God created us in His image and likeness. But where does the certainty come from that He worked in a realistic manner? (Stanislaw Jerzy Lec)

Comment: A person’s understanding of the phrase “created in His image and likeness” is exactly that, according to His image and likeness. You know, like how Shishkin painted, Peredvizhniki…

My Response: That is incorrect. What within us resembles the Creator? Besides our desires and intentions, which we can correct and bring to similarity with the Creator, nothing else within us can be similar to the Creator.

Question: Please tell me, if He created us in His image and likeness, should we still strive to reach this after all?

Answer: Yes.

Comment: And He laid out a long road for us, for millennia humanity has been traveling it.

My Response: It seems to us that it is a long road. But in reality, it is not long. No. Man was created to understand, accept, and then actualize.

Question: To become like the Creator?

Answer: Yes.

Question: If it were possible to ask from the Creator’s perspective, are we already in that state or not?

Answer: Time does not exist for the Creator. Past, present, and future are one.

Question: If it could be said that He sees, what does He see?

Answer: He sees everything in the state we should be in.

Question: Already in the completed state?

Answer: Yes, of course.

Question: We speak of the “united soul,” is this Him and the united soul of humanity?

Answer: Yes.

Comment: And we, from our side.

My Response: And we, from our side, must move toward this from below upward. And that is why our path is long.

Question: With all these descents, ascents, and so on, but is it necessary for there to be falls and rises? Is all this necessary?

Answer: It is for the realization of the path.

Question: So, the entire purification process is exactly along this path?

Answer: Yes.

Question: And if the path were smooth?

Answer: We would not have formed into what we are supposed to become. We must fully desire to become like the Creator.
[333638]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 7/15/24

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There is not a single prayer since the world was created through the end of the world, that is similar to another whatsoever (The Ari).

Question: People have been coming together around prayer. Today, “prayer” is the most searched word on Google and everywhere else. Can you explain why every prayer is unique even if they sound similar, with the same words and prayer books?

Answer: It stems from the person’s desire, their aspiration, their urgent need.

Question: Even if they read it from a prayer book?

Answer: Even if they read from a prayer book. They do not see the words.

Question: So it comes from somewhere else?

Answer: It comes from the heart.

Question: So every time we read the same word, we read it in a completely different way?

Answer: Yes, differently.

Question: If I realize that every prayer is unique, what changes in me?

Answer: You read it differently each time. Every day a person is different. And so even when repeating the same words and the same paragraphs, they do not experience the same thing. Each time it moves forward in a spiral.

Question: If I realize: “Yes, every prayer is unique,” do I change then?

Answer: Yes.

Question: So I put a different power into the prayer?

Answer: In any case, you change.

Question: Does the answer from the Creator come only to me or not?

Answer: The answer from the Creator comes only to you. But in order to feel, understand, and accept it, you need to learn how to do that.

Comment: You often say that this answer should not be shared with others, and you should not say: “I received such and such an answer,” and so on.

Answer: Yes.

Question: Why, can you explain?

Answer: Because a person has their own personal, cherished desire; they want to realize it, and other people can interfere with that, even their closest ones.

Question: So if I say it, could there be an evil eye on me?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Is there such a concept as the evil eye?

Answer: There is envy. That is the evil eye.

Question: Your advice?

Answer: My advice is to keep your aspirations to yourself and direct them only to the Creator.

Question: There is a written prayer and there is my prayer, spoken from the heart. Which is stronger, which is better?

Answer: In the end, the written prayer that you read and live through is still better.
[333541]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 7/29/24

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We told each other even before getting married that we did not want to bring children into this world. We are two lonely souls who found each other and who understand that the world is terrible. We decided that we would live for each other. But now I am writing to you being five months pregnant. It is too late for abortion. We agonized over the decision, whether to go through with it or not, and now I will be giving birth. Yet, we both do not understand how we got here. (From a letter to Dr Laitman)

Answer: You were brought to this.

My first question is: how could this happen to us? We clearly did not want this.

Answer: Many people would not want children, but life itself pushes them to conceive a child.

Question: When you say “life itself,” are you hinting at someone or something?

Answer: I am hinting at the fact that nature made us this way, and that is why we end up here.

Question: So resistance is futile?

Answer: There are people who consciously, even excessively, build such boundaries around themselves saying “We do not want this and that is final.” There are societies like that too.

Question: Who forces a person to cross this boundary? Is this, in principle, also something that happens from above?

Answer: Yes.

Question: So you do not understand how it happened, but that means you were closed off in that moment?

Answer: Yes.

How can we protect our future child from this world? What can we do, how can we raise him so that he is not touched by this dirt?

