Question: Why is it a custom to spin a dreidel on Hanukkah with the acronym of the Hebrew letters of the words “a great miracle happened here” on it, and see on which letter it will fall?

Answer: The spinning dreidel is our life. We spin and spin our life and eventually realize that it is only when we all spin ourselves together around one common axis that we will reach our fulfillment and our goal.

Question: The Israeli nation is terribly divided today. Around which axis would you recommend that we all spin: the right wing, the left wing, the religious, or the non-religious?

Answer: It is said, “love will cover all the sins,” which refers to the division between us and the hatred and rejection we feel toward one another. Differences will remain and it is actually above them that we all connect and unite. We spin around this unity, and this is our common axis.

Let’s hope that we, the people living in Israel, will set an example of unity to Jews abroad and even to the Jews in the US who are starting to draw away from Israel. We will draw them all to us by our unity.
[171947]
From the Israeli Radio Program 103FM 12/6/15

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Comment: During the Hanukkah candle lighting ceremony at the Western Wall, the prime minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu said: “Israel is a torch in the darkness. Great darkness surrounds us and here in Jerusalem, in the nation of Israel, we lift the miracle of the independence of humanity, in honor of humanity, for the right of the people of Israel to live freely in its land and in its city, the same city that the Maccabees liberated. This struggle continues even in our generation. In each and every generation they have risen up to eliminate us and in each and every generation the Holy One, Blessed be He, saved us from their hands, provided that we hold onto the banner and torch, and even the sword of Israel.”

My Comment: Hanukkah is a battle of the supporters of the union of the Jewish people as an ideology and as the only means of our salvation. Specifically through unity, the higher power is awakened in us, and Abraham created the Jewish people precisely through unity in ancient Babylon, so our existence depends on our unity. But when we separate, we scatter, and we have already seen this for 2,000 years, especially in our time. Benjamin Netanyahu can claim anything that he wants, but to this very day, in Israel there is no nation and no people. According to the natural and historical definition, the people and the nation can exist only when we are united by a single ideology, a single goal, an understanding of our existence and its significance.

And so the miracle of Hanukkah happened. That is what happened in history and this is what must happen now, but it isn’t happening because we are not united.

We need to understand why we are conducting endless wars with shield and sword in hand instead of holding a seven-branched Menorah in our hand and bringing it to the world. The Menorah symbolizes the unity of the people according to the ideology of “And you shall love your friend as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18). But we don’t have this unity.

We don’t have such a policy; there is no ideology like this and there is no education of the people like this that will place the goal of providing education of the method of union. It doesn’t exist anywhere: not a in private life or in society.

Jews from different countries with different world views coexist in Israel, and in no way do they consider themselves s a single, united people. They can say, “We are one people,” but their feeling comes from the fact they are surrounded by enemies who force them to defend themselves. And in this state of self-defense, they feel themselves as a people. It is specifically the enemy that unites them and not an inner yearning for each other. So it is thanks to our enemies who press us that we still exist; without them there would not have been a Jewish people for quite some time. If they were to stop applying pressure from the outside, we would cease to exist as a people.

This is a paradox! For, on the other hand, it would seem that if pressure is applied, then everyone would flee in all directions. No! Here they will not flee. Here, like sheep, they huddle together to escape the wolves.

But is this the only way we can exist as one people and still convey the ideology of our unity to the entire world, which is so needed now?

Therefore, we should not just have a shield and sword but also the awareness that we are fighting for the sake of unity. Then the shield and sword will become the menorah of Hanukkah.
[171848]
From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 12/8/15

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Question: How can it be that a small jar of oil enough for one day was enough to last for eight days? After all, didn’t you say there are no miracles?

Answer: It was not a miracle, because when we move to the next level, other laws operate there. There it is possible for one small jar of oil to burn for eight days. We see that even in our world, as we develop, we learn to extract energy from sources we previously were unable to use, or we use known sources more efficiently, with a new quality. Who would have thought that a kilogram of material, for example Uranium, could be more energy efficient than a mountain of coal?

