Medium published my new article “No Confidence? No Happiness”

We feel confident when we are hopeful about the future. When we have something to look forward to, we have a reason to live. If we lose it, we lose hope, happiness, and might even become suicidal. The future is more important to us than the present because the present will pass, but if the future is bleak, it makes everything black.

Look at how much we invest to secure our future: health insurance, home insurance, social security, life insurance, car insurance, and if we can, we save money in various forms of investments and savings accounts. We do all these precisely because we are so uncertain about the future.

Previously, our family was our anchor, our safe haven. That is no longer the case. We often feel alone and isolated, and cannot be certain that anyone will come to our aid when we need it. We are living in the age of loneliness.

As our world changes, it is becoming increasingly interconnected, and everyone influences everyone else. We are all dependent on each other, and the network of ties exposes our need for mutual responsibility, which we do not have.

At the same time, revealing our lack of solidarity is the first step toward building it, since if we do not know that we need something and do not have it, we will not try to gain it. Therefore, now that we have realized that we are interdependent, we should begin to learn how to conduct ourselves in such a society.

Our task today is to restore confidence in the future, and thereby happiness. We will achieve this only by adapting our society to the integrated reality of our lives. In other words, we need to learn to care for one another to the extent that we are dependent on each other.

A newborn baby is completely dependent on its mother. However, the mother’s love for her baby makes both the baby and the mother happy. The correspondence between the level of dependence and the affection they feel for one another makes the dependence pleasant rather than a burden, which is how we feel it in our relations with people for whom we do not care.

Dependence without mutual care, therefore, leads to lack of confidence and happiness. Dependence joined by mutual concern leads to feeling confident and happy. Since dependence is an irrevocable fact, if we want to feel secure and happy, we must learn to care for one another.

Achieving this requires everyone’s participation. There need to be appropriate educational programs, participation of the members of the community or town, and eventually all of society, as well as a proper emphasis on developing such programs on the part of the authorities. Currently, we are still looking for other solutions and try to deal with each problem separately. When we find that our efforts lead to no solution unless we deal with the root of the problem, we will be willing to make a coordinated, collaborative effort to change our society for the better by learning to become more caring individuals.
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Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “The Hidden Cause Behind England’s Water Shortage”

Despite the recent torrents in London, this summer, England has been experiencing a serious drought. But not only England, most, if not all of Europe has been experiencing a sweltering summer with gigantic forest fires that have consumed countless homes in addition to trees and wildlife.

But there is another problem that is exacerbating the crisis: leaking pipes. Water companies in England and Wales lost more than one trillion liters via leaky ‎pipes last year. In the US, the situation is not much better. According to a report on Technology Networks Applied Sciences, “An estimated 20 to 50 percent of water is lost to leaks in North America’s supply system.”

If the climate is changing and droughts have become more frequent and more severe, why are we not doing something about it? Why are we letting so much water go to waste? There is a simple answer to it, and this is the hidden cause that makes the climate crisis so severe in the UK and around the world: We do not care about each other. If we did, we would not let this happen.

If I were to build a home somewhere for my family, would I not see to a proper water system? Would I not see that it is properly maintained? Of course I would. Because I love my family, I would see that our water supply system is intact.

In other words, the leaking pipes are merely an indication of a much bigger problem: alienation and carelessness among us. Why do we have homeless people? Why are there drug addicts lying in street corners until their lives run out of them? Why are there so many people abused and bullied and enslaved? There is only one cause behind all these wrongs, one problem that we need to fix. From the slightest injustice to the most horrible crime, they all stem from our lack of care, from our indifference, coldness, and the pleasure we derive from other people’s pain. If we cared, or at least did not hate so much, our world would be infinitely better.

Every problem has its scientists and experts who make plans for tackling it. (Notice they do not talk about improving, much less solving it.) They never succeed. For all the budgets that they get, things are not getting any better. There is a good reason for this: There is no care in all their plans, no heart in all their actions.

