Question: Today Israeli society has become divided between those who are for judicial reform and those against judicial reform, those on the right and those on the left. Demonstrations that demand a change of government are taking place, and so on.

I am concerned about the issue of the army. We have reservists who are essentially the backbone of the army. There are special units and pilots, those who continue to serve with consent and willingness after completing their regular service.

And now for the first time, certain incidents have started happening where they refuse to serve. They say they don’t want to serve under a dictatorship. It’s all related to judicial reform with which they disagree.
In your opinion, do they have the right to do this or not?

Answer: I think this is a problem in all armies around the world.

Comment: But still, I’m considering the fact that we have a unique army. After all, it’s a defensive army. We are a small piece of land where every person is important and has his or her place, and suddenly they expose the front.

My Response: Yes, I believe that the army should be above everything because life is above everything, and then we can deal with the rest.

Question: So do you mean that a person’s life comes first?

Answer: Yes, and the life of the state as well.

Comment: And we are specifically here to protect the lives of people and the state. And if they revolt from within and say, “This is a dictatorship. I don’t want to serve under this regime. I want a change.”

My Response: They are obligated to protect people’s lives!

Question: Another question is if an incident were to occur, and considering that we are still in constant wars, from the government’s or the army’s perspective, do you think they should call these officers back or not?

Answer: They should call them back. There should be no leniency, no postponement, nothing! Everyone has their place, and everyone should be in their place.

Question: What do you think a person feels when he exposes the front? Why can he do it today? In the past I would never have thought of such a thing. In the past they all served willingly; it was a duty. But today they can suddenly say such things and suddenly expose the front. What do they feel when doing that?

Answer: I can’t even say. I have a very clear opinion about it.

Question: Do you remember how it was in your time? I know you served in the technical support units of aviation. That’s the most serious part of our army.

What was the feeling then? It’s called miluim, those who serve after the army until the age of forty and beyond. Did they have a strong sense of duty?

Answer: Of course. There was no question about it.

Question: What do you think has changed over the years?

Answer: Decline! Simply a decline because personal interests have become more important than national interests.

Question: Is this what you constantly say, that egoism is growing?

Answer: Yes, and it is even worse. It means that a person starts to prioritize their own opinion over the existence of the state.

Question: What do you think awaits us if this continues?

Answer: I think that in this way society will find a new worldview system.

Question: So do you see a positive aspect in this as well?

Answer: Where else can it go? If this weren’t going on with the Jews, we could talk about a civil war. But here I think it won’t come to that anymore.

Question: In your opinion, what kind of army will protect and see this as a great privilege? What should there be?

Answer: There should be an internal restructuring of society—the army, political parties, and the entire state.

Those people who consider the state their own should understand that they are mutually obligated here. There is no escaping that.

Comment: It’s interesting that our enemies, who in principle surround us and do not wish for the state to exist, do not force us into a rigid position where you cannot leave the army—it’s your post, you are obligated! Something has happened.

My Response: Their concept is different, new. They believe that gradually over time we will disintegrate on our own.

Comment: Yes. Hezbollah, our neighbor to the north, says that they can calmly deal with us now that we have internal discord and instability.

My Response: Yes. Today, thanks to our neighbors, the army should be strong, and everyone understands this more or less. And to some extent we can allow ourselves to argue and debate. But we must understand that there is a border and our life is within it. So thanks to our neighbors who keep us on our toes!
[317482]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 3/30/23

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In the News (Voice of Europe): “A unique retreat in Edinburgh, Scotland, known as the ‘Big Kid Kindergarten,’ has opened its doors for adults seeking to relive their childhood days. This establishment allows grown-ups to immerse themselves in a world of building blocks, arts and crafts, sandbox games and story sessions, offering them a temporary escape from adult responsibilities.

Can I do that? Or will we, burdened with our whole life, not be able to do this; will we not be freed like this?

Answer: I would not be able to sit in a sandbox.

Comment: Most likely I would not either, but I would really like to.

My Response: No. I am satisfied with my life and what the Creator has brought me to. I want only one thing—to achieve what I must according to His plan and that is it. I would be completely satisfied with that.

Question: You are a lucky man! You have discovered everything perfectly and you hit this point precisely.

But for people who are tired, exhausted from searching and being under the burden of responsibility and worries, to be able to go to this kindergarten, sit and play with each other, do you think this is good?

Answer: I cannot imagine how to live in Edinburgh. I know this city well.

Question: This city has reached kindergartens. So can they do this? Do you think there is a type of person who can leave everything behind and go play for a day?

