Medium published my new article “Chip Crisis Chipping Away at Our Delusions of Independence”

The production area of SK Siltron CSS, a silicon wafer plant being expanded by South Korean semiconductor manufacturer is seen in Auburn, Michigan

Despite trying to resume normalcy after two years of intermittent lockdowns and vaccine and mask mandates, reality seems to have different ideas for humanity. The latest is a shortage in those silicon chips called “semiconductors,” which operate not only computers, but most everything that modern civilization uses. The semiconductor crisis, aka the “chip crisis,” has become a threat to the global economy and a menace to the stability of society. Since we did not want to learn over the past two years, now a new threat will show us that unless we strive to connect with one another positively, we will seriously hamper, if not altogether lose our comfortable way of life.

At his car dealership in Stoke-on-Trent, England, Umesh Samani, who is also the chairman of the Independent Motor Dealers Association, laments the computer chip shortage. He tells the BBC that all his customer wants is a white, standard model, manual transmission VW Golf, but Samani cannot say when it will arrive.‎ It could be many months, or he fears even a year until delivery. According to Mr. Samani, manufacturers often tell him the computer chip shortage is to blame.

The chip crisis is hurting everyone. According to Reuters, “The White House held a classified briefing … with some U.S. lawmakers on the dire risks to the American economy from semiconductor supply chain issues as it pushes Congress for $52 billion in funding to subsidize production. White House National Economic Council Director Brian Deese told reporters ‘The best estimates are the lack of available semiconductors probably took a full percentage point off of GDP in 2021.’”

Worse yet, the trajectory is negative. “Russia’s war in Ukraine could see the production of neon, a critical gas in advanced ‎semiconductor manufacturing, fall to worryingly low levels at a time when the world is ‎already grappling with a chip shortage,” reports CNBC. At the same time, there are those for whom the crisis is a serendipity. McKinsey & Company, for example, one of the largest consulting firms in the world, explains on its site how “semiconductor companies can take different paths to capture new opportunities as demand ‎continues to outstrip supply.”

McKinsey’s approach is the traditional capitalistic approach. Yet, what had worked for decades is not working anymore. The lesson we should learn from the multiple concurrent crises is that we must wake up fast from our delusions of independence, as we are totally interconnected and interdependent.

It is not new. We have been connected and dependent on each other for many decades now. The difference is that until recently, we could pretend as though we weren’t and get away with it. We fought against each other on every possible level: physical, economical, political, and social. At the same time, we traded with each other as if there were no struggles and no rivalries.

Today, however, the dog-eat-dog attitude has chipped away at our ability to maintain systems running. Just as denying vaccines from those who could not afford them caused mutations to spread around the world, denying semiconductor chips from other countries, either by a sales ban or by destroying plants or the supply chain of vital minerals, will backfire on anyone who employs such tactics.

Chips are essential for anything from microwaves to supercomputers. Without them, we will not be able to grow or cook food, manufacture new cars, use elevators to get to our apartments, build life-saving medical devices, computers, and planes and rockets. In short, chips are simply too critical to be able to allow any one country to deny them of others.

When we become too selfish, we throw the system off balance. Instead of wishing to support one another and benefit from each other’s success, we strive to dominate and oppress one another. When we become like that, every means is fair game.

The problem is that in a war, everyone loses and the result is a global crisis where everyone suffers. If we do not understand this message through one crisis, another, more crippling one comes along and conveys the same point. If we do not understand it through the second crisis, a third, more forceful one manifests.

This is learning nature’s way, the way of pain and suffering. We can learn of our interdependence and its resulting obligation to cooperate and form a balanced society by teaching ourselves. If we accept the inexorable fact of our mutual dependence, we will learn to work with it in a way that truly benefits everyone, and not only the most powerful, while the rest of humanity groans in pain and seeks to overthrow them in a revolution that will only increase the suffering of humanity.
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Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “Passover and the Israeli Society”

It’s Passover. Besides being the holiday of freedom from enslavement, there is a custom to wear something new on Passover. It is one of those times in the year when we try to bring something new into our lives. Indeed, there is a lot we would like to renew in the Israeli society. Division is deepening, hatred between the factions of society is intensifying, corruption and violence abound everywhere, divorce rates are soaring and families that still survive are struggling, and the relationship with our Arab neighbors is (literally) explosive. And while everyone wants to become prime minister and promises to solve everything, the reality proves that no one has any idea. So what novelty can we offer ourselves that will really make things better?

