My new article on Linkedin “Will a City of Torah Save Mexico’s Jews?”

Ciudad de la Tora (City of Torah) is the name of a new small town being built outside the town Ixtapan de la Salle, some 70 miles south of Mexico City. The founders aim to address two problems: housing prices and antisemitism. The affordable housing compound will include all the required facilities for maintaining a Jewish Orthodox way of life, and the community will consist solely of observant Jews. Another reason for establishing the new town is the situation in the capital, where Orthodox Jews say their children are afraid to leave their homes for fear of becoming targets of antisemitic attacks.

In many ways, this idea reminds me of a Shtetl. Shtetls were small Jewish towns that existed all over Central and Eastern Europe until the Holocaust wiped them out. If we are to learn from history, Jewish towns are not a permanent solution to antisemitism.

In fact, even the Jewish state did not solve the problem of antisemitism. Since its establishment, Israel has attracted increasing backlash from the world. Theodor Herzl, the Zionist visionary, had the right idea when he envisioned a Jewish national and political entity that would be a safe haven for Jews. However, establishing a separate city, or even a country for Jews, is not enough to eliminate antisemitism. For this to happen, Jews must commit to carrying out their duty to the world, and they do have a duty.

As I’ve shown in countless essays and two books (see links below), the Jewish nation was not established for its own sake, but for the sake of humanity. This is why as soon as we established our nationhood, at the foot of Mt. Sinai, we were tasked with being “a light unto nations.” We were declared a nation only after we pledged to unite “as one man with one heart,” and the unity we achieved is the light we intended to shine to the nations. Following our initial commitment, it took us another forty years to solidify our unity, but once we achieved a critical level of it, we were given our own land, the promised “Land of Israel.”

For nearly two thousand years afterwards, our annals reflected our level of unity. Every time we divided, we were exiled from the Land of Israel, and every time we reestablished our unity, we were given back the land and thrived. But at some point, during the first century CE, we fell into such mutual hatred that we were exiled for two millennia.

Reestablishing the Jewish statehood took more than two millennia, centuries of murder and abuse that our people suffered during the exile, and finally the extermination of a third of our nation, nearly the entire European Jewry. Yet, our renewed sovereignty did not renew our unity. This is something we must achieve on our own. This is, in fact, the reason that the nations gave it to us following the Holocaust, besides the obvious reason of sympathy after the atrocities we suffered at the hands of the Nazis and their accomplices.

Notwithstanding, since the nations gave us the land, they also expect us to do our duty, to be a role model of unity and exemplify the Jewish motto, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If we do not carry out our mission, we will lose our sovereignty once again. It may happen through another exile, through an influx of Muslims who will change the demographics of the country, or through some yet unknown way. Either way, if we don’t do what we must, and become an example of unity above all our differences and hatred, humanity will hate us and torment us as it has been doing for the past two millennia.

We, Jews, the descendants of outcasts from all over the ancient Fertile Crescent who gathered around Abraham Our Father to hear about love of others, must do now what our forefathers did then: unite above our hatred and thus become “a light unto nations.” As then, so now, if we do this, we will thrive. If we don’t, we will break apart.

For more on this topic, refer to the books Like a Bundle of Reeds: Why unity and mutual guarantee are today’s call of the hour, and The Jewish Choice: Unity or Anti-Semitism, Historical facts on anti-Semitism as a reflection of Jewish social discord
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Filed under: Anti-Semitism, New Publications | Add Comment / Ask Question →

In order to rise in the spiritual both states are necessary: ascents and descents. The main thing is not to be in an unconscious state or even worse, in a purely corporeal, animal state. The still, vegetative, and animal degrees belong to our egoistic world, and the speaking degree is determined by our attitude to the Creator.

And this is why it is so important to stay in either a state of ascent or descent. The descent is also important because without it, it is impossible to appreciate the ascents and it is impossible to find new vessels for the next ascent. Therefore, both of these states—light and darkness—are correct, legitimate, and move us forward.

It is advisable to pass through the intermediate, gray states, neither this nor that, as soon as possible and try to be in the state of ascent again. And if there is no ascent, then be in the descent in order to prepare yourself for the ascent. It all should be new in our eyes each and every day. The night is necessary in order to approach the next day.

