Answers to Questions on Quora
Does the State of Israel have a right to exist? Why or why not?
According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, there is a program that runs through nature’s and humanity’s development, which guides us all to a state of complete unification, eternity and perfection at the end of our development. In this process, the State of Israel has been given a right and ability to exist, however on a very specific condition: that the people of Israel fulfill a key role in the process.
What is the role of the people of Israel? It is to pioneer a method of unifying above division among each other—i.e. to reach what is described as “love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18) and “love covers all transgressions” (Proverbs 10:12)—in order to become a conduit for unity to expand worldwide—i.e. to be “a light unto the nations” (Isaiah 42:6).
According to our role, to bring unity to the world, we have been doing the opposite until today. We are unaware of the duty we have toward the world, and due to the lack of awareness and efforts to unite, we experience increasing division among each other. As a result, we become a source of the world’s problems, conflicts and separation.
Therefore, if the people of Israel fail to develop from this moment onward in a unifying direction, then the period of the existence of the State of Israel will come to an end. If the people of Israel in the State of Israel, in the land that we have been given, fail to motion toward serving the world with a positive example of unification, and continue developing in the opposite direction, then the State of Israel will have no right to exist. Then, as has taken place before in history, the Jewish people would become pressured to exit this land and disperse around the world. Moreover, according to the exponentially-growing hatred toward the Jewish people and the methodical delegitimization of the State of Israel unfolding from one day to the next, I think that the decision to eliminate the State of Israel could very well happen soon.
Do you support the existence of Israel? Why?
I support the existence of Israel as a source of the world’s connection. Through the special connection that Israel has the potential to bring—a connection above people’s innate divisive drives (“Love covers all transgressions” [Proverbs 10:12])—the world can elevate itself to another level of existence, both corporeally and spiritually:
- Corporeally, this means that all human conflicts and natural disasters would cease. We would feel a life filled with happiness and confidence as a result of the balance with nature that such connection would yield.
- Spiritually, it means we would rise to a new dimension of eternity and perfection. This is due to awakening the force of connection and love dwelling in nature to reveal in our newly-created connections.
Therefore, yes, I do support such a nation’s existence.
Today, it is very sad for me to see the contrary, how Israel is the source of all of the world’s problems (“No calamity comes to the world but for Israel” [*Yevamot* 63]). That is, the more that the people of Israel fail to apply efforts in the direction of connection—connection above our differences for the sake of positive global connection—the more the world sinks deeper into division and conflict. It is as Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam) writes in item 69 of his “Introduction to the Book of Zohar,” that “they cause poverty, ruin, robbery, killing and destruction in the whole world.” Why? It is because the people of Israel possess the method for the correction of human nature, i.e. correction of the egoistic, self-centered drive to benefit at the expense of others, which is growing rampant in our era. The more the ego inflates without an effective form of regulation—the connection above differences that the people of Israel have a method and a role to realize—the more problems and crises abound in the world.
Moreover, the more the nations of the world feel problems in their lives, the more they feel hatred toward Israel. This is because they subconsciously feel that the people of Israel are the source of their problems and are holding something significant away from them. Anti-Semitism and anti-Israelism thus rise due to the people of Israel’s failure to implement the role required of them in the world.
Therefore, the people of Israel need only come to the realization that they hold their own as well as humanity’s life and well-being in their hands. By starting to tilt the scales toward connection, they will bring harmony to themselves and to the world, whereas by continuing to tilt the scales toward division through their indifference and rejection of their role, they will continue inviting problems to the world and hatred to themselves.
It is thus my hope that the people of Israel will acknowledge their role and start making efforts to connect sooner rather than later, because if things keep developing as they currently do, then we will experience wars and major suffering on a whole new level of egoistic relations the likes that we have never seen before.
What are your reasons for supporting Israel?
I support Israel for a single reason: that Israel becomes a source of the world’s connection. Through the special connection that Israel has the potential to bring—a connection above people’s innate divisive drives (“Love covers all transgressions” [Proverbs 10:12])—the world can elevate itself to another level of existence, both corporeally and spiritually:
- Corporeally, this means that all human conflicts and natural disasters would cease. We would feel a life filled with happiness and confidence as a result of the balance with nature that such connection would yield.
- Spiritually, it means we would rise to a new dimension of eternity and perfection. This is due to awakening the force of connection and love dwelling in nature to reveal in our newly-created connections.
Therefore, I support Israel for this sole reason.
Today, it is very sad for me to see the contrary, how Israel is the source of all of the world’s problems (“No calamity comes to the world but for Israel” [Yevamot 63]). That is, the more that the people of Israel fail to apply efforts in the direction of connection—connection above our differences for the sake of positive global connection—the more the world sinks deeper into division and conflict. It is as Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam) writes in item 69 of his “Introduction to the Book of Zohar,” that “they cause poverty, ruin, robbery, killing and destruction in the whole world.” Why? It is because the people of Israel possess the method for the correction of human nature, i.e. correction of the egoistic, self-centered drive to benefit at the expense of others, which is growing rampant in our era. The more the ego inflates without an effective form of regulation—the connection above differences that the people of Israel have a method and a role to realize—the more problems and crises abound in the world.
Moreover, the more the nations of the world feel problems in their lives, the more they feel hatred toward Israel. This is because they subconsciously feel that the people of Israel are the source of their problems and are holding something significant away from them. Anti-Semