Justifying The Title Of The Chosen People

Question: I am a Christian. For 2,000 years we murdered Jews in the name of Jesus, and that is our fault.

I am a coordinator of a work group that conducts Jewish-Christian dialogue in Russia. We come together with the “Russian – Jewish Conference” to places where there have been mass murders of Jews and erect monuments there on which, “Forgive Us” is written.

Today is the time to confess and express regret to the Jewish people for what we did. Now Europe is harvesting exactly what it did 2,000 years ago when the Jews were expelled and sent to the gas chambers. So there has apparently been a price of repentance and regret to the people of Israel, the “chosen people.”

Answer: Regarding the Jewish people being the “chosen people,” I would say that this must be justified. If being chosen means earning something, that is what the Jews must do. As to repentance and expressing regret, all of us must rise above our common enemy, the ego, which is really burning inside of us. If we begin to do this, then we will feel that we are on a completely different level of development and there will be no need for any justification.

What you are doing is natural human behavior, but the wisdom of Kabbalah welcomes only deeds that are really directed towards a link between humans.
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New Life #647 – Human Development To The Next Dimension

New Life #647 – Human Development to the Next Dimension
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Yael Leshed-Harel

Summary

There is a desire within a person for pleasure from everything humanly possible; this desire is divided into 613 different desires. Overall, our lives are an escape fromevil and an approach to good in which the definitions of good and evil change every moment.

We get values from the environment that influence us, and we operate according to them throughout our lives. Sometimes existential questions arise in us such as what are we living for at all? It is necessary to remember that our body will live and die, but the spark in us, the inner part, wants to discover the meaning of life.

The wisdom of Kabbalah engages specifically with this. For thousands of years it was concealed, and now it is bursting out onto center stage. The wisdom of Kabbalah makes it possible for a person to ascend to the upper world, to a higher dimension, to build a “soul.”

Psychology, meditation, and so forth serve only as tranquilizers. They don’t lift a person to a new dimension. The wisdom of Kabbalah is the only wisdom that investigates the inner nature of our world, the law of development, and a spiritual person is a person who lives within the mechanism in which all of us are connected together, from within, into a single soul.
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From KabTV’s “New Life #647 -Human Development to the Next Dimension,” 1/18/16

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New Life #648 – Exiting Myself To A New Life

New Life #648 – Exiting Myself To A New LifeDr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Yael Leshed-Harel

Summary

We perceive reality through a filter of “is it good for me or bad for me,” but we don’t feel what actually happens. But the human being in us wants more. He wants to know what he is living for, what actually happens in reality. The wisdom of Kabbalah tells us how to do that. We simply need to connect to more people who also want to “come out of the radish.” Together we perform exercises with each caring for the others, and thus we build a network of mutual guarantee and spur the concealed force.

Nature is made of two forces: the positive and the negative forces. This is true on the levels of nature: the still, vegetative, and animate, but when it comes to us, only the negative force operates. When we practice in a circle, we stimulate the positive force toward ourselves, and it balances the negative force in us. The positive force flows among us like a spring, builds a new attribute of bestowal in us, and pulls us out of the radish. This is how a network called “man” is built between us in which there are five spiritual senses.

Once we enter the upper dimension, the negative force among us grows again and separates us, and once again we work against it. A person then gets rid of all of his problems, understands why everything happens, and promotes his advance toward others, toward love. The force of bestowal that we invoke is the plus that balances the minus in us. The human being in you is not inside of you, but in others. When you exit yourself, you discover that the whole world is you.

The upper world means the upper reality, the upper dimension. It is impossible to explain what it is before you feel it. Now we live in the attribute of receiving, and it is the transition to life in the attribute of bestowal. The reality we feel now is false, while the upper reality is real, eternal, the world of truth. The human body dies, but the human being in it, the attribute of love and bestowal that he has developed, is eternal.
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From KabTV’s “New Life #648 — Exiting Myself To A New Life,” 1/18/16

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Europe Commemorates International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Question: The European parliament along with the European Jewish congress in Brussels held a ceremony to commemorate the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

The president of the European parliament Martin Shultz spoke in the ceremony and noted that the Jewish community greatly contributes to the culture and the economy of Europe.

At the same time, he also expressed his regret and empathy that the Jews don’t feel safe in Europe because of terrorist acts, violence, and assaults.

What has changed in Europe since the occurrence of such events 70 years ago?

Answer: Everything has changed for the worse. In the past there was no actual threat to the Jews outside Germany and its allies, but today we can say that there is definitely no safe place for the Jews anywhere in the world and that they are persecuted with great enthusiasm.

Both Europe and the US adopt policies that endanger the very existence of the state of Israel and intentionally act to harm its sovereignty in order to promote their interests in the region.

