Michael Laitman has a PhD in Philosophy and Kabbalah, and MSc in Medical Bio-Cybernetics.
He is founder and president of the ARI Institute and Bnei Baruch Kabbalah Education and Research Institute.
Through the Bnei Baruch website, www.kab.info, he teaches live daily lessons to an audience of approximately two million people worldwide, simultaneously interpreted into eight languages: English, Spanish, Hebrew, Italian, Russian, French, Turkish, and German.
Dr. Laitman earned his PhD in Philosophy and Kabbalah from the Moscow Institute of Philosophy at the Russian Academy of Sciences, and his MSc in Medical Bio-Cybernetics from St. Petersburg State Polytechnic University. His extensive teaching experience led to his being conferred the title of Professor in Ontology and Theory of Knowledge, by the Highest Interdisciplinary Academic Attestation Commission of the Russian Federation.
To date, Laitman has published over 40 books, translated into 18 languages. Notable publications are:
- Like a Bundle of Reeds: why unity and mutual guarantee are today’s call of the hour, of which Prof. Kalman J. Kaplan of Chicago University wrote, “This is a profoundly intelligent, well-rounded, and highly readable book probing serious questions of our age: the role of the Jews in history, the relationship between individuality and community, the ubiquitousness of anti-Semitism, and its continuous morphing into new malignant forms.”
- A Guide to the New World: why mutual guarantee is the key to our recovery from the global crisis, about which ForeWord Reviews wrote, “There can be no doubt that the book is provocative and refreshing in its approach to viewing globalization as a potential force for positive good.”
- Self-Interest vs. Altruism in the Global Era: how society can turn self-interests into mutual benefit, which Midwest Book Review praised with the following words: “Stating that society’s future relies on cooperation of people to work together for society, stating that much of society’s degradation in recent decades has been the result of narcissism and greed, Self Interest vs. Altruism is a curious and recommended read.”
- The Psychology of the Integral Society, also recommended by ForeWord Reviews: “What’s expressed in The Psychology of the Integral Society should get people thinking.”
Dr. Laitman closely collaborates with numerous international research institutes. He was invited to join the World Wisdom Council (WWC), a think-tank convened by the Club of Budapest and headed by Prof. Ervin Laszlo, a Nobel Prize nominee in 2004 and 2005. Other notable personalities in the WWC are former president of the Soviet Union Michael Gorbachev, Nobel Prize winner primatologist Jane Goodall and renowned songwriter and performer, Peter Gabriel.
In recent years, he has participated in several international events with the WWC and the Goi Peace Foundation in Tokyo, Arosa (Switzerland), Düsseldorf (Germany), and in the Universal Forum of Cultures in Monterrey (Mexico), organized with the support of UNESCO. The goal in all these events was to engage in productive dialogue concerning the global crisis and to initiate a positive shift in global awareness. As part of his endeavors, he regularly meets with world leaders such as UNESCO Director-General Mrs. Irina Bokova, who called him a “true visionary,” and Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Dr. Asha-Rose Migiro.
Laitman’s articles and interviews have appeared on important media outlets such as Bloomberg TV, Fox News (Radio), the Chicago Tribune, The Corriere della Sera, and The Miami Herald.
He is married, a father of three, and grandfather of four.