Answer: Yes, this is for them. This is good.

Question: For a person who needs some kind of therapeutic practice to relieve stress, is it good to be able to do this?

Answer: Why not? If this satisfies a person and gets him calmer, we must guide him to terrible questions of existence so that he does not know where to turn to, and only after falling from this height to find himself with the right answer to the question: “What do I live for?” No.

Question: So you would put him in the kindergarten? If he feels good there, let him be in the kindergarten?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Children usually make contact with others easily. Children play, sit in the sandbox, and new kids join in. Can this lead to establishing more contacts between us if we put adults, conflicting individuals, in kindergarten?

Answer: It will no longer be called “kindergarten,” but some kind of psychological institution.

Question: We play adult games now—wars and so on. If we somehow manage to change to children’s games, to make it happen with the same passion, is it possible or not? Maybe there is a solution in this?

Answer: This is the game, what we are doing with wars and such. This is the very game.

Question: Can it be shifted into children’s games so that there are no victims, no blood, no hatred?

Answer: It would not be exciting.

Comment: That is the whole problem.

My Response: What can you do?

Question: Is there no way to put them in kindergarten and let them fight it out there?

Answer: No! You cannot make grown-ups children completely.

Question: You just called them adult children. Is it not a slip of the tongue? Do adult children grow up like this?

Answer: Yes. They have to grow up, but they can only grow up if they cover themselves and each other with serious bruises.

Question: How can these adults be calmed down?

Answer: There is no need to calm them down. We need to exhaust them so they do not know where to run or find any kind of reassurance. We need to wear them out until their heads spin, they wobble as they walk, constantly feel like they are about to fall, and they do not know what to do.

Question: What would that achieve? We are talking about adults playing games.

Answer: This is fear of the next moment of your life. This is an important point.

Question: Do you mean that fear should be instilled in an adult?

Answer: We must even impose it so everyone is afraid for their lives.

Question: What will come of it?

Answer: One will reason more sensibly and plan the next step. This is better than being calm.

Question: Can this be done at the state level?

Answer: On the global level. That is, from one person, to many people, to the whole world.

Question: Can this stop all the madness that exists?

Answer: Certainly. I think we will come to this.

Question: But how can we do it? How can we wear someone out?

Answer: With horror stories, but only good ones, that is, with smart stories that explain where one is, what he is in, and how this leads him to a state where he will not find peace neither today nor tomorrow, before death or after death. That is the main thing. Because he thinks: “Well, at most I will die.” No, it does not end there. He will want to rise above death.

After all, we will explain to him that it does not end there. Therefore, you need to find a way out, how to deal with this situation. That is the main thing.

Question: And then one will think of how to take the next step?

Answer: Then, yes. I believe that without the fear of death, an ordinary person will not be able to live correctly. But there are those who do not care, who even before their death, before all this, want to know, learn, and reveal. For such people, everything is open. I am all for it.

Question: Is this how a person should feel?

Answer: It depends, of course, on the root of the soul. I don’t think this is for everyone, but it should be open to everyone.

Question: In that case, what game should we play?

Answer: We must understand that revealing the meaning of life is the most important thing we need in this life. That is all.
[317723]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 8/24/23

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Comment: The Day of Atonement is coming—Yom Kippur. I would like to talk about it precisely this year when you see everything that is happening in the world.

My Response: I think the world should at least already feel the need for this.

Question: So, after all, the Day of Atonement is special this year? It is believed that this is one of the most important holidays in Judaism. It is when people read prayers of repentance, ask for forgiveness, and generally prepare for the fact that the seal will be placed in the Book of Life. And, as I understand it, you are now going to say that it is an important day for the world too?

Answer: For everyone.

Comment: This holiday is always perceived with some awe. At least here in Israel everything stops. Silence, religious, non–religious, everyone is in some way afraid, let’s say trembling, facing this day. Tell us a little about this holiday.

My Response: Actually, it is hard to call it a “holiday” because a holiday is something fun, light, and bright. I think that Yom Kippur is precisely that: a Day of Atonement, when we can really rejoice that we are able to redeem ourselves.

Question: So it is still a joy?

Answer: Joy, this is a day of joy. And then, I do not know how people actually celebrate this day. It seems to me that they should, of course, be scrutinizing themselves. As it is said that a person should think about how he lived throughout this year, how he aspired to be kind, to do good, to be a conduit of the good Creator in the world.

Question: Is it desirable for a person to think about this on this holiday?

