News Report (from Financial Sense Editorials): Andrew Gelman of Princeton stated, “The law of unintended consequences is what happens when a simple system tries to regulate a complex system. The political system is simple. It operates with limited information (rational ignorance), short time horizons, low feedback, and poor and misaligned incentives. Society in contrast is a complex, evolving, high-feedback, incentive-driven system. When a simple system tries to regulate a complex system you often get unintended consequences.”

Examples of Unintended Consequences of the Last 100 Years:

• The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria: All sides envisioned a short painless war. The war lasted 4 years and killed 20 million people, with another 20 million casualties.

• Treaty of Versailles: The harsh terms inflicted upon Germany by the victorious Allies eventually led to the rise of Adolph Hitler as dictator and ultimately to the deaths of 70 million people in World War II.

• Manhattan Project: Led to an arms race with the Soviet Union which almost led to nuclear war in 1962. The proliferation of nuclear weapons is one of the biggest dangers to world peace today.

• Richard Nixon takes U.S. off Gold Standard: The U.S. dollar has lost 93% of its purchasing power since 1971. The welfare statists have confiscated middle class savings through inflation.

• China Embraces Capitalism: Peasants in China were turned into workers (so as to narrow the gap between rich and poor), resulting in an economic crisis and social unrest.

• Cheap oil: will halt projects aimed at developing alternative energy sources and create an energy problem in the future.

My Comment: These were just the naive errors of the past, before we revealed the closed global system of the entire planet’s absolute interdependence. Today, however, any mistake made in any part of the world will lead to an unpredictable domino effect in various parts of the planet and on various levels. In this case the best thing to do is, as written in a Kabbalistic text, “Sit and do nothing.” Or in a word – freeze!

The only chance we have of making the right actions is to take into account the well being of all humanity. But this is only possible when one perceives everyone as one family. It is impossible to calculate this legally or mathematically! It is only possible to act this way under the influence of the Upper Light, which transforms our innate egoism into Nature’s quality of bestowal and love – the quality of the Upper World. This is the transformation we’ll have to undergo.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Financial Crisis May Trigger a World War

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In Georgia (the country), a Jewish publication called Menorah has published an article called “The Tree of Life.” The contents of the article are as follows:

1. A translation of the poem “Tree of Life” by the Ari

2. “The Essence of the Science of Kabbalah:” what is Kabbalah, who is a Kabbalist, the language of Kabbalah, and who can study Kabbalah

3. Questions and answers from the show, “Ask the Kabbalist”

4. A link to the Kabbalah.info site and a contact email

The material in the Georgian language was prepared by Nino Chirikashvili, Miriam Beren, Meir Hanan, and Tamara Kriheli. The editor of the publication is Guram Batiashvili.

Related Material:
Kabbalah website in Georgian

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Economist Michael Khazin stated the following in an interview with Echo Radio: What is globalization? Globalization is a political, ideological, and cultural structure built over an absolutely material process – the global division of labor. Beginning with the 18th century, humanity started developing scientifically and technologically, and this was accompanied by a growth of markets where people sold their products. There were many “globalizations” in the 18th century; in fact, every large country led its own system of labor distribution.

My Comment: Many define globalization as the distribution of labor, production, and the market. However, Kabbalah defines globalization differently: it means that the world is global and integral, and all of its parts are completely interconnected like in a small village. In it, every part determines the fate of all the others, according to the Butterfly Effect.

The world has become like this due to progress. From this moment on, there cannot be any conflicts between different parts of the world because anyone who is against integration is also against progress, evolution, and the law of nature. We must recognize that the absolute connection of all the world’s parts is a fact. We must also recognize that our discrepancy with or failure to carry out nature’s law of Unity will elicit a negative reaction: the crisis will become more severe. And we will be the ones who created this reaction.

Here are some more definitions of globalization:

Globalization – a process of global economic, political, and cultural integration and unification. The main consequences of this are a global distribution of labor; migration of capital and human and industrial resources on a global scale; standardization of legislation and of economic and technological processes; and greater contact between different cultures. This is an objective, natural, historic process that is systematic. In other words, it encompasses all areas of social life.

