Medium published my new article “Heal the Wounds”

An old wound between the Russians and Ukrainians is being aggravated. It is sore and bleeding but not fully reopened. Just as Eastern European countries are now experiencing conflict, this will be felt throughout the world, in all of humanity. Eventually, everyone will experience the revelation of this war firsthand: man’s control over man.

Just as Eastern European countries are now experiencing conflict, this will be felt throughout the world, in all of humanity. Eventually, everyone will experience the revelation of this war firsthand: man’s control over man.

Before this war broke out, this ill feeling was not visible or tangible. It was deep and even slightly dormant. I remember images from the past when Russian and Ukrainian soldiers met; there was a faint inner connection between them, as if they already knew each other. And they are indeed psychologically close; they have an extensive common background.

On the other hand, with the outbreak of this war, acute hatred between them has risen to the surface, a sort of hatred so strong that you can feel and sense. It is literally palpable.

Two peoples who are not very different from one another, but actually are very similar, are discovering pure, clean hatred between them that precedes all ideological views. It is a natural hatred that springs from the power of human nature, which does not dress itself up in the guise of race, gender, nationality, or religion. It is not wrapped in history, language, or cultural differences. It is simply the inner sensation that one hates the other.

This sensation is deeper than any other kind of hatred we know. It is a spiritual hatred, and its only aim is to reveal the extent of the gulf in the relations between the two peoples and to learn from the uncovered chasm how to bridge it with love.

The discovery of fractures and differences, crimes and wounds, points us to the place of repair and helps us to focus on the core of the problem. Mediation and correction are part of a long-term process that works according to the plan of creation of bringing all conflicts into harmony.

We now see before us the first stage of this process. It is a fierce revelation of the power of hatred, the negative force aimed at bringing us closer to understand that there is a system of forces in nature working in us and with us. But against this revealed hatred, love should be awakened. Stable love can be evoked only with the help of a common prayer.

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Medium published my new article “Losing Trust in Scientists”

According to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center, trust in scientists and medical scientists has dropped. The survey found that only 29% of U.S. adults have a great deal of confidence in both scientists and medical scientists to act in the best interests of the public, down from 40% who said this in November 2020. Not only scientific and medical professions are seeing a decline in the public’s trust. The share of Americans with a great deal of confidence in the military to act in the public’s best interests has fallen 14 points, from 39% in November 2020 to 25% in the current survey, and the percentage of Americans with a lot of confidence in K-12 public school principals and police officers have also decreased.

As I see it, there are several levels to this phenomenon. On the more superficial level, the public simply does not want to keep funding empty, pointless studies that have no benefit to anyone other than for those who carry them out. We have built institutions, research centers, and laboratories that do not bring anyone any good. It is better to keep away from these “findings,” which only confuse us, and not waste taxpayers’ money on such studies.

On a deeper level, public servants, or anyone whose job is to serve the public and work for the public benefit, are inherently inept for their job. Their own nature prevents them from carrying out their task.

The problem is not with them, but with all of society. It is not as if anyone else would be more trustworthy if they were in their shoes. When all of society is rife with mistrust and ill-will, the representatives of the public cannot be better than the public that placed them in their positions.

The only way to change the public from which its servants come is through education. This is where we must invest our money, time, and efforts. The values at the basis of society determine its structure, and define the level of trust between the public and its officials. Do civil servants really want to serve the society and understand what it means to serve? Do they know where they want to lead society? Do they know what they can contribute? If they can do all these then they are trustworthy. But what public servant is like that?

In order to reform public servants and scientists so they work for the sake of the public and not for themselves, we must transform our entire education system. From the earliest years and throughout people’s lives, they must be occupied in a continuous educational process.

When we are born, we are merely two-legged animals. Education must provide people not only with knowledge, but first and foremost with humane values, with ethics that place unity and friendship above selfishness and narcissism.

If people are not taught that society consists of many people working together to create a better life for everyone, how can we expect them to believe that working for the common good helps them personally? And if people in such a certain society do not feel connected and value mutual responsibility and concern for others, can they expect their representatives to care for them? Can a messenger of the public possess what the public that sent him does not have?

If food and other staples were distributed justly, there would not be a single hungry person in the world. All our basic needs and staples are abundant and cheap. The only reasons they are not accessible to everyone are greed and cruelty. If the world were to produce twice as much as it does today, the have nots would still not have.

