What Determines The Future Of A Person?

Question: What determines the future of a person?

Answer: Undoubtedly, everybody is interested in the future. At every moment of time, it bursts into the present and turns into the present.

Therefore, the future is constantly connected to us and determines our present. If we know that something is about to happen, even not very soon, we nevertheless expect it and our state in the present depends on it, especially our mood, our attitude to the world and to life. Therefore, the future is a factor that significantly affects our lives.

Question: Is this what distinguishes a person from an animal?

Answer: Animals sense the future, but not to the same extent as a person and they are not so susceptible to it.

The future of a person depends on the way he adjusts himself in the present. After all, in fact, there is no future. If we live passively then we determine the future, what it will be, meaning depending on other people, circumstances and everything else.

When we live spiritually, there is neither future nor present. We somehow can talk about the past, because we were in a state when time was flowing, some kind of changes were happening within us. However, if I am now in the present, I can clearly make of myself such a created being that has no future.

In our world it sounds very unpleasant, “You have no future,” and to say this to a person means to kill him. Yet, in the wisdom of Kabbalah, this is not so. You have no future because you are going to create it by yourself now.

Go and do it, sculpt it, draw a picture of it and that is what it will be. And when will it be? Whenever you want.

However, if there is no past, present, and future, no world at all, and it is all just depicted to us by our qualities on the white background of the upper light, then what is the meaning of the question “What determines the future of a person?” It depends on a person!

And not just in the way we pathetically state, “A person makes his own future!” No. The fact is that each person knowing this algorithm of influencing himself, makes himself and the future because his internal desires create him and the external desires – the world around him. Therefore, the future depends only on him, and with all its elements and details.

It is not easy to come to this. However, we are capable of it and someday we will be able to do it. In the meantime, it seems to us that this is a fantasy.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 4/28/19

Why Did God Allow Millions Of Jews To Die In WW2? (Quora)

Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Why did God allow millions of Jews to die in WW2?“

We need to understand, as is explained in the wisdom of Kabbalah, that in history, nature doesn’t consider the amount of bodies in the world. The upper force, or nature, calculates only with regard to the implementation of the process toward the attainment of its final perfect state of complete unification. In this process, there are times when we Jews flow in the currents of the world, like a disease in its latent period, and there are periods when the disease surfaces and needs to be treated.

The wisdom of Kabbalah became open for all in the 16th century, during the time of the great Kabbalist, the Ari (Rav Isaac Luria). Since then, there has been a demand for its realization, i.e. the revelation of Godliness (the force of love, bestowal and connection) to all people in the world. Accordingly, if the Jews would have approached this method, wanting to engage in it and reveal Godliness both for their own sake and for the whole world, then we would be living in a completely different world today, filled abundantly with love, happiness and peace.

Since the Jews have made no significant steps toward the implementation of this method, then they cause all negative phenomena to appear in the world. Both Jews and non-Jews are unaware of this, but it subconsciously dwells within non-Jews that the Jews are to blame for the negativity in their lives. Therefore, the mass murder of Jews during World War 2 came as an extreme climax to implement the hatred toward them for that reason.

In his “Introduction to the Book of Zohar,” Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam) describes this phenomenon:

“In such a generation, all the destructors among the nations of the world raise their heads and wish primarily to destroy and to kill the children of Israel, as it is written (Yevamot 63), ‘No calamity comes to the world but for Israel.’ This means, as it is written in the above corrections, that they cause poverty, ruin, robbery, killing, and destruction in the whole world.”

New States Are Better Than The Old Ones

Question: If I read Baal HaSulam’s letters and feel how I roll along with the author from one described state to another, how can I not leave this internal movement with him? How can I stay with the author all the time?

Answer: It really takes a lot of effort. But even if it does not work, do not worry, you will come to this again anyway. Most importantly, do not try to stay in a particular spiritual state. Real Kabbalists even asked to forget everything and start anew. Imagine how much they understood that new states are better than old ones. Do not be afraid of anything! Surrender to this flow, let it carry you forward.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian, 3/10/19

New Life #273 – Teaching Children To Be One

New Life #273 – Teaching Children to be One
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Nitzah Mazoz

Children need to be educated to connect with others from an early age, which will lay the foundation for them to develop a spiritual couple connection as adults.There is no difference between the sexual education of girls and boys. First, they learn to connect with the same sex and, later, to the opposite sex. A spiritual environment shows children that connection between people brings us to a higher degree of development and life. We talk about how to rise above the ego, pair over rejection, and connect on top of hatred. We provide an example for how to become one heart in one mind rather than two and eventually unite with the whole world.
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From KabTV’s “New Life #273 – Teaching Children to be One,” 12/22/13

