: Appealing to reason, justice, and independent investigation is useless. Everything is planned in advance by the Creator from above because we do not prevent the inclusion of the negative forces of our development. We anticipate them by our desire to unite, and this desire can cancel out all our enemies, changing them into our friends!
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What Can The French Jews Do?

laitman_961Question: The latest terrorist attacks are no surprise for the Jews in France. There were too many signs indicating the approach of something like that. As a consequence, the question of moving to Israel is on the agenda for many. The young see this as a logical step. Are we waiting for a new wave of immigration in Israel?

Answer: Absolutely. However, people here still do not understand this.

I, myself, came here more than forty years ago after nearly thirty years spent, as they say, in exile where I was born and grew up. Until now, I remember the feeling with which native Israelis are not familiar. Some even believe that there is no anti-Semitism in the world. People who grew up here just do not feel what this exile is and everything connected with it.

Question: Do you think that France is a special case or, conversely, a symptom of the general malaise?

Answer: France is really a special place. It is special with respect to aspirations for freedom of speech and to a very negative attitude toward the Jews and to the huge migration from Muslim countries.

I anticipate there to be great complications and not necessarily associated with Jews. Indeed, today, the goal of radical Islam is to show the world that its influence and power is spreading everywhere. The essence is in threatening, in a powerful psychological pressure throughout Europe.

Therefore, the recent terrorist attacks are only the beginning. Radicals have countless people who are ready for anything.

Question: What can the French Jews do?

Answer: They can do nothing. They have no security umbrella. They are defenseless.

The solution is in the general task of the Jewish people: to show the world the method of uniting all the people that will let us align with global nature that is manifested today. The world needs to establish correct connections. Otherwise, confusion, chaos among us, and confrontations between countries, regions, nations, and so forth—as a result of being opposite to nature—are destroying us.

Therefore, anti-Semitism will grow in the world. After all, subconsciously, people feel that only we will give the solution. This awareness is in the blood of the nations, and, of course, they are not to blame for this. It is a natural phenomenon.

It is only necessary to understand that it is up to us.
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From KabTV’s “Like a Bundle of Reeds” 1/11/15

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Europe Under Extremist Attacks

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What do the latest terror activities in France signify for Israel?

Answer: I don’t believe that any world event can bring something good for us. That is my initial position. Even if they begin to speak about some kind of solidarity, it lasts for only a few days, then later everything will return to how it was before, and again we will see a negative attitude toward Israel, including open anti-Semitism, recognition of Hamas, and the like.

France is one of those nations that stands at the head of this process. It is convinced that only ISIS and Al Qaeda are the bad boys. If terrorists go against Israel and see this as the main target, it doesn’t bother France to give them legitimacy.

As a result, I suppose that tragic events like the latest ones will repeat themselves. This is only the beginning because the goal of extreme Islam is to show Europe that it is old, tired, and unable to oppose the pressure of the young revolutionary Islamic movement.

Actually, this is the case. I see this in my conversations and interviews in Europe. For example, when we talked with the mayor of Vienna, he admitted that nowadays Europe is not able to awaken and encourage people to do things. It is tired, exhausted, and is experiencing the sunset of its days.

Comment: Today we are reminded that Jews took part in the formation of the republic, and if they leave, then France will no longer be as before.

Answer: That is correct. According to my information, in spite of its attitude to the Jewish community, which is far from good, about a thousand Jews in France are supporting its infrastructure. If they leave, the nation will not be able to recover. Since the matter here is not quantity, but the same weight of influence that the Jews acquired in industry, banking, science, and the like, France will not be able to manage without them.
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From KabTV”s “Like the Bundle of Reeds” 1/11/15

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The Roots Of Anti-Semitism, Part 3

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How does the fact that Jews have two forces, reception and bestowal, give us special flexibility and intelligence that is not available to others?

Answer: Let’s assume that you have one eye which allows you to see everything, but in a superficial form without depth or peripheral vision.This is the picture that would form if you were to close one eye and if the brain would not complete the picture into its usual form.

Jews have two eyes, two forces that he uses to see the depth of things. He sees how they work in a mutual form and how to utilize one force with the other for the benefit of progress. He understand in advance what can result from the plan.

Jews have great potential, as compared to other nations, but we do not know how to use this potential. Indeed, after the Jewish people came to the land of Israel from ancient Babylon 3,500 years ago, the Jews reached love and unity among the people, and almost immediately, we began to deteriorate and descend from the level of concern and mutual connection.

This is called  the destruction of the Holy Temple. All sanctity and mutual bestowal that we had achieved began to gradually disappear. After 1,000 years, instead of love of others, what was revealed between us was unfounded hatred. This is called destruction.

We then entered into a state that is called exile, because between us there was no more force of connection but only the egoistic force. Nevertheless, it keeps us together but only because of our fear of the world, from the nations of the world that are willing to attack us and destroy us. They expel us from one country to another country because we are a nation that no one considers. In the beginning, they receive everything possible from us, and later they expel us. And all this is because we fell from love of others to unfounded hatred.

This means that now there is only the egoistic force that acts inside us, as in the whole world. In spite of that, there remains the potential in us to return to the state where we possessed two forces, to rise above the ego and cover it with a dome of love.

Although we are in exile and we don’t truly posses the second force, since it only exists in potential, nevertheless, a certain illumination acts upon us, because many generations ago we were in spirituality. Something remains in us: this illumination that will act upon us when we will return to spirituality. This is the reason that we have succeeded more than the rest of the nations of the world.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 11/25/14

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