Answer: I don’t know. Raise him well and give him a good education, a reliable profession. That is all.

Question: When you say “raise him well,” what do you mean by that?

Answer: Raise him well means knowing how to relate to people in a way that elicits positive reactions from them. That is it.

Question: Is that what you mean, not education, but upbringing specifically?

Answer: Yes, upbringing.

Question: What advice can you give to a couple who finds themselves in a situation where their decisions and plans have changed and they are expecting a child?

Answer: Solve all these problems together.

Question: And go for it?

Answer: Go for it. How else? Work through it together and support each other. And they will see that this shared child actually connects them and gives them a new chapter in life, in existence.

Question: So this becomes their new life, right?

Answer: Yes.

Question: What is the best way to deal with anxiety about a future child? This is more of a general advice for others. There is anxiety about a future child, not wanting to give birth. How do you deal with this anxiety?

Answer: This is natural. You need to give birth, you need to raise the child and do everything you can. And gradually, you will see yourself one day as a mature person, a grandparent.

Question: What practical steps can be taken right now during pregnancy to create a safe environment for the child? Because this is something that worries them constantly.

Answer: The most important thing is for the child to understand life. This means understanding why a person exists, how they should behave, which people to avoid, which to get closer to, and so on. In other words, teach them how to interact correctly with this world.

Question: You are giving some very simple, vital, wise advice. Stay away from certain people, get closer to others, try to love others so that they love you. Is that the main thing in upbringing?

Answer: Of course! What else could there be?

Question: How is it that nowadays there are so many people being raised completely differently? That is, people who are filled with hatred…

Answer: You should not raise your children that way because it will only make their lives harder. Hatred eats away at a person.

Question: You do not watch much television, I know. But today, all these channels, YouTube and others are full of fights where people hit each other hard, on the back of the head, wherever. Then, all these movies are packed with strong people who twist others and so on. That is, there is a completely different process of upbringing, more and more, not to love and be loved.

Is this a demand today? Do people want this, do they watch this?

Answer: I think it is not so much a demand as they are being pumped full of it. And of course, this will only make things worse for people.

Question: If we’re talking about raising a child, is it advisable to keep them away from this?

Answer: Yes.

Question: To the point of shielding them from seeing it?

Answer: Of course. What is the point?

Question: There is no point?

Answer: None.
[333226]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 7/29/24

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I asked God to punish my enemy. And God said to me, “No. He is destined to become your best friend” (Author Unknown).

Question: What should a person ask for if there is an enemy in front of him? How can it not be asking for help to destroy it? Please explain.

Answer: I don’t think it is necessary to ask for it, of course.

Comment: But this is an enemy.

My Response: This is only if it is a global enemy.

Question: Who wants to destroy me?

Answer: Not just me, but in general, to destroy everything around me.

Question: The Creator answers here: “He is destined to be your best friend.” If I keep this in mind even though I have an enemy in front of me, what is going on then, can you tell?

Answer: You are slowly adjusting to the fact that you can get closer to him.

Question: Is this the right way?

Answer: Yes.

Question: That is, over this hatred, over this whole situation, what he has done to me, I kind of forget everything and say: “You will be my friend”?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Can this be called a prayer?

Answer: Yes, it is a prayer, and it will happen.
[332398]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 7/1/24

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I asked God to spare me and my loved ones pain.
And God said: “No.”
He said it is not for Him to take away, but for me to give up. …

I asked God to spare me pain,
And God said, “No.”
He said, “Suffering draws you apart from worldly
cares and brings you closer to Me.” (Claudia Minden Weisz, “And God Said,’No’”)

Question: These quotes seem to say that God does not give direct answers to straightforward questions. He does not say: “Take it, please.” He says: “No, you have to do it yourself.” Is this our work?

Answer: Yes, this is our work.

Question: So does He constantly give us work? He does not give us direct gifts, right?

Answer: He specifically created obstacles for us. After all, egoism is the main obstacle.

Comment: Here a person asks to be freed from pain. Is pain necessary.

My Response: Yes, of course! If there were no pain, you cannot imagine what we could do!

Comment: But when I am in pain, I naturally ask: “Free me from pain!”

My Response: That is exactly what is needed—for you to feel the pain and ask.

Question: Is this called rising above the pain?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Is it possible to reach a state where one does not feel pain at all?

Answer: If you could foresee and know in advance how to act, you would not act in a way that causes pain.

Question: So is it possible to rise above the pain somehow?

