Medium published my new article “Between Left and Right, It’s Everyone’s Plight”

On the morning of November 4, some people will smile and some people will cry. Hopefully, the aftermath of the election will not be as contentious as the months leading to it have been, and the president will be able to do his job in a more constructive atmosphere than in the past four years. I’m not hopeful, but perhaps the challenge ahead will convince the parties to cooperate. And that challenge is the coronavirus. Whoever occupies the White House after January’s inauguration will have an impossible task on his hands. He will have to deal with an exhausted American people, a healthcare system on the brink of collapse, and worst of all, pervasive hopelessness in the absence of a vaccine for Covid-19. And when medicine fails, people have no one to rely on but each other.

In today’s globalized world, no country can rely on itself. Self-sufficiency is an impractical fantasy. Since every country is dependent on other countries, it makes perfect sense to cooperate, just as the example of organs in a healthy body. Without this approach, countries will resort to their former self-centered policies which will result in mutual destruction. Indeed, we are entering a dramatic phase in the history of humankind where unity or destruction will be our only options.

The tensions and the hatred being exposed in American society have always been there, but it seems like they’ve never been as exposed as they are today. As frightening as they may be, exposing them is the first step toward correction. Just as we must diagnose a disease before we can treat it, hatred must be exposed and acknowledged before we can mend it. However, while the exposure happens spontaneously, overcoming it requires a conscious effort. If people decide to rise above their pervasive, negative feelings and unify the American society, they will overcome anything, including the virus, and will show the world how to defeat Covid. If they fail to unite, the consequences will be horrendous.

The first thing to realize in the healing process is that there are no superfluous elements in American society. Every part of it has its role, even if it seems as though it does nothing but harm. The trick is to relate to each part of society not as a competitor over territory or power or wealth, but as a complementing element without which America cannot be the powerful country that it is.

Think of the human body. Within the body, each organ functions very differently, often in contradicting manners, yet feeds on the same source of energy and food, namely oxygen and sugars. If the organs competed against each other in the struggle for supply of these essentials, we would die along with the organs that supposedly “won.”

This, by the way, is what happens with cancer. There are many tumors that aren’t deadly because they don’t “kidnap” blood vessels and don’t deplete the neighboring organs of food and energy. These lumps may stay in our body for years without causing any serious harm. But when a tumor begins to “snatch” blood vessels and deplete neighboring organs, when it begins to spread and tries to “take over,” that “self-centered” behavior turns it from a benign growth to a malignant tumor, and we have to pull it out or it will kill us.

Therefore, the plight of society is not its diversity. This is actually the source of its vitality and strength. The plight of society is people’s self-centered attitude, the fact that everyone feels that they are more entitled than others instead of seeing society as a system where everyone is vital.

And what is true for America is true for the world. Countries are depleting Earth’s resources and fighting for dominance because of the exact same approach that is destroying American society. In the case of the world, the situation is even worse. Today, we are at a point where if we don’t reverse course, we will destroy each other. The choice is simple: world-connection or world war.

In today’s globalized world, no country can rely on itself. Self-sufficiency is an impractical fantasy. Since every country is dependent on other countries, it makes perfect sense to cooperate, just as the example of organs in a healthy body. Without this approach, countries will resort to their former self-centered policies which will result in mutual destruction. Indeed, we are entering a dramatic phase in the history of humankind where unity or destruction will be our only options.

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Thrive Global published my new article: “Has Covid-19 Killed American Pop Culture?”

If we start navigating through these turbulent seas, seeking how to meaningfully connect above our drive for momentary pleasures, then we can rest assured that our ship will reach a safe shore.

This might be the beginning of a cultural revolution. American entertainment and sports have shaped US society and influenced and appealed to the interest of a global audience for decades. This, however, seems to be changing. Media analysis shows that ratings of the once most popular programs are hitting historic lows as a result of the coronavirus crisis. I would not pay it particular attention were it not for pop culture’s predominance in people’s lives. Undoubtedly, it indicates a turning point, a shift, a new quest for more meaningful fulfillment that can only be achieved through human connection.

