Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What can be done to stop what appears to be the rising incidents of antisemitism in the United States?“

The way to stop anti-Semitism in the United States is the same as how to stop anti-Semitism anywhere in the world: to raise awareness of the root cause of anti-Semitism in order to invert hatred into love.

Kabbalistic sources explain both such a cause and solution to anti-Semitism. It is because Kabbalists perceive developmental processes unfolding in our world, and can both warn people of oncoming threats, as well as offer a remedy to prevent such threats from materializing.

For instance, Kabbalist Rav Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam), the most renowned Kabbalist of the 20th Century, tried convincing European Jews in the 1930s to leave Europe because he foresaw the oncoming disaster. Both following his example, as well as taking heed to the alerting recent rise in anti-Semitism worldwide, I also feel the need to communicate the message about the root cause of anti-Semitism and its solution both to Jews and non-Jews, and I extensively write and speak on the topic with the hope that, at the very least, a future mass tragedy can be prevented.

In relation to the United States, I have lectured to Jewish communities in the United States at various intervals over the last 20 years. During the 2000s, I was laughed at when I mentioned that anti-Semitism was going to become a growing issue in America.

In the 2010s, after anti-Semitism’s immense exponential growth, both in the amounts of anti-Semitic crimes and threats, as well as in anti-Semitic sentiment, I explained how all signs were pointing to the next Holocaust emerging in America.

At the turn of the decade, after a string of anti-Semitic attacks in New York and New Jersey in a relatively short time period, Jewish lawmakers started acknowledging how a “slow-rolling pogrom” was taking place in New York.

Until a sharp sudden rise in anti-Semitic attacks within a relatively close radius took place, I saw little response to this message from the Jewish people. It is written about us, that we are a stiff-necked people, i.e., we have a tough skin that makes it very hard to penetrate such awareness into our perception.

In any case, in order to prevent a future dystopian scenario for the Jewish people in the United States, as well as elsewhere, the message is the same for all Jews: we need to unite, according to the tenet “love your friend as yourself,” in order to become “a light unto the nations,” i.e., a conduit that passes the positive unifying force dwelling in nature to the world. If the message doesn’t become accepted through education, explanation and promotion, then anti-Semitic blows and suffering will rise, “softening our stiff necks,” undesirably increasing our ability to absorb such a message.

That is the state we first reached some 3,800 years ago in ancient Babylon, under Abraham’s guidance, which granted us the name, “the people of Israel” (“Israel” from the words, “Yashar Kel,” which means “straight to God” [“God” being the same as “Nature” according to Kabbalah, i.e., a positive force that connects all elements of reality]). Also, according to the same unifying tendency, we were later named “Jews,” from the word for “unity” (the Hebrew word for “Jew” [Yehudi] comes from the word for “united” [yihudi] [Yaarot Devash, Part 2, Drush no. 2]).

Today, we are reaching new global proportions of anti-Semitism that the world has never seen, since today’s world is more globally-integrated than ever before. Due to anti-Semitism emerging as a natural phenomenon in non-Jews, toward a subconscious expectation for the Jews to pioneer a process toward more positive human connection, then we can expect a future where everyone other than a few Jews will be anti-Semitic.

Therefore, we Jews first and foremost need to show everyone how unity above the growing hostile divisions in society is not only a possibility, but that there is a method of connection to guide our every step of the way. By implementing such a method on ourselves, we send positive unifying ripples throughout humanity’s consciousness, and invite an opposite attitude from anti-Semitism upon ourselves in return. In other words, by witnessing increasing positive connection, and subsequent rises in happiness, support and confidence in society at large, the general attitude toward a unified Jewish people would become favorable and encouraging.

However, if the Jewish people will continue rejecting, ignoring or remaining unaware of the message of the need to unite, then instead of seeing unity form in society’s mainstream, we can expect unity to form more and more in society’s fringes, i.e., as Nazi and fascist unity. Such unity is dangerous, since it is built on uniting around the hatred of the other, and it becomes the infrastructure that can lead to the manifestation of horrific events, as exemplified by the Holocaust.

