My new article on Linkedin “We Are Free – Free to Pray”

Even in the worst of times and under the most extreme situations, our hearts are always free. Whatever we face, we can choose how to relate to it. Now that there is once again a war in Europe, we can choose unity. War, after all, is only the most extreme state of disunity. Its antidote, therefore, is unity, and we can achieve unity if we pray for it—everyone, around the world.

A prayer is a precise request that comes from the bottom of the heart to mend a painful situation. In a state of separation and enmity, nothing can stop us from praying for unity and love. We are always free to pray.

A war is won with the spirit, not with weapons. Therefore, we must raise our spirits above our dismal physical situation and pray for the strength to unite our hearts above all the differences, divisions, and hostility.

If all of humanity unites around the war in Europe and prays for it to stop, for the parties to find the strength to resolve their differences peacefully, no ill-will will be able to resist it. Together, humanity can extinguish the fire of war around the world. This war is on us, on all of us. It is our duty, the duty of each and every one of us, to pray from the bottom of our hearts that the enemies will lay down their arms.

Everything that happens, happens in order to connect humanity, to unite it. The terrible events that are currently unfolding must become a springboard for global unity. However, this can happen only if we do not shirk our duty to rise above ourselves and form a global mutual responsibility.

If we do not seize the opportunity we have been given to strengthen unity around the world, then we are also to blame for what is happening and what is yet to happen.

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Question: You said that the most important thing is to reach unity, even at the smallest level. How can unity be divided into levels? Isn’t unity absolute: either we have it or we don’t?

Answer: Each level has its own measure of unity. We have a desire and against this desire we have the upper light. This is all graduated in 125 degrees and each degree has its own correction. Then there is an ascent to the next degree, the revelation of shattering and its correction, and so on. That is, everything repeats itself at each degree. However, these repetitions are completely different from each other.

Question: What is unity?

Answer: Unity is when you work toward one goal and that is what unites you.
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From the International Convention “Rising Above Ourselves” 1/6/22, “Approaching the Creator Through the Network of Connections Between Us” Lesson 1

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Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “Normalization with Gulf States Will Not Bring Normalization with the World”

Recently, Ahmed Al-Jarallah, Editor-in-Chief of the Arab Times, wrote an op-ed that urged Gulf states to normalize relations with Israel, and criticized the Palestinians. Al-Jarallah stated that Gulf states should not support the Palestinians financially or mediate between them and Israel “whenever one of them throws a missile at Israel.” If they attack Israel, he suggested, “let them rebuild what they destroy by their own acts.” In conclusion, Al-Jarallah stated, “All the Gulf states should normalize relations with Israel due to the fact that peace with this most advanced country is the right thing to do.” As for the Palestinians, he vented, “Let the foolish fend for themselves.”

Naturally, the Israeli media quoted the op-ed extensively. Finally, someone in the Arab world has listened to reason, looked at the facts, and realized that the Palestinians are the aggressors and Israel is acting only in self-defense. I, too, was happy to hear about Al-Jarallah’s words, but I think that if Israel did what it is supposed to do, it would have no enemies at all, not even the Palestinians. After all, we are the people who conceived the motto “Love your neighbor as yourself,” and we are the ones expected to realize it.

An alliance with Israel may be great for the Gulf states, and I am certainly happy when any Arab country wants to make peace with us rather than fight against us. However, for Israel, this is far from enough. No peace that we will make will hold until we make peace with one another. Look, for example, at the peace we have with Egypt and with Jordan. There may be absence of active fighting between us, but there is a lot of hostility toward Israel, especially among the citizens of the two nations. Therefore, in the event of a war, Israel cannot trust these countries not to join its enemies.

We may not realize it, but Israel, the startup nation, was initially a startup society. Our “experiment” was unprecedented, and has never been attempted since. The idea was that people who came from foreign, often hostile nations, could form a nation by extolling the idea of unity itself. If successful, the “formula” would be a role model for humanity.

For centuries, we teetered between success and failure, but in the end, we failed the world: We fell into such diabolic hatred of each other that the world has never since tried to establish a nation based on mutual responsibility and loving others as yourself.

Nevertheless, the world did not forget our obligation. Not only our own scriptures remind us of our mission, but antisemites and historians also recognize it.

