“The Fight For Inclusion In The Midst Of COVID-19” (Medium)

Medium published my new article “The Fight for Inclusion in the Midst of COVID-19”

Anger is not the only thing passing along the chain of transmission among people in America during the nationwide protests over the killing of George Floyd. New coronavirus outbreaks due to crowding in the massive demonstrations seem imminent, warn health experts. The most basic human instinct, the sense of preservation to avoid further contagion, has been overshadowed by the fury of the multitude of protesters rallying to demand justice. If only such an intense inner drive would transform into an engine of love that would cover the entire nation through the realization that America’s strength lies in its diversity!

America’s healing depends on the efforts made to attain unity and mutual guarantee. Every person should be a guarantor for his neighbor’s integrity and prosperity.

As recent reports indicate, Mr. Floyd himself tested positive for coronavirus antibodies from a previous infection. Even though it may never be known whether this played a role in his death at the hands of the police, his case is symbolic of the two main struggles afflicting today’s America: racial tensions that have unleashed incendiary social unrest and whose end is still unclear, and a deadly pandemic that has already claimed more than 100,000 lives.

A vaccine for the COVID-19 virus may be available in the near future but what about a vaccine to heal the breakage within the American society? Even if the massive protests stop raging across the US, the calm will only be temporary, as we have witnessed in previous movements throughout history. Therefore, we must identify the solution at a deeper level, at its root cause.

The root of the problem is found in human nature, the desire to squelch diversity instead of embracing it. To be one as a society is not synonymous with all members being identical. The whole is composed of the inclusion of different shapes, colors, and forms that complement one another to create a sparkling singularity. Such a state of wholeness can only be reached through love.

In order to attain love, the entire society must engage in a revolutionary transformation where our differences are cultivated and embraced above the natural inclination for divisive competition and destructive envy. Divergences, contradictions, and variations should be the bricks used to build bridges of affective connections based on trust, respect, and mutual support.

The roof that protects all the differences can only be love — never pride, arrogance, or violence. As it is written by our sages, “Love covers all crimes.” We need to love each other beyond the physical body and skin, to love and connect to the heart of the person. Then we will see that we are all parts of one system, the system of nature.

It is not by chance that we have been created with different attributes and characteristics. Just like everything in nature, nothing occurs randomly. Every action and element of creation has a purpose, including the existence of opposites. The contrasts exist so we can exert our free will and make conscious efforts toward connection.

Only when people resist separation, can a nation become a healthy one. Therefore, America’s healing depends on the efforts made to attain unity and mutual guarantee. Every person should be a guarantor for his neighbor’s integrity and prosperity. This is how all societies will eliminate all social illnesses.

What Else Does The Virus Want To Tell Us?

Question: A pandemic helps us feel that we are all interconnected. For the first time in human history, we find ourselves in the same state, as if glued to our homes: no one is going anywhere, everyone is in a stupor.

But at the same time, we continue to act as before: selfishly, each for their own interest. We blame each other, we pull toward our own benefit. The Americans printed four trillion dollars only for themselves, they are not sharing it with anyone else. India is fenced off from China as is Hungary from the European Union. They all run like mice into their holes.

How much more does it take to show the world the inefficiency of egoistic decisions so that we find some other way, so that a radical turning point finally occurs? Where is this point? Are we getting close? How much do we have to suffer until we find the right path?

Answer: The problem is that we do not want to acknowledge our dependence on each other. Therefore, each one comes out of these problems individually and does not care what happens to others. Moreover, one measures his well being in comparison to others, so, the worse it is for others, the better it is for him.

Thus, the problems are solved very simply: each for himself and in no way together. This is in contradiction to the coronavirus because the virus itself is global and it affects us globally. It brings us to a certain general equation because it stems from nature. And all of nature is absolutely global.

It follows that if we continue to behave as we do now, nothing good will come out from the virus. We will not be able to overcome it because it is on a level above us. It acts globally, on the whole of humanity, we  cannot neutralize it alone. This is a completely different level of influence: its influence on us and our influence on it.

Therefore, we will have to fight it differently: fight ourselves, our egoism, and only to the extent that we are ready to unite can we have an affect on the virus.

The virus hits on the lack of proper connection between us. We still do not understand this, but in the future, we must realize that it does not strike at each one of us, or at nations, or at any groups of people, but at the fact that we are not connected. This is completely new for us, and therefore, it is difficult for us to work with it.