How come mothers can usually raise their children successfully unless external circumstances beyond their control prevent it from them? In fact, sometimes they succeed despite impossible circumstances, but these are exceptions, not the rule. Mothers succeed because they care, and for no other reason. They have no plans, no foreknowledge about being a mother, and often get conflicting advice from friends and “consultants.” Yet, for the most part, they raise their children fine. Why? because their love guides their actions. If love guided our relations with our fellow persons, we would be living in a very different world, a far better one than we have today.

If previously, we could get away with our negative attitude toward each other, today’s world is so interconnected that everything we do affects everyone else far more quickly and intensely. If kindness, or even mutual consideration were optional until only recently, today they are mandatory.

We can argue that caring for each other is unrealistic and idealistic, that it is an unachievable and naive goal. It may seem that way, but if you consider that the option of letting things continue as they have been leads to certain decimation of much of humanity, I hope you will agree that idealistic or not, it is worth giving it a serious effort. If we acknowledge the fact that we are all dependent on each other, we will realize that no matter what, we must find a way to stop hating, and start caring for each other, even if just a little bit.
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Medium published my new article “If I Had a Billion Dollars”

A few weeks ago, someone bought a Mega Millions ticket at a Speedway gas station in Des Plaines, Illinois. That ticket turned out to be a single winner and the owner won USD 1.337 billion. A student asked me about it. He said that this person probably has many people giving him or her (or them) financial advice of all kinds, and asked what would I advise the winner(s). Here is my answer.

I think it is much more rewarding to use your money to give to others than to spend it on yourself. When you give, your gift lives in others; it cannot be erased. It develops your soul and fills it with vitality.

I do not advise anyone on anything. What I can say, however, is what I think I would do if I won the jackpot.

If I won it, I think I would split the money between investing in young children and in the elderly. These two segments of the population need support and cannot help themselves. The rest of the people can protest or try other ways to improve their situation, but the elderly and very young children are completely helpless and cannot even complain.

I would use the money to build places for children and places for the elderly, different places for each segment. In these places, they will pursue activities that please and help them. For children, I would focus on entertaining educational programs, and for the elderly, I would focus on letting them enjoy themselves together.

Children need to learn and enjoy learning. Therefore, I would offer them free classes in art, photography, sports, and science, as well as games that develop their thinking and collaboration. It is important that these classes are free, just as it was when I was a child, so that everyone has access to them.

I think it is much more rewarding to use your money to give to others than to spend it on yourself. When you give, your gift lives in others; it cannot be erased. It develops your soul and fills it with vitality.

Conversely, when you use the money for selfish pleasures, you are burying yourself. It is literally a spiritual burial, a spiritual death. This is why if I won the jackpot, I would use the money in this way.
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Medium published my new article “More People Are ‘Autistic’ because More Connection Is Required”

Today, more and more people are diagnosed on the autistic spectrum. According to statnews.com, “CDC researchers reported that autism rates in the United States increased from 1 in 150 children in 2000 to 1 in 54 in 2016, and the rate now stands at 1 in 44 children [as of 2018].” But are we really more autistic than before? According to the National Institute of Mental Health, autism “is a neurological and developmental disorder that affects how people interact with others, communicate, learn, and behave.” It therefore makes sense that if communication becomes more demanding, but people’s ability to communicate does not improve, more people will be diagnosed with autism.

The level of connectedness in all our engagements and on all levels has been growing exponentially for decades. Today, you really cannot get away from society. You cannot isolate yourself because your mobile phone is always with you, and people can reach you not only via phone, but also by texting, video chats, social media, and countless other ways. And if you try to turn off your phone for even one day, you will probably find that you are hooked, and isolation is an unachievable fantasy.

In the 1970s, for example, people’s communication needs were very different than they are today. A regular person went to work in the morning, came back in the afternoon, ate something, read the newspaper, watched TV and went to sleep. Communication skills did not need to be as developed as they need to be today because communication was not as ‎intricate and demanding. Today, people are communicating all the time, with multiple people, and on multiple platforms, especially the younger generation. These demands expose their inadequate communication skills, causing them to be diagnosed on the autistic spectrum.