Answer: One should, yes. I think that ordinary people, in principle, are not so immersed in evil; therefore, there is nothing to fear from in the Day of Judgment. What can they be judged for? Evil was born before man, evil, envy, and other negative qualities. So, a man is a man. What else can be said about him?

Question: Please tell me then, what is this holiday for?

Answer: I think that this holiday is most likely about a person thinking about why he was created in this way. And how he would like to correct himself a little. Although creation is the creation of the Creator, let’s assume that a person has the opportunity to correct himself a little. How would he do it, in what way?

Question: That is, his intention is in some way for good, for warmth, for love?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Then why does he ask for forgiveness? There are a lot of prayers; this is called Slichot. “I am sorry! I am sorry!” All the time “I am sorry!” To forgive what if man was created this way?

Answer: I am sorry that You made me so nasty, mean, insignificant, and harmful, that I bring only evil and misfortune to everyone. And I ask You very much, help me straighten up, improve, and be at least a little better.

Question: That is, man’s aspirations are not to ruin another, but on the contrary, to nevertheless become better?

Answer: I think that if a person would seriously think about everything that happens to him, how he was created, and what he could be, then he would ask for correction of what God created in him.

Question: There is such text in the prayer of the Day of Atonement; it is very vivid. “And all creatures will fear You, that is, the Creator, and all created ones will prostrate before You, and they will form a single union to do Your will with all their hearts.”

Explain please, is it still necessary to be afraid?

Answer: The fact is that it is very difficult for us to understand this imbalance between the absolutely good Creator and the absolutely evil person created by the same good Creator. Why? It is in order for a person to realize the reason for such creation and to want to be like the Creator.

Question: What is the reason?

Answer: The only thing is to want to be like the Creator.

Question: So I am so far away from Him and I want to be like Him?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Am I intentionally far away from Him?

Answer: Initially.

Question: And then “they will be afraid of You”—what does that mean?

Answer: This is already an appeal to the Creator. When people feel that all this comes from You so that they will be afraid and beg You for correction.

Question: And when it is said “and they will prostrate themselves before the Creator,” what does it mean?

Answer: They will wish to subjugate to the good inclination of the Creator.

Question: “And all created beings will prostrate before the Creator and form a single union to do Your will with all their hearts.” What is this—this last part?

Answer: This is when everyone will help others so that everyone together will be in goodness and in love for the Creator and for everyone.

Question: What is the peculiarity of today’s Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, for you? How do you feel?

Answer: We see that the world is not getting better, that is for sure. People are not getting better; they are just tired. They are tired of this world, of this life, and of what is happening to them; they see that there is nothing good in the future for children, and therefore, it is impossible to slander a person. This is him, he was created that way: an evil, indifferent person.

Comment: And you do not slander a person.

My Response: I do not slander either the person or the Creator. It is just a given that we must clearly realize and then begin to ask—ask for the correction of a person and the whole world.

We still need to realize that this evil is a consequence of our relationship with each other. We cannot rise above ourselves in order to wish well for everyone. We cannot. This is the reason for our impatience with each other and everything that happens to us.

I hope that these recent events, the fact that we are now discussing what is happening to the world, to a person, to each of us, I hope that they will eventually lead to the realization that we need to correct this world. And it depends only on our desires.

I think that the Creator deliberately unravels all this in front of us so that we realize the need for changes.

Question: Can we not wait for this Day of Atonement, but do it during the day, do it now, suddenly decide and do it? Is it possible?

Answer: Of course! We do not have to wait for anything.

Comment: But people usually wait for this day, prepare for it.

My Response: They postpone, it is not good. We should consider every day as a day suitable for apology, for redemption, so that we change our attitude toward everyone and everything. It all depends on us.

Question: One more question: what is this holiday for the world? We started with the fact that Jews have such a holiday, a very special one. And what does this holiday mean for the world?

Answer: It means nothing to the world. Most people do not know what it is about at all. And it doesn’t mean much to Jews either because they think they are afraid, they each care for themselves and not for everyone.

Question: Should there be a thought for the whole world, for everyone?

Answer: Absolutely for everyone! Good, bad, all people. Not even just people, but for the whole world, for everything that exists. It should be a universal thought and a universal prayer of everyone and everything. This is the Day of Atonement.

The Creator has specially given us such conditions so that we feel the need for our change toward the world.

Question: What would you wish people on this day?

Answer: Only to realize that they can change this world for the better through their appeals to the Creator, to each other. I do not wish anything else for them. And I hope that they will eventually understand.

