Nothing shocked me about this declaration. It was a move to combat anti-Semitism and the rising anti-Israel movement on US college campuses. However, such actions will not stand in the way of anti-Semitism’s expansion.
I’m certain that anti-Semitism will continue becoming an increasing problem if we fail to treat it at its root, i.e., that we, the Jewish people, will wake up to what made us Jews in the first place—our inclination to unite (“love your neighbor as yourself”) above divisions (“love will cover all transgressions”) in order to spread unity to humanity (to be a “light unto the nations”).
The more torn today’s societies become, and the more people suffer from social division, the more anti-Semitism will rise.
Why? It is because we, the Jewish people, were originally founded based on a unifying ideology—a group of people who lived in ancient Babylon some 3,800 years ago, who gathered around Abraham, uniting according to the method of unification that he discovered and applied on himself.
When we reached sublime states of unity above the divisive social climate of that time, we became known as “the nation of Israel.” That is, our nationhood was never biological, as with other nations. It was ideological, based on the idea of unifying with positive connections of love and bestowal.
After Abraham’s time, we received the name “Jews” (Yehudim) from the Hebrew word for “united” (yihudi). However, since the ruin of the Second Temple, we entered a long period of exile, which continued till today. We detached from the sensation of our unification and dispersed both around the world, and in our attitudes to each other.
Today, as humanity becomes increasingly globally interconnected, technologically, economically and culturally, the time has come for our internal attitudes to become as connected as our external systems.
The more we develop today without working on upgrading our attitudes to each other, the more we will feel our tightening connection in a negative way. We can see such paradoxes in our era, where the more the population increases to numbers we have never seen before, the more people feel isolated and lonely; and the more we build vast global social networks, the more people feel depressed and stressed.
All such problems point to the need for positive connection in society. Therefore, implementing the unifying role of the Jewish people today becomes all the more necessary and urgent.
We Jews today first and foremost need to understand the need for a major transformation—to move toward unification, mutual consideration, concern, support and encouragement of one another—and that we hold the keys to pioneer such a monumental shift in society, spreading unity worldwide to a point where humanity would feel as a single nation.
Until we start realizing the method of connection we have at our fingertips, the world will continue pressuring us. Even if the current US President has a favorable attitude to us for the time being, it has no effect on the global-scale correction that is upon our shoulders to initiate.
In fact, the contrary is the case. It is similar to a person with a disease who was given a painkiller. He feels fine, even though the disease continues spreading.
In the meantime, he lies in bed, talking and laughing with others around him, everyone thinking everything is okay, but he is just numb to the disease, which gradually brews under the surface toward an irreversible outbreak.
It is similar to Germany in the 1930s, where there was a period of positive relations between the Nazis and the Jews (as I elaborated here). It is a latent period where we need to digest the process unfolding, our role in the process, and act accordingly, not simply thinking that everything is business-as-usual, because nothing will heal that way. History shows us how the Nazis quickly overturned the boat on the Jews, getting rid of us with ease.
And so, history is repeating itself before our very eyes. Although we see some seemingly encouraging moves toward Jews in actions such as Trump’s executive order recognizing Jews as a nation, or for instance, the British election of Brian Johnson as opposed to Jeremy Corbyn, it is for a limited time only.
If we fail to complement this relatively calm period with motions toward becoming a positive conduit of unity toward the world, then we can expect an intensification of anti-Semitic hatred to reach a future boiling point. Trump and Johnson will eventually become replaced with new leaders, and all it takes is for them to press a few buttons and we will lose all the help we now have. It is similar to how Hitler swiftly shifted gear to the Final Solution. He also had pro-Zionist consultants close by, who later became revealed as anti-Semites.
Therefore, although we see signs of support from some world leaders for now, anti-Semitic sentiment continues growing under the surface. We still have some time to adjust our sights and prioritize unity: to implement the method of connection among each other, from which it will ripple through humanity. By doing so, we will see a new and harmonious balance of forces blossom in the world, and can prevent a future of mass suffering and bloodshed from materializing.
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