Among those antisemites is the most notorious Jew-hater in US history: Henry Ford, founder of the automobile company. In his antisemitic composition, The International Jew – the World’s Foremost Problem, Ford details his grievances against the Jews. Yet, here and there, he throws some very thought-provoking statements: “It may be that when Israel is brought to see that her mission in the world is not to be achieved by means of the Golden Calf,” he writes, “her very cosmopolitanism with regard to the world and her inescapable nationalistic integrity with regard to herself will together prove a great and serviceable factor in bringing about human unity.” Ford also complained that “the total Jewish tendency at the present time is doing much to prevent” Jewish unity.

Regarding being a startup society, Ford advises contemporary sociologists to study the ancient Israeli society. In his words, “Modern reformers, who are constructing model social systems on paper, would do well to look into the social system under which the early Jews were organized.”

Similar to Ford, acclaimed historian Paul Johnson wrote in his comprehensive composition A History of the Jews, “At a very early stage in their collective existence [Jews] believed they had detected a divine scheme for the human race, of which their own society was to be a pilot.”

To this day, the world regards us as indebted. It cannot forge the kind of unity that it needs today—among nations and faiths—and it does not see the example it needs to receive from us. This is why the Palestinians can feel confident that the world will side with them. It blames us for every conflict on the planet, not only with the Palestinians, but also among themselves. And until we make peace with one another and become the pilot society, the social model that the world expects to see, we will remain the world’s pariahs.
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Question: How can we help our country and the people living in it move toward connection? And how do we affect them by our unification?

Answer: I would advise you to first of all develop the relationships between you. This is the most important thing. When the spiritual force, the property of bestowal, love, and connection appears in you at least a little, then it will simultaneously emanate from you and outside of you. This is what the masses will feel. But in the meantime, I do not think it is necessary to talk about it, advertise it, or do anything about it.

But spreading the general knowledge that a good connection between us leads to a better life is necessary. This is what we are doing all the time.

Question: How can we encourage each other to believe that it is possible to feel faith above reason?

Answer: This possibility depends only on you and on no one else. And the state of the world is arranged in such a way that if you want, you will necessarily and quickly achieve change. It all depends on the magnitude of your desire. So go ahead! Do not believe anyone that it is impossible, that it is hard. Our main problem in this world is to reveal the Creator, then everything will be clear to us. Good luck with this!
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From the International Convention “Rising Above Ourselves” 1/8/22, “Going with Faith above Reason” Lesson 5

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My new article on Linkedin “The Political Olympic Games”

The International Olympic Committee writes on its website that the Olympic Truce was established in ancient Greece through the signing of a treaty between three Greek city-states—Elis, Pisa, and Sparta—to allow safe participation in the Olympic Games for all athletes and spectators, who were otherwise in constant conflict with each other. Today’s three superpowers—the US, China, and Russia—are doing just the opposite, using the Olympics as a stage for political warfare that only increases animosity. Worse yet, despite the UN General Assembly resolution of October 25, 1993, to observe the Olympic Truce, the rest of the world takes sides in the feud.

The whole concept of sports has become so self-centered and distorted that it has lost its merit. For this reason, I would cancel these competitions altogether. If we bring the wars into the games instead of using them to end the wars and promote peace and unity, then there is no point in holding them at all.

Even without an official boycott, as in this year’s Winter Olympics, the war still rages and the athletes pay the price. They are doped, suffer frequent injuries, and are often verbally, physically, and even sexually abused by their coaches. Spectators, too, are pitched against each other in the name of national pride, the exact opposite of the spirit of unity that should prevail in the Olympic games.

Ideally, the games aspire to build “a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport practiced without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play.” Today’s Olympic “Games” could not be further from this spirit.

Competition is great when it motivates us to improve ourselves. But there is no self-improvement in being ready to kill one another because one person jumped with a stick one centimeter higher than his or her competitor. And what about the whole issue of defining gender in women’s sports? The whole concept of sports has become so self-centered and distorted that it has lost its merit.

For this reason, I would cancel these competitions altogether. If we bring the wars into the games instead of using them to end the wars and promote peace and unity, then there is no point in holding them at all.

We should compete over who helps the world the most, not over who exploits and abuses others the most. Are these the values we want to pass on to our children? Is this the kind of people we want them to grow up to be? If we want them to live in a world where they can trust others and have friends to associate with, we must at least try to set an example of unity and mutual consideration. Afterwards, we should encourage them to follow in our footsteps. But if the Olympics do not promote the spirit of unity, then we should not hold them.
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Comment: Back in school when we studied food chains we learned that when a seed falls into the soil, the soil sustains the growing grass, a hare eats the grass, a wolf eats the hare… If there is no grass, there is no hare, and so on and so forth. If all sparrows were exterminated,  crops would be eaten by parasites and millions of people would die of hunger.

