My new article on Linkedin “The Real Responsibility that Israel Should Take”

A few days ago, the Israeli army stated that after a prolonged investigation, it reached the conclusion that an Israeli soldier likely fired the bullet that killed Palestinian-American Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. “There is a high possibility that Shireen was accidentally hit by IDF gunfire that was fired toward suspects identified as armed Palestinian gunmen, during an exchange of fire,” the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said.

There is no question that Israel’s many enemies will have a field day over Israel’s candid statement. Countries that have no regard for human rights or second thoughts about brutalizing and murdering not only their enemies, but even their own people, and for the slightest reason or no reason at all, will decry Israel’s “indiscriminate” killing.

Having served in the army for several years, I know first hand that there is no such thing as indiscriminate firing on the part of Israeli soldiers. At the same time, accidents do happen, and journalists who position themselves right in the middle between the fighting parties are putting themselves at risk. It is a professional gamble that many journalists take, and as gambles go, sometimes you lose.

As for the world’s denunciation, I must admit, I do not give it a second thought, I never do. My concern is not what the world thinks, but what Israel does. If Israel does not do what it must do, the world will denounce it, vilify it, and demonize it whether or not it apologizes and whether or not it takes responsibility for the death of a careless journalist.

However, and this is a big however, I do think that Israel is responsible. I think that Israel is responsible for much more than the death of Shireen Abu Akleh. Israel is responsible for whatever it is accused of. Even before the accusation is pronounced, we should say, “You’re right, we are responsible for it; it is our fault.”

We are responsible because we are divided, and our division causes every woe and tragedy around the world. These are not my words; they are the words of our sages, who have been saying this since the inception of our nation.

When our sages wrote in the Talmud (Yevamot 63a), “No calamity comes to the world but for Israel,” they did not mean it as a figure of speech. They meant, very literally, that everything bad that happens in the world is because of Israel.

Those sages, and countless more sages and spiritual leaders in the history of Israel, have stated this not in order to accuse us, but to galvanize us into action. Because if everything bad is our fault, it means that we are doing something wrong, and that if we stopped doing it and began to do that something right, there will be no more calamities in the world.

Our sages did not settle for stating our fault; they also provided us with the remedy: Peace among us brings peace to the world. This is why Midrash Rabbah (portion 66) writes, “This nation, world peace dwells within it.”

The legacy of our sages has continued through the ages, and all our teachers have been teaching the same principle. In the 20th century, the great Rav Kook wrote along those lines in his book The Vocation of Israel and Its Nationality, “Only when complete peace and faithful love come, ‎and the pure feeling of recognizing the brotherhood between people develops … ‎when that development is completed within us, at a degree that merits being a role ‎model to many, all the nations will recognize it, and the blessing of peace will begin to ‎dwell in the world.” In other words, before we make peace among ourselves, there will be no peace in the world.

This is why we are responsible—not because an accidental bullet killed a reporter, but because our own internal division caused the external conflict with the Palestinians.

Filed under: Israel, Israel Today, New Publications - No Comments →

Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “Money Should Not Be an Incentive for Better Teaching”

I recently wrote about the teachers’ crisis in Israel and how I think it should be resolved. I am pleased that the teachers’ union has reached an agreement with the Ministry of Finance and that the teachers will receive a significant raise, which was one of my proposals. However, there is another point in the agreement that I believe does not contribute to good teaching, but rather creates a distortion in the system: the teachers will receive financial bonuses for excellence in teaching. That is, the teachers’ performance will be graded and they will receive extra money if their grades are good.

I wholly agree that quality teaching must be encouraged, that teachers must strive to be the best they can be, and that good teachers should be appreciated. I also agree that teachers’ performance should be graded. Where I see the problem is in the type of reward that they receive in return for good performance.

Financial rewards would make them think about the money while teaching, instead of focusing on the education they are giving to their students; it would turn them into “sales persons” who think about the bonuses they get in return for more sales, rather than about the customers, namely the students. If teachers adjust their teaching so that it earns them bonuses rather than thinking about the needs of their students, it will not produce good teachers and certainly not good teaching.

Another point we should consider is who should participate in grading the teachers. Under the new agreement, the school principals will decide who is a good teacher. In my opinion, the students, too, should have their voices heard on that. First of all, they are, after all, the ones who spend the most time with the teacher. They are the ones who feel firsthand if the teacher’s teaching is clear, if the homework is appropriate and reasonable, if the grades they give are fair, and if the teacher is patient or not, etc. Therefore, they know better than anyone how well this teacher performs.

