Audio Version Of The Blog – 9/27/22
Posted on September 27th, 2022 at 9:55 pm
Listen to an Audio Version of the Blog
Download:MP3 Audio
Listen to an Audio Version of the Blog
Download:MP3 Audio
Comment: Researchers have been studying the effect of joining the majority for a long time, meaning when you choose what the environment chooses, when you choose what your relatives and friends approve of and what is in fashion, it is like you do not have a particular opinion. Researchers note that it is often the fear of missed opportunities that motivate us to follow the majority. This is a condition that occurs when you start thinking that the grass is greener behind someone else’s fence, someone else’s life is more interesting, and so on. They basically direct everything to the fact that there is a fear of missed opportunities.
My Response: Of course.
Question: Is that why we choose what everyone has chosen?
Answer: I do not know who chooses but mostly, yes. Mostly because it seems that others have it greener, better, and so on.
Question: Can a person break out of this lack of freedom? From the fact that I live like everyone lives as they choose, so I choose the same, can I escape this?
Answer: I think that only if a person works on himself, if he has a different defense system at the same time, he will understand why he is doing this.
And why follow the majority just like that? There is nothing in the majority but a brute animal force that directs me to choose what it chooses.
It just pulls and says: “You will be safe with us, everything will be fine, be like everyone else, you do not need anything more or you will feel bad, and so on.” We can already see how it works.
A person can be free only if he stands above the collective, if he can be free from the collective, and when he decides what to join. Then he either creates a team himself or already joins a known team.
Question: But only when he decides by himself?
Answer: Yes, of course.
Question: What does he have to weigh for this, for him to join them?
Answer: The goal! His own and the goal of the collective, and choose from that which group to join.
Question: What goal determines whether a person is free or not? For example, you will be told: “He went for this goal.” You say: “This is a free man.” If he has chosen this goal, he is a free man. Is it possible like this?
Answer: If, first of all, he does not fall under the influence of any collective.
Question: What can you do with human nature, which is all under the collective and under the general opinion?
Answer: That is what we see.
Question: So he needs to break out of his nature, in general?
Answer: Yes. These are special people who are born like this, develop, and therefore they are not able to be in any team at all. And then they find their realization.
Question: Can a person be taught this?
Answer: No.
Question: If born not free, he continues not to be free?
Answer: Yes.
Comment: This is generally a verdict.
My Response: This is not a verdict; it is nature that operates like this.
Question: Have you seen such free people in your life?
Answer: Very few. Usually such people choose real lack of freedom. They are looking for a team they could approach, into which they could join and give themselves till the end. Because they understand that it is impossible to exist separately. And therefore, in order to realize yourself, the main thing is to find the right team.
Born free, man takes his freedom and follows the collective. He sacrifices his freedom in order to realize himself correctly. Because the implementation is still in the collective, in the team.
Question: Is this really his heroism? Is it much cooler than if you stay free because you were born free?
Answer: What is the point? It is a lonely existence.
[302714]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 6/23/22
Related Material:
A Person Is An Imprint Of The Surrounding Society
How Is The Environment Selected?
A Simple Formula For Spiritual Life
Question: What is the most important advice you would give to a country that decides to rise from complete disorder, from the state it is in, to become different, to become happy?
Answer: First of all, it is necessary to educate a society to be an interconnected, good society, and everything will go from there! They will be blessed for everything they do.
[303067]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 4/14/22
Related Material:
The Main Problem of the World Is Education
Education in Future Society
Freedom in the Future Society
Comment: You say that humor is especially inherent in Jews.
My Response: Jewish humor where people laugh at themselves is welcomed in Kabbalah, and therefore, it has penetrated into all Jewish literature, art, and worldview.
To some extent, this is also the case with the British. I have not observed such a feature in other peoples. It is very rare to find small, narrow zones in the culture of peoples where they laugh at themselves.
Most societies do not like it, they like to glorify themselves. All their anecdotes are based on their own praise. It seems to me that this speaks of some of their underdevelopment. They lack a sense of their own real place, and therefore they have to cheer themselves up all the time.
The English have a very particular humor, which does not exclude jokes about themselves. This also happens among some other peoples, but usually it is something specific, very narrow, for example, stinginess, frivolity, or impatience, meaning some distinct personality traits that are ridiculed.
