Entries in the 'Nations of the World' Category

Care for the Other as a Norm, Not as a Feat

563It is a well-known fact that “Israel is strong when we treat each other well.” Since the war began, we see examples of courage, self-sacrifice, mutual support, and assistance in the people of Israel. So why did we receive such a terrible blow that is comparable to the Holocaust?

The fact is that there is no real connection from heart to heart. Now, after this blow, people are doing wonderful things for the benefit of the nation. But some time will pass, two weeks, two months, and everything will return to the way it was before, and the confrontation will spill out onto the streets again.

We are struck by the savage cruelty of what happened. But this is not the first time in the history of Jewish people that such a catastrophe has occurred, and we still do not draw any conclusions.

We must realize that cruelty is inherent in human nature, especially toward the people of Israel. After all, it is written in our Torah that we must be the best. The Creator intended it this way that we must set a good example for everyone, and if not, then other nations treat us worse than everyone else.

What should we be the best at? Actually, in everything! And above all, in relationships with each other. We are obliged to help each other, to love and to feel close to each other.

Now we feel this closeness, but only because we are afraid that this will happen again. But as soon as fears dissipate, we will again become indifferent to each other.

A person receives strength for heroic deeds from the feeling that he is doing the good and the right thing. This allows him to go even against the instinct of self-preservation. That is why he is called a man and not an animal, which acts only according to instincts.

We must see examples of how we should all be toward each other in these selfless actions and realize our responsibility to save our neighbors. This is how we must act not only in the hour of disaster, but every day. After all, we must understand that we will always be in an emergency situation until we achieve love for our neighbor as for ourselves, until attention, unity, care, and mutual assistance become commonplace for us, and not a feat.
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From KabTV’s “An Inside Look” 10/15/23

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A Miracle Happened to Us

294.2Question: More and more facts of terrorist atrocities are being revealed now. They were horrific! We are not even seeing all the photos that might be posted someday.

We did a 14-minute-long program with you about this. People watched it to the end. It received lots of views, almost a million, in 24 hours. This has never happened before. It received a lot of warm and heartfelt support and a very large flow of curses.

“You are aggressors! You torture the Palestinian people! How dare you say that this territory needs to be resettled, that it cannot exist next to you!” And so on. I will not repeat it because you know all this very well. The first question is: how do you feel about this?

Answer: I take this evenly. Even if there were no criticism, I do not react to it. This is a natural response of people who are on the other side of justice.

This will stop if we become loving, mutually obliging, and so on. Otherwise, we will feel bad all the time. We can say that the nations of the world are leading us to correction with their own hands.

Question: And the fact that people are very distrustful of this—of the fact that everything will change, that Jews must change, this being chosen?

Answer: It seems truly incredible, but I believe that no matter what, we will turn into who we are meant to be.

Question: Do you mean “Love your neighbor as yourself”?

Answer: Yes. And then all the nations of the world will say: “Look what the Creator did to them.”

They will see that we are one nation treating each other with love and not with mutual hatred, demonstrations, and all sorts of antics. And they will be happy to approach us and learn from us about this opportunity to live in peace and love.

That is, we have no choice. The Creator again gives us an opportunity, an incredible opportunity, so that we can establish a good connection between us and Him.

I consider what happened to us a miracle. Because there were no guards, no front, no one! They could have just calmly slaughtered all of us. This is what the Creator showed us—how we kill ourselves with our opposition, contradiction, and discord between each other. It is terrible!

The only thing I would wish is to beg the Creator not to let His people go until they are corrected. You must be a Jew, be different, and then everything will work out for you.

Question: What do you mean by the word “Jew”?

Answer: Yehudi (Jew) comes from the word “Yehud” (unity).

Question: Then everything will work out for us and everything will work out for the world?

Answer: Yes. But now we still live in debt. The world is suffering because of us and yet forgives us. And all this comes from above.

So we have no right to make claims to the Creator.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 10/12/23

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From the Broken Heart

236.02 The Creator will evidently show us that Israel cannot exist in exile, and will find no rest as the rest of the nations that mingled among the nations and found rest, and assimilated in them until no trace was left of them. Not so is the house of Israel. This nation will find no rest among the nations until it realizes the verse, “And from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him for you will demand Him with all your heart and all your soul.” (Baal HaSulam, article “Exile and Redemption,” “Harmony between Religion and the Law of Development or Blind Fate”).

Question: Why does he call it a sentence as a result of the judgment?

Answer: Because it is in this state when we are completely scattered, and divided, when we have no society, no country, no sense of something of ours that surrounds us, we come to realize that, in principle, that we are nothing and nobody, and from this state, we begin to rise.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/17/23, Writings of Baal HaSulam “Exile and Redemption”

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For the Unification of the People of Israel

962.6Question: Should we pray for the people of Israel to unite because they are the most broken? How should you direct yourself correctly in this regard?

Answer: To direct oneself correctly means to aim for such a unification among themselves that every nation comes to understand that a bright future can only be in unification between them.

Only in this way will we attain everything we desire, except one thing—to rule over others, to dictate to others—and will each person to understand what one’s uniqueness is, what one’s work is, and what one should do in order to benefit others.

And others will do the same for him or her, and absolute mutual love and care for one another, everyone, and everything will reign.

This is inherent in nature, it is how it should and will be. Only all this depends on us today, how much we can get at least one step closer to this. For this reason, wars occur.

Question: Should we in our prayer, internally help the people of Israel in uniting among themselves?

Answer: Yes, it is necessary to unite at this level, defend ourselves, and correct ourselves. However, the most important thing for us is to disseminate this idea to all of humanity.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/13/23, Writings of Baal HaSulam “Introduction to The Book of Zohar“

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The World Needs Correction through Unity

214Gradually, the nations of the world will agree that we must live in friendship and cooperation, and in rapprochement between us. After all, there can be no progress in moving humanity forward otherwise.

Therefore, we are approaching a state where part of humanity will begin to understand that rapprochement between nations is necessary not only to avoid wars; it is a necessity coming from nature itself, from its source, the Creator.

The difficult situation in the country will force people to become interested in the wisdom of Kabbalah. Although they are accustomed to associating Kabbalah with some kind of miracles, mysticism, or rituals, in fact, Kabbalah teaches the structure of reality, which includes the entire universe, all people, all inanimate matter, plants, and animals, that is, the entire nature of the universe without exception.

We must understand that we live in a world that needs correction through unity. There is a lot of work ahead to oblige all the inhabitants of the world to think about this. There is no other way to reach the correction of the world and come to peace and tranquility, to a good life, so as not to be reincarnated in this world, which is falling to the lowest point of reality, unless we connect into one man with one heart.

A person must clearly realize this so that in the turmoil of this life, no matter how confused he is every day by the billions of people around him, he still does not become disconnected from the purpose of life and does not fall under the control of desires for wealth, power, knowledge or when his only concern is for food, sex, and family.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/13/23, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar“

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The Winner Is Only the Creator

610.2Question: The whole history of humanity is full of wars, terrible wars. The history of  Israel is full of wars. We know the Holocaust the Israeli people experienced during the War. It turns out that nothing helps, although it is constantly beaten. How much can it be beaten?

Answer: Until we get smarter and all the egoism is knocked out of us.

Question: Are there winners in war, and is it correct to say that reconciliation is the winner?

Answer: Only the Creator can act as the winner, and we want to see such a war. It is a war in which egoism will be defeated and peace will be restored throughout the Earth.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/12/23, “Reinforcing Ourselves with There Is None Else Besides Him”

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What Does it Mean to Be the People of Israel?

961.1When thinking about how the catastrophe of October 7, this pogrom, could have happened to the people of Israel, you realize that apparently we ourselves allowed it to happen. After all, there is no unification among us as one nation, we do not strive for unity, we neglect each other, and we do not get closer from year to year. We do not meet the requirements that are necessary to be called the people of Israel.

If we were talking about some other nation, then perhaps this would be a normal state of affairs. But Israel became a nation only after it was united. And if there is no unity, then there is no nation—that is the uniqueness of the people of Israel.

Thousands of years ago we agreed to become the chosen people under special conditions. We must not forget about them because they determine the existence of our people who are obliged to be as one man with one heart and as “all of Israel are friends.” We must strive to become more united with every passing year. But the opposite is happening; year after year, there are only more and more street protests, as if the entire country is engaged in a fight between soccer fans after a match.

Therefore, it is not surprising that disaster befalls us. Before it happened, a massive political dispute broke out in the country and stirred up many emotions and aggression. This was the critical point of the internal split.

We need to rise above all disputes. Even though our opinions differ, we maintain good relations. Disagreement does not hinder our good relationships because we feel close and related, like a family in which there is love. Otherwise, we cannot be considered one nation.