Question: So what is the secret here? How can one small jar of oil be made to burn for eight days?

Answer: This happens thanks to our connection. We add our integral union to this combustion energy, instead of the energy of one person.

By uniting, we rise from our closed, mortal world bounded by three coordinates—time, motion, and space—to the world of Infinity. It is not just an eightfold increase as in the miracle of Hanukkah; we rise to an infinite world.

I am a scientist, I want to know, due to what can we multiply our world to the infinite dimensions? It is only through our connection. In this manner, each one becomes a master of the entire integral world instead of a single point. I connect with seven billion people, and so do you, and so does he, and so does each one of us. So instead of being by myself, I am with seven billion, and each one of them is connected with all seven billion.

We are connected, all the while increasing the power of our unity. Anyone who attains the intensity of connection connects with those who are also connected with the seven billion, and so we multiply our power infinitely.

And ultimately we become a sphere with an infinite number of connections, and each connection gets the unit of energy and mutual understanding of life. That is how we ascend to the world of infinity.

This is a simple scientific mathematical formula, so this is not a miracle. The miracle is only in one thing: that an ordinary Jew who hears about this now will want to try to implement this unity at least a bit.
[171852]
From the Israeli Radio Program 103FM 12/6/15

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Question: Why are burning candles the symbol of Hanukkah? We also light candles on other holidays, and lighting candles is basically part of many cultures.

Answer: A candle is a symbol of light, a symbol of physical and spiritual power that fills us and helps us feel that we are beyond the boundaries of this world, in unlimited space.

We forget our body and don’t feel that it limits and pressures us but as if we are floating in the air.

Question: Why is it a custom to add a candle each day of Hanukkah so that there are ultimately there are eight candles?

Answer: I receive a new Sefira with every day that goes by, a new spiritual level from Malchut to Bina. Hanukkah is not the end of our development yet, but only part of it. This is the reason that it is called “Hanukkah”, stemming from the Hebrew words  “park” and “here.”

This is how we attain part of the spiritual world, a relatively small part of it, freed of the interference of the “Greeks” inside of us and interconnected. Then, there is another part of the correction from Hanukkah to Purim. In Purim, we attain the complete end of correction and gain control of the whole upper world.

Question: Why is it customary to eat doughnuts during Hanukkah?

Answer: Doughnuts represent the oil, the light. Hanukkah is the holiday of light. When we attain the first unity between us, we feel to what extent it was not in our power, but that it was done with the help of the upper force that fulfilled this unity between us.

This is why the symbol of the holiday is light, a light that is above us like the light of the sun, the light of life, the light of the burning oil.

Once the people had no lamps other than lamps that burned oil. Oil is considered a source of light.

If we Jews begin to fight for our unity, ignoring all external enemies, and strive to get closer to one another, a Light suddenly will come to us from above and connect us. Then, with the help of the great force that will be opened between us, we will be able to overcome all obstacles, conquer all fears, hatred, ISIS, and intifadas.

It is all in our hands, and it all adds up to our force of unity. This is the reason that the Torah tells us only about unity. This is the first and foremost condition for receiving the Torah. Are we ready to connect as one man in one heart in order to keep the rules of “‘What is hateful to you, do not to your neighbor” and “You shall love thy neighbor as thyself”?

Everything is aimed only at connection because in the connection between us we discover the upper world that is meant for us. As it is written, “May you see your world in your lifetime” because it is in this life that we begin to feel spirituality and life in both worlds.
[171907]
From the Israeli Radio Program 103FM 12/6/15

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Question: What does the miracle of the Hanukkah holiday symbolize?

Answer: If we are connected with each other, we discover a system called the “soul” between us within which the higher force is revealed. This system is eternal, and when we discover it, we feel connected with the flow of eternal and permanent life. We no longer die, but exist in an eternal and perfect world.

