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 to do, namely unite, in order to share that unity with every person in the world, from Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, ISIS’ leader, to Pope Francis.
People will take what they need from this unity, but we have to give it regardless. Until we do, the world’s problems will not end, and anti-Semitism will keep intensifying because the very reason for its existence is to prompt us to unite. The minute we do, the reason for its existence disappears, and anti-Semitism vanishes along with it. When we part, the whip appears once more and we huddle together in fear, instead of in love.
We have a lot of work ahead of us; so let’s come together and make 2015 a year of change.
This article originally appeared online in the Jewish Journal
We welcome your comments and will do our best to answer your questions!
