New Life 794 – Tribalism
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Nitzah Mazoz

We are all born connected, but the developing egoism grows and separates us. Instead of having connected hearts, we begin to communicate to benefit at the expense of others. Today people are immersed in work and the connection and warmth between us has been lost.

The distancing between people began in the days of ancient Babylon. Egoism was first revealed there and in our time it has spread to the whole world.

Tribal life is like life in the womb, like being in the bosom of the mother, a place in which a person feels secure and lacks worries.  The feeling of security comes to a person through the people around him, through the power of nature.

Abraham taught the Babylonians that when people connect, the positive force of nature, the Creator, is revealed between them.

The ego is like an invisible monster between us that prevents us from understanding and feeling others.
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From KabTV’s “New Life 794 – Tribalism,” 11/29/16

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In my regular column in the Jerusalem Post, my new article: “Israel’s best response to the UN resolution“

Predictably, Obama is using his last weeks in office to accomplish his anti-Israel goals. But how should Israel respond?

Even as Israel rightfully decries the UN resolution, it must also see that this unanimous vote of hate and anger against it bears a strong message. The world is expecting Israel to lead the way to a solution, and fast. But it is up to Israel to figure out what that solution must be.

What the World Doesn’t Know

As I wrote in my last column, the resolution is but the culmination of Obama’s eight years of efforts to force his destructive neoliberal policies upon the world. I have already written of the error inherent to liberalism, that its high and lofty aims may be correct, but it lacks the path to achieve them.

At the end of this year of terror, which world leaders have not known how to prevent, and as the world witnesses Europe suffering the deadly results of its neoliberal open border approach towards Muslim immigrants, these leaders have the audacity to try and force the same liberal mistakes upon Israel without the least concern of the security implications it would have on such a tiny state. For what actual solution to the conflict is the UN offering? How can Obama, European leaders, and the leaders of countries such as crime torn Venezuela teach Israel anything about resolving the core issues that divide Israelis and Palestinians?

Just as world leaders recklessly thought that simply letting in millions of people of completely different cultures into their land, with no prior preparation for this assimilation on the human, psychological level, would magically result in a peaceful heaven, they are now pushing for an artificial two-state solution that may bear the title of mutual “independence”, and calm the liberal conscience, but will do nothing to achieve peaceful coexistence between the two nations.

Israel has learned from its mistakes. The withdrawal from the Gaza Strip ended in the further escalation of violence toward Israel. The agricultural lands of Jewish settlers were turned into rocket launching platforms with underground terror tunnels beneath them, inciting an inevitable war that brought about so many casualties, especially on the Palestinian side. Nothing can assure us that the same will not happen with a withdrawal to all other pre-1967 borders.

What the World Does Know

However ineffective the efforts, there is good reason that world leaders push to see this conflict resolved. The amount of pressure and attention that this conflict has received along the way is not only indicative of the huge bias against Israel. Outgoing UN secretary-general Ban Ki Moon himself admitted the bias, with 223 UN resolutions passed in the last decade condemning Israel, but only 6 condemning Syria–the location for the past six years of the most horrifying humanitarian crisis since WWII. It is also indicative of how the world somehow feels that THIS crisis is the source of all others, that solving this conflict will model for the world the remedy for all its other ills.

The enigma of this attitude towards Israel is rooted deep in Israel’s past and future. At present it is clear to see that subconsciously, the world expects Israel to solve its problems; it just doesn’t understand how.

Above Right and Left

It is up to Israel to find the answers. However, though Israel is right to refuse to repeat the mistakes of the past, which will endanger its safety, it does not mean that it is heading in the right direction. As Israel tightens its security measures and avoids contact with the other side, the problem is not actually treated, assuring that war and strife will continue.

New solutions are needed that go beyond what has been tried so far. The typical leftist approach calls for conciliations that irresponsibly overlook the culture gaps, hatred, and religious ideologies; while the typical approach of the political Right is the maintenance of security and furthering Israel’s goals, living forever upon our sword, without taking real steps to achieve the coexistence that will bring the conflict to its solution. Neither approach on its own can yield the desired results. What I believe CAN work is something completely different.

Israel Holds the Key

What must first be acknowledged is that coexistence when such deeply rooted hate is present is not born of decisions made on paper or by swapping land, but from true change of relations and attitudes between the two sides. Without such a change in the reality of the animosity between the nations, they will continue to fight each other in a zero sum war until one side is completely erased.

Secondly, complete separation is not possible. Evacuating Jews from all settlements and creating a “Jew free zone” will not cure the hate and the danger to Israel, with Hamas’ charter stating its intent to destroy it, and children being educated to murder every Jew. Moreover, Israel is not “Muslim free”; it is a society embedded with many religions and cultures. Thus, achieving a breakthrough in the quality of the relationships between Israelis and Palestinians is crucial for all.

Some might say it is impossible to achieve such unity, but they must know that it is not so. For millennia Jews have been unknowingly carrying within them the one method that can connect people above all differences.

Abraham’s Discovery

Thousands of years ago Abraham, the father of all Abrahamic religions and the common father of Jews and Palestinians, discovered the secret of the oneness of all life. He taught his disciples the method of achieving harmony between human beings. This deep wisdom which the world has come to know of, ever so superficially, by the precepts of “love thy neighbor as thyself” and “do not do to others what you hate”- was forgotten by most. But it was not lost. It was carried onwards for generations and elaborated by Jewish sages of Kabbalah in many texts such as the Book of Zohar and more recently, the writings of Baal Hasulam. Today, as it receives modern day practical forms, it is succeeding in bringing together Jews and Muslims in every opportunity that it is applied to the task.

The method of Abraham comes from the root of both nations and so it is the only way to move towards the healing of this ancient family strife. Rabbi Kook wrote of the future of these relations that “the brotherly love of Esau and Jacob, of Isaac and Ishmael, will raise them above all calamity, caused by evil, and turn them into light and mercy” (Igrot Haraia 1, 142).

I have had the privilege and responsibility to carry forward this wisdom and pass it on to my many students, who already implement it in discussion circles throughout Israel.

They have succeeded greatly in bringing together Jews and Arabs as you can see here, time and time again. This success can be replicated and must be the basis for any peace process; because peace begins with the people, with education, with changing mindsets and predispositions. Only by carefully constructing such peace in our societies can we expect the decisions made by leaders to last and bring good results into our lives.
We mustn’t give away the land or compromise security without first making sure that a process of education towards peace has actually changed the landscape of people’s hearts and minds. Those should be the settlements we fight for- the establishments of love and friendship between us, the building of bridges between our hearts. Only then will we be able to live our lives in happiness and security. Yes, Israel must defend itself, but also strive for this sort of change to take place.

Forecast For 2017

I predict that the world will continue to blindly pressure Israel to take the initiative. Though Trump may make things easier for Israel, it mustn’t think that it may rest on its laurels. It must continue to strive to create the coexistence between Jews and Arabs that only Israel can achieve, that will give the desperately needed example to the world of how to create peace in conflicted societies.

If Israel manages to pressure itself into finding this root solution to the conflict, it will gain immensely. Ultimately, a united Israel will bring an end to the war and to the great hatred the nations share toward it, as it finally assumes its destined position as the spiritual leader of the world, paving the way towards lasting peace. To the nations I say, pressure Israel to unite, not to withdraw. To Jews I say, don’t be tempted to take sides; unite above your differences. Only when you realize you hold the key, and find the way to create peace within you, will this conflict and all others be healed.
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  Jerusalem Post 12/29/16

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Question: The word “anti-Semitism” is composed of “anti” – against and “Semite,” which is a person (Shem, a son of Noah). Why would someone be opposed to this. Is someone entitled to be against this?

Jewish books contain text without “humanity” regarding the gentiles, so it is understandable why they are against us.

Answer: Everything written about “gentiles” refers to our egoism, which is called “gentile,” from the word of the people. The word “Jew – Yehudi” is derived from the word “union – Yichud,” unity among the people that must be attained by everyone. There is no connection in these words to the words “gentile” or “Jew” in the sense that is familiar to us, but it is only a differentiation within a person into “gentile,” an egoist, and “Jew,” an altruist, regardless of nationality or race.
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Related Material:
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New Life 804 – The Secret Of The Greek Culture’s Power
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Nitzah Mazoz

The wisdom of Kabbalah teaches how a person can ascend above his mind, above reason.

Greek philosophy stems from information Greek philosophers took from the wisdom of Kabbalah, but they did not know how to realize it. To this day we follow the Greek approach. A person develops his reason and thinks that it will do him good.