The coronavirus is designed to force us to come together so that we begin to treat everyone as one, one whole humanity. And therefore, the virus itself does not pose a threat to humanity, just like anything else that happens in the world. We simply do not understand where nature is leading us, but in its language, with its actions, it forces us to interact correctly with each other.

Presently, the virus forces us to separate, to move away from each other, but this is on the physical level. However, if we begin to get closer to each other internally, in mutual support and guarantee, a feeling that we are one single humanity, then we would feel how we can overcome all the negative effects that arise in us from this virus.

They arise not because the virus is spreading further out, but because it acts on us as on a single entity and we are divided into separate parts and individual personalities.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 4/19/20

Shavuot—The Holiday Of Unity

The holiday of Shavuot comes on the 50th day after Passover. For 49 days we perform the Omer count, which is like counting tied bundles, because the main work of man is to bind himself with the Creator. If we bind all of us together with our desires and intentions, we create one common vessel, we create a place for the revelation of the Creator’s light.

There are seven Sefirot in the soul, seven qualities that are developing in the head of the spiritual Partzuf (Rosh): Hessed, Gevura, Tifferet, Netzach, Hod, Yesod, and Malchut. In each Sefira, there are another seven Sefirot, that is: 7 x 7 = 49, and combining all together, we get 50.

Therefore, on the 50th day after exiting Egypt, from the moment we began to correct our spiritual vessel, the connection between us, we come to this special day when the connection between everybody emerges. This day is called the holiday of Shavuot.

In Egypt, we were still under the control of the desire to receive and could not connect with each other. Pharaoh kept us in slavery and did not allow us to connect with each other. When we escape from the slavery of Pharaoh, we can begin to connect, and that is why we run away from him. After all, it was very good in Egypt in the corporeal sense. It was bad only in the spiritual sense because of the inability to connect.

Those who wanted to connect, considered it a spiritual gain and were not afraid to sacrifice material things for this purpose, they came out of Egypt. After that, when we start to connect with each other, we come to the state of Omer, a bundle. So, we join part by part, counting these bundles until we reach the last, 49^th day in the Omer count when we are already able to receive from the Creator the light that will fill us.

And for 49 days, we were receiving only the light of correction, so it was called the Omer. Each time, we found egoistic qualities between us that did not allow us to connect, but we tried to correct them and connect them, until on the 50th day, everything finally connected and we reached the common quality of mutual bestowal between us and from us to the Creator. Now the Creator can also give us the light and this is why it is called the day of the giving the Torah.

The symbols of this holiday are milk, the sign of bestowal, and a connected group bound together in one bundle (Omer) and in adhesion with the Creator.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/28/20, “Feast of Weeks”

Why Is Lesson Preparation Needed?

When a person comes to studying the wisdom of Kabbalah he does not understand where he has come. He thinks that the main thing is knowledge and study.

He is curious to know how many angels are in heaven, what their names are, what the upper world is, what our lives are, who controls us, and how we can control our own destiny. However, he does not have and cannot have the right attitude to spirituality.

This is like a three-year-old child who does not understand how the world is organized,  how everything works, and what the true reasons is for everything that is happening. He lives by being close to the adults who arrange his world. And he perceives this world to the extent of his abilities.

So also a person who comes to the wisdom of Kabbalah at first hopes to learn something interesting, to gain some kind of power. However, over time, he understands what “faith above reason” means, which allows him to see with his inner vision the real world, the world of truth.

Then he begins to prepare himself for the transition from the perception of the world in corporeal sensory organs to perception in the vessels of bestowal in order to see the world as the Creator sees it. He wants to become like the Creator, to adhere to Him, to be together with Him, and to feel like He does; therefore, he always checks himself regarding his attitude to the Creator.

When he falls from this perception and begins to feel only this world, he returns to his demand to feel the Creator and all of reality as the Creator feels it, in the qualities of bestowal.

In this way, he constantly moves from the qualities of reception to the qualities of bestowal, from the left line to the right one, and begins to climb the degrees of the spiritual ladder, as though with two legs. He does not try to hop from step to step on one leg because this is impossible; rather, he first steps with his left leg, rising in the left line one degree higher, and then lifts his right leg there. And then again: the left line a degree higher and the right line that joins it. A person rises and each time changes his perception and measure of adhesion with the Creator. This is how his advancement takes place.

Therefore, the preparation for the lesson is aimed at increasing our sensitivity. It depends on what part of the world a person is in and what time of day they come to class. For many, it is early morning. They wake up from sleep and need to awaken their dulled feelings.

If a person lives in America, he comes to class after work, with the burden of the day’s worries. Therefore, we need preparation before the lesson, which should inspire the person, let him know where he is going and with whom he is dealing.