After the first miracle happened—which is called the exodus from Egypt and revealed the eternal and perfect reality to us that exists beyond our physical and temporal view—suddenly our ego returned and enslaved us. The ego returned us again to the beastly body, so only this unhappy world is seen through it.

Here a struggle happens between us to restore our connection built according to the method of our father Abraham and making it even stronger. If we connect, then we rise above the evil forces and again enter into awareness of the upper world, which is eternal and perfect. This is called the war of the Maccabees against the Hellenists.

The Hellenists are those forces within us that separate us. For example, the force of rejection between me and you, among all the Jews in the land of Israel, forces us to quarrel, cut each other off on the highways, and strive to succeed at the expense of others. This alien force is located between us; so let’s root it out, destroy and remove it, connect, and transform to be as one man in one heart.

The force of the Greeks doesn’t let us feel that we are close to each other, ready to help each other. It is against the unity of the people of Israel. The “Greeks” are the forces of separation between us and not people who lived in Greece. If we begin to struggle with these forces of egoism, then we can achieve success with the help of the upper force that makes it possible for us to defeat them and unite.

When we unite, we feel that a miracle happened, and we are filled with the Upper Light, with higher spiritual life. All of our previous life on this land was only to implement this internal spiritual ascent.

Question: Does all of this depend only on our relationships with each other?

Answer: Only on that. The entire Torah speaks only about this, about our unity. Let’s do an exercise like this in Israel: Throughout this week of Hanukkah, let’s be a bit kinder toward each other and expect a miracle.

The miracle must happen! Suddenly, a leap to a new level will happen, and in addition to this world, we will begin to feel the upper world in which we also exist, but we don’t perceive with our five senses. It is possible to feel the upper world only on condition that we unite among us.

Question: What is the upper world?

Answer: The upper world is a new reality that is felt here and now. Now, we are living simply on a geographic area, and then the next level is revealed to us.

The miracle of Hanukkah is a symbol of this, that we can attain some Light in our lives that draws us forward and makes it possible for us to see the world from end to end, filling ourselves with eternal joy here and now. The key to all of this is to unite at least a bit.

This small jar of oil is that light that reaches our lives if we connect with others.
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From the Israeli Radio Program 103FM 12/6/15

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Question: We are celebrating Hanukkah to commemorate the miracle that occurred during the war of the Maccabees, when the jug of oil provided enough oil to light the Menorah for eight days instead of just one. Do you believe in miracles?

Answer: No, I don’t believe in miracles. According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, a miracle is a serious, scientific matter not as we perceive this concept in our world. The upper force doesn’t perform miracles and doesn’t do anything that is supernatural and that exceeds the limits of “He has given a law that cannot be broken.”

All the miracles are only in relation to us. The system functions according to rigid laws that operate everything from the beginning of creation to its end. We have to learn these laws and then the phenomena we encounter in the system will not seem like miracles to us.

The first miracle, for example, is the miracle of the exodus from Egypt. People wanted to connect but could not do so because a force separated them. This force is called Pharaoh, their egoism.

They wanted to be as one man in one heart, as Abraham had taught them in ancient Babylon, so that love would cover all sins, but their efforts were in vain. Following seven years of satiety, seven years of hunger came along, until there was a miracle that allowed them to escape from Egypt and the domination of Pharaoh.

The same thing is happening today in era of technological advancement, when the accelerated development of technology, culture, and education begins. First it seems that it provides us with unprecedented opportunities and everyone aspires for the American dream: a wonderful career, science, and that promise to reveal all horizons.

But suddenly we discover that we have reached a totally different state than what was dreamed of. The American dream burst like a bubble, and the whole world finds itself in a whirlpool that drags us more and more deeply to the bottom. This is the end of the seven years of satiety and the beginning of the seven years of hunger.