Because, in principle, such serious actions are coming, sensation that the world will have to realize the personal participation of each and everyone in why the world is like this.
[318246]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 9/18/23

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When your child earns his first money for ice cream, do the following:
1. Before he has a chance to lick his ice cream, snatch it from him and bite off 20%.
2. While your child stares at you in amazement, take another 30% bite.
Then give him the rest of the ice cream and explain that this is what the state does with all the money someone earns. And this will be the case with every ice cream he buys for himself. And that the percentage of the bite can be reduced by grabbing the biter by the hand and demanding to know why they are taking so many bites.

If every parent does this, there is hope that a generation of people will grow up in this country who will understand that the government does not have its own money—it only has taxpayer money. And that taxpayers not only can but should, monitor how government officials spend their money. (Unverified attribution to Margaret Thatcher)

Question: What do you think about this way of educating a citizen? That from a childhood prepare to be robbed: distrust—verification—control. What do you think about a child being brought up this way?

Answer: The words are right. It is good when the child feels such stress.

Question: Is it good that he is already ready to be robbed by the state?

Answer: Yes.

Comment: Actually, this is a child. Let us say 10 to 14 years old.

My Response: No, that is already an adult.

Question: Do you think this is a possible option to educate like this?

Answer: Yes, it is good for the child and good for the person in general, for parents, and everyone.

Question: So he does not go out into the world with his arms open. He knows that the world is anxious and will bite them off. Do you think this is a good entrance?

Answer: Yes, it is quite good.

Question: What do you think about a prime minister who insists that a citizen should monitor him and his employees and subordinates? Margaret Thatcher, they say, was like that.

Answer: Yes! She was tough! She did not dismiss the criticism, but on the contrary, listened.

Question: Then what is trust in the government?

Answer: When I know, I am sure that the government is acting correctly. Then I trust it.

Question: Is it when I understand that it correctly takes a precise amount of money from me? Will it be only after some kind of check by me?

Answer: Absolutely.

Question: Is the person also being educated if he lives like this?

Answer: Naturally. He checks others for everything and checks himself, and sees that it all fits into the right system.

Question: Is this self–control, and control in general, mandatory?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Then in general, what is the correct education of a citizen?

Answer: The correct education of a citizen is that he knows his political economy well: where the money comes from, where it goes, and how he manages it.

Question: That is, how he would have done it himself. Does he become a citizen who knows this and understands all this?

Answer: Yes. At least, he should understand that in his business, in his work, and in his house, he should be a businessman, a master.

Question: Is this the correct education of a citizen?

Answer: Of course. Then this is correct at the level of the house and the family, and the state in general.
[317783]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 8/24/23

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The donkey told the tiger, “The grass is blue.”
The tiger replied, “No, the grass is green.”
The discussion became heated, and the two decided to submit the issue to arbitration, so they approached the lion.
The donkey told the tiger, “The grass is blue.”
The tiger replied, “No, the grass is green.”
The discussion became heated, and the two decided to submit the issue to arbitration, so they approached the lion.
As they approached the lion on his throne, the donkey started screaming: ′Your Highness, isn’t it true that the grass is blue?”
The lion replied: “If you believe it is true, the grass is blue.”
The donkey rushed forward and continued ′′The tiger disagrees with me, contradicts me and annoys me. Please punish him.”
The king then declared: ′′The tiger will be punished with 3 days of silence.”
The donkey jumped with joy and went on his way, content and repeating ′′The grass is blue, the grass is blue…”
The tiger asked the lion, “Your Majesty, why have you punished me, after all, the grass is green?”
The lion replied, ′′You’ve known and seen the grass is green.”
The tiger asked, ′′So why do you punish me?”
The lion replied, “That has nothing to do with the question of whether the grass is blue or green. The punishment is because it is degrading for a brave, intelligent creature like you to waste time arguing with an ass, and on top of that, you came and bothered me with that question just to validate something you already knew was true!” (“Short Story of the Donkey, the Tiger and the Lion: When Arguing is Futile”)

Question: When you argue with someone, which one of you is a donkey?

Answer: The one who objects to the donkey is the donkey.

Question: As a result, this tiger who objects to a donkey is a donkey? And there is no need to waste time on these arguments?

Answer: There is no need. The lion is right to condemn him.

Question: Then the question is how can one argue with donkeys, since it happens all the time? You say: “Don’t argue at all.” But what should one do?

Answer: There is nothing you can do. If they exist in nature, then the wisest thing is not to get into an argument with them.

