Last week I was invited to participate in the news program “The Day” on Channel 9, one of the biggest channels on Israeli TV.

The news report from the International Kabbalah Convention held on February 21-23, 2017 in Tel Aviv was called “The World of Kabbalah.”

In this coverage, Channel 9 for the first time spoke about the foundation of the Jewish people, about their strengths and weaknesses. Our internal conflicts and world’s hostility towards the Jews are not accidental. They require rational reflection, without which we simply don’t have a future.

After all, we are not ordinary people. Abraham gathered our ancestors from different tribes and initially they were united only by one thing: love for others. They were close in spirit, but they were not blood relatives.

Many things have changed since then, but still only we can unite ourselves and the nations of the world into one family.

This is why we find no peace, like a person who rejects his destiny. That is why anti-Semitism is raising its head again. People don’t like us not because we are “chosen,” but because we don’t put our uniqueness into practice, don’t bring a light onto the nations, and don’t show them how to live in peace and harmony with each other.

However, I am optimistic about the future. Eight thousand people came to our annual convention, and it already doesn’t surprise anyone. The country is gradually getting used to the idea that unity will decide our common destiny. Uniting above all contradictions, we will see how everything is changing for the better.
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In the News (Al Arabiya): “Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis – ISIS-affiliated extremist group in Egypt – has released images purporting to show the execution of a 100-year-old man.

“The group, who rebranded as ISIS-Sinai when they pledged allegiance to the extremist group holding swathes of Iraq and Syria, killed Sheikh Sulaiman Abu Haraz after kidnapping him earlier.

“Abu Haraz, considered one of the symbolic Sufi clerics and elders of the Sinai Peninsula, was taken by the group from in front of his house in Arish city under gun point.”

My Comment: Sufism is Islamic Kabbalah. They live their lives in exile from their nations because they are hated, similar to the attitude toward Kabbalists in Judaism. Likewise, Sufism calls for everyone to achieve unity through limitless love, as a fundamental principle for all of humanity.
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In the News (Phys.org): “A UK, Canadian and Italian study has provided what researchers believe is the first observational evidence that our universe could be a vast and complex hologram. …

“The researchers, from the University of Southampton (UK), University of Waterloo (Canada), Perimeter Institute (Canada), INFN, Lecce (Italy) and the University of Salento (Italy), have published findings in the journal Physical Review Letters.

“A holographic universe, an idea first suggested in the 1990s, is one where all the information that makes up our 3-D ‘reality’ (plus time) is contained in a 2-D surface on its boundaries. …

“Professor Skenderis comments: “Holography is a huge leap forward in the way we think about the structure and creation of the universe. Einstein’s theory of general relativity explains almost everything large scale in the universe very well, but starts to unravel when examining its origins and mechanisms at quantum level. Scientists have been working for decades to combine Einstein’s theory of gravity and quantum theory. Some believe the concept of a holographic universe has the potential to reconcile the two. I hope our research takes us another step towards this.”

“The scientists now hope their study will open the door to further our understanding of the early universe and explain how space and time emerged.”

My Comment: The wisdom of Kabbalah speaks a lot about this, but it suggests that one should be involved with the study of man, not the study of nature, to expand the possibilities of our perception, our inner characteristics, so then we will see that the picture of the world that appears before us depends completely on our inner characteristics.

As we shape the world ourselves, we limit it, and as such we also see the world. If we expand this picture by changing our characteristics, we will see the world differently, in other dimensions.

Question: Which is to say, to do this, people must change? And scientists believe it is necessary to explore nature.

Answer: The examination of nature is a very limited approach to the subject. It doesn’t yield anything. We have no benefit from this except satisfying our curiosity.

A person needs to develop and change himself. He can and must expand his internal sensory perception, emotions, desires, and thoughts so much so that he will see worlds that exist outside of him, but he will discover them when he discovers himself.

For example, a little child differs from an adult in that he perceives a small, narrow part of the world, even though he basically sees exactly what the adult sees. The question is what does it mean to “see”? The entire difference lies in this. We don’t see the inner connections of nature, we don’t see the true world but only our lowest level.