I also felt as if I was living in the seven years of satiety in the 60’s and the 70’s when I believed that the horizons were open before me. But then I discovered that the science I engaged in did not provide any answers to my questions about the meaning of life and the purpose of life.

Thus, the seven years of hunger began and I began to search for a way to revive myself, for the meaning of my life, for the purpose of life, and for what I could give my children. This is how I found the wisdom of Kabbalah, and this is a miracle, just like the miracle of the exodus from Egypt.

A miracle is when a person who has no way of discovering the meaning of his life in an ordinary way suddenly receives a special Light, an extraordinary force, that shines on him, opens his heart and mind, and reveals that this life has a  goal and that he is part of a special process.

This miracle that opens a new life to him is called the exodus from Egypt, and it has to take place in everyone’s life to a certain extent.

A person escapes from Egypt, from his egoism, by acquiring the attribute of bestowal, the force of connection and unity, and begins to implement it. But then his egoism erupts again and he needs a miracle once again in order to overcome the egoism, and this time it is the miracle of Hanukkah.

Question: How are events that occurred in ancient times, like the exile in Egypt and the time of the war of the Maccabees, related to our time?

Answer: It is said: “the actions of fathers are a sign for the sons.” This means that what happened to our forefathers will also happen to each of us.
[171665]
From the Israeli Radio Program 103FM 12/6/15

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From the News (mignews.com): “Jordanian religious scholar Sheikh Ahmad Adwan says that ‘Palestine’ does not exist. Adwan says that God gave the Holy Land to the Jewish people ‘until the Day of Judgement.’ Sheikh writes: ‘I want to say to those who distort the Koran: where did you get the name of Palestine? You liars, you cursed, when Allah has called it the “Holy Land” and gave it the children of Israel until the Day of Judgement. There is no such thing as Palestine in the Koran.’ Sheikh writes further: ‘Your claim to the Land of Israel – are fake and are an attack against the Koran. And because you will not succeed, and Allah you will not support you, and Allah humiliate you, because Allah has taken the protection of the Jews.’ Adwan said: ‘I support the Jewish people because my belief in their sovereignty over this land comes from the knowledge of the Koran. It is emphasized in many passages in the Koran, such as Sura 5, where Allah says: “O Children of Israel enter the Holy Land which Allah has given you.” Adwan indicates that ‘the Jews are peaceful people and when they have to defend themselves, they try to cause minimum damage to the attacker. ‘ Adwan said: ‘It is great honor for them, that God chose them out of all the other nations, the worlds of people and the world of demons until the Day of Judgement. And when Allah chose them, it was not without reason, and it was not for any other people, but it was just for the Jews.'”
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Question: After the events in Paris, a real hysteria started in Europe. Two Air France flights headed from the United States to Paris were diverted  because of terrorism threats, fears of terrorist bombing caused the canceling of a soccer match between Germany and Holland, which the Chancellor of Germany was to attend.

In Paris, ceaseless gunfire exchanges occurred, Russia bombed Syria, and Brussels was paralyzed from fear of terrorist attacks in the city center. Will it continue this way?

Answer: Nothing will change! The world is moving forward according to the system to increasing convergence. If the convergence is organized correctly with good mutual cooperation between people, then it will be good.

It needs to be accompanied by positive participation with the system of unity and connection, not through our egosim which causes clashes between us.

We only need to learn how to bring people closer so that they will rise above their egoism without fighting among themselves because that won’t help! The previous generation fought, this generation fights, and the next generation will fight!

Question: What solution would you suggest to resolve this conflict?

Answer: In my rosiest dreams, I would like to see the UN, the G8, G20, and other organizations and forums force Israel to unite and, in this way, attract the entire world after it to a complete unification!

Nothing else is needed. There is no need to blame the Jews for being the reason for what is bad in the world, but there is a need to force them to unite so that they will become the reason for the entire world to unite.

