Entries in the 'World' Category

One Of The Two, There Is No Third

Laitman_421_01Question: Why does Baal HaSulam write that after democracy and socialism comes a fascist regime?

Answer: Because democracy is incapable of satisfying the desire for pleasure. The desire for pleasure grows and demands progress. The person himself wants to be more connected, and democracy brings him to this. Yet what kind of benefit does he get from connection; how do we realize it?

The realization of unity can only be either for the sake of our personal benefit or for the sake of the Creator. One of the two, there is no third. If we advance in a simple and natural way, then the connection comes about for the sake of our benefit. And this means that we are connected against everyone else and we try to turn them into our slaves, subjugating them.

An approach like this can be seen all over the world, more or less following every democratic government. After people get at least a little freedom, they immediately begin to feel that they lack connection. Yet they don’t know how to use it: “So we got connected, and what’s next?”

We are compelled to exploit this connection for the sake of someone or something. Ultimately it is realized in fighting against the others and showing how strong, unified, and consolidated we are among all of the people. This emerges naturally and inevitably. Today this tendency can already be seen in the world. From month to month the world approaches Nazism more and more.

It is enough to look at what is generally happening in the common European market, their decision-making, events happening in the United States, in Russia, and in many nations. It could be that you don’t feel this very much, yet I see that Nazism is becoming acceptable in society.

We are beginning to talk about it as something legitimate. We begin from a distance with the fact the we must discuss it so that it won’t return. But in the meantime, until we begin the discussions, we arrange conventions and printed material and people get used to the subject. This is the first stage.

Although it is said that Nazism is a negative phenomenon, but researchers and historians supposedly should discuss it. After that philosophers and futurists join this discussion, they investigate and examine how and why this happened. As a result of this, they reach the conclusion that this behavior is inherent in human nature and the Nazi regime was a natural and valid stage in the development of humanity. That is, it is embedded in our nature and cannot be avoided.  And so the legitimization of fascism is made.

After that begin the speeches about the necessity of the unity of the people, the need for sanctions against immigrants, the necessity of uniting against enemies because we are weak and losing. It would be like talking about steps necessary for survival. The idea gradually spreads. For this purpose there exists a special technology with whose help in a few years it will be possible to sell people anything.

Hitler didn’t immediately come to power either. Many years passed from World War I until World War II. He had some kind of a base upon which to stand; he was truly elected by the majority. Today it is even easier to do this because connection in our day is even more in demand, an even more sensitive topic. There is even greater disappointment in our development.

We as humanity have stopped developing. A new mobile phone every half-year doesn’t testify to technological advancement. These technologies are already old; there is nothing new, just a change in the external shape to sell the product. We have reached the limit of development of technical thinking and soon the same thing will happen in biology and everything else.

So there are many reasons for the development of Nazism. These trends are continuing to grow in all nations: France, Ukraine, United States, Russia, and it would be worthwhile to think about this before it is too late.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/28/14, Topic: Holocaust Memorial Day

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Is A Person Free Or A Slave To His Nature?

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: I don’t feel myself enslaved; it seems to me that I am a free man. So how is the instruction on the Passover holiday to represent myself as leaving the servitude of Egypt every year relevant to me?

Answer: It seems that we are free because we don’t feel that we depend upon each other. We try to arrange our lives so as not to be associated with anyone, so nobody will bother us. That is our nature.

For the sake of this independence, we invent new computers and mobile phones. In every house there are so many household appliances that require minimal help from others. This makes it easier for our egoistic nature, and we carry out its demands: I don’t touch anyone and try not to have anyone touch me.

But basically, all of us are connected and interdependent. It becomes clear that all the still, vegetative, and animate nature also constitute a single integral system in which everything is connected with everything else. So the wisdom of Kabbalah warns us that we depend upon one another and we will yet discover this dependence in the future.

If we don’t attain unity, then it will be very bad for us. In the meantime, we don’t feel the necessity for this to any great degree and because the wisdom of Kabbalah was not disclosed in the bondage of the previous generations, thousands of years it was in hiding. We didn’t have a need for it as we were not ready to discover that we are interdependent.