Therefore, I hope that Jews in general, and especially American Jews, will start noticing that the ball is in our court, and that we need to play the game well: to prioritize our unity in order to spread unity onward. If we do so, we will experience a better general state in America and around the world. However, if we fail to realize what the wisdom of Kabbalah is saying on this pressing issue, then the state will become much worse.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Is Jewish Kabbalah similar to Sufism?“

Sufism and Kabbalah both discuss the need to develop an attitude of love for another as life’s guiding principle. Sufism, however, does not explain the structure of the system of creation and its conduct. It is better suited to the masses because it speaks about the solution to human and spiritual problems on the level of our world.

Sufism does not explain the structure of the upper world with the precision that the wisdom of Kabbalah does: Sefirot, Partzufim, Olamot, Ohr, NRNHY (Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama, Haya, Yechida), KHB ZON (Keter, Hochma, Bina, Zeir Anpin, Nukva), Tzimtzum, Masach, Ohr Hozer, and all the rest of the concepts. Only in Kabbalah are such “celestial mechanics” described.

Why are such descriptions needed? They are needed when one begins to attain the upper world. A person in attainment of the spiritual system cannot make inner order and clarification if relying solely on emotion or the teacher. For such a person, the teacher transforms from a person to an internal characteristic, and he perceives and emphasizes the inner layer of reality that Kabbalists call “the Creator,” while lowering the priority on the reality we perceive with our five senses. The progressive attainment of such a reality requires deeper definitions and emotions, and one must work with more subtle and measured states.

I am no Sufism expert, but it seems to me that it is a part of Kabbalah. Moreover, if we penetrate more deeply into true Sufism, then it would possible to discover the dividing line beyond which the wisdom of Kabbalah is imperative. According to its foundation, Sufism is the correct study for leading the person precisely toward the goal, but up to a particular limit.

The idea is that with all of us there are different levels of ego. Sufism stops at a deep level of ego. Yet for people with a big ego, Sufism is not enough. Such people need a greater weapon against themselves, and thus need the wisdom of Kabbalah.

Unfortunately, Sufism has stopped its development for some time. Today in the Muslim world, it is not wanted at all. This is a great shame because once there was a connection between Jews and Muslims through Sufism.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Has there ever been a Holocaust in America? Do you think it could ever happen here?“

There has never been a Holocaust in America before. However, if we look at the accelerating increase of anti-Semitism crimes and threats in America in recent years, then a Holocaust in America is a definite possibility. Moreover, today’s America holds many striking similarities to Nazi Germany of the 1930s, which I detail in my recently released book, The Jewish Choice: Unity or Anti-Semitism.

Unprecedented Speed of Anti-Semitism’s Rise

The recent period around the turn the decade into 2020 has given us some very aggressive examples of anti-Semitic acts across New York and New Jersey.

In a letter dated December 29, 2019, of the New York State Senator, Simcha Felder, New York State Assemblyman, Simcha Eichenstein, and two New York City Councilmen, Chaim Deutsch and Kalman Yeger, addressed to New York City Governor, Andrew Cuomo, they described how:

“Anti-Semitic hate crimes have grown to frighteningly high numbers over the past several months. During the past several days in particular, identifiably Orthodox Jews in and around areas we represent have been targeted with a rash of violence unseen in modern history. Orthodox Jews are being regularly assaulted, menaced, stabbed and murdered in increasing numbers. This has been appropriately described as a ‘slow-rolling pogrom.’ We are writing to ask that you declare a state of emergency. … Simply stated, it is no longer safe to be identifiably Orthodox in the State of New York. We cannot shop, walk down a street, send our children to school, or even worship in peace.”

Moreover, former Democratic New York State Assemblyman and radio show host Dov Hikind mentioned that “If you were to ask Jews 20 years ago if a Holocaust could happen in America, you would get a uniform answer: ‘it’s impossible, not in America.’ Well, that’s not the case anymore. What will happen next?”

In the 2000s, I spoke about anti-Semitism in the US as a forthcoming problem, and was laughed at.

In the 2010s, when anti-Semitism began its exponential climb in the US and around the world, and started becoming acknowledged as a problem, I then talked about the next Holocaust taking place in the US.

Today, at the turn of the new decade, we can see how the awareness of the possibility of the next Holocaust taking place in America is coming to light.

Indeed then, as Dov Hikind asked, what is next?

The Fateful Shift from Division to Unity

The laws of nature are bringing human society to tighter connection, and the Jewish people, whether knowingly or unknowingly, host a method to make a key shift in realizing such connection positively—the ability to unite above all the fiery social division, as is written in the words, “love will cover all transgressions,” in order to pass such an ability to all people of the world, i.e., to be “a light unto the nations.”

