Jewish Telegraph, a newspaper in London, published an article by Zoe Cohen, entitled “Unity of Jews Sets an Example to Nations,” about my article in The New York Times, “Who Are You, People of Israel?”

The article is below.

“Israeli professor and kabbalist Michael Laitman reached out to readers of The New York Times newspaper to display a message of unity to the world.

The professor of ontology said he has had a positive response from Jews and non-Jews from the article entitled ‘Who Are You, People of Israel?’

‘But some people did not understand why I was approaching the Jews,’ he said. ‘The spirit of The New York Times is far from the way I usually approach Jews.

‘Some people said I was correct with what I said, but should I really be telling this to everyone? The non- Jews responded favourably.

‘The overall response from them is they now understand their feelings about the Jewish people; that they are not just about religion, but are also related to nature.’

He added: ‘Antisemitism is not coincidental. Circumstances happen all over the world, even in places where there are no Jews.

‘I wrote this so Jews and non-Jews would understand who we are.

‘The solution to unity among the Jews, is setting an example to the rest of the nations.

‘Until we pass on the so-called key to happiness to other nations, antisemitism will only escalate.’

Prof Laitman was born and raised in Vitebsk, Belarus, which he described as ‘a small Jewish town, with a population of a quarter of a million people”.

He said: ‘In my earlier years, I worked in a medical academy in St Petersburg in Russia. However, science wouldn’t provide all the answers.’

On a quest to find the meaning of life, Prof Laitman emigrated to Israel in 1974.

He became more religious, but still wouldn’t find the answers he was looking for.

He furthered his studies in ontology and philosophy, and five years after searching, arrived at Kabbala.

Prof Laitman explained: ‘Kabbala called out to me because it speaks about the general system that governs reality with scientific proof.

‘From this I could see how to run life and achieve a complete perspective of development before and after life.

‘Kabbala isn’t something you do because someone told you so, but is under your own life choice.’

Founder and president of the non-profit educational organisation ARI Institute, he teaches two million students worldwide on how to connect, in order to be adapted to an interconnected world.

He also runs the TV station Channel 66, in order to produce media to send a message of connection to the people of Israel.

His students have the opportunity to broadcast their own shows on rising global issues.

A writer of more than 40 books, his latest, Like A Bundle of Reeds, discusses the solution to the recent rise of global antisemitism.

The content of the New York Times article was based on the book, following a kabbalistic method of practical steps to achieving unity for a better idea of how to relate to every aspect of life.”

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Filed under: Israel, News - 1 Comment →

My article, “Who Are You, People of Israel?,” published in The New York Times, Saturday, September 20, 2014:

Who Are You, People of Israel?

By: Michael Laitman

Time and again, Jews are persecuted and terrorized. Being Jewish myself, I often ponder the purpose of this relentless agony. Some believe that the atrocities of WWII are unimaginable today. And yet, we see how easily and abruptly the state of mind preceding the Holocaust is re-emerging, and “Hitler was right” shouts are sounded all too often and all too openly.

But there is hope. We can reverse this trend, and all it requires is that we become aware of the bigger picture.

Where We Are and Where We Come From

Humanity is at a crossroads. Globalization has made us interdependent, while people are growing increasingly hateful and alienated. This unsustainable, highly flammable situation requires making a decision about humanity’s future direction. Yet to understand how we, the Jewish people, are involved in this scenario, we need to go back to where it all began.

The people of Israel emerged some 4,000 years ago in ancient Babylon. Babylon was a thriving civilization whose people felt connected and united. In the words of the Torah, “The whole earth was of one language and of one speech” (Genesis, 11:1).

But as their ties grew stronger, so did their egos. They began to exploit, and finally hate one another. So while the Babylonians felt connected, their intensifying egos made them increasingly alienated from each other. Caught between a rock and a hard place, the people of Babylon began to seek out a solution to their plight.

Two Solutions to the Crisis

The search for a solution led to forming two conflicting views. The first, suggested by Nimrod, king of Babylon, was natural and instinctive: Dispersion. The king argued that when people are far from one another, they do not quarrel.

The second solution was suggested by Abraham, then a renowned Babylonian sage. He argued that according to Nature’s law, human society is destined to become united, and therefore strove to unite the Babylonians despite, and atop their growing egos.