The “novelty” we need is actually to return to our roots, the roots of our people, the basis on which our nation was established. Any nation can live however it chooses. We, too, chose a long time ago, and as long as we stick by our choice, we are happy. When we veer off from it, this is when trouble begins.

Our choice began when Abraham, the father of our nation, wanted to understand what was going on around him. He was an inquisitive man, and in Babylon, where Abraham had lived, people’s egos were flying through the roof. People stopped understanding one another and became violent and belligerent, as the book Pirkei de Rabbi Eliezer writes, “half the world died there by the sword.”

Abraham realized that existence is possible only through complementarity and connection among people, that otherwise people will destroy one another. He understood that nature had created us different not so we would fight against each other to the death, but so we would complement one another and benefit from our connection.

Abraham explained what he had found to everyone around him. People who sympathized with his ideas joined him and formed a community that Maimonides referred to as “the people of the house of Abraham” (Mishneh Torah, Chapter 1). That was the origin of the Jewish nation. As time went on, our leaders and sages polished the teaching but remained true to the principle of differences that complement one another and thereby create a stronger bond than was possible had it not been formed by rising above disputes. King Solomon articulated this principle in the verse, “Hate stirs up strife, and love will cover all crimes” (Prov. 10:12).

The principle of unity above division and dispute is unique. Until then, and since then, humanity’s default behavior was that when there is a dispute, a fight erupts and the winner imposes its way and will on the loser.

Because Israel were the only ones who had conceived a different conduct, and for some of the time even carried it out, they were commanded to spread the information about their way to the rest of the world. They committed to the law of unity at the foot of Mt. Sinai, where and when they committed to unite “as one man with one heart,” and they were promptly commanded to be “a light unto nations,” namely to set an example of unity and love of others.

This is our ancient root, the choice that had made us into a nation. Until we return to it, we will not know peace and happiness in our country.

Since those ancient days, we have deviated very far from our core principle. To return to it, we must facilitate an educational process that will put us back on track toward unity above division. We should not suppress our differences or hide them, but determine that above our different political, social, cultural, and all other differences, we place a canopy of unity, that unity is the supreme value, and everything else is secondary to it.

Just as the children of Israel were redeemed from Egypt when they united under Moses, just as they achieved their nationhood when they united as one, we must realign ourselves with our ancestors and become an example of unity for all the nations.

Passover symbolizes passing over from enslavement to freedom. It is time we freed ourselves from hate and liberated it by wearing something new for Passover: love of others, the motto of our nation.
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Medium published my new article “Is Freedom of Expression for Sale?”

Space seems to be too small for Elon Musk, the richest man in the world. After making private space travel a reality his next goal is to conquer the information planet. The business magnate has offered to buy Twitter for $43 billion because he believes in its potential as a global platform for “freedom of expression.” Will it truly make the world freer, more open?

The battle for Twitter’s management has probably just begun. Musk’s proposal and statement have rattled the nerves of the members of the company’s board of directors, who are already taking steps to prevent the billionaire from taking over the popular network.

If at one time social media, and the media outlets in general, tried to keep up appearances as platforms for pluralism and freedom of expression, it is now clear that free speech is for sale, and that whoever controls the shares, controls the information.

People read a newspaper, scroll through the networks, listen to all kinds of narratives, and then believe that they select their world view. This is ludicrous, because free speech and free press do not exist in reality and never have. The narrative has always been determined by the one who pays, who orders the “news,” sets the agenda, and wants to influence public opinion. That’s how it has been and that’s how it will be.

In fact, it is to the credit of Musk and other rich people fighting for control today that we understand there is no freedom of speech. We understand with greater clarity who is pulling the strings and making the decisions behind the scenes. Whereas in the past, the control centers used to be anonymous, now everything is transparent, and we clearly know which newspaper and which network belongs to whom.

The next step to be expected is that all the wealthy will join together and have full control in one hand. Even if tomorrow President Biden dominates the media, or former President Trump, who is currently banned from Twitter, were to return to accelerated activity on social media, or a thousand other leaders were to take their place, it would change nothing. There are vested interests above them with capital flowing out of their hands, and they are the controlling shareholders. Therefore, there is no realistic hope for freedom of expression.