Answer: I think that through internal efforts a person can rise above all illnesses.
[332796]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 7/1/24

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In the News (“The Internet’s Final Frontier: Remote Amazon Tribes,” The New York Times):

The Marubo people have long lived in communal huts scattered hundreds of miles along the Ituí River deep in the Amazon rainforest. They speak their own language, take ayahuasca to connect with forest spirits and trap spider monkeys to make soup or keep as pets.

They have preserved this way of life for hundreds of years through isolation — some villages can take a week to reach. But since September, the Marubo have had high-speed internet thanks to Elon Musk. …

The New York Times traveled deep into the Amazon to visit Marubo villages to understand what happens when a tiny, closed civilization suddenly opens to the world. …

Question: What was Elon Musk thinking?

Answer: Elon Musk was thinking about how to sell more to earn more for himself.

Question: So he was thinking about his business?

Answer: Yes.

Question: And what happens when we provide primitive tribes with modern technologies? What does this leap do to them?

Answer: Nothing!

Question: Does it not kill them?

Answer: No. It is like you put something tasty on their plate, and not even on a plate. That is it. They take only the amount they understand what it is.

Question: So you think that their innate primitiveness remains as it is?

Answer: It stays with them, and there will be no acceleration of their development.

Question: Then there is a question. The fact that children are spoiled as the elderly claim, constantly glued to the Internet, stuck in porn sites, and so on, what do you think this will do to the future of this generation? After all, they will no longer shoot monkeys, walk serenely, drink this potion, and call spirits.

Answer: Nothing good will happen. They will get uglier.

Question: They will remain just as primitive, but will be uglier?

Answer: Of course.

Question: So you do not abandon your point of view that they will remain primitive?

Answer: Primitiveness requires very proper care. That is, it is necessary to gradually, in small portions supply them with correct segments of science, literature, art, with everything that can fill them.

Otherwise, they will naturally follow their innate animal instincts. It is the same with us. They will pull out what belongs to them from there.

Question: Can you tell me how all these transformations took place in that case, from the primitive to the slave-owning system?

Answer: The society gradually changes and it gives the younger generations what it considers necessary.

Question: And in this way the slave system arises from the primitive-communal system?

Answer: Yes, it happens gradually. But there were no particular atrocities there. It was all natural for them. It was a natural transition.

Question: We talk about desire all the time. You claim that these primitive people retained the same desire?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Then how did all the transitions from the primitive-communal system to the slave-owning system occur? Did desires change over time?

Answer: Of course. Gradually higher demands began to awaken in them. And in this way they enriched themselves with new knowledge and new services. This is how it all happens.

Question: So we have reached the present time, as it is. Our desire has undergone many changes. What will push us further? And where will we push ourselves next?

Answer: I think that at the end of the day, we will see that everything we have wanted to achieve does not bring us anything good. It does not bring us any special benefits; we get nothing.

Question: And what will it give us?

Answer: For this we will have to work and very gradually develop.

Question: Still gradually?

Answer: Of course. There will be no leap.

Question: So we should not wait for it? That is, the fruit must ripen after all?

Answer: Of course. Why do you need all these leaps and speeding up?

Comment: We want it to be faster.

My Response: Why?

Question: You mean that we have to follow the path of development?

Answer: Of course.

Question: Are you against any revolutions?

Answer: Revolution is suicide. Just look at how children develop. Would you agree to give them some pills so that they develop faster?

Comment: No, we want them to develop as children should.

My Response: Yes, this is the only way.

Question: Is it the same with us?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Do we have to agree with this course of life?

Answer: Yes, this is the greatest wisdom.

Question: And this is the most difficult thing?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Why doesn’t a person want to agree with this? One really does not want to.

Answer: It seems to him that all the good will come tomorrow. But in fact, if you are ready for this “tomorrow,” then let it come to you today. However, as a rule, we are not ready for this.

Question: Is everything really good today? Can we live with it like this?

Answer: No, all the stages and steps by which we develop are necessary for us. Without it, we will not be worthy of what we receive. In general, we must agree with what nature does to us in quantity and quality.
[331892]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 6/17/24

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Everything is ruled by chance. If only we knew who rules chance (Jerzy Stanislav Lec).

My Response: Actually, it is incorrect that chance is above all.

Comment: But he says: “If only we knew who rules chance.”

My Response: Chance is ruled by idea of the Creator, the path of the Creator. And what else do you need to know about this?

Question: So you need to know that there are no accidents in life?

Answer: Of course.

Question: There are no accidents in life?

Answer: None.

Comment: Everything that happens to me, all encounters, marriages, divorces, everything.

My Response: Everything, everything, absolutely everything! Everything you want is not accidental.

Question: And all these paths–where do they lead to?

