The Times of Israel published my new article “Racist Attitudes Toward Ethiopian Jews Displays Need to Unite Above Differences”

What do Israelis think about Ethiopian immigrants?

One third of Israelis “would not marry an Ethiopian Jew and would not want any family member to do so,” according to data from a recent survey commissioned by Israelis Against Racism. The disturbing data further revealed that “22% believe the Jewish religious identity of Ethiopians is questionable,” and 16% “did not want to live in the same building or even the same neighborhood as Ethiopian Jews.” Despite living as part of Israeli society for more than 40 years, the amount of racism in Israel toward the Ethiopian community is still astounding.

Sadly, the painful survey results do not entirely surprise me. When I immigrated to Israel in the early 1970s, the theater, cinema and TV programs were peppered with the poison of racist humor: Sephardi, Ashkenazi, Persian, Moroccan and Kurdish Jews would all poke fun at each other. The air of the country was soaked with ethnic ridicule, which I found disgusting.

Add to the general atmosphere of insensitive humor at the expense of ethnic newcomers, the long marginalization Israel’s Ethiopian-Jewish community faced regarding their Jewish status, differences in mentality and culture, and the barriers that have prevented full Ethiopian integration into Israeli society become clear.

As if that is still insufficient, there is a human tendency to be suspicious of anyone who looks different from us, speaks a foreign language, and holds customs foreign to ours. I saw this in myself when, as a child, I gaped at the strange Georgian fruit sellers in the Leningrad markets only to be shocked to discover when I grew up that they were fellow Jews.

In many ways, Israel is a microcosm of the increasingly globalized world in which we live. Israelis literally come from all over the world, each with our unique cultures, characters and approaches to life. We are Asian, European, American, Latin, Middle Eastern, and African all packed together onto a tiny piece of land, in a hostile neighborhood, under great pressure, and as such, cannot be expected to get along without frictions.

However, Israelis can learn to appreciate and complement each other, and we must—for ourselves, and as an example to the world that needs to learn this skill just as badly as we do. However, it is going to take more than political pacts, religious policy changes, and positive public icons to unite us. Unity above our differences requires consistent methodical education. Education is a necessary precedent to complete the healing of the general rift in Israeli society and the fragmentation that destroys us on a daily basis.

Over many generations, Kabbalists have devised an educational method specifically suited for our times and circumstances. It teaches us how to recognize the divisive egoistic drives within us, making us connect to stigmas and nationalities instead of transcending them with unifying values above the differences. What the struggles of Israel’s Ethiopian-Jewish community can show us is the extent to which we live in denial of discrimination, and the true extent of conflict and separation among the Jewish people.

Primary to this form of education is the learning of how to pattern society according to the laws of nature—laws of connection, giving, equality and love. By comprehending how nature works to unify all of its parts, we can apply the same altruistic tendency to realize true balance in Israel’s pluralistic society.

By acknowledging divisive drives as part and parcel of human nature, we can then use such tendencies to build a new layer of positive connections upon them, according to the principle, “love will cover all transgressions.”

The heartbreaking statistics of discrimination against Israel’s Ethiopian-Jewish community should highlight the extent of the division in Israeli society, how much it hurts us, and the need for us to unite above it. We need no more than to be aware of the division that tramples our unity, and then springboard to a reconstruction of a new unified society above our differences “as one man with one heart.”

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KabNet published my new article: “From Generation Screen to Generation Connection”

A lot of criticism has been raised about the younger generation trapped in virtual space day and night behind computer screens and mobile devices. Various detractors say that this is a lifeless generation lacking proper brain development, communication skills, imagination, and that they have sunk into themselves, buried between rows of words and myriad images. “Generation Screen,” however, is more adept than any previous generation at discerning the deadly disease of persistent self-centeredness festering within our world.

As the accurate diagnosis of a disease in its early stages gives us a great advantage to heal it, so “Generation Screen” brings forth the gift of “the recognition of evil,” i.e., the awareness of the destructive nature of the human ego — the desire to enjoy at the expense of others — residing within each of us as being the source of all our problems. Without such a realization, we cannot expect any positive forward progress, any healing of our disease.

“In an atmosphere of friendliness, warmth, sympathy and support for one another, we can build positive connections above our egoistic impulses in a spirit of open discussion.”

However, where our screen generation can reach a significant recognition of evil, the solution to the problem cannot be done through the same screens magnifying the problem. Books, too, although known to work more positively on brain development, improving linguistic, writing, imagination, listening and learning abilities, originally emerged as a disruption that spoiled a more natural word-of-mouth conveyance of wisdom from teacher to student.

In the distant past, teachers of wisdom sat on hills and under trees, surrounded by circles of students, and would deliver words of wisdom, teaching through conversation and interaction. We can thus learn from past conversational learning formats in order to approach a solution to our current problems.