Although president Obama declared on the Holocaust Remembrance Day that we are Jews in spirit, it doesn’t go along with his open anti-Semitic policy and his attitude toward Israel.

Such an attitude toward Jews today is no longer considered bad manners. Humanity has undergone a phase of internal development and now it simply erupts against the Jews even through statesmen and politicians.

Western Europe is infected by the anti-Semitism virus. I understand their situation since the whole world is nearing the solution of its main problem, ascending to the next level of development. Therefore, the current level the world is in a rebirth crisis.

The world has to overcome the labor pains and be born on the next level of unity in every aspect of life: social, political, and economic, and basically accept a totally new format according to the forces of nature that develop us. The problem is that the world cannot advance to a state of unity at the moment since humanity refuses to change.

The Jews are the first to be blamed for that and it is true. Anti-Semitism stems from the nations of the world’s subconscious feeling of total dependency on the Jews who are not doing their job, and the Jews themselves are aware of the fact that they are the root of all the problems in the world.

Question: Recently it was published that extremist left-wing organizations in Israel received donations of about 260 million shekels. Moreover, most of the donations from foreign European governments,  Moreover, the same European parliament that held Holocaust Remembrance Day services donated a large sum to their activities. How can you explain that? What do they want from Israel and the Jews?

Answer: This is an internal resistance to the state of Israel, which stands in their way. When the Jews were dispersed throughout Europe and represent a whipping boy, then it is quite normal. But when they have their own government, army, flag anthem, and makeup like every other country, the European countries cannot get along with it. It is clearly seen that they benefit from the existence of the state of Israel, which enriches Europe and the whole world with its advanced technology and innovations.

But this fact doesn’t change the Europeans’ attitude toward the Jews. They cannot allow the nation they hate so much to exist normally, as much as you can call its situation normal.

The Jewish problem is unsolvable as long as the Jews don’t understand their mission: to show all the nations of the world how to continue their development, and while they do not, the world will suffer and the Jews will suffer even more.

Question: Are there any signs that the Jews are starting to understand their mission?

Answer:

This perception is given to them with great difficulty. I would say that the nations of the world even precede the Jews in understanding that. As strange as it may sound, the nations of the world are ready to understand, accept, and recognize their dependency on the Jews. The prophet Isaiah said that the nations of the world will bring the Jews to the right state and will carry them to Jerusalem.

Therefore, I am very hopeful that the dissemination of the wisdom of Kabbalah among the peoples of the world will help them influence the Jews so that the latter will understand and recognize their mission and fulfill it. Then the world will be able to ascend to the next good level of development and everyone will live happily and in equality.
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From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 1/28/16

Transforming The World

Question: Why have all the old values been devalued and the world been turned upside down?

Answer: The world had to change, and it began in the early 19^thcentury. In the 20^th century, its transformation came in fulll force, and we have reached the point where almost everyone in the world notices it.

The change takes place naturally as part of our evolution, the general development of mankind, and was embedded in nature from the start. Kabbalists foresaw this change more than a thousand years ago and indicated the end of the 20^th century as a turning point in which man’s attitude toward humanity, the world, and the wisdom of Kabbalahwould change. Kabbalists said that at this point man would undergo a special transformation.

As a result, it will start understanding the need for the general formula of the development of nature in order to master the situation, not to lose control, and to develop into something that cannot be foreseen or predicted. Today, we are in this state. And the wisdom of Kabbalah is intended to help us to manage this situation correctly and teaches us how to lead this process.

Kabbalists understood the clear evolutionary formula of nature and humanity, and thus had no problem predicting what would happen and when. You don’t need to be a medium or a magician for that.

I began to notice the changes in the world in the middle of the 1970’s and have been seriously engaged in the wisdom of Kabbalah since then. I see how it actually helps understand everything that is happening.

There is nothing mystical or scary about it. On the contrary, we live in a very interesting era in which we are undergoing a change that totally negates everything of the past. This takes place in accordance with the law of negating the negation in which the previous level must die and the new level is built on top of it. This is the way it always has been through all of the stages of human development. Thus, feudalism replaced slavery, capitalism replaced feudalism, and so forth.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 12/13/15

God And The Dollar

Comment: A group of atheists filed a suit in federal court in Akron, Ohio USA demanding the expression “in God we trust” be removed from the dollar bill, claiming that they are forced to use these bills and feel that there is an implication that God intervenes in financial activities, which is contrary to their non-religious belief.

Answer: There is no greater blasphemy or distortion of the idea of the Creator than to print such an expression on currency, regardless of which religion it is. The Americans believe that it helps them and protects the dollar, which means that God protects the dollar since the dollar mentions God.

