Draw Me A Circle

Question: I would like to separate what is happening today from the historical stories about events thousands of years ago that some people believe and some do not. I am a practical, realistic person and ancient history doesn’t interest me.

I look at the result and don’t agree at all that the situation in thenation of Israel is bad and that this nation requires extreme changes.

When I hear these kinds of statements from Jews—such as: “Death to the Arabs! We need to enter Gaza and kill them all!”—I am shocked that I belong to a society like this. I consider behavior like this to be inconsistent with the moral state of the nation of Israel and the Jewish people.

Can you take a clean page and draw how, in your opinion, the nation of Israel should look so that it will become a place in which it is possible to raise children happily, without being ashamed that you are Jewish and Israeli?

Answer: This is a very simple picture that everyone can draw for himself: one circle and that’s all. A circle means that all are connected with each other with good and open relations. This means that, within the society these principles operate: “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself”; “that which you hate, do not do to your friend”; “be as one man in one heart,” and “all of Israel are friends.”

All of these principles must be realized in us to some degree, from an initial degree to a full and complete degree; and together with this, we must offer this as an example to all the nations of the world; in other words, we must “be a light to the nations.” If we begin to engage in this, then we will see how the entire world will understand and accept us totally differently. The nations of the world very much want the people of Israel to become a guide for them.

Question: Is there room in such a society built in the form of a circle for such statements as, “Death to the Arabs?”

Answer: Certainly, in a place like this, there is no room for statements like this about anyone. The society must be built in the form of a circle, and, within this circle, ultimately, the entire world will enter. However, first, the people of Israel must show an example to everyone. This means that, instead of a source of problems, we become a source of good for the entire world.

Question: In school, they teach children that it is necessary to realize the principle, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,” but that this applies only to Jews.

Answer: However, we only give lip service to this general rule. This is not called teaching love for others. A child perceives this love formally, like a dry mathematical formula.

Question: I would wish that when my son hears about those killed in Gaza, he would cry and not be happy. Is this a justifiable demand?

Answer: Do you understand what this love is that we must attain when your heart hurts for someone you love? For you, love is a dry formula that isn’t alive if you are asking a question like this.

“Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” means that all of humanity is linked in one man. We must attain something like this, and all the troubles are sent to bring us closer to this until we understand, with the help of the wisdom of Kabbalah, and model it, that the Jewish people must show the entire world how to reach it through a short, pleasant, and rapid way.
[141996]
From Kab TV’s “A New Life” 8/14/14