It is only when person opens the next levels of absorption, knowledge, emotion, and impressions within himself that the next level of creation that exists around us will be revealed to him.

At present, we are in a period and state in which we can understand that our movement in the direction proposed by scientists is erroneous.

We must turn inward, into ourselves, and expand our senses. But because this is connected to the ego, against our nature, we don’t want this. We sell our perceptive abilities in exchange for petty egoism.
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From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 2/1/17

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In the News (Legacy Project – Cornell): “I’ve spent time over the past year talking with young people about their hopes for marriage. And the question that comes up more than any other is: ‘How do I know if the person is the right one for me?’ Is there a way to tell if someone is likely to be a compatible long-term mate, or a difficult and contentious partner?

“Sounds complicated, right? But in our interviews with hundreds of long-married couples about what works and what doesn’t for a long and satisfying relationship, one simple and straightforward answer emerged again and again. It turns out that our elders believe there’s something close to a ‘magic bullet’ when it comes to deciding in a relationship: ‘Should I stay or should I go?’ And it all comes down to similarity. …

“Based on their long experiences both in and out of romantic relationships, the fundamental lesson is this: You are much more likely to have a satisfying marriage for a lifetime when you and your mate are fundamentally similar. And if you’re very different, the elders warn although that marriage can work, is likely to be much more difficult.”

Question: Does this have a spiritual root?

Answer: Of course, those who are alike are attracted to each other in every aspect of life.

Question: Does breaking this rule have any implications?

Answer: In such cases it is very difficult to adapt yourself to that person because you have to get used to him and understand him. After all, psychology, ideology, awareness, insight, and tastes require a close match, which none of us, being egoists, wants to do because it involves an enormous expenditure of energy. If people connect, they have to choose someone they can understand very well. Men usually subconsciously choose women who resemble their mothers and women choose men who resemble their fathers.

I wish you all to find the half that is right for you.

Question: Is the Creator the right half for us?

Answer: In order to become His half, we need to resemble the Creator. In this case, the same rule applies—the law of similarity, equivalence of form. We should bestow and love to the extent that He does, and by acquiring this attribute, we get closer to Him.

Question: Do I have to feel that the Creator gives and bestows?

Answer: We begin to feel Him to the extent that we acquire this attribute.

As for marriage, we can take an example from religious families. They marry men and women from their environment, who have been brought up in the same way. They don’t need to learn what their spouse likes or doesn’t like, what he/she is used to, or what kind of life they will lead.

They have seen all that at home and will continue to live this way in their family. They match each other from the start. They resemble each other and so they co-exist without any unpleasant surprises. This is what similarity means. In Orthodox families it works 100%.

Therefore, it is preferable to choose a partner according to likeness. If we could screen young people and see the resemblance and equivalence between them according to certain criteria, it would be clear whether they were suitable marriage partners or not.

All their assurances that they love each other, do not mean anything.
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From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 11/1/16

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In the News (Arabian Business): “New legislation will grant employees dedicated time to read during working hours, obliges coffee shops to provide reading materials…

“The UAE [United Arab Emirates]on Monday issued the first law of its kind which aims to cement the importance of reading in the country.

“Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, has issued the legislation saying that reading and knowledge are key for the progress of the UAE. …

“’Our objective is to prepare generations that work for a brighter future of the UAE,’ the President said in a statement. …

“Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, praised the newly passed law, and hailed it as an unprecedented cultural and legislative initiative. …

“’Our objective is to make reading a daily habit in our people, where relevant entities will be required to translate this law into reality,’ he said.”

My Comment: Advancements in the high-tech world and religion require reading and still support the generation’s interest in reading. But in the end, we gradually withdraw from egoistic development. Literature and music are measures of society’s egoistic development since they are created by pure egoism. I don’t think they will remain except for only a few individual groups, but nothing more.

But great musical works, especially operas and literary masterpieces, will remain because they express the depth of human emotions, even though they are egoistic. Classical novels describe a phase in human development and so they will remain part of our culture.

Question: What kind of literature do you think people will prefer to read in the next decades?

Answer: Only manuals for operating computer programs.

Question: So people will abandon romance novels?

Answer: They are already withdrawing from them. The decline in reading novels has already begun. The fact is, the gap between generations is great.