In other words, there is no lack of supply; there is an awful lack of the will to supply it. In our global age, the whole world must function like a single unit. Getting there is a gradual process, but it is happening whether we want it or not. If we learn how to utilize it for everyone’s benefit and agree to work as one global unit, we will all benefit from the abundance in this world, and there will be no hunger or wars. If we refuse to accept that we are all one humanity, then the current campaign in eastern Europe will be but the harbinger of many more afflictions to come, and they will come at our own hands.
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My new article on Linkedin “Too Close for Comfort to WWIII”

The war in Ukraine is no longer a local conflict. Chechnya has joined Russia, and Belarus is supporting it. Opposite them stands Ukraine, with the US, NATO, and many other countries supporting it with logistics and weapons. But while the West is trying to choke Russia financially, China has stepped in to its help. Russia, for its part, has put its nuclear arms on high alert. While all this is going on, China appears to be preparing to retake Taiwan by force, and has threatened the US not to interfere, stating that “whoever plays with fire will burn himself,” and that if the US “plays the ‘salami-slicing’ tactics on the Taiwan question, it is its fingers that will be cut off.” In my opinion, we are too close for comfort to a third, nuclear world war.

We must remember that under the right circumstances, even a small spark can start a world war. Remember that World War I began with the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Sarajevo. When Austria invaded Serbia in retaliation, the military alliances of the adversaries dragged all of Europe into the battlefield. And because in those days, European countries had colonies around the world, the war soon turned into a global conflict.

Today’s world is laden with trigger-happy leaders who would gladly set the world aflame. Therefore, we should be concerned and understand that as bad as things are, they can become much worse, very soon.

Notwithstanding, when forces of separation awaken in the world, they are always a clarion, a herald that tells us that we must increase our efforts to connect, to bond with one another and rise above our mutual hatred. The only reasons for the afflictions and the terrible events unfolding in the world are hatred, cruelty, and the craving to tyrannize other people.

Therefore, any injustice is always a call to enhance unity, empathy, and care for one another. Times like these, when we are reminded of what really matters in life, are also an opportunity to form a better world and a more caring society.

This is not the time to bicker over historic justice and old scores. Now is the time to generate love, and we can do this only where there is no love today. If we build love where there was once hatred, it will be true love, our own creation, forged out of the ashes of the enmity we had defeated. We are living in challenging times, so we must rise to the challenge; we have no other choice.
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Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “In the End, There Is Only One”

In times like these, we can really feel what a revolutionary Abraham was. Nearly 4,000 years ago, he discovered that in the end, there is only one force that created and governs all of reality. At a time when his countryfolk were at odds with one another, killing each other on the doomed gradients of the Tower of Babel, he told them that there is only one force that governs the world, a force of unity, and that if we emulated it, we, too, would be as one. People laughed in his face and continued to squabble. Four millennia later, we are still at it. But in the end, there is still only one force, and unless we emulate it, we will suffer for who knows how many more millennia.

Precisely when hatred erupts, we must remind ourselves that it is erupting so that we will rise above it and demand connection, just like Abraham, demand that love will reign over hatred. Granted, we are mere mortals and cannot rise above our hate. However, we did not choose to be this way, and we are not meant to change ourselves. The force that created and sustains all of reality created it corrupt and hateful, and only this force can make it loving.

It has been done before, several times, when the people of Israel united at the foot of Mount Sinai “as one man with one heart,” or when King Solomon said, “Hate stirs strife, and love will cover all crimes” (Prov. 10:12). We need no other victory than to cover hate with love.

If we cannot turn to the Creator and ask Him to correct us, we can and should ask Him to give us the desire to ask Him. It is written about this, “Place in our hearts understanding, so we may understand and know how to listen, learn, and teach Your law with love” (from the Hebrew Shema prayer).

The difficult situations that arise among us in these fateful times do not happen so we will bicker like children. They happen so we will turn to the one, single force in all of reality, the Creator, and ask that it would make us all one, the same as itself.

The aspiration for oneness comes from the highest root of creation, from its very origin. The idea that being as one is the solution to all our problems and our happiest state comes to us because this is indeed our root, and when we are one, there can be nothing but peace and wholeness.

All the states of separation and division are therefore triggers to make us connect and unite a little more. Now that the great hatred has been exposed, it is time to make great efforts to unite. If we pray for the resolution of the problems of all the people in the world, we will stop the harsh decrees that afflict the world. If we place connection above separation and love above hatred, we will cover our crimes with love and heal the wounds of humankind.
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My new article on Linkedin “We Are Free – Free to Pray”

Even in the worst of times and under the most extreme situations, our hearts are always free. Whatever we face, we can choose how to relate to it. Now that there is once again a war in Europe, we can choose unity. War, after all, is only the most extreme state of disunity. Its antidote, therefore, is unity, and we can achieve unity if we pray for it—everyone, around the world.