In an atmosphere of friendliness, warmth, sympathy and support for one another, we can build positive connections above our egoistic impulses in a spirit of open discussion. In other words, when we acknowledge how our technological, scientific and cultural progress has been paralleled with a decline in the quality of our connections, then we can pair the desperate need for healing our connections with the method of connection, which was perfected in the educational methods of our sages, in order to find the cure to our current state.

When wisdom needed to be conveyed by word of mouth, our learning required attentive listening in order to understand what was being discussed, and in order to internalize and add the material to our memory reserve. Students would listen, ask questions and converse in order to gain knowledge and wisdom. In their circles, they would absorb the spirit of the material being taught. Through a conversational and social approach, students would connect among each other and with their teachers face to face.

Therefore, our challenge to correct the evil inherent in human nature today is to learn how to positively connect above our divisive drives. At the center of our discourse should be the understanding of such a need, and the impetus to balance ourselves with the law of nature that moves everyone and everything toward more and more unified states.

Our conversations would then gradually advance us in understanding and feeling a more powerful desire to positively connect with much greater mental and emotional aptitude. Our brains would then develop alongside our more developed hearts, as we would gain access to the ultimate unifying device for dealing with any problem and form of division that would appear between us.
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My new article: “The Meaning Of Tu BiShvat”:

Tu BiShvat, which takes place on the 15th of Shevat, seems to be a Jewish holiday of lesser significance, as if hidden among the distinctive Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Hanukkah, Purim, Passover and Shavuot. Its customs are simplistic and few: eating dried fruit and drinking some wine while the children plant tree seeds.

However, according to its inner meaning, the holiday of Tu BiShvat holds monumental importance among the Jewish holidays, as it discusses a very important discernment on our path to a harmonious reality: the discernment of needing to choose an environment, plant ourselves in it, invest in it, and care for the means that can grow us to become more and more optimally connected.

In our current times, as we plod on in the midst of heated social division, terror and nuclear weapon anxiety, the reawakening of Nazi, fascist and xenophobic tendencies, as well as increasing depression, stress and loneliness, the holiday of Tu BiShvat comes to remind us of nature’s positive power. The seed we plant in the soil symbolizes the great potential that dwells in our connections.

This seed will germinate and grow into a life-giving tree, which will later bear fruit. For example, a feeling of safety and confidence in the streets, the reduction of economic inequality and disparity, a healthcare system that concerns itself with all people, and the education of connection-enriching values. The wisdom of Kabbalah, the teaching of how to draw nature’s force of positive connection into our relations, is the water. When we let the spirit of positive connection, “the water,” flow between us, it serves to lubricate our connections, vitalizing them with nature’s positive, connective force.

Investing in rich, fertile soil can be likened to building an environment that will value nature’s quality of love, bestowal and connection above any other values. That is Tu BiShvat’s universal message. It is also the reason why Kabbalists have always regarded the holiday with utmost importance. As the Torah compares humanity to a “tree of the field,” Tu BiShvat, also called “the New Year of the trees,” is an invitation to the beginning of growth, the beginning of a new life.

“The person is called a tree of the field, and Rosh HaShanah is the time of judgment, for better or for worse. … It is written, ‘Forever is mercy built’ (Psalms 89:3). So on Tu BiShvat, which is called the New Year for Trees, we must be strengthened with the quality of kindness, because for this we merit fruit, which is called ‘a tree bearing fruit.””

– Rabbi Baruch Shalom HaLevi Ashlag, Dargot HaSulam, “The New Year of the Trees.”

Happy holiday!

Spritual Meaning of Tu Bishvat

Tu Bishvat, “The New Year of the Trees,” symbolizes the fruit of the spiritual work, growth.

In the first stage of our spiritual path we invert the egoistic intention (Lo Lishma) into an altruistic intention (Lishma), bestowing in order to bestow. In Kabbalah, this degree is called “the quality of Bina.” The acquisition of this quality makes us a “tree of the field.”

Our next milestone of spiritual progress is receiving in order to bestow. Here, the barren tree of the field starts bearing fruit. This is a result of our work and our degree.

We now use our “tree” to grow fruit, fulfill the desires of others, and we relate to them as the source of bestowal. This way, we equalize with the quality of bestowal and complete our correction. This way, Tu BiShvat also contains the completion of our spiritual work.

Tu BiShvat might appear to be a trivial holiday. Its customs don’t extend beyond eating fruits, drinking some wine and children planting tree seeds in the ground. However, it is a very important holiday, since it represents the outcome of spiritual work, the fruit of our efforts. Out of nature’s four levels—still, vegetative, animate, speaking—Tu BiShvat represents the correction of the vegetative level.