Additionally, people’s growing self-absorption makes it even more difficult for them to communicate, an added challenge that did not trouble people in the second half of the previous century, who were clearly not as narcissistic as today’s youngsters.

Because demands have changed, people should acquire the appropriate skills to meet them. If previously, the education system could suffice with imparting information, today, information is the least of our problems. Anyone can learn anything online more easily and quickly than a single teacher can teach in a physical classroom.

Rather, the main problem today is communication between people; it is dysfunctional on every level and stands behind people’s most daunting problems. Substance abuse, depression, violence, bullying and abuse, all those very serious problems do not stem from lack of knowledge, but from inadequate communication skills. If we want to “treat” autism, we need to address our disconnection from each other, our inability to connect and communicate positively and constructively.
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My new article on Linkedin “The Psyche of the Jewish Antisemite”

For the past 19 years, a Jewish man has been protesting outside a Michigan synagogue nearly every Sabbath. What began as protesting against policies of the State of Israel has gradually morphed into signs that read “Resist Jewish Power,” “End Jewish Supremacism in Palestine,” and the support of a Nazi German who wrote a book titled The Hitler We Knew and Loved. The fact that he received Jewish education, by the way, that he had a Bar Mitzvah and attended Hebrew school, makes no difference whatsoever. I cannot say that it surprises me to see that some Jews hate their own faith. Because of our unique history and calling, there is a latent antisemite within every Jew.

I have had the questionable pleasure of meeting, not to say encountering quite a few such people. With some, especially those who belong to certain extreme Left organizations, I filmed several televised conversations. It is impossible to reason with such people; they feel what they feel, and that’s the end of it. Once the antisemite within takes over, it is very hard to topple it.

Jews experience self-hate like no other nation. But then, Jews have experienced every kind of hate like no other nation because Jews are like no other nation. The Jewish people introduced the most sublime notions to humanity. They introduced such practices as charity and welfare systems, which relied on novel notions such as solidarity, mutual responsibility, and love for others as for oneself.

At the same time, during the destruction of the Second Temple, Jews inflicted on each other cruelty that shocked the ancient world. In fact, the animosity among Jews was so intense that to this day, our sages attribute the destruction of the Temple and the expulsion of our people from the land of Israel not to Titus and his Roman armies, but to the people of Israel’s own hatred for each other.

These Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde inhabit every Jew because our ancestors came from regular, self-centered people who acquired sublime qualities of love of others and solidarity, after which they were instructed to build a role model society that will be “a light to the nations.” That was the original people of Israel.

But developing a “better self” did not erase the primordial one. On the contrary, to make Israel continue to improve themselves, their self-centeredness intensified continually. As a result, when they triumphed over their reprehensible selves, they rose to new highs. But when they fell, they fell to new lows.

For centuries, the people of Israel oscillated between good and evil. When they were good, no one was better, and they succeeded as individuals and as a nation. When they were bad, no one was worse, and they failed as individuals and as a nation. Their worst failures culminated in exile.

Approximately two millennia ago, the evil Mr. Hyde within us won a major triumph, and the people of Israel destroyed each other and weakened themselves to a point where the Romans could overtake the city that was decimated from within. Since then, we have not been able to restore our solidarity and mutual responsibility, our love of others, and our concern for humankind.

Moreover, when the kind Israel within us awakens, it often agitates our evil selves and we vehemently resist it. This is when Jews turn against their own people and become antisemitic.

There is only one remedy to the condition of Jewish self-hatred. It is the same remedy that our ancestors used when they established our nationhood: to go all out against our own ego and unite despite our mutual dislike.

We can develop love only if we first feel hatred and become motivated to emerge from it. If we feel no hatred, no burning anger, what will motivate us to feel love? And without motivation, nothing within us will change. Therefore, we must relate to our hatred not as a reason to reject each other, but as a calling to connect, to strengthen our bond.