If he just woke up, he is completely detached from reality. And if he just came from work, he is immersed in his material problems and should shake them off. Therefore, we need to set ourselves up for the correct sensory perception of the study.
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The Best Medicine

Question: If I try to give goodness and love to everyone around me at work and in my family, then how can I protect myself and others from viruses?

Answer: In general yes, but I do not think it was so obvious to you.

Of course, the best medicine is proper, friendly interactions and support. We should have given these things to nature but we failed to do so; however, on the contrary, we stole, offended and humiliated others, etc.

If we are all elements of an integrated system and we are completely dependent on each other, then we should behave accordingly. Try to understand what kind of analog, integral system this is in which everything depends on everyone.

Question: You say that, by our negative actions, we bring the system out of balance. What are these negative actions?

Answer: They are dislike, even hatred, and an unwillingness to complement each other and worry about each other, etc. That is, any imbalance in this system in which all elements are responsible for each other, is called evil.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah” 3/15/20

The Hotel We Should Stay At

Question: I am the owner of a small hotel in Quebec. Do you think I will have clients after the coronavirus, when everything returns to normal?

Answer: It is possible because Quebec, where you live, is a good place to relax, for self-reflection for young and old couples. People go there for special impressions of each other or of the surrounding nature. I myself would love to stay there with you.

Comment: But today the tourism business is a difficult industry for further development.

My Response: Over the past 20 to 30 years, tourism has developed to such an extent that it has become an industry sector. I know, because I myself flew a lot and traveled to different countries to meet with my students, not because I am interested in flights, although I also like to learn about new cities, a new world.

I do not think that this industry will recover very quickly because people will have more serious life needs. After all, tourism, including sports, is rather an indulgence for our earthly way of life. Of course, I wish all industries a quick recovery, but I think people will begin to perceive that they should fill themselves with other impressions.

We were created in order to engage in a relationship between ourselves so deep so as to discover the very inner strength of nature, the source of life. When we unite in good relations and rush toward each other in a good way, we find a common power between us that applies both to you and to me. This common force, which externally divides us into “yours” and “mine,” is one within us. It is called our Creator because it gives birth to us. Revealing it between us, we begin to feel in it that we are on a higher spiritual level.

The fact is that from the highest spiritual level down to our world, everything happens through an endless chain reaction: division, division, division. But if, on the contrary, we unite, unite, unite, then in the end we will reach one single higher force that has given birth to us and controls us. And then we enter the state of eternity, perfection.

We must achieve this state and settle in it. This will be that hotel, that real, eternal, perfect house in which we need to stay.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 4/12/20

The Relation Of Nature To Humanity

Question: Can we, in a state of isolation, from our small shells separated from each other, perceive that general idea, that general message, the pressure that nature has on us?

If so, what should a person start with, from his family, from his country, or from all over the world at once? How can he get out of his shell? Where is his space in which he can feel the right pressure?

Answer: To begin with, we must understand that it is not a matter of any physical actions with arms, legs, or tongue. Our movements must be internal in order to become aware of ourselves as one single organism, which in Kabbalah is called soul or Adam. 

Adam is not the first person, as we used to think. “Adam” translated from Hebrew means “Man.” The entire human community as a whole is called Adam.

Therefore, we must take into account that nature refers to us as Adam, meaning the common humanity.

And if, in accordance with our development, we do not come to the conclusion that we are one common Adam, that is, a system in which everyone is interconnected and must support each other, then in this system there is a bias between what we really are: selfish, alienated from and hostile to each other and what we should be today according to our development on the part of nature.

The difference between what nature requires of us, and what we really are gives rise to all kinds of impacts from nature. These are environmental and technical problems, including viruses and everything else.

All negative consequences arising globally in human society, in each of us and between us, are the result of our inconsistency with the single common system called Adam.

Also, Adam is translated as “similar to nature” or “similar to the Creator,” from the word “home” – “similar.” And it turns out that at every moment of development, the degree of lack of our likeness to integral nature causes, on its part, a negative impact that manifests itself at different levels: inanimate, vegetative, animate, or human.

Now it manifests itself in the form of discrepancies at the animal level, meaning in the form of a coronavirus.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 4/19/20

Where Is The Truth?

Question: On one hand, the newspapers and everyone around us tell us about the victims of the coronavirus: how many people died, how many are in serious condition, etc., and  how the virus is perceived by humanity as evil, as harmful.

On the other hand, the sky cleared up, nature can suddenly bloom, no one is stopping it.

