What Is the Current Public Perception of Israel, and How Can It Be Improved?
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 through a difficult history. The only question is what we will go through before reaching that exalted goal.
We are living in a sensitive time. The world is becoming increasingly interconnected and interdependent, and any single move can cause the whole system to collapse. Everyone’s fuse is getting shorter, the human ego that wishes to receive for self-serving purposes at the expense of others is sky-high, and at the push of a button humanity could destroy itself.
Other prominent phenomena are emptiness and loneliness. Everything feels trivial and meaningless, and people cannot find what gives life to their spirit. More and more people withdraw into their phones, struggling to communicate with their surroundings or maintain relationships such as partnerships and family.
At the same time, the Earth’s resources are being depleted at an accelerated rate. Overproduction, aggressive marketing, and consumer culture are damaging the environment in the name of greed. Karl Marx once predicted that after capitalism would come a stage of cooperative living, a kind of evolution in the relationship between the individual and society. However, for the time being, social and economic gaps are widening. The elite grows endlessly richer, the middle class erodes, and the day is approaching when masses will struggle to meet basic needs. Anger will build, and the streets could become battlegrounds.
When the State of Israel was established, people spoke of building a model society here. The world, too, looked on with expectation. Over time, that hope faded. Unfortunately, Israel cannot currently be said to serve as an example. Division is rampant, prices are rising, and alienation is growing. How many of us truly feel that society would care for our needs in times of crisis?
Israel excels in innovation and leads in research and development. Countless startups have emerged from here, improving many things in the world. And yet, there is a constant claim against us, a kind of inner demand that remains unmet. “You,” people around the world feel, “you are behind all the suffering, behind all that is wrong.” Whenever something bad happens, no matter what or where, sooner or later the finger is pointed at us.
When we connect all these factors, a picture emerges. Here, in Israel, the next form of life must develop, an integral and complementary connection between people, between the individual and society, between humanity and the environment. Survival in an interconnected world demands it. There is no alternative.
Where do we begin? How do we deal with such a task? We begin it together, by envisioning it.
What would a more equal, more integral society look like? What would it have that we lack today?
First of all, a more equal and integral society would require a safety net, a guarantee that everyone has a reasonable standard of living. Beyond that, education, culture, media, and social systems would foster a feeling that we are all one family, that we live here together, not each in our own shell. Like in the army, either we feel dependent and supportive of each other, or the Israeli project will end badly. According to the sages, the warmth we can discover in loving connections between us—the excitement, meaning, fulfillment, and joy—has no comparison in any personal achievement or material acquisition.
How do we turn this from words and slogans into a new way of life in the country? We can do it by engaging daily in developing the integral connection toward which evolution is leading us. Like anything important, we must dedicate time to it. Children in schools, students in universities, employees in both public and private sectors, seniors in community centers, and soldiers in the army, every person should have dedicated time to explore and develop an integral and positive connection with each other. Just as we exercise physically to stay healthy, here we will develop our “social muscles.”
This must become a national mission of the highest strategic importance, the common challenge of us all, as individuals and as a society. Together, we are about to give birth to a model of a new humanity. In our sources, we have the original integral method used by our ancestors when they founded the nation on the principle of “love your neighbor as yourself.”
It is no coincidence that Israel is a gathering of exiles, with a heightened ego that makes it difficult for us to accept differing opinions. We are an extreme case. If we find the way to connect, to weave an integral bond above our differences and rejections of each other, then among other nations it will spread much more easily. Appreciation for Israel, respect, and support will naturally follow as a result.
Based on “New Life 134 – Israel in the World Media, Part 2” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.