Question: That is, if there is a stubborn person, and you understand that he is stubborn, you don’t have to prove your truth to him in any way?

Answer: In no way.

Question: How will you build your truth if there are, say, only donkeys around you?

Answer: Tell them all that they are right. And if there are a lot of them, let them sort it out among themselves.

Question: Do you keep your truth to yourself and not spread it?

Answer: Yes, of course.

Question: Is this the right thing to do?

Answer: Not only is this the right thing, it is the only right way out of this state.

Question: Meaning, it’s like what is happening now in the country: everyone is stubborn and holds on to his own, precisely his own. And he’ll never move away from it; you know that perfectly well. And you still get in and out of arguments. Why?

Answer: Each tries to convince the other that he is right.

Question: And what does this result in?

Answer: That everybody is a donkey.

Question: But what are my actions, after all? Quietly, calmly build my own on the sidelines, without entering into disputes?

Answer: Yes, mind your own business.

Question: How will I draw my own, non-donkey line?

Answer: Don’t draw it.

Question: How will this be resolved then?

Answer: It will be resolved somehow. If the world is made up of donkeys, then nothing can be done. Understand what it is like.

Question: I will ask you carefully: does the world consist mainly of donkeys after all?

Answer: We can see it!

Question: Yes, we see that everyone defends their position. What is the future of this world then? Surely it has to come to some sort of decision after all?

Answer: No.

Question: Can it continue like this?

Answer: Yes. The last thousands of years that we have known the world, this is how it happens.

Comment: It’s going to go on and on.

My Response: Of course. Give the donkeys a chance to live normally in this world.

Question: What will this result in?

Answer: This will lead to the fact that there will be wars after which there will be little left.

Question: Nobody will give in?

Answer: Nobody. After some kind of war, people will remain by the ashes; they will sit quietly by the fire, drink tea and talk. It will no longer matter to them.

Question: Former enemies, is that what you mean?

Answer: Yes, even enemies.

Question: Will these wars go on again?

Answer: They will, inevitably.

Comment: Wars, I mean even our skirmishes.

My Response: As long as egoism exists, it will not disappear. This is human nature.

Question: How can we change our nature? How can we rise above the “donkey,” to get out of the donkey state?

Answer: Only if people understand the meaning of the existence of the world, countries, and people, will they be able to do something about it.

Question: Then tell me, what should they understand?

Answer: They must understand what we are saying: that the world is in its egoistic development. We have to realize this. We have to rise above our egoism. If we want to, then it will happen; and if we don’t want to, then it won’t happen. Then after some generations they will dig us up and understand what happened here.

Question: I don’t want it to be like this. What do you think might work?

Answer: Only evil can work. When evil manifests more, then we can rise above it. Evil must be realized. It is not that the world is collapsing. It must be a realized evil, that this is the nature of man and only if we decide and shout together to the Creator will we be saved.

Question: So you are talking about the recognition of my evil as such, in everyone? Is this evil?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Then what function is assigned to us?

Answer: I hope that our work will still show its result somewhere. Somewhere it will.
[317557]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 8/21/23

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A favorite flower is first of all a rejection of all other flowers. Otherwise, it will not seem to you as the most beautiful one. It is the same with the work you spend your life on (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Wisdom of the Sands, Citadelle).

Question: If you find your life’s work, should you give up everything else?

Answer: If you have found such work, then you do not have to give up anything; it will just happen.

Question: You mean that from the height of what you have found you do not need anything else?

Answer: You do not need anything. Otherwise, you have not yet found it!

Question: Basically, if you rush into everything, does it mean that you have not found your life’s work?

Answer: Of course.

Question: How does a person understand this? Is it by the fact that he is already calm and does not rush in all directions?

Answer: He does not need anything else.

Question: So you do not proceed from the prohibition “you need to postpone all other matters.” Do you proceed from the fact that this is it, that you determine everything by yourself?

Answer: From good.

Question: From good. This is beautiful. Is this the exact definition of what a person has found?

Answer: Yes.

Question: What if you suddenly see that you made a mistake? And you have already put all your cards on this work. Is this a possibility? You seemingly found your life’s work and suddenly it turns out you were wrong.

Answer: Then you have to invest yourself above your head in the one and only work that you have left and in which you now feel and reveal that you made a mistake; it is not the main thing, but beside it there is nothing else! Otherwise, you will be lost.

Question: You just said a difficult thing. You said that you have already understood and now you feel that your life’s work is a mistake; therefore invest in it fully. Above reason?

