The boat that Jonah sails on is caught in a storm. The sailors do everything they can in order to save themselves: They throw everything that they don’t need overboard, pray to their god, and of course begin to look for the one who is responsible for the situation.

However, at the same time… Jonah goes to sleep as if everything that is happening around him doesn’t concern him.

It is only later when he has no choice that he confesses that he is running away from a mission he has been given and asks the sailors to throw him overboard.

In other words, Jonah is even ready to die and not fulfill his duty.

But this doesn’t help either. In the sea, a big fish swallows him ,and after spending three days in its stomach, he is forced to agree to accept the mission he has been given.

It is the same today: the world is becoming a global village and it is as if we are all floating in one boat on a stormy sea and the nations of the world, the sailors, blame the one Jew on board, the nation of Israel, for all the crises, wars, terror, afflictions, and disasters in the world.

Just like Jonah, we are still sleeping. We are immersed in the Israeli reality and pride trying to ignore the fact that the nations of the world hate us. We close our eyes in the midst of the stormy Arab Spring when the ever accusing finger of the world is pointed at us, waiting for everything to somehow quiet down by itself.

We did wake up for a moment under the missile attack and felt that we were one united nation, sharing the pain of others as our own. We felt the threads of our common love between us, of our common fate, but now we are sinking into a dream again, and soon we will probably not even remember our last summer’s awakening.

Still, every war and every new wave of anti-Semitism shows us more and more clearly that our fate is inevitable, just like the fate of Jonah who was responsible for the storm. If the sailors tried to save Jonah then, today the sailors on the global boat only wait for the right moment to throw us overboard. We will not even have to ask them to do us this favor…
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The first festival in the coming series of the holidays of Tishrei is Rosh HaShanah, the Jewish New Year. It symbolizes the beginning of the awakening of spirituality; it comes up on the same day in which for the first time human beings on the face of the Earth were awakened to a yearning for something higher, of higher value, for something that would give greater value than what the days of the week give.

The name of this person was Adam. And as we understand it, he wondered about the meaning of life. So the first day when such an exceptional desire appeared in Adam and the questions that accompanied it, is indicated on the Jewish calendar as the holiday Rosh HaShanah. As far as it seems, this is the only event in ancient history about which we know precisely when it took place, on the first of Tishrei (September-October) 5775 years ago.

In decisive moments of life we also, like Adam, contemplate something higher; about something that will help us practically, and will not just be reassurances again by political, religious, or any other promises.

It was really not that long ago that our people stood precisely before questions of this kind.
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The holidays in Israel are much more than just a tradition; they are connected to the present much more than we think.

The holidays of the Jewish people are a dotted line of our destiny, a broken cardiogram of the beating of our common heart. In them lies the symbolism and information that could easily be lost in the impenetrable labyrinths of history or distorted beyond recognition.

Every holiday carries within it a message, not only about our past, but also about our future.
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Together we have gone through a difficult year and through an “extreme change in the atmosphere” we have entered into an autumn “festive celebration.” It is not enough that the sirens have subsided and the time of holidays and vacations have arrived, as if intentionally to make it possible for us to pause and have the ability to calmly evaluate what happened.

So let’s not miss this opportunity. We ourselves have grown on other holidays, but it could be that this will specifically help us lift the traditional covering a bit and peer a drop more deeply into the essence of things. The present holidays remind us that union is the key to solving our problems. I hope that everyone will receive their message and implement it this year.

Rav Dr. Michael Laitman.
Read the entire booklet – here.
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The Torah, “Numbers” 10:13 – 10:15: This was the first journey at God’s bidding through Moses. The banner of the camp of Judah’s children traveled first according to their legions. Heading the legion was Nahshon the son of Amminadab. Heading the legion of the tribe of the children of Issachar was Nethanel the son of Zuar.

The movement of the twelve tribes, one following the other, symbolizes the parts of the general soul that are corrected in a certain order and sequence, starting from Judah.

Question: Why is the camp of Judah the first to be corrected?

Answer: In our days, we all are considered the descendants of the tribe of Judah.

Judah is the senior of all of the twelve tribes. This is the first of the twelve attributes that must undergo correction.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 2/11/15

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Question: Is it possible to measure the level of union among the people and according to it to say how far we are from another holocaust?