Succinctly, Abraham’s method was a way to connect people above their egos. When he began to advocate his method among his countryfolk, “thousands and tens of thousands assembled around him, and … He planted this tenet in their hearts,” writes Maimonides (Mishneh Torah, Part 1). The rest of the people chose Nimrod’s way: dispersion, as do quarrelsome neighbors when they try to stay out of each other’s way. These dispersed people gradually became what we now know as “human society.”

Only today, some 4,000 years down the line, we can begin to assess whose way was right.

The Basis of the People of Israel

Nimrod forced Abraham and his disciples out of Babylon, and they moved to what later became known as “the land of Israel.” They worked on unity and cohesion in accord with the tenet, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” connected above their egos, and thus discovered “the force of unity,” Nature’s hidden power.

Every substance consists of two opposite forces, connection and separation, which balance themselves out. But human society is evolving using only the negative force—the ego. According to Nature’s plan, we are required to consciously balance the negative force with the positive one—unity. Abraham discovered the wisdom that enables balance, and today we refer to his wisdom as, “the wisdom of Kabbalah.”

Israel Means Straight to the Creator

Abraham’s disciples called themselves Ysrael (Israel) after their desire to go Yashar El (straight to G-d, the Creator). That is, they wished to discover Nature’s force of unity so as to balance the ego that stood between them. Through their unity, they found themselves immersed in the force of unity, the upper, root force of reality.

In addition to their discovery, Israel also learned that in the process of human development, the rest of the Babylonians—who followed Nimrod’s advice, dispersed throughout the world, and have become today’s humanity—would also have to achieve unity. That contradiction between the people of Israel, which formed through unity, and the rest of humanity, which formed as a result of separation, is felt even today.

Exile

Abraham’s disciples, the people of Israel, experienced many internal struggles. But for 2,000 years their unity prevailed and was the key element that held them together. Indeed, their conflicts were meant only to intensify the love among them.

However, approximately 2,000 years ago, their egos reached such intensity that they could not maintain their unity. Unfounded hatred and egotism erupted among them and inflicted exile on them. Indeed, Israel’s exile, more than it is exile from the physical land of Israel, is exile from unity. The alienation within the Israeli nation caused them to disperse among the nations.

Back to the present, today humanity is in a state similar to the one the ancient Babylonians experienced: interdependence alongside alienation. Because we are completely interdependent in our global village, Nimrod’s solution of parting ways is no longer practical. Now we are required to use Abraham’s method. This is why the Jewish people, who previously implemented Abraham’s method and connected, must rekindle their unity and teach the method of connection to the whole of humanity. And unless we do it of our own accord, the nations of the world will compel us to do it, by force.

On that note, it is interesting to read the words of Henry Ford, founder of Ford Motor Company, and a notorious anti-Semite, in his book, The International Jew — The World’s Foremost Problem: “Society has a large claim against him [the Jew] that he … begin to fulfill … the ancient prophecy that through him all the nations of the earth should be blessed.”

The Roots of Anti-Semitism

After thousands of years of exerting to build a successful human society using Nimrod’s method, the nations of the world are beginning to understand that the solution to their problems is neither technological, nor economic or militaristic. Subconsciously, they feel that the solution lies in unity, that the method of connection exists in the people of Israel, and therefore recognize that they are dependent on the Jews. This makes them blame the Jews for every problem in the world, believing that the Jews possess the key to the world’s happiness.

Indeed, when the Israeli nation fell from its moral apex of love of others, hatred of Israel among the nations commenced. And thus, through anti-Semitism, the nations of the world prod us to disclose the method of connection. Rav Kook, the first Chief Rabbi of Israel, pointed to that fact with his words, “Amalek, Hitler, and so forth, awaken us toward redemption” (Essays of the Raiah, Vol. 1).

But the people of Israel are unaware that they are holding the key to the world’s happiness, and that the very source of anti-Semitism is that the Jews are carrying within them the method of connection, the key to happiness, the wisdom of Kabbalah, but are not revealing it to all.

Mandatory Disclosure of the Wisdom

As the world groans under the pressure of two conflicting forces—the global force of connection, and the separating power of the ego—we are falling into the state that existed in ancient Babylon prior to its collapse. But today we cannot pull away form one another in order to calm our egos down. Our only option is to work on our connection, on our unity. We are required to add to our world the positive force that balances the negative power of our ego.

The people of Israel, descendants of the ancient Babylonians who followed Abraham, must implement the wisdom of connection, namely the wisdom of Kabbalah. They are required to set an example to the whole of humanity, and thus become a “light for the nations.”