A prayer is a precise request that comes from the bottom of the heart to mend a painful situation. In a state of separation and enmity, nothing can stop us from praying for unity and love. We are always free to pray.

A war is won with the spirit, not with weapons. Therefore, we must raise our spirits above our dismal physical situation and pray for the strength to unite our hearts above all the differences, divisions, and hostility.

If all of humanity unites around the war in Europe and prays for it to stop, for the parties to find the strength to resolve their differences peacefully, no ill-will will be able to resist it. Together, humanity can extinguish the fire of war around the world. This war is on us, on all of us. It is our duty, the duty of each and every one of us, to pray from the bottom of our hearts that the enemies will lay down their arms.

Everything that happens, happens in order to connect humanity, to unite it. The terrible events that are currently unfolding must become a springboard for global unity. However, this can happen only if we do not shirk our duty to rise above ourselves and form a global mutual responsibility.

If we do not seize the opportunity we have been given to strengthen unity around the world, then we are also to blame for what is happening and what is yet to happen.

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Medium published my new article “Truth Social — A Much Needed Move that Will Not Work”

After being banned along with many of his supporters from liberal social media giants, former president of the United States Donald Trump launched this week his own social platform, Truth Social. The platform focuses on diversity. The first paragraph in the app description demonstrates it: “Think of a giant outdoor event tent at your best friend’s wedding. Who’s there? The combination of multiple families from all over the United States, and the world. Uncle Jim from Atlanta is a proud libertarian. Aunt Kellie from Texas is a staunch conservative. Your cousin John from California is a die-hard liberal. And guess what? They’re all together to have an amazing time and share their different viewpoints on the world. Although we don’t always agree with each other, we welcome these varied opinions and the robust conversation they bring.”

Any change in social media, or any form of media, depends only on whether, and to what extent, we ourselves change. If we want to bond, social media will help us bond; if we want separation, social media will help us divide. This is why it is essential that we stop trying to prove that we are right and start trying to show that we care for one another and want to form one, united society above all the differences.

On the one hand, I think it has to be this way: open to everyone. The liberal tech giants have become intolerably brazen and audacious. On the other hand, I think it is a big problem to give equal presence to all the views because if you want to open the platform to everyone, you are likely to lose everything.

I understand the aspiration to tell the truth, to bring a little justice and balance into the news media. At the same time, I do not think that truth exists where there are people. Because of the corrupt nature of humans, even projects that begin with the best, and purest, intentions end in corruption and depravity.

You might try to balance the inherent bias by participating in social platforms from both sides of the political aisle, but this, too, will not work. Instead of getting a complete picture, you will get two pictures, warped and distorted in two opposite ways.

If you are seeking the truth, know this: There is no truth where the ego guides our thoughts and feelings. The ego sees only its own side. Since reality consists of multiple sides, the ego cannot see the real picture of reality. Therefore, any view, by default, is wrong.

The only possible solution to the division in society is to stop looking for the truth and start looking for love, or at least, for some level of care and concern for one another. If we change how we relate to one another, we will not need to build separate media platforms to express our views because we will welcome each other’s views.

The internet, like every manmade system, reflects our nature. Since our nature is inherently corrupt, so is the internet. It will not change until the people who make it change.

Currently, we are so divided that we are not even looking for the truth. All we want is for people to tell us that we are right. Accordingly, we go on social media in search of like-minded people, and the media platforms realize it and cater to our wishes by presenting to us only people who think like us and speak like us.

As a result, society has become divided into multiple “parallel universes,” and each universe thinks that its own reality is the only one, since it never meets the inhabitants of other universes.

Since social media aspires to keep us on it for as long as possible, it will show us different views only when we begin to look for them. If we seek to connect with people who hold alternative viewpoints to ours, social media will introduce them to us. If we seek to find our own image in the reflection, this is what we will see.

Therefore, any change in social media, or any form of media, depends only on whether, and to what extent, we ourselves change. If we want to bond, social media will help us bond; if we want separation, social media will help us divide. This is why it is essential that we stop trying to prove that we are right and start trying to show that we care for one another and want to form one, united society above all the differences.
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My new article on Linkedin “Russia-Ukraine War: The Pandora Box is Open”

The ramifications of this war run much deeper than the impact it will cause to those directly involved in the conflict. It will reshape the world, as it is likely that other latent frictions between countries and territories will be activated as a consequence of the Russia-Ukraine situation. This war just opened an era of wars, small and large, between different peoples.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently said that this war could easily become “the biggest war in Europe since 1945”, and I agree. If countries with similar backgrounds cannot reach agreement between them, then how much more likely it is that several countries that have big differences and ancient conflicts may easily slip into war for no apparent justifiable reason.