But today the whole world feels this mutual dependence. To the degree that it discovers this negative connection, it will turn to the Jewish people, for only this people possesses the method that makes it possible to unite above all differences.

There is a very great demand for this method in the world today. Therefore if we don’t convey this method to other people, we will feel very strong pressure. Anti-Semitism will continue to grow and the nations of the world will bring more and more claims against the Jewish people, blaming us for all their troubles.

They won’t exactly know the reason for their hatred towards us, but it is derived specifically from that. This pressure can be expressed in different ways, as we see in the attitude of the United States towards Israel deteriorating day by day.

Question: When you look at the world today, would you define our state as slavery?

Answer: Certainly, we are enslaved to our nature. I am always carrying out the commands of my inner nature and I obey them without any clarification, criticism, or opposition. I am simply not prepared to go against it.

My egoistic desire demands that I succeed and obtain benefit without considering anyone else. And if I am in an integral connection with others, how could I not take them into consideration?  I become limited in all of my actions.

Question: So the problem isn’t in my doing well,  but my doing so at the expense of others?

Answer: I cannot even succeed that way. Today not even an entire nation can succeed if it is isolated from others. All of them are discovering the necessity for connection with each other, but they cannot do this correctly. Nobody knows how to establish good connections between them: America, Russia, China, Europe, Jews, and Arabs.

Nobody can succeed and go out in the first place if it isn’t done through a totally good connection. It follows that the most successful will be the one who most accurately takes our mutual connections into account and acts accordingly. And this is what going out from slavery to freedom symbolizes. Everyone, all of humanity, must learn this.
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From Israeli Radio Program 103FM, 3/15/15

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How To Avoid A Hopeless Situation

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe Torah, “Leviticus”, 22:26 – 22:28: And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: When an ox or a sheep or a goat is born, it shall remain under its mother for seven days, and from the eighth day onwards, it shall be accepted as a sacrifice for a fire offering to the Lord. An ox or sheep you shall not slaughter it and its offspring in one day.

This is speaking  about the corporeal part of a person’s desire and how it can be raised and corrected in relation to the previous level.

First, there is development in utero and then the period of suckling. A week is enough for an animal to receive and to adapt to a whole level of HGT NHYM, since an animal goes through only seven levels of development and not ten like man.

During the seven days (seven levels) the animal receives and adapts to everything from the upper level and detaches from it. It lives according to instinctive laws, and therefore a human being that is on the animal level works instinctively.

When you look at the world you see that everyone learns from others how to live and repeats what they see. Animals don’t have the three upper Sefirot that symbolize a head and therefore their head is on the same level as their body, not above it.

The same thing happens today, with a world that is currently on the animal level of development. Its head disappeared some ages ago when the real great minds disappeared.

Humanity evolves in a totally automatic manner, despite what scientists, philosophers, governments, bankers, or the masses say. They only pile up their meager  changes on every level of nature, but it does not at all change the perception of their evolution.

The critical moment was when man began to produce and earn more than needed. From that point onward, capitalism began to develop, but until that moment everything was simple and natural. Man lived by providing his basic necessities, not because he wanted to, but because there were no new technologies to help him.

But when man invented the plow that allowed him to plow deep into the ground, he began to engage in making pottery and metal working, which were opportunities to make greater profits than needed.

The added value inspired the ego and the ego began to spur the added value. Instead of the internal, moral, ethical development of man, the world turned in the direction of technological development and this was the turning point that determined the direction humanity would follow.

But today we are at the end of this path, where our technological development is collapsing and we are facing a hopeless situation. We must understand that we have to decrease our desires to a level that is suitable for a decent living. It is as in mathematics: a necessary and sufficient condition. This means that consumption should be sensible, while all our energy and options should be focused on attaining the upper goal and making ourselves human beings together with all of humanity.

