NY Times Article “What We Jews Owe The World”
What Jews Owe the World by Dr Michael Laitman This article was orginally published in the New York Times, Print Edition. Buying Our Way to Heaven The holiest day of the year for Jews is Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), when they fast and pray. A key part of the prayer is reading the book of Jonah the Prophet. Interestingly, many observant Jews believe that buying the privilege to read the book will make them successful for the rest of the year. Naturally, only the wealthiest in the community can afford to compete for it. The sums vary according to the affluence of the community, and in some cases the privilege is sold for well over half a million dollars. Cracking the Code What people are not aware of, however, is the real reason why the book of Jonah is so important. Kabbalists determined that this reading is the most important in the year because it details the code for saving humanity, and this, in the eyes of Kabbalists, is more important than anything. Jonah’s story is special because it speaks of a prophet who first tried to dodge his mission, but finally repented. Another special aspect of Jonah’s story is that his mission was not to admonish the people of Israel, but to save the city of Nineveh, whose residents were not Jewish. In light of today’s precarious...
My Trip to LA and DC
by Dr. Michael Laitman It has been approximately six weeks since my return from a trip to LA and DC, and nearly five weeks since the start of the course, “What Does It Mean To Be Jewish Today?” based on my book, Like a Bundle of Reeds: why unity and mutual guarantee are today’s call of the hour. Despite the successful media engagements and the encouraging responses from audiences, since my return, much has happened in the world, but most of it has not been positive. The drop in oil prices has caused a major economic and social crisis in Russia, which is bound to have adverse effects worldwide. The Israeli government has argued itself to extinction and declared a new election, the last thing that people need. Anti-Semitism has been, well, anti-Semitism. It’s not only vibrant, but has spread as far as Australia and New Zealand. In the US, it is gradually becoming institutionalized, primarily in campuses (see Harvard and the SodaStream case), and in Europe it is growing increasingly violent. In short, we have our work cut out for us. Many people feel that if only the Jews, or at least the Jewish state, would cease to exist, so would their problems. That is not the case. The world’s problems will cease to exist when Israelis and Jews all over the world do what they have...
What is a Miracle?
What is a Miracle? by Dr. Michael Laitman Hanukkah is a great time to talk about miracles. A miracle, by definition, is something that according to the laws of nature isn’t supposed to happen. So for example, if at the end of the eight days of Hanukkah I’ve only gained two pounds or less, that can certainly qualify as a miracle. But more seriously, how do you define something as “defying the laws of nature?” And if something defies the laws of nature, is it only defying the laws of the nature that we know, or the laws of all of nature? Because if it did, then what law caused that miracle to happen? If you showed a person living in the 18th century that you can touch a tiny switch on the wall, and the whole room becomes illuminated by a device that by all accounts is disconnected from the switch, that would easily qualify as a miracle. But we all know it isn’t. So a miracle is an event that defies the laws of nature that we know. That is, if we learn new laws, perhaps what seems miraculous today will seem obvious tomorrow. The world as we know it operates according to a very simple law: the stronger one wins and the weaker one loses. On all levels of nature, balance is kept by the fact...
Five Things You Never Knew About Hanukkah
Five Things You Never Knew About Hanukkah by Dr. Michael Laitman #1 Hanukkah is the Festival of Light. But what is light? It is the good, friendly relations among people. This is what the Jews must show the world. This is the meaning of being “a light unto the nations.” The people of Israel must first unite, and through that unity bring out the light of love. This is achieved through a special education, and once it has been achieved, it is our duty to pass it on to the rest of humanity. This week of Hanukkah is an ideal time for Jews everywhere to ponder how to fulfill their role in these troubled times, to truly become “a Light unto the Nations.” #2 The first thing we need to fix are the broken relationships between us. We can start by not doing to others what we ourselves hate. All the Jewish holidays represent stages in the process of correction of our relationships. The people of Israel first have to perform it on themselves, then convey that form of behavior to the rest of the world. Hanukkah symbolizes the first stop on this path. At this first point a person doesn’t really have to love others but needs to feel connected. #3 The Greeks in the Hanukkah legend represent our ego. It’s simply that each of us wants to...
Two Streams: Altruistic vs. Self-Centered
by Dr. Michael Laitman The world as we know it operates according to a very simple law: the stronger one wins and the weaker one loses. The universe we perceive seems egoistic, and balance is kept only by the fact that all creations are “programmed” to take only what they need for their sustenance. But on the human level, there is a “bug” in the program. In programming languages, a “flag” is a predefined bit (or several connected bits) that a program uses to remember something or to leave a sign. It seems that in humans, the flag that tells all other creatures to stop consuming is missing. So the bug is that we are programmed to eternal voraciousness. Or are we? In truth, the self-centered stream that animals follow is constantly accompanied by another, parallel stream, which operates on the exact opposite paradigm—altruism. When an animal has satisfied its need, the other stream comes into play, and the animal instinctively stops eating or hunting. In humans, the altruistic stream is disconnected from the self-centered one. So what we, humans, have to do is make that connection consciously! Otherwise, we’ll stay with only one, imbalanced stream, and will consume ourselves to extinction just as cancer consumes its host body until the body dies and the cancer goes with it. If you examine the crises engulfing the world around every...
Who Wants to Be Elevated?
by Dr. Michael Laitman A student posted in his Twitter account a picture of his shelf at home, where some of the books we published stand. To the picture, he added a message: “There is a big focus on Jews and Israel lately that I don’t really find in your books. I’m uncomfortable with ethnic groups elevated.” Indeed, there is a big focus on Jews and Israel lately. Except the focus isn’t mine; it seems like the whole world is focused on us. The UN is hardly dealing with anything else, and has been doing so for years. Anti-Semitism has become such an issue in Western countries that heads of state keep having to “reassure” their Jewish citizens that everything is alright, when the only reason they are saying it is that everything is not alright. But the reason I am focused on the Jewish issue lately is not that there is anti-Semitism. I have been saying there is anti-Semitism, and that it will only grow, for at least ten years now. What’s changed is that now people are willing to listen, as you clearly are. Quite honestly, I am using the current burst of anti-Semitism as a tool to make the explanation about the role of the Jews more acceptable, especially to Jews. We can declare that Jews are like everyone else and shout it from the...