On a personal level, it saddens me to see how fate turns around and once again we find ourselves at war. I am sorry and restless since I have many students in Russia and Ukraine who are under threat and feel how the deteriorating situation is affecting them and the whole world. In Israel, too, I have many students who follow with concern what is happening in Eastern Europe, anxious about the fate of their family members and friends.

My hope is that the manifestations of hatred between the Russians and the Ukrainians will stop soon, two peoples who have lived side by side throughout history. If it were still possible, I would give everything I could to silence, calm down, avoid the escalation, but this is impossible for now.

There is not much that we can do at this stage. We can only long for peace and a ceasefire, talk about all parties showing restraint. The parties in conflict could follow the example of the Native American tribes who buried their hostility in a ceremony during which previously warring tribes agreed to settle their differences and live in harmony, and sealed their agreement by the chief of each tribe burying a war hatchet in the ground.

Such a scenario does not look realistic under the current circumstances. Thus, above the forces of hostility, above the egoism and control as the driving forces of all the conflicts in the world, we can only raise a global prayer for peace, asking that we all get along with everyone. Because only in the power of connection and in the connection between our hearts, can a great positive force arise, a force that is able to unite all parties, to reconcile the haters, to awaken the truth in us all that we all belong to one soul. As it is written, “He who makes peace in His heights, may He make peace upon us…” (The Book of Job, 25:2)
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Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “Highlights from a Meeting with David Rosenthal”

David Rosenthal is a respected political analyst, journalist, and columnist in various Israeli and international media outlets. Every so often, he interviews Dr. Michael Laitman on various topics. Below are some of the key points from their latest talk, which took place Wednesday, February 16, 2022. The questions and answers below summarize some of the main topics.

Mr. Rosenthal: How do you see the state of the world at the moment? Where do you think it is headed?

Dr. Laitman: Indeed, we are at a critical phase in the development of humanity. However, for humanity to develop, nature is pressing us in various ways. This is why we see so many conflicts around the world, along with volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, hurricanes, and other global problems all happening at the same time.

While these crises are here in order to push us to the next level of development, they do not lift us there, but only force us to get out of our comfort zone. This is why it is so important that we take the initiative for our development into our own hands, since when nature does it, it employs very unpleasant ways.

Either way, the 21st century will be a century of great lessons. The question is how quickly, easily, and pleasantly we want to learn those lessons. We can come to a state where everyone is satisfied—from individuals through organizations to societies and governments. It may seem impossible since each entity has its own interests, which often clash, but I believe we will discover how to rise above our differences and find a common unity that makes personal interests feel inconsequential.

I anticipate that humanity will want to find the method for achieving this, and then we will all finally be happy. Although people are still egoists and in constant conflicts, we will gradually come to that state.

Mr. Rosenthal: Do organizations play any role in overcoming the raging ego?

Dr. Laitman: Their importance is that through various organizations and governments that want to impose their will on the public, we are discovering that there can be only one solution: to rise above all of our demands of others and come to some sort of equilibrium where no one demands anything of anyone. My words may not be very clear right now, but humanity is approaching it and will soon discover it.

Mr. Rosenthal: How will climate change influence us? Will it continue to be a problem?

Dr. Laitman: Yes, I have no doubt it will. The problems we are currently facing are only because of us, to make us improve our relationships with one another. This is how we should see it. Therefore, if we make our relationships friendlier and calmer, we will pacify all of nature, including hurricanes and other storms, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, and all the disasters plaguing us on land, at sea, and in the air.

The thing is that we, humans, are the center of creation. Therefore, the more we spoil our connections, the more we disrupt nature. When nature shifts off balance, we see an escalation of natural phenomena and they become natural disasters. This is why we say that they are signs that we need to improve our relations. When we improve them, we pacify the center of creation, which in turn pacifies the entire planetary system and the natural disasters stop occurring.

Mr. Rosenthal: On another topic: What about antisemitism? Will there be a time when it subsides?

Dr. Laitman: Antisemitism usually eases after great troubles for the Jewish people. However, we must understand that the reason for antisemitism is that the people of Israel themselves do not do what they must do in the overall system of humanity. If the people of Israel connect among themselves, they will immediately placate the forces that erupt against them.
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My new article on Linkedin “Play Your Way Ahead”

Why do little children play even when they are sick? How come grownups hardly ever play? Playing is no laughing matter; it is the single most important tool in our development and growth. Lion cubs play hunting games. Fawns hop, run, and chase each other in what looks like their version of “tag.” Each species plays the games that develop its survival skills. It may seem like carefree fun to us, but playing is essential for the survival of the young, and the survival of their species.