Even if there were hope for free speech, what free truth could the media tell us? That there are wars here and there? And what could anyone do about it? Could they give advice on how to get out of the trouble? Could they tell the world about its good future?

In the meantime, no leader, newspaper, or network can possibly succeed in bringing the world closer to peace and reconciliation. On the contrary, everyone is only looking for their own personal interests. Therefore, we cannot yet bring ourselves to admit the simple truth: that a good future can only be found when there are cordial bonds between people. The wars that intensify now with the rising of egoism or self-interest have no future to offer; in fact, all they can promise is our destruction.

To step out of the cycle of wars and endless fighting, Twitter and other similar media need to disseminate the viability of peace and mutual reconciliation between all. They could play an important role in positively shaping public opinion and the perception of reality of society through examples from the past and present about the benefits of upgrading human relations. So far, this goal looks as distant as space.
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Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “Peace with Israel’s Enemies Begins and Ends Within”

Every so often, news of the rabid antisemitism that fills the pages of K-12 Palestinian textbooks remind us that nothing has grown milder on the other side. On the contrary, the Palestinians are openly teaching their children that killing Jews and Israelis is their sacred duty. Even the EU, not exactly the most pro-Israel body in the world, “passed a motion condemning the Palestinian Authority for drafting and teaching new violent and hatful materials using EU funding.” The motion “Deplores that problematic and hateful material in Palestinian school textbooks has still not been removed and is concerned about the continued failure to act effectively against hate speech and violence in school textbooks and especially in the newly created study cards.”

Recently, matters have deteriorated to the point where Gazan 4th graders are taught arithmetic by counting shahids—Muslims who died killing or attempting to kill infidels, namely Jews. To 10th graders, Gazan schools teach that Jihad (holy war) is every Muslim’s personal duty. I have no hope for any moderation on the part of the Palestinians.

However, I have complete confidence in our ability to change the situation regardless of the Palestinians’ intentions. Israel should work on two levels. On the material level, we should withhold funds from them and limit food supply. The “arithmetic” should be simple: If you teach your children to murder us, we will treat you like the enemy that you are.

However, this alone will not work, perhaps only in the very short term. What will work is what we do among ourselves.

The way that Palestinians relate to us reflects our relation to each other. It has always been this way, and it will always be this way. Israel prospers only when it is united. When it is divided, foes attack it and destroy the country. If we were united, the Palestinians would not even contemplate including anti-Israel materials into their textbooks since they would not harbor anti-Israel sentiments.

Therefore, on the spiritual level, we must unite our ranks. The dozens of political parties that fight against each other in the current Israeli political system reflect our internal division. We cannot have twenty parties fighting one another for the throne and groveling before our enemies in order to get their support. It only emboldens them and adds contempt to their loathing.

If we want Palestinians to stop antisemitic incitement in their schools, we must teach our own children and ourselves only to love one another. No excuses will help us.

We may not see the connection between how we relate to one another and how they relate to us, but the two are nevertheless directly connected. When we stop reasoning in order to excuse ourselves from caring about each other, and try to come closer above our differences, we will see a revolutionary change in the entire world toward us.

Loving others, especially if they are different from us, is the basic tenet of our nation, the bedrock of our peoplehood. Until we exercise it, we will not know peace.

You will find more on this topic in my books Like a Bundle of Reeds: Why unity and mutual guarantee are today’s call of the hour, and The Jewish Choice: Unity or Anti-Semitism, Historical facts on anti-Semitism as a reflection of Jewish social discord.
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Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “Europe’s ‘Strategic Compass’”

Some three weeks ago, Europe announced the launch of the Strategic Compass initiative, “an ambitious plan of action for strengthening the EU’s security and defence [sic] policy.” The initiative does not intend to be a part of NATO, but to run alongside it and relate to NATO as a “strategic partner.”

Despite the fact that NATO is an alliance established primarily in order to protect Europe, and even though the majority of the countries in both entities, including the primary initiator of the “Compass,” France, participate in both, the new organization will compete against NATO for the same resources. It’s Military Mobility plan, for example, is “an EU initiative to improve the mobility of military personnel, materiel and assets within and beyond the EU.” Similarly, the “Compass” will build an EU Rapid Deployment Capacity task force to enable the EU “to react to conflicts quickly, robustly and effectively. To that end, the EU will develop a Rapid Deployment Capacity (EU RDC) consisting of up to 5000 troops.”