Nature is demanding us to cease being a destructive and divisive force, and start becoming a positive and unified force.

If we fail to initiate the beginning of the Jewish people’s correction, by starting to implement unity above our differences, we will feel increasing pressures. The pressures would not only be in the US, but everywhere in the world, including the State of Israel where we could expect more and more sanctions and constraints. We would then continue strengthening our security until we would feel stuck in our little fortress with enemy forces surrounding us from all sides.

And if that would fail to prod us to unite, then we could expect such events as even an elimination of the State of Israel, and such disasters where, as Kabbalists have written, only a small group would remain to unite above our divisive drives.

“If the total ruin that they are destined to bring upon the world is still not evident to the world, they can wait for a third world war, or a fourth one … and the relics that remain after the ruin will have no other choice but to take upon themselves this work, where both individuals and nations will not work for themselves more than is necessary for their sustenance, while everything else they do will be for the good of others.” – Yehuda Ashlag, “The Writings of the Last Generation.”

The sooner we realize that our unity causes the unity of human society as a whole, and that by so doing, we will experience a wholly different positive, harmonious, peaceful and appreciative response from the world, then the sooner we can reverse the foreboding trend of anti-Semitism and find ourselves in a harmonious world. By uniting, we carry out our role in the world, and establish a newfound balance of forces between humanity and nature.

The First Step toward Unity

The first step toward unity is that we understand the need to save ourselves from destruction together with the need for adaptation with nature’s connecting tendency. If we do so, then we will see incredible phenomena unfold before our very eyes: a complete inversion of anti-Semitism to its opposite—a love and appreciation for the Jewish people who bring unity and light to the world. There would simply be no reason for anyone to hate Jews since people would know how to unite, and united people do not hate each other, nor the ones who teach and encourage their unity.

We need no long painful paths to reach such a state. By starting to think and act in a direction of the unity of all Jewish people right now, we can start pioneering an epic and historical positive transformation.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Why does the Jewish community have to go through so much suffering in history and today?“

We Jews endure suffering from anti-Semitic sentiment toward us from the nations of the world, which has always existed, but which intensifies in certain periods more than others.

In my recently released book, The Jewish Choice: Unity or Anti-Semitism, I thoroughly detail how we have suffered throughout history due to anti-Semitism that rises up against us.

What then is the cause of anti-Semitism, which makes different nations at different periods in history rise up against us?

Many reasons have been stated, for instance, that we hold too much power in countries we’ve assimilated into, ruling the whole world, being greedy, envy of our disproportionate success in the world compared to other nations, oppressing Palestine as a Jewish State, the fall of Germany in World War I, the assassination of Tsar Alexander II in 19th Century Russia, drinking children’s blood in the Middle Ages, denying Muhammad’s prophethood and murdering Jesus Christ.

However, beyond any kind of reasoning that has been given at different time periods, we need to understand how the many reasons given for anti-Semitism are preceded by the sensation of hatred in and of itself. As Kabbalist Rav Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam) writes in his article “The Solution”:

“It is a fact that Israel is hated by all nations, whether for religious reasons, racial reasons, capitalist reasons, communist reasons, or for cosmopolitan reasons, etc. It is so because the hatred precedes all reasons, but each merely resolves its loathing according to its own psychology.”

In other words, anti-Semitism exists independently of the many varied actions and behaviors of the Jewish people.

Anti-Semitism is rather a sensation embedded in nature that emerges within people.

How does the feeling of anti-Semitism, a hatred of Jews, surface?

In order to answer this, we need to understand the foundation of the Jewish people, the Jewish role in the world, and how non-Jews respond in relation to whether or not Jews are performing this role.

The Foundation of the Jewish People

The Jewish people emerged in ancient Babylon some 4,000 years ago. It was a time when Babylon was experiencing a crisis of social division, with conflicts and hatred tearing up the ancient Babylonian society. During this period, Abraham, a Babylonian priest who discovered the path to unite above the growing divisions, i.e. reaching the revelation of the single force of love and bestowal that exists in reality above the growing ego, began openly teaching his method to anyone who wanted to learn.

