{"id":561,"date":"2014-09-22T00:41:28","date_gmt":"2014-09-22T00:41:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.michaellaitman.com\/fr\/?p=561"},"modified":"2015-02-02T12:38:23","modified_gmt":"2015-02-02T11:38:23","slug":"the-new-york-times-article-who-are-you-people-of-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.michaellaitman.com\/fr\/articles\/the-new-york-times-article-who-are-you-people-of-israel\/","title":{"rendered":"Article dans le New York Times , \u201cQui es-tu, peuple d’Isra\u00ebl?\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chers lecteurs,
\nJ’ai re\u00e7u de nombreux commentaires par email\u00a0sur mon article dans le New York Times\u00a0 \u00ab\u00a0Qui es-tu,\u00a0peuple d’Isra\u00ebl?\u00a0\u00bb Je suis tr\u00e8s heureux qu’il vous ait touch\u00e9 et je vais fair ed emon mieux pour vous r\u00e9pondre. SVP laissez vos commentaires et opinions ici <\/a>et je me ferai un plaisir de vous r\u00e9pondre.
\nCordialement,
\nMicha\u00ebl<\/p>\n

The full text of the article:<\/p>\n

Who Are You, People of Israel?<\/h1>\n

By: Michael Laitman<\/p>\n

Time and again, Jews are persecuted and terrorized. Being Jewish myself, I often ponder the purpose of this relentless agony. Some believe that the atrocities of WWII are unimaginable today. And yet, we see how easily and abruptly the state of mind preceding the Holocaust is re-emerging, and \u201cHitler was right\u201d shouts are sounded all too often and all too openly.<\/p>\n

But there is hope. We can reverse this trend, and all it requires is that we become aware of the bigger picture.<\/p>\n

Where We Are and Where We Come From<\/h4>\n

Humanity is at a crossroads. Globalization has made us interdependent, while people are growing increasingly hateful and alienated. This unsustainable, highly flammable situation requires making a decision about humanity\u2019s future direction. Yet to understand how we, the Jewish people, are involved in this scenario, we need to go back to where it all began.<\/p>\n

The people of Israel emerged some 4,000 years ago in ancient Babylon. Babylon was a thriving civilization whose people felt connected and united. In the words of the Torah, \u201cThe whole earth was of one language and of one speech\u201d (Genesis, 11:1).<\/p>\n

But as their ties grew stronger, so did their egos. They began to exploit, and finally hate one another. So while the Babylonians felt connected, their intensifying egos made them increasingly alienated from each other. Caught between a rock and a hard place, the people of Babylon began to seek out a solution to their plight.<\/p>\n

Two Solutions to the Crisis<\/h4>\n

The search for a solution led to forming two conflicting views. The first, suggested by Nimrod, king of Babylon, was natural and instinctive: Dispersion. The king argued that when people are far from one another, they do not quarrel.<\/p>\n

The second solution was suggested by Abraham, then a renowned Babylonian sage. He argued that according to Nature\u2019s law, human society is destined<\/i> to become united, and therefore strove to unite the Babylonians despite, and atop<\/i> their growing egos.<\/p>\n

Succinctly, Abraham\u2019s method was a way to connect people above their egos. When he began to advocate his method among his countryfolk, \u201cthousands and tens of thousands assembled around him, and … He planted this tenet in their hearts,\u201d writes Maimonides (Mishneh Torah<\/i>, Part 1). The rest of the people chose Nimrod\u2019s way: dispersion, as do quarrelsome neighbors when they try to stay out of each other\u2019s way. These dispersed people gradually became what we now know as \u201chuman society.\u201d<\/p>\n

Only today, some 4,000 years down the line, we can begin to assess whose way was right.<\/p>\n

The Basis of the People of Israel<\/h4>\n

Nimrod forced Abraham and his disciples out of Babylon, and they moved to what later became known as \u201cthe land of Israel.\u201d They worked on unity and cohesion in accord with the tenet, \u201cLove your neighbor as yourself,\u201d connected above their egos, and thus discovered \u201cthe force of unity,\u201d Nature\u2019s hidden power.<\/p>\n

Every substance consists of two opposite forces, connection and separation, which balance themselves out. But human society is evolving using only the negative force\u2014the ego. According to Nature\u2019s plan, we are required to consciously<\/i> balance the negative force with the positive one\u2014unity. Abraham discovered the wisdom that enables balance, and today we refer to his wisdom as, \u201cthe wisdom of Kabbalah.\u201d<\/p>\n

Israel Means Straight to the Creator<\/h4>\n

Abraham\u2019s disciples called themselves Ysrael<\/i> (Israel) after their desire to go Yashar El<\/i> (straight to G-d, the Creator). That is, they wished to discover Nature\u2019s force of unity so as to balance the ego that stood between them. Through their unity, they found themselves immersed in the force of unity, the upper, root force of reality.<\/p>\n

In addition to their discovery, Israel also learned that in the process of human development, the rest of the Babylonians\u2014who followed Nimrod\u2019s advice, dispersed throughout the world, and have become today\u2019s humanity\u2014would also have to achieve unity. That contradiction between the people of Israel, which formed through unity, and the rest of humanity, which formed as a result of separation, is felt even today.<\/p>\n