As I see it, Europe’s anti-American spirit will blow up in its face. The initiative demonstrates how disunited the European Union really is. The only solution to this situation is that soon, both France and Germany (to a lesser extent), will suffer powerful blows that will shake the anti-American spirit out of them.

The relentless ambition to be unique, superior, and all powerful, especially in the leading countries in the EU, makes Europe the opposite of united, and in that sense, this initiative is exemplary. The rest of the European countries will have to balance them, but it will not be easy.

Europe had been the dominant continent for centuries, but two world wars have upended the world order. Today, Europe has two leaders, Germany and France, in that order, which are completely opposite to one another in every sense of the word. Additionally, there are the United States, Russia, and a number of Asian countries such as China, India, and several others, which are also growing increasingly powerful and dominant. The EU countries pale in comparison to them.

Because of it, Europe has no future. They might join hands in order to protect themselves against outside aggressors, but the connection among the EU countries has always been loose and competitive. This is why they cannot get along and why they will not succeed.

If there is a future for Europe, it is to show the entire world that humanity has no choice but to live together in peace and rise above the ego. The sustainable concept for humanity is to begin to genuinely help one another. Instead of looking for the next opportunity to beat each other on the head, we must learn to look for ways to tighten the bonds between us.

Granted, this is a learning process, but it has to start somewhere. If Europe sows the seeds now, they will see them bear fruit. If they stall, matters will deteriorate until they are forced to go down this path of peace against their will. As long as Germany stands on one side and France on the other, and in between no one does anything, nothing good will happen.‎
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Medium published my new article “Are We Blind to Our Own Nature?”

Every so often, I am amazed at the willingness of people to blindly follow leaders in the name of some ideology or religion, and believe that it will solve all the world’s problems. I am amazed not because people can become fanatics, but because they somehow still don’t understand that “The inclination of a man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Gen. 8:21). Somehow, despite eons of bad experiences deriving exclusively from our evil nature, we fail to see that there is simply nothing good in us, that “great is the wickedness of man in the earth, and all the inclination of the thoughts of his heart are only evil all day long” (Gen. 6:5).

Even when we give, we do it because of some ulterior self-serving motive. Baal HaSulam, the greatest kabbalist and thinker of the previous century, and one of the greatest of all time, articulated the nastiness of our nature in the early 1930 in his essay “Peace in the World”: “In simple words,” he wrote, “we will say that the nature of each and every person is to exploit the lives of all ‎other people in the world for his own benefit, and all that he gives to another is only out of ‎necessity.” “Even then,” he stressed, “there is exploitation of others in it, but it is done cunningly, so his neighbor ‎will not notice it and concede willingly.”

I do not expect leaders to acknowledge that this is who we are. Leaders are fixated on gaining power and control, so they will support any agenda that increases their popularity. But what about us, the people who follow them? Have we not learned yet that every ideology and every religion, even if it begins with the best intentions, ends up being self-serving, patronizing, and therefore wrong?

It is vital that we recognize the truth about human nature because only if we acknowledge it will we genuinely seek to change it. Until then, we will continue to cling to false ideas and dogmas, and we will continue to patronize, admonish, and torture one another through our ignorance. Perhaps this is why Rudyard Kipling wrote, “There is no sin so great as ignorance. Remember this.” Indeed, we seem to be oblivious to it.

If we resolve to change our nature, we will discover that there is indeed an alternative. The reason we perceive every being in our world as selfish and uncaring toward others is that we ourselves are like that. However, this is not at all the truth. If it were, this world would not persist; it would disintegrate before any complex being could come into being.

The truth is that the law that governs our world is not the “winner take all,” but the “law of balance,” of homeostasis. Every scientist and physician knows that were it not for homeostasis, or dynamic equilibrium, nothing would evolve. Yet, unless we recognize that our current perception is flawed, we will not be able to open our eyes and see the truth.

Once we realize that we are the only selfish beings on the planet, we will begin to change. Gradually, we will become aware of our mutual dependence and learn to act accordingly. What comes naturally to animals, we will gain through our efforts. Yet, our reward will be a deeper understanding and perception of the world than any being can have.