The Meaning of New Year for Trees

The New Year of the Trees marks their awakening to life, symbolizing the awakening of a person to achieve the purpose of life: equivalence with nature’s quality of love, bestowal and connection.

The Meaning of A Man Is Like a Tree in the Field

A tree has a special internal structure that feeds from the ground and stretches upward toward the sun. The most important part of the tree is its fruit. In general, any plant, everything that grows from the earth, feeds us and is the basis of our material life. Our spiritual development functions according to the principle that we operate as a tree through all kinds of actions we do.

The Meaning of Fruits

Fruits represent attaining our purpose in life, which is to harmonize with nature’s quality of love, bestowal and connection. In principle, everyone would want to attain this goal if they understood how sweet that fruit is: an eternal and perfect existence in absolute attainment without any restrictions and problems.

Whether we want it or not, we nevertheless get closer to it. However, Kabbalah can accelerate our path if we use it correctly. Otherwise we’ll have to advance the way we do now, with the help of unpleasant blows from nature that push us forward.

There is a beautiful future ahead of us and I hope that the same sweetness we feel from the good fruits of the earth and plants, we will feel from fulfilling our soul.

Further Reading On Tu Bishvat
Posts in Dr. Michael Laitman’s Personal Blog

• New Life #677 – The Meaning Of Tu Bishvat
• The Fruit Of The Tree Of Knowledge
• Introductory Lecture “Tu B’Shevat” – 01.18.11 – video, audio
• Milestones On The Way
• The Meaning Of The Tu B’Shevat Holiday
• New Life #193 – The Jewish Holidays
• Tu B’Shevat As A Turning Point In Providence

Material on Hanukkah and the Jewish holidays by the Bnei Baruch Kabbalah Education & Research Institute

• The Meaning of the Jewish Holidays – chapter from the book, The Path of Kabbalah
• The Spiritual Meaning of the Jewish Holidays – app for Android, iPhone and iPad

The Meaning of the Jewish Holidays Series

• The Meaning of Rosh Hashanah
• The Meaning of Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement)
• The Meaning of Sukkot
• The Meaning of Simchat Torah
• The Meaning of Hanukkah
• The Meaning of Tu BiShvat
• The Meaning of Purim
• The Meaning of Passover
• The Meaning of Shavuot

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The Times of Israel published my new article “Why Is Anti-Semitism More Conspicuous Today?”

“Jews are more loyal to Israel than to America,” and “Jews have too much power in the business world,” are some of the anti-Semitic tropes backed by 61 percent of Americans, according to a recent poll conducted by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). The study also shows that although anti-Semites have not multiplied in number, they are more likely to commit overtly anti-Semitic actions, thus the rise in attacks against Jews we see today.

What is causing this new pattern? What does it mean for the future of the Jewish people?

Of the respondents who harbor anti-Jewish views, if we zoom-in on those with extreme anti-Semitic attitudes, we reveal that the portion of Americans with such radical anti-Semitic mindsets has fluctuated between 11 and 14 percent over the past 25 years. That is the equivalent of 28 million people, a number that has remained more or less unchanged over the last few decades. Therefore, the survey concludes, the recent rise in anti-Semitic attacks is not fueled by an increase in the number of anti-Semites. Instead, this anti-Semitic group feels emboldened to express its hatred more openly and violently.

The World Evolves and So Does Anti-Semitism

In order to understand what is behind anti-Semitism’s recent intensification, we need to look at the process and purpose of human development. Humanity’s history is one long continuum in the development of human desires to receive pleasure. Every succeeding generation that enters this world does so with a greater desire to receive, i.e., a bigger ego, a desire to exploit all levels of nature—inanimate, vegetative, animate and human—for self-benefit.

In our times, the world has reached heights of development in science, technology, culture and other areas, all of which were supposed to bring about plentitude. However, instead of everyone living the good life, we find ourselves increasingly disappointed and struggling. We have reached a state where it seems as if there is nothing in this world capable of fulfilling humanity’s insatiable desires. We are unable to envision an optimal path that would lead to a better and happier life for everybody.

Why? It is because a new demand from nature has started pressuring us according to our current level of development: a demand to rise above our exploitative relations and positively connect. If we meet this demand, then we will experience a major transformation, nothing short of a harmonious existence for all people.

This is where we Jews enter the picture.

Humanity instinctively feels that the Jewish people hold the key to a better world. As the world endures escalating divisions and conflicts, there is a subconscious expectation upon the Jews to unify and be a conduit for unity to spread among humanity.

Such an expectation on the Jews emerges from the origins of the Jewish people around 3,800 years ago. It was a time when Abraham guided the unification of a certain group people in ancient Babylon, people who gathered around Abraham due to feeling the problem of rampant social division of the time, and who agreed to follow Abraham’s path toward loving one’s neighbor as oneself. Their attainment of the sublime unified state granted them the name, “Israel,” from “Yashar El” (“straight to the upper force”), i.e., a people unified by a common intention to love, give and connect above the innate egoistic divisive drives.