Every individual can ascend above reason to a new higher level. The world is the reality I perceive. If you expand your instruments of perception, you catch more. Kabbalah tells us how to advance to a different perception of reality.

After we developed the whole world according to the Greek approach, we see that we have achieved nothing. Our emotions tell us that we have not achieved anything as a result of developing our mind, and Kabbalah offers a new approach, which is first of all emotional. It enables a person to open life unlimitedly.
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From KabTV’s “New Life 804 – The Secret Of The Greek Culture’s Power,” 12/22/16

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Question: There are scientists who believe that the Hebrew alphabet was originally created from Phoenician, a language that existed a long time before the Hebrew alphabet. Could it be that Adam HaRishon (the First Man) was Phoenician?

Answer: I cannot say whether Adam HaRishon was Phoenician, but he was the first person in our world to discover the upper force and describe it. I don’t know if the Phoenician people existed 6,000 years ago; I have not come across historical documents that would prove this. I rely upon the writings of Kabbalah and the Torah.

It could sound like my words are unbelievable and unproven, but the wisdom of Kabbalah confirms and verifies these things, and I rely on that.

Question: Does that mean we don’t know the nationality of Adam?

Answer: In the time of Adam HaRishon there were no nationalities. Nationalities appeared 3,500 years, after humanity’s exodus from Babylon. Before then, as the Torah says, there was one people composed of different tribes, and they all lived together in ancient Babylon.

Only after the Babylonians dispersed and settled all over the face of the Earth did various peoples and nations appear.

Comment: Scientists have studied the Jewish genome and determined that it is absolutely identical to that of the Iraqis. In fact, the Jews were also emigrants from Babylon, emigrants from Iraq.

My Comment: Iraq is the territory of ancient Babylon. But in principle this doesn’t matter because the Jews are not a nationality. They are a group of people Abraham gathered to be his students who united around him according to the principle “And you shall love your friend as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18).

They had to do this to attain the upper world. After they began to realize the law “And you shall love your friend as yourself” and through it attained the upper world, the upper management system, they began to call themselves Jews (Yehudim). The word “Yehudi” comes from the word “Yichud” (Unification), “Achdut” (Unity), and the word “Ivri” (Hebrew) means a transition from feeling our world to feeling the upper world. So Jews are not a nationality, but an ideological group,

As for the Iraqis, in a sense, they may be the former Jews who either remained in Babylon or separated from Abraham’s group along the way. But it doesn’t matter! The wisdom of Kabbalah doesn’t belong to any one nation.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 7/17/16

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If We Met Adam…
Kabbalah Without A Trace Of Mysticism

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From my column in Ynet: “Who Is Running ISIS?”

Daesh [ISIS] stands at the head of the list of threatening phenomena at the conclusion of 2015. Who is really running the murderous terrorist organization, and what is the connection between the shaming on social networks of a former prime minister who was sentenced to prison and lecturers who were sent with ministers?

The rising world star of 2015 is undoubtedly Daesh—an organization that was crowned with the strongest and most sweeping brand name for this year, thanks to its widespread outbreak into the depth of international consciousness. Throughout the entire past year, hideous snuff films were posted on the social networks including: beheadings, rapes and murders of women, showcase attacks throughout the world, and stabbing and trampling attacks in the streets.

Daesh, the extremist terrorist organization, is indeed presenting the most brutal terrorist performance on the world stage, but if we take a deeper look, we will discover that we are also connected and we have a responsibility in this story (1).

Daesh is Here

The Book of Zohar indicates that we are all networked in a system of invisible connections. Imagine a network that closely links each one of us to every other person, a kind of network of thoughts and emotions that flow between us and dictate decisions and what we do in our lives.

Similar to a person, this network of connections is divided into two main parts: head and body. Each organ in this system has a defined role (2). The people of Israel serve as the “Rosh – head” (“Israel” = “Li-Rosh” – “I have a head”), and the world functions as the “body” (3).

When an ordinary person wakes up a bad thought, violence against another Jew, or even just an uncontrollable urge to “kill” or to “stab,” this thought within the “head of the system” necessarily transforms into a command in the “body of the system.”

It is not only extreme acts such as murder, stabbing, or severe violence toward others, even when I curse a driver who passes me wildly on the highway or I erupt at a clerk at the NII [government agency] or at the neighborhood children who are disturbing my rest, even then I am arousing evil.

