In my column on Ynet:
Nobody “Deserves” This
The increase in Muslim terrorism is an outward sign further suggesting the world is out of balance. It is important to understand that the more the waves of violence continue, the peoples of the world will point an accusing finger at us. The answer lies in the connection between the people of Israel who are ready to change the fate of the entire world for the better
On Friday the 13th, in France the penny dropped—this time it is an ideological war, “Islam against the Western world,” the analysts write. And truly, all the symbols of the west suffered one after the other. Beginning with the famous soccer stadium of Paris, cafes and fashionable restaurants, and ending with a popular rock club. The killing map was drawn as if to verify that they would succeed in striking all the symbols of the free world.
Meanwhile, Israel is accustomed to the daily attacks; the members of the Litman family (deceased), a father and his son who were on their way to a pre-wedding Sabbath celebration were murdered by a bloodthirsty terrorist. The other children in the family were saved only by a miracle.
The massacre in Paris caused mixed reactions in Israel. On the one hand, the horror, the pain of loss and bereavement, we are familiar with in daily Israeli life, aroused identification with the French in us. After all, we know the sad cries, the candles in the squares, the young who gather at makeshift memorials.
At the same time, other voices were heard: “Serves them right! Finally, they felt what we feel. Now they understand us.” Some went further and offered to send shipments of food and wine from Judea and Samaria. Yes, the very same products that the EU has decided to label only a few days before.
At the same time, a hidden hope spread among many that maybe now the Europeans “will understand us,” as brothers in times of trouble… But let’s not delude ourselves. Unfortunately, the more that Europe feels under attack, the more it will increase the hatred of Israel.
What is the difference between a terrorist strike in Paris and Israel?
The wave of terror in Paris is the first dark herald of the new situation that the world is entering. In the near future the pressure embedded congenitally in extremist Muslim circles will break out through terrifying attacks. The goal: to impose Islam on the entire world, Europe first.
The Book of Zohar predicted these processes over two thousand years ago, “And in the future the children of Ishmael will provoke great wars in the world” (Zohar for the People, Parshat VaYera). Even if on the surface it seems that the battles are between various Muslim denominations (Sunnis, Shiites), in practice all the dominations bow to the same ideology.
The increase of Muslim terrorism in the world is an outward sign further indicating a world out of balance.
According to The Book of Zohar, all of us are connected in a single network. In the current situation, the force that flows through this network is a negative force, which drags us into extreme separatism and hatred. In contrast, the positive forces that vitalize the network of connections between us—unity, concern and mutual concern—are concealed and aren’t flowing through it.
Increasing the Positive Force in the World
In contrast to the nations of the world who were assembled on national foundations, the Israeli nation was founded on an ideological basis. 4,000 years ago, in the days of our father Abraham, the original foundation that connected us was altruism. The character of the nation and the manner of its incorporation already dictated a historical role for us: to unite and inject positive, unifying forces into the network of connection among all the inhabitants of the world.
When we look into the dark abyss racing through the world today, the mission imposed upon us becomes clear. A connection between us is the only way to inject goodness into the world, to be a “light to the nations.” Therefore it is the only force that makes it possible to mitigate the evil that is presently expressed in Islamic terrorism. Connection among the people of Israel is able to change the fate of the entire world for the better. This is the real ideological war that is being waged today.
It is important for us to understand that the more that the world becomes flooded by waves of violence, the peoples of the world will turn to us with an accusing finger. The root of the hatred that has been burning in them for 2,000 years stems from an unexplainable feeling that we are the root of evil on the face of the Earth.
The attacks in Paris and Israel are a wake-up call for the whole world, and for us. To prevent the next bloodbath, we are compelled to connect and to stream the positive force, the force of connection, through us, which will counterbalance the negative force in the world. From the moment we begin to get closer to each other, our lives and those of the world will change for the good. The decision is in our hands.
The Appropriate Social Time
Let’s get used to connection between us in daily life: at home, in the workplace, on the street, and even in the supermarket. On the highway, for example, one can give the right of way to others, not honk at each other, and imagine that our favorite child drives the car in front of us.
Let’s begin to look at one another favorably, and the moment we identify our evil inclination drawing us into competition and exploitation instead of friendship and fraternity, we will catch it red-handed and silence it.
The first step is for us to recognize the egoistic nature in which we are acting. After we carry out a number of simple exercises like those that will be further detailed in the next articles, we see how change will happen among us in Israeli society and how the attitude of the world toward us will change.
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From the Ynet Column 11/16/15
Question: Does a person lose his or her individuality after death? Do we lose the originality inherent only to each of us?