We have since completely lost awareness of our Jewish unity, and in its place, frictions and separation prevail. Increasing division among the Jewish people is felt as increasing social division around the world, and the more people feel problems and crises stemming from the divisiveness in human society, the more they instinctively feel that Jews are to blame.

Anti-Semitism thus surfaces as a natural phenomenon among the nations of the world in order to pressure the Jewish people to revitalize the unifying process for positive global change.

Humanity’s Dependence on the Jews

In his essay, “The Arvut “(Mutual Guarantee), foremost Kabbalist Rav Yehuda Ashlag wrote about the important role of the Jewish people: “The Israeli nation was established as a conduit to the extent that they purify themselves [from egoism], they pass on their power to the rest of the nations.”

Today’s world is like a broken-down machine in which all of its pieces are out of sync. Until we connect them properly, nothing will work right. Every person on earth—rich and poor, intellectual and uneducated, anti-Semites and philo-Semites—depends on the Jews to fix the wreckage, due to the Jews having what it takes to do the job: the method of connection that they originally received from Abraham.

The sense of dependence and demand for unity from the nations of the world will not calm down until we Jews begin to unite and pass on the positive force in nature that is vital to the restoration of the correct functioning of the global system. The world will then stop blaming us for its misfortunes because it will then receive what it ultimately needs: happiness, peace and harmony through positive human connections.
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My article in Newsmax: “Brexit Is Good for Europe and the World”

The relationship between the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union has always been shaky. Now they’ve officially divorced.

Brexit finally happened, and there is good reason for the sense of relief and sounds of joy recently resounding throughout the UK.

I regularly teach about the need for unity among people, so it might seem strange that I applaud Brexit. However, any lasting form of unity requires consistent education based on learning and implementing the laws of nature, while the unity constructed in Europe failed to take such a foundation into account.

Now we thus bear witness to such a union’s fateful shattering.

It is written, “Being scattered: for the wicked it is a benefit to them and to the world; but for the righteous, it is bad for them and bad for the world. Being gathered: for the wicked it is bad for them and bad for the world; but for the righteous, it is beneficial to them and beneficial to the world.” (Mishnah Sanhedrin, 8:5)

At face value, the European Union (EU) seemed positive, but it was doomed from the start.

This is because it was constructed on ego-based connections.

European countries could seemingly engage in trade and commerce easily and flexibly.

However, hidden beneath the veneer of cooperation lurked internal competition that ate away at the strength of the union so that no country ultimately gained from the union.

The EU, initiated by Germany and France, was born from a cold calculation for financial viability. There was never any real desire to construct new improved relations and positive social unity between the European countries.

The member states only connected their economic resources, their banks and industries.

In other words, the European Union was constructed out of the self-interest innate to the human ego that is divisive by nature because it only seeks connections that ultimately promise self-benefit.

The European Union was thus leaning toward collapse from its very beginnings.

Now, we can rejoice in the successful execution of Brexit as a positive move because the Machiavellian underpinnings of the EU have been laid bare for all to see.

It is entirely possible that the dissolution might just have prevented a major war arising from the tensing frictions between European countries tied together with such fragile egoistic threads.

As for Europe’s future, it hangs by a thread. It currently stands that the EU dangles precariously by a thin filament being tugged by the United States on one side, and Russia on the other.

Britain has now tilted to the U.S. side where they have always felt more comfortable. Pressure mounts on the Eastern European countries to also decide whether to retire from the EU and associate themselves more closely with Russia once again.

While economic tensions erode the illusion of authentic connection between the countries of the EU, the effects of immigration threaten to culturally and financially impoverish them from within.

The lights of Western Europe are slowly fading as European countries continue to change face: Paris is becoming an African city, Berlin is turning into a Midle Eastern one, and London is transforming into a vibrant Indian city.

Europe’s complicated language and cultural mix combined with its contentious history that has always been prone to struggles and conflicts bode ill both for the EU and the survival of Europe as we have known it.

Lacking connection-enriching education, inherent human egoism with its overblown desire to profit at the expense of others blocks off hope for any lasting or beneficial form of unity in Europe.

One way or another, it seems that Europe will need to endure several more crises. The extent of Europe’s problems will depend on how soon they wake up to the fact that ego-based unity is brittle and unsustainable from the start.

Lasting fruitful connections can come about when unity above differences is given top priority. A positive unifying atmosphere not based on the economy, but on the laws of nature, should be the principle concern of each country individually and of all European countries as a whole if they are to overcome the egoistic tendency, which grows in each of the continent’s inhabitants from one day to the next.