Today almost the entire system of chains has been broken. For example, new computers are assembled in China, but chips come from Taiwan and Malaysia, displays arrive from South Korea, and some parts are sourced from Europe. If you need 20 parts, but have only 19, there will be nothing.

There is a warning that 2022 will be even worse. They clearly see it coming, but can do nothing about it. They feel an onset of something! Some agricultural leaders predict that they will shut down certain countries and eat only what they have nationally.

My Response: No, it won’t happen. We are so deeply interconnected with each other through fertilizers, pesticides, assembly, and processing everything. It won’t happen.

I think the majority of the world’s countries, especially the developed ones, will be unable to survive on their own. There is no such thing as a “closed cycle” today.

Question: What are we facing now?

Answer: Well, we are being forced. I am ready for anything except to share and cooperate. The worst thing is to depend on others!

Comment: I see. Our intellect is egoistic. But even an egoistic mind seeks safety. Still, we feel the need for communication and cooperation. We know the world is interconnected. I think everyone understands it today. Everyone!

My Response: Who will be cooperating? Who listens to whom? Bring heads of state together? No one will be able to agree with anyone on anything!

Question: Then, draw a picture of the future world for us please. When will we get there?

Answer: At some point we will get to the point where people realize that the Jews are at fault for everything. This is really so. We do not bring the world to the realization of evil and its correction.

I can’t keep silent since this is the most painful and urgent problem. You cannot replace it with anything.

Question: What shall we, the Jews, do for the world?

Answer: Rise above ourselves and show the world an example of unity. “Above ourselves” means above our egoism that is greater than anybody else’s.

Look at how we treat each other! It’s so hard for us to be together even when we are faced with great fear and external pressure. We cannot rise because the external pressure, the external hatred, pressures us.

We don’t stick together. Don’t you see what’s going on here in Israel? Nothing can help us. I can’t blame the government or local upbringing for that.

Comment: By and large, you can blame the Creator for that.

My Response: The Creator does His job. As to us, we must act against Him.

Comment: In other words, the Creator brings us against each other, cultivates our egoism more and more, but we have to act against Him.

My Response: That’s right! But we’re unable to.

Comment: Sooner or later, as you say, the responsibility of our people is to show the world an example of unity.

My Response: If we don’t realize this, there won’t be any “sooner or later.” It will go on and on. There is no set date. It won’t happen. It will only occur when the Jews realize their mission.

Question: What will make them realize it?

Answer: I don’t know. I cannot envision such a state! But it simply can’t be otherwise!

Suffering is constantly growing. Perhaps the realization of some things, but not yet no matter how much we write, no matter how much we talk about it.

Question: So one way or another, will it also come from above, but no one knows when?

Answer: Not from above. Everything, certainly, comes from above, but our reaction has to come from below. Our normal response is still missing.

Comment: So, your formula is simple: “The Jews have to show an example of unity” and then the world will be on the right path. Kabbalists knew it, you realize it, but only a few people in the world understand it.

My Response: Yes.

Question: So, how do you want to be heard? Tell me please how?! How?

Answer: We have to start screaming to the Creator! Crying to the Creator that people do not hear us. And He will help us, when we have a truly serious desire.

Even in Germany 80 years ago they stayed until the last moment and didn’t feel any danger. Nor do they feel it now or realize that so many things depend on it.

I think it will come to a point when the world will start demanding. We have to disseminate more and more the knowledge of Kabbalah, the wisdom of correction of the world, so that nations of the world demand from the Jews and the Jews will address the Creator for the sake of all of humanity.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 11/18/21

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Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “Where Fundamentalism Is Leading Us”

People are attracted to the powerful because in each of us, there is a child who seeks protection and a sense of belonging. Fundamentalists understand this very well and capitalize on it. By growing more violent, they appear more powerful, which increases their appeal. In this way, they succeed in attracting new recruits into their ranks.

In western countries, fundamentalist Islamists find fertile ground for amassing followers since people have no direction, spirit, or purpose in life. This makes it easy for them to win them over to their ideas. By offering them membership in a powerful club, and even to God, they give them a sense of meaning and purpose and make them feel that their lives have value. This is the case not only in Europe and the United States, but also in Russia, India, and even China.

Where does this lead us? First, it will lead to bloody conflicts. Eventually, it will expose the emptiness behind the promises of radical religious dogmas.

Once fundamentalism exposes its futility, people will find the true meaning of the term religion. In The Writings of the Last Generation, Baal HaSulam writes, “The religious form of all the nations should first obligate its members to bestowal upon each other … as in ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ …This will be the collective religion of all the nations.”