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“Unity Is Our Only Shield against Anti-Semitism” (The Times Of Israel)

The Times of Israel published my new article “Unity Is Our Only Shield against Anti-Semitism”

Campuses in the US and UK, once places for the enlightenment and ideological progress of society, have descended into epicenters of vicious anti-Semitism and anti-Israeli sentiment, two sides of the same coin. They have become hotbeds of fundamentalist political agendas sponsored by special interest groups. A recent visit by a group of my students to Oxford University in England confirmed this perception. The Jewish professors they spoke with anxiously await retirement due to the hostile atmosphere and threats against them. Conditions will only worsen unless we Jews take this situation into our own hands and unite.

As part of a research project about anti-Semitism, some of my students conducted a series of interviews with scholars and professors in the UK who have faced anti-Semitism in academia. According to their testimonials (which will be compiled into a documentary to be aired later this year), they have been victims of threats and harassment for being Jewish or for supporting Israel, a country constantly under attack on both American and European college campuses.

Jew-hatred dressed as so-called “legitimate criticism” of Israel and its policies, singles out the Jewish state for harsh accusations of “apartheid” and “genocide.” “Israel Apartheid Week” claims to be mushrooming this year into 200 events held across 30 countries on five continents. And where are the events’ preferred venues? Indeed, they are in the very college campuses where the seeds of anti-Semitism are being methodically planted and harvested.

Recently, an officer of a student minority group at Bristol University in the UK, whose role is to combat prejudice on campus, told a Jewish student to “be like Israel and cease to exist.” This is no isolated case of bigotry against Jews. In the beginning of the year, hundreds of students voted against allowing the creation of a Jewish Society at Essex University after a member of the British university’s Amnesty International group urged students to reject it arguing that the initiative was not “politically neutral.” This reflects the tendency shown in a 2017 survey of 485 Jewish students in England: two-thirds of the survey’s respondents reported being targeted on campus because of their Jewishness.

In the last few years, millions of dollars have been injected into universities around the world to advance anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish agendas, all sponsored by foreign governments and organizations whose aim is to advance their anti-Semitic rhetoric and agendas. While faculties are permissive, under the guise of pluralism, even Jewish academics jump on the bandwagon to actively support and promote these causes, as paradoxical as it may seem. By way of illustration, last year, the American Association of University Professors issued a statement attacking Israel for banning professors who are active members of the BDS movement against the Jewish state.

What Can Be Done About Such a Highly-Funded and Methodical Approach to Anti-Semitism and Israel Delegitimization?

As I explained in my recent article, “If you were donating to combat anti-Semitism, where would you donate?” any effort to confront the growing plague of Jew-hatred and demonization of Israel with costly campaigns will be useless, as witnessed by the fact that they have borne no fruit up until now.

We Jews are a nation conceived in order to bring connection and unity to the world. When we fail to carry out our vocation, our ancient sages tell us that the nations instinctively feel that there is no justification for our presence here on Earth, and unmerciful anti-Semitism unfolds and spreads in every field in which Jews are engaged. It is written in The Book of Zohar that when we do not carry out our mission, “Woe unto them [Jews], for with these actions they bring about the existence of poverty, ruin, and robbery, looting, killing and destructions in the world” (Tikkuney Zohar, 30).

In other words, our only shield is our unity. As it is written, “The prime defense against calamity is love and unity. When there are love, unity, and friendship between each other in Israel, no calamity can come over them” (Maor Vashemesh).

Before the ruin of the Temple, our forefathers developed a unique method of connection. They did not suppress one another’s characteristics, nor did they exploit one another. Each used their individual skills for the common good, thereby creating a society that both supported everyone’s personal fulfillment while strengthening the social fabric that kept it together.

In order for us to unite today, we need not suppress or downplay our differences. What is required from us is simply to rise above the differences that separate us. Today, that same simple-yet-effective method of connection that our forefathers perfected and committed to sharing with the nations is imperative for the survival of our society. The world is telling us that it is time to return to our roots and reignite our mutual responsibility, putting into practice the principle of “love your neighbor as yourself.” By doing so, true peace and tranquility will prevail on campuses and in every walk of life.

“One Small Step For Man, One Giant Leap For Mankind”

Exactly 50 years ago, a significant event happened: the world watched with bated breath as man made his first steps on the Moon. All the radio stations and TV channels were broadcasting the words of Neil Armstrong: “That is one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Now, after 50 years, can we say that it really was a great breakthrough for humanity?