Comment: It turns out that there is no choice, just like in Pushkin’s legend of The Fisherman and the Golden Fish. He should have stopped when he had the luxury palaces, but the old woman couldn’t and eventually she was left with nothing,. We are at that same point right now.

Answer: But we have the option of a soft landing. By using the wisdom of Kabbalah we can show humanity, in a good and sensible manner, what would happen if we don’t accept this method. Otherwise we will still fulfill the goal of creation, but in a hard way, through revolutions, wars, and problems.

We see how conflicts suddenly break out in a seemingly empty place. You just need to strike a match. There is great hatred in the world as everyone hates everyone else and therefore the tiniest spark can start a fire.

We have to do our very best to make the world understand that the Torah speaks about the improvement and modifications of man along a good, healthy, safe, smooth path of harmonious evolution. Haven’t we suffered enough that we don’t want that? Do we have to suffer a lot more in order to change our path towards positive evolution? Therein lies our problem.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 5/28/14

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The Precariat – The Basis Of Future Society

Dr. Michael Laitman

In the News (Tolkovatel): “In Western society is an isolated social group, the precariat – a disadvantaged group not bound to any state or society. Tens of millions of young people are characterized by apathy and ignorance.

“They travel throughout countries in search of new experiences and odd jobs. In developed countries, they make up half the population.

“There is no middle in modern society: there are only the upper and lower layers. In Western society, five groups can be distinguished according to their occupation.

  1. Elite – a miniscule group of the rich, influencing governments.
  2. Salariat – the upper middle layer, have stable employment, employees of governmental institutions.
  3. Professionals – employed on a contract basis due to their skills.
  4. The core – the “old” working class.
  5. Precariat – socially not established, have no job security.

“In Russia, the precariat is 40 million individuals who are able to work and who are employed in the informal labor market.

“The country removed itself from solving social problems; the population is becoming more wild; there is a lack of knowledge and desire to fit into the post-industrial world; infantilism hinders fitting into society; young people are reluctant to become engaged in scientific research; scientific professions are not popular and there is a lack of interest in science (in the USA, professions in science are one of the most popular).

“The whole world is faced with an increase in the number of “unwanted people” – the precariat. This problem in particular, will arise with the replacement of people with machines in industry and in the office world. This will lead to the destruction of the consumer economy, which is the basis of today’s world, as most people will not be able to continue to consume in present volumes.

“The answer to this is to change the formation – either the onset of the New Middle Ages or socialism with a high degree of egalitarianism.”

My Comment: The repetition of the past is impossible and has never happened. These “unwanted people,” which is up to 90% of the population, will go through integral education and will form the basis of a new society.
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Developing Correct Communications In The Virtual Environment

Dr. Michael LaitmanIngenuous Hatred

Question: Contemporary means of communications created a new pattern of how people deal with each other, structuring a new social environment that lacks the former “ceremonies,” pretentious manners, and posturing. People’s interaction became direct, straightforward, plain and business-like. Pretentiousness was replaced by straightforwardness. Do you think we went overboard in this matter? Is it good that we have lost etiquette?

Answer: In other words, should we reanimate the lies that previously held our society together? No, that is in the past.

Comment: Still, the old style of communication somehow protected us from each other.

Answer: Yes, it distanced us and created an impregnable personal circle with rigid boundaries. This was done to isolate our egoistic hearts that are unwilling to tolerate anyone whatsoever.

Comment: However, unpretentious straightforwardness also triggers serious problems.

Answer: It is natural at the intermediate stage and it stimulates us to change ourselves. This is how the revelation and recognition of evil occurs. It is an essential stage in correcting the evil. Otherwise we wouldn’t acknowledge that there is an obstacle in our way, nor would we admit that we must take measures against it. Maybe I can continue to live as before?

Humanity was not any better off some 200 or 2,000 years ago. The only difference is that today our negative side became more obvious. We have lost gracious manners and stopped using pretentious and beautiful words. Previously, we would say: “Sorry, I have no time. Let’s talk later.” Today, there is no place for such courtesies. Our fingers text, “Go away. I hate you.”