The problem with thoughts is that they are immediately realized in the blink of an eye. Somewhere in another place, someone already goes to act out “my thought” in action against another person. As is written in The Book of Zohar (VaYehi): “Israel causes the rest of the peoples to lift their heads in the world.”

According to that perception, when a terrorist stabs a Jew in the streets of Israel—the root for this abominable deed is the direct result of those countless negative thoughts that pass through our minds and are also expressed in our negative attitudes toward each other (4).

The Hidden Connection Between the Relationships Between Us and the State of the World

These days we are dealing with increasing waves of global hatred toward the nation of Israel (5). Recognizing the fact that specifically here, in the system of relationships that we build between us in the nation of Israel, the fate of humanity is decided, and when hatred breaks out between us, it “awakens” hatred throughout the world through that hidden system of connections.
Were the enemy not so cruel, we would continue to fight and quarrel with each other.

Suddenly a terrorist murders hundreds of people in Paris. The enlightened world blames us as being responsible for the deed—an example is Sweden, which marches at the head of the haters camp, it is not ashamed to point an accusing finger at the nation of Israel as being responsible for world terror. A Daesh leader contending with many war fronts turns specifically to threaten the Jews and anti-Israeli organizations call from every stage possible to boycott us.

We must understand that things are decided for the good or for the bad on a more internal stratum. Bad thoughts and negative attitudes between us invite a hostile attitude and anti-Semitic actions toward us because “No calamity comes into the world except on account of Israel” (Yebamot 63a) (6).

Connection Is Our DNA

By virtue of our role as the “head of the system,” we must inject the power of connection, the power of vitality, into the rest of the peoples (7). This connection is our essence as the chosen people even from the days of our father Abraham who gathered us into a single nation from a jumble of foreign tribes in ancient Babylon (8).

In a sense, we must admit that Daesh are our “friends”—not because of the destruction and cruelty they bring into the world, but for the necessary uncovering that has been imposed upon us to change the basis of the relationships between us, and first and foremost, the thoughts that we scatter around the world (9). A change like this will lead us from brotherly hatred to love of Israel.

As strange as it all sounds, it is up to us to “thank” Daesh, because were it not for such a cruel enemy, we would continue to fight and quarrel with each other. Daesh grants us an opportunity to actualize our function as a people—to connect between us as one person with one heart and to restore the force of positive connection to the world. The beauty is that when we connect between us, the threat of Daesh will dissipate. This terrorist organization is “activated” by us like a puppet on strings; so when we unite—Daesh is afraid! (10).

The Real Enemy Is Us

The most important task before us is to unite against our real enemy – the separation, polarization, and division between us. We are guilty of making it possible for terrorism and all the evil in the world to run wild. The way to contend with the growing hatred is to apply the wisdom of connection—the wisdom of Kabbalah, by means of which we can elevate the value of unity above the growing egoism and self-concern (11).

The separation between us makes it possible for the ideology of Daesh to occupy the center of the world stage. It is an ideology that is based on the false unity of hatred. In contrast to it stands the ideology of unity of love for others, “And you shall love your friend as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18); only through its power can we neutralize every enemy from the evil power that nourishes
it and win the affection of the world (12).

So what will happen in 2016? It depends on our thoughts!

References:

1.“The Holy One Blessed be He made Israel the heart of the whole world. And that is how Israel among all the nations of the world, as a heart among the organs. And just as the organs of the body cannot exist in the world for even a moment without the heart, so all the nations cannot exist in the world without Israel” (Zohar for the People, Parshat Pinhas, 152)

“There is an intermediary phase between the totality of the world and the Creator, and it is the Israeli soul, which is very exalted in its root, and it is really a part of the divine, and it is the intermediary that connects between the totality of the world and the Creator. And through it the abundance and vitality and the existence of all the worlds is drawn; and so everything depends on Israel” (“Likkutei Halachot”, Birchat HaReiach and Birchat Hodah”, Halacha 4).

“The peace of the worlds dwells within this nation” (Bereshit Rabba, Parshah 66).

“Israel brings its light to the world, as it is said (Isaiah 60:3), ‘And nations shall walk at thy light’” (Midrash Rabba, Shir HaShirim, Parshat 4, Paska 2).