What can I say about it? It is better to replace money with a plastic card so that people will be able to pay without using dirty pieces of paper. In the future people will need the same amount of money in the bank and will use money only for their basic necessities. It can be 1,000 dollars a month, for example, and if a person doesn’t use all the money, he can use what is left the next month.

The next phase will be a phase without any bank accounts or money. A person will consume only what he needs from special warehouses or stores and everyone will rely on the fact that he takes only what he needs and not more.

Comment: A person has to undergo a special educational process in order to take only what he needs.

Answer: We will have to come to that.

Comment: That sounds like science fiction.

Answer: It will be done by the Upper Light, a special force that corrects us. Of course we will not be able to reach this level of correction by ourselves. It is impossible.

But we will be able to evoke a special, yet hidden, good force into the world, through our unity and connection and efforts, so that it will correct us and make us better, like it is.

We will not take anything more than we need and will begin to produce only what is actually necessary so that everyone will feel equally good and comfortable.

Question: Where will God’s name be written in the future?

Answer: God’s name will be written on the human heart, not on a bill. The heart is the collection of all all human desires; it must transform itself and become His name! All human actions, all desires, the whole system, which is conditional, is allegorically called the heart,  which has to change and to be for the sake of the Creator.

All of a person’s actions, all his desires, the whole system called a heart, has to embody the Creator’s image.

This means that the heart itself is a system and the sum of all its internal relations should similar to the Creator.
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From KabTV’s “Conversations with Michael Laitman” 1/26/16

New Life #666 – 2015: Good And Bad

New Life #666 – 2015: Good and Bad
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Tal Mandelbaum ben Moshe

Summary:

We live in an era in which we can influence and benefit ourselves and the world, but we don’t know how to do it. We live in a complicated system and only are familiar with a very small part of it. But we can learn how to manage it. This is what makes the Jews special, and this is the reason that the world hates us. The key to the world’s happiness is in our hands.

The bad relationships between us are destroying the world. We have evil thoughts about one another, and this is why our enemies rise to destroy us. Everything will be peaceful and good in Israel and the world when we want to be good to one another here in Israel. The fact that we have evil thoughts about someone is natural, and we must learn how to rise above them.

As it is written, “Love covers all transgressions.” We shouldn’t argue about who is right and who is to blame, but simply rise to connection.
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From KabTV’s “New Life #666 –2015: Good and Bad” 1/1/16

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From A World Of Illusion To The World Of Reality

Question: For a few years, I have tried to understand who I am and what my mission is in life. How is it possible to continue on the way without becoming confused and to be able to differentiate between truth and illusion?

Answer: In fact, all of us are found in a completely illusory world, and we are beginning to reach this understanding by studying the method of the wisdom of Kabbalah.

But how do we find the true world, the true image where we really dwell, and not this nature that we supposedly feel ourselves in now, this  alleged world—this is the problem. To do this we must study and engage in the wisdom of Kabbalah.

Kabbalah translates to reception, perception, and feeling. Our imaginary world, which is formed for us today through our very limited physical senses, splits and opens before us and we begin to see another world, which is the next level of human development.

Those people in whom is awakened a need to feel life in its true form and not remain in an illusion, generally come to the wisdom of Kabbalah and begin to study and become seriously involved with it.

But to develop new senses within us, we must go outside of ourselves, out from our present senses. So we were given the illusion that we are in this world so that it will seem that near us are people like us who yearn to attain their true state and the surrounding reality.

Going outside of ourselves means to begin to link, participate, and connect with people like us, such that our mutual integration with each other helps us to begin to feel what is outside of us instead of what is inside of us. Then we will begin to perceive the world that is outside of us and not what is inside of us.

This is our main task, which is implemented through a very simple law, “And you shall love your friend as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18). It means that we begin to relate to others as we do to ourselves, and we look at the world through their feelings. This is what is called, “going out of yourself.”

The Kabbalists gave us a complete list of advice on how to attain the right connection between us, and through realizing that advice by working in an organized group, we reach a state within it in which each one of us feels the others and not himself.

In this way a person goes outside of himself into the others, he feels within them a higher state, and in this way they become detached from themselves and are integrated with him, they feel their higher state, and then each one of us begins to attain a new system of the structure of the world, what is found outside of him.

Along with this, all the limitations of the perception of this world disappear, and we begin to feel everything that is outside of us, and we reach this through new external senses, not the five physical senses: seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, and touching.

The external senses are built such that a person is found above his desire, against his egoistic drive to soak up and absorb everything into himself. So then he acquires new characteristics, characteristics of bestowal, characteristics of love, characteristics that go outside of himself.

The new senses that are acquired by us are called the “soul” in which we feel the upper world, and we are no longer bothered by our limited perception. Then we begin to understand, attain, and feel everything that is truly happening with us and in all of creation.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 12/13/15