In China, only two months of lower levels of particulate matter in the atmosphere contributed to the survival of 4,000 children under the age of five and 73,000 people over the age of 70. And among other things, the number of cases of oncological diseases has decreased.

We heal ourselves. We go to doctors less, pay less attention.

Where is the truth? On one hand, the virus is the evil that drove us into our homes. On the other hand, it prevented wars, stopped cancer, cleaned the air. Children were born, the elderly did not die. Where is the truth?

Answer: Man must understand why this coronavirus appeared. It came in order to stop our past, selfish development where we were already approaching irreversibly disfiguring this globe.

And now we can begin a different type of relationship between us and with nature. Because it is basically the same thing. This is one system: inanimate, vegetative, animate, and human nature. We must begin to relate to the entire nature in a different way.

And if this happens, then no viruses will be needed. We will make our life beautiful without them!
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From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman,” 4/27/20

Desire Is Given To Us From Above

Question: If it has been revealed to a Kabbalist that our world does not exist, does he forget the sufferings that happened to man and humanity?

Answer: It is not that he forgets. He feels that all this did not happen to him.

Question: Therefore, he does not associate himself with that entity that felt all this. Who felt it then?

Answer: The desire to enjoy oneself did. This is not his desire because it has been given to us from above, from the Creator.

Remark: But a man felt reality within himself.

My Comment: Yes, since it was given to him, he experienced it within. When this desire was taken away from him, he started to feel that it is not his.

Question: Is it like a caterpillar that when it becomes a butterfly no longer remembers that it was a caterpillar?

Answer: Not that it does not remember. After all, there is nothing but desires. If there is any desire in me, then I live it. If it disappears from me, then it is not mine. Therefore, if we connect our desires and our intentions then the whole past disappears and we become an absolute one.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 6/10/19

Does Nature Feel Our Pain?

Question: How does a Kabbalist perceive nature? Does he feel it as something intelligent, sensible and responsive?

Answer: Of course, because we are part of it.

We are inside a common sphere called “nature” or “the Creator.” In this regard, we are a part of it, no more. Therefore, a Kabbalist thinks about how to connect with nature, how to make himself an integral part of it, as he has entered into merging with the Creator.

Question: Does nature feel our pain?

Answer: Naturally. If nature created us as sensitive and sensible creatures, why should it be deprived of these properties itself?

Comment: But it hurts a person.

My Response: Doesn’t nature hurt as well? You just don’t feel it. After all, you don’t feel the pain of another person either.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 4/12/20

When Does The Point In The Heart Open?

Question: You have said that a person has a Jewish point. Is this the black dot or is it the point of non-identity, and when does it begin to be revealed?

Answer: When you begin to think about the meaning of life.

Question: Is it in every person?

Answer: Yes, in everyone. This point is called “Jewish – Yichudi” from the Hebrew word “union – yichud,” union with the Creator. It gradually becomes a Sefira, and then a Partzuf.

It is a whole spiritual structure. This point is in every person in the world. Those in whom it awakens are called Jews, Hebrews from the Hebrew word “la’avor – to pass,” to transcend from an egoistic state to an altruistic state. It has nothing to do with the Jews in our world. It is a spiritual definition.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 12/15/19

New Life 1208 – The Right, The Left, And The Balanced Approach

New Life 1208 – The Right, The Left, And The Balanced Approach
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Yael Leshed-Harel

The middle line, the golden path, is a spiritual connection between the right and the left, above all the differences. The left is a tendency toward rejection, restriction, and limitation. The right is a tendency toward wholeness, connection, and compromise. Humanity fluctuates between “What is mine is mine and what is yours is mine” on the extreme left [Pirkei Avot 5:10] to “What is mine is yours and what is yours is yours” on the extreme right. The more we develop, egoism and aggression grow, but simultaneously, the understanding of mutual dependence also grows. Even though there may be short periods in which the right or the left will dominate, both of them are required for our development over time. We are living today in an uncorrected, distorted, egoistic society. Contradictory tendencies will continue to intensify, and humanity is therefore in danger of world war and general destruction. We need to learn to balance between right and left as between plus and minus so that there will be an opposing buffer between them.
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From KabTV’s “New Life #1208 – The Right, The Left And The Balanced Approach,” 2/11/20

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Rise Above Yourself

Question: How can you convince your mind of what you want to believe in your heart?

Answer: You must abandon both the heart and the mind.

You can live neither by the heart nor by the mind because they are purely selfish. They twist us around their finger, they confuse us all the time, they do whatever they want. The only thing you can do is surrender to the upper force so that it works on us and shapes us.