Regeneration

It is very good since we approach the moment of truth! The truth is that we are liars and egoists; we all hate each other and we suffer because of our animosity. Nature requires a worthy connection among us to ensure our advancement.

What can we do if we are placed in a limited, closed sphere? Today, the whole Earth is too small for us. All of a sudden, we realize how much all of us depend on each other.

The nodes that bind us together will grow even tighter. Let me give you an example. Let’s say that a harmful enterprise is built in some country. The entire world is breathing in its stench and suffers because of the consequences of its activity. However, the government of the country where the enterprise operates says. “It is our territory. Here we are allowed to do whatever we want. We apologize for the inconvenience, but there is no other way to handle it.”

It turns out that we really have no other choice but to unite and bring the whole world a a new kind of relationship based on unity and interdependence. That’s when communicating in a virtual environment will, in another way, truly bind us, but not as it is today.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 1/20/15

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Dr. Michael LaitmanContact with the World

Modern means of communication, including computers and smartphones, provide the ability to communicate with the global world. This completely changes my perspective, I can touch a variety of things as if I can influence them. I can contact anybody and learn anything I want.

I see the big world and my place in it. I find social circles in this general field and establish myself within them. People know me and I know them.

Forums are being created, communication groups, and dual-purpose platforms for work and leisure. I can even sit with someone in a virtual cafe. Perhaps my hobby is also implemented on this vast web.

Besides, it is cheap and I can afford things that previously were unfulfilled. For example, materials that I read or view during a week would cost me tens or even hundreds of dollars.

Now everything is available and accessible. It changes my perception of the world by gradually showing me that I am connected to the world and the world is connected to me.

Steps to the Truth

Another point is that while working with the interactive interface, we have less and less talking and listening. The main flow of information passes through the visual channel. In this I see the benefit of a person giving a higher weight to thought and thinking. After all, it operates in a virtual connection. Yes, we express our thoughts in words and symbols, but they are now more specific. We learn to express ourselves more clearly, and that is good.

Smartphones and computers have made our communication more direct and straightforward. This contributes to the wealth of information covering the whole spectrum, from the beautiful to the terrifying. We dropped the old fake covers and if you want, we can talk to each other without reserve, without scruple, without hypocrisy.

An LCD screen has become my window to the world, and at the same time, has taught me to be outspoken. The information that has been provided to all has become too available. A person on the Internet is bare, meaning one has thrown off the garments of lies, hypocrisy, and pretense. Politics, media, and family relationships are all unmasked and are free of fraud.

Thus, we have made a major breakthrough for the true essence. As it turns out, everyone lies, but that is where the truth exists. This understanding is very important. We learn who we are. Reset is the convention of the last century, rejected is the put-on etiquette. Today we are much more frank. The younger generation does what it wants without worrying about the opinions of others. And the older generation knows that it has no power over the younger generation.

To Get to the Bottom and Not Let Go

Question: If we have invented a good and useful technology, why does it lead us to the realization of evil? What is this evil?

Answer: The technology is good, but our nature is bad, egoistic. It divides and separates us in different directions. Online, we see our own image everywhere on our small and big screens as if in a mirror.

We are very close to the realization of evil inherent in our nature, in our state, and most importantly, in our inability to do something with it. While getting to the bottom of it, all the beauty of this moment is raising our hands and not letting them drop when we start looking for solutions coming not from us but from another source.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 1/20/15

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We Must Not Miss The Opportunity

Dr. Michael LaitmanBaal HaSulam,”The Nation”: It is clear, save for relying on miracles. That our existence as individuals or as a nation is hanging between life and death. And the salvation is, if we can find the required ploy, that great scheme who’s way is only to be found near danger, and which can tilt the scale to our favor—to give us a safe haven here for all the Diaspora of our brothers, which everyone says is, at present, the only place of salvage.