The laws of Nature dictate that we will all achieve a state of unity. But there are two ways to get there: 1) a path of world suffering, wars, catastrophes, plagues, and natural disasters, or 2) a path of gradual balancing of the ego, the path that Abraham planted in his disciples. The latter is the one we suggest.

Unity Is the Solution

It is written in The Book of Zohar, “Everything stands on love” (Portion, VaEtchanan). “Love your neighbor as yourself” is the great tenet of the Torah; it is also the essence of the change that the wisdom of Kabbalah is offering humanity. It is the obligation of the Jewish People to unite in order to share the method of Abraham with the entire human race.

According to Rav Yehuda Ashlag, author of the Sulam (Ladder) commentary on The Book of Zohar, “It is upon the Israeli nation to qualify itself and all the people of the world … to develop until they take upon themselves that sublime work of the love of others, which is the ladder to the purpose of Creation.” If we accomplish this, we will find solutions to all the world’s problems including the eradication of anti-Semitism.
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Israel is at war. There has never been such war before. For the first time, rockets of Israel-haters almost cover our whole country. Today in the firing range are five million Israelis. Previously, Israel was divided into climatic zones; but today, minutes and seconds were added into this division. It’s the time allotted to us and to our children to hide from incoming missiles.

We are fighting and we will be fighting until we win, but that is not the reason. Hatred motivates our enemy: How can we overcome it? We supply them with food, electricity, treat their wounded and we exchange the body of our soldiers for hundreds of live terrorists. We agree to a “humanitarian” ceasefire. And what do we get in return? Only hatred and anger.

And if it were just our neighbors. What about the internal enemies? Riots in Jerusalem, as well as the demonstrations in Judea and Samaria last week, are vivid examples.

How does the world respond to what is happening? Brazil and Ecuador are withdrawing their ambassadors. Anti-Israel demonstrations are taking place in  Germany, France, England, Italy, and other countries. They unanimously require that we get out of Gaza. In other words, they want us to not interfere with Hamas who are digging tunnels and firing rockets at us.

The whole world, not saying a word, is united against us, and us: “Where is our unity!?”

When missiles are falling on Tel Aviv, some of our people go to the streets with demonstrations against our combat with Hamas. When rioters in Paris burn shops of French Jews, American Jews protest in Manhattan with signs “Boycott Israeli Apartheid.”

HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF

History repeats itself in a horrible way. Haters of Jews are united among themselves, and the Jews are either passive, or, on the contrary, show examples of self-destructive indifference.

Before the looming Holocaust, the eminent Kabbalist of the 20^th century, Baal HaSulam asked, even begged, the Jewish people to unite, but no one listened to him. Here is what he wrote in the editorial of the first and, at the same time, last issue of HaUma (The Nation) published on June 5, 1940:

If we don’t hope for a miracle, it becomes clear that our existence—both individually and as a nation—is teetering on the scales of life and death.

If we lose time and do not rise together as one man in order to apply tremendous effort needed in the hour of danger, saving for ourselves the remaining part of Israel, then the events, happening now, will turn rampant, as the situation unfolds according to the will of our enemies, who intend to wipe us from the face of Earth.

It is also clear that the enormous efforts on the path, which lies before us and containing abundant obstacles, will require unity, firm and unbreakable as steel, of every part of our people without exception.

HOW TO UNITE

Unfortunately, few people know that Kabbalah is primarily a method of unity. Throughout history, Kabbalists united people, but there were always external and more often, internal forces that prevented this. When the idea of unity prevailed among the nation, it won, and when the nation was torn by internal contradictions, its enemies defeated it.

Today, Kabbalists are again make every effort to unite the people of Israel, and the best opportunity to experience the real power of unity are in the discussion circles that are held across the country.

With the help of the Kabbalistic method of unity, it is possible to overcome any barrier: mentality, origin, age, political views, or any other. Common efforts can overcome rejection, disagreement, and misunderstanding. We are all different, but we can become “as one man with one heart!”
Our website: http://www.kabbalah.info/
Our phone: 1-700-509-209 [Israel]
For Yes and No – Free Channel 66  [Israel]
From Sunday to Monday – 18:00-20:00: special reports dedicated to the operation “Indestructible Rock.”
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Question: What does it mean to carry out the mission of the people of Israel, to return to the religion?

