The people of Israel are given blows, such as the ten plagues of Egypt, in order to reach a realization that individually, their egos will not be able to sustain them, and that they will need to demand a force outside the ego—the Creator’s force of love and bestowal—in order to unite above the ego and overcome the blows.
They are called “a stiff-necked people” because as soon as they receive such blows, they immediately forget about them and their purpose—to rise above their egoistic desires in order to connect with the altruistic quality, the Creator—and thus they return to their egoistic desires.
Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
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