Answer: Of course. But this is in case you are sure that you have nothing left; you have given everything, your whole life to this work.

Question: What will happen then? Here I am heading into this black hole.

Answer: Then the Creator will help you. Then He should help you. In principle, this is how we do it in Kabbalah.

Comment: There are all sorts of states.

My Response: There are many states, but in general we come to one.

Question: Is it the need for the Creator’s help?

Answer: It is absolute disappointment in myself, in the Creator, in this work, in the goal, in everything!

Comment: And the fact that I have invested my whole life in it.

My Response: Yes. When you reach such a disappointment, then you can let go of everything and see luck.

Question: Kabbalists write that when you have passed all the gates, only one gate remains, the “gate of tears.” Are you aiming there now when you speak?

Answer: This is already beyond tears.

Question: Have you already passed the “gate of tears”? Is your advice to keep hitting this point to the end?

Answer: If you can keep hitting, then this is not the last gate.

Question: So must you have this disappointment? Should it be?

Answer: It should be an absolute one! Because in fact, it goes against human nature, against the way the Creator created us. Therefore it must be an absolute disappointment.

Question: Then I have a question. Where is this upper mercy here?

Answer: It is behind this. When the Creator guides a person through all these trials, the person behind them reveals the upper mercy of the Creator.

Comment: One has to be a very strong person.

My Response: No. I think that no one is strong. Everyone is very weak. It is simply that the Creator will do everything.
[317650]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 8/24/23

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Comment: Anya writes: “We live with our parents. My husband insisted on it because we wanted to save money. And now I cannot bear it anymore, I am bursting with hatred for his mother! She criticizes everything: how I cook, how I iron, how I raise children. We cannot move away yet, and my husband says we need to wait at least another year. I do not know what to do! I cannot live like this! Right now, I have closed myself in my room and I am writing to you. I understand that this is my ego, that I need to somehow adapt myself to her, but I cannot control myself. Does she not have an ego? A big one!”

My Response: Of course. But you should think about yourself. If you constantly put yourself down, you will eventually come to a state in which your ego will decrease, and this is good.

Question: So, peace will gradually come?

Answer: There may not even be peace, but as for you, you should see that such a state can be very useful.

Question: And when you say “put yourself down,” does that mean to agree?

Answer: To agree, to somehow distance yourself as far as possible and not to enter into conflicts.

Question: That is, his mother tells her: “You iron, cook, and raise children so badly.” Do you think this woman, Anya, should at least keep silent? And this will be advancement for her?

Answer: Yes.

Question: So, you see that this is a never ending war?

Answer: It cannot end in any way.

Question: Do you think that Anya should be smarter here?

Answer: She should be wiser.

Question: Should she close herself in her room? It is easier to leave and not listen. Just like that she closes herself in her room and stays there.

Answer: But that is not correction. Correction takes place only through contact.

She must tell herself that it is by this decision, when she does not enter into conflict and stays away from it in every possible way without arousing it, that she gradually corrects her egoism. In this way, she saves her family.

Question: Can you please tell her if she can move to such a state that at some point she will be able to say some kind words to her husband’s mother? Can this happen?

Answer: Only when she becomes convinced that she has corrected herself due to her husband’s mother. And then she can hug her and say “thank you.”

Question: Now you have introduced one more detail: that due to her husband’s mother she can correct herself. That is, she already has gratitude even for the mother whom she now hates?

Answer: Yes.

Question: But these first steps are not easy to take?

Answer: This can be corrected only if she sees in her husband’s mother the Creator who raises her this way.

Question: Could you please decipher the Creator for us? She sees that behind the mother there is something that is working with her. Should “and wishes me well” be added here? Should we make such a cluster or should we not?

Answer: The mother is ruled by the Creator. Anya should figure this out.

Question: Will it be good if Anya takes small steps in this?

Answer: If she does, then yes.
[317327]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 7/31/23

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The strongest feeling is disappointment. Not grudge, not jealousy, and not even hatred. After them, at least something remains in the soul. After disappointment—emptiness (Erich Maria Remarque).

Question:  In general, disappointment occurs after strong hope. How can one not to be disappointed if everything is in vain? How? A person will be disappointed, right?

Answer: That is correct. It is after this great, all-encompassing disappointment that the correct attitude toward life emerges. When you do not look at it as “what else I need to take from it” but “what can I give?”

Question: This is a complete revolution. You are overturning your nature. That is, disappointment is a direct blow to my egoistic nature? And this, you are saying, is very good?

Answer: Yes. Directed against one’s egoism, the real one.