And the Jews have it all over. All the character traits of an ordinary person are exaggerated and presented as common, typical, and ethnic. Moreover, all this is retold, encouraged, and inflated by the Jews themselves.
This suggests that the people are free from the need to showing themselves, they do not have a feeling of inferiority. That is, this is our nature, this is us, this is how I am, and that’s it.
The centuries-old development of the people, in general, gives such grounds. Whatever we do, the phenomenon itself exists. Therefore, I can make fun of everything, including my most terrible states.
[302889]
From KabTV’s “I Got a Call, Humor and Jews” 5/22/13
Related Material:
When Kabbalists Laugh
Humor—An Emotion Of A Developed Person
Humor Is A Brilliance Of Mind
Question: How can one determine if he is making correct efforts?
Answer: Do what is good for the group. This is the only correct way to check. However, there is no indication inside of you. It is only for the benefit of the group. Then you are able to know clearly (if you are capable to determine at all) that you are performing a deed of bestowal. There is nothing else. Your personal feelings don’t matter.
Question: You often say, for example: “Try to feel The Book of Zohar.” You say: “Try to feel.” Here you are not talking about doing something good for the group, right?
Answer: You have to feel not yourself, but you have to feel within the group what The Book of Zohar is talking about, precisely in the group. A person cannot feel it by himself.
Question: Does the person have to associate himself with this group, to have some connection with it, some contact?
Answer: Obviously. I am speaking to the people who are members of the group. A person has to feel that he together with everyone is a single unified whole. All hearts, as if naked, connect in one big mega-heart. This is how one should imagine it. Then in this common heart, the Creator is sensed.
[302589]
From KabTV’s “I Got a Call, Proper Application of Effort,“ 4/20/13
Related Material:
We Are Rewarded According To Our Efforts
Without Effort There Is No Result
The Effort Is The Pleasure
Listen to an Audio Version of the Blog
Download:MP3 Audio
My new article on Linkedin “New Antisemitism: Mutation of a Long-lived Hatred”
After publishing The Jewish Choice: Unity or Anti-Semitism, I felt that while the explanations in it covered the history of the Jewish people, the book did not address current expressions of the oldest hatred. In light of the exponential rise in antisemitism since the turn of the century, the need to publish such a composition became increasingly urgent. Now, thanks to the great efforts of Norma Livne, the editor in chief of my latest book, the picture is complete.
New Antisemitism: Mutation of a Long-Lived Hatred not only covers the myriad exhibitions of antisemitism around the world, it also details a unique solution that derives directly from the ancient wisdom of our sages.
Current solutions focus on curbing displays of Jew-hatred or fighting it on the legal arena and on social media platforms. However, the results speak for themselves: These methods do not work. At best, they are slowing down overt displays of antisemitism, but they are fighting a losing battle. Already, antisemitism, a taboo until only a few years ago, has become mainstream, a legitimate topic of discussion.
New Antisemitism suggests an additional approach, a more proactive one, to complement the arsenal of weapons against antisemitism. Relying on the legacy of our sages, the book celebrates the power Jewish inner solidarity as an antidote to Jew-hatred. It suggests a revolutionary idea: The world hates Jews only as much as Jews hate one another.
In a reality of escalating violence against Jews on one hand, and Jewish helplessness against it on the other hand, this idea provides a feasible and powerful solution, which requires nothing but resolve on the part of the Jews. For this reason, I believe that New Antisemitism: Mutation of a Long-Lived Hatred is a must-read for anyone who seeks to defeat the indefatigable nature of this social virus, and is willing to employ its long-overlooked, practically free solution that lives in the heart of every Jew, namely Jewish unity.
I wish to convey my deepest gratitude to all the editors, proofreaders, designers, researchers, and everyone who helped in publishing the book for their hard work, and for making it into a composition that can benefit all of humanity, and first and foremost, the Jewish people. They put their heart and soul into the work, and I believe that the world can be a better place thanks to their efforts.
[303433]
From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 9/25/22
Almost every culture celebrates the beginning of the year. Each tradition has its own customs, meals, gifts, and inner meaning. For Jews, celebrating Rosh Hashanah (the beginning of the year) comes with symbolic foods and a day of judgment. This judgment is the heart of Rosh Hashanah.