Globalization – the process of a continuously growing influence of various international factors (such as close economic and political connections, exchange of cultures and information) on the social reality of separate countries.

Globalization in politics – an approach to the world’s formation, organization, functioning, and development that views the world as an integral economic, socio-cultural, and political super-system.

The concept of globalization – a theory stating that the evolution of financial markets and institutions leads to a state where geographic borders cannot limit contracts and other transactions. Usually the term “globalization” pertains to a growing international activity of banks and other institutions.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Talks on Globalization and the Financial Crisis
Laitman.com Post: Kabbalah’s Solution to the Financial Crisis Differs from the Common Sense Solution
Laitman.com Post: How to Create Contracts In the Age of Global Interconnection
Kabbalah Today Article: Globalization 101

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News Report (from rpmonitor.ru): Paradoxically, most of the nations where people are starving belong to the array of long-term suppliers of agricultural production to the West. Having even no food processing industry of their own, they are forced to sell their crops for a song. The list of suppliers includes former colonies and protectorates of Western powers, now hypocritically qualified as “developing nations”. According to UN FAO and UN’s economic commissions for Africa, Western Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Sahel Council, the potential reserves of these nations are sufficient for feeding at least half of the world’s population. In case these countries develop modern agrochemical technologies and food processing, they will get rid of the threat of famine.”

My Comment: Caring for others means helping them to develop, rather than “throwing them a bone” (charity), which makes them even more dependent. The Torah obligates parents to make sure their children get a profession, and then to stop feeding them! Otherwise, the children will remain undeveloped.

We must finally start perceiving the world as a whole, rather than separated into countries, continents, races, and nations. This is how it is on the inside; this is its true structure. Precisely this perception or lack thereof determines the state we’re in.

A question I received: If the developed countries will provide a good standard of living to the non-developed ones, they will take away their ability to develop. Is this what kind of “help” is currently being provided for Africa? Then what would be the right way to help?

My Answer: Act the same way you would in your family – then you can’t go wrong!

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Does Charity Really Help Anyone?
Laitman.com Post: What Would It Take to Feed Everyone In the World?
Laitman.com Post: When Will Hunger Start Affecting Us?

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The unity of the society is the source of its well being
Baal HaSulam, “The Freedom”:
The unity of society is the source of happiness and well being, whereas the separation between people is the source of all evils. All success and well being depend only on people’s closeness and unity in a global community.

The whole world is regarded as one big society
Baal HaSulam, “Peace in the World”:
In our generation, when each person depends on the world to provide his necessities, every person depends on the whole world as a small wheel in a machine. Therefore we can no longer speak of the well-being and security of one country or one nation, but only of the whole world, because the benefit or harm of each and every person in the world depends and is measured by the benefit of all the people in the whole world.

That’s because in our time, the well being of every person in the world depends on, and is measured by, the well being of all the people in the world. It’s because today we have come to a state where the whole world is regarded as one society. Today every person in the world is “nourished” by the whole world, and hence every person is obligated to take care of the well being of the whole world.

The peace of every person depends on everyone
Baal HaSulam, “Peace in the World”:
Good and evil are evaluated only according to the benefit one’s actions bring to the public. This shows us the place that needs correction, and that is for each and every individual to understand that his personal benefit and the benefit of the society are one and same. This is how the world will attain its full correction.

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The Mexican magazine “Mercurio XXI,” which has a circulation of 40,000 all over Mexico, has published my article “Obesity: A Lack of Spiritual Food?”
The image on the left is the magazine’s cover:

Related Material:
Kabbalah Website in Spanish

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A question I received: The great Kabbalist Baal HaSulam calls upon people to not violate the laws of nature, as if laws of nature are like traffic rules where a person can cross the street in the wrong place or drive onto an oncoming lane. For example, humanity has been violating the law of gravity since the times of the Wright brothers. Nonetheless, this law is still in effect; we simply go around it. And so what?

Is it possible to make a list of nature’s laws, or are they known only to Kabbalists?

My Answer: Every time man violates the laws of nature, his actions evoke a negative influence upon him, to the point of death. The law of behavior in the global community did not manifest as a law of nature until our times, but it is now starting to manifest because we are now entering the final phase of our development, the level of “human,” whereas before we were going through lower levels called still, vegetative, and animate.