Another reason why I believe that students should be involved in evaluating their teachers is that it will be an effective educational tool. It will make students think about teaching, about the role of the teacher, about the teacher’s work, and about themselves as students. They will be able to discuss these issues with each other, develop interpersonal communication, and enrich each other with different perspectives. Being able to view the other side’s perspective is one of the key elements in emotional maturation, and putting themselves in the teacher’s shoes is a great way to help students achieve that.
[302532]

Filed under: Education, Israel Today, New Publications - No Comments →

My new article on Linkedin “Reply to a Bereaved Wife”

A student of mine wrote me the following (abbreviated) letter: Dear teacher, I would like to ask you to teach me how to speak with the Creator. I have been studying with you for more than 12 years, and about two months ago, my husband passed away. We were together for 28 years and he always supported me and helped me study. He was like an angel. My heart is breaking within me. I speak with him in my heart; I ask him for advice. It is a kind of dialog. But he is gone; there is only the Creator. How can I go from speaking to an image of a person to speaking directly with the Creator? Please help me.

Dear …,

First, my condolences for the loss of your husband. Second, the fact that he has passed away physically does not mean a thing. On the contrary, your connection with him now is even stronger, except you do not feel how strong it is. Therefore, do not think of your connection with your husband as gone. On the contrary, imagine that he is with you internally, emotionally, spiritually. This is how you should relate to him.

Talk to him and talk to the Creator; this is all you need. You can speak however you want. Simply speak and both he and the Creator will understand you. The best thing you can do is to speak in the simplest terms you can.

Your husband is incorporated in the upper force, the Creator, just as everything else is incorporated in it. Whenever we speak to someone, we are actually speaking to the Creator, even when we are not aware of it.

Our biggest problem is to realize that there really is none else besides the Creator. Good people, bad people, everything around us is manifestations of the upper force, the Creator.

Your honest words, which come from the heart, are the best and truest prayer; it is all you need. The most effective prayers are those that come not from texts written by others, however sagacious, but from the bottom of the heart.

Therefore, dear …, keep speaking to your husband and to the Creator in your own words. This is the best thing you can do for yourself.

Filed under: New Publications - No Comments →

Medium published my new article “To Increase Tax Collection, Japan Encourages Alcohol Consumption”

If this were not a true story, I would think it is a bad joke. Japan’s National Tax Agency (NTA) has launched a campaign called “Sake Viva,” which encourages young people to increase alcohol consumption. “Over the last decade,” explains Biswarup Bose, Consumer Analyst at GlobalData, “alcoholic beverage sales in Japan have been waning owing to the rapidly greying and shrinking population, and the declining alcohol intake among young consumers due to health or lifestyle factors. Consequently, Japan’s total alcoholic beverages sales fell from $112.4 billion in 2011 to $95.6 billion by 2021.” Anywhere else, this would be considered great news. But in Japan, apparently, money comes first, and the government is trying to get young people back to the booze.

Alcohol is an addictive drug. Once they get people hooked on it, they will not be able to do without it. Worse yet, addiction to alcohol is bound to lead to excessive drug abuse and a host of other problems that go hand in hand with alcoholism. I understand the need of the government to collect more taxes, but there are better ways to balance the budget.

One such way, and the one that I would recommend, is to strengthen the sense of solidarity in society. That would diminish government expenses to such an extent that the country would thrive. Increased solidarity would create balance in society, improve the stability of families and communities, and the overall strength of society.

Increased solidarity would not only eliminate the need for such harmful moves by the country’s tax authority (of all authorities) to balance Japan’s budget, it would lift the country’s society to a level that would make it a role model for the world.

Admittedly, such an idea, especially when it comes to the Japanese society, is completely unorthodox, but then, our time is also very different from the past. However sluggish Japan’s economy may be, increased alcohol consumption is certainly not the solution.

Instead of drinking more, I would suggest that the Japanese embrace a Jewish wisdom that is seldom used, including by the Jews themselves: the wisdom of connection. If Japan adopts the principles of solidarity and mutual responsibility among the members of society, its troubles will be over.
[302492]

Filed under: New Publications - No Comments →

Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “50th Anniversary of the Massacre in the Munich Olympics”

Fifty years ago today, September 5, eight members of the Palestinian terrorist group Black September killed two members of the Israeli Olympic team and took nine more as hostages. After some negotiations came a failed rescue attempt, during which the terrorists killed all nine hostages. Today, the German government will hold a ceremony in their memory in the presence of the president of Israel. During the half century that has passed, the Munich Olympics Massacre has come to symbolize the evil of terrorism against innocent people. Yet, as we can see, terrorists and terrorism have not been curbed since. On the contrary, they have only grown because of our lack of resolve.