Informed by in-depth knowledge of the laws of nature that develop everything in our universe, humans included, moment to moment toward greater states of unification, the incredibly diverse peoples of Europe will be able to set an example of how to gather in unity upon a foundation that “is beneficial to them and beneficial to the world.” (Mishnah Sanhedrin, 8:5).
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KabNet published my new article: “How Workplace Stress among Doctors Leads to Suicide”

As distressing a problem as suicide is in and of itself, suicide among doctors is particularly troubling. Hundreds of doctors take their lives each year at a rate of over double that of the general population.

Why do so many doctors, a profession that is widely respected and well paid, end up committing suicide?

Doctors, and more specifically physicians, often find themselves under excruciating pressure, strict time constraints, and faced with cases beyond their ability to handle. Although trained to act with a sharp intellect and friendly warmth, some simply cannot bear the burden and face deep depression and stress.

They take on the patients’ problems, and by doing so, the doctors themselves become patients. Their dedication prevents them from abandoning their work, but the mental and emotional weight they bear stifles them. Some of them thus end up reaching such despair where they see no other option but to resign from life.

“Only positive connection among the body of human society has the power to cure our life’s systems, from the human body to the most distant reaches of society.”

Recently, in January 2019, an intern at the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, Israel put an end to his life, becoming the fourth suicide by an Israeli doctor since 2018. The other three were senior doctors. The overworked and highly stressful atmosphere of dealing with crowded emergency rooms, caring for patients that can be from difficult populations, as well as the demanding work of conducting surgeries, training interns, the need to work long hours, and also working in congested departments surrounded by infectious diseases during their long work hours, all takes its toll.

The medical profession has a responsibility on its shoulders beyond its ability to carry. From one year to the next, medical professionals try to serve every ill person needing help, to act as angels from heaven, but it surfaces that they too are mortal flesh and blood.

In Israel, the health care system is suffering, despite having no lack of funding. Patients often wait in long queues for someone to deliver them from pain. Doctors, nurses and hospital staff all work busily and devotedly day and night in order to ensure health for everyone. Yet, the diseases become more aggressive, patient needs more exhausting, and the medicines less effective. Ultimately, doctors find themselves entangled and struggling within the overwhelming complexity of it all.

Perhaps such a desperate situation will force us to recognize the single ultimate disease that has one ultimate cure.

When positive connection is missing between the “organs” of human society, when we fail to think and act considerately toward one another, our “social body” falls ill and dies, and with it, our physical bodies also. Only positive connection among the body of human society has the power to cure our life’s systems, from the human body to the most distant reaches of society.

Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag, renowned for being the greatest Kabbalist of the 20th Century, wrote the following about this phenomenon:

“Observing life, we see that the process of a nation is just as the process of an individual. The functioning of each person within the nation is like the functioning of the organs in a single body. There must be complete harmony among the organs of each person—the eyes see and the brain is assisted by them to think and to consult, and then the hands work or fight, and the legs walk. Thus, each stands on its guard and awaits its role. Similarly, the organs that comprise the body of the nation—counselors, employers, workers, deliverers, etc.—should function in complete harmony among them. This is necessary for the nation’s normal life and for a secured existence.

“As the natural death of the individual results from disharmony among one’s organs, the nation’s natural decline results from some obstruction that occurred among its organs, as our sages testified (Tosfot, Baba Metzia, Chapter Two), ‘Jerusalem was ruined only because of unfounded hatred that existed in that generation.’ At that time, the nation was plagued and died, and its organs were scattered to every direction.” (Yehuda Ashlag, “The Nation”)

Separation causes both the death of the human body and the body of society. All the parts that make up any delicate system must be in a perfect symbiotic relationship. A spirit of mutual consideration and responsibility must flow among all of any system’s parts for its healthy functioning.

In order to reach such relations, a deep-rooted healing process among society as a whole is required, one in which not only doctors, but every person, is vigilant day and night to stand beside any person in distress.

In short, we will only be able to secure our society with mentally and emotionally healthy doctors when we accept our responsibility to build an emotionally healthy society—by forming positive human relations above all instances of division.
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The Times of Israel published my new article “The Coronavirus’ Deeper Cause and Solution According to Kabbalah”

Depictions of total chaos have emerged from Wuhan, China, the city where the coronavirus first started spreading. 60 million citizens are under curfew, schools across the region are closed until further notice, and authorities recommend avoiding any unnecessary contact with people, including shaking hands. The strange plague also quickly spread beyond China’s borders, causing worldwide panic.

