The election campaign in Israel is not going to look any different from other election campaigns the world has witnessed over the past two years. It’s a spree of excessive ego, exploitation, and corruption. Everyone wants to control and trample the other players and take the biggest possible piece of the pie.
From a bird’s eye view, politicians seem like a bunch of overgrown children, fighting over the steering wheel of the car in their playground.
However, specifically the power struggles in Israel make for the best mirror of what’s happening around the world, because the elections for the leadership of the people of Israel began 3,800 years ago at the cradle of civilization.
Back then in ancient Babylon, a variety of tribes and clans lived side by side until their egoism had erupted and threw their society out of balance. The various Babylonians began to separate from each other, and wanted to expand at each other’s expense.
Within the jungle of narrow interests at play, there was a thought leader who came up with a more global point of view. Abraham the patriarch was perceptive to the harmony and interdependence that existed throughout nature. He traveled across the various tribes with a new kind of campaign: Nature itself is creating the rifts between us, he told the Babylonians. Rather than trying to overpower and cancel each other’s views, let us work maturely above our egos and awaken a greater force of human connection.
Abraham’s campaign stroke a chord with various people from every tribe, clan and group in Babylon. As they joined him, they became a mini-model of humanity, and a microcosm of global unity. The name of that movement was Israel.
Over the generations, the group grew in scale and took the shape of a new nation among the nations of the world. Their spiritual leadership was continuously engaged in developing and teaching the method of connection to the people. Beside them were administrators and officers, who followed their direction and shared the same purpose of keeping the people united.
The golden age of the unified kingdom of Israel was during the time of the Second Temple. It was a rather short, yet very significant period. Then, egoism had erupted within the nation on a whole new level, causing division and hatred that finally led to the dispersion of the people of Israel.
Throughout two thousand years of continuous exile, the people of Israel became assimilated and integrated among the nations of the world. The mini-model of humanity that was born in Babylon, was now reconnecting with the whole of humanity, absorbing desires, qualities and characteristics that have been brewing throughout the world for generations. Thus, today’s Israel is a mirror of the entire world.
At present, the stiff-necked Israeli ego is drowning everyone: the public is preoccupied with economic survival and fears for its security. People are desperately frustrated with their elected officials and tired of dealing with yet another election campaign. The candidates, on the other hand, are those with extremely sly egos who go out of their way to hold onto power and attack those who threaten their throne.
However, there is a certain group of people whose egos are more evolved than both the public and the politicians. Paradoxically, those who engage in developing their connection by following the wisdom of Kabbalah – the up-to-date version of Abraham’s method – discover within them the most powerful ego.
Kabbalists, however, are well aware of their egotistical nature and work with it in a mature way. The authors of the Book of Zohar describe this dynamic from their own experience: “At first, they look like warmongering people who want to kill each other. And then, they return to be in brotherly love.” (Zohar, Acharei Mot, 65).
According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, Israel’s good future depends on those who work on unity above their differences. When they experience a sufficient amount of pressure, and unite according to Abraham’s way, they will become the spiritual leadership that the people of Israel unconsciously wish for. And just like in ancient times, an operational government will form around them, imbued with the same spirit of unity.
The upcoming elections in April 2019 could be a springboard towards this future. As a first step, we must create a new kind of competition between the parties: Each party must convince us that it is fully committed to the unity of the people. Not only through well-articulated speeches, but by presenting their practical plans for promoting the unity of the people from the moment they take office.
The different parties don’t need to waive or compromise their views, but rather prove how their positions contribute to the unity of the entire nation, and not only to the benefit of one faction. In other words, they must demonstrate their willingness to act for all sectors of society.
However, no one expects their plans to be precise and satisfactory. It’s also obvious that their motivation is not pure. But herein lies the magic of Abraham’s method: When we begin to play, research and explore how to bring about unity among us, we activate the latent mechanism of nature that connects us. Nature’s inherent wiring of human connection will gradually build within us a new mind and new feelings, a new perception of reality and a new sense of connection between us.
If Israel actually makes that move, the election campaign will not be a mirror of the present state of the world, it will be a mirror of the world’s better future.
Featured in Breaking Israel News (BIN)