The laws of nature are stricter than traffic laws because nature has no pity and demands the “exact payment.” We cannot go around the laws of nature, but we can study them and learn to use them correctly. Globalization obliges us to unite in order to match the governing forces of nature. If we will do this, then we will be using the laws of nature to our advantage. But if we won’t act as a global community, then we’ll crash like the poorly constructed original airplanes, until we learn how to use the laws of nature correctly!

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Friends, Let’s Join Hands!

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Two questions I received from students around the world:

Question: Here in Africa people don’t really want to know what lies beyond our world, but ever since I was young I have always been fascinated by the world and I have always wanted to find out the whole truth. Lately I have been thinking about how to help people change their ways and give meaning to their lives. I started telling others about goodness and coming closer to the Almighty, and I find much pleasure in what I am doing for others. I used to wait for a reward for my actions, but I do not want it any more. My greatest wish is for all of us to get closer to God. I found myself praying and saying to God that instead of being in heaven with Abraham I’d rather be here on earth until the last one of us is there with us.

Why do I feel responsible for the world? Why does my happiness depend on others’ well being? Is it a sign from God or is it just wishful thinking? Please tell me something about this state of mind. Thanks in advance for your help. Alhain Kadima

My Answer: You have simply revealed a new desire inside you: a desire for bestowal, for the Creator – a desire that others don’t have. You should actualize it, and then you will give a great gift to yourself and to the world!

Question: I am a new student and I’d like to ask you the following question. Can we say that we only acquire the knowledge and the true vision of reality (Hochma) as we are able, in some measure, in order to forward this truth to others (Bina)? Meaning that we can only discern the structure of the law of love as we experience it in all aspects of life? Thank you. Tiago.

My Answer: Yes, by bestowing to others we build a collective desire, in which we then perceive the one and only force in the world – the Creator.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Machsom Is the Same Everywhere – Even In Japan

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Friends, let’s join hands
So each of us won’t perish on his own:

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mn_Pa4iuxvU]

We are living in a global, interconnected world, where everyone depends on everyone, and on “the flap of a butterfly’s wings” in a “small village.” We have to join hands!

We have to make the world round, instead of polar. We have to become friends and relatives, instead of enemies and competitors.

We have to follow the law of Nature or the Creator – “Love they neighbor as thyself.”

We must only decide that there is no other way to live, and desire to live in this new world. Then – from above – we will receive the mind and forces to do this. This is what Kabbalists have done for centuries.

If we don’t, then the crises will grow worse, and through them the Creator or Nature will force us to observe His laws of Globality, Harmony, Unity, and Adhesion with Him.

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Two questions I received on the Messiah:

Question: The Book of Zohar says that before the arrival of the Mashiach Ben David (Messiah Son of David), the Mashiach Ben Yoseph (Messiah Son of Joseph) will come. There will be a preparation before arrival of the Mashiach. Is the world’s current condition (the crisis) this preparation? And what kind of force is the Mashiach Ben Yoseph?

My Answer: The Mashiach Ben Yoseph is the revelation of the modern method of correction by the Ari in the 16th century. The world’s present condition is the beginning of the revelation of the Creator, or the preparation for His revelation. The speed of this process depends on us.

Question: Is the Messiah the name of the Light that’s powerful enough to raise both the righteous and the wicked to the Creator – everyone together, in response to mankind’s prayer after recognizing that it’s impossible to keep living in this world? Or is it a person sent to this world with the power to attract the Light called the Messiah?

My Answer: The Messiah is the revelation of the Creator. This action (revelation) of the Upper Light takes place together with the revelation of knowledge about the nature of creation, its plan, process and purpose. This is achieved through disseminating this knowledge (“the call of Messiah”) by those who aspire toward the goal of creation. To the degree people resist this process, their intentions and actions – the forces of resistance – will elicit suffering.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Third Temple and the Coming of the Messiah
Laitman.com Post: The Messiah – the Force that will Correct the World
Kabbalah Today Article: Echoes of the Future
Chapter 10 from the Book The Kabbalah Experience – “The Messiah and the End of Days”

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