Back then, I was a young man, 23 years old, a student, and I remember how I was inspired by these shots. I used to dream of such journeys. There were a lot of people around me and we all kept our eyes glued to the screen watching what was happening.

First of all, I was interested in this as a scientist, which I was preparing to become. It was a major breakthrough in science. Of course if you look at this event today, it does not seem so fateful. Today no one is impressed by space travel. However, at that time, people were very passionate about it. Man wanted to get out of the earthly framework, to break away from the Earth and find out what is happening beyond it.

This really was a giant leap for humanity, looking up from Earth, we established for certain that the Earth is round. In ancient times, people generally considered it to be a disk. I remember being struck by images from the Moon: the globe rising above the horizon just as we usually see the Moon rising in the sky. It was a very interesting inversion.

We began to understand that we are in a vast universe that is empty. There is no other life in the entire universe except for the one unique ecosystem which connects inanimate nature, plants, animals, and people on Earth, and gives us life. We took a step into space, opening a new space, but it was dead.

Here humanity is beginning to realize two opposites: we face the endless open space of the universe, but there is no life in it, just stones and a vacuum. Therefore, we need to take care of our planet—there will be no other place. It is necessary to perceive all people as living together in one house. I do not see that going to the Moon has changed people’s attitudes in this sense. But at least it has triggered research in this direction.

Over the past 50 years humanity has developed significantly, but for the worse. We have proven that we are alone in the universe and that the Earth is a unique place that gives us life. Yet, despite this, we are destroying it, approaching an irreversible red line, and we do not consider anyone. It shows us how destructive our egoism is; it is killing us and we need to do something about it.

The next “small step for man, which will become a giant leap for humanity” will be a step toward unification between us. To do so, you do not need to step on the Moon or another planet, but you need to step on yourself. Each person must step on his own egoism, then we will really make a huge breakthrough for all humanity because we will be able to save ourselves from self-destruction.

If each of us takes a small step out of himself, stepping on his own selfishness, it will elevate us all much higher than the Moon and the stars in a completely different dimension. We cannot abolish our egoism, but we can rise above it. This requires a special force; no rocket will be able to raise us above ourselves.

Each person is held by the force of gravity of his own egoism, and therefore, it is necessary to awaken the opposite force, which will tear him away from the love for himself. The wisdom of Kabbalah is intended for this purpose and only it gives us the power to elevate ourselves above the surface of the Earth, to tear us away from the egoism that presses us to the earth.

We would like to rise and grow above our egoism, but we cannot. This requires a special method of connection, which is taught by Kabbalah. Then we will feel ourselves in a rocket in the boundless universe. By breaking away from egoism, we will understand what special forces the Earth, the Moon, the Sun, and the entire universe have. We will learn why this system is built this way and what our role is, why we exist in it. Everything will become clear to us; we just need to rise above our egoism.
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 7/18/19

If Arabs Are Also Semitic, Then Why Does The Term “Anti-Semitic” Mean Anti-Jew Only? (Quora)

Michael Laitman, On Quora: “If Arabs are also Semitic, then why does the term “Anti-Semitic” mean anti-Jew only?“

Firstly, I think that there is no real need to deal with such definitions, because they change throughout history according to the tastes and views of different people and cultures. Likewise, “Semite” has many definitions according to various sources. According to what is written in the Torah, the Arabs are the outcome of Ishmael, the son of Abraham and Hagar, and accordingly, the Ishmaelites are relatives of the Jews. Today in particular though, anti-Semitism relates only to Jews, and Arabs themselves also relate to anti-Semitism as anti-Jewishness.

New Life #272 – Sex And Human Development

New Life #272 – Sex and Human Development
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Nitzah Mazoz

Can we learn how to make proper use of the sexual drive in order to improve the world? All the despair that fills the world today is designed to push us into a new, spiritual connection with one another. We are thirsty for a new type of sexual connection that is not based on enjoying at the expense of others, as is the case with lust. Sex can be enjoyed a billion times more if we add a mutual, inner, spiritual bond between the two. Without this bond, everything we feel is absorbed within our desire to enjoy and results in loss of sexual desire and sexual dissatisfaction. At the end of our development, when each one concedes to create a higher mutual connection between them, all possible passions will be revealed and fulfilled for eternity.
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From KabTV’s “New Life #272 – Sex and Human Development,” 12/20/13

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