To do this, we need a small group of ten people where we are connected to each other and try to connect over our egoism. Then it turns out that I surrender to the attributes of this group. And so does each of us.

Thus, in this mini-group, we create a positive force that is already around us throughout the universe. And it turns out that we assemble, as in a laboratory, a model that attracts the general positive force of nature. Through feeling its action, we unite among ourselves. We begin to be nourished by it, and our actions become better.

Question: Can we say that everything is given from above and we must surrender to this process? Today, a huge number of people are getting sick. How can they correctly relate to what is happening?

Answer: In order to correctly perceive the attitude of nature toward us and to be objective, independent of our animal properties, we still need to rise above ourselves. This means making what is called a restriction of our selfishness. Kabbalah teaches this.

When you are at least at the zero level, that is, when you have not yet mastered the next, altruistic level, but you are already rising above egoism, then you can correctly perceive the actions of nature with respect to yourself. This way, you can impart it to your children, family, and friends.
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From KabTV’s “Meetings with Kabbalah. Victoria Bonya,” 3/29/20

“The Four Colors Of The (Human) Rainbow” (Linkedin)

My new article on Linkedin “The Four Colors of the (Human) Rainbow”

In 1954, the Supreme Court, under Chief Justice Earl Warren, unanimously revoked the constitutionality of segregation. But court rulings don’t change hearts. Deep inside, the hatred that created the segregation is very much alive and fuels the flames of the protests we are seeing. There is no solution to the racial tensions in America, other than to find a way, however unrealistic it may seem, for the parties to love one another: blacks, whites, yellow, and red. Just as the rainbow in the sky marked the covenant between God and Noah, the human rainbow should mark the covenant among all people.

America is at a crossroads: Either love will cover everyone, or hate will cover everyone. The future of the country depends on the choice between them.

Why is it that we love diversity in nature, but hate it in ourselves? What would happen if zebras wanted to be lions, and lions wanted to be elephants? It is precisely the diversity of nature that gives it its beauty and power. How long would we last if the heart suddenly insisted on being the liver? Existence is based on different elements forming a harmonious, beautiful, and vital ecosystem that needs all of its parts in order to survive.

There is no hatred among any of nature’s parts. On the contrary, there are mutuality and harmony. Unless America emulates this approach within society, the factions will destroy each other. And today, it is clearer than ever.

Harmony seems impossible under the current circumstances. People are too absorbed in their own anger to respect one another. Therefore, respect, consideration, ethics, and so forth, are not viable solutions since the entrenched hatred will throw them out the window. Instead, the parties must uproot the hatred itself, realize that they cannot exist without each other, and therefore try to learn to love one another, nothing less than that. All people are parts of the same system, the same organism of human society. If you hurt one part, you’ve hurt all of humanity. If people loved each other, there would not be discrimination, humiliation, suspicion, or violence. But in order to come to it, people realize it’s necessary, and choose to work for it. America is at a crossroads: Either love will cover everyone, or hate will cover everyone. The future of the country depends on the choice between them.

“What Happens When We Get Diversity And Inclusion All Wrong” (Medium)

Medium published my new article “What Happens When We Get Diversity and Inclusion All Wrong”

Can you mix water and oil? No, you can’t. But can you do without either of them? No, you can’t. Can a wolf become a moose? No, it can’t. Would we want it to? God forbid! So why are we excluding diversity and inclusion when it comes to people? Why are we fighting to make everyone the same when it’s exactly the differences between us that make humanity so beautiful, if we work harmoniously with one another?

By trying to make everyone the same, we are misinterpreting inclusion and increasing the hatred that already exists within us.

Just as men and women are different from each other, so are the four different types of color: white, black, yellow, and red. And just as men and women are complementary, so are the four types of people. Neither is better; neither is worse. They are simply that — four types of people, whose differences manifest, among other things, in skin color.

You might ask, “But if one is not superior to another, why is there bigotry?” Bigotry has nothing to do
with skin color, and everything to do with human nature: We are self-centered and alienated from each other. In simple terms, we are hate-filled creatures. This is not news, of course; it’s been known since Genesis (8:21), when God stated, “The inclination of man’s heart is evil from his youth.”

This inclination is the reason that more than half a century after the retraction of segregation in the United States, there is no inclusion. By trying to make everyone the same, we are misinterpreting inclusion and increasing the hatred that already exists within us.