I remember the tragedy. It was not something that came out of the blue. What did surprise me, however, was Israel’s indecision. In my opinion, the only way to deal with terrorists is to give them the same treatment that they strive to give us: annihilation.

In the case of the Munich terrorists, five were killed during the botched raid, and three were arrested after they killed the hostages. A month later, all three were released in a hostage exchange following the hijacking of Lufthansa Flight 615.

As I see it, the whole concept of chasing perpetrators after they have committed their crime is flawed. Israel should not be chasing individual terrorists; it should eliminate any terrorist organizations in their entirety. The same logic that had made the US crush Osama bin Laden’s organization, and finally he himself, should apply to the treatment of any organization that seeks to achieve political goals by slaying innocent civilians, i.e., by terror.

However, Israel will not treat terrorists or terrorist organizations the same as America does. Israelis simply feel they have no justification to do so. It is not a conscious feeling; we do not feel that we are criminals, but there is a tenacious hidden devil that whispers in our ears that we are bad, unworthy, that we deserve the troubles that befall us.

This feeling is nothing new. It has been with us for thousands of years, and will continue to be with us until we understand that we need to behave differently, why we feel this way to begin with, and what we need to do about it.

Like I said, from the operational perspective, we should eliminate anyone who wishes to eliminate us. However, acting only on this level will not achieve lasting results. The most important, and the most difficult work we must do is among ourselves: to deepen our unity and solidarity.

Just as fifty years ago, terrorism is wreaking havoc in our society, sowing fear, and exposing our internal weakness. Just as then, so now, it would not succeed were it not for our division. If we were united, not only would terrorist acts against Israel fail, there would be no attempts.

We are bringing hatred on ourselves by hating one another. No other nation must abide by the law of unity like the Israeli nation. No other country depends on its internal strength as much as Israel does. No other people became a nation by uniting their hearts as if they have one heart, and no other nation has been charged with being a model of unity for all of humanity.

Just as we subconsciously feel guilty for not being a model of unity, and therefore “deserve punishment,” resulting in lack of resolve against our enemies, other nations feel our debt to them. They blame us for every woe and tragedy that befalls them, but underneath their accusations lies one charge against the Jews: You are spreading division instead of unity.

This is why only if we bond together and become united will we defeat our enemies. We will not win through weapons but through closeness of hearts among us, which will restore the essence of our peoplehood to its historic role in the family of nations.*

*For more on this topic, please read Like a Bundle of Reeds: Why unity and mutual guarantee are today’s call of the hour.
[302529]

Filed under: Anti-Semitism, New Publications - No Comments →

Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “After 125 Years, We Still Do Not Understand Zionism”

This week in Basel, Switzerland, Israel is commemorating the 125th anniversary of the 1st Zionist Congress. At the conclusion of that congress, Theodor Herzl, who organized the conference and was the driving force behind the Zionist movement in its early years, wrote in his diary: “Were I to sum up the Basel Congress in a word … it would be this: At Basel I founded the Jewish State.” The purpose of this week’s event is to both celebrate that seminal conference, and just as importantly, to discuss contemporary Zionism, its vision, or lack thereof, and its challenges and pitfalls going forward.

Indeed, the Jewish state is well founded. Israel is a strong and solid country, and it seems like even humanity has largely come to accept the existence of a Jewish state. Now I hope that we are correcting the world and that we will not vanish but keep on moving forward.

However, in order to advance, the State of Israel must go beyond securing its survival. It must come to a state where it agrees with our sages, who said that “Love your neighbor as yourself” is our all-encompassing law, and that this should be the basis for the existence of all the nations.

Despite Herzl’s initial assimilationist approach, by the time he conceived the idea of establishing a Jewish state, it seems like he had completely abandoned the idea of amalgamation among the nations. In fact, he concludes his book, The Jewish State, with words that imply that he even embraced our sages’ legacy that the Jews must serve as a model nation. In his words, “The world will be freed by our liberty, enriched by our wealth, ‎magnified by our greatness. And whatever we attempt there to accomplish for our own welfare, ‎will react powerfully and beneficially for the good of humanity.”

There will certainly be challenges ahead. Our argumentative and opinionated character will pit us against each other, but we will learn how to funnel it toward constructive routes. It will take time, but we will learn how to forge unions while embracing contradictions of opinions and without suppressing ideological minorities. We will learn it not because we want to, but because this is our duty to the world, the wisdom we must project to all of humanity, and the only modus operandi that will create true and lasting world peace, once it is implemented.