Just recently some of my students asked me about what might be the deeper reason for the low viewership of the 2020 NBA finals. Earlier this year, viewing of the Oscars and Emmy awards plummeted to all-time lows. How can this significant trend in the Covid-19’s era be interpreted? Particularly if we consider the prominence of pop culture in America and its influence around the world mainly through the media, music, and film industry until now.

The reason is that the pandemic has marked a before and after in people’s priorities and sources of enjoyment. Prior to the virus’ impact on all realms of our society, our generation lavished in excesses of entertainment and sports more than any other. We placed them on pedestals and showered their proponents with our attention, adoration, and respect. However, all such ways of enjoying and fulfilling ourselves wane at a certain point, especially now since they appear to be ephemeral and non-essential.

This new situation responds to the evolution of the human desire to enjoy which constantly grows and demands new and different pleasures as soon as the previous ones are fulfilled. While all kinds of influences can grab people’s attention, from a major tournament one minute to popular celebrities the next, they will eventually find those attractions do not appeal to them anymore.

The reason is that our desire has outgrown what previously gave us enjoyment. Similar to children outgrowing their toys, we too will start feeling drives for more mature and meaningful fulfillment—to genuine human connection and answers to deeper questions about our life’s ultimate meaning, which will itch away at us more and more.

Sailing the Titanic to a Safe Shore

The coronavirus struck our lives, highlighted our vast interdependence all around the globe, and placed us all into a common global situation. It is as if we found ourselves aboard a new global Titanic without any clue as to where we are heading or what will happen next. As we float along together on this giant global ship, nobody really knows where to turn or what to do; some sharply turn right, others turn left, and we find ourselves in an increasingly polarized society.

Therefore, as our desires start outgrowing what previously fulfilled them, and while we increasingly realize our tightening interdependence and interconnectedness worldwide—as we share one common global problem—it is no wonder that the interest in what used to be the most popular shows and games has declined so drastically. It will improve only if the entertainment industry transforms itself and champions warmth, mutual care, and connection.

We are growing up. I am optimistic that we will become more aware of how our human nature operates on us, how it is growing to new heights, and how it starts demanding different and more meaningful kinds of fulfillment. If we start navigating through these turbulent seas, seeking how to meaningfully connect above our drive for momentary pleasures, then we can rest assured that our ship will reach a safe shore.

I am also hopeful that we will succeed in providing our more mature needs the fulfillment they seek, realizing the need for deeper and more positive human relations, and by doing so, feeling a much fuller, more expansive and authentic reality compared to our current one.
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— Published on October 11, 2020

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The Times of Israel published my new article “Science Proves – Disunity Kills”

As much as we may dislike one another, science has proven that curbing Covid-19 requires national solidarity. The inconvenient truth is that the pandemic does not distinguish between left and right, orthodox and secular, Jews and Arabs; we are all equal before the virus. If we stand together, we will defeat it. If we don’t, it will defeat us. This is as true for every country as it is for all of humanity.

A few days ago, Eran Halperin, Professor of Social Psychology at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and Ron Gerlitz, CEO at aChord – Social Psychology for Social Change, published an Op-Ed piece in The Jerusalem Post titled “To slow coronavirus, disparate groups in Israel society must come together.” The piece mentions a recent international study where more than 100 researchers from all over the world examined tens of thousands of citizens from 67 countries, among them over 1,200 Israelis, “to understand what would most influence their willingness to obey pandemic-related instructions.” The researchers found “that the key factor motivating people to adhere to distancing and hygiene guidelines is the level of their national-group identification; that is, how connected they feel to their national group and how central they consider it in their identity.” Judging by this conclusion, the fragmentation in the Israeli society is the culprit behind our failure in overcoming the virus, and not the policy of the government or the disobedience of this or that group to instructions. We are witnessing the beginning of a social breakdown in Israel. If we don’t rise above our sense of righteous indignation, we will inflict an unprecedented catastrophe on our country.