Children, too, play, and for the exact same reason. For children, learning survival skills means imitating the grownups around them. This is why children play at being parents, doctors and patients, and other meaningful persons in their lives. By mimicking their behavior, they learn the skills they will need later in life.

Today, the meaningful persons in our lives are very different from the ones that children knew before the advent of the internet. Today, those meaningful others can be, and most often are, people we do not know, who live very far away, and whom we will never meet. But because these people have made a name for themselves and became media idols, children imitate them the way they would previously imitate the most influential figures in their lives.

On the one hand, this openness to the world exposes children to values and ideas they would never have encountered otherwise. On the other hand, it makes them susceptible to negative influences that parents cannot monitor because social media enables anyone to consume any content, and parents cannot control what their children see on their mobile phones.

As it is with children, so it is with grownups. Grownups’ games, even if seemingly harmless, such as computer sports games, do not develop them. They serve a different purpose: to pass the time and numb the mind. It is the opposite of development.

To ensure the proper development of children, and the continuous development of teenagers and adults, we should mind the games we play. As children, we need to learn more technical games in order to hone technical skills. For adolescents and grownups, the games should revolve around human communication, in order to polish our communication skills.

Only when we learn to communicate and collaborate with different mindsets and different viewpoints can we thrive in a diverse society such as the human society. A society where people do not play is a stagnant society and its days are numbered. A vital society is one where people change and develop, and this can happen only if they play games that challenge them to develop and grow.

Challenging ourselves to connect with people from other cultures and perspectives, and bonding with them above the differences enriches us and enriches our partners in the game. If we want to develop in life, learn, grow, yet stay as vital and as vibrant as children our entire lives, we must never stop playing.
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Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “Why We Do Need So Many People in the World”

At the start of the 20th century, the world population was roughly two billion people. Today, it is roughly eight billion. Of those eight billion, most are poor, and over a billion people are hungry to the point of starvation. Providing for so many people at a decent level seems too formidable a task for Earth. Moreover, each day, more bots, robots, and automatic machines are replacing human jobs. Humanity is producing enough to provide for everyone, so the question is why we need so many people. Would Earth, and humanity, not be better off if we were only four billion, for example?

The truth is that we wouldn’t be better off; we would be much worse off. There is a good reason for the exponential growth in humanity’s population over the past century or so.

When we look at people, we see faces and bodies, human beings, and nothing more. But the truth is much more complicated and intricate than that. Try to imagine any animal without relating it to its environment, and you will realize that it is a lost cause. The shape, color, behavior, size, longevity, and every other aspect of its existence derives from the environment where it exists. Animals are not isolated from their environment; they rely on it, follow its laws, and at the same time make up the environment that sustains them and of which they are a part.

Humans, too, make up a system. We think of ourselves as isolated individuals, but we are actually parts of a global human society. We influence it, it influences us, and almost everything that is true for the animal kingdom is true for us.

There are only two differences between animals and people, though they are fundamental differences. The first is that people are inherently mean and selfish, while animals are not. The second is that our desires grow and intensify, while those of animals remain largely the same. While we want more money and power the more we have of them, animals settle for what they have once they have had their fill.

Worse yet, from generation to generation, we are becoming more greedy, domineering, and narcissistic. Conversely, animals’ “aspirations” do not change from generation to generation: Give them enough grass, or enough game, and they are happy campers.

The reason why our desires grow while those of animals remain the same is that an increased desire makes us accelerate our development. Eventually, humans are not intended to perceive only the physical existence, but to penetrate through it and perceive the connectedness and interdependence among all of us not only intellectually, as I am explaining it here, but in the senses, just as we perceive the physical world, if not more so.

Our constant desire to search, explore, discover, and learn stems from our aspiration to know the deepest levels of reality. That knowledge is the sole prerogative of humans since only people develop such profound desires.

As our desires grow, we must learn to direct them toward discovering the purpose and structure of life. New desires first appear on the crassest level, and we must cultivate them, raise them to the level where they enhance our perception of reality.

Because these desires are so intense, we need more people to “share the load.” As just said, although we feel isolated, we are in fact one system. Everything we think is ours is actually part of the system of humanity and all of humanity shares it. Therefore, our desires are also not personal, even though they feel as such.

Every time we elevate one desire from the corporeal level to the higher levels of perception, we influence all of humanity. And every time a person dies, the burden of elevating our common desire grows heavier on all of us.

This is why the life of every person is precious. It determines the pace of advancement of all of humanity. If we realized how deeply we are connected, and what harm we cause by mistreating other people, if we felt it as it really is—that we are torturing ourselves—we would not dare mistreat each other or leave one person uncared for.
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