Perhaps now that many of us feel hatred for their own people, we can begin to nurture the love that our ancestors felt above their hatred. Perhaps now, we, too, are ready to become a light to the nations, a flare of unity in a world darkened by hatred. Perhaps, and perhaps not yet. But sooner or later, the world will demand that we deliver on our oath to be a virtuous people, and the only virtue that we need is our insistence on unity above any division.

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My new article on Linkedin “Connection Begins with Respect”

Gil Tamary is a well-known Israeli journalist. A few weeks ago, he sneaked into Mecca, Islam’s holiest city, defying an entry ban on non-Muslims. The stunt made the Saudis so angry that they tracked down and arrested the man who helped Tamary into the city, and said that they will prosecute him.

In Israel, too, the story “prompted outrage,” which grew even more “after it was revealed that his companion had been arrested.” I can sympathize with the anger. Disobeying another country’s codes of conduct is audacity and disrespect toward it and toward its people’s faith. It is tantamount to patronizing them, and I wholly disagree with it.

Where is the benefit in going against the will of the Arab world? It makes no difference whether an Israeli journalist breaks their law or the Pope; the Arab world does not want people of other faiths to set foot in Mecca. Why should we not respect that?

Synagogues, Jewish houses of worship, are very different. Anyone can walk in there. A Muslim can even pray there in his own language and in his own faith, and it will not be regarded as idol-worship. But if Islam considers such a thing a sin, we have no right to undermine it. Connection with others begins with respect for others.

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Medium published my new article “Poison Rain, the New Reality”

A wave of studies released this month declare that we have polluted the air to the point where even rain has become poisonous. Moreover, these studies “argue [that] the presence of forever chemicals in our hydrosphere [is] at values that exceed key guidelines [which] means we have entered an unsafe operating space from which there is practically no return.” “Based on the latest U.S. guidelines for [perfluorooctanoic acid] in drinking water,” concludes another study, “rainwater everywhere would be judged unsafe to drink.”

The oddity about it is that there is no justification for this. It is simply happening and humanity is doing nothing to stop it. But since the cause of these poisons is human activity, the disaster is our own doing.

We have come to this not because of the wrongdoing of one person in particular; it is a collective offense and we are all culprits, all of humanity. Our crime is unrestrained selfishness, and all of humanity commits it. Our reckless egoism throws all of nature off balance, and everything goes awry.

Toxic rain is only one of countless misfortunes that we are inflicting on ourselves. Climate change, which alternates between relentless heat waves and subsequent floods, is also our doing. Monkeypox, Covid, the war in Ukraine, and skyrocketing food and gas prices are all our doing, expressions of our out-of-control narcissism.

We cannot solve each crisis separately. That would be like covering one sewer pit only to see the fetid water gushing out the next one even more forcefully. The solution lies in balancing the entire system of connections between us on all levels, from the personal to the international.

We are irrevocably connected, but we have come to this through our desire to exploit one another. As a result, the closer and more connected we become, the more miserable it makes us. Instead of benefiting from globalization, it only makes us realize how competitive, exploitative, and abusive we are. Ironically, our external connections increase our internal separation.

However, since we are already connected, and cannot disconnect, we have no choice but to correct our connections. Correct connections begin with the mind, not with the body.

First, we must understand that because we are all dependent on each other, all around the world, positive connections between us are mandatory. Once we accept that the basis of our relationships must be a positive one, based on good connections, we can begin to build physical ties and relationships, contingent upon maintaining a positive attitude toward each other.

Only a bedrock of good connections between us will enable us to build a global society that is balanced, peaceful, and healthy to live in, both emotionally and physically. Only when we clean our hearts from the pollution of the “Me! Me! Me!” attitude that makes us feel entitled and superior, we will be able to clean the air of toxins and make raindrops what they should be: pure and fresh drinking water that gives life to all.
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Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “Climate Gone Mad”

A few days ago, the papers warned that Europe is facing the worst drought in 500 years. They described the dry and hot weather and the fires that broke out all over the continent and spoke of an apocalypse. Today, they are reporting flooding in London and violent storms in France causing catastrophic flooding, where in some places, more than an inch of rain fell in less than 30 minutes, and in Paris, a storm with 65 mph wind gusts and nearly 2 inches of rain that fell in just 90 minutes flooded the Metro. Clearly, the climate has gone mad.