Since social division was felt as a burning problem, many people flocked to learn with Abraham. He guided them to the discovery of the single force of love and bestowal above their divisive drives. The group he led became known as “the people of Israel” (i.e. “Israel” coming from “Yashar Kel,” which means “straight to God,” i.e. straight to the single force of love and bestowal that exists in reality), and later they became known as “Jews” (the Hebrew word for “Jew” [Yehudi] comes from the word for “united” [yihudi] [Yaarot Devash, Part 2, Drush no. 2]).

Therefore, the Jewish nation was founded not on a biological basis, but on an ideological one.

People from all over ancient Babylon who felt a problem with social division and a need for unity gathered under Abraham’s method and united above their divisive drives. By doing so, they became known as “a light unto the nations,” as the attainment of the one, unique and unified force of nature above the human ego, which causes all the divisiveness and problems in society, has a positive domino effect that “upgrades” human consciousness: it leads to more positive connections, more consideration, support, love and care, among humanity in general.

The Jewish Role in the World

As it was then, so it is today, but on a much larger, global scale.

The overblown human ego, social division, conflicts and hatred are all experiencing an exponential boost, bringing about myriad problems and crises. For instance, despite more human population than ever before on the planet, and all the technological and cross-cultural connections that have been established worldwide, human society feels more and more isolation, stress, depression, emptiness and anxiety.

The more people feel such problems, the more people subconsciously feel that the Jews are the cause of these problems.

That is where the sensation of anti-Semitism comes from: that the Jews have a role in the world, to unite (“love your friend as yourself”) above division (“love will cover all transgressions”), and by doing so, be a conduit for the single unifying force of love and bestowal to spread throughout the collective human consciousness (“a light unto the nations”).

The Response to the Jews from the Nations of the World in Relation to the Jewish Role

If we Jews function correctly in relation to our role in the world—uniting among each other in order to pass unity to the world—then we will experience a positive reaction from everyone in the world.

If, however, as it currently stands, we fail to acknowledge or make any effort to unite among each other, we then block the positive unifying force from reaching humanity, and hatred stirs up in non-Jews toward the Jews as a natural phenomenon that serves to pressure us to perform our role.

It is thus my hope that we will realize our role in the world sooner rather than later, sparing the world and ourselves much suffering.

We simply don’t see what it would mean if we make some steps toward uniting, how much all the tension in human society and between nations would calm down, how all the exploitation, manipulation, hatred and abuse in humanity would be replaced by mutual support, consideration, love and care for our fellow human beings.

This is why I put in so many efforts to disseminate the message about the role of Jews in the world, and the cause and solution to anti-Semitism, since humanity’s future of happiness or torment depends specifically on this.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Is another Holocaust inevitable this time in the USA?“

The signals of an extremely dangerous situation for Jews similar to the time preceding the Holocaust are definitely visible in America, where historically high numbers of violent anti-Semitic attacks are reported every day. Deliberate assaults upon Jews only for being Jews have become particularly recurrent in New York. Hate crime monitoring groups call the state an “epidemic.”

In fact, 2019 was the worst year on record for anti-Semitic incidents in New York City: around 214 complaints compared to 182 cases the previous year, according to police data. These make up roughly half of all hate crimes reported in the city.

The “Slow-Rolling Pogrom” in New York

In a recent letter sent to New York City Governor, Andrew Cuomo, four Jewish lawmakers urged him to declare state of emergency amid the spate of anti-Semitic offenses, expressing great concern that “it is no longer safe to be identifiably Orthodox in the State of New York. We cannot shop, walk down a street, send our children to school, or even worship in peace.”

They described the menace against the American Jewish community as a “slow-rolling pogrom,” and added, “anti-Semitic hate crimes have grown to frighteningly high numbers over the past several months…. identifiably Orthodox Jews in and around areas we represent have been targeted with a rash of violence unseen in modern history. Orthodox Jews are being regularly assaulted, menaced, stabbed and murdered in increasing numbers.”

I cannot view the current situation heedlessly. During the last decade I’ve warned through media
articles and books about the threat of a potential new Holocaust on American soil in light of the growing anti-Jewish sentiment from multiple fronts. Only a few years ago, when I met Jewish leaders to express my concern, they reacted with incredulity.

Now their perspective has changed. Former Democratic New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind has
questioned, “Why are Jews being assaulted in a way they were assaulted in pre-Nazi Germany?” and
said, “if you were to ask Jews 20 years ago if a Holocaust could happen in America, you would get a uniform answer: ‘it’s impossible, not in America.’ Well, that’s not the case anymore.”