Then, the road of life will be open to us, to somehow continue our existence despite the difficulties. And if we miss the opportunity and do not rise as one, with the great efforts required at a time of danger, to guarantee our remaining in the land, then the facts before us are greatly threatening for us, since matters are evolving favorably for our enemies, who are asking to destroy us from the face of the Earth.

This was written at the beginning of WWII when people had not yet seen the real danger and the Holocaust towards which they were being led.

But Baal HaSulam says that although we had reached such a terrible state that the destructor was given permission to destroy us, we can still change the ratio between the forces of good and evil if we wish to improve our situation. It is all in our hands.

Although time operates against us, we can actually succeed during this time and bring about great and rapid changes.

Instead of waiting for afflictions, troubles, and  dangers, which means for the negative effects to push us forward, we need to advance by ourselves and turn the path of our natural evolution, in its time, to the path of, I shall hasten it. Then we will be able to advance without any blows at all. It all depends on whether we wake up as a result of the blows or whether we wake up as a result of our work.

Awakening by the blows isn’t very useful since they only change and spur us on. We need to change a great deal in order to recover and advance after such blows. So wouldn’t it be better if we advanced along a smooth path? Then it would really be our awakening to the goal of creation and to a rapid escape from the blows.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/19/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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A Small Switch For A Great Light

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How do we overcome fear in dissemination and fear of lack of success? How do we strengthen and give each other support on the way?

Answer: Truly, when we go out to the streets, organize various events, and circles in homes, we encounter very tired people who are not ready to listen to us and are unwilling to cooperate. In fact, they are very tired and exhausted from life. Therefore we are compelled to overcome many obstacles on our way toward them.

But the problem is that we look at the world, we think of how we can correct such a large number of people—seven billion human beings! What can a small handful of our people do with these billions in China, India, and South America? But we don’t understand that we don’t need to correct all of this. Through a small switch or faucet, we open the passage for the Upper Light and it makes all the corrections. We either block or open the passage for the Light. It isn’t necessary to be afraid of all the rest of the work because the Light will do it. He created darkness and He will also make the Light.

A one-year-old child could flip a small switch with his little finger and suddenly the whole world would be filled with light. Everything depends on how much force we activate. If we can activate the Upper Light, what it does is its business.

So, I am not afraid by the great amount of work that is expected from me. This is not my work, rather the work of the Creator. I am His partner in this work and my goal is to make it possible for the Creator to act. I activate Him like a child who takes the hand of an adult and shows him what he wants the adult to do. That is what children generally do when they don’t succeed in doing something by themselves.

But we are concerned about how to correct the entire world, all the nations of the world, all of their mind and feelings, while they are not ready and don’t want to listen to us. But we don’t need to do this. If you do your job, you will see that everything will work out on its own.

Baal HaSulam doesn’t say to us to turn to our haters and bribe them. It is possible to think that if we do more good things for them they will treat us better. Are you kidding? This really is not correct.

We accept terrorists into our hospitals and take care of them. Do you think that they will ever admire us thanks to this? On the contrary, they will treat us even worse than before. It is because we are doing this instead of doing what we really must do. This is absolutely false.

It is up to us to show that we are not doing anything for them physically, but only spiritually. The world doesn’t need our Nobel Prizes, medicine, and expertise in agriculture. They will never appreciate us for that. Subconsciously the world demands only correction from us and if we don’t carry out that correction, the world blames us for all of its problems.

There is no point in justifying yourself because you have brought everything good to them. You are to blame for not doing what is demanded of you. The Creator makes demands on Israel through the nations of the world. The Creator hardens the heart of Pharaoh and through him, tells you what to do.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/19/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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A New Global Empire

Dr. Michael LaitmanOpinion (Yuval Noah Harari, author of Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind and  lecturer, Department of History, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.): “From the 2nd century BCE, most of the people lived in empires. In the 20th century, the dominant political ideal was the ideal of the nation-state: sovereign, and the people were the source of all power. The supreme duty of the state was to defend the interests of the national collective.