We can think of the spiritual significance of Rosh Hashanah as an operating system, like Microsoft Windows or Apple IOS. The human race did not come out of nowhere. Evolution has a purpose, and the operating system leads it toward it.
The operating system runs throughout nature, and all creations but humanity follow it instinctively. We, on the other hand, can study it and manipulate parts of it for our benefit.
On Rosh Hashanah, before we taste from the fish’s head, we say a blessing: “May we be the head and not the tail.” These words express our wish not to remain oblivious to the operating system and governed by it unconsciously, but to become aware of it and able to steer our development in a positive direction.
The operating system invariably leads toward a state of harmony and balance among all the elements in reality. It is aiming to bring all of humanity into a state of unity and closeness as though we are all a single warm and loving family. The system does not strive for sameness, to make us all the same, but for complementarity, to make us complement each other so that each of us contributes our unique skills and talents for the common good, and enjoys the contributions of everyone else, just like a loving family where everyone helps everyone else because they care about them.
As we study the system, we gradually realize how opposite we are from the state of closeness and care. These realizations precede Rosh Hashanah, and they are called Selichot (asking forgiveness). Selichot are prayers we say when we feel how opposite we are from the state of balance and mutual care.
The Hebrew word for “prayer,” by the way, is Tefilla, which comes from the word Haflala, namely criminalization. During a prayer, we “criminalize” ourselves, namely discover that we are criminals, and therefore ask for forgiveness. The crime we realize we have committed pertains to the operating system, namely that we have been selfish, thinking of ourselves and loving only ourselves rather than embracing all of creation and working for its favor. In spirituality, selfishness is always the only sin, since every wrong we do comes from thinking only of ourselves.
The physical Rosh Hashanah happens once a year. However, the process of reflection, regret, asking forgiveness, and praying to become more loving is not limited by anything. It can, and should be a constant cycle that we do internally. Each time we complete a cycle of requests for forgiveness, we reach another Rosh Hashanah, until the next realization of selfishness emerges in us through our efforts to correct our egoism and become more caring.
When the cycle of Selichot is over and we reach Rosh Hashanah, we not only wish to be the head and not the tail, we also celebrate the correction of our corrupt qualities. We symbolize this by dipping an apple in honey. The apple represents the heart, and the honey stands for sweetening (correcting) it from selfishness to caring for others.
Another custom is to eat a Rimon (pomegranate). A pomegranate has many seeds in it. Each of them stands for one selfish desire. Eating them stands for correcting them from selfishness to giving, which gives us a feeling of Romemut (elation, note the similarity to the word Rimon).
Finally, on Rosh Hashanah, we blow the Shofar—a festive horn. The blowing of the horn stands for our yearning for correction from carelessness and hatred of others into being loving, connected, and united as one with all the people in the world. The word shofar comes from the Aramaic word Shufra (the best of the best). This is the state we achieve once all our desires have been corrected and we become united as one loving, global family.
[303353]
Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “When Nationalism Serves Humanism”
These tense days, the situation in Israel is exacerbating the social rifts and divisions in the country. While some people decry the loss of national pride, others warn that Israel is becoming a nationalistic, racist state. Is there a healthy dose of patriotism and national pride that does not infringe on the rights of other people? Baal HaSulam says there is, but we must first understand what nationalism and national pride mean for Israel.
Even before the tragedies of World War II and the Holocaust took place, the great 20th century thinker and kabbalist, Baal HaSulam, warned of the consequences of excessive nationalism, fascism, and communism. In June 1940, nine months into the war, he published a paper that he titled The Nation. In the paper, he dedicated a section to discussing the balance between patriotism or as he defined it, “national love,” and humanism.
In those days, before the establishment of the State of Israel, Baal HaSulam felt that denying patriotism altogether would jeopardize the forming Jewish state. At the same time, the dangers of excessive patriotism were already evident. To address the issue, Baal HaSulam suggested “new, fundamental national education,” in order to “reveal and ignite once more the natural national love that has been dimmed within us.”
