Once, there were no Israelis. Then, about 3,800 years ago, a great eruption of egoism—the desire to enjoy at others’ expense—took place. This is described in the story of the Tower of Babel.
A persistent Babylonian thinker named Abraham discovered that nature is interconnected and unified, and that we human beings must also unite above the ego that separates us, building complementary bonds of connection and love. By doing so, we would join the harmony that naturally exists throughout every system of nature, through conscious inquiry and free choice.
After Abraham discovered that this adaptation to achieve balance with the interconnected and unified force of nature was the purpose of our existence, he set out to spread the idea. Most people told him, “Forget it.” They chose to distance themselves from each other and dispersed across the earth. The few who felt drawn to his spiritual vision gathered into a community of students, from which the people of Israel eventually emerged. The name itself, “Israel,” points to the direction and the goal: Yashar-El—”straight to God,” or straight to the single unifying force of love and bestowal that underlies creation.
This brings us to a fundamental insight: Israel is not a nation like other nations, which formed around common geography or ethnicity. Instead, it is a group founded upon an idea. When love exists among us despite all our disagreements and opposing tendencies, we are considered Israelis. Without that love, the nation does not exist.
Up until the ruin of the Temple, this group can be said to have attempted to live by the principle, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” There were certainly ups and downs, but that was the general direction. The ruin came when the connection itself was destroyed: egoism took over, civil strife erupted, and unfounded hatred prevailed. We scattered among the nations of the world and became integrated with them until, eventually, we were brought back here.
Today’s world is remarkably similar to ancient Babylon. Whether we like it or not, we are interconnected. We influence one another and depend on one another. We are stuck together in the same boat, with nowhere to escape. The problem is that each of us carries an enormous ego—towering to the heavens—and without a fundamental change in our selfish and exploitative attitude to each other, it is likely that we will all sink together.
The crisis of egoism is evident in every relationship. It appears on the international and ecological levels, in the condition of our country and society, and even in marriages and families. Ego-driven struggles are destroying one area after another. They turn life into a kind of endless war, and it is exhausting. From this come stress, despair, depression, illnesses, and even physical pains.
Even if you have made a lot of money, chances are you still do not sleep well. Emptiness hurts more than anything else. That is why, paradoxically, in an age of abundance, it is so difficult to find a truly happy person. This dire situation we find ourselves in today serves to give rise to fundamental questions about our lives: What is it all for? Why all the running around? Is there some greater purpose illuminating our paths here?
Questions like these brought people to Abraham. They learned from him that in the proper connection between everyone and everyone else, all the answers are revealed. Through a unique method of connection, they succeeded in breaking through to a higher dimension of perception, a state also described as life on a spiritual level. “Spirit” means above matter, above the ego, in mutuality, love, and giving. A positive force began to flow among them, and they felt it opening a new breath of life within them, giving them an entirely different relationship to life and to creation as a whole.
In today’s Israel, there are many problems, including social tensions, security concerns, high cost of living, violence on the roads and in schools, and the list goes on. Genuine solutions seem nowhere to be found, and every bandage applied only highlights the depth of the wound. Everyone is convinced they are right, that they are the wise one, that they know how to lead the nation. On the way to the top, they step on everyone else. The ruin continues, minute by minute, and hatred grows. In periods of no war with our neighbors, we face intensifying social division up to a point where civil war becomes a looming reality, while our enemies grow stronger and our image in the world deteriorates. Then we momentarily put aside our differences only when war with our neighbors breaks out and we face the brunt of existential threats, and restrictions on education, work, and travel.
From all this chaos, there is only one way out: to return to the original definition of what it means to be Israeli, which is to revive the spiritual root.
Practically speaking, how do we do that?
It is through a collective mobilization. The situation is an emergency, and all of us must shoulder the responsibility. Together, we must build a broad system of education, public awareness, and a new culture. A system that places connection and love as the highest values in society, one that fills our minds and hearts with these ideals at every moment of the day.
In the media, on social networks, across every form of communication, and in every conversation and every framework of life, we need to discuss the obligation to build connection and mutual complementarity. Above who I am and who you are, above every opinion and worldview, we must crown love as the force that stands above us all.
We are one family. Evolution requires adaptation to environmental conditions. If Abraham once tried to direct humanity straight at the force of love and bestowal present throughout nature, the single force underlying creation, then today that mission has been passed on to us. Without it, there is no hope of salvation. We only need the wisdom to recognize the direction in which humanity is being led, and together we can become a light for humanity.
Based on “New Life 148 – Journeying to the Roots, Part 2” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
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