From above, there is a desire to show us that nothing will help us if there are no heartfelt relationships between us, the people of Israel, i.e., when I am close to you and you are close to me and so we are all close to each other.
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From KabTV’s “An Inside Look” 10/15/23

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Make Hatred Turn into Love

547.01Question: Why aren’t there two separate states in people, love or hatred, so that a man can work between them, but there is also such a Klipa (impurity) when national love becomes fascism and chauvinism that unites people out of hatred for others. Why does this third form exist?

Answer: This is an extreme form of egoism. People just often confuse it with love for their people.

Question: If you ask your neighbors whether they love their people, they will say: “Of course we do, but in order for us to live happily, we need to destroy our enemies.” Why do people confuse this with love?

Answer: Because if you love someone who is against you, then you are an enemy of your people. And if you hate him and destroy him, then you are a hero for your people.

Question: It turns out that there is some kind of confusion in the world. Why did the Creator not make it so that there were simply two extreme states: hatred and love? Then you could choose.

Answer: People get confused and think that they are in love, although it has nothing to do with love at all. But if love and hatred were separate, then you could not transform hatred into love. It would be just like you tame animals, and they sell themselves to you for food.

Our goal is to transform hatred into love. That is the whole point.

Therefore, the hatred that develops among nations toward other nations must exist. It must be recognized as the wrong hatred and must be transformed into the right awareness of what I hate and what I love.

Question: Is it possible that in the corrected state your neighbors, who are now firing rockets at you, will love you and say: “We love our neighbors”?

Answer: This does not happen right away. This cannot be done in one step. But we know of cases when former mortal enemies became devoted friends.

Question: So, you see that sooner or later this will happen?

Answer: I am sure that this is the way it should be because the more hatred is manifested, the more love will be manifested. We need to explain to people that this is the law of nature.

Question: Should it be a global universal love so that a person can rise above all differences?

Answer: Yes. Ultimately, this will be so because from unity in the ten we come to unity with the Creator. And therefore, we rise above all the forces of nature in unification and love, and all the forces of nature unite within us: both love and hatred.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/14/23, “The Nation”

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For Those Who Advance Toward the Correction

558Question: One should always see oneself as half guilty and half innocent. Is it the same for Israel and the nations of the world?

Answer: It is for those who advance toward their correction.

Question: How can we prevent the inner part or quality of Israel from sinking lower and lower?

Answer: Raise it higher and higher by uniting with each other, and the connection between us becomes stronger and stronger.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/10/23, Writings of Baal HaSulam “Introduction to The Book of Zohar”

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We Are All Brothers, And Not Only in Misfortune

229Demonstrations, party struggles for power, screams in the streets, and hatred that split the nation—this is the situation in Israel on the eve of the war.

We must fight against our disunity. And the problem is not that people belong to different parties, have different opinions, and demonstrate, but that they want to cancel each other, and thus weaken each other. After all, if I argue with someone, I am obliged to respect him to the same extent, and recognize his right for his own opinion, which may be correct.

Now, in wartime, it seems that hatred has disappeared, and the people are united in mutual support. The pain is so strong that we have forgotten about our hatred. But we have not gone far away from the state that was before the war, and a few days may be enough for us to return to it.

While we are united by common pain, we present one front and have put aside our mutual hatred. But it has not gone anywhere. We see wonderful examples of mutual assistance and self-sacrifice, but all this is a consequence of the blow we have received. And as soon as the external threat weakens and moves away, all the hatred will again spill out from within.

After all, everyone remained devoted to their own opinion. Unity means that I am ready to cancel myself in order to unite with the other—and so we are all among ourselves. Meanwhile there is no such unity and mutual guarantee among the people, but there is a state that Baal HaSulam calls “brothers in misfortune.”

We see many examples of how people are now canceling themselves for the common good, and are ready to help each other, donate, and defend the country. But we should not delude ourselves because this is happening under the pressure of a common tragedy, and we cannot transfer this unity to another level in order to continue correct development.

We need to reach absolute zero where there is no external influence obliging us to unite, and from this zero point begin to build our unity, not because an external threat is pressing on us, but because we ourselves decide to live this way in good connection with each other and want to get closer, feel, and love each other. This requires a change of consciousness, and not external pressure.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/17/23, Writings of Baal HaSulam “Exile and Redemption”

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