Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What makes a Jew a Jew?“

Jews came about by detaching from the ego, i.e. the egoistic desire to enjoy for self-benefit alone, and discovering the upper world of bestowal and love above the ego. Accordingly, in essence, Jews are supposed to detach from the ego and think in terms of the upper world, which in practice means constantly thinking about how to benefit others.

Today’s Jews, however, do not think in such a way. Nevertheless, the Jews originated from attaining the upper world back in Abraham’s time, when he guided a group of ancient Babylonians through a process of uniting above the growing egoistic divisiveness of that time. This group became known as “the people of Israel” and later as “the Jews.” Essentially, the attainment of the upper world gives a more global perspective to a person, since it stems from the connection of different forms and opposite poles of reality.

However, after their origin, the entire Jewish nation fell from their spiritual degree, where they related to reality out of a pure intention to love, bestow and positively connect, to our egoistic world and seemingly exist like everyone else. Jews thus have an inner split: On one hand, their ego is like anyone else’s in the world and even much bigger, but on the other hand, according to their internality, they are organized more toward the upper world’s qualities. Records from that initial connection to the upper world is the reason for Jews’ disproportionate success in the world, even though their success is nothing compared to what it could be. That is, they could be millions of times more successful than they are today because their preparations from nature are boundless, since they became Jews from initially breaking out of the boundaries of the egoistic desire and entering the boundless world of bestowal and love. They thus have the preparations to attain the upper integral world, because inside Jews is a feeling of an ability to arrange the world in a way that is boundless.

Based on the video “What Is the Origin of a Jew?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Is Ray Kurzweil correct in saying that advances in science will enable man to live forever?“

My question in relation to Kurzweil’s statement is: What is so good about us constantly living all the time? Why live at all if we are never to die?

On the contrary, if we attain the purpose of our lives while we are alive, then we will reach a spiritual, eternal and perfect state, i.e. one where we will have no feeling of a lack. In our current lives, we constantly live out of feeling lacks and the need to fulfill our lacks. However, we can reach a state where we have no such feeling of a lack, but that we have an abundance of everything.

Developing ourselves spiritually has nothing to do with medicine or technology. It has to do with our inner world, i.e. with how we feel that we can give and receive from everyone, and to live in a world is boundless, with no beginning or end. Then, even if our bodies die, we will not feel it as death.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What are your thoughts on the rise of right wing politics in Europe and around the world?“

The recent rise in popularity of the right is an outcome of our current stage of human development, where more and more people are seeing that the truth is with the more egoistic and resolute forces, i.e. those who stand by their opinion and not those who paint themselves various colors in the name of equality. The latter period is coming to an end.

We are now entering a more serious and realistic period. Nationalism and right wing politics, however, will not solve any problems. It is only a more realistic option than what we had before.

The more we develop, the readier we become to penetrate beyond the “nice words” that we hear, and increasingly inquire into human nature—all the while adjusting our behavior the more we learn about ourselves.

Our next stage of development toward a harmonious world is for us to realize where our egoistic nature situates us. In short, we live in hostility toward one another, and positive development from here requires learning how to positively connect, and what such connection depends on, i.e. fundamental changes in our media, culture and education systems. We can then take some small steps toward a more harmonious state.

The current rise of the right shows us that we want to view ourselves more realistically. Then, when we come to acknowledge our egoistic nature, we can start thinking about how to truly improve our lives.

I am not discouraged by this tendency toward the right, but on the contrary, I see it is a step toward a more correct and realistic state. It is a state that needs to unfold, and afterward, we can think about what we can do in order to transition to a better state.

Based on the video “The Rise of the Right in Europe – 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 was the result of NASA hitting the asteroid?“

Indeed, NASA managed to hit a giant asteroid and divert it from its orbit, and NASA’s director stated that NASA is trying to be ready for anything that the universe might throw our way.

I think it is a positive development, but I also think that the universe is not throwing any asteroids at us to begin with.

If we seek a true sense of security on our planet, then we need to acknowledge the existence of a higher force in the universe that is hidden from us. It is a force that encompasses and manages everything and everyone, and through this force, we can manage the universe.

We connect to this force in our desire, when we want to come closer to it: to make our desire as its desire. What is its desire? Its desire is for us to operate it toward everybody’s benefit, and that everything will connect as a single system. In other words, the general force of the universe is waiting for us—human beings—to activate it in a way that is good and benevolent toward everyone. When we realize the higher force’s desire toward us in such a way, then we also alleviate the blows that we receive from the universe, and will instead feel a major embrace, as if it is hugging us—a sensation of eternity and perfection.