If we look at this situation through the lens of the wisdom of Kabbalah, there is nothing new here. Everything is unfolding naturally. The egoistic line of thought embedded within us makes us imagine the world as fixed and unchanging, that only we humans move in our reality. We thus place ourselves at the center of the world and imagine the control we have over the system of nature with our short-sighted selfish nature. However, such outbreaks as the coronavirus come to show us that this is not exactly the case.

In our five senses of perception, we are unable to see that the shifts taking place in our constantly changing world are currently developing with a negative trajectory relative to us. In our ignorance, we have pitted ourselves against nature.

The raw matter of creation, termed “the desire to enjoy” in the wisdom of Kabbalah, is in constant growth. In humans, this desire is expressed with an additional egoistic quality, where we aim to fulfill this desire to enjoy at the expense of others. We thus become inflated with self-importance, mentally and emotionally detaching from one another. Due to the destructive tendency of the egoistic desire to enjoy at the expense of others, Kabbalists describe this quality as the “evil inclination.”

With such an egoistic nature, we find ourselves faced with a serious paradox: On one hand, by nature we want to enjoy, to be at rest, and to use anyone and anything in order to achieve whatever each of us pictures as enjoyable. On the other hand, if we fail to cover the evil inclination with a good one, with an intention to benefit others, then we set ourselves up for self-destruction.

The pace of the coronavirus epidemic’s expansion should be seen as a warning signal for us to realize that we are on the verge of facing unmanageable challenges from nature. Until today, the imbalance between the good and evil forces, i.e., between the desire to benefit others and the desire to enjoy for self-benefit alone, has surfaced slowly and gradually in small increments. At this slower pace, we have had enough time to develop antibodies to battle the mutations, even if only temporarily.

However, with the exponentially accelerating rate of change, we could be faced with a disastrous plague in the future unless we learn how to balance these qualities—our human inclination to live at the expense of all, and the characteristic of nature that demands altruistic connections between every aspect of the environment, humans included. At the moment, we foolishly pit ourselves against nature in a losing battle.

There is no cruelty here on nature’s part. Nature operates by fixed and absolute laws in order to develop us to a perfect, balanced and harmonious state. We thus need only work out what is our role in this nature, and seek how we can become an active and beneficial element in nature.

Our key role in the system of nature is to function as the essential component that brings balance to the world through realizing nature’s primary law, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, when we try to connect with threads of love, we align with nature’s positive force by becoming similar to it. By doing so, we cause a “love virus” to emerge between us, and it spreads through us to nature on all of its levels, the inanimate, vegetative, animate and human. In short, positive human connections where we each aim to benefit each other will balance all ills in the world.

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The Times of Israel published my new article “Not Only the Deal of the Century, Here’s the Peace Deal of All Time”

As soon as Trump’s “Deal of the Century” for peace between Israel and the Palestinians was launched, the controversy arose. It was expected, considering what is at stake: the solution to the most complex and longest running conflict in the world. The proposal could pave the way for a new Middle East but the ball for its realization is in Israel’s court.

There is no doubt that in the coming weeks and months there will be many for and against the proposal, and as politicians do, there will be a lot of protests and spins both from the right and the left to inundate the media with the sole purpose of standing out and standing apart.

It Is in Israel’s Interest to Support the Plan

Despite all the background noise, it would be highly advantageous for the State of Israel to agree to the plan. As long as the US protects us, we need to be wise and take advantage of the opportunity given to us, even though the Palestinians oppose it.

The truth of the matter is that a peace agreement is highly unlikely to be signed between Israel and the Palestinians at any time in the near future. We have witnessed many unfruitful plans and attempts throughout the years. At this stage, the maximum that can be realistically discussed are maps and the annexation of West Bank settlements.

In order to look deeply inside the vision offered in Trump’s detailed 80-page plan, we need to consider how we could catalyze and complement it. There is a need to combine Trump’s plan with an additional force, one that could connect and bring people together.

According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, true peace will come from above, as it is written, that “He who creates peace in His celestial heights, may He in his mercy create peace for us and all of Israel.’’ Peace between us and all other nations will come only when we will first be united peacefully among each other, with friendship and internal solidarity. We will then fulfill our destiny to bring peace to the world.

“Israel is a light unto the world. The hearts and history of our people are woven together. The Land of Israel is an ancient home, a sacred place of worship, and a solemn promise to the Jewish people that we will never again repeat history’s darkest hour,” stated President Trump at the launching ceremony of his peace plan. Other world leaders also highlighted the importance of a strong and safe Israel to humanity during the remembrance of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau that took place just days before at Yad Vashem, Jerusalem.

Why Is There So Much Attention on Israel from the Nations of the World?

The international community’s attention toward Israel is no coincidence. What does the world expect from us? Subconsciously, they expect from us to be united. Through our unity, will we become “a light unto the nations.” As Rav Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam) wrote in his essay, “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”: “The Israeli nation was established as a conduit to the extent that they purify themselves [from egoism], they pass on their power to the rest of the nations.”