Only once we achieve this new perception will we realize that we were created selfish precisely so as to perceive how the world really operates. Had we been made this way from the beginning, we would have followed our instincts and would not have known that there is more than one option for existence. Our ego is our foe, but it is also our impetus for positive transformation. The sooner we use it for that purpose, the sooner we will gain that new perception and discover the truth about our world — that everything is balanced, harmonious, and filled with love.
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Medium published my new article “The Heavy Price of Feeding Ourselves”

Putting food on the table has become a luxury these days. U.S. inflation soars to 8.5%, the highest annual level in 40 years and grocery prices are particularly hit, up to at least 10 percent higher from last year. For many people, not only in America but around the world, the cost of food is out of reach. Are we on the verge of the next global crisis?

“Sharply higher prices for staples and supply shortages are increasing pressure on households worldwide and pushing millions more into poverty.” declared the Heads of the World Bank Group, International Monetary Fund, United Nations World Food Program, and World Trade Organization in a joint statement just released.

The World Bank estimates that for each one percentage point increase in food prices, “10 million people are thrown into extreme poverty worldwide.” The Covid-19 pandemic caused disruptions in the world’s food supplies; climate crisis has damaged agricultural crops and threatened the food security of millions of people. Now the war in Ukraine is affecting grain and fertilizers production and exports to the world. Global food prices have reached “a new all-time high,” and the situation is getting worse every day. Starving masses could fuel social tensions, particularly in vulnerable countries.

But besides the aforementioned factors, people’s mindsets and habits trigger food insecurity. As the world evolves, the population has grown as a result of medical developments that allow increasing fertility and life expectancy. In addition to it, we are not only more numerous and live longer but we also consume much more today than in the past. Just a few hundred years ago we stayed home passively and a slice of bread a day was enough, today we live a hectic life and instead of a slice we need a pound of bread a day.

Compared to nature, we can see that animals behave differently from us in terms of breeding and consuming calories. When animals are not hunting or gathering food, they usually lie down peacefully and save energy. When there is a lack of food in the area, they give birth to fewer offspring. In the past, in times of food shortages, women naturally would also conceive less.

But as human beings we are no longer as attached to nature as animals, nor do we care to think deeply about our future as human beings and how properly use and balance our resources. We may easily degenerate into a world of famine and consequently, more conflicts will emerge.

We will be able to prevent hunger and other problems that can cause great suffering and death through a joint international debate. In such a discussion, representatives of countries would consider together what to do with the onerous facts and how to use human capabilities to solve them.

The problem is that the international organizations that are supposed to deal with it, like the UN, are impractical because they represent the bureaucratic forces of the states and governments, nor are they enthusiastic about dealing with solutions about the future of the world. It turns out that we have no one to trust and no one to wait for to formulate plans for a good life for us.

The scale and gravity of today’s global challenges which have outgrown the present systems’ ability to handle them require fresh new thinking. In my view, until we deal with the heart of the problem, which is the egoism in human nature, we will find no remedy to our woes. We all need to finally realize that humanity is a single superorganism in which any disruption affects the whole system and any solution should be integral. In other words, a better future starts with a shift of awareness of what needs to be fixed: we.
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My new article on Linkedin “Exile and Redemption – the Israel Way”

On Friday the 15th, Jews all over the world celebrated Passover—the redemption of Israel from the enslavement in Egypt, thirty-three centuries ago. The exodus from Egypt is mentioned not only on the relevant date in the Hebrew calendar. Almost every significant date on the Hebrew calendar contains the words “to remember the exodus from Egypt.” In fact, not only Judaism, but Christians, too, attribute great importance to the deliverance of the Israelites from enslavement. Throughout history, there have been countless cases of enslavement and liberation. Why then is this one so important that we make it a point to remember it? The exodus symbolizes much more than deliverance of one nation from another. It describes the inner process by which one redeems one’s soul from the enslavement of the ego. And since we are all born slaves to our egos, the exodus from Egypt pertains to each and every person on the planet.

When the Israelites were in the Sinai desert, they complained to Moses, “We remember the fish that we ate for free in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the greens [vegetables] and the onions and the garlic” (Num. 11:5). On another occasion, they lamented, “Would that we had died by the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full” (Ex. 16:3). We see that it was not physical hardships that afflicted the children of Israel in Egypt, but something else tormented them to the point where they could not tolerate remaining there even for another night. That something is the reason that the story of the exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt is still so well remembered.

To understand what that something is, we must remember that the people of Israel are unlike any other nation. Their roots cannot be traced to any one nation or country, clan, or tribe. We attribute the beginning of the nation to Abraham, but he was only the first. On the day he died, the Hebrews were still not a nation. They received their official status, if you will, only at the foot of Mt. Sinai, after they vowed to unite “as one man with one heart.”