However, the climate did not go awry by itself, but because of our madness. Nature’s erratic behavior merely reflects our own agitation toward everything. Our growing narcissism drives us to treat everyone and everything with utter indifference to the needs of others. In fact, we even enjoy hurting others. We think that if we can use others and not see the consequences for our actions right away then there are no consequences, but there are very serious consequences for our wrongdoing toward others.

In the closed system that is the world we live in, everything we do affects everything else, and that effect returns to us like a boomerang. When we pour so much negativity into the system, it becomes dysfunctional, and this summer, we are experiencing this dysfunction through the smoldering heat waves and torrential rains. If we continue to flood the system with hatred and intolerance, we will not need nuclear weapons to wipe us out; plagues, natural disasters, fires, and floods will extinguish us long before we extinguish each other.

When the summer is gone, winter will come with its own perils, and lack of gas and power will wreak havoc in Europe. Eventually, we will have to accept that we cannot defeat nature; we cannot outsmart it. We will have to learn to be an integral part of nature, connected to each other and to nature. We will not survive otherwise.

Since the only element in nature that has bad intentions and an exploitative attitude toward others is us, we must begin to change our relationships. Our attitude toward the rest of nature stems from our attitude toward each other. Therefore, if we are considerate toward each other, we will be considerate toward nature. It turns out that the correction of our tormented planet begins with the correction of our broken ties with one another.

To mend them, we must put our heads together and discuss solutions on a global level. These solutions must be inclusive and take into account everyone’s needs. At the same time, everyone must accept that they cannot receive more than is necessary, since they, too, must be considerate toward others.

To get such a global initiative off the ground, there needs to be an open discussion about it all over the global media. People must know that we really are running out of time, and unless we ‎ change now, it will be too late afterwards.‎

I do not know how to keep this move clean from politics and politicians, but it has to be a ‎genuine effort to save humanity and the planet, not a ploy to take control of it. Perhaps a panel of scientists will be able to make this happen, but they, too, must work without ulterior motives.‎

I realize that this idea may sound naive, but I also realize that if we do not take global action to sincerely improve our connections, the approaching annihilation is certain and near.‎

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Medium published my new article “Climate Gone Mad”

A firefighter walks past the flames of a forest fire near Belin-Beliet. French officials have warned that the forest fire could spread further in the southwest of the country. Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH / Reuters

A few days ago, the papers warned that Europe is facing the worst drought in 500 years. They described the dry and hot weather and the fires that broke out all over the continent and spoke of an apocalypse. Today, they are reporting flooding in London and violent storms in France causing catastrophic flooding, where in some places, more than an inch of rain fell in less than 30 minutes, and in Paris, a storm with 65 mph wind gusts and nearly 2 inches of rain that fell in just 90 minutes flooded the Metro. Clearly, the climate has gone mad.

In the closed system that is the world we live in, everything we do affects everything else, and that effect returns to us like a boomerang. When we pour so much negativity into the system, it becomes dysfunctional, and this summer, we are experiencing this dysfunction through the smoldering heat waves and torrential rains. If we continue to flood the system with hatred and intolerance, we will not need nuclear weapons to wipe us out; plagues, natural disasters, fires, and floods will extinguish us long before we extinguish each other.

However, the climate did not go awry by itself, but because of our madness. Nature’s erratic behavior merely reflects our own agitation toward everything. Our growing narcissism drives us to treat everyone and everything with utter indifference to the needs of others. In fact, we even enjoy hurting others. We think that if we can use others and not see the consequences for our actions right away then there are no consequences, but there are very serious consequences for our wrongdoing toward others.