Herzl’s words were correct. To the extent that we are close to one another within the people of Israel, we will bring the nations of the world closer to each other. The reason there are war and conflicts in the world today is that there are war and conflicts among us, Jews, and particularly the Jews in Israel. These are not my words; these are the words of our sages throughout the generations, and the words of many thinkers who were considered antisemitic for saying these very words.

Herzl, in that sense, was a special human being. He was a channel through which the awareness that Jews must have their own state came to the world. At the end of his book, as we saw, he also connected our return to the physical land to our spiritual calling, our duty to be a model of unity and solidarity, but this we have yet to accomplish. We must explain this first to ourselves, then begin to implement it among us, and then explain this process to the world. If we are sincere, the world will endorse our efforts with all its might. If we remain divided and derisive toward each other, the world will scathe us and deny us the country.

There are voices that say that we have lost our way and we need another Herzl. I do not think we need another Herzl; I think we need many people vocally supporting the right kind of Zionism, the Zionism of connection among Jews as an example for the world. We need many people to understand the process, embrace it, and act on it, for our sake, and for the sake of humankind.

—

*Read these books for more information on the obligation of the Jewish people to be a model nation: The Jewish Choice: Unity or Anti-Semitism, Historical facts on anti-Semitism as a reflection of Jewish social discord, and Like a Bundle of Reeds: Why unity and mutual guarantee are today’s call of the hour.
[302446]

Filed under: Anti-Semitism, Israel, Israel Today, New Publications - No Comments →

Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “Who We Are without Our History”

September 1st is the beginning of the school year in Israel. Beginning this year, Jewish Israeli students will not learn about the history of the Jewish people during the period of the Second Temple, its destruction, the Great Revolt of Judaea, the Cyrus Declaration, the Hasmonean Revolt, and other key events in the history of our people. To give you some perspective, it is as if American children were not taught about the Civil War, what the war was about and how it ended. How would they understand what is happening in America today without learning about the Civil War? What kind of American citizens would they be?

History lessons have been given less and less time in students’ curricula for decades. In the early 2000s, Israeli students still had nine hours of history lessons weekly. Beginning September, they will have five.

A person without a past, without a history, is not a person, just as a nation without a history is not a nation. Our history is an essential part of who we are. It defines our principles and our personality; it is everything! I cannot understand how we can determine who we are if we do not know about the history of our people.

History is not only my family tree, or the history of my nation, or creed. It begins with the creation of the universe, the emergence of our solar system and Planet Earth within it, the beginning of life on Earth, the evolution of the species, the emergence of humans, and the evolution of human civilization to this day. How can we determine our direction for the future if we do not know our past? It seems to me that whoever wishes to cancel our history must be planning some sort of revolution. I see no other motivation.

The history of the ancient world, including what happened during the period of the Second Temple, the Roman Empire, Greek Empire, and other key processes and events in the history of humanity and the history of the Jews, is the foundation of our civilization, and the foundation of our people. I know that I learned it because I wanted to know about man on Earth, and it taught me a great deal. For example, how will we correct past mistakes if we do not know about them? In order to know our place in the world, we have to know where we came from, why, and what is expected of us in the future.

Besides general history, which begins, as I said, with the creation of the universe, and ends with today’s civilization, we must also know the history of our own people. If teaching about the destruction of the Second Temple and that entire period has already been eliminated, tomorrow, teaching about the exodus from Egypt might also be eliminated. And if these are erased, then what is left of our legacy?

I think this is a terrible mistake. If you erase one’s past, you have erased one’s present, and you have denied one the ability to plan the future correctly. Without continuity, without a historic perspective, it is impossible to build a future. I do not see any developed country doing this.

Perhaps the teaching methods should change; perhaps they should be more engaging, modernized, but one way or the other, without our past, we cannot understand our present or know how to proceed toward the future.
[302411]

Filed under: Israel, Israel Today, New Publications - No Comments →

Medium published my new article “Quiet Quitting — a Step toward a Better Balance”

The signs have been there for a long time, but the lockdowns have given them a major boost. Now, “quiet quitting” is a major problem for employers, especially since many people still work from home, blurring the boundary between work time and free time. Although there is no clear definition of the term “quiet quitting,” it basically means that people strive to do less, work fewer hours, and forget about work once they are out of the office. Succinctly, it means working as little as possible without getting fired.

Some pundits blame this phenomenon on the employees, arguing that people are getting lazy. Others pin it on the bosses and argue that executives need to learn how to work with millennials if they want to get more out of them.

I think it is simply that people want to find a balance. A healthy balance between work and leisure is key to leading a good life. It is not a rigid line, but something that each person must determine for oneself based on one principle: work only as much as is necessary. Anything beyond what is necessary is redundant, and therefore draining, unpleasant, and detrimental.