Until then, people of countless tribes and nations joined the Hebrews at their own will. The only condition for joining the ancient Hebrews was to agree to the principle of unity above all differences. In other words, the emerging nation consisted of people from many different origins, who joined the group that Abraham had established because they subscribed to the idea by which he established it: unity, care for others, this is all that matters. This is why the fundamental law of Judaism is “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Despite their efforts to unite, the ego of the ancient Hebrews failed them time and time again. Each time they rose above it and united, it intensified and separated them once more. This is why the history of the people of Israel is rife with conflicts and wars.

The story of the exodus from Egypt is a symbolic tale that speaks about one’s efforts to overcome one’s ego. Moses, for example, is the quality within us that constantly pulls toward unity. The Hebrew name Moshe [Moses] is similar to the Hebrew word “moshech” [pulling], namely pulling away from the ego and toward unity and love of others.

The people of Israel are qualities within us that can relate to Moses and follow him, but hesitate to do so. They are tempted by the ego to remain in Egypt, where the ego is king. This is why they constantly question Moses’ leadership and wonder if it would not be better had they stayed in Egypt.

Egypt symbolizes our ego, our hatred of others. Pharaoh is the epitome of the ego. He is not only hatred of others, but a desire to rule over everyone and everything, to oppress all of reality under one’s own governance. This is why Pharaoh says, “Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice?” (Ex. 5:2). In other words, Pharaoh bows to no one; it is the core of egoism.

Moses’ struggle to release the people of Israel from the ego was successful. For an individual, it is the redemption of the soul from the shackles of the ego, the king that rules us from birth, as it is written, “The inclination of a man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Gen. 8:21).

As we can see, the story of Israel’s exodus from Egypt is very pertinent. Today’s world, which is mired in egoism, needs redemption from the ego no less than the people of Israel needed it then. We have built a beautiful world, abundant in every possible way. Yet, the enslavement to our narcissistic selves separates us from each other and causes us to destroy every piece of beauty on our planet.

Just as the enslavement of the people of Israel in Egypt was really an enslavement to their egos, so we are trapped by our own egos and seek to dominate and oppress others (if we are Pharaoh), or simply hate other people (if we are simple Egyptians). Either way, it is destructive to ourselves, to our society, and to the world we live in.

May this Passover be the beginning of our redemption from our egos and the beginning of our unity and love of others.
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Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “Moses’ Leadership to Take Humanity Out of Egypt”

Against the background of a worldwide vacuum in leadership today, the figure of Moses who brought Israel out of Egypt seems more relevant than ever. What made the great prophet, the hero of the Passover holiday, so prominent in the pages of history? What special leadership ability did he have?

In terms of leadership ability, there was nothing overtly special about Moses. He was anything but eloquent, he wasn’t a born leader and often failed to understand the Creator whose message he was carrying. With his apparent lack of success, anyone else would have given up long before, but not Moses. He had the quality that we would love to see in today’s leaders: true, unselfish love for his people.

Throughout history, there have been many people who have known how to handle things well and manage others according to their selfish aspirations, but they have not necessarily been considered great leaders. Sophistication, cunning, and other slick qualities, all of these are not required in a true leader.

A leader is really first and foremost an educator. Moses certainly did that, he educated his people toward loving one another and helped them connect above their egoism, their innate desires for self-benefit. The Hebrews united around Mount Sinai, which not coincidentally takes its name from the Hebrew word “sinah” (hate). They did not destroy the mountain of hatred between them, but sent the most pristine element in their midst, Moses, to climb the mountain, conquer it, and bring down a law (Torah) by which they would be able to establish love among them.

But the Torah is not a Hollywood script. It speaks of the spiritual development within a person and the constant struggle between the forces of egoism and the forces of brotherhood and unity within us. This is explained in The Book of Zohar with the line, “Man is a small world.” So when it is written in the Torah (Exodus 6:2) about Moses that the spirit of the Lord spoke in Pharaoh’s daughter to call him Moshe (Moses) from the word “moshech” (pulling), it is because he is the one who pulls Israel from exile, pulls them out of Egypt, meaning out of the egoism that was destroying the relations between them.