The increased recognition of American anti-Semitism is a positive first step toward addressing the problem and unearthing its solution. I expressed this in my new book
The Jewish Choice: Unity or Anti-Semitism (p. 190) as follows:

“Clearly, the 20th century marked a new level in the cruelty of humankind, especially toward Jews. Having experienced the Holocaust, we cannot be certain that it will not happen again. If it happened once, it can happen twice, or thrice, and the globally mounting hatred toward Jews and toward the State of Israel proves that the fear of a second Holocaust is well-founded. This, once again, reminds us of the necessity to return to Abraham’s method of uniting above our differences, and of our duty to set an example to the world by so doing.”

As foremost Kabbalist Rav Yehuda Ashlag wrote in the early 1950s:

“The world erroneously considers Nazism a particular offshoot of Germany. In truth, it is the offshoot of a democracy and socialism that were left without … manners and justice. Thus, all the nations are the same in this, and there is no hope at all that Nazism will perish with the victory of the Allies, for tomorrow the Anglo-Saxons will adopt Nazism, since they, too, live in a world of democrats and Nazis.” (The Writings of the Last Generation)

The Jewish Duty to Prevent a New Tragedy

Our Jewish nation was forged upon the ideology of mercy and brotherly love, when strangers agreed to unite and bond as equals. We became a nation when we pledged to be “as one man with one heart.” Since then, it has been our duty to maintain this connection and pass it on, namely to be a “light unto the nations,” not out of entitlement, but to serve others. Therefore, the duty of the Jewish people is to execute and set an example of love of others to the world.

Over time, we have abandoned the unique connection we once cultivated and became self-centered. But now that globalization has made us interdependent, humanity is seeking a way to live together peacefully but cannot find one. Until Jews relearn how to be as united as before, the world lacks access to the knowledge of how to do this and will continue to blame us for its woes. Their unfulfilled demand is unfailingly projected as anti-Semitism, as a mounting pressure, until we change our course of action toward cohesion rather than division.

So being a light unto nations is a practical assignment: make peace among ourselves and the world will also be at peace.

Unity for Good

The world is always examining what we do, so whenever we display disharmony, it serves as a bad example that becomes reflected in the world. If we quarrel among each other, we project this disharmony onto other nations and they also begin to fight. But deep within they sense that their fight somehow originated with us, just as they express in the forms of mounting rancor toward us.

Our problem is that we unite only when a common enemy threatens us. If we would turn unity into a conscious process, we would require no dark outcome of a new Holocaust to direct us toward it. Thus, the pressing times we face will decisively demand us to make a fateful decision. Our Jewish choice is whether to remain divided and at odds and suffer the consequences, or to reverse our attitude toward one another, develop mutual responsibility and care, and spread it to the world. If we wisely choose the latter, a new reality of trust, friendship, and mutual support will unfold before us, in America and worldwide.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “How do I get out of an existential crisis?“

Firstly, it is important to understand that existential crises spur questions about what our lives are ultimately about, and if it were not for such episodes, we would simply flow in the currents of life, ending our every day the moment after it starts.

Therefore, existential questions about life’s meaning and purpose, who we are, where we’re headed and who or what we really depend on, surface to wake us up from our everydayness.

We mostly take for granted how complex our lives have become today. On one hand, we carry out our daily business in order to survive and enjoy life as best as we can, but on the other hand, we are in the midst of an overload of information and pressures that we never experienced before. Our connections increasingly tighten all around the world, and since we have yet to realize such connections positively, we experience this tensing reality as one of increasing pains and sorrows.

Many of us thus seek out different meanings and purposes to our lives than the ones we grew up with. It is a sign of humanity undergoing a new form of development from its corporeal desires, where we lived to fulfill ourselves at the levels of food, sex, family, money, honor, control and knowledge, to the awakening of the spiritual desire, which seeks the meaning of life.

Most people who encounter such existential questions still seek out a new goal or identity within the corporeal realm, for instance, changing their profession, friends, location, gender, or in general, where they invest most of their time and energy. This search is still not for the eternal and ultimate meaning of life, which the wisdom of Kabbalah provides an answer and method for. It does, however, display an acceleration of human development from the corporeal to the spiritual.

In the wisdom of Kabbalah, “existence” means that within every particular moment of our lives, we question why we are alive. By doing so, we can constantly sharpen our lives’ direction to its ultimate purpose, and thus reach a more optimal realization of ourselves and our lives.