Inclusion does not mean that everyone becomes the same. It means that everyone is included in the making of a common society, each according to his or her unique characteristics, and the diversity of unique qualities that are included under one common whole creates a healthy and robust nation.

But to do that, people must overcome the evil inclination that rules their hearts. And to overcome that innate nature, we need to know several things: 1) All parts of American society are indispensable. Extract any part of it, and you have handicapped the entire nation. 2) The various factions are indispensable precisely because they are different. What one can do, none other can. 3) The uniqueness of each group must function as a positive contributor to all of society. In this way, the diversity will strengthen the society and increase solidarity, as opposed to being a cause for tension and disintegration in the current situation, when hatred separates the factions. 4) The ultimate goal of all the factions must be the strengthening and solidifying of the entire American society. If even one of the four groups pulls its own way, the entire society will fall to pieces.

As an example, think of a basketball team. Each player on the team has a specific role (or roles) to play, and every player helps the other teammates do their part, as well. If the team wins, it is not one player’s personal victory; it is the team effort that pulled the feat.

In much the same way, today’s American society needs its players to play their parts, then help each other, and together accomplish the task of uniting the American nation. The diversity of the American population can create the most beautiful and thriving society on Earth, but first people must decide that they prefer to love one another rather than to hate.

Choosing to love is not easy, but there is no other way. It is said that necessity is the mother of invention. Today, it is necessary that American society reinvents itself, because it is on the brink of collapse. The coming weeks and months will determine whether America defeats the hatred that has spread throughout the nation and becomes a beacon of hope for a fractured world, or gives in to the odium and relapses into civil war.

“Can America Learn To Love?” (KabNet)

KabNet published my new article: “Can America Learn to Love?”

Over the past week, America has literally been in flames. What began as peaceful protests has catapulted into a warzone. In Manhattan, hundreds of looters ransacked stores, the National Guard was deployed, and dozens of cities declared overnight curfews. Clearly, there is a lot of politics involved, but this doesn’t diminish the pain or the scale of the problem.

America has already had an Afro-American president, Afro-American governors, Afro-American judges, sports stars, and icons of all sorts. Legally, there are no preventions standing in the way of any person of color to occupy any position. Yet, there is no peace, no peace of mind, and no love. The chasm is not only present, it is ever deepening.

Love doesn’t mean covering our differences and denying their existence. Love is about cultivating and emphasizing all the subtleties of our uniqueness, but not in order to compete or arouse envy. We should use our differences as building blocks to construct bridges of affection. Differences should never be used to increase pride or conceit.

It is written, “Love will cover all crimes” (Prov 10:12). The crime is hatred among people. Yet, hatred is a necessary element. Just as without the night we would not know when it is day, without hate we cannot know when there is love. Because of it, hate enables the existence of love. Moreover, the deeper the darkness of hatred, the brighter the light of love that follows.

America is full of hatred. It is built from layers upon layers of hatred. Yet, this is exactly why America has the potential to become a role model, a world leader in rising above differences and hatred.

Nature didn’t create us different for no reason. There is a special intention here, a purpose. Anyone who ever studied nature’s ways knows that no part of it, not even the tiniest iota, is redundant. Nothing should be eradicated or erased from the world, except for pride and separation. So trying to blur one’s unique skin color or other physical, mental, or emotional attributes is like saying that nature made a terrible error and it’s our job to fix it. There is so much ignorance and hubris in such thinking.

We must relate to what nature has created as a given that we work with progress toward correction, and the correction is in the relationships between us—the only place where there is a flaw. Let’s learn what love means and what it can do with our given attributes. Let’s learn how it “disarms” our egos and our foolish pride, how it brings us closer while exposing every bit of our uniqueness, and how it joins our differences into a perfect whole.

Everything is burning now in America; it is difficult to hear a delicate message of love beyond the smashing shopwindows and glee-filled hollers. Yet, if we do not hear it, the wave will pass and matters will resume an air of normalcy, but the hate will not vanish. It will strike again with even more ferocity because we haven’t treated it; we haven’t tended to the hatred that is fueling it.

Perhaps when we find ourselves embroiled once more in a civil war, the anguish and distress will open our ears and hearts to hear the message. Maybe then we will accept that being different is a blessing when we want to unite in love, and the only curse is the hatred in our hearts.

[Photo by Josh Hild on Unsplash]

Shavuot—Receiving The Method Of Correction

Question: After the exodus from Egypt, the Torah was received, which represents the special holiday of Shavuot. Receiving the Torah means receiving the upper light with the help of which a person can correct himself and reach the level of the Creator.

Why did this happen on Mount Sinai?