Answer: According to the degree of connection between us, we can measure our place on the spiritual ladder, which is called Jacob’s Ladder, how we rise from our world in 125 levels, through five worlds until we attain Olam Ein Sof.

In every world, there are five Partzufim, in every Partzuf, there are five Sefirot, and in sum there are 125 levels (5 x 5 x 5). The difference between all of these levels is greater and greater connection and union between us.

This union always is realized in a group of ten (Minyan). If we connect correctly, we nullify ourselves, and then we begin to feel the connection between us, as well as a new spiritual force that is discovered in our connection.

The more we connect, the more each one of us feels how he rises on the ladder of spiritual levels, until reaching its end.
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From Israeli Radio Program 103FM, 7/12/15

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The Torah, “Ezekiel” 36:24: For I will take you from among the nations and gather you from all the countries, and I will bring you to your land.

From a historic perspective, the Jews gathered on their land under the pressure and oppression of the nations of the world.

At the same time, they had to break away from their religion because it called for sitting and expecting the Messiah that would redeem them of their sufferings as the prophet Ezekiel says.

The religious Jews were in no hurry to return to their land from exile while waiting for and expecting the Messiah. Only those who broke away from religion realized that they could build their state only in the land of Israel.

I remember myself as a Zionist. I lived in Russia at the time, and I had a specific goal: to come to Israel and to live there. I should say that Zionism awakened in me the great and deep question about the meaning of life for a while, but when I came here, I began to feel the need for the next level of my development: what for, why, and how.

Thus, the question reappeared and kept troubling me until it became, “What is the meaning of my existence? Now that I am among my people building my state, what’s next?” At the same time, I always have felt I am a Zionist.

The word “Zionist” stems from the word “Zion,” which refers to the place where the spiritual root and its corporeal branch connect. In this place, we must recreate the nation of Israel, which means the group (which also can consist of several million people) that lives according to Abraham’s laws.

Question: We know that there is no time and place in spirituality, and here you suddenly say that Israel is a piece of land that is holy in a certain sense and has certain spiritual attributes.

Answer: Yes, these are attributes that are above time. The connection of the Jewish nation to its land is described in many Kabbalistic writings. This is the reason that we need to return to this land and not to Uganda.

Question: Why do some people feel a very strong attraction to this land and others don’t feel it at all?

Answer: It depends on the root of one’s soul. When I left Russia, in Vienna we were offered the choice of any state we wished to emigrate to. Of a train full of Jews, only two families, mine and another family, went to Israel; all the others dispersed in Europe and in America.

It is an urge that stems from the spiritual root that brings people to Israel. Today, it is revealed in many people, and humanity is beginning to feel that it needs connection and unity.

People don’t understand why they are attracted to it. They feel warmth and that there is something here! And even if having arrived here, they subsequently feel they will feel good in this land.

Question: Are these people descendants of the ten lost tribes?

Answer: No, these are totally different people who are not Jewish by origin but who feel that the idea of unity is close to their hearts, and all of humanity gradually is getting closer to this.
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From KabTV’s “The Last Generation” 6/23/15

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Abraham’s Discovery

Ancient Babylon is a special state of humanity that was sandwiched in a very compact territory between two rivers. It was a well-developed civilization that existed about 3,500 years ago.

The Babylonians were so interconnected that they began to feel the rejection of each other, as if the people were good friends while they kept a decent distance, but when in closer proximity immediately began to quarrel. After all, we all are selfish; we can’t stay too close to each other and are compelled to disperse.

Ancient Babylonians discovered the phenomenon called the Tower of Babel. Human egoism grew like a tower to the heavens, thus separating them to the degree of hatred that arose among them and that prevented them from mutual understanding to the extent that they felt as if they spoke different languages.

They didn’t know what to do in such a critical situation. Then one wise man named Abraham offered a solution. Abraham was a priest. He manufactured and sold Babylonian idols. Babylonians were pagans and worshiped trees, stones, and so forth. They deified all of the forces of nature.

There were a lot of priests in Babylon, but Abraham was very famous among them because he was a son of Terah, the High Priest, who was a very influential cleric.

Abraham investigated the situation in Babylon and realized that humanity was obliged to attain such a connection in which their state of crisis would be revealed, as shown by their tremendous egoism.

After this phase, there were only two possible paths: either disperse even further or rise above their selfishness. Indeed, the purpose of nature is not to separate people but to raise them above their egoism.