If we want to keep in touch with the young generation, older people will need to get closer to them and not expect the young to do so. When my grandson, for example, plays computer games, I try to play with him. And if I offer to read him a book, he refuses and says: “Grandpa leave me alone.” We have no choice; the older people should follow the young.

Question: What about literature that deals with the meaning of life. Will people still be attracted to it?

Answer: Yes, but it will also change. The meaning of life that the wisdom of Kabbalah tells us about is above time so it should be presented to people in modern language.

If we take Rambam’s collection of philosophical writings for example, Ramhal’s dialogues, Rav Kook’s poetic writings, Baal HaSulam’s writings that are in a scientific style, or Rabash’s emotional writings, they are all very hard to perceive today.

Comment: You simplify the writings of Baal HaSulam and Rabash for us.

Answer: We can still read the writings of Baal HaSulam and Rabash, but the writings of Ramhal and the ARI cannot be understood by our generation.

The wisdom of Kabbalah will be rewritten in a lighter easier language in the future, but this will not be my lot.

It has to be done for the sake of humanity even now, and not only for those who are attracted to the goal of creation, but for all of humanity, so that they will understand what the great Kabbalists say about the upper system of nature, including the method and the science, and everyone should advance in this direction.

I hope that such talents will emerge among my students.
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From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 11/2/16

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In the News (The Washington Post): “The White House blocked a number of news organizations from attending an informal briefing Friday, a rare and surprising move that came amid President Trump’s escalating war against the media.

“White House press secretary Sean Spicer banned reporters from CNN, The New York Times, Politico, The Los Angeles Times and BuzzFeed from attending a ‘gaggle,’ a non-televised briefing, but gave access to a number of other reporters, including those representing conservative outlets. …

“The unusual ban came the same day that Trump, appearing at an annual gathering of conservatives, launched another round of complaints about the news media. Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Trump called reporters ‘dishonest’ and ‘fake’ and denounced the use of anonymous sources in reports about his administration. …

“‘It’s not acceptable,’ CNN anchor Jake Tapper said on his afternoon program. ‘In fact, it’s petulant … This White House doesn’t seem to value a free press. There’s a word for this. The word is “un-American.” ’”

Comment: According to the White House, a ban on CNN has been declared. President Trump does not intend to give any interviews to this network. On his Twitter page, he called the network a terrible network that publishes fake news. He also refers to The New York Times and The Washington Post in the same manner, saying that he believes they cover his actions unfairly.

My Comment: Of course. We all know that this has been going on for many years. These newspapers are biased and cannot claim to be the least bit objective.

All these media channels are owned by Jews and so all these newspapers are extremely liberal and democratic. The newspaper owners have forgotten that unlimited democracy leads to Nazism.

This is what will happen if Trump doesn’t limit them. If he does, they will have to be very grateful to him because it will actually be thanks to him that they will be able to exist in some kind of framework, otherwise they will arrive very soon to Nazism.

Question: Can media channels today be humane?

Answer: Certainly not. We are all bought and are subordinate to certain forms of behavior controlled by the elite, so all the information is written and rewritten in advance; there is nothing new or objective about it. Today there cannot be objective media in our world, not even news about science and sports.

Our world is managed by selfishness, so it is only natural that the immense influence on people, which the media enables, cannot remain outside of human egoism.

You have one ego, I have another ego, and someone else has a third. Each of us has his own newspapers, television channels, and Internet sites,  and we are fighting among ourselves or bring to party members or presidents, etc. to power.

This is all very natural. The media takes a very active part in this, but today they are revealing their absolute lack of objectivity. In principle, this was known before, but people still consume the information they publish.

Personally, I refer only unquestionable data, like something happened somewhere. Here too there is a question: whether it happened or not, as a fact, that is, the bare information, if it can be gleaned from somewhere.

But analysts are tied to reality, but only to the intentions of those who pay.

Question: What do you think about our mass media? After all, both you and I comment on the news and answer questions.

Answer: The media is totally dependent and biased. How can the media be objective? What in this world can be objective if the one who produces everything is a person, and his ego dictates to him what to do, whether consciously or subconsciously.

Question: Are you and I the same?