Question: Then what is my step? I am utterly disappointed; what is my step?

Answer: I am no longer disappointed. I am already disappointed, I have already parted with disappointment itself. What do I have left? Nothing. Only to be in the same state as the Creator. Meaning, to give everything, to return everything, to pay off everything, to be empty, absolutely free.

Question: This is what you called a state of bestowal?

Answer: Yes. And after that, if you are lucky, you could think about how to engage in bestowal in order to ask the Creator and give without any expectations, selflessly, pure bestowal. Why, for what purpose?

There is no answer to that. And to whom, there is no answer. Just like that, “send your bread upon the waters.”

Question: And is this true freedom?

Answer: Yes. There is no better state than this!
[317607]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 8/24/23

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Question: A sage was asked: “Why, when people quarrel, do they shout even though they are next to each other?” He replied: “When people quarrel, their hearts move away, and they have to shout. But when they fall in love, they speak softly because their hearts are very close. When they fall deeper in love, they whisper. And later, they understand everything without words.”

The question is this: Do we have to go through this stage from shouting to silence through talking, whispering, and silence?

Answer: This is good! If all people were silent but at the same time understood each other, it would be the most wonderful state.

Question: Please explain how it is possible to be silent and understand each other. They say: “Through the heart.” When we say it, it sounds beautiful.

Answer: Through contact, the inner contact of one with another, the contact of hearts.

Question: Do we just sit in silence and understand each other?

Answer: Yes, nothing else is needed.

Question: You said there are no words in spirituality. Is this what you meant?

Answer: Certainly, feelings

without words.

Question: Closeness such that no words are needed?

Answer: Yes, people who have lived together for many years usually understand each other this way.

Question: Can you and your wife sit like this, calmly and silently, and understand each other?

Answer: We understand each other so well that when we meet, it’s enough to look at each other and everything is clear. After all, we have been together for nearly 50 years.

Question: Tell me, please, in regard to this silence, can it be perceived as a conversation, as a prayer? Is prayer better in the heart or spoken in words?

Answer: It is better in the heart. You sit and talk inside yourself.

Question: You don’t read an already written prayer, but just say it? Is such a prayer heard?

Answer: Yes, it is heard.

Question: And with regard to others whom you may be praying for, and above?

Answer: This is exactly how it is taken.

Question: Today we see in our world, in humanity, that everyone is shouting. Even on TV programs. They sit one meter from each other screaming and shouting. What do people, and humanity in general, need to do to at least turn the screaming into a conversation?

Answer: We need the person next to me to take my hand and calmly, in a low voice, even in a whisper, convince me of what he wants.

Question: Should he want something in return from me?

Answer: Yes. He wants to convey something to me. So that his narrative would be exactly in this form, in this way, so it comes from the heart, and so I can open my heart in return, and for everything to flow from one heart to another.

Comment: You are describing a perfect setting when people sit together and want to convey warmth to each other.

My Response: And we, the audience, are watching this TV show, feeling glad the right, normal people are on it today. It is a pleasure to listen to them. Although they say very little, we understand everything.

Comment: You are talking about the ideal state, not quite of this world. I know that you don’t watch much television. But it’s enough to look…

My Response: I definitely don’t watch such programs.

Comment: Yes, there are such shows, like in boxing rings. A fight is going on. No wonder there is a kind of sport now where someone punches someone in the face. It is the same here; they punch you in the face. They probably don’t even care to start a conversation.

My Response: They don’t know how to. They weren’t taught this. They have a completely different attitude.

Question: But humanity won’t achieve anything through shouting anyway?

Answer: No, of course not.

Comment: That is, everyone will prove their case and…

My Response: They don’t prove anything; they don’t hear each other. All that matters is that when another person speaks, I speak too. That is all.

Question: In any case, here is a practical question: how can we transition to a conversation? What do we need?

Answer: Many more years will pass and time will work on us. It will tell both of them or a group of people that it is useless, that it is not worth doing. And they will gradually lose the desire to participate in such talk shows.

Then some turning point will come when they stop making such “circus acts.” Afterward a deep expression of our intentions will follow.

Question: Do you think that such fighting will fade?

Answer: It must.

Question: But how, will it come from above?

Answer: Naturally, from above. No doubt about it.

Question: Do you believe that it won’t come from us?

Answer: No. Nothing good can come from us.

Question: Silent and calm will come from above?

Answer: Yes. Let’s sit and be quiet. This will be the show.

Question: Do they grow disappointed in us? Why would this suddenly happen?