This approach pertains to much more than work. It is the only way we can reach sustainable levels of consumption, the only way we can save the earth, the air, and the water from depletion and pollution.

If we balance our time and effort between work and leisure, it will give us time and energy for more emotionally rewarding activities. In short, we will all benefit from finding the right balance between work time and free time.

As for concerns about production demands and economic growth, I think we are already producing far too much. Most of the products we make and purchase do not add value to our lives. They do not make us happier and do not make our lives easier. The only ones who benefit from them are the makers’ shareholders, while the rest of us suffer from the consequential pollution, traffic congestion, and countless hours spent building redundant stuff.

Economists, and those whose livelihood depends on keeping the economic machine running, may sound the alarm at the sight of quiet quitting, but for the rest of us, I think it is good news. It is time to start living sanely. It will be better for us, better for our children, and better for Planet Earth.
[302419]

Filed under: New Publications - No Comments →

Medium published my new article “Alone Is Not Always Lonely”

It seems like social media, pandemics, and modern life have made us isolated people, more alienated from each other than ever, and enjoying mainly our own company. People’s conversation time has been declining for nearly thirty years, and even video calls cannot reverse the trend. It appears that communicating with other people is simply not appealing to more and more people. But considering the fact that we are growing increasingly narcissistic, this trend should not surprise us. In the future, we can expect it to continue, and even accelerate.

I, too, feel that I would rather stay in my room and spend my time the way I like to than to socialize with people who largely do not interest me. I have my books; I have science news and other news that I watch; and I have various other interests.

I can sympathize with people who feel they do not need other people to satisfy their social needs, since we are all becoming increasingly focused on ourselves. The need for reciprocity, for approval from society, is diminishing in many people.

However, it is not that people are becoming increasingly anti-social. They are becoming increasingly fastidious, and do not want to waste their time or energy on futile connections that bring them no real benefit.

People are indifferent to other people because they are becoming more goal-oriented. They choose their goals in life and exert themselves to achieve them. This is a positive development that will lead people to pursue their life’s purpose.

As for me, despite my reclusive nature, my life’s purpose requires that I connect with as many people as possible, and on the deepest possible level: in my heart. To achieve my goal, I am willing to connect with any person and embrace any person. But were it not for my goal, I would still be happily secluded in my room as I was before I began to disseminate the wisdom of Kabbalah around the world, which is my life’s purpose and for which I will happily make any sacrifice.

And as I am, so are many other people becoming increasingly goal oriented. It is an evolution in humanity, and not regression. In the future, we will see more and more people connecting around common goals and avoiding casual interactions, which will seem pointless to them. They will be living on two levels: On the superficial level they will appear aloof or reserved, but on the deeper level they will be deeply connected to those who share their goals.
[302318]

Filed under: New Publications - No Comments →

Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “Mikhail Gorbachev – a Personal Impression”

The passing of Mikhail Gorbachev reminded me of a brief conversation I had had with him. Even before I met him, I had the impression that he was truly a different kind of politician. He was not inherently bad; he understood people and felt close to the regular folk. In the impossible framework where he operated, I think he did his best, and in everyone’s favor. Had he not been taken down from his post as the leader of the Soviet Union, he would have done more good for his country and for the world.

By the time I met him, in November 2005, he had been out of office for nearly fourteen years. Nevertheless, he was still trying to help make the world a better place. We met at a conference in Tokyo, Japan. At the time, I was a member of the World Wisdom Council (WWC), and he was an honorary chairperson of the organization, which was headed by Prof. Ervin Laszlo.

In that event, the Goi Peace Foundation, located in Japan, had invited the WWC for a conference in Tokyo, to participate in its initiative titled, Creating a New Civilization. The highlight of the event was a series of speeches in a hall in downtown Tokyo before an audience of 5,000 people including ambassadors and other officials from 46 countries.

The night before the event, the members of the WWC met for a social gathering with a more casual tone than the formal discussions. That evening I exchanged a few words with Gorbachev. He was very friendly and informal, the last thing you would expect from a former president of the USSR.

In our conversation, I told him that I appreciated his efforts to make the world a better place. He replied that he appreciated my understanding of his intent, and said that he was still active and trying to help wherever and however he could.

I think that considering the circumstances under which he operated, coming from a Soviet, communist background, the reforms he had carried out were astounding, inconceivable until he actually began to make them. In that sense, he was truly a pioneer and deserves the world’s respect for his contribution to humanity.

Creating a New Civilization Conference in Tokyo (2005) Credit: Michael Laitman

[302264]

Filed under: New Publications - No Comments →