The founding tenet of the Jewish people is, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Brotherly love and mutual guarantee are the keys to our security and prosperity. When we rise above our conflicts and disputes, we unleash a positive force in nature that neutralizes threats and bring about tranquility. It is the force that maintains the balance of creation, and its absence among us causes society’s decline.

We could achieve peace if we would rekindle the brotherly love we cultivated centuries ago and share the method for achieving this with everyone. Peace among us would bring about global peace. The sensation of solidarity among us would bring about political security and national strength. This is how we would exemplify ourselves as “righteous,” and the nations would want to be like us.

Righteous Among the Nations

One who is righteous is one who loves and wishes to be connected with everyone, justifying every single person.

Why? It is because evil emanates from the individual alone and not from another, as it is written in the Talmud, “Every person judges others to the extent of his own deficiencies.” A person is a small world, wrote our sages in the Midrash Tanhuma. Thus, everything that a person considers bad and harmful is actually a derivative of his own distorted perception of reality, because the egoism which is inherent in the person, the desire to enjoy at the expense of others, projects a negative reality before his eyes on many different levels.

But it is enough for us just to sincerely desire to transmit goodness and confidence to all of the world’s inhabitants in order to attract the upper force of nature that will correct all imbalances. Exactly how could this be possible? Our effort to connect the Jewish people enables the achievement of the desired goal by drawing the force of connection from above. The force of connection in Israel can radiate a positive power capable of permeating every person in humanity.

We have been given the method of connection, the wisdom of Kabbalah, for the sole purpose of connecting in human society “as one man with one heart.” By achieving such a state, we will become capable of providing a positive unifying example to the rest of the world. The unification of the Jewish people will lower the flames of hatred among the nations of the world, unifying humanity as one global community. That would not only be a big deal, but the deal of all time.

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My article in Newsmax: “Would a Liberal, Progressive Iran Be Better for Israel?”

Could a more liberal and progressive Iranian rule or neutralized Iranian threat bring peace to Israel in the Mideast?

A popular leaked video shows an anti-regime demonstration where a group of protesting students in Iran carefully avoided stepping on United States and Israeli flags on the ground as they walked by, suggesting their different views to their rulers.

Besides this video, the world has trouble peeking into the populist revolt brewing in the heart of the Islamic Republic, because the Iranian regime blocks access to various networks, and churns out deceptive media.

However, the Iranian economy in crisis, rising unemployment, declining morale, and rebellion of the younger generation, become increasingly apparent. Iran’s youth flood the streets in protest over their economic situation and the rule of Ayatollah Khamenei.

The Untapped Potential of Iran’s Youth

30 years ago, I was in contact with a number of Iranians.

I was impressed by their intelligence, sensitivity, wide-ranging education, and their attraction to enlightenment, culture, science, literature, music — everything marking progress and development.

When Ali Hosseini Khamenei assumed the position of Grand Ayatollah, he took for granted that the younger generation would submit to the same draconian rule that has been dished out since 1979, especially since such rule is the only kind that they would be raised with.

However, such rule fails to take into account the global nature of our world with its ease of access to information, and the extent of the younger generation’s awareness of its restrictive conditions compared to the rest of the world.

Young Iranians, who feel that they host immense unrealized potential, have become envious and inspired by Westerners, wanting similar kinds of opportunities.

Not markedly religious and certainly not extremists, they realize that they could find success in any field given the chance.

Therefore, they harbor a lot of pent-up energy with which to come out and demand change.

They disagree with the billions of dollars being spent on weaponry while seeing no hatred or enemy threat from the West, questioning why they should suffer because of the ruling faction’s unrealistic aspiration to control half of the world, which falls short year after year. As they see an increasing number of civilians being killed, as well as tightening sanctions on the country, they see a bleak future.

Where Is Israel in This Picture?

If the protesters were granted their wish, a more liberal and progressive Iran, would the Iranian threats on Israel also become old news?

No. There would still be no meaningful change in the Mideast.

According to the wisdom of “Kabbalah,” reality consists of multiple layers. At the deepest layer we are all inextricably linked together, in our every thought and desire. Furthermore, the people of Israel, as written in “The Zohar,” have a non-negotiable role to play in this network.

The balance of forces in the world rests upon the people of Israel, on whether or not we perform our role: uniting with each other in order to pass the unifying tendency onto the rest of the world. Our unification has the power to open the door to a harmonious reality in the Middle East and the world. In other words, as is written about our role, we must become “a light unto the nations,” and until we do, we will find no peace.

When we unite above the naturally-surfacing divisive tendencies, we draw a positive force dwelling in nature, called “light” in the language of Kabbalah. A peaceful, safe, calm, happy and loving global atmosphere needs such light, a radiating positive energy fueling a willful joint effort to unite above division. Without it, no regime change will help.