What, you may ask, will become of our traditional religions? Baal HaSulam continues and writes that besides following the tenet of loving others as ourselves, “each nation may follow its own religion and tradition, and one must not interfere in the other.” In other words, as long as we care for one another, each of us will live according to our own way and tradition, and our different ways of life will not disrupt the harmony and union we will have achieved having developed love for one another.

The evolutionary process just described is not just for a few of us; it is the future of humanity. We are all destined to achieve unity and mutual concern by following the law of loving others as ourselves. This is the meaning of the ancient prophecy, “And all the nations shall flow unto it” (Isaiah 2:2).

Abraham the Patriarch, the Babylonian trailblazer who broke the news of our collective unity to humanity, was the first teacher. He taught how to unite on the basis of mercy and kindness. His progeny, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and so on, polished and adapted the method of connection to their times. Moses did the same with his book of laws, which we call Torah, and so did Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai with The Book of Zohar.

Now we, too, must find our way to apply the law of love of others to our time. Especially today, when hatred and self-absorption are corrupting and destroying human civilization, it is time to rise above our petty selves and find a common union that is higher than all of us and unites all of us. Only in that higher realm will we find a way to make our world livable, and our lives with one another pleasant, safe, and with a true sense of belonging.
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Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “What Einstein Knew and Jews Refuse to Acknowledge”

“We have no other means of self-defense than our solidarity,” wrote physicist Albert Einstein in a letter to a NY Jewish philanthropist in June 1939, to express gratitude for his help to Jewish refugees who had managed to escape from the Nazis shortly before the outbreak of World War II. Today, as then, Jewish solidarity is the only way to combat antisemitism, but we seem not to have learned the lessons of the past, as division and internal strife prevail.

In Einstein’s thank you letter, recently released, the scientist addresses American businessman Fred Behr and shares with him his deep concern about the rise of Nazi rule in Europe and the impending danger to the Jews: “The power of resistance which has enabled the Jewish people to survive for thousands of years has been based to a large extent on traditions of mutual helpfulness. In these years of affliction our readiness to help one another is being put to an especially severe test.”

Much like antisemitism led to establish the State of Israel, today we are witnessing a sharp rise in antisemitic sentiment, both directly against Jews and disguised as delegitimization of Israel, in many countries—but especially in the United States and Europe. It is now imperative that we embrace the values of unity and mutual responsibility to guarantee our survival.

But today, these values have become less important in the eyes of most Jews, currently we are like a collection of separate groups—left versus right, religious versus secular, Ashkenazi versus Sephardic, to name just a few divisions—engaged in a constant struggle against each other.

Thus, in order to return to our united roots and re-establish ourselves as a united Jewish people, we must place our original values of unity and solidarity at the center of our common discourse. What would motivate us to reunite as a single nation? Why is this even important? It is so because the alternative is extinction. Only a tightly knit model can guarantee our survival. As our sages put it, “All of Israel are each other’s guarantors [responsible for one another], meaning that when all are together, they see only good.” (A Broadcasting Voice). And as it is written in Shem MiShmuel, “When they [Israel] are as one man with one heart, they are as a fortified wall against the forces of evil.”

Solidarity and unity are the most important Jewish values, originally instituted by our Patriarch Abraham and his group some 3,800 years ago. Guided by these principles, this group became the “people of Israel” and learned to live harmoniously as one cohesive nation.

By following the principles of mutual responsibility and cohesion, we can strengthen bonds that transcend people, groups, factions, ages, and genders, and aim to unite all people, without exception, across all differences.

Moreover, by realizing such a vision, we will serve as a model for a perfect society of fulfilled and successful people who share the most important values of life—love and connectedness. As a result, the world will absorb the unifying atmosphere we project, and antisemitism in all its forms will subside.
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My new article on Linkedin “Why We Are Silent over Antisemitism on Campus”

Despite the growing number of antisemitic incidents on campuses all over the US, American Jews are almost completely mute about it. Either they are afraid or they underestimate the danger. Avoidance is the least desirable solution, but the real remedy for Jew-hatred is solidarity.

The past two years have seen record breaking numbers of anti-Jewish incidents in the US, particularly on campuses. Yet, Jews have largely been silent over this facet of the hatred. There can only be two explanations for this apparent abandonment of Jewish youths to fend for themselves in the face of organized and often institutional Jew-hatred: not realizing the gravity of the situation, or fear that “making waves” will make matters worse.