The ascent above egoism leads the human race to a new developmental stage. For that we should combine our powers, desires, thoughts, and abilities. Connection between us opens a network of liaisons that eventually discloses the governing force of nature to us.

Our selfishness is only one negative force of nature. If, despite it, we continue our efforts to unite, we will reveal two opposite systems that must merge with each other: a will to receive and the power of bestowal, hatred and love, rejection and attraction.

If we continue our yet unsuccessful efforts to reconcile these two systems, we suddenly understand that there is some sort of connection between them. The force that integrates these two completely opposite systems and makes them one whole is called the upper force. The discovery was made by Abraham when he revealed the general force of nature.

To be continued…
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 7/05/15

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As of now, the departure of the Jews from the Diaspora has ended. In fact they have returned to their nation. But is it possible to call them a people? This is a collection of exiles (Kibbutz Galuyot), a collection of fragments and no more than this. They don’t even stick together.

Question: But it is also a spiritual process, otherwise would we ever be able to return to the land of Israel?

Answer: Certainly, everything is managed by forces that push each one of us and all of us together towards a particular goal. This is collective global behavior.

Question: So what changed regarding our people after returning to our land?

Answer: Nothing. An opportunity was given to us to create a single united people from ourselves as it was in the time of Abraham, which is what the Kabbalists call for us to do. And all the rest depends on us; it is up to us to understand the mission and the possibility of realizing it among the people whom we must succeed in bringing to unification.
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From KabTV’s “The Last Generation” 6/23/15

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The Story Begins With Adam

Question: The ninth of Av (Tisha B’Av) is a special day of mourning. On this day, the destructions of the first and second temples took place, as well as many other tragic events in the history of the Jewish people.

However, nowadays, secular people do not pay much attention to this day. What is the importance of the day, and how does it relate to our lives today?

Answer: I think the reason our contemporaries in Israel don’t know about the ninth of Av is that they do not associate themselves with their history.

Young people think, “Well, once upon a time, there was a temple, but since then, two thousand years have passed. It has nothing to do with my life now. Why should I return again and again to the same story? Other nations do not care about what happened to them thousands of years ago.”

Really, there were many important events in ancient Rome, Greece, and Germany, but people who now live in these countries do not commemorate them. Similarly, the younger generation of Israel does not give any value to the ninth of Av.

Yet, by all means, they would re-evaluate their attitude if they knew that Jewish holidays are not related to historic events. Our history reflects what happens in nature. It is nature that engraves humanity’s advancement on the calendar.

We think that history began 14 billion years ago at the time when the universe emerged, or 4 ½ billion years ago when planet Earth appeared in the solar system. We easily can skip a prehistoric period that preceded the appearance of humanity, such as the Mesozoic or Paleozoic. The history of humanity can be calculated from the appearance of the “first man” Adam.

Adam was not a primeval man who showed up as a result of the evolution of monkeys who came down the trees hundreds of thousands of years ago as archaeological excavations show. The first man Adam lived 5775 years ago. He was the first one who disclosed the system that governs this world.

On one hand, this discovery became possible because of a great desire he had. On the other hand, this discovery was predetermined from above. So Adam revealed the system of the higher governance and began exploring the world. He launched a school of his own and was followed by disciples who later continued his research.

These events are described in the Torah, in Josephus’s (Flavius) writings, and in many other sources. Adam was the first who disclosed the upper governing system called the Creator, the system of the higher power that controls all of nature.

There is no need to visualize this power as divine, spiritual images. It’s just one general superior power that includes a plurality of forces. This power is informative and sensate. It supports all of nature. It is the power of higher governance.

Adam was the first one who disclosed this power. This explains why he is called the First Man. Numerous people lived before him. Many generations elapsed before his birth. He was born of a father and mother like everyone else.

Adam wrote the book, The Angel Raziel (Raziel Hamalaach), which is available nowadays. He had many disciples. The Torah colorfully describes the events that happened to Adam’s students. One of Adam’s disciples, Noah, was saved from the flood on the ark that arrived at Mount Ararat.

Until now, people are looking for the remains of the ark and shoot Hollywood movies about these events. Adam and Noah deserve a good compensation for providing great scenarios for popular movies.

Adam’s discovery was transferred from student to student, from generation to generation. Each of his followers started a school of their own. This is how humanity grew and eventually came to the state of Ancient Babylon.
To be continued.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 7/5/15

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