Answer: This is not what is required. It is necessary only to begin to be involved with uniting the people. This is called the wisdom of Kabbalah, the wisdom of connection and unity. The wisdom of Kabbalah speaks only about this.

The wisdom of Kabbalah explains the structure of the world and the great collective system that manages it. The upper higher system of management is designed to help people understand and attain it. And it is only possible by detaching from it and learning it gradually from this state.

It is precisely due to our division, separation, and shattered state that we slightly begin to discover this higher system of conduct,“as far as light excelleth darkness,” (Ecclesiastes 2:13). This system is singular, complete, integral, and analog; we must gradually build ourselves the same way within.

The moment we connect between us in a general common “circle” where we are all are equal, where all friends help each other and are connected together with love, then the higher system begins to act in a good way towards us and helps us. Then we advance towards the good.

But Israel is at the center of all humanity, at the foundation of all religions and faiths. And so, the moment we begin to advance towards the good by uniting to be like one person with one heart, we immediately pass this good power to the whole world.

The whole world also begins to feel itself as circular, linked. Suddenly everyone understands how wonderful it is to be in connection with others and how much individuality, competition, and our thirst for money and control harms us. On the contrary, it is much better to be equal and united together.

This attitude comes rom Israel and influences the entire world. All of humanity then begins to receive a round form like this. In this manner, instead of being a negative source, Israel becomes a source of good for the whole world.

Such a task stands before us: “becoming a light to the nations.” This is the main thing that we must do.

Certainly as long as missiles are falling upon us it is necessary to fight and defend ourselves, to stop them. But we must understand that the military operation itself will not lead to any solution. Everyone already understands this. We will have no place in this world if we remain as we are.

The army is imperative until we connect among us to the degree that Hamas will eliminate its missiles and tunnels itself, thanks to our influence. They are linked with us, and through our separation within the people of Israel, we invite their fire upon us.

That is how they unconsciously are fighting with the evil found within us. And the moment we transform our evil into good and cover ourselves with love, a protective dome of love instead of the Iron Dome anti-missile system, our enemies will become friends and will also want to join us and learn from us.

They all fiercely want to be with us, but through our internal separation we reject them, send them away, and produce hatred in them, and cause all the disasters in the world.

Question: What evil are you talking about? Other people in our position would have already annihilated such hostile neighbors. Instead we are healing our enemies in our hospitals at the height of the war.

Answer: This is not what they want from us at all. Our hospitals don’t interest them at all. They want to receive a new human nature so that they will participate together with us and the whole world. Then connection and love will prevail, creating a circle of unity.
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From the program “A New Life” 7/22/14

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In the News (from GALLUP International): “WIN/Gallup International, the leading global association in market research and polling, has revealed that respondents of its global annual poll regard corruption as the most important problem facing the world today.

• Twenty-one percent (21%) of respondents globally identified corruption as the most important problem facing the world today – the highest response rate amongst the 17 categories;
• Economic problems in second place globally at 14%;
• Poverty (the gap between rich and poor) in third place globally at 12%;
• Biggest regional concerns: Asia (26%), Americas(19%) and MENA (15%) said corruption; Western Europe (24%) and Eastern Europe (20%) said poverty; Africa said economic problems (21%).
• The data was collected as part of WIN/Gallup International’s Annual 2013 poll that interviewed 66,806 people in 65 countries.
• Biggest concerns in Bulgaria: poverty/the gap between rich and poor – 23%, economic problems – 17%, unemployment – 15%, corruption – 9%, wars and conflicts – 7% and crime – 5%.”

My Comment: No one pointed out that the only problem in the world is overcoming the rejection between people, which by correcting,  we will help the world will change towards becoming beautiful. We see that this problem is not considered solvable. This means that we must make every effort to explain to people that the only solution is to create connections between people. Otherwise, no problem will be solved, and in the aggregate will bring us to war.
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In the News (from Vedomosti): “Young people from 11 to 20 year olds can be considered as Generation Z. They are characterized by the fact that they are familiar with digital technology from childhood, were born with an iPad in hand, adhere to the principle of ‘live in the present,’ preferring to spend time in pleasure and trying not to worry about anything.

“The main goal of their lives is to ‘be happy,’ which is associated with the physical and psychological comfort, personal freedom, the possibility of seeing the world. They do not want to work, but talk about the desire to fill their lives with meaning, not to live to work, but to work to live.

