Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What story is read on Purim? Why?“

The story starts with Ahasuerus, King of Shushan, enjoying a royal feast, and then his wife, Queen Vashti, disobeyed one of his commands, so he divorced her and sought another wife.

The king had a loyal minister called Mordecai, who was a Jew and who had a beautiful niece, Esther. Mordecai sent Esther to apply for becoming the king’s new wife, and the king was so impressed with Esther that he married her. However, following her uncle’s order, Esther kept it a secret from the king that she was Jewish.

Soon afterward, Mordecai, while sitting at the king’s gate, overheard that two conspirators, Bigtan and Teresh, were plotting to assassinate the king. Mordecai thus passed on this knowledge to Esther, who told King Ahaseurus, and he executed Bigtan and Teresh. While we would expect the king to reward Mordecai for this deed, the king surprisingly rewarded and promoted not Mordecai, but Haman, and Haman gained a very powerful position in the kingdom as head of all ministers.

Out of all people in the kingdom, Mordecai was the only one who refused to accept anyone besides King Ahaseurus as ruler. This infuriated Haman, and as a result, Haman ordered the genocide of all Jewish people—women and children included. He justified his decision to King Ahaseurus by stating that the Jews were scattered and dispersed, and that the king would be better off without them because they do not obey his laws. The king approved Haman’s request.

When Mordecai heard about the order to kill all Jews, he was shocked. He proceeded to tear his clothes, cover himself with a sack, and pour ashes all over himself, and then he started yelling about it all over the city of Shushan until he reached the king’s gate.

When Esther heard about Mordecai’s frenzy, she sent servants to dress him up but he refused. He told them to tell Esther about the plan to kill all the Jews, and that she must beg the king to undo it. Esther was terrified because she thought that the king would disapprove of her request. However, thanks to Mordecai’s persistence, she finally agreed but passed on the message through Mordecai to the Jews of Shushan that they need to unite around this request to save their lives.

The Jews’ uniting gave Queen Esther the strength she needed to approach King Ahaseurus with the request to reverse his decision. It is considered a miracle that he accepted this request, because it was only customary for the king to call up anybody whom he had a request for. At that point, she revealed to the king that she was Jewish, and that Haman was planning to kill them all.

Around this point, the king also learned how Mordecai was the one who saved his life from Bigtan and Teresh’s plot to assassinate him, and his attitude to Haman turned bitter. While Haman had been preparing gallows upon which he would execute Mordecai, the king became so upset with Haman that he ordered his execution, and the execution of his entire family, on the very gallows that Haman had prepared for Mordecai. And from then on, the Jews’ lives were saved, and they reveled and feasted in their unification.

Since that time, it has been customary to celebrate Purim with a lot of joy, eating cookies called hamantashes [hamentashen] (Haman’s Ears), giving gifts to the poor, wearing costumes and masks, and drinking so much alcohol so that we cannot tell good (Mordecai) from bad (Haman).

Besides the joyous atmosphere that surrounds Purim, it has a very important and serious message specifically for the Jewish people. Especially in times when antisemitism is exponentially on the rise globally, the Purim story shows us that the Jews’ only “weapon” against the rising hatred toward them is their unity.

We can and should protect ourselves and our loved ones. However, if we wish to rid ourselves of the negative sentiment coming at us from all directions, then we need to unite. The custom of giving gifts to the poor (usually portions containing hamantashes and wine) is a sign of closeness, an expression of a desire to bring all factions of the nation together. Our great sages over the generations have repeatedly told us that our unity will be our salvation from any negativity toward us.

The Book of Zohar, in the portion, Aharei Mot (item 66), takes the importance and seriousness of our unity one major step forward, that our unity not only brings us peace, but it brings peace to the whole world.

You, the friends who are here, as you were in fondness and love before, henceforth you will not part from one another, until the Lord rejoices with you and declares peace over you. And by your merit there will be peace in the world.

Antisemitism is a constant pressing reminder that we Jews need to unite just as the Jews did in the Purim story, and that if we do, we will be saved from harm. Moreover, as The Zohar writes, our unity will spread beyond our own bubble to humanity at large.

Similarly to how Haman’s reasoning to commit genocide on all Jews, including women and children, seemed over the top, we likewise see how seemingly illogical so much anti-Jewish reasoning is. It is because a lot of people instinctively feel how the Jews’ are behind the various forms of pain and suffering they feel in their lives, and they blame the Jews for standing behind much of theirs and the world’s suffering—while Jews themselves have no such intentions.

If we thus unite among each other, and show that we wish to share our unity with the world, we would then serve as an example of brotherly love above differences that no other nation could display.

Humanity today desperately needs the inclination to unite above differences, and this is the ability that we Jews have the potential to provide. Haman is a symbol of our rampant egoistic desires for honor and power at all costs. These desires stop us from caring about each other, and make us wish to trample on others in order to expand our own personal empires. If we Jews give into such desires, then people around the world instinctively feel that we are doing something wrong, and antisemitic sentiment swells against us.