The people of Israel emerged from people who belonged to different, often rival tribes and clans from all over the Near and Middle East. These “refugees” left their countryfolk because they believed in the idea of unity above differences. Under Abraham’s leadership, they found a place where they could live out their idea.

Today’s people of Israel are nothing of the kind. We are fragmented once more, divided in every aspect—religion, culture, ethnicity, education, language, politics, and every other aspect you can imagine. Except for our name, we are not a nation anymore. We have returned to being strangers, aliens to one another. If we want to merit our name, “the people of Israel,” we have to start over.

Back then, Abraham’s group continued to develop until, at the foot of Mt. Sinai, having experienced the ordeal of the exile in Egypt, the Hebrews united “as one man with one heart” and established their nationhood. Soon after, clashes and conflicts began to rage within the people and the newly formed nation struggled to maintain its core value: “Hate stirs strife, but love will cover all crimes” (Prov. 10:12).

Two millennia ago, we suffered a bitter defeat to our hatred and were exiled and dispersed all over the world. Wherever we went, we were regarded as outcasts, outsiders.

Even when we returned to Israel and reestablished our sovereignty, we did it only to protect ourselves from the odium of the nations, and not because of the initial value of unity above differences that had fashioned our nationhood. To this day, many Israelis feel out of place in Israel. They see it as temporary residence until they find a calmer place to live in.

But without a sense of belonging to a single nation, Israel will disintegrate. We can already see how a pandemic that we could have curbed had we all participated in defeating it is tearing us apart. It is not because the virus is so terrible; it is because there is no solidarity among citizens and no trust between citizens and government. The lack of affection and trust leads to inaction, which in turn leads to contagion. And contagion leads to loss of lives.

The introduction to the article just mentioned states simply that “the logic underlying the basic individual behaviors required for curbing the contagion … is grounded in belonging to [a] collective.” We have no sense of a collective, and we are paying for it with our lives, the lives of our loved ones, and the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people in our small country.

It doesn’t matter what we believe or who we think is right. If we don’t come together, then we are all wrong, we are all paying, and we will pay much more.
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The Times of Israel published my new article “Simchat Torah, Reasons to Be Joyful”

Simchat Torah marks the conclusion of the Tishrei holiday cycle with a celebration of joy in the Torah. But is it possible to feel a happy atmosphere when the world is facing such a conspicuous pandemic? Indeed, the current situation gives us an opportunity to recognize the cause of our predicaments—our egoistic inclination of self-concern—and to transform them into the right direction of love and connection. What is the real meaning of rejoicing with the Torah? Where is this joy rooted? To understand the deeper meaning behind this celebration we should first understand what the deeper meaning behind the Torah itself is.

The Torah is the “light that reforms” [Midrash Rabah, Eicha, “Introduction,” Paragraph 2]. It refers to the force that develops and sustains all living organisms. The light is a desire to give, and its creation, particularly us, is a desire to receive. The joy we feel during Simchat Torah symbolizes our discovery of this light, i.e., the attainment of its characteristic quality of giving onto our innate desire to receive. Such attainment is feeling a much more expansive reality than the one we feel when we only receive.

Although we are a desire to receive, completely opposite to the light’s giving quality, we don’t feel the full intensity of this oppositeness, its “evil” (“the inclination of a man’s heart is evil from his youth” [Genesis, 8:21]). What we do feel is that the more we develop, the more problems and pains emerge. The purpose of the unfolding crises in every field of life we’re experiencing today is to make us seek out why they are happening and how they can be resolved.

Moreover, today’s globally interdependent condition, particularly evident due to the pandemic, shows us that the more we develop without working together to resolve the many personal, social, ecological, and financial issues pressing on us and looking at them as a common state that demands mutual responsibility, then we’re bound to tumble into deeper chasms.