2.“You have no organ found in a person that doesn’t have a person correspondent to it in the world. For just as the human body is divided into organs and all of them stand on different levels, each one correcting the other, and all of them are one body, it is the same with the world, all of these people in the world are all various organs, and stand on different levels. And when all are corrected, they will really be a single body” (Zohar for the People, Parshat Toldot, 3).

3.“The word “Ysar-El” (Israel) are the letters of “Li Rosh” (the head (mind) is mine). This means that he believes he has a mind of Kedusha (Sanctity)” (Rav Yehudah Ashlag, Baal HaSulam, the article, “Shamati” 143).

“Israel are the first and foremost receivers of all the abundance, and from them it is distributed to the whole world. And so Israel is called ‘Li Rosh’, meaning that they are the head phase, receiving the blessing first, and after that coming to the world” (“Be’er Mayim Chayim”, Parshat Trumah, Chapter 25).

“…a branch that extends from the internality is the people of Israel, which has been chosen as an operator of the general purpose and correction. It contains the preparation required for growing and developing until it moves the nations of the worlds, too, to achieve the common goal. The branch that extends from the externality is the nations of the world. They have not been imparted the qualities that make them worthy of receiving the development of the purpose one at a time. Rather, they are fit to receive the correction at once and to the fullest, according to their Higher Root” (Rav Yehudah Ashlag – Baal HaSulam, “A Handmaid that is Heir to Her Mistress”).

4.“…this is why the world was created filled with so many people, each with his own thoughts and opinions, and all are present in a single world. It is so deliberately, so that each and every one….is incorporated in all the alien notions and thoughts of the entire world.” (Rav Yehudah Ashlag – Baal HaSulam, Shamati 33).

“Rabbi Elazar ben Rabbi Shimon said, ‘Because the world is judged according to the majority, an individual is judged by the majority of his deeds. So if he performs one good deed, happy is he for tipping the scale for himself and the world to the side of merit; if he commits one transgression, woe to him for he has tipped the scale and for himself and the whole world to the side of guilt’” (Kiddushin 40b).

“The essence of the creation, choice, correction and destruction of the world, all of these depend upon Israel” (“Siach Yitzhak,” Part 2, Likkutim 1).

5.“How many troubles upon troubles there will be for Israel, and all the nations and their kings will testify against them together, and many evil decrees will be aroused. And all of them will come against them with one testimony, bringing troubles upon troubles, and the last will make the first forgotten” (Zohar for the People, Parshat Shemot, 96-98).

“It is a fact that Israel is hated by all the nations, whether for religious, racial, capitalist, communist, or for cosmopolitan reasons, etc. It is so because the hatred precedes all reasons, but each merely resolves its loathing according to its own psychology” (Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag – Baal HaSulam, The Writings of the Last Generation, Part One, Section Nine).

6.“Were Israel to store up good deeds before the Holy One, Blessed be He, no people in the world would stand against them. But Israel causes the rest of the nations to raise their heads in the world. Because if Israel were not sinners before the Holy One, Blessed be He, the rest of the nations would surrender to them” (Zohar for the People, Parshat VaYehi, 412-413).
“When Israel sins, God forbid, then the Other Side truly has power to overcome the power of Israel” (Likkutei Halachot, Hilchot Tisha B’Av and Fasts, Halacha 4).

7.“Kedusha (the Sacred) extends from Israel to the whole world” (Zohar for the People, Parshat Emor, 92).
“…the Israeli nation was to be a ‘transition.’ This means that to the extent that Israel cleanse themselves by keeping the Torah, so they pass their power on to the rest of the nations” (Rav Yehudah Ashlag – Baal HaSulam, “The Love for the Creator & Love for the Created Beings”).

8.“At the age of 40 Abraham became aware of his Creator…and he began to stand up and proclaimed with a loud voice to all of the people, and informed them that there is one God for the whole world that should be served. And he went and called and gathered people from city to city and from kingdom to kingdom…until thousands and myriads gathered to him, and they were the people of the House of Abraham. And he planted in their hearts this great principle, and he wrote books…and this increased among the children of Jacob and those who accompanied them, and a nation was made in the world which knew the Creator” (Maimonides, “Mishnah Torah”, Sefer HaMeda, Hilchot Avodah Zarah, Chapter 1).

