Michael Laitman | What Does It Mean To Be Jewish Today?

10 Things You Ought to Know About Being Jewish

Originally published in the Jewish Journal by Michael Laitman 1) Jews didn’t start out as a distinct tribe or a clan. According to Maimonides, the first Jews, which were then known as Hebrews, followed Abraham because they liked his ideas about mutual responsibility and “love your neighbor as yourself.” Gradually, the entourage grew and officially became the nation of Israel at the foot of Mount Sinai. 2) Unity among Jews. That thing which we don’t have was actually a prerequisite for the reception of the Torah (law). The great 11th century commentator, RASHI, wrote that at the foot of Mount Sinai the Hebrews stood “as one man with one heart,” and this is why they received the Torah. Also, they didn’t really have a choice, or as the Babylonian Talmud (Masechet Avoda Zarah) puts it, they were told, “If you receive the Torah, good; if you do not, there will it be your burial.” 3) Since we haven’t taken it upon ourselves to unite, we’ve been busy fighting one another. The Bible describes all the internal disputes that the Israelis had among themselves and with God. But actually, these quarrels enhanced our unity and made us stronger. But when we finally lost it, we were exiled. In fact, numerous texts place the emergence of unfounded hatred as the single cause of the exile from the land of Israel. Many Jewish...

The Roots of Anti-Semitism – Like a Bundle of Reeds with Dr. Michael Laitman [Video]

Dr. Michael Laitman discusses the roots of anti-Semitism and why anti-Semitism is on the rise with Like a Bundle of Reeds executive editor, Chaim Ratz. Like a Bundle of Reeds is a TV series originally broadcast on JLTV based on the book of the same title. It deals with the following topics: Are we Jews different from other nations? Why was I born Jewish? Why is there anti-Semitism? Could the Holocaust happen again? What can I do? Why are there Jews? Audio Disclaimer: Yes, we had some audio production problems in this episode & two others where this disclaimer is mentioned. All the rest of the series is fine, so we recommend checking out another episode of Like a Bundle of Reeds if the audio bothers you too...

10 Things You Ought to Know About Being Jewish

The Roots of Anti-Semitism – Like a Bundle of Reeds with Dr. Michael Laitman [Video]

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