Answer: To the realization that a person is under the Creator.

Question: And what does this realization give me? Here I am under the Creator. Let’s say I even felt it in my heart and with all my fibers. What does this give me?

Answer: Cling to Him and do not let go like a little child.

Question: That’s it, just like a child clings to mom!  The child wraps his arms and legs around mom and holds on like that. And what will happen if I can suddenly do this?

Answer: You can be sure that nothing will happen to you.

Question: This is my complete safety?

Answer: Yes.
[332580]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 7/1/24

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I asked God to grant me patience. God said, No. Patience is a byproduct of tribulations; it isn’t granted, it is learned (Claudia Minden Weisz, “And God Said ‘No’”).

Question: How can one learn patience?

Answer: You cannot learn it directly.

Question: How then?

Answer: You learn it from your own life.

Question: So when I keep trying and trying, do I at some point reach a state of “What is happening to me? Do I need to start living differently?”

Answer: No, you just change, and that is all.

Question: Do I change and become more patient?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Do you consider yourself a patient person?

Answer: Today, maybe yes.

Comment: You used to be fiery.

My Response: Yes.

Question: Does it come with experience?

Answer: With experience, with years, with suffering, with old age.

Question: So is it correct that patience is not granted, but learned?

Answer: Yes.
[332683]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 7/1/24

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Question: As we know, American universities are rocked by anti-Israel demonstrations. We are disliked at American universities, particularly prestigious ones: New York University, Yale, Columbia, Harvard, UC LA, UC Berkeley, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Michigan, etc.

In other words, at expensive universities where well-to-do, intelligent, thoughtful students study, anti-Israel sentiment flourishes, that is one thing. But at the same time, as has been the case throughout the centuries, there are strange accusations about everything you can imagine. How does this align with intelligence, development, and sophistication?

Answer: It aligns very simply because one has nothing to do with the other. There can be very serious, educated, intelligent, well-rounded people, and at the same time regarding Israel and the Jews, they…

Comment: Will repeat the most terrible, most absurd rumors about leprosy, poisoning wells, and so on.

My Response: Exactly. They will repeat anything you can think of.

Question: Can you explain what this is? How do all these absurd accusations align with a person’s intellect and reason?

Answer: They do not fall within the same domain as human reason. Completely different centers are activated, and a person begins to shift to a completely different mindset and starts listening to and believing what they are told.

Comment: Predominantly, the sponsors of these universities are Jews and Jewish organizations. In principle, both the administrators of these universities and the students understand that they would not have scholarships, for example, if Jews stopped supporting these universities. There would be no salaries for teachers, and so on. What is happening to reason here? It is like I am biting the hand that gives.

My Response: No, I do not think they are so afraid that these donors will stop funding them.

Comment: Really, even though they declare that they do not want to accept donations from anyone connected with Israel?

My Response: They wish to “cleanse” themselves.

Question: Is this above money, above everything?

Answer: Yes. They think that this call will affect those who are still donors, and they will give even more to show that they belong to a different kind of people.

Question: Are you hinting at Jews now?

Answer: Yes, at Jews of course.

Question: So Jews will pay for anti-Israel propaganda?

Answer: Of course.

Question: Where is the logic here? We keep circling around this, that there is no logic here either.

Answer: There is no need for logic.

Question: What am I “cleansing” myself of? I continue to pay to Harvard University, let’s say, I am a Jew…

Answer: Yes. You think this is a good university, and it produces good specialists, and you are for pluralism.

Question: I see. So I am for democracy, freedom, and so on, right?

Answer: Yes.

Comment: Now please tell me. I am Jewish, I am studying at this university. Everything around me is full of posters and demands for the destruction of Israel.

My Response: It does not affect you; you walk with your nose held high and do not notice these posters.

Question: Is this me, a Jewish student?

Answer: Yes.

Question: But is this a good situation? I mean, I go on and still feel like a Jew, and I go…

Answer: I don’t know how you feel like a Jew. Even if you feel like a Jew, you must show where you agree and disagree with the Jews.

Question: So I can even join them?

Answer: Yes of course. Absolutely!

Question: Tell me, is there a connection? If I continue studying at this university, does it mean that I support all this anti-Israel fuss there?

Answer: No, not necessarily.

Question: But I continue studying there? Is that right? Or should I leave this university in protest?

Answer: You are asking me about completely different things now.

Question: Yes, it is a different area. I am asking you what is the right thing to do?

Answer: I believe that Jews should not be in such universities. They are exposed to a direction of hatred that will force them to renounce their Jewish identity.