Answer: Mount Sinai personifies hatred toward our egoism, due to which we can receive the highest light.

We received the method for correcting the ego because we hated it as we were standing under Mount Sinai, we saw how much this selfishness is odious to us, how much it is against us. We were literally ready to bury ourselves under this mountain if we did not receive the force of correction.

Only after that were we able to enter the Land of Israel, in Eretz Yisrael.

“Eretz” is desire, “Israel” (Isra-El)—aimed directly to the Creator (Yashar-Kel).

Being in the Land of Israel, we built the First and the Second Temples there, which personify the unification of the whole soul in its leading form, called Israel. And in our time, we must draw to this not only ourselves, but also the whole humanity and reach the Third Temple.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 1/29/19

Billions Of People In One Ten

Question: Can work in one ten affect all of humanity?

Answer: There is no difference between a small ten and all of humanity. If we awaken a higher power through our actions in the ten, then through it we influence the whole world. Such is the peculiarity of the integral system that even a ten contains all parts of reality within itself.

If we pump the ten with higher light, then it expands and so does the size of all of humanity. Imagine that there are a billion people in each friend. There are eight billion people in the world and all of them, except the point of the Creator (Keter) and the point of Malchut, are within this ten.

As we move forward, we begin to reveal all of reality within this ten, all of humanity, all the worlds, everything is inside it, you just have to penetrate deeper into it.
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From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/20/20, “Connecting the World in the Last Generation”

It Is Important To Understand What The Torah Says

The Torah describes so many different events. Can it all be just in order to achieve love for the created beings, to get closer to other people, and replace your hatred with love? Why is this written in the Torah, in the instruction given to us by the upper force? We do not understand this.

In fact, it is unclear how this is possible because experience shows everyone is ready to speak beautiful words, every religion calls for kindness and love, and as a result, the entire history of humanity is accompanied by mutual hatred and wars. This is why it is so important to understand what the Torah says. It describes the only thing that has not happened in history.

Baal HaSulam writes that the Torah speaks exclusively about one thing: about love of one’s neighbor as oneself, that is, the love of people. You have to love them as if there is nothing else besides this: to love all of humanity and every person (some people love humanity, but they do not love people). A person should do everything for the sake of love and live in this world only for the sake of it.

The only purpose of a person’s existence in this world is to bring good to all people. The Torah describes 613 actions of bestowal that a person must perform, and all of them are in regard to other people, relative to one’s neighbor. Only then does a person observe the Torah, that is, corrects his soul.

Rabbi Akiva, the greatest sage in times of the Second Temple, said that “Love your neighbor as yourself is a great rule in the Torah,” its entire essence. The Torah is intended for reaching love for people.

What should we do in order to receive the Torah? You must want to receive it! After all, why do you need it? To study the Torah means to study how to love your neighbor. Are you ready for this, do you really want this?

Little by little, we begin to understand that the attainment of the greatness of the Creator, His revelation, and reaching love for one’s neighbor are one and the same thing. The love of friends and love of people cannot be less than the love of the Creator since one is clothed into the other.

This one commandment about loving your neighbor as yourself includes all the commandments, that is, all the corrections that a person must make in his egoistic desire in order to bring him to bestowal, becoming a complete righteous. And within this love for people, he will attain the love for the Creator.

Each commandment is a correction of an egoistic desire. There are 613 desires in a person, and all of them are egoistic, and we need to turn them into the bestowing ones.
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From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/27/20,Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Matan Torah [The Giving of the Torah]“

“The Search For Truth In A World Of Lies” (Medium)

Medium published my new article “The Search for Truth in a World of Lies”

What we see is no longer what we get. An avalanche of unreliable and misleading information is spreading around the world at an alarming rate, particularly now, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Conspiracy theories and promotion of false vaccines for the virus proliferate worldwide putting lives at risk, say international organizations. In truth, the false reality we now see is a reflection of the calibre of the chain of human connections we have forged between us, of our human relations. We can invert this worrying situation by fostering trust and credibility within society by changing how we relate to one another.

This web of lies is the product of deliberate manipulation originating from within political parties and camps, big business, and high-powered decision makers that is cunningly injected into daily publications.

US President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order targeting social media companies in order to “defend free speech from one of the gravest dangers it has faced in American history.” The action was taken after Twitter marked two of his as “potentially misleading.” What is judged as trustworthy clearly depends on the eyes of the beholder. Social media has largely replaced the traditional media outlets as the main information provider. But credibility in the online environment is much more complicated and less straightforward than in traditional media. The United Nation’s Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) calls it “information contamination,” a problem hard to tackle since much of the misinformation is disseminated under-the-radar on social media platforms.
It is almost impossible to obtain reliable, factual information. It is difficult to trust the media to act with integrity, fairness, and impartiality. There is almost always some exaggerated description, false information, misleading quotation, or opinion disguised as fact in an article.