Answer: No one from above is disappointed. Who are we to be disappointed in?

Therefore we will simply come to the kind of television shows conveyed through feelings. Not words but feelings. We have to do something with ourselves.
[317199]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 7/31/23

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In the News (NBC News): “In making Oppenheimer, writer and director Christopher Nolan said it became apparent that the moral quandaries posed by artificial intelligence mirrors those faced by Robert Oppenheimer, whose story about developing the atomic bomb is told in the movie… .

“As Oppenheimer developed the weapon in the early 1940s, the theoretical physicist faced backlash and uncertainty from the U.S. military and Congress, much like the tech industry is facing today in its race to make artificial intelligence more powerful, Nolan said in a recent interview… .

“‘When I talk to the leading researchers in the field of AI right now, for example, they literally refer to this as their Oppenheimer moment,’ Nolan said. ‘They’re looking to his story to say “OK, what are the responsibilities for scientists developing new technologies that may have unintended consequences?”’”

Question: Please explain why our intentions never match the results?

Answer: Because we consider ourselves good and fail to understand that our nature is inherently bad!

We think that we can mediate between ourselves, that we can be in the middle between bad and good qualities, and so on. In other words, we think that we are, in principle, not bad people. But in reality, of course, there is no one worse and more stupid than us.

We want to obtain cheap energy, we create a bomb; we want to develop medicine, we create chemical weapons, and this is how everything happens.

Question: I have a question: Where and when does the turning point occur? At what moment?

Answer: It is when a person discovers that the result of his actions will be the destruction of the beautiful future that he was building for himself. But it’s already too late.

Question: And at what point does this happen? When he suddenly sees a bomb explode in New Mexico?

Answer: Yes.

Question: And a second before that, he didn’t feel that?

Answer: He could not.

Question: Even could not? Meaning that he is suddenly shown in actuality what he did?

Answer: Yes, nothing could be done.

Question: In general, it’s a pity, a pity for Oppenheimer too, to be honest.

Answer: Certainly! A huge number of people discover the end of their good impulses, plans, and so on.

Question: If we know this, can we turn it around?

Answer: No, we don’t feel. We will be deceived a thousand more times!

Question: Even if a person hears and says, “Oh, how right he is!”, he will still go…

Answer: Yes, we don’t feel it. It has to be in faith above reason! This should be only from the perspective of Kabbalistic views on human nature.

Question: Meaning that without knowledge of human nature, simply by my decision: “I will do this— kindly,” will it not work?

Answer: No. You understand it yourself that this is not how it works.

Question: What are the actions then? How can we adjust the world a little so that our intentions coincide at least a little?

Answer: Ban it! Just forbid everyone.

Question: So now you treat the world like children?

Answer: Even worse than children. Children do not have such capabilities.

Question: It’s clear. Here the hand is in the fire, and it is necessary to hit the hand?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Simply to forbid it?

Answer: How else could this be done?

Comment: Ban the development of artificial intelligence because it will harm.

My Response: This is horrible! It is worse than an atomic bomb.

Comment: I don’t even know how to continue.

My Response: And there is nothing to continue. It is better to just ban it and that’s it. “Collect all the books, and burn them.”

Question: Okay, banned. During this period, from prohibition on, perhaps a small permission, and another small permission, what should happen?

Answer: During this period, we are obliged to educate people in faith above reason.

Question: No one will understand this phrase “faith above reason.”

Answer: It does not matter. But there is such a condition that if you want to develop exactly in a good way, without causing any harm to anyone, you must go forward and reveal nature in faith above reason.

This phrase “faith above reason” is the main, decisive cornerstone here!

If we understand how to treat nature and ourselves correctly in faith above reason, then we will do everything only good for ourselves, others, and nature.

Question: You don’t even want to explain? You want this phrase to be imprinted in a person, and that’s it. And then we’ll figure it out?

Answer: Yes. Anyway, it is hard to discern it. It takes a person years and years and years.

Question: I know that your teacher kept repeating: “Faith above reason. Faith above reason.” Even among the great sages is this phrase relevant?

Answer: Of course! Before all of us there is no other task than to climb this step, on faith above reason.

Comment: Let’s say there is knowledge that a person can do good to people, knowledge that I will be able to, and you say: “It’s all necessary…”

My Response: Not to use.

Question: And what can we believe in?

Answer: First, the very thorough and proper mastering of the method of obtaining faith above reason, and after that, already develop your toys, Oppenheimer’s and all sorts of others.
[317154]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 7/31/23

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