Therefore, we target our dissemination of Kabbalah to anyone who has such questions, and the door is always open for people of any background, culture, age and gender to take whatever anyone wants from the wisdom.

If one seeks answers about life’s meaning and purpose, Kabbalah provides a method to discover life’s ultimate meaning and purpose by guiding our discovery of the eternal and perfect reality, all while we are alive in this world.

Alternatively, if people are looking for a change and improvement in life, not yet at the level of unlocking eternal perfection, then such people are also welcome to read our materials, or join our courses and channels, and see how the wisdom that describes the complete picture of reality can help us conduct our lives with more awareness, understanding and balance.
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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “It is reported that Russia is considering unplugging from the internet. Do you think they will and why would they do this?“

In essence, in today’s increasingly socially divisive reality, I support that every nation can control its own Internet. It might seem to counter the approach of global interdependence and interconnectedness that I often write and speak about, but in reality, it is not so.

In order to realize our growing global technological interconnectedness positively, it needs to be accompanied with a form of education that upgrades our attitudes to each other, so that we match our increasing external connections with improving internal attitudes to each other.

By failing to implement such connection-enriching learning, then the global Internet we have created becomes a mirror of our corrupt egoistic attitudes to each other. Instead of serving as a platform that we use to better our human relations, it becomes a sort of marketplace where we each go to either blabber about whatever is on our mind, or use it to profit off of others.

Therefore, since we fail to upgrade our attitudes to each other, I don’t blame any nations for trying to setup national control over the Internet. By failing to accompany our increasing pluralism and freedom with connection-enriching learning that improves our attitudes to each other, we then fail to realize a higher level of human consciousness that our global world with its tightening connections is inviting us to. It thus comes as no surprise that nations will start making protectionist motions such as closing off the Internet.

Instead of positive relations spreading throughout the Internet, if we see a proliferation of hatred and divisiveness, then it definitely becomes better to shut it off. An Internet that serves increasing positive human connections would draw no criticism from any nation or government: all would enjoy from a globally-connected environment that provides us with a constant supply of happiness, confidence, support, encouragement and motivation.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “How can I make miracles happen in my life?“

There is nothing simpler than making a miracle.

If people feel rejection, hatred, and remoteness from each other and they start connecting above such negative sensations, as it is written, “love will cover all transgressions,” then through this battle they each wage upon their egos, they attract a positive influence from nature.

This positive influence is known in the wisdom of Kabbalah as “the light.” They feel that they draw the light precisely from the darkness that they previously felt.

Such connection above mutual rejection and hatred is a miracle. When it happens, we feel a new illumination, perfection, warmth and harmony fill our lives.

Why is it that when we connect above our divisions, a miracle happens?

It is because, by doing so, we resemble the light—nature’s quality of love and bestowal—and our connection brings its influence closer to us.

If we decide that we’ve had enough of wars, conflicts, and hatred, and try to be good to each other, then we’ll immediately feel how the world changes and starts filling up with a special illumination.

We already live completely encased by the light, but we feel it as darkness.

Why?

It is because our self-centered egoistic nature is opposite to the bestowing and loving nature of the light.

Therefore, by making efforts to become as loving and giving as the light itself, while being opposite to it, we attract the light’s positive influence, and it performs this miracle of connecting us above our instinctive rejection to each other.

When such a miracle happens, we will start feeling a whole new sense of happiness, confidence, warmth, support, and harmony, i.e., everything positive in life.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Who will win in a war if all 190+ countries teams up against Israel? What if God doesn’t help Israel?“

It could definitely become a reality where the entire world teams up against Israel.

We, the people of Israel, can expect more and more hatred toward us, and it can dress all kinds of forms that we consider as unjust. For instance, the recent allegations in The Hague of war crimes that Israel immediately took defense to, or myriad other forms of blame against us.

We, the people of Israel, have the ability to switch on a new light in the world, where the entire world would think and speak positively about the Jewish people and the State of Israel, but the way we currently conduct ourselves brings upon us increasing hatred.

The hatred against us is an outcome of our negligence. It is negligence of the biggest kind: We have the ability to correct the world, to bring about a natural balance among human society worldwide, spreading peace, love and unity upon the growing division and hatred, but we neglect our ability to do so.