When divided, we provoke a negative force. It severs our positive ties and makes us agree to divisive ideas and opinions. The more we continue letting our divisive drives surface, the stronger the hatred grows against us, haunting us with portrayals like the Iranian nuclear threat.

In the meantime, the Iranian threat, together with other anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli expressions running rampant in today’s world, are necessary to ensure that we do not become complacent and indifferent, and instead actively seek a solution to the growing discomfort. In other words, the intensifying negativity toward us from the world forces us to face questions about our identity, responsibility, and what we need to change.

Jewish unity is the answer.

There is untapped potential in our unity that would bring about nothing less than a perfect life for everybody — the Iranians and ourselves included. I thus hope that we start waking up to the call for our unity sooner rather than later, and by so doing, spare ourselves and the world much suffering.
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KabNet published my new article: “Nature’s Life-Giving Secrets That We Can Learn from Chernobyl”

On April 26, 1986, one of the world’s worst-case scenarios materialized. The Chernobyl nuclear reactor exploded as a result of a failed experiment, releasing ten times more radiation than the amount from Hiroshima. A vast area became deadly for 350,000 residents.

Despite the Soviet regime’s attempts to hide history’s most severe nuclear accident, within days, the place became a ghost town. Hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated from their homes, and scientists estimated that the affected Chernobyl area would be uninhabitable for the next 20,000 years.

Against human logic, a decade later, vegetation began sprouting from the ruins. Chernobyl became a kind of evolutionary laboratory for the world, where a flourishing nature reserve emerged from nuclear ruin. The fields blossomed, trees of the forests restored themselves, and a variety of animals began to appear in the area: reptiles, poultry and various mammal species, some of which had not lived in the area for many years before the disaster.

“If we repair human relations, building bridges of positive connections above our innate rejection, divisiveness and even hatred of each other, we can then experience our reality as perfect.”

Through the lens of nature’s laws, the regrowth at Chernobyl is akin to many new planetary states that surfaced from their opposites. The earth has developed through states when its surface was molten, when it was mostly coated in ice, and also when it was completely covered in water. However, out of every era, our planet emerged stronger and healthier than its preceding version.

What Happens When Humans Don’t Interfere With Nature?

The universe has endless healing and balancing forces. When humans do not interfere in the inanimate, vegetative and animate levels of nature, there is total harmony.

We operate in a network of forces of which we have little understanding, so even our seemingly benign thoughts and actions might result in unintentional harm. It follows that when the selfish and destructive human spirit abandons an area, it becomes filled with life.

Chernobyl provides such an example: When the radiation began fading away and there was no human disturbance, new species of plants and animals emerged that we thought were extinct. Where did these new species come from?

How New Species of Plants and Animals Emerged in Chernobyl After the Disaster

Nature is comprised of many forces, visible and latent, and myriad combinations between these forces bring about an infinite variety of forms. When humans exit the picture, leaving these forces alone, they act and give birth to every manifestation that needs to exist according to the current developmental stage.

It is a law of nature: every intersection in the network must be fulfilled and generate something new, whether on the inanimate, vegetative or animate levels. At every level, nature operates according to different and contrasting attributes of connection in order to create harmony and balance, enabling ever more advanced life forms to evolve. In other words, nature always evolves to higher states of unification.

Nature’s inanimate, vegetative and animate levels obey its laws and operate harmoniously. Every object and organism on these levels extracts exactly what its sustenance requires and passes any surplus back to the larger system in which it exists.

This is how a well-oiled integral system is created. Only the human being can, for a limited time, resist such laws. Human nature has a tendency to act oppositely: we contribute what we must, and take as much as we can without considering the system’s other parts. We do so without understanding that we rob ourselves by doing so, because in reality we are interdependent parts of the natural system like cogwheels in a machine.

What Humans Should Take Away from the Chernobyl Regrowth

The Chernobyl example demonstrates how human nature is opposite to nature itself. The human ego, i.e., the desire to enjoy at the expense of others, which gives rise to exploitation, manipulation and abuse in the midst of our relations, generates toxins that radiate throughout nature. It is thus imperative for us to learn how nature works, and by so doing, we will know how to fix the problems we cause.

If we raise awareness of our function as humans within nature, understanding how its inanimate, vegetative and animate levels depend on our relations, then we can work together to become harmoniously integrated with, and beneficial to, nature.

If we repair human relations, building bridges of positive connections above our innate rejection, divisiveness and even hatred of each other, we can then experience our reality as perfect. By correcting human nature, we will feel how our relationships blossom and breathe afresh, and how every moment is renewed and recreated.

Our planet will then become paradise, nothing less than heaven on earth.

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