Therefore, if we adjust our inner force—a small desire within us—to adapt to nature, we can then manage the universe and feel secure without the need to create devices that crash into asteroids.

In the wisdom of Kabbalah, there is a saying, “Make your desire as His desire,” and then He—the higher force—will make His desire like yours. The higher force, or general force of nature, is also called “the Creator” in Kabbalah. If we wish to come closer to the Creator with a positive intention, then He will do the same toward us.

In practice, coming closer to the higher force of nature means exerting a positive influence over all people. If we do so, then we will start feeling that we can organize the forces around us in nature, on our planet and in outer space harmoniously.

Based on the video “NASA Hits an Asteroid – 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: “Who are the Jews today?“

Around 3,800 years ago, Abraham the Patriarch reached a perception of the oneness of nature, a perfect unity of everyone and everything as a single whole. He taught the ways of attaining the perception of nature’s oneness to anybody who was willing to learn back in ancient Babylon, and the Babylonians who advanced as a group implementing his methodology became initially known as “the people of Israel,” and later as “the Jews.” Every Jew today has a part of that perception, but it is yet to reveal itself, i.e. it exists only in potential.

Revealing the full extent of the perception that Abraham once attained would bring humanity to a state that Kabbalah calls “the end of correction,” i.e. the end of our development from perceiving in an incomplete, transient and divided manner, to perceiving a world where everyone and everything connects as one. We would then discover reality in its entirety: all worlds, created beings and various forms as one system filled with a single light, i.e. with a single force of connection. In such a state, we would perceive the true, whole and perfect reality.

Moreover, reaching such a perception is not a matter of whether a person is a Jew. Being Jewish is not about being born to a Jewish mother, as is commonly accepted in today’s world. A Jew is someone who yearns for connection (the Hebrew word for “Jew” [Yehudi] comes from the word for “united” [yihudi] [Yaarot Devash, Part 2, Drush no. 2]). Anybody who aspires to positively connect with others is on the way to becoming Jewish. The first stage toward reaching a state of unification is the condition that Hillel stated—”Don’t do to others what you hate”—and afterward we aim to reach the condition of “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

People who are born as Jews have certain remnants with exalted and powerful potential that come from a completely different perception of reality than the one we experience today. Also, humanity’s future development will lead to everybody having to reach the same perception as Abraham, where we perceive everything and everyone as one, and toward that perception, it does not matter whether someone was born a Jew or not.

Who is a Jew? A Jew is one who wishes to unite everyone, and who feels the whole of reality in addition to feeling oneself. We are Jews if we feel that everything and everyone belongs to us equally as to everyone else, and we yearn to attain the perception of our lives’ source, the discovery of everything and everyone as one.

Based on the video “Who Is a Jew Today?” 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: “Why does the Torah have so many strange prohibitions, like eating shellfish or wearing mixed fabrics?“

First, it is important to understand that the Torah does not describe our world. The Torah is called “sanctity,” which in Hebrew means something different and separate to our world. It explains spiritual laws of the higher spiritual world, and it thus explains what is permitted and forbidden for a person who is in the spiritual world, who attains and perceives it.

We live in a bubble of sorts, the laws of which we have no real understanding. We learn a bit about the laws from the sciences of our world like physics and chemistry, but we are unfamiliar with the real laws.

The Torah, or the wisdom of Kabbalah, describes the spiritual laws that become revealed as the forces of the higher nature. The higher nature is called “the force of bestowal” or an altruistic force, and the nature of our world is the force of reception, or the egoistic force. There is thus one very simple law of the higher nature: that it is forbidden to be an egoist.

In the higher spiritual nature, any action we do for our own benefit is prohibited, while any action that we to for the benefit of others is called a Mitzva (commandment).

About the prohibitions in the Torah, it is written that Hillel told the proselyte that came to him: “Don’t do to others what you hate.” In relation to the Mitzvot, the actions of correction that we do in spirituality, those who are in spiritual attainment, who have revealed the spiritual world, have a clear picture of what is permitted and prohibited. In our world, however, it is not so clear. For instance, a regular person in this world does not see what kind of transgression or harm they commit when they light a candle or a lamp on the Sabbath—nor should they.