“Accordingly, the idea that there should be as many independent states as nations in the world emerged.

“In the 21st century, nationalism is rapidly losing ground. Separate empires remain in the past. In the future, people will live in a one world empire. A unified government for the whole Earth awaits us in the near future.

“More and more people are coming to the conclusion that the only legitimate source of political power is humanity, rather than separate nations, and that the main objective of the policy should be the interests of the whole human race and upholding human rights. In this case, the existence of 200 nation-states is a hindrance.

“The world is still politically fragmented, but the real autonomy of nation-states is rapidly declining. No country is able to pursue an independent economic policy, to declare and wage war on a whim, and even carry out its own internal policies.

”Countries are increasingly influenced by global markets, international corporations and NGOs, and international public opinion and a common judicial system are becoming more influential.

“States are forced to reckon with the international standards of financial conduct, environmental policy and justice. Powerful flows of capital, labor and information are spreading throughout the world, transforming it, and the boundaries and positions of individual nation-states carry less importance.

“The world empire is being created before our eyes, and it will be ruled not by a separate state or ethnic group – this new world would be managed by the multinational elite, and common culture and common interests will bind it together.”

My Comment: It is gratifying to see how higher knowledge begins to gradually settle in the minds of the people of our world. The correct perspective of development is being revealed to them, according to the goal of nature to bring all its parts to a single, synergistic whole. Our fate depends on how we can sensibly and actively participate in this process.
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World Economic Forecast

Dr. Michael LaitmanOpinion (M. Khazin):During 2014 the US GDP growth was disclosed; however, it was exaggerated.

“In order for an economic growth to be steady and long term, it is necessary for the end-product demand (demand of households) to begin to increase. However, such expenditures continue to decline.

“All hopes to stop the crisis are in vain, and in 2015 the US stock market bubble will collapse. The crisis will begin just like in September 2008, with a sharp drop in stock data feeds, and the stability of the banking system will become questionable, and whose assets will depreciate sharply, while liabilities (obligations) will remain.

“Further options:

  1. ISIL will bring down the Saudi regime and will begin a joint ‘Sunni campaign’ against Israel. A blow to households, the real sector, and the role of the dollar will rise sharply. The US will enter into a state of social and political chaos.
  2. The US and the entire world banking system will go bankrupt, and there will be no help from anywhere.
  3. The financial elite will start a mass emission of the dollar in order to save the financial system. The main consequence for the economy will be the ruin of enterprises.

“The destruction of the WTO will deliver a blow to the EU, China, Japan and Korea that sell many high-tech products in the US. Today, pro-American elitists are in power in these countries. The destruction of the main source of income associated with the US and the dollar will cause devastating inter-elite disassembly.

“Counter-elitists, rushing into office, will focus on national independence that will extend to nationalism and anti-Americanism. These processes will define the course of events more so than the actual economic crisis.

“The financial elite cannot accept the responsibility for the crisis, so it will create a “force majeure” by using Islam in the developed countries and the Middle East.

“There are three approaches to the world order: satisfactory, somewhat satisfactory (needing reform), and unsatisfactory (must be completely destroyed). Political Islam today does not accept compromises and is ready to fight to the end for the destruction of the current world order in the absence of a positive program.

“At the same time, the global economic crisis increases the cravings of people for justice, especially those who have suffered from the crisis. And it turns out that the only force today that offers something to the world is a political Islam. Therefore, in 2015 we are waiting for a dramatic increase in the influence of political Islam throughout the world, primarily in the Middle East and the European Union.”

My Comment: The picture is incomplete because the author does not take into account the purpose of human development, the rise to the level of affinity with the Creator in the desire to give and to love.  Nature drives us to even greater suffering until we realize that there is no escape and that we must change our egoistic nature to an altruistic one in order to survive.

This realization depends on the dissemination and mastering of Kabbalah, the method of correction of our nature, among the people of Israel, and then around the world. Otherwise, we will again find ourselves again in a period of suffering, and again, through the decades, we will arrive at the same choice.
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