“The secret of the unity of the world dwells in Israel” (Rabbi Abraham Isaac HaCohen Kook, “Ohrot HaKodesh 2” 415).

9.If it is impossible to blow a Shofar suitable for redemption, the enemies of Israel will come and trumpet for the redemption in our ears. They will trumpet and make noise in our ears and will not let us rest. Amalek, Hitler,may their names be erased, and so forth, awaken the redemption. This national scourge of the ‘Jewish problem’ there is a kind of redemption even in that, however one should not bless this Shofar” (Rabbi Abraham Isaac HaCohen Kook, “Ma’amrei HaRaiah”, Volume 11).

“This Zionism therefore sees the Jews – as separate people united against their will by a ‘common enemy’. But it will not see the Judaism – the single block which aspires to exist in its unity even without any external compulsion. This is the main deficiency, which is discovered in all of its ways and deeds” (Ahad Ha’am, “The Congress and its Creator”)
“We are a people. The enemy involuntarily consolidates us into a people, as it always has been in history” (Binyamin Ze’ev Herzl, “The Jewish Nation”).

“All of the global noise…primarily only comes for Israel. They are calling us now for a great and sacred role, fulfilling it willingly and consciously, building ourselves and the whole ruined world together with us” (Rabbi Abraham Isaac HaCohen Kook, “Igorot HaRaiah” 2, page 324).

10.“Every king or leader, although we see him rule for a long time, and it is in his hand to kill and to give life, enrich and impoverish, is nevertheless not a true king, because he does not himself have dominion or will because (Mareh Yehezkel Bamidbar Parshat Naso) ‘The heart of kings and princes is in the hands of the Creator’” (“Yismach Moshe”, Parshat Nitzavim).
“When there is love, unity and friendship between each other in Israel, there is no place for any calamity to fall upon them” (Meor VeShemesh, Parshat Nitzavim).

11.”The wisdom of truth teaches us about world unity, the side of equality that is to be found in all of existence to the highest, the image of the form that is created and how to go in the way of this light without an obstacle” (Rabbi Abraham Isaac HaCohen Kook, “Ohrot HaKodesh 2”, 393).

12.“Reduction of the bad qualities in Israel, which provides the vitality of the idolaters, gradually reduces the idolaters. And everything depends on Israel” (“Arvei Nahal”, Parshat Lech Lecha).
“When Israel are like one person with one heart, they are like a wall against the forces of evil” (Shem MiShmuel, Parshat VaYikahel).

“The children of Israel were made as a guarantee for correcting the whole world with the power of Torah because everything depends on the children of Israel. Just as they correct themselves, all of creation is drawn after them” (“Sphat Emet”, Sefer Shemot, Parshat Yitro).

“Building the world, which is presently collapsing at the feet of the terrible storms of swords filled with blood, requires building the Israeli nation. Building the nation and the discovery of its spirit is one thing, and it is entirely united with building the world, which is crumbling and waiting for the full power of unity and elevation. And all of this is found in the soul of the congregation of Israel” (Rav Abraham Isaac HaCohen Kook, “Ohrot”, 70, 16).

“And all the nations will acknowledge and recognize Israel’s merit over them, until the realization of the words, ‘And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the Lord’ (Isaiah 14:2), and also “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).” (Rav Yehudah Ashlag, Baal HaSulam, Introduction to the Book of Zohar, 69).
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From Ynet article 12/30/15

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New Life 656 – From Greece To ISIS
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Nitzah Mazoz

Today there is no Greek approach with Greek mythology, etc. in the world. This approach later developed into Christianity. Islam is occupying the stage today, assuring people of a good life here and heaven immediately if people just agree to join their ideology.

The goal of extremist Islam is to scare Europeans so they will be afraid to leave their houses. In contrast to Islam, Judaism never forced itself on anyone. Eventually extremist Islam and Christianity will come against Israel.

The Maccabee perception says that we must unite with love and destroy the Greeks among us, the forces of separation. Within “And you shall love your friend as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18) we discover “And you shall love the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 6:5), the upper force in nature. Mattathias the Hasmonean said: “Whoever is for the Creator, follow me”—this was an invitation to connect to life with the force of love and bestowal.