“This generation is a generation of consumers, whose lives are filled with advertisements. The generation that has not experienced mass unemployment and easily parts with money. They love to go to restaurants, buy gadgets.”

My Comment: Tough new global conditions will force them to think about the cause of what is happening to humanity. We are required to reveal the plan of nature to them and our participation in its realization by the good path, not through suffering.
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In the News (from Psychology Today): “A new study has confirmed that humankind’s capacity for love and friendship sets us apart from all other species. Researchers at University of Virginia have found that humans are hardwired to empathize with those close to them at a neural level.

“Interestingly, the ability to put yourselves in another person’s shoes depends drastically on whether the person is a stranger or someone you know. … Humans have evolved to have our self-identity become woven into a neural tapestry with our loved ones.”

My Comment: We are actually connected by much closer ties, so much that our thoughts, feelings, actions, all of us and in everything, we are one body—and only our egoism falsely shows us division into parts.
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In the News (from Slon): “The world is becoming more connected – 35% of goods cross borders, compared with 20% in 1990; more than a third of financial investments are international transactions; 20% of the Internet traffic is international; total trade is 36% of the global GDP (but it is still below 52% in the pre-crisis 2007). Russia was ranked 9^th out of 131 countries in the ranking of connectedness with the world economy.” 

My Comment: All reports show how everything is interconnected, although in fact, our interconnection is much greater because connections between people, cultures, and the mixing of populations are not considered.

Nature programmed further development of humankind in growing unity, and we cannot avoid this program. The more we resist it, the more we will be forced to obey it through more suffering. The laws of nature are inevitable.

In previous stages of development (evolution), nature developed matter from still to vegetative to animate. We also belong to the animate part of nature because we developed unconsciously. But on the next degree of “the speaking human being” (Adam – from the word “domeh,” similar to nature, the Creator), we have to rise consciously, attracting the force of nature on our own accord.

In this way we become equal to it, as partners, rather than those who instinctively follow its orders from within. The wisdom of Kabbalah talks of how to rise to the next stage of development. That is why it was hidden until our time, waiting for the end of our instinctive  (unconscious ) development.
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In the News (from Freedom House): “The 2014 World Press Freedom Index spotlights the negative impact of conflicts on freedom of information and its protagonists. The ranking of some countries has also been affected by a tendency to interpret national security needs in an overly broad and abusive manner to the detriment of the right to inform and be informed. This trend constitutes a growing threat worldwide and is even endangering freedom of information in countries regarded as democracies. … This year’s index covers 180 countries, one more than last year.

“Russia (148^th) might have been lower in the index had it not been for the stubbornness and resistance shown by its civil society. But the authorities keep on intensifying the crackdown begun when Vladimir Putin returned to the Kremlin in 2012 and are exporting their model throughout the former Soviet Union. From Ukraine (127^th, unchanged) and Azerbaijan (160^th, -3) to Central Asia, Russia’s repressive legislation and communications surveillance methods are happily copied.”

My Comment: The media has compromised itself with its openness to bribery, so that no one believes in what it conveys. Everyone knows who is behind (pays for) each edition, channel, etc. Therefore, there is no freedom of speech, as there is no truth in what they want to convey. What is sold and conveyed is what is beneficial for their buyers.

In addition, the level of education and erudition of the majority of journalists is far from the level required for the presentation of current information. As a result, no one will suffer from greater restrictions of such media.
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In the News (from RH Reality Check): “Focusing on finding ways to save premature babies, Japanese professor Dr. Yoshinori Kuwabara of Juntendo University, has successfully gestated goat embryos in a machine that holds amniotic fluid in tanks.  On the other end of the process focusing on helping women unable to conceive and gestate babies, is Dr. Helen Hung-Ching Liu, Director of the Reproductive Endocrine Laboratory at the Center for Reproductive Medicine and Infertility at Cornell University. Quietly, in 2003, she and her team succeeded in growing a mouse embryo, almost to full term, by adding engineered endometrium tissue to a bio-engineered, extra-uterine ‘scaffold.’ More recently, she grew a human embryo, for ten days in an artificial womb. Her work is limited by legislation that imposes a 14-day limit on research project of this nature.  As complicated as it is, her goal is a functioning external womb.”

My Comment: As long as we have not reached the intention to do everything for the sake of the whole of humanity, above our egoism, all we do brings us to the deepening of the crisis and increased suffering.
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