Why Have Jews Been Persecuted Throughout History? (Quora)

Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Why have Jews been persecuted throughout history?“

There are a few reasons for the persecution of Jews throughout history. The main reason is rooted in the spiritual establishment of the Jewish people in ancient Babylon about 4,000 years ago. The Jewish people were originally a gathering of Babylonians from all walks of life who gathered under the guidance of Abraham, who taught them how to unite (“love your neighbor as yourself”) in order for unity to spread to all peoples (to be “a light unto nations”).Having once attained a heightened spiritual state of unification, the Jews later fell from that spiritual state, when they entered the period of exile, and became unconscious of having ever experienced it. As such, persecution has befallen the Jewish people in various forms throughout history as part of the development toward a state where the Jews will need to re-attain the spiritual unity they once reached.

When the Jews were closer to their spiritual root, having an inclination and guidance on how to unite above their divisive egoistic drives, they were appreciated. This is exemplified in the periods of the First and Second Temples. Likewise, to the extent that the Jews became remote from their spiritual root, especially at times when a certain amount of spiritual unity was needed to expand in humanity, they received a negative response from nature through people subconsciously starting to hate them, fishing for reasons to place blame on them. This is because the role of the Jewish people, which they are idle in performing, is to unite among each other and with the upper force, and to spread spiritual unity worldwide. Specifically the idleness is the problematic point.

Therefore, today the Jews also experience increasing pressure in the form of exponentially rising anti-Semitic sentiment, crimes and threats in order to incentivize them to fulfill their function in the world.

The wisdom of Kabbalah, which is the method of unification that Abraham guided the Jews to unity with, has become disclosed today for the purpose of serving the world. Jews today need only access this method, apply efforts to unite through it, and by doing so, show an example to the world of what it does to them: how much it connects them and everyone, and how an eternal and perfect life becomes revealed through such connection. The Jews’ idleness in implementing this method—by not wanting to be a “light unto nations,” i.e. to the nations of the world—rebounds on them with a negative response from the nations of the world.

If the Jews will fail to perform their spiritual duty in the world, then a continued escalation of anti-Semitism will ensue. The Holocaust serves as an example of what could likely erupt in such a case
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