This web of lies is the product of deliberate manipulation originating from within political parties and camps, big business, and high-powered decision makers that is cunningly injected into daily publications. For this reason, confusion reigns in the world between facts and lies, what’s credible or not. However, if we take a step back and put things into perspective, we will recognize that society is not a passive spectator in this spectacle of misleading reality. We are not accustomed to the truth, so we pleasantly buy into the lies, even enjoy them, and pay for them. Where there is demand, there is supply.

Even if there were a truthful man, our false world would swiftly dismiss him. His truth would be interpreted as false. We cannot afford to continue to be the promulgators of division, allowing the egoistic nature that we have been feeding to drag us into each other’s struggles. The time has come to deal with the actuality of our lives and understand that we need real communication, which will open up new, high quality bonds that we desperately need to grow and spread widely. Such communication will not only be a source of reliable information, but an enterprise for social education, a tool and a means for ensuring regular and proper communication. In fact, what is needed is a new educational system for the whole society, children and adults, which would give us an accurate picture of where we stand, what needs to be fixed, and how to accomplish the task in order to enjoy a truly trustworthy world.

When this awareness clarifies within us, we will be able to correctly filter the poisoned information and establish a brand new media, a media that puts human well being first. This new media will be securely grounded in the fundamental laws of nature, the interconnected reality of the global and integral world, and will strive to maintain a balanced spirit in society and contribute solely to social union. A world in unity is a world of truth.
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“How To Find The Joy In Simple Life” (Medium)

Medium published my new article “How to Find the Joy in Simple Life”

In simplicity lies the key to happiness. Thus, the change the world needs now is not only to get back to basics, but back to simple. If we could have a look at our planet from a higher perspective, like astronauts describe their view from space, we would realize with clarity how the Earth encompasses one humanity in a stunning and circular, yet simple way, without divisions.

The coronavirus is leading us to a new dimension of existence. It has dramatically altered our routine and habits so we can look at ourselves from a different viewpoint, reconsider what is essential and what is superfluous.

The virus cleans us of our complex and artificial life, our twisted and cumbersome life, and brings back the importance of family warmth, the thought of proper education and the simplicity we need.

We begin life in a very simple way, close to nature. A man and a woman conceive, a baby is born and needs only basic food and care. Then, as the baby grows and develops, the demands for more possessions and attention grow, as well.

In our prime, we chase money, diversions and amusements, and success in our careers. We squander our energy and end up feeling empty.

As we age, we become drawn again toward simplicity. This is not necessarily just because our energy diminishes over the years, which is a physiological reality, but mainly because all the fancy and intricate trappings of the world we constructed no longer impress us. A person at this stage in life tends to realize that the simpler things are the most meaningful. Nature is this way also.

Instead of complexity, nature is drawn toward simplicity. This is why we start life in a simple and natural way, and we also finish it in that same fashion. It seems that the more we develop as a society, as we become more evolved human beings, we reach a peak from which we, as a society, begin to crave for a simple but meaningful life.

If we examine the culture we have created over the years — music, paintings, dance — all the human ways of expressing deep inner feelings and thoughts — we will see that every thing that inspires us and that we admire is, at the end of the day, close to nature and relatively simple. This is the future of humanity.

So after completing the current, complicated phase the world is going through, it will end and we will feel increasing attraction to a simpler life in which we will experience a myriad of flavors, the most important one being the flavor of love.

Simplicity does not necessarily mean a meager life with nothing to do. Instead, it is a life in which we come to identify more closely with nature, so that we begin to feel the role we are born to fulfill, and what nature wants from us. Subconsciously, we all want to find the answer to this question, to discover the secret of life and its purpose. That is life’s simplest question, and also the deepest.

The coronavirus is accelerating an inner scrutiny within us. Under the pressure of nature, essential questions awaken. The virus cleans us of our complex and artificial life, our twisted and cumbersome life, and brings back the importance of family warmth, the thought of proper education and the simplicity we need.

Life is short, and the lifestyle that has gripped us up to this point has left us no time to think about its purpose. The coronavirus gives us a chance. It invites us to think and understand how to truly live rather than to just exist and survive. How? By finding joy in the small but meaningful things in life. It is much simpler than it seems.