Antisemitism is thus part and parcel of the laws of nature, a reminder of our need to unite above our differences, and to serve as a unifying example for the world. If we exercise the condition that our ancestors once met, “love your neighbor as yourself,” we can revitalize the emotion of unification, which would in turn overcome our rampant egoistic demands represented by Haman.

When we do so, then the world will see the true value of what Jews represent—that there is no matter of superiority in the Jews’ existence, but a need to reach a state of genuinely caring for each other and acting as a conduit for such care to spread worldwide.

We then reach a sensation of humanity as a single soul, i.e. we feel a unified desire connect us, and in such unity, we experience harmony and peace.

The purpose of antisemitism is thus to push us to realize our unifying role in the world, which is the meaning of us being “a light unto the nations.” We would be wise to learn how to unite, and to exercise unity above our own differences, because by doing so, we would experience its myriad benefits of joy, strength and prosperity. When we unite, we eliminate hatred, antisemitism, wars and all forms of negativity that emerges from within human egoism to divide people.

It is my hope that we use the Purim holiday as a reminder of our need to unite, and that we move in a unifying direction sooner rather than later. We would then spare ourselves and humanity much suffering.

Based on “The Meaning of Purim” by Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Why are people scared of black cats?“

People’s fear of black cats, shying away from broken mirrors and attributing dark and ominous signs to all kinds of events in our lives, such as Kyiv residents recently doing so in relation to huge flocks of crows that passed through their skies, have their historic folkloric origins.

However, we need to progress beyond assigning any special importance to such phenomena.

We can do so by replacing such signs with positive signs, such as the demonstration of positive attitudes to each other.

If we emphasize the growth of positive mutual attitudes and the achievement of “love your neighbor as yourself” in human society, then such a condition would cover everything else. Then, whether we walk past a black cat, a broken mirror or myriad other superstitious phenomena that we might be careful with, our attraction to achieving a strong positive human connection would cancel out any of those influences.

Based on the video “Crows Over Kyiv – An Ominous Sign?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What do you think about the Hebrew language?“

The Hebrew language emerges from our dialog with the source force of our lives, the force of love, bestowal and connection that is called “the Creator” in the wisdom of Kabbalah.

According to Kabbalah, the Hebrew letters are the forms that our desire receives from the Creator. In other words, every letter is a new form that we acquire when we become somewhat similar to the Creator.

Our matter is a desire to enjoy, which is opposite to the desire to bestow enjoyment, which is the Creator’s form. Therefore, when we apply an intention to bestow enjoyment upon our desire to receive, then it is considered that we acquire a form similar to the Creator.

There are 22 of these forms that we can acquire upon ourselves, and in addition, the five last letters, the MANTZEPACH. When we apply these forms upon ourselves, we create words, which are spiritual actions. That is, when we transition from a state where we are immersed solely in the desire to enjoy for ourselves alone to a desire to bestow enjoyment to the Creator, then we hold a dialog with the Creator. We reach out to Him and we change ourselves through the forms that we accept upon ourselves. By doing so, we express our desire and our language to the Creator. He then understands us, and He begins speaking to us through these letters, these symbols.

We can then know the Creator when we have received the 27 forms from Him, and we can then identify the form that the Creator reaches out to us with.

Based on the video “What Are the Hebrew Letters?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What is the meaning of Purim in the Bible?“

The story of Purim describes the near-genocide of the Jewish people.

Haman recognized the Jews’ division as an opportunity to eradicate them. “There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples” (Esther 3:8). Haman said that in his view, the Jews would be able to be destroyed because they were separated from one another.

However, Mordechai, the hero of the Purim story, worked to bridge the Jews’ division, which is what eventually saved their lives: “the Jews gathered themselves together to stand for their life” (Esther 8:11).

Purim is as significant for Jews today as it was for the Jews in the story itself. Also, it holds immense importance for society at large. A major aspect that needs to be understood about the meaning of Purim in order for us to understand its modern relevance is in relation to Haman: Who or what is Haman in our present times? That is, who or what is behind society’s increasing estrangement and polarization?

The immediate response according to our primal instincts is to personify the blame, that a President, or a group of politicians, financiers, executives or other conspiratorial schemers are behind our woes. However, beyond the face-value finger pointing, what is really behind today’s social division is the divisive mindset that Haman represents: the desire to seek money, honor, control and power despite everyone and everything. This divisive mindset shuts us off from each other, separating us, harming us and masking the harm that we do to each other.

Today’s tumultuous social atmosphere is a calling for us to seek our common voice as a humanity that shares common values and purpose. If we use this calling to connect a little above our primal instincts, then we can create a much more harmonious and peaceful world.

Whenever the Jewish people were at risk of ruin, it was our unity that saved us. We can use the Purim story as an eternal reminder that our unity can get us out of the worst situations, and that by uniting, we set a constructive and positive example for the rest of humanity.

Although we Jews have an innate obligation to set the standard for choosing unity over division, people of all races, colors, shapes and sizes should make the same strides toward unification before heading into greater turmoil and crises. Our destiny is in our hands.

Based on the post “What Is Purim?” by Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What are your thoughts?“

Thoughts are expressions of our desires. We think about what we desire.

Desires are primary and thoughts are a calculation device that aim to supply our desires with the fulfillments they crave.