Question: Then tell me, do you think Jewish sponsors should withdraw from these universities?

Answer: Of course!

Question: How do you think Israel should fight this?

Answer: I don’t think Israel can fight it. It is just a phase. I hope that someday it will pass, although it is still unknown when. But if Jews start leaving these places, others will feel it in their wallets, in the support, in everything.

Question: So, you think if you feel it in your wallet, in your salary, in the fact that the university is becoming poorer, your brain will start to work?

Answer: Of course.

Question: So should Jews leave such universities both as sponsors and students?

Answer: Yes.

Question: They should not support them in any way?

Answer: In no way.

Comment: All right. I see that graduates from these universities: Yale, Harvard, and so on will be leading the country in 10 to 15 years. That is definitely in America.

My Response: Yes.

Comment: So in 10 to 15 to 20 years America will no longer support Israel in any way.

My Response: Probably.

Question: Will Israel be able to exist without this support on its own?

Answer: It is certainly difficult. But here arises the question of the survival of the State. I believe we need to turn to the upper force, to the Creator.

Comment: You are saying it will be difficult.

My Response: It will be difficult.

Question: It will be difficult and therefore we must turn to the upper authority?

Answer: Yes.

Question: In principle, this is where things are heading?

Answer: Yes.

Comment: As I see it, America will eventually become anti-Israel. We understand about Europe, too, that it will also abandon Israel. In one way or another, looking at the future, Israel remains alone. That means Israel must become a kind of fortress.

Answer: Yes.

Question: How can it become this fortress?

Answer: By firmly standing its ground.

Question: And what is my Israeli ground?

Answer: It is that I unite around our goal and bring the people closer to the Creator.

Question: What is our goal, the goal of the people of Israel?

Answer: The goal is to explain to the entire world the method, the intention, and the purpose of the existence of humanity.

Question: What is it?

Answer: To attain the upper force.

Question: Is that the goal?

Answer: Yes.

Question: So must the people of Israel unite around this goal and stand as one?

Answer: Yes and then, no matter what happens, they will stand strong.

Comment: And all these enemies around us, and everything they will do…

My Response: There will be none…

Question: So if we connect to the upper, our security is guaranteed?

Answer: That is why we are placed in such conditions.

Question: So you just said that America, Europe, and our surroundings are being pushed from above to make us turn to the upper?

Answer: Yes that is what is said and what is written.

Question: Without such suffering, is it possible to turn to the Creator through reason or heart without being pressured?

Answer: No, it is impossible.

Comment: You have a very firm rule: you always say that without these sufferings no progress is possible.

My Response: No.

Question: So are you a materialist here? Are you saying this material must be squeezed?

Answer: Yes.

Comment: And only then will it…

My Response: Start to move.

Question: Is the movement the address to the Creator?

Answer: Yes.

Question: What do we say? How do we address the Creator?

Answer: We ask for help. Help us unite. Help us be stronger. Not stronger than anyone else, but just by ourselves. We do not need strength to oppress anyone. We need strength to counter our own egoism. Then everything will fall into place.
[333143]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 7/29/24

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Comment: Stanisław Jerzy Lec escaped from a concentration camp twice. The first time he escaped, he was caught. The second time he escaped, he was caught again and was given a shovel and told, “Dig your own grave.” He used that shovel to kill the guard, dressed in his clothes, and escaped for good. The rest of his fate is known to us. He came to the Land of Israel, then went back to Poland where he experienced various sufferings, anti-Semitism, and so on. But at the same time, he wrote amazing things.

Please comment on his statement:

“People are lonely because instead of building bridges, they build walls.”

Question: It is so sad and accurate! Tell me, we are always looking for a cure for loneliness, ministers of loneliness, and so on. He writes: “We need to build bridges, and everything will be fine.” Why do we build walls?

Answer: We cannot tolerate each other.

Question: So it is better to build a wall?

Answer: Of course. And a wall is not just a limitation from me but for me as well.

Question: So when I am physically next to someone, I cannot adapt to them, it is hard for me to build bridges. But we should, right?

Answer: Yes. But how? I have not learned how to do this. I just see over the years that only life, as explained by the Torah, will probably lead to this.

Question: Only follow the Torah?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Then can you say in one sentence what it means to follow the Torah?

Answer: Always, little by little, getting closer to everyone.

Question: To everyone? To enemies, to non-enemies?

Answer: Absolutely everyone.

Question: What happens to me then?

Answer: It changes you. It changes your DNA.

Question: Even my whole genetics?

Answer: Yes, all your genetics.

Question: So, just keep aiming in that direction?

Answer: Yes.
[332468]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 7/1/24

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