Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Does the global support for Israel following the start of the Israel-Hamas war encourage the people of Israel?“

Indeed, more than 80 countries expressed their support for Israel following the tragic events of the 7th of October, but as to whether such support encourages us, I’d have to say the contrary: it weakens us.

The strength and the future of the people of Israel does not depend on how others relate to us, but on how we relate to each other.

I do not feel any assurance from an upsurge of global support for Israel. We need to secure our future by ourselves through building relations of love, closeness and mutual consideration among each other. It is this construction of positive unifying relations that made us a nation in our very beginnings. We were originally not a nation, but a group of people who gathered under an idea to achieve love above our differences, and it was this form of connection that made us a nation. If we realize such attitudes to each other today, then no one will have any complaints against us.

Moreover, it is incorrect to think that the global support for Israel following the initial Hamas attacks on Israel’s civilians will help the world better understand and feel Israel’s side in the ongoing conflict. People can empathize with others when they can incorporate in their feelings, but the quality that made the people of Israel a nation is beyond our inborn nature, and thus nobody can incorporate in it. I thus also have no criticism on how people in the world relate to the people of Israel.

In order to truly receive a favorable response from the world, it is written, “When the Lord delivered them from Zion, it seemed like a dream. Then they said among the nations, ‘The Lord has done great things for them’” (Psalms 126:1-2). In other words, our unity draws a special force that comes to protect us, and when this force dwells in our connections, we draw a supportive response from the world.

We thus need to unite in a way where we are always there for each other. Such unification will draw a force that will protect us, and we need not be concerned about anything other than uniting and drawing this unifying force.

Based on “An Inside Look” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi on October 15, 2023. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Question: Recently, there has been a tendency of the burdening of the heart. It has become much more difficult for those people who have always been active to do something. What is this process?

Answer: Today people who are studying Kabbalah are beginning to enter into a new system and understand and recognize it. I gave them so much information that they literally live in it. They understand that there is us, there is our system of interaction between us, between us and the Creator, and between us and the rest of the world.

We are an intermediate link between the Creator and the whole world, and we must connect all this into one common system. They begin to realize that they are in implementing this process.

It was difficult for them to accept access to the outside world. We have always been working on attracting more friends from anywhere so that they too would yearn for spiritual attainment, for the revelation of the Creator.

But here we appeal to people who do not need anything in life except for comfortable living conditions. Of course, this is very weakening and leads you astray.

But it is precisely the fact that people now have the necessary need to exist normally, and this can only be solved by creating a universal human community on the terms of mutual guarantee that gives us a huge push forward so that we finally receive the upper light, pass it through ourselves to the entire humanity, and correct the whole world. Therefore, now we are starting to study practical Kabbalah.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Why does Everyone Feel ‘Like crap’?” 11/5/11

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Why did Hamas kill so many innocent Israeli civilians?“

In Hamas’ terror attack on October 7, 2023, the group did not just kill innocent Israeli civilians, they also made videos of their murders showing pride in their actions.

One of my students asked me about this: How could people reach a state where they kill innocent people, including women and children, and be proud of it?

The problem is that it does not influence us, the people of Israel. It is not the first time in history that such atrocities have taken place toward the Jewish people, and again, the problem is that we fail to draw the right conclusions from these treacherous incidents.

That people resort to actions toward each other that are worse than animals’ treatment of one another is because we are egoistic beings who enjoy in the suffering of others. Only people enjoy in the suffering of others as a means of raising their own status.

If we thought that today, in the 21st century, we as a human race have developed in our knowledge to a point where we are beyond wars and conflicts, it is far from the case. Where do we see that people today are more enlightened than people of the past? What do we see that people wish for other people in the world in today’s culture and education? We see example after example of people wanting to enjoy at the expense of other people and the world.

In the mid-2010s, ISIS made similar public displays as Hamas’ October 7 attacks, taking pride in torturing and executing swathes of innocent people who they deemed as their enemies. People might pin this kind of behavior to Islamist extremists, but it is a narrow view. For instance, only 80 years ago, we saw such behavior in Germany, a country that was renowned for its high cultural impact on the world.

The murderous inclination exists in the egoistic human nature that prioritizes self-benefit over anything else, but such an inclination is especially active toward the Jewish people. Why? It is because we Jews need to serve as a positive unifying example to the world.

Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam) writes about this in his article, “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”: “The Israeli nation had been constructed as a sort of gateway by which the sparks of purity would shine upon the whole of the human race the world over.”

If we do not become a positive unifying example to the world, then the world treats us worse than anybody else.

The ability to unite above egoistic and divisive drives is what made us the people of Israel to begin with. And as it was then so it is today: We need to fix our connections to each other so that we reach a state of “love your neighbor as yourself” and that “each shall help his friend,” i.e., that we build a close, loving and supportive connection to each other above our divisions.