The more the nations of the world point out our seeming wrongdoings, the more we try to defend ourselves. However, there is no use in trying to defend ourselves in such a way. We are entering a state similar to what was unfolding in 1930s Germany, only today, it is not a matter of one nation or region against us, but in today’s globally-connected world, the entire world is frowning at us more and more.

No matter what we do to try and improve our image, with all the advances in science, medicine and technology we bring to the world, we cannot buy a positive attitude toward us.

Why? It is because the hatred felt toward us is natural. It emerges from the laws of nature.

Human nature, the egoistic desire to enjoy at others’ expense, which is at the basis of every person’s thoughts, actions and behaviors, continually grows. It is the negative force in nature, positioned opposite to the positive altruistic force of love, bestowal and connection. In our times, the egoistic desire is growing to enormous proportions, and humanity finds itself in myriad problems as a result of the growing ego that finds no balance with the force of love and bestowal opposite it.

How can this growing ego be brought into balance with the positive force? It can be done through the method of correction that was made to establish this balance, the method for revealing that force through the positive connection of society.

The people of Israel were originally founded as a nation that implemented this method of correction. They emerged about 3,800 years ago in ancient Babylon where Abraham guided them to unite above the rampant social division of the time, and they acquired the time “Israel” (“Yashar Kel” [“straight to God”]), from their aim directly at the force of love and bestowal. They drew this force to themselves, and it connected them above the divisive ego that was bursting at the seams.

As the ego in Abraham’s time was tearing apart human society, and he gathered anyone who felt a need for better relations to come and learn how to connect above the divisive ego, so it is today: the people who were founded on that method have the ability to start making strides toward better connection, more love, unity and peace among each other, in order to be a conduit for the positive force of love and bestowal to spread among wider circles of humanity.

Our neglect to realize this ability, and our continued efforts to instead dabble in egoistic goals for money, honor, control and knowledge, lets the ego run wild, and it ultimately brings about all kinds of outbursts, pains and crises. As a boomerang, the nations of the world feel hatred increasingly surfacing within them toward us. It is a subconscious hatred where they feel we hide something good from them, without knowing exactly what it is, and neither the people of Israel nor the nations of the world can rationally pinpoint the core reason for the hatred.

It is a fact that Israel is hated by all the nations, whether for religious, racial, capitalist, communist, or for cosmopolitan reasons, etc. It is so because the hatred precedes all reasons, but each merely resolves its loathing according to its own psychology. – Yehuda Ashlag, The Writings of the Last Generation
.

Therefore, we live in a time today where if we, the people of Israel, fail to wake up to our role and start implementing the method of correction we once realized in ancient Babylon—to unite (“love your friend as yourself”) above division (“love will cover all transgressions”) in order to spread unity among society (to be a “light unto the nations”)—then it could indeed become a reality where the entire world teams up against Israel.

Whether it is the allegations in The Hague last week pushing for an investigation into war crimes committed by the State of Israel, or whether it is American Jews in New York and Jersey City last week getting murdered due to clear anti-Semitic motives, such examples from the last few days alone are among a long string of intensifying anti-Semitic motions that have been exponentially rising the last few years.

The problem is that we are a stiff-necked nation, as is mentioned in the Torah, where despite the distinct anti-Semitic tendencies, we close our ears to the deeper calling behind the hatred. We are like a little child whose mother gets angry at him, and we point back to the mother saying that she’s a bad mother, without understanding the intention in the mother that wishes for the child to fix his conduct.

We thus need not point our finger back at humanity, at anti-Semites and at people who seek to illuminate our wrongdoings. If we instead focus on our own unity, on realizing the ideological basis for what made us a nation to begin with, we will then draw the positive force of nature upon ourselves, and through us, it will spread to humanity. That and only that will certify a change in attitude toward us, as a new state of unity among humanity would bring about new positive sensations of happiness, confidence, love and peace. We would then become felt as a kind of tap that allows the positive force to enter people’s lives, and would accordingly receive a positive response from the world.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “I am terminally ill and afraid of death. How do I accept death?
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The best thing I could possible say to you if you’re terminally ill is that next time it will be better.

It’s a healthy approach to death, to look forward to something good and positive. If you truly have no way of healing from your illness and are certain of your death in the near future, then in my opinion, I’m certain that next time it will be better, and I wish for that thought to accompany you so that you could depart your life with comfort, calm, peace and hope.

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