The global crisis today is occurring in order to bring us to the discovery of our nature—the desire to receive pleasure for self-benefit alone—as the cause of our problems. We need to learn how to redirect our desires in order to fix these problems at their core. As it is written, “I have created the evil inclination,” and “I have created for it the Torah as a spice” [Babylonian Talmud, Masechet Kidushin, 30b] because “the light in it reforms them” [Midrash Rabah, Eicha, “Introduction,” Paragraph 2.].

In other words, our egoistic desires were created with a means of redirecting them into a form of giving, the Torah, and by doing so correcting them, thereby adding fulfillment and pleasure to our lives, a spice. The question then is: How? How can we work with this light? How can we invite it into our lives, let it work on us, and allow it to bring about positive changes? The answer lies in our connection.

When we gather with people who also wish to overcome their egoistic inclination and exert a positive influence in the world, we get ready to receive the Torah. By doing so, we set the foundation for a society that is capable of switching the current chaotic direction the world is treading to a positive and balanced one.

We can rejoice then in our recognition of the real cause of all our problems—our egoistic nature—and in our having the means at our disposal to redirect this nature to a good direction of connection, love, and giving. That is already a major step toward the reformation the Torah speaks about.

Happy holiday to all!
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My new article on Israel Hayom “US Jews should be wise when voting for next president”

Israelis always want the president of the United States to be pro-Israel, and with good reason. For decades, the US has supported Israel in many ways – financially, in the international arena, and in military aid. This support did not come without its price tag, and the US has always had at least a certain amount of control over Israel’s foreign policy, but there is no question that America’s support of Israel has done us a lot of good.

In less than a month, America will vote on who will be its president for the next four years. I think this is a good time for us to reflect on what makes us worthy of support. What are we giving to the world? Why did we establish the State of Israel to begin with? Is it only in order to serve as a safe haven after the Holocaust? If this were so, then I’m sure the nations already regret their vote from November 29, 1947 when they supported the establishment of a Jewish state.

I think that to merit support from the American president, and from every other country for that matter, the people of Israel must live up to their name. We may want to be like all other nations, but we are not. We didn’t come from a single clan or tribe; we have no biological or familial affiliation.

On the contrary, our forefathers came from clans and tribes from all over the Fertile Crescent, which were often hostile toward each other. These refugees from their own nations became a separate nation since they had the same ideology, the same spiritual idea that unity and love of others must transcend all other values. This is why we began our official nationhood only after we agreed to unite “as one man with one heart.”

We struggled with our commitment to unite all through our years in the desert and we achieved sovereignty only after we achieved unity. When our unity disintegrated, we were exiled to Babylon. When we reunited under Haman’s threat of destruction, we were given Israel once more. But then we started hating each other to the point that we slaughtered and starved one another while the Roman legion sieged the walls of Jerusalem, and that made us unworthy of having a land of our own and we were exiled until now.

After World War II, we were given another chance at sovereignty. But if we don’t rise to the challenge, the nations won’t support us. Unless we find a way to be once more “as one man with one heart,” and set an example of unity to the world, the nations will see no purpose in our being here.

If another vote on the establishment of the State of Israel were done today, does anyone believe that we would receive the required two-thirds favorable votes? Regardless of our foreign policy, the nations will condemn us as long as we are an example of belligerence and internal division. The world looks at Israel with dismay and often with disgust not because of our military conduct, but because of our conduct with each other. If we behave the way Israel should behave, making unity our top value, then whoever is elected on November 3 will be a favorable president toward Israel, as will all other nations.

It is said that Jews are smart. I hope that we are smart enough to learn from our past errors so we don’t have to experience another cataclysm in the grief-stricken chronicles of our nation.
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The Times of Israel published my new article “A Task Force to Combat Online Antisemitism? Get Real”

Creating “a global inter-parliamentary task force to combat digital antisemitism” a few weeks before a presidential election isn’t credible, and that’s putting it mildly. And besides, what can any task force do against hatred that comes from the kernel of human nature? It would be more successful fighting against gravity than against antisemitism.