After the tragic events of October 7, there has been an awakening of a supportive atmosphere among and toward the people of Israel. Among the people of Israel, it is due to the fear that a similar incident will occur tomorrow. However, when this fear fades away, the people of Israel will once again become divided.

This is why I and my organization invest a lot of effort in regularly disseminating educational content on the need for unity, with an additional emphasis on the unity of the Jewish people. If we can awaken ourselves to unite above division through education in more peaceful times, then we would see how the world’s attitude toward us would shift from negative to positive, and our unity would protect us from horrors such as those that again arose against us on October 7.
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Based on “An Inside Look” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi on October 15, 2023. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “How did Hamas infiltrate into Israel without alerting Israeli intelligence?“

Beneath the surface reasons for Israel’s intelligence failure on October 7, 2023, lies a larger collective failure of the people of Israel letting negative attitudes divide them leading up to the tragic events.

The people of Israel’s strength depends on how well they relate to each other. If they cannot get along, no amount of weapons or tools can help.

Hamas’ breach of the barrier into Israel and their managing to commit the atrocities that they did with no Israeli soldiers in sight for a significant period of time, that is, on an army renowned for its intelligence capabilities, continues to shock people and leave them in disbelief.

The core reason, however, for this failure was the lack of a heart-to-heart connection among the people of Israel. For the people of Israel to thrive, its every member must connect from the heart, creating a family-like atmosphere of mutual protection and support, and uphold a common desire for closeness and unity.

The tragedy on October 7 triggered an immediate shift to attitudes of mutual concern and support among the people of Israel. Over time, however, we can expect to see divisive attitudes resurface, with the people of Israel once again erupting in protests and demonstrations against each other.

Until the people of Israel realize the primary need and importance of their unification, that divisive attitudes to each other weaken them and make them vulnerable to destructive forces, then nothing will help.

It was our unity above division that initially brought us together as a nation, where we connected according to the tenet, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” and as it once was so it is today: our unity is the only factor that determines our success or failure.

Based on “An Inside Look” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi on October 15, 2023. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Rising Global Antisemitism: A Dark Reality Despite Mainstream Support for Israel“

Despite mainstream global support for Israel following the tragic events of October 7, there has also been inescapable looming antisemitic sentiment, crimes and threats around the world. These include:

Spikes in antisemitic rhetoric in social media, including celebrating the October 7 attack on Israel’s civilians, calls for further aggression against Israel and its supporters, and a surge of antisemitic conspiracy theories starting from the same day as the attack. (Source: ADL)
Four times more antisemitic incidents in the UK since the attack than in the same period the previous year. (Source: BBC)
A variety of antisemitic expressions from naming Jews in the diaspora as dirty/filthy Jews, accusing diaspora Jews of dual loyalty, blaming Jews for killing Jesus and for purposefully targeting Palestinian children in Israel’s attacks, waving Nazi flags, a crowd shouting “Gas the Jews” at a pro-Palestinian protest in Sydney, a break-and-enter at a kosher restaurant in London with “Free Palestine” spray-painted on the cash register, and vans painted with “Holocaust never happened” and “Hitler was right” in Florida. Jewish students at US campuses reported verbal assaults, and three Salt Lake City synagogues were forced to evacuate due to a bomb threat during pro-Palestinian rallies following the war’s outbreak. (Source: AJC)
The Day of Rage declared by Hamas’ former leader on Friday, 13 October involved more than twenty countries holding pro-Palestinian protests, and made emotions run high. In New York City alone, some people, like Marc Schiller, who attended a synagogue in Manhattan’s Upper West Side on Friday, sought solace and strength in his Jewish identity, drawing inspiration from feeling a need to stand in solidarity with Israel. Others, however, became extra cautious. For instance, some Israeli musicians opted to cancel their participation in a Friday service in Manhattan, citing concerns about being part of large Jewish gatherings. Also, beyond the Jewish community, many people in general chose to stay home in order to avoid public areas. The responses within the Jewish community, however, show stark contrasts that highlight the complex interplay of pride, fear, anger, trauma and solidarity within the Jewish diaspora at a time when Israelis themselves also deal with a swell of emotions as they deal with the aftermath of the tragic events on October 7 and head into war.

Many wonder why Jews in the diaspora often face animosity for situations taking place in Israel, especially when many Jews around the world do not identify with or support Israel. The answer is that a lot of people have a problem with Jews, period. This can lead to hostility not just against Israel but also against Jewish people as a whole.

If there had been any doubt that Hamas was solely against the existence of the State of Israel prior to October 7, the terror attacks of that day clearly and painfully displayed the organization’s genocidal antisemitic intent. Even US President Joe Biden made well known to the public in his remarks following the attack that Hamas is “a group whose stated purpose for being is to kill Jews.” But it is not just Hamas that has tried to shadow its Jew-hating sentiment under an anti-Israel and anti-Zionist disguise.

Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam) stated that Jews are “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.” That is, hatred of Jews is deeply rooted in the fabric of human nature, and it transcends individual psychological explanations and sociological analyses.

In today’s globally interconnected and interdependent world, where the pains or the joys in one place can spread to the other side of the world in an instant, in order to maintain equilibrium and stability, Jews from all backgrounds must foster unity above their differences. The Jews’ unifying influence would then radiate positively through today’s complex web of globally-established connections.

In his article, “The Arvut [Mutual Guarantee],” Baal HaSulam expressed that the Jewish people were “constructed as a sort of gateway by which the sparks of purity would shine upon the entire human race the world over… until they develop to such an extent that they acknowledge the pleasantness and tranquility that are found in the kernel of love of others.”

When this unifying influence is absent, the world falls prey to the grip of human egoism, fueling hatred and division. And the more people feel problems and crises entering their lives, the more they feel instinctively that Jews are to blame.

While many in the world today identify antisemitism as a growing problem, the effort to combat the phenomenon, whether through education, diplomacy, advocacy, awareness campaigns or dialogues, only address the surface symptoms and fail to approach the issue at its core.

Education is indeed necessary, but it should aim at raising awareness of the natural system we all live in and share. This system develops its every level—and most significantly humanity—to higher levels of unification. It was this ability to unite above divisions that established the Jewish people in their very beginnings (the Hebrew word for “Jew” [Yehudi] comes from the word for “united” [yihudi] [Yaarot Devash, Part 2, Drush no. 2]).

If the Jewish people activate a unifying spirit among one another, they act as a conduit for such unity to spread worldwide. When people feel the positive effects of a unifying spirit entering their lives, the negative antisemitic sentiment will invert to a positive feeling that Jews serve to bring harmony and peace to the world. It is as Rav Abraham Kook once wrote, “In Israel lies the secret for the unity of the world.”
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Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Image: “2023.10.08 Pro-Terrorism Rally, Washington, DC USA 281 20109” by Ted Eytan.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “A Plea from a Broken Heart“

The heart of the people of Israel still aches from the tragic events of October 7, 2023. It is a pain felt deep within, permeating the very air they breathe. As the Kabbalist Menachem Mendel of Kotzk once proclaimed, “No one is complete when their heart is in pieces.” A broken heart is highly sensitive to its own fractures. It yearns fervently for restoration, to become whole once again.

A broken heart is like an open book, vulnerable and exposed. It notices even the faintest impurities that pass through it and can regret those moments when it lets those impurities pass by.

The stark divisiveness of the people of Israel throughout the year, expressed in the constant protests and demonstrations, all shattered with the tragedies on October 7. Today, brokenhearted, they can naturally implore for healing.

The plea is simple: may no unkind thoughts traverse our hearts, may no folly enter, and may we shed no disdain or arrogance in our interactions.

By doing so, we draw closer to balance with the fundamental laws of nature—laws of love, bestowal and connection—for if we do not wish to align our unity with the total unity that exists in nature itself, then we have a rickety basis for our unity.

How can we align our unity with nature’s unity? It is by regularly developing our very plea to mend our fractured hearts to unite as one.

In our wounded state lies an immense opportunity: to ask for healing, to pray for the unity of all, so that we could stand as a single harmonious entity—a nation bound together “as one man with one heart.”

It is my hope that this plea from a broken heart will accompany us moving forward, and that with its help, a positive sense of unity will take shape not only in our nation, but the world over.
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Based on the Daily Kabbalah Lesson with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on October 12, 2023. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Image: “Broken Heart” by Suzanne Schroeter on Flickr.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What is social development essentially a matter of?“

As we mature into adults, we inevitably engage with one another, not solely within our familial bonds, but in social interactions. What binds us is the necessity of our earthly existence.

Without social connections, self-sustenance would be unattainable, especially in today’s world, where global interconnection is paramount for our well-being.

If we examine any objects within our environment, such as the items currently in our apartments and homes, we will find that practically the entire planet contributes to shaping our living spaces.

Now, the question arises: what comes next? What follows is our need to participate with one another, not solely in order to create self-serving alliances and to organize our lives, but more so, to achieve harmony with nature.

Nature urges us to establish harmonious connections with one another. To the degree that it interconnects on various levels—the still, vegetative and animate—it compels us to form a unified societal framework marked by mutual support, integration, encouragement, unity and inclusion in a single, cohesive picture. That is why we have been created as social beings, and such unification is next stage of development that we are being led to.

Based on KabTV’s “I Got a Call. How not to Lose Money?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on October 31, 2011. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Photo by Ryoji Iwata on Unsplash.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What is our purpose in creation?“

The human being is the center of creation and is its purpose. The upper force of love and bestowal in reality, which Kabbalists call “the Creator” and “Nature,” created us in order to raise us to the highest possible degree: to identify with the upper force.

