Michael Laitman on the Times of Israel: “The Emergence of the Spiritual Land of Israel in the Heart”
In recent months, Israel has been a land filled with expressions of both brotherly love and selfish struggles, playing host to a constant conflict between goodwill and animosity.
According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, “land” (Heb. “Eretz”) means “desire” (Heb. “Ratzon”), which is also referred to as man’s heart. In this desire—heart—resides the people of Israel and the nations of the world. These desires, however, like neighbors, struggle to coexist peacefully: either the nations dominate or the people of Israel prevail in the heart.
Initially, the heart was like a wilderness, controlled solely by self-serving desires, which consumed everything within their grasp. Kabbalah defines the self-serving desires as “the nations of the world.”
As humanity evolved, a small desire emerged called “Israel,” which stems from the words “straight to God” (Heb. “Yashar El”). Kabbalah usually refers to God as “the Creator,” and defines it as the quality of love and bestowal that creates and sustains the universe, including us humans. In other words, we initially develop as the nations of the world, i.e., in self-serving desires that make us prioritize personal benefit over benefiting others and nature, and the desire called “Israel,” which means a desire to benefit others and nature, emerges in us at a later evolutionary stage.
Conflict erupted when the desire called “Israel” emerged among the desires called “the nations of the world.” We started fighting with ourselves in order to overcome the heart, to relinquish control from the selfish will and let the higher power of love and bestowal guide us and reshape our heart.
This inner battle persists until efforts to overpower selfishness tip the scales, granting victory to the upper Divine will, letting love and bestowal rule over the heart. With this triumph, the heart becomes “the Land of Israel,” as it then gains the intention to be aimed “Yashar El” (“straight to God”).
The means to achieve this devotion to the Divine will is in the people who share the initial desire to reach a state of mutual love and bestowal among all people, and who are willing to support and encourage each other to combat their self-serving nature. Through the amplification of such an influence, these people come to reach a state of “love your neighbor as yourself” as they let the quality of love and bestowal guide their hearts at every front. When they reach this state of utmost harmony, the entire Land of Israel within will emerge in its purity and sanctity, dedicated completely to the upper force of love and bestowal—to God.
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