Based on the Daily Kabbalah Lesson with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on February 22, 2022. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Can we create energy from nothing?“

According to our current understanding of nature, we cannot create or extract energy out of nothing. At least not yet.

More generally, it is impossible that something emerges from nothing.

Why?

It is because nature initially created something out of nothing.

In the language of Kabbalah, we say that the Creator—which is synonymous with nature, a pure desire to bestow goodness and delight—created the desire to receive the delight, out of nothing. Everything and everyone that was created, the entirety of nature, is under the providence of the Creator, i.e. the upper force of love and bestowal that creates all life.

It is in no way a negative phenomenon that we cannot create something out of nothing. It simply means that we live in a limited world, and while living in a limited world, it is impossible for us to create something out of nothing.

Moreover, it is even a positive phenomenon because it means that from our limited state, we can reach a state where we will become unlimited like the Creator, and thus experience the immense richness and depth of feeling two opposite poles of reality. In other words, we can reach a state where we experience the eternity and perfection of attaining the same quality of love and bestowal upon our desire to receive.

That is why we say that we can only become “like” the Creator: that we remain as a desire to receive, but we can attain an intention to love and bestow like the Creator upon our desire to receive. Therefore, as exalted as such an attainment is, there is still a lot we cannot do.

Based on the video “Can We Create Energy from Nothing?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Does nature sing? If it does, how can we hear it singing?“

One of my students recently read about a phenomenon where people who live in nature hear it singing, and asked me about it. He was stunned. He asked how could animals, plants, the wind, and so on sing, and what do they sing about?

Since we are created in an opposite nature to nature itself—we are a desire to receive while nature is a force of love, bestowal and connection—then we cannot hear nature singing, but if we were to hear it, then we would hear a great song about love, connection and a perfect life.

If we felt nature in its pure form, then we would hear how trees, bushes, grass, birds, animals and even wind sing about the good in the world. However, due to our oppositeness to nature, we corrupt it and do not hear it.

In order to hear nature’s wondrous beauty, we need to understand the general mechanism of nature and to turn it in a positive direction by changing ourselves.

It is no problem to do so. We can experience such a change very quickly on our human level. If we change ourselves to adapt ourselves to nature, then we will see how nature calms down, and we will feel ourselves living in a harmonious, peaceful and perfect world.

We will then be able to hear nature’s inner force, a force that wishes for us to positively connect through mutual consideration, as is written, “and the wolf shall dwell with the lamb.”

Based on the video “How to Hear Nature Singing” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Can we learn from Jews how to unite?“

There was once a hefty dispute between David Ben-Gurion and Moshe Sharet. Sharet said, “What will the nations say?” And Ben-Gurion answered: “It doesn’t matter what the nations will say. What’s important is what the Jews will do.”

I agree with Ben-Gurion’s statement, but on condition that the Jews truly desire to achieve unity. No nation or other opinion would then matter to us. We would prioritize our unity over everything else.

The Jews have the ability to bring the condition of living in unity to the world. It is also why we are widely hated and blamed for being evil. There is a common feeling toward us that we host some kind of foundation, a force that can benefit the world, but which we keep to ourselves.

Despite Jews’ disproportionate success in fields such as science, medicine and technology, for instance, the disproportionate amount of Nobel Peace Prizes that Jews receive, we see that it leads to no special love for the Jews.

The Jewish people need to bring wholeness, love and unity to the world, and if we fail to do so, then nothing else we do counts.

In short, it is important that we unite and spread unity to the world through our example and teaching, so that everyone will know that their good future depends solely on unity. We will then all witness in practice what it means to be a “light unto the nations.”

Based on the video “The Dispute Between Ben-Gurion and Moshe Sharet – A Kabbalist’s Response” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What does it mean to “succeed” in life?“

To succeed in life means to reach a state where we desire doing good to others.

We can genuinely feel good when we give and bestow to others.

Why?

It is because, by giving to others and wishing to bestow good to them, we become like nature’s altruistic force.

As such, we can reach a state where everything around us will be good.

Based on the video “What Does it Mean to Succeed in Life?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What is it that could cause a civil war in Israel?“

As the days pass since the 2022 Israeli elections, the conflict worsens between the political blocs. The opposition states that the government is illegitimate and discusses the possibility of a civil war while the coalition calls for the imprisonment of the opposition leaders on the basis of treason.

In Israel, we are coming to a state of inner struggle, hatred and rejection that has caused us to degenerate several times over history, and once again, we are at a crossroad. Even though we understand that our situation is dangerous, and the country has fallen apart twice before due to letting our differences detach us, it still does not matter. We see that we cannot agree to any kind of a compromise, even if means the country’s dismantlement.

And what is this dire situation ultimately based on? Simply put, ego and pride. One cannot let the other govern the country as long as there is the slightest opportunity to put spokes in the other’s wheel. Other than uniting above the divisions, as is it written that “love will cover all crimes,” we can do nothing else to fix our current conflict.

We have to unite and reach a state of a common love despite our hatred of each other. If we fail to positively connect above our differences, then we will cease to exist.

Based on the video “Is Israel on the Verge of Civil War?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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