On September 29, Jewish Insider published a story titled “Members of Congress launch international task force to combat online antisemitism.” According to the story, the task force is to focus on “raising awareness about online antisemitism and establishing a consistent message in legislatures across the world to hold social media platforms accountable.” It is a hopeless task, and right before the elections, it is nothing more than lip-service.

You can’t eliminate antisemitism just as you cannot eliminate pain until you heal the sore that causes it. In the case of antisemitism, the sore is the fact that Jews aren’t uniting among themselves and leading the world after them to unity and solidarity.

That sore was not born in America, nor in Nazi Germany, or even in Christian Europe. It dates back to the beginning of the Jewish people, when the fugitives from Egypt pledged to unite “as one man with one heart,” established their nationhood, and were immediately tasked with being “a light unto nations,” meaning with sharing their unity by way of example.

For nearly two millennia afterwards, our ancestors struggled with their internal conflicts and frictions. They were exiled and returned, fought each other and reunited, until they finally lost the battle against internal hatred and were banished from their land.

But the mission they had been given back at Mt. Sinai was never abrogated. Two thousand years ago, The Book of Zohar wrote about how the Jews should bring about world peace by setting an example: “‘Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to also sit together.’ These are the friends as they sit together, and are not separated from one another. At first, they seem like people at war, wishing to kill one another … then they return to being in brotherly love. …And … as you were in fondness and love before, henceforth you will also not part from one another … and by your merit, there will be peace in the world.”

Whenever and wherever there is division, the Jews are blamed for it because people feel (even if they can’t verbalize it) that had the Jews done their job, they wouldn’t be fighting one another. Even our own Talmud admits that “No calamity comes to the world but because of Israel” (Yevamot 63a), so what can we expect from other nations?

If we want to eliminate antisemitism, we should do our task, unite above all our (countless) divisions, and be a role model to humanity. Then the force that drives antisemitism will turn the hatred around as the nations will see that they are finally getting from the Jews what they always felt the Jews should have given them: an example of unity and solidarity.
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Medium published my new article “The Reset Button to Restore Nature”

For the first time in history over the past few months, the world entered what some scientists call the “anthropause” — from the word “anthro” (human), a massive halt of human activity. Countries worldwide, almost without exception, have experienced on and off lockdowns to control the spread of Covid-19. What have we learned about nature from this period? Has nature healed from the abuse and wounds inflicted by people throughout the centuries? Any pause, long or short, helps in the meantime until we change human nature.

The appearance of wildlife in urban environments following the reduction in traffic added a colorful attraction to people’s experiences during tough restrictions of movement. Sightings of pumas in downtown Santiago, Chile and coyotes walking down San Francisco streets, combined with the global reduction of pollution levels due to lockdowns, gave the impression of nature reclaiming its place and recovering balance. But this new situation is also posing new challenges. Predatory species are running more freely now, illegal hunting and animal trafficking is on the rise, and nature reserves and parks are feeling the pinch of economic crisis from a lack of visitors, according to international organizations.

Multiple global research initiatives are currently underway to assess the comprehensive impact of the pandemic on nature. In truth, none of the research will bear fruit if the human level is overlooked in the calculations, since the root cause of all imbalances in nature leads back to mankind. To the non-discriminating eye, it appears as if the animate level in the ecological web and the human level of interactions are two separate things. This couldn’t be farther from the truth because they are totally interrelated and interdependent.

We humans are all egoists by nature. What this means is that all of our thoughts and actions are ultimately motivated by a desire to satisfy ourselves and enjoy at the expense of anything and anyone around us. As egoists, we each necessarily perceive only the narrow slice of reality that we think might benefit us. We feel ourselves as largely separate from other people and things, primarily concerned with our own personal problems, each in a constant chase after ephemeral pleasures.

