How Does the Idea of a Mission for Israel Relate to Its History and Current Challenges According to Kabbalah?

Originally, the people of Israel gave the world the foundations of education and culture, an approach toward people, society, and nature. Abraham taught us that nature is one force, an integral system the parts of which operate in mutuality and complementarity. He explained that we human beings need to live in kindness and love in order to correspond to the unity of creation. Doing so will place us in balance with the great system and bring us the best possible development. Most people at the time were not ready to digest such a lofty idea, and the few who were became a community of their own. From them, our nation later developed, as Maimonides writes in the Book of Knowledge.

For generations, we had an aspiration for equality, connection, complementarity, and unity, up to the level of “love your neighbor as yourself.” There were more and less successful periods, certainly, but overall, such was the goal. It can be said that we served as a certain example of positive human connections, and sages from among the nations of the world came to learn the approach. Our influence on humanity was felt on various levels and in many fields, and entire books would not suffice to describe it.

Then came unfounded hatred, and it destroyed the nation. We scattered in every direction and lived among everyone. Eventually, we were gathered here, but to this day we have not returned to that same method of life in connection and love. Unfortunately, our society is terribly divided, the ego rules every corner, and no one sees anyone else. That same destruction and hatred continue to deepen every day.

Moreover, when examining the history of Israel and the world, we see several repeating phenomena.

The number of Jews in the world is tiny, but their influence on humanity is enormous, for better and for worse. Look at how many Nobel Prizes Jews have received, what involvement they have had in economics, culture, government, and every field and matter.

Throughout the world, there is a special attitude toward Jews. Sometimes it is positive, sometimes negative, but it is always different from the attitude toward other people. It is always “you,” “the Jews.”

Hatred of Israel is a unique, general, and sweeping phenomenon that has crossed peoples and cultures. We have been hated in the East and in the West, even in countries that had no direct connection with Jews.

There are theories that say the Jews came here from another planet, a kind of alien species.

Others claim that we developed from a different species of monkeys. Such theories stem from the fact that there is indeed something unique about our nation.

For our part, we have constantly tried to show that no, we are like you, do not make an issue of it. Somehow life did not allow this perspective to take hold. We were always distinguished and especially marked.

When the state was established, people thought that finally we would become normal among the nations of the world, a country like all others, and of course that is not happening either. Several examples show how much we are viewed as though through a magnifying glass.

Also, what happens between us, meaning our attitude to each other, fellow Jews, influenced the attitude of the nations of the world toward us. Beyond that, the relations between us also influenced what happened in the world in general. From this line, for example, came the libel spread about the “Elders of Zion” holding a secret plan to manage the world.

Take, for instance, the disproportionate amount of discussions that take place about us at the UN, the vast amount of attention we attract, and the myriad internal arguments there are in every country regarding its attitude toward Israel. Half a pin on the map of the world, and all eyes are turned here.

One can say, “Nonsense, there is nothing special about us,” but that is not very wise. If something happens repeatedly throughout history, there is probably some law of nature here that we are unaware of.

It is interesting to see that antisemitic thinkers felt that a better future for the world depends on the Jews, but since they are not functioning properly, everyone suffers.

An open antisemite, Henry Ford, stated in the 1920s: “It seems that the whole prophetic purpose, in relation to the people of Israel, was the moral enlightenment of the world through them.” And also: “Society has a great demand against the Jew... that he begin to fulfill the ancient prophecy, for through it all the nations of the earth will be blessed.”

And from all this arises a question: “What kind of relationships must we build among ourselves so that a positive influence will spread from here to the world?”

We see that the world is becoming increasingly interconnected and interdependent. At the same time, the ego within us, i.e., the desire to enjoy at others’ expense, is sky-high, and life’s systems of relationships are collapsing, from the international level through the state of society down to the level of couples and families.

Here, too, the same method of connection that Abraham taught is needed by humanity like air to breathe. As long as we do not become reacquainted with it, implement it among ourselves, and pass it on to everyone, suffering in the world increases and people feel from within: “The Jews are to blame.” In every negative occurrence, they have a gut feeling: “The Jews are to blame. They have some secret they are hiding.”

In practice, the conflict we need to solve before all else is the conflict among us, the Jews. Until we make peace among ourselves, we will continue spreading negative forces to the world.

Hatred toward us will grow, the enemies will become stronger, and once again we will find ourselves alone. It will be like in the previous century, only this time we will face billions of angry people. On the other hand, the moment we begin building a society here that shows how, through connection between opposites, we build the next evolutionary degree in which everyone is connected like cells in a single body, humanity will feel that a positive force spreads from here to the world. It will be a healing force, which alone will be able to resolve all conflicts, bring about the world’s correction, and unity among all created beings.

Here are a few excerpts from Kabbalistic sources that further describe the role of the people of Israel in the world:

“Just as the human body is divided into organs, and all of them stand in degrees upon degrees, corrected one upon another, and all of them are one body, so is the world: all the creatures in the world are organs upon organs, standing one upon another. And when all of them are corrected, they will truly be one body.”

- The Book of Zohar with the Sulam Commentary, Toldot, 3.

“The Israeli nation had been constructed as a sort of passageway by which sparks of refinement would flow onto the entire human race throughout the world… until they develop to such an extent that they can understand the pleasantness and tranquility that are found in the kernel of love of others.”

- Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam), “The Arvut [Mutual Guarantee].”

“National peace, only when it develops properly according to the paths suited to the spirit of our people, will once again move the great general wheel, human peace.”

- Rav Kook, “The Mission of Israel and Its Nationality”

“When there is love, unity, and friendship among Israel, there is no place for any calamity to befall them.”

- Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Halevi Epstein, Maor VaShemesh.

“When Israel rises according to its true inner quality... to give the entire world a new and corrected form… then not only Israel will rise, but the whole world as well... Then a new era will begin, in which there is no mixture of the filth of evil; wickedness and rebellion will have no effect upon it; anger and sadness will not be able to rule within it; and concern for the balance of the world will not be able to arise in the heart. Then the power of the fist will be abolished at its root, and the sword will lose its essential importance and become a complete disgrace.”

- Rav Kook, Ein Ayah, Shabbat 2

Based on “New Life 152 – The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Part 1” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.