The process of attaining similarity with the upper force is called a process of correction. In this process, we acquire the qualities of love and bestowal. This process is also called the “attainment of the Creator,” and it is the ultimate purpose of our creation in this world. Why? It is because we were created with a nature of wishing solely to enjoy, and attaining the Creator is the greatest and most satisfying form of enjoyment we could possibly reach. Unlike our corporeal pleasures in this world—for food, sex, family, money, honor, control and knowledge, which all fade away—the pleasure of attaining the Creator is eternal and perfect.

According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, we were initially created as a single soul called “Adam HaRishon” (Hebrew for “The First Man”), after which we shattered into 600,000 parts. Every part undergoes an independent process of correction. The correction of each part gives it the possibility to be filled with the upper force, or in other words, a feeling of the Creator. The feeling of the Creator filling us gives us access to what are called “spiritual worlds.”

The purpose of creation is thus that the Creator will completely fulfill us. For the time being, however, our souls are in a state called “this world,” where we have no feeling of the Creator. In such a state, it is considered that the Creator is concealed from us. (The word for “world” [“Olam”] in Hebrew connects to the same linguistic root as the word for “concealment” [“He’elem”].)

When the soul perceives contact with the Creator for the first time, it rises to its first spiritual degree. It then begins to make itself resemble the Creator more and more, and by doing so, it feels the upper force with increasing intensity and sensitivity. When all the parts of the soul become fully corrected, they then rise to a state called “the end of correction” (“Gmar Tikkun”).
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Based on “The Kabbalah Experience” by Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What should Israel do next in light of their declaration of war?“

First, we should reflect deeply upon the painful divide that has festered among us, causing the devastating toll of hundreds of lives lost and thousands wounded. We need to yearn for a major change and wholeheartedly unite as one. Only the bonds of unity can shield us from future tragedy and elevate our nation from the abyss of despair.

We cannot afford to nurse bitterness or delay action, waiting for the war’s end to ponder our fractured state. Now is the time for introspection. We need to pinpoint the reasons behind our present circumstances and act accordingly.

Our quest for understanding needs to extend to our lives’ very source: the upper force of love, bestowal and connection that acts on us beyond our current level of awareness, which perceives through an egoistic and divisive lens. It is no matter of religion, but a realization that reality’s governing force is singular, and we accordingly need to stand united before it as one.

Precisely in our trying times, we are in need for an expansion of consciousness to let the upper force of love and bestowal into our lives. We need to raise the pain and anguish that erupts in so many people in such times to the upper force, and wish for it to mend our torn relations, and draw us closer together. We must seek to hold each other close to our hearts, not solely in times of war, but as an enduring duty.

We are a nation established not on a biological foundation, but on a spiritual-ideological one: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” That is, we were people from all around ancient Babylon who felt a problem with living our lives solely according to competitive-materialistic ideals and sought for a higher truth to our existence, which we revealed as a higher force of love, bestowal and connection that united us above our divisive drives. That is why we cannot remain divided without suffering from our separation.

Our mission to unite above our divisions is constant, because divisive egoistic desires constantly surface within us, driving us apart. Therefore, much like a diligent student who finds new homework awaiting them each day, we should not accumulate any more overdue assignments that end up exploding in our faces, pressuring us into critical situations such as the one we now find before us. Instead, we should hurry up and correct our hearts to favor unity “as one man with one heart” above our divisions.
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Based on the afternoon lesson with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on October 9, 2023. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Question: People cry in joy. People cry in grief. What is crying?

Answer: Crying is a small state when my desires, what are called Kelim (vessels), cannot accommodate the impression I get. It causes an eruption of excessive stress that I cannot handle inside in the form of tears.

Question: To understand what it is, one has to know Kabbalah. Do you hope people will reach a stage where they will listen to your explanations and clearly understand what it is about?

Answer: Of course! Undoubtedly! We will communicate with each other not verbally, but on an internal level, and we will fully feel each other, integrate into each other with our hearts, minds, feelings, and thoughts—absolutely everything!

It seems to us that our bodies limit us. In fact, we are tied up in one common web, in one common network, but we cannot reveal it in any way.

Now it is revealed to us as a crisis. “Crisis” in Greek means the birth of something new, not anything negative. This is the next degree of connection between us.

But we are not ready to be at this level of connection yet, so we do not know what to do. We want to stay on the prior egoistic level, the way it used to be. Nevertheless, we need to reach the next level of our unity, where we are connected not by words, but hearts and minds.

Then our bodies, our world will gradually disappear from our senses. Their importance will disappear, they will simply fade away, and we will remain plugged only into this single network between us.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Transmitting Information Through the Senses” 10/31/11

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