In the closed system that is the world we live in, everything we do affects everything else, and that effect returns to us like a boomerang. When we pour so much negativity into the system, it becomes dysfunctional, and this summer, we are experiencing this dysfunction through the smoldering heat waves and torrential rains. If we continue to flood the system with hatred and intolerance, we will not need nuclear weapons to wipe us out; plagues, natural disasters, fires, and floods will extinguish us long before we extinguish each other.

When the summer is gone, winter will come with its own perils, and lack of gas and power will wreak havoc in Europe. Eventually, we will have to accept that we cannot defeat nature; we cannot outsmart it. We will have to learn to be an integral part of nature, connected to each other and to nature. We will not survive otherwise.

Since the only element in nature that has bad intentions and an exploitative attitude toward others is us, we must begin to change our relationships. Our attitude toward the rest of nature stems from our attitude toward each other. Therefore, if we are considerate toward each other, we will be considerate toward nature. It turns out that the correction of our tormented planet begins with the correction of our broken ties with one another.

To mend them, we must put our heads together and discuss solutions on a global level. These solutions must be inclusive and take into account everyone’s needs. At the same time, everyone must accept that they cannot receive more than is necessary, since they, too, must be considerate toward others.

To get such a global initiative off the ground, there needs to be an open discussion about it all over the global media. People must know that we really are running out of time, and unless we ‎ change now, it will be too late afterwards.‎

I do not know how to keep this move clean from politics and politicians, but it has to be a ‎genuine effort to save humanity and the planet, not a ploy to take control of it. Perhaps a panel of scientists will be able to make this happen, but they, too, must work without ulterior motives.‎

I realize that this idea may sound naive, but I also realize that if we do not take global action to sincerely improve our connections, the approaching annihilation is certain and near.‎
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Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “Devoid of Jewish Identity”

The national Jewish identity and the fear of losing it has become a question that troubles many people in Israel. On the one hand, there is no fear that we will lose our identity even if we want to since the hatred of the world toward us reminds us that we are Jewish. Our Palestinian neighbors also assist in that through their pressure. Were it not for their hatred, we would be long gone.

The Jewish national identity is derived from realizing a certain demand from the Jews as a group, as the Israeli nation. We have a common language, we have our politics and politicians, and even a distinct Israeli mentality. Yet, as long as we do not know why we are here, we are not really a nation.

If our spiritual calling is to be “a light to the nations,” but we are not sure what it means, the world will remain lost in the dark, not knowing why it exists. The more humanity advances, the more the questions about the purpose of life become poignant and painful. In consequence, the nations are growing angrier and crueler toward us, Jews.

Now we have come to a state where everything material is in abundance. The only thing we do not know is the purpose of it all. That aimlessness leads the nations to remember the calling of the Jews, so when we do not provide the answer they want, they hate us.

Since we are unaware of our calling, we do not understand why the world hates us. We think that leading the world in advanced technologies, contributing to the world in culture, medicine, agriculture, science, and entertainment should win us the world’s gratitude. However, it does not win us gratitude, much less favor. We do not understand why, but if we realized what it is that we must give the world, we would see what we are not giving it, and we would understand why the world hates us.

We may think that we do not have what the world wants, but we do. The world wants to know how people can live together in peace, since hatred is the only plague that ruins everything we do. The Jews have had the method for achieving unity since we formed our nation by rising above the vehement hatred that our ancestors felt toward each other and uniting “as one man with one heart.” Immediately after we became a nation, we were tasked with passing our method to the rest of humanity. The Bible defined it as an obligation to be a light to the nations, namely to pass on the light of unity.

Over the centuries, we had achieved high levels of unity. We lived out the motto “Love your neighbor as yourself,” and for a time, we really shone the light of unity to humanity. However, our unity was short-lived and with its decline, the world has plunged into eons of war, bloodshed, and hatred.

Now it is time to return to our Jewish identity—to shine the light of unity to the entire world by uniting among ourselves and setting an example to the world. The growing hatred toward us, which seems so unjust, is the world’s demand that we unite and show humanity the way. When we achieve unity among ourselves, the world will unite with us, and we will not need to search for our identity or justify our existence as a nation.
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