How Does Israel View Its Enemies?
In days when we face several challenges, from the rising cost of living to security threats, the question about what and whom should we be fighting against arises. This leads us to examine rebellions and uprisings, protests and demonstrations, and the deeper examination that we are now compelled to make.
The desire to rebel exists solely among human beings. There is no such phenomenon in the animal world. There are struggles that establish hierarchy, determine who is stronger, and create order, but nature manages everything through instinctive drives.
At the beginning of its formation, the people of Israel emerged as a result of a spiritual revolution. It was a group of pioneers who gathered around a unique idea that distinguished them from the rest of humanity. Abraham the Babylonian stood at their head after discovering that there is a single force operating throughout nature, whose quality is pure love and bestowal. Accordingly, the highest goal in human development is the unity of all things, and its practical expression is connection and mutual complementarity among all people.
At that time, life in the Mesopotamian region was materially organized, but human relationships were deteriorating. People stopped understanding one another and caring for each other. Egoistic struggle became the code by which people lived. Abraham's students could not agree with this trend because they learned from him that the human ego grows not so that one person may build success upon another's ruin, but in order to compel people to advance toward greater connection. Above every rejection that emerges, above every division and hatred, they were to strengthen unity and mutual bonds in order to make a deeper discovery of the general force of nature.
Since then, the struggles of our people have been struggles over spirit, ideals, and educational and cultural direction. We fought against the internal force that sought to separate us, the human ego, which is defined as the desire to enjoy for self-benefit alone at the expense of others. This ego naturally grows stronger all the time. Simultaneously, we struggled against external forces that threatened the unique spirit of connection. Of course, we have experienced better and worse periods, times when we were focused on the higher goal and times when we fell into deep decline.
According to the Torah, when the children of Israel arrived in Egypt because of famine in the land of Canaan, they settled in the land of Goshen in order to remain relatively separate. In later periods as well, Jews living among other nations often maintained distinct communities. The attitude was, "We have our own education, culture, and language. Even if you rule over us, impose decrees upon us, and burden us with taxes, we will always fight for our spirit and preserve it."
The Hasmonean revolt powerfully symbolized this principle. The uprising was first and foremost against Hellenization, against the infiltration of foreign culture and worldly, materialistic values. Spiritual life, in the original Israeli sense, means that everyone is equal, "as one man with one heart," and "all of Israel are friends." Originally, there were no rulers and ruled, and elites and privileged classes standing above masses who were considered insignificant. As it is written, "all of Israel are responsible for one another." Such unity is the foundation of life because it makes us compatible with the general force of nature, the force that binds all individual forces into one system. As the sages laid out in Gematria, the numerical value of "nature" (HaTeva) is equal to that of "God" (Elohim), i.e., 86.
Looking broadly at our history, we can observe a recurring pattern. When we were united among each other, when the spirit of Israel was strong within us, external enemies did not rise against us. However, when division and hatred destroyed our mutual bonds, we invited terrible foreign forces upon ourselves.
The entire Torah can be summarized as: Do not do to your friend what you hate. The overarching principle is: Love your neighbor as yourself. This is the original educational and cultural path. When we return to implementing it among ourselves, we will have something meaningful to offer the nations of the world. This is our evolutionary role within the human puzzle. We are the ones capable of providing an example and a model for others.
Why? It is because the method of connecting above all differences is rooted in us. Abraham taught it, and the spiritual teachers who followed him continued to develop it. Since the ruin of the Temple, it has been largely forgotten, but today it is re-emerging in order to advance both us and humanity to a new level of existence, the wisdom of connection, among each other and with the general force of nature.
The myriad problems we face in this country, such as the high cost of living, social division, security concerns, foreign relations, and many other issues, will be resolved at their root when we each begin to struggle against our own indifference, against the personal ego that prevents us from connecting positively with each other.
In other words, there is no one to fight against and no one to rebel against. Instead, we need to unite our efforts and embark together on an educational, cultural, and social process that builds harmonious relationships among us. As the sages said, "Love covers all transgressions."
May we succeed, and may we learn how to become united.
Based on "New Life 182 – Rebellion and Uprisings" with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.