In contrast to the egoistic human perspective, nature aims to connect all its elements into a single harmonious whole. Within this harmonious whole, each part receives what it needs for its sustenance and gives according to its ability for the benefit of the whole — similar to the healthy functioning of the cells and organs in the human body.

While the egoistic quality of mankind increasingly clashes with nature’s altruistic quality, we will experience more and more blows. Blows from nature can appear as global pandemics, as we are now experiencing with the coronavirus, as well as in myriad other forms such as ecological disasters, for example.

Within this completely integral system, the human being is the most complex and qualitatively highest level of life. Human thoughts, attitudes, and relationships also hold the most powerful influence over nature’s other levels. It is extremely difficult for us to notice the extent of the burden of impact we place on nature. Thus, when nature deals us a blow, we seem quite clueless, helpless, and disoriented in our response — caught off-guard — because we are so totally unaware of the fact that the way we relate to each other determines how nature responds to us.

So what is the message that nature is trying to teach us through all the pains and problems it sends us? It is all for us to pause for a moment and start contemplating life, its purpose, and why we are suffering. Nature is sending us a cautionary alarm and wake-up call to rethink the direction in which we are headed. Nature is leading us to the understanding that we are parts of a single interconnected and interdependent system, and to recognize that we must reach a higher level of connection between us in order to restore balance in nature and discover its boundless perfection.

By sending us blows, nature is ultimately teaching us that we need to revise the way we live our lives, that we must recognize the bankruptcy of continuing to live egoistically as we have until today. Instead of trying to benefit the self all the time, we should act to benefit others. Nature is pointing out that by changing our attitudes toward others from egoistic to altruistic, we will enter into balance with nature and enjoy a harmonious, whole, and eternal existence.

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Medium published my new article “Should Earth Get Rid of People?”

If animals and plants could speak, they would probably say that life was so much better before we humans came along. They’re absolutely right. A UN report found that no less than one million animal and plant species are at risk of extinction because of human activity. We are depleting the soil, chopping down forests, hunting down entire species, polluting the air, contaminating the ground, littering the seas, and we are doing this at an accelerating rate. If I were nature, I’d declare war on humanity a long time ago.

Nature will not wait for us to grow wise and start developing our positivity. It will expose more and more of our unscrupulous nature, as it is doing now, until we realize we have no choice but to change.
We regard ourselves as separate from nature, when in fact we are a link in the chain. Moreover, we are the apex of the pyramid. Currently, we are streaming negativity down through the entire system and all of nature is going berserk.

Consider this data from Times Union, for example: The August Complex fire currently burning in California has broken the record for a single fire as it surpassed 1 million acres. Moreover, the total area of land burned by California wildfires this year passed 4 million acres, more than double the previous record. And if that’s not enough, then here’s the knockout piece of info: The August Complex is larger than all of the recorded fires in California between 1932 and 1999, combined! Indeed, a noxious species.

But there is a reason for our being here, and there’s a reason why we were created so lame that we haven’t even the commonsense not to destroy our own home. While two forces — positive and negative — govern all of nature, only one force governs humanity. Instead of the balance between giving and receiving, hot and cold, birth and death, and day and night that streams life seamlessly for all of nature, the negative force is the sole ruler of our hearts. This is probably why it is written, “The wickedness of man is great on the earth, and all the intent of the thoughts of his heart is only evil the whole day.”

But as just, there is a reason we are born so evil: We have a mission to accomplish. Our vocation as human beings is to grasp the full depth of creation, and to do that, we must understand the thinking behind it. We were made negative so we could develop the positive side of our own volition, and learn how to integrate it with our innate negativity. If we accomplish this, we will restore balance in our own lives, in all of human society, and in all of nature.

But nature will not wait for us to grow wise and start developing our positivity. It will expose more and more of our unscrupulous nature, as it is doing now, until we realize we have no choice but to change. There is no question that we will have to develop the positive side about us; the only question is how much we’ll have to suffer until we understand nature’s “hint” and get to work on ourselves.