However, Baal HaSulam stressed that his definition of nationalism was not the one we normally use. In his words, “Here I must stress concerning the above-mentioned national education: Although I aim to plant great love among the individuals in the nation in particular and for the entire nation in general, in the fullest possible measure, this is not at all similar to chauvinism or fascism. We loathe them, and my conscience is completely clear from them. Despite the apparent similarity of the words in their superficial sounds, since chauvinism is nothing but excessive national love, they are essentially far from one another as black from white.
“To easily perceive the difference between them, we should compare them to the measures of egoism and altruism in the individual. …Clearly, the measure of egoism inherent in every created being is a necessary condition in the actual existence of the being. Without it, it would not be a separate and distinct being in itself. Yet, this should not at all deny the measure of altruism in a person. The only thing required is to set distinct boundaries between them: The law of egoism must be kept in all its might,” but only “to the extent that it concerns the minimum existence. And with any surplus of that measure, permission is granted to waive it for the well-being of one’s fellow person.”
Eighty-two years after those words were written, it is clear that we have not found the balance. We still use nationalism to the point where it becomes chauvinism, as Baal HaSulam defined it, or deny it altogether, and risk losing our identity altogether.
I think it is time we introduced healthy nationalism. We should begin with the smallest unit: the nuclear family. First we must rekindle the feeling of natural, instinctive affinity the way families (ideally) feel toward each other. Once we establish what a close family feels like, we should begin to expand this feeling to broader and broader circles until it encompasses the entire nation.
However, we should focus only on the positive, on strengthening our unity, and not only uniting against other parties. It is very easy to unite against a common enemy. However, this is not real unity, and in the absence of an enemy, the union will dissolve at once. We will be able to focus on unity, only if unity is the prime value in and of itself, regardless of external circumstances.
Particularly in Israel, unity must be nurtured to a level that guarantees the existence and security of the State of Israel, but not beyond what is necessary for Israel’s survival. The rest of Israel’s energy should be directed toward advancing the value of unity throughout the world.
Israel’s unique position in the world, due to the constant attention it receives, places it in a unique position to become a model of social cohesion and solidarity that no other nation has. When Israel is united, the nations appreciate and welcome it. Conversely, when Israel is divided, the nations disparage it, claim that it is a racist and nationalistic country, and blame it for everything that is wrong with their lives.
Now that unhealthy nationalism is re-emerging in the world, Israel must set the right example. The more extremist the world becomes, the more it will blame Israel for it.
Therefore, Israel must put its entire focus on internal unity so as to be a model for the world. For this purpose, and only for this purpose, it must defend itself from those who seek to destroy it.
If Israel does not exist, there will be no model of unity for the world. This is why Israel must build its unity, and this is Israel’s only justification for its existence. This is the only possible balance between nationalism and humanism—when nationalism serves humanism.
[303288]
Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Who was The Zohar written for?“
The Zohar was written for people who want to reach life’s peak, the purpose of creation, and strive to change their intention from our inborn egoistic one—reception for personal benefit alone—to one where we bestow, love and positively connect to others.
The Zohar provides the force, called “light,” which makes it possible to invert our intention in such a way, and discover the positive force dwelling in nature within our corrected intention.
Therefore, The Zohar, like the entire Torah, can be either the elixir of life or the potion of death. If we wish to study The Zohar, then we should check our intention for approaching it.
If we wish to change our intention by drawing the light that we can attract through reading The Zohar, then with the help of its study, The Zohar—a commentary on Five Books of Torah—becomes an elixir of life, as it is written, “I [the Creator] created the evil inclination [human egoism] and I gave the Torah for its correction because the light in it returns to the source.”
If we do not strive for an intention to bestow, that is, to return to the source, but our egoistic desires motivate our study of The Zohar i.e. to be fulfilled and to set other goals for ourselves, called “idolatry,” then our study turns into the potion of death and distances us from the purpose of creation.
Therefore, we should take care and remember that while reading The Zohar, we should prepare our intention in order to be granted the positive force of nature: love, bestowal and connection.
Based on the Daily Kabbalah Lesson with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on May 27, 2010 on “The Book of Zohar: VaIkra.” Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Daily Audio Version-MP3
Get the Weekly eNewsletter
Follow on Twitter
