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From the distant past to the present day, the nature of the life and the wars of the people of Israel seems passive and stagnant compared to other nations.
If the nations of the world rush to conquer and demand what they think is theirs with a powerful confidence, then the people of Israel walk the paths of history, stammering and apologizing for their very existence, that they occupy a place in the world. There is a deep-rooted reason for such an attitude.
The people of Israel were intended to be a conduit between two worlds: the world where the single all-loving and all-bestowing force of nature is revealed in its wholeness, eternity and perfection; and the world we perceive with our inborn senses, each from our self-serving vantage points. Israel were originally a formation of people who came about in order to invert human egoistic self-serving nature into its opposite altruistic one, as expressed by the tenet, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” which is the way to attain balance with the source force of love and bestowal dwelling in nature, and by doing so, introduce humanity to this spiritual breakthrough.
Other nations possess specific roots in our world’s nature, and thus act out of their respective instinctive self-serving inclinations. This is why they make no hesitations with the desires that surface in them that demand their various fulfillments. The people of Israel, however, due to their role as a conduit between the two worlds, do not operate out of a natural will, but out of a will that does not belong to the nature of our world. That is why they can appear small and weak compared to other nations.
Accordingly, every nation in the world branches out from its own root with its particular characteristics belonging to the self-serving will. They thus feel righteous in their pursuits and have the strength to back up their causes.
Israel has no such root. We have no strength that comes from feeling righteous in our pursuits. In principle, we have no strength of our own at all, nor do we have anything to rely on or entrust in this world like other nations. This is why we cannot confidently situate ourselves among the nations with clear statements claiming our own land and place in the world.
Where, then, do we—the people of Israel—acquire our strength? It comes from our connecting role, which holds immense significance for humanity’s future. There is a very thin thread that ties us to the heavens, so to speak, that is, to the eternity and perfection of the upper world of love, bestowal and connection. While it is a very thin thread, it is also very strong, because it is held together by the supreme force of nature that created and sustains life itself. This fine line that extends down to the people of Israel is a desire to love, bestow and connect above every self-serving motive, and it leads directly to the positive force of love and bestowal dwelling in nature. Likewise, Israel—the name that was given to the group of people who gathered from all walks of life in ancient Babylon, and who followed Abraham’s method of attaining “Love your neighbor as yourself” as a means of discovering the single force of love and bestowal dwelling in nature—is a combination of the two words “Yashar-El” [“straight to God”]).
In the view of our world, i.e., from the view of the natural self-serving desire that aims for self-benefit at the expense of others and nature, the desire to love, give and connect has no right to exist. That is why there is always a thought in the nations of the world about how to eliminate the Jews from the face of the planet, and every generation breeds another tyrant who rises up and calls for the eradication of the people of Israel from the world.
It is for this reason that we can never fully assimilate into the nations of the world, as it is written, “And that which comes to your mind will not be at all, in that you say, ‘We will be as the nations, as the families of the lands’” (Ezekiel 20:32). We Jews, the people of Israel, will find no rest among the nations until we realize our role and purpose for our existence, to establish our connection between us and with the upper force through this thin thread that stems down to us: the desire to bestow, which in individuals is small and weak compared to the big ego that is the whole of human nature. But if we discover the force that connects these desires to bestow, then we will find how the connection of this common desire contains an immense power of wholeness, harmony and perfection of nature itself. By making this discovery among each other, we will become the conduit that will spread this force of love, bestowal and connection to the world.
Based on the Daily Kabbalah Lesson with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on April 7, 2024. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
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