Today we feel the period of the darkness of Egypt starting once again, but it is general and global. We already clearly see that the entire world is tightly interconnected, most recently with the impact of the pandemic and with the repercussions of the war in Ukraine to the economies and food supplies worldwide.

We need to face the darkness and also understand what it is showing us. It is meant to bring all of humanity closer to redemption. We need to stop pretending this state of darkness has not descended on all of us. We cannot ignore it or merely hope it will go away. It is important to recognize it and understand that the darkness is the sign of a new bright state.

But we need some help to use this warning purposefully and achieve the desired results. We should be led by the attributes of Moses’ leadership as expressed in the form of a pan-social educational system. We need a system that will allow each of us to understand that the root of all of our problems, at home and abroad, is the ego that brings separation and that wars between us only make all of our lives bitter and bring only more troubles upon us everywhere in the world. We need the leadership that will teach us to transcend all disagreements and will teach us how, despite all the differences, to connect with each other.

Conversely, if we disrespect and harm one another, more blows like the ones of Egypt will certainly be revealed. This means that everything depends on us now. If we understand like a child who sees the look on his parents’ faces and interprets the warning, and improves his behavior in response, then there will be no need for more blows. Instead, we will build bridges of love over hatred.
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Medium published my new article “When We Leave Our Kids with Someone Else”

For several weeks now, police in the Israeli town of Qiryat Shemona have been investigating a case of child abuse, when five kindergarten teachers abused thirteen children in their care. The events, which were documented on webcams, consisted of physical and emotional abuse, where teachers grabbed one hand of the children and hoisted them into the air, threw them on beds, covered their heads with blankets, leaned on them, and prevented them from removing the cover from over their heads. The cameras were installed in the kindergarten after the government made it a law several years ago to document everything that happens in kindergartens, following another case of child abuse.

For their part, the horrified parents, who had to watch the recorded videos in order to confirm the identity of the children, do not understand how women, who are all trained and certified teachers, became such monsters toward their children. Where was their motherly instinct?

There are two things we should note here: 1. I have said before and I will reiterate here that no matter how many cameras we install in a kindergarten or a school, it will not prevent abuse. When I first said it several years ago, people did not believe me; the idea of placing cameras in every kindergarten sounded great to them. They thought the cameras would restrain abusive teachers. Even then, I knew it would not, since human nature is stronger than any admonition, and the presence of cameras will not deter abusive teachers.

2. In no culture and in no indigenous people is it acceptable to leave babies in the hands of caretakers while the mother goes away for hours on end on a daily basis. Infants are always to be kept at home, next to their mother, at least until they are two years old. This is the indigenous way, and the fact that we have abandoned it does not mean that we are more progressed, but that we are out of touch with nature. The first motherly instinct that is trounced is not that of the teachers, but that of the mothers who put their children in their care.

The idea that a mother should return to work a few weeks or a few months after she has a baby is fundamentally flawed. We are putting career and affluence in higher priority than children, so we should not be surprised that our children get hurt. Since the dawn of humanity, and in all of nature, mothers would not dream of handing their children over to someone else’s care. Only we, thanks to progress, have begun to think that we are smarter than nature. Now we are paying the price for our folly.

Moreover, since people are becoming increasingly narcissistic, experiencing what multiple sociologists have dubbed a “narcissism epidemic,” the risk of our children being abused is even greater now than before, and will keep growing over time. Nothing can stop the growing ego. Therefore, nothing will stop teachers from abusing defenseless children.

I have nothing against women working, but I think they should do it from home, at least during the first couple of years of every child’s life. Women need to be there for their children, and no surrogate, however professional and caring, can replace them. Readers might deride my views as backward or outdated; I prefer to call them what they are: natural.

We need to rethink the whole concept of family, parenthood, children, and child-rearing. We need to see how we can rearrange our lives so that we needn’t be in constant pursuit of career jobs and long hours.

I thought that by now, we would be accustomed to working from home, but I see that many people are returning to their offices. I cannot understand why. Who gains from it?

I think women need to do what they love to do; they need to work because they love their work, and not because their livelihood depends on it. Their work should give them satisfaction and fulfillment, and make them happier, not more stressed and anxious about their children.

Granted, there are mothers, and fathers, who abuse their children, too. This is part of the educational process that we all need to undergo. As a whole, however, the only way to prevent child abuse is by leaving children under their mothers’ care. We may have to readjust our thinking, but it will make everyone happier, including the mothers, and to me, this is all that matters.
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