Answer: Of course! But we are aware why we are doing this, and we are trying to act only for the sake of a higher goal—to bring humanity closer to unity and to attain in this unity the upper level of its existence.

This is a huge difference. We are interested in achieving a goal and I seize every opportunity to pass to the masses this idea, this ideology and goal.
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From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 2/1/17

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Question from Facebook: What does it mean to rise above your consciousness and which path leads to it? Basically, can we influence the scope of our consciousness by simply wanting to expand it?

Answer: Of course we can! What we have is animal consciousness. It serves our physical bodies, therefore it is on the animate degree. All of our thoughts are directed toward food, sex, family, and wealth. Some people also desire fame, knowledge, and power. That’s all a person has in this world.

What does our so-called higher consciousness come down to? What do we occupy ourselves with and what are we serving? We pursue such low goals! It’s not even worth it.

The wisdom of Kabbalah (“Kabbalah” from the Hebrew word “receiving”) talks about receiving higher consciousness, about expanding it in order to make oneself Human.  “Man” or “Adam” in Hebrew means similar to the Creator and this is what our consciousness should be aimed at: becoming similar to the Creator.

This is not easy, it’s difficult. However, when a person sets this goal, when he is in the proper environment, then everything can be achieved with relative ease. In any case we will continue to wander through life until we attain the goal. Such is the law of nature.

Let’s make it quick, easy, and simple and we’ll attain the most wonderful state!
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From Kab TV’s “News with Rav Laitman” 2/6/2017

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Question: What is special about the Purim holiday this year?

Answer: The Purim holiday is special in that today in the world, as if in the theatre, the curtains rise and performance begins with music and entry of all the screen characters. Although the king and queen Esther are not yet visible, but the main characters, the villain and the righteous, are showing up already.

In the past years, the curtains were almost closed, and this year the world has reached the point when it is ready to start participating in this performance. It began with president Trump because with his coming to power America entered a new era.

Never before the American Jews were so totally divided among themselves, hating each other so much that even families break up and relatives don’t meet with each other. Exactly this event indicates that we are now at the beginning of Purim.

The Jews are divided, scattered among all others, and most importantly, they hate each other. Now they can be destroyed one at a time, and this is what Haman wants to do. And the king agrees with him, saying “Come on, start your work.” After all, when the situation worsens, maybe the Jews will finally understand that they are in a rather critical condition.

Haman begins preparation, builds gallows for the representative of the Jews, Mordechai. The Jews are under the threat of destruction. They are encouraged to safe themselves, but it is possible only through unity.

After all, by uniting, the Jews attract the upper Light, the special force that connects them and kills all their enemies this way. Of course, we mean not the physical annihilation, because it doesn’t solve anything, but the spiritual victory.

Therefore, especially this year we study the Purim holiday, “Megillat Esther” (“The Scroll of Esther”), because this is a production that is obviously played out today in our world.

We can take an active part in it and play it successfully, or we can make only a small rehearsal from it and wait for more difficult times. However, we better not.

How this will happen depends on us. It is better to extinguish this all today and fix it so that all the nations of the world are satisfied with our work and come to collective unity with each other. Then they will be blessed from above, and the world will come to its contentment.
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From a TV Program “News with Rav Laitman” 3/8/2017

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In the News (InoSMI): “Let’s be honest: no one understands what is happening in the global economy. …

“Since there are virtually no longer any applicable macroeconomic tools remaining, it has become commonplace to talk of ‘structural reform.’ But on the question of what this means, too, there is no agreement. Meanwhile, half-witted leaders excite disaffected voters. It seems that the economy has escaped from the hands of those who should manage it, and now politics follows it.”

My Comment: The problem is that experts in economics and politics and their students don’t see the whole picture, which is the general evolution of society and humanity. When the world operated only according to a simple egoistic principle, economists and politicians managed because they generally operated by this principle.

But as soon as society reached a new level of development, which is above egoism, the economics and politics of the past ceased to work. People need to study the wisdom of Kabbalah, which tells us about the transitional process we are in today, in order to understand what is happening in our world.
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In the News (The Jerusalem Post): “Following Wednesday night’s terror attack in Tel Aviv’s Sarona market that left four people dead and 16 wounded CNN inspired outrage with its headline when it put the word ‘terrorists’ in quotations on its Facebook page.