In short, in the higher spiritual nature, it is forbidden to use the ego, and it is allowed to use the force of bestowal and love.

Based on the video “What Are the Prohibitions in the Torah?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Photo by Taylor

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What does the Sabbath mean to you?“

The Sabbath is the state of the end of correction of the ego, the peak of our development where everything functions in an ideal manner, solely in a direction of bestowal, giving, fulfilling and loving others.

The prohibitions on the Sabbath discuss actions that we were allowed to do before the end of the ego’s correction, when it was still not entirely in order to bestow. We were once in a system called “the soul of Adam HaRishon,” where we were all tightly connected with threads of bestowal and love as one. The system shattered via an action called “the sin of the Tree of Knowledge.” It was an action where we started wishing to receive egoistically for our personal benefit alone. The connections inside that system and between its parts shattered, and everything that has taken place since that time is for us to reconnect the parts of that system to a state that they were in before the shattering.

There is a confusion between the parts because they fell and mixed with one another, and we have to scrutinize each and every desire of ours, which is an outcome of that shattering: What is it related to? Is it in favor of or against connection? What kind of connection is there between these desires? What kind of constellation should they be? This is our work over a period of what we call “6,000 years.”

The Sabbath is called “the day of the end of correction” where all desires interconnect in an ideal connection. It is a perfect restoration of the soul of Adam HaRishon to its corrected form that it was in before the shattering.

The prohibitions on the Sabbath stem from that in which the Sabbath is a completely corrected state, and in a perfect state there is no room for additional work because everything is already corrected. Adding in such a state could only bring ruin, which is why there are prohibitions to conduct all kinds of works on the Sabbath, whether small or great.

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

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What are the things that are prohibited in the Torah?“

Prohibitions in the Torah relate to our inability to use our ego—the desire for benefiting ourselves at the expense of others and nature—in the variety of ways it can be used, when we are in a spiritual connection.

The most important prohibition in the Torah is “Don’t do to others what you hate.” Likewise, the most important commandment in the Torah is “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Based on the video “What Is the Most Important Prohibition in the Torah?” 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 advice do you have for a mother who feels like she is losing her son?“

I received the following letter from a worried mother who felt like she was losing her son.

Hello, Dr. Laitman. I’m a worried mom. I feel like I’m losing my son. I raised two children. The young one I pampered and surrounded with love. But I feel that I didn’t give enough love to my elder son, who is sixteen now. I was a young mother who was very busy in a difficult economic situation. I made many mistakes. And I especially didn’t give him the warmth and attention that he needed. Now he’s moving away from me. He can’t even pronounce the word “mom.” Sometimes I feel that he really hates me. It really hurts me. And it worries me. I’m trying to fix things, but I don’t know how to bring him back to me. I wanted to ask you, Dr. Laitman, maybe you have some wise piece of advice on how to save our relationship. And how can I regain my son?”

She needs to show him that she loves, supports, understands and is there for him, that she is truly his friend. That is the main thing. She will find a way of how to support him, and he will understand that he has a mom, which is a bit different to what he thought.

In short, he needs to feel that he has no closer person that understands, feels, and is there to help him in any situation.

Based on the video “A Kabbalist’s Advice for a Mother Who Feels Like She’s Losing Her Son” 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 Jordan B. Peterson think about Israel?“

Jordan Peterson stated on his visit to Jerusalem that Israeli people “have a tremendous moral responsibility,” and continued…

“like you have, perhaps, for your entire history, for reasons that are very difficult to understand, and I think it is true, in some real sense, that the fate of the world depends on the decisions of the people of Israel.”

He is right. We have the ability to change ourselves, and by doing so, we change the world.

The change that we need to realize in Israel so that others will think that Israel is handling itself correctly is for us to start treating each other as members of a single family. It is as simple as that: to love others here just because they are the people of Israel.

We think that if the world were different, then we would also be different, but it is not the case. On the contrary, if we change, then the world will change in the same direction.

The world depends on the connections among the people of Israel. If we create positive connections among ourselves, then we will accordingly impact positive connections throughout humanity. In short, positive connection and world peace depend on positive connection and inner peace among the people of Israel, and the lack of positive connection and all the wars, conflicts and other forms of suffering in the world are due to the lack of positive connection among the people of Israel.

Based on the video “Jordan Peterson on Israel – 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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