Antisemitism on campuses did not begin this year. When I was on a speaking tour in the US in 2014, I spoke with Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, head of the AMCHA initiative to combat anti-Semitism in US colleges and universities. Although she was well aware of the deteriorating situation of Jewish students precisely because they are Jews, it was clear that she was unaware of how quickly things could deteriorate and to what extent.

Worse yet, when I mentioned this problem in a lecture I gave the following evening in Los Angeles, people left in protest. Now there is at least some understanding that not enough is being done, though there is no understanding what we can and should do about the problem.

The Jewish people are the people who gave the world such noble notions as loving others as yourself, and not doing to others what you would hate if it were done to you. We gave the world such values as mutual responsibility, mercy, and almsgiving. We did all this under the obligation we had taken upon ourselves at the foot of Mt. Sinai when we became a nation: to be “a light unto nations.”

Yet, for centuries, we have been plagued by internal hatred and division that have brought our nation to ruin. Divided, we cannot be the example of mutual responsibility and solidarity that the world expects of us. If we cannot show solidarity, the world cannot have solidarity, and division and hatred prevail. The result is that the world blames us for its wars. This is what is happening today.

Antisemitism on campus is a sore spot. It hurts us where we are most vulnerable: our children. Naturally, we tend to suppress it and pretend that it does not exist.

We should do the opposite. To neutralize antisemitism on campus, Jews, including Jewish students, should acknowledge the hatred and do what all Jews are required to do – unite with each other, no matter how far and how hateful we are to each other. They must do this not for themselves, but for their children, who will not see a relief in hatred toward them until American Jewry unites, and for America, whose society will continue to disintegrate until Jews lead by example toward unity.

If American Jewry rises to the challenge, it will not be the most despised community in the US, but the most venerated. I hope that American Jewry makes 2022 their year of unity. It will benefit them; it will benefit America; and it will benefit the world.
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My new article on Linkedin “The Happiest Sad Birthday”

Let me tell you a true story that sends an important message to all of us. Halleli, a 4-year-old girl from Jerusalem with special needs, wanted to celebrate her birthday with her friends from kindergarten. Her loving parents arranged for everything: the place, the food and sweets, a clown to entertain the kids, and various fun activities that all the children enjoy doing. All her friends from kindergarten had promised they would come, and Halleli couldn’t wait to celebrate with them. But in the end, only one girl showed up. The candy, the clown, and the games just stood there, untouched and unwanted.

The next day, heartbroken, the girl refused to go to kindergarten. Her parents were beside themselves with sorrow and worry for their child and didn’t know how to comfort her. In his distress, Halleli’s father posted on social media what had happened, and matters took a sharp turn for the better.

A man from the neighborhood read the post and was overcome with emotion. “I have kids too,” he thought. “What if she were my daughter?” He felt he had to do something to give that girl an experience that would wash away her sadness. He decided to throw her the birthday party of her life.

He combed the neighborhood and told everyone about Halleli and that he was organizing a birthday party for her and asked everyone to come. A few days later, Halleli had her party. This time, hundreds of children and their parents showed up to make the little girl happy on her special day. Her parents were overjoyed and grateful beyond words to the kind stranger, and as for Halleli, her face beamed brighter than the sun.

This story doesn’t only tell us about human kindness. It is a warning sign. It demonstrates how heartless, perhaps even cruel, we can be if we are not organized and galvanized into positive action. It also proves the immense potential that lies in establishing mutual responsibility in society. When people who don’t know each other help each other because this is the value they live by, there is no end to what such a society can achieve.

The Jewish people became a nation when complete strangers found the words of their teacher, Abraham, compelling enough to implement. His teachings about kindness and mercy as the key to solving society’s problems struck a chord in the hearts of his listeners and they joined his group. This is why mutual responsibility and “love your neighbor as yourself” are the tenets of Judaism – social laws that relate not to God but to our fellow person.

Today, when alienation permeates every corner of human society, we desperately need mutual responsibility and care for others. These are the only qualities, the only values that can keep human society from collapsing altogether. Just as Abraham had found that the remedy to his homeland’s social ills were care for others, all of us must now realize that the cure for heartlessness has not changed since ancient times. The only difference is that alienation has now spread throughout the world.

Humanity must do today what the ancient Hebrews did – unite across divisions and establish love of others where today there is nothing but hatred. Perhaps such moving stories as the one about Halleli’s birthday will help us realize that mutual responsibility is not a noble but unrealistic notion, but an imperative step we must take to ensure our survival as a functioning society.
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