Exile<\/h4>\n

Abraham\u2019s disciples, the people of Israel, experienced many internal struggles. But for 2,000 years their unity prevailed and was the key element that held them together. Indeed, their conflicts were meant only to intensify the love among them.<\/p>\n

However, approximately 2,000 years ago, their egos reached such intensity that they could not maintain their unity. Unfounded hatred and egotism erupted among them and inflicted exile on them. Indeed, Israel\u2019s exile, more than it is exile from the physical land of Israel, it is exile from unity. The alienation within the Israeli nation caused them to disperse among the nations.<\/p>\n

Back to the Present Today humanity is in a similar state to the one the ancient Babylonians experienced: interdependence alongside alienation. Because we are completely interdependent in our global village, Nimrod\u2019s solution of parting ways is no longer practical. Now we are required<\/i> to use Abraham\u2019s method. This is why the Jewish people, who previously implemented Abraham\u2019s method and connected, must rekindle their unity and teach the method of connection to the whole of humanity. And unless we do it of our own accord, the nations of the world will compel us to do it, by force.<\/p>\n

On that note, it is interesting to read the words of Henry Ford, founder of Ford Motor Company, and a notorious anti-Semite, in his book, The International Jew \u2014 The World’s Foremost Problem<\/i>: \u201cSociety has a large claim against him [the Jew] that he … begin to fulfill … the ancient prophecy that through him all the nations of the earth should be blessed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Roots of Anti-Semitism<\/h4>\n

After thousands of years of exerting to build a successful human society using Nimrod\u2019s method, the nations of the world are beginning to understand that the solution to their problems is neither technological, nor economic or military. Subconsciously, they feel that the solution lies in unity, that the method of connection exists in the people of Israel, and therefore recognize that they are dependent on the Jews. This makes them blame the Jews for every problem in the world, believing that the Jews possess the key to the world\u2019s happiness.<\/p>\n

Indeed, when the Israeli nation fell from its moral apex of love of others, hatred of Israel among the nations commenced. And thus, through anti-Semitism, the nations of the world prod us to disclose the method of connection. Rav Kook, the first Chief Rabbi of Israel, pointed to that fact with his words, \u201cAmalek, Hitler, and so forth, awaken us toward redemption\u201d (Essays of the Raiah<\/i>, Vol. 1).<\/p>\n

But the people of Israel are unaware that they are holding the key to the world\u2019s happiness, and that the very source of anti-Semitism is that the Jews are carrying within them the method of connection, the key to happiness, the wisdom of Kabbalah, but are not revealing it to all.<\/p>\n

Mandatory Disclosure of the Wisdom<\/h4>\n

As the world groans under the pressure of two conflicting forces\u2014the global force of connection, and the separating power of the ego, we are falling into the state that existed in ancient Babylon prior to its collapse. But today we cannot pull away form one another in order to calm our egos down. Our only option is to work on our connection, on our unity. We are required to add to our world the positive force that balances the negative power of our ego.<\/p>\n

The people of Israel, descendants of the ancient Babylonians who followed Abraham, must implement the wisdom of connection, namely the wisdom of Kabbalah. They are required to set an example to the whole of humanity, and thus become a \u201clight for the nations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The laws of Nature dictate that we will all achieve a state of unity. But there are two ways to get there: 1) a path of world suffering wars, catastrophes, plagues, and natural disasters, or 2) a path of gradual balancing of the ego, the path that Abraham planted in his disciples. The latter is the one we suggest.<\/p>\n

Unity Is the Solution<\/h4>\n

It is written in The Book of Zohar<\/i>, \u201cEverything stands on love\u201d (Portion, VaEtchanan<\/i>). \u201cLove your neighbor as yourself\u201d is the great tenet of the Torah; it is also the essence of the change that the wisdom of Kabbalah is offering humanity. It is the obligation of the Jewish People to unite in order to share<\/i> the method of Abraham with the entire human race.<\/p>\n

According to Rav Yehuda Ashlag, author of the Sulam<\/i> (Ladder) commentary on The Book of Zohar<\/i>, \u201cIt is upon the Israeli nation to qualify itself and all the people of the world … to develop until they take upon themselves that sublime work of the love of others, which is the ladder to the purpose of Creation.\u201d If we accomplish this, we will find solutions to all the world\u2019s problems including the eradication of anti-Semitism.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Michael Laitman is a Professor of Ontology, a PhD in Philosophy and Kabbalah, and an MSc in Medical Bio-Cybernetics. He was the prime disciple and personal assistant to Rav Baruch Ashlag (the RABASH). Prof. Laitman has written over 40 books, translated into dozens of languages, and is a sought after speaker. For more on Michael Laitman, visit: www.michaellaitman.com.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear readers,
\nI received numerous comments by email to my The New York Times article, \u00ab\u00a0Who Are You, People of Israel?\u00a0\u00bb. I am delighted that it touched so many of you and will do my best to reply to all of you. Please leave your comments and thoughts here<\/a> and I will be more than happy to reply to all of them.
\nWarmly, Michael<\/p>\n

Lire la suite ›<\/a><\/div>\n

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