In fact, it isn’t hard. We have each other. The level of hatred that has surfaced in American society, but elsewhere in the world, as well, indicates where we have to start — with accepting one another. Human society is as diverse as all of nature. But while we cherish diversity in nature, we hate it in society. When we learn to accept one another and embrace the diversity of our cultures and ethnicities, we’ll have a chance at changing our environment, as well.

We are already at a point where huge swaths of land are becoming uninhabitable. Even within the continental United States, people are fleeing their homes from fires and from hurricanes, and parts of Europe are drowning in floods. In all likelihood, many of them will not be able to return. And that trend will only escalate in the coming years.

It is going to be a terrible decade for humanity unless we turn it into a decade of awakening. If we awaken to our task and start developing the positive force within us, start learning how to care for one another and for nature, we will reverse the trend. If not, our lives on Earth will be unbearable.
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The Times of Israel published my new article “Let’s Talk about Tik Tok Antisemitism against Our Youth”

Online antisemitism is nothing new but now it seems to be widely targeting our vulnerable youth more than ever before. Hidden under false identities, haters freely reveal prejudice, bigotry, and antisemitic views across virtually all the unruled space of social media.

Teenagers who identify as Jewish complain of constant hostility on platforms such as Tik Tok, which are increasingly popular among youth. What would be the best way for them to react and deal with this? First of all, understanding what lies behind such hatred will empower them to turn the hostility into acceptance and embrace.

Since the beginning of 2020, more than a staggering 380,000 videos and over 64,000 hateful comments have been removed in the US alone for violating hate speech policies, according to Tik Tok officials. But the reality shows that although some efforts are being aimed at controlling online hostility, this poison rapidly renews itself and spreads worldwide like a virus.

Young American Jews say that in the past when they uploaded content to the platform without disclosing their background they received rave comments, but as soon as they revealed the fact that they are Jewish, the compliments turned into insults and antisemitic outbursts. The comments they continue to receive include praises for Hitler, Nazi salutes, anti-Israel jabs, and Holocaust denial. Tik Tok also recently faced controversy over history trivialization due to a “Holocaust challenge” that appeared on the app in which users flippantly portrayed themselves as concentration camp victims.

Such controversies and antisemitic manifestations are eye-openers to people’s true nature and sentiments toward Jews. Therefore, it is important they are revealed. It is as futile to bury our heads in the sand about this as it is trying to escape Judaism, leaving our youth rootless and without a sense of belonging anywhere. The disclosure of hatred can be a positive thing if it awakens in young Jews the vital question of why the Jew-hatred exists. Only an understanding of the foundation of this phenomena and an awareness of what the world expects from Jews can provide young Jews with the basis for solving the problem of antisemitism.

How to React?

Jew-hatred is irrational, so a war of words or altercations are worthless. Antisemitism by character requires no justification, although one will always be found. Many believe the hatred stems from envy: Jews are smart, successful, and innovative; they control the media, the entertainment industry, banks, and commerce. But these are no more than superficial rationalizations that both we and our haters use in order to justify the animosity. The root of the animosity is much deeper than that.

Humanity instinctively feels that the Jewish people hold the key to a better world. Why the Jews? And why the increasing pressure now? The Hebrew word for “Jew” [Yehudi] comes from the word for “united” [yihud]. Unity is the very essence of our people which was established according to the tenet, “love your friend as yourself” in order to become “a light unto the nations.” As the world endures escalating divisions and conflicts, there is a subconscious expectation that Jews should unite and be like a conduit to funnel this positive unifying force from nature to the whole world.

The problem is that we have completely lost awareness of the importance of our Jewish unity, and instead, frictions and separation prevail. And the more that people of the world feel problems and crises stemming from the divisiveness in human society, the more they will subconsciously feel that Jews are to blame.