If we appreciate both of these states, then “darkness will shine like light”; we will feel that darkness comes to us from the reverse side of the same Creator and we will attribute both the ups and downs to Him.

They say my “beloved is like a gazelle.” The Creator seemingly runs away from us; however, He turns His head and face back so that we will yearn for Him and chase after Him. This is why we measure both these states, either a state of coming closer to the Creator or a state of being apart from Him.

We do not notice the point from which we begin to descend and change our attitude to spirituality, the group, the Creator. The fact is that our descent is an ascent to the next degree, only in the reverse form. “One is elevated in sanctity and never lowered.” And that is why we call the fall an ascent of the left line. It is an addition of vessels we did not have before, but they are broken and therefore we feel even more darkness in them than ever before.

And we complain that there is no point in working if it leads to such unpleasant states. Is this really the reward for our work? But what can we do if we need additional vessels to attain the Creator? This is the way of our development: left line, right line, and again left, right.

No one likes being in the left line. But if we are in a group, we will be reminded very quickly that the left line must grow, so that by correcting it, we will reveal the Creator, get closer to Him.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/2/21, “Raising Ourselves”

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The first wave of coronavirus mostly hit mostly elderly people. But the next waves are already affecting more and more younger people. It’s like the Egyptian plagues that started from afar and then came to blows that were more and more significant for correction.

The Creator does not change His plan of creation. But if an angel does not perform his work, the Creator puts another angel in his place. Therefore, when several waves of the pandemic pass: the second, third, and fourth, children and even babies may be under attack then. We must understand that the Creator will not compromise with us. We should not hope that the virus will disappear by itself or we will be able to find a miracle cure for it.

We will have to reveal that the good connection between us is the only medicine that destroys the coronavirus. This is not an ordinary virus, but a consequence of our lack of spiritual correction, that is, egoism. Where there is egoism, there will be more and more viruses until Pharaoh himself says that this is the hand of the Creator, like at the time of the exodus from Egypt.

From the beginning of creation the same scenario is repeated, only in different forms and with other characters. In essence nothing changes. Spiritual forces act according to the same scheme and lead everyone to unity. Only the material scenery changes while the spiritual essence remains unchanged.

Our egoism is Pharaoh; the Creator is still the same Creator. Moses is all Kabbalists and the Kabbalistic method that pulls us forward to correction. We need to follow it as much as possible. It is possible to get out of this Egypt, out of the coronavirus pandemic, only by uniting.

It is said that “the physician has been given permission to heal,” and every specialist (financier, economist, lawyer, etc.), leader or individual is given the opportunity to correct the world in his sphere. And since our society is corrupted, every specialist is corrupted, and he is given the right to correct himself, as well as to correct society.

It is so for every person. This is the meaning of the rule: “It follows that the physician has been given permission to heal.” After all, there is the Creator behind every person. And if I want to see it this way, then it will affect me privately in a way that I will be cured.

An economist, a lawyer, or a financier in a corrected form are all doctors who cure the flaws of human society. They are setting up a system for me, not a physical one like a physician, but a universal social one, in order to bring it into a state called Adam, one man with one heart.

And then we will see how everyone acts for the sake of healing and that the Creator has given everyone the right to cure, not just the physiological body, but our common body, the human, social system.

The most important thing is the attitude of the patient to the healer, which means, the patient to the doctor. Each specialist in his field can be considered a “doctor,” and each of us who needs help can be considered a “patient.”

Now there are many complaints about medicine and doctors in regard to the coronavirus, but we ourselves have built this corrupted, egoistic system over thousands of years of human history. Now we have finally seen the light and are beginning to see its shortcomings. This is called the revelation of evil, what is called the “seven hungry years,” in which we begin to feel and reap the results of the egoistic system that we have built throughout our entire history.

All that remains for us is to turn to the Creator for correction. The same story of the exodus of Egypt repeats itself: the blows show us that we are at the mercy of nature, or in other words, the Creator, and we must somehow correct ourselves, change our attitude to what is happening.

The first blow of the coronavirus came just a year ago and look how it has already changed the world. Empty airports, silence all around, one plane per hour and that’s it. And people are gradually getting used to such a life, they see it has its advantages. After all, before we did not stop this irrepressible race moving from place to place. It’s time to think: Why are we running?

The pandemic is gradually getting closer to children. We do not yet know what it is like when children suffer from such a serious disease on such a large scale. It is painful to see children even with masks on their faces, and it is even more frightening to imagine what could happen if the children are on artificial respiration. But if we do not start corrections, then this will inevitably come, because the Creator will not change the program of creation.
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From KabTV’s “A Conversation with Journalists” 6/24/21

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Question: Renowned neuroscientist Bekhtereva, who was the director of the Institute of Experimental Medicine in Leningrad for about twenty years, wrote in one of her works, “I admit that thought exists separately from the brain, and the mind only receives it from space and reads it.”

What is beyond the limits of human intellect?

Answer: Beyond our intellect is the entire spiritual world. After all, what is intelligence? A small egoistic “outgrowth” that does not fit into either the spiritual or the corporeal world. Therefore, what is really happening is our increasing development and frustration: “Who are we? What can we even understand?”

Question: Does it mean that the thoughts that we catch somehow create our reality, what a person feels inside and outside?

Answer: We depict this reality to ourselves by our thoughts. In fact, there is nothing real in it. This is an imaginary reality.

Question: Why does it seem to a person that he thinks?

Answer: So that it would seem to him that he really thinks, exists, does something, creates. Moreover, the act of creation begins with the thoughts: “Who am I? What am I? What am I for? What for? Who created me this way? What am I doing? What is mine in these actions and what is not?” Some kinds of thoughts and inspirations come to me. “Are they mine? They did not exist before, but now they do.”

That is, a person here has something to think about. But this is also useless because he will not discover the truth anyway.
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From KabTV’s “Kabbalah Express” 6/13/21

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Question: What is motivation in spiritual management? After all, a person cannot work without motivation.

Answer: The motivation is very simple—maximum adhesion with the upper nature, with the quality of bestowal and love. Love means the connection of all parts of nature into one single system.

This is exactly what the motivation should be: the maximum connection with the upper nature; it is when a person reaches the degree of eternity, perfection, and understanding of the absolute laws in his understanding and feeling.

Absolute laws are the laws of commutation, the communication of all parts of nature when we attain it as one single whole. There is no difference between physics, chemistry, biology, and zoology, including even art and everything else. All of it are parts of the attainment of nature; it all exists in nature.

To fully reveal nature in its original, highest open form is the greatest motivation for a person. Moreover, this means not only an individual person, but a common system of all of humanity, which gradually connects into one single organism and to this extent attains the general nature.
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From KabTV’s “Videoconference about the Science of Management”

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Comment: In his book Management of the Absurd, Richard Farson claims that man is inherently absurd. But modern management systems are based on the fact that rational thinking prevails in man and, in general, we can overcome absurdity. Farson argues that we can hardly overcome this absurdity.

My Response: I agree that man is absurd because he is an egoist and subconsciously turns everything around in a way that is as if beneficial to him. “As if” because he is deceived, but cannot control it. After all, our egoism, the desire to enjoy ourselves, in order to better settle down and justify ourselves subconsciously works in us at all levels.

This is our nature. Therefore, we can never act objectively, optimally, with the benefit of our work for the collective for any set goal. We will always subconsciously take into account our individual egoistic goals. Therefore, the claim that a person can set and perform tasks correctly is very relative. Maybe this is what is absurd.

But when a person can connect with others in such a way that he loses his “I” and “we” arises instead, then indeed, this “we” begins to solve very serious issues in accordance with the common nature, which is absolutely integral, completely interconnected, and represents a single system.

Then “we” is any management group, for example, what we call a ten, i.e., an optimal assembly of people that has merged into one single “I,” can really set tasks, optimally perform them, and achieve the set goal.

How? This group will penetrate into nature deeper and deeper, and will see and feel to what extent the results of its actions are good for the whole organism, society, and the state. After all, if you solve a problem proceeding from the integral formulation of the question, then it can never be solved to the detriment of anyone: either the state or society or any organism.
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From KabTV’s “The Science of Management”

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In the News (CNBC): “More than half of Europeans want to replace lawmakers with AI, study says”

My Response: That’s the best. Let the robots run us.

Question: Indeed, the less competent, the more corrupt, the more robots and artificial intelligence they want. Install a chip, replace the oil, add some more, and that’s it. How do you like this idea, seriously?

Answer: I am in favor. Replace the corrupt so-called people’s representatives with a machine: I am for it.