Even if the nation of Israel would just begin to listen to us a little, then the entire world would immediately feel relief, and the terrorists would stop killing! That is the answer to your question. I see the general system, and that is the way it is structured.

You want everything to change for the better, then put the force of good into it. It will come only through connection and unity between the Jews!
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From KabTV’s “Conversations with Michael Laitman” 11/18/15

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Question: Which exiles have we already gone through and which are yet to come?

Answer: There have been four exiles during which the Jews were under the control of world empires such as Babylon, Persia (Purim), Greece (sports, art, science, Hanukkah), and Rome. We are speaking about the use of the ego in all of its four aspects, with increasing force.

The Egyptian exile, although it is considered the main one, the root of all exiles, in itself is not an exile, since the people went to Egypt of their own free will. The first three exiles passed over the nation in a constant wave: in the beginning Babylon conquered Israel, the Emperor Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the Temple, and most Jews were deported.

Then Persia conquered Babylon, and the Jews found themselves under their control. Cyrus the Great gave the Jews permission to build a temple, and part of the people returned to Israel but remained under the control of the Persians.

Then the Greeks conquered the ancient world and the rule over the Jews passed to them, until the Maccabean revolt when the Jews acquired independence.

But as soon as the Jews became independent, the ceaseless, internal conflicts began within the people, up to the inexplicable, unjustified hatred between all. And nothing could placate them.

To put an end to this, representatives of the people turned to the Roman emperor to calm the people. But when the Romans began to restore order, then the mutual hatred was turned on them as well. The Romans saw that they were not able to calm the people and they decided to close the Temple, the state, and the entire area, and the Jews dispersed throughout the Empire.

This exile has not yet been fully completed. Most of the people still live in countries of the former Roman Empire, in Europe, and from there moved to Eastern Europe and America.

Only in the 21^st century, with the end of the Ancient Roman Empire, in the form of modern Europe (the EU), we see the end of our fourth exile and the beginning of the era of the Messiah (from the word “Limshoch” – pulling), representing the time of correction for humanity, an exit from the egoistic nature.
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Question: Marcus Klingberg died. He was a Soviet spy who was arrested in 1983 by the Israeli security services. He sat in an Israeli prison for twenty years, then lived in Paris with his daughter, and lived a peaceful life there until the age of 97.

What can you say about spies who are working against Israel?

Answer: I don’t understand the psychology of these people. How is it possible to act to the detriment of your homeland, your nation?

There always have been these kinds of comrades, both socialists and communists, loyal to their ideology or religious extremists like the members of Neturei Karta, who come out sharply against the existence of the nation of Israel and are ready to sell it out to anyone. I can’t imagine how it is possible to understand and comprehend treason against a homeland.

Question: I think that half of the Jews in the United States today are working against Israel, but no one puts them in jail.

Answer: I have given lectures in North America, all over the United States, and I have spoken everywhere about the role of the people of Israel, and how we are to blame for everything that is happening to us from a spiritual aspect. The reaction was immediate, thunderous applause!

That is how I tested the audience. In truth, among them were also those who jumped up and shouted, “How can you say something like this?” However, they were individuals, and I was ready to embrace them.

Many American Jews don’t want any connection with Israel and generally would like to disconnect from it completely. This is a normal characteristic of Jews. As soon as we lose the spiritual idea, we immediately return to our beastly roots, meaning to ancient Babylon when we were not yet connected.

We don’t have any genetic connection with each other because we united due to the call of Abraham to create a new people based on the idea of “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18). If we fall from this level, then we are no longer a people, but just separate particles, like nuts in a single sack.

The sack ties them, and they rattle inside. They don’t want to be in connection with each other and scatter at the first opportunity. If the Jews have no aspiration to a common spiritual goal through which Abraham united us under a single umbrella, making as one people, then we are not a people; we are nothing!
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From KabTV’s “Conversations with Michael Laitman” 12/1/15

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