Antisemitism thus surfaces as a natural phenomenon among the nations of the world in order to pressure Jewish people to unite. In other words, by becoming a good example to the world of positive connection, harmony, and support, the general attitude toward a unified Jewish people will become favorable and encouraging, and confidence within society at large will rise. Now that we realize that we hold the key to a good future for our own youth and the entire world, it is time for us to walk the talk.
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Medium published my new article “Former Chief Doctor’s Dismal Prediction Is Reversible”

Sally Davies, former chief medical officer for England, wrote on The Guardian that “Covid-19 is neither the first nor the last health emergency we will face. My fellow scientists estimate that we will face a pandemic or health emergency at least once every five years from here on. There is a chance that this is the optimistic scenario. The reality could be far worse.” I think their prediction is both good news and bad news. It is good news because scientists are beginning to realize that the pandemic isn’t a one-time event, but part of a permanent process of change. At the same time, it is bad news because scientists have no clue as to what to do about it. They offer dubious solutions to mitigate the destruction these crises will inflict on humanity, but they have no idea how to prevent them, how to reverse the dismal trajectory, and they don’t even think in that direction. Are we then doomed to suffer from here on? No, we’re not. By strengthening our solidarity, we can reverse the trajectory and prevent such crises from happening altogether.

How we relate to one another, how we build our social networks, what we project to others, and what values we install in society all have a real impact on our health. Well connected people are not only much happier; they are also much healthier.

In 2015, Julianne Holt-Lunstad, renowned neuroscientist and psychologist at Brigham Young University, published an extensive analysis that looked into the influence of social isolation, loneliness, and living alone on people’s health. The results were notable in light of today’s pandemic. She found that social isolation “led to an increased rate of mortality of twenty-nine per cent, and living alone by thirty-two per cent — no matter the subject’s age, gender, location, or culture,” The New Yorker published on March 23, 2020.

In a recent interview for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Holt-Lunstad said that being socially active “not only prolongs our life expectancy, but also influences our health in other ways, such as resistance to viruses” (translated from Hebrew). In the interview, Holt-Lunstad also referred to a Carnegie Mellon University study that found that people with many solid social ties have a better immune system and better resistance to viruses of the common cold, while people with few social ties were significantly more vulnerable. The researcher stressed that while we should not disobey authorities’ instructions regarding social distancing and wearing masks, we should make a conscious effort to maintain social ties under these limitations.

These conclusions coincide with what I have been saying since the beginning of the outbreak, but there are more conclusions to be drawn from these findings. I think we shouldn’t take a passive approach here but rather be much more proactive. Viruses, including the coronavirus, have been around long before the Covid-19 outbreak. We could have been infected long ago but we weren’t because our immune system was stronger.

Especially over the last several decades, we have been growing increasingly isolated, and therefore weaker. This isolation is part of what researchers Jean Marie Twenge and William Keith Campbell call “a narcissism epidemic.” In their aptly titled book The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement, they establish that over the past few decades, we have seen an exponential growth in narcissistic tendencies among young people and the general population. In simple words, we are growing far more egoistic than before, far more quickly than before, and therefore far more lonely. By doing so, we are weakening our immune system and exposing ourselves to health threats that didn’t use to pose any risk before. This is why I keep saying that we will not find a vaccine or a cure for the coronavirus since even if we find something for this plague, another, even worse menace will quickly replace it. Now, finally, medicine corroborates.

If we want to protect ourselves from viruses and other forms of natural crises, we have to work on our social cohesion, on our relations with each other, on our solidarity as a society, and in our communities. This is not a theoretical assumption; it is a practical measure we must take in order to protect ourselves and our loved ones from getting sick and dying or remaining maimed.

How we relate to one another, how we build our social networks, what we project to others, and what values we install in society all have a real impact on our health. Well connected people are not only much happier; they are also much healthier.

Next time we want to trash someone on social media or even to our friends, we should think twice before doing so; it will backfire on us. And after we stop trashing, let’s start building a positive society, one that values caring and helping out. Let’s not be selfish; it simply doesn’t pay.

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