But even there, of course, they will find all sorts of loopholes for how to get around. They will begin to bribe the people who serve this intelligence, the administrators.

Question: So you don’t think it will work?

Answer: No, egoism will find loopholes everywhere.

Comment: A robot does not need to build villas and homes, it cannot be bribed.

My Response: You will build villas and cottages for others. This is not going anywhere.

Question: You cannot get away from fixing it?

Answer: No. In principle, I, of course, would be in favor of this kind of change. But that’s not possible. Egoism is a cancer, a cancerous tumor, and the kind that can’t be compared to anything else. It lives everywhere and in everything.

Comment: It feels like you can’t beat it.

My Response: You can’t win. Egoism? No way! When we are convinced that we cannot defeat it, then we raise our hands up.

Question: When you explain the connections between us and talk about love, “love your neighbor…,” do you still somehow understand that all these efforts will lead to the fact that a person will reveal evil?

Answer: Yes. Let us strive for the good so that we can understand that we cannot achieve it. And then we’ll have to find a way out.

Question: So, in one way or another, is it impossible to achieve it in our earthly conditions?

Answer: In no way. In our methods, our forces, our nature, it is impossible.

Question: So, one way or another, we build everything with egoism?

Answer: No matter how you assemble and do it, you will always get a machine gun.

Question: So we will not replace the government officials with artificial intelligence, egoism cannot be defeated?

Answer: No, it can be replaced, and we will see what transformation will happen with this. You can run away in all directions, but you will still find that egoism will find a loophole, somewhere everyone is trying to bribe it, and thus, it continues to rule over us.

Question: And your conclusion?

Answer: Only to turn to its Creator, to the Creator of egoism, to the Creator, because the Creator created it! Egoism is the greatest force of nature, which controls everything, keeps everything within itself. Turn to the Creator, He will correct your egoism!

It depends only on our desire.

Question: Does it matter that we do not see the Creator and do not feel Him?

Answer: No, it doesn’t matter. You ask Him to take it away.

Question: So the main task is to hate egoism?

Answer: Yes.
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From the TV program “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 5/31/21

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Question: How can we convey information about the integral force and integral society to the kind of people who do not need spiritual work as such, but nevertheless, will exist in the society of the future?

Answer: I am sure that humanity will be divided into tens because this is the optimal form of teaching and uniting people. Thus, all people will be provided with integral education and will be able to perceive nature through the ten on the principle of loving your neighbor as yourself.

This is the principle not just of good relationships, but of changing everyone’s perception of the world. Therefore, all people will be able to understand what kind of world they are in, in which nature is one single system. Today we talk about it theoretically, but in practice, we do not feel it this way because everyone lives in their own egoistic individuality.

Just as there are people in the material world who are engaged in the theory of information and control and those who work in simple jobs and do not know anything about it, so there will be people who are interested in understanding the upper system of governance and the global integral nature in general.

The wisdom of Kabbalah says that all of mankind will gradually pass through the stage of rising to the correct perception of reality. Then we will be able to really build our life in accordance with how we will perceive it. This will be the life of the corrected generation where we all understand our existence as an integral whole in an integral nature and will build our lives in accordance with it.

Moreover, this life will be completely different from the material one because at the same time we will perceive a different reality beyond time, space, and any egoistic restrictions that dictate our reality to us today.
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From KabTV’s: “The Science of Management”

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Preparation to the Lesson

Lesson on the Topic “Finding the Good in the Friend”

Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar, Item 26″

Selected Highlights

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson | Add Comment / Ask Question →

Question: Man understands what is good based on what it is good for him. How can we understand what is good based on the global law of the universe?

Answer: People can feel good only when the whole universe feels good because everything is one single organism. Even cosmologists and people who deal with global nature around us talk about this.

The academic Vernadsky came to his theory of noosphere in this way. Famous philosophers and physicists who have studied the universe, including Einstein, write that the whole universe is a huge, enclosed, multi-layered, composite, infinite thought in which all parts are interconnected and support each other.

It is a huge, perfect organism that includes absolutely everything. And we are a cancerous tumor in it because we think only about ourselves. This is the property of cancer. When a part of the body begins to think about itself and absorbs everything into itself, this disease appears.
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From KabTV’s “Close-Up. Universal Law” 9/30/09

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