“Additionally, the news agency failed to mention terrorism even once in the article reporting the ordeal. …

“CNN swiftly removed the tweet and issued an apology via Twitter on Thursday evening, calling their use of quotation marks around the word terrorist in their news headline ‘a mistake.’

“‘The attacks were, without question, terrorist attacks,’ the news agency said in a press release.”

(The Jerusalem Post): “CNN has updated a graphic it featured this week listing some of the deadliest terror attacks that occurred throughout the month of Ramadan to include reference to the July 8  [sic] shooting attack in Tel Aviv.

“An advocacy group for Israel, Stand With Us, pointed out the update on its social media, claiming that ‘criticism’ led to the change. …

“But the graphic does not include reference to several other attacks that have occurred within Israel and the Palestinian territories, including the fatal stabbing of a teenage girl in her bedroom and the murder of a father in front of his wife and kids.”

Comment: CNN constantly lies about Israel. For example, they constructed a map of terrorist activities that occurred during the last Ramadan fast and updated it to include the June 8th attack in the Sarona district in Tel Aviv, but didn’t mention anything about what happened in Yehudah and Shomron, where a 13-year-old girl and later a Rabbi were murdered. CNN did not consider these acts of terrorism.

Researchers conclude that Israel, during the period of state formation, was constantly explaining its morally correct behavior to the world, and now we have stopped doing this. They think that it is time to understand that this is the wrong approach and we should start explaining our rectitude.

According to them, something will change as a result.

My Comment: Without a doubt everything would change if our government understood that it is imperative to publicize our rightness in order to educate humanity. I relate to publicity as part of our educational work that we must conduct with humanity, to be a “Light unto the nations” (Isaiah 49:6). We must show this to them, not so CNN will have a good opinion about us, but so the world will know why the Jewish people were created and exist in the world, how humanity must interact with us and we with them, and how the Jews must understand their task and their mission.

Question: Does this mean that you don’t agree when they say that if we were to explain our justification something would change?

Answer: What kind of justification do we have? We have no justification. Was anybody living here when we arrived 100 years ago at the end of the 19^th century? People lived here settled throughout the territory. We cannot claim that we didn’t expel them. They left and moved to Jordan and other places. Whether they want to come back or not makes no difference. We came to their place.

And since then, there has been a problem. It is true that there are those who have inflated the problem artificially, but the problem existed and it has not been solved to this day. How can it be solved? This can only be through educational work and an explanation of why we have the right to settle here, why we have the right to live together with our “cousins”—the Arabs?

If there were peace and security here, we would be happy to live with them. Our religions are similar in their basis, their roots are close, we have one “father.” Therefore, we must take into account that they were here. In this respect, I don’t belong to the right wing camp that says, “This is ours alone!”

We need to convince everyone that this is our territory. This will happen when we show and prove that this is the program of development of the world and that our presence here is imperative for all of humanity and not for us personally because it is specifically from here that we can show everyone in what manner we must create a new world!

Only then will the whole world, including those who have been living here, understand everything and help us instead of trying to annihilate us.

This is the real propaganda when you bring everything to a very serious basis! The main thing is that Jews must be allowed to live here because without them, the world will not be able to reach its proper state. Jews must live here for the sake of the world, for the sake of the Creator, for the sake of implementing the program of creation into life.

And then everything will be changed. If we prove our right to live here like that, then everyone will agree with us.

And if we just say we need to live somewhere… What, all of a sudden we are coming back after two thousand years?! Imagine how many claims against each other have accumulated and how much has happened in the world during this time—what a shuffle, a great migration of peoples. Take out the maps from the archives and see what it is!

Therefore, so the problem of redrawing the world map does not erupt, we need to get rid of all borders. But this must be through bringing people close to each other, not as was done in the European community by force with the stroke of a pen.

I don’t see another way out, from both the point of view of human development and the need for humanity becoming closer to each other. There is no other way out besides education! If we remove the internal boundaries, then the external borders will be eliminated by themselves. This can be achieved only through proper education.
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From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 7/21/16

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