Today the call, “Whoever is for the Creator, follow me,” is directed to all of humanity.
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From KabTV’s “New Life 656 – From Greece To ISIS,” 12/3/15

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New Life 655 – The Greek Approach And The Maccabee Approach
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Nitzah Mazoz

Since ancient times people have asked themselves why they are living. The first to discover the goal of life was Adam HaRishon (the First Man). He discovered that the goal of life is to upgrade the manner in which we perceive reality.

We are living in a wide reality and perceive only a narrow aspect of it because we filter everything through: “What is good for me.”

Adam HaRishon discovered that it is possible to change this perception to “What is good for others” “And you shall love your friend as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18). And that is how we absorb an unlimited reality that is actually a single, higher force, and we are within it.

Twenty generations after that, Abraham came. In ancient Babylon there was a crisis of egoism, and he taught how to transcend it. Those who succeeded in going out of themselves to the altruistic reception of reality became the people of Israel. This group continued to develop, the ego constantly grew, and they transcended it more and more. Pharaoh, Egypt, Torah, the Land of Israel—the ego grew again, the Maccabees against the Greeks. This is constantly talking about a war of perception.

The ego continued to grow; the people are living today in an egoistic perception of reality, except for a few individual Kabbalists. Today, it is apparent that it is impossible to continue; the ego is destroying the world, everyone hates each other. We have no choice but to return to the approach of Kabbalah, the perception of reality through “And you shall love your friend as yourself.”
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From KabTV’s “New Life 655 – The Greek Approach and the Maccabee Approach,” 12/9/15

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New Life 653 – Hanukkah: World Correction
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Yael Leshed-Harel

We are constantly progressing into greater darkness since the world is run by the growing strength of the ego. At present, we are about to end the period of the developing ego, the era of the ego has run its course. On the one hand, wars and suffering, on the other hand, education and awareness; either way, we are advancing toward the era of balance with nature.

It’s possible to continue to try to correct the world instead of correcting the person, but it won’t help. The darkness comes because we are not connected to each other, we don’t take advantage of each other, and our problems come from this.

Hanukkah symbolizes awakening; people are realizing that only connection can save them. The Greek perception tells us that we don’t have to correct ourselves but to correct the world, which is opposite to Judaism. How can we calibrate ourselves correctly? By connecting “as one man with one heart,” then you will see everything correctly. Today, the Greek egoistic approach has gone bankrupt and requires a new approach of connection and balance.

The wisdom of Kabbalah teaches us that we see the world through distorted glasses and these should be replaced. We need to kill the Greek paradigm that existed between us and move on to the perception of the world according to the wisdom of Kabbalah.

The answer to the problems with ecology? The Greek approach says “climate summit”; the wisdom of Kabbalah says education, closeness, and connection. Today, we are leading the world with the Greek concept—science and technology—instead of correcting the person. The essence of the war between the Greeks and the Maccabees was about who needed the correction, the world or man.
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From KabTV’s “New Life 653 – Hanukkah: World Correction,” 12/1/15

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Comment: On November 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution to divide Palestine into two states, into an Arab and a Jewish state. Later, the 29^th of November became the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. On the one hand, the UN declared that there are two states, and on the other hand, this is a solidarity day only with the Palestinian people.

My Comment: The UN constantly takes an anti-Semitic stand so it is not surprising at all. We simply have to understand how to act so that all its decisions will not have a negative impact. We have to carry out our mission regardless of what the nations of the world do in the form of the UN, UNESCO, and other international organizations.

If we performed our mission as a nation among the other nations of the world, we would have no enemies, everyone would support us and appreciate their relations with us and be thankful for the enormous good force that we would bring the world thanks to which the world exists. But we don’t do that.

Only the nation of Israel can bring the Creator closer to the world, so that His good force will begin to fill everything. Therefore, all the other nations of the world resent us, subconsciously they feel that we can do it, but we don’t.

Question: How can we feel the responsibility that we have?

Answer: We must believe what Kabbalists say and understand that they attained all the forces and systems that sustain our world. That is why they warn us.

Question: Can a modern person who doesn’t believe anything anymore suddenly start believing, just like that?

Answer: No, he has to study the wisdom of Kabbalah and thus be able to see that this system operates. After all, you can also deny Newton’s second law, if you declare that “you don’t believe!” But when a brick falls on your head instead of an apple, you realize that it has nothing to do with faith. This is the reason that people should become familiar with the wisdom of Kabbalah.
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From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 11/30/16

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