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…
The ninth commandment, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor,” carries a profound meaning. False testimony implies that, both with regard to ourselves and to others, we stand as witnesses, participants, and partners in everything that takes place…
The first commandment states: “I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” The ten commandments, which are laws that govern the system of connection, begin with the…
The story of Mount Sinai raises an important question: what kind of interaction existed there between people, and what can we learn from it in relation to what is happening today in Israel and throughout the world? It points to…
The Jewish people are a microcosm. We were gathered here from all corners of the world in order to serve as a universal model for connection among people who are very different from one another. This is, in a sense,…
To uncover the code hidden in the Passover story, we need to begin long before the Exodus from Egypt. Once upon a time, in ancient Babylon, there was a cunning and tyrannical king. He ruled over our ancestors—who, of course,…
A business without a vision will eventually go bankrupt. But what about a country? How long can we continue without a clear sense of identity and purpose? What vision could transform us into a people who illuminate all of humanity?…
These are not easy times for Israel. An ancient people and a relatively young state, who still searches for its identity. For decades, we have tried to be like every other nation, yet something has not worked. Something has remained…
In the end, we will all become one collective, “as one man with one heart,” connected in heart and soul, mutually responsible for one another in the fullest sense. This is written in ancient sources, and it has sustained us…
For many years, Israel has invested efforts into public diplomacy, yet its image remains poor, to say the least. Around the world, young people grow up with the perception that Israel is a bad country. In a few years, they…
Why does Yom HaZikaron (Remembrance Day for the fallen soldiers of the wars of Israel and victims of actions of terrorism) come right before Yom HaAtzmaut (Israel’s Independence Day)? The point is that in spiritual work, the upper roots from…
The Tower of Babel provides an example of the human ego that grows so big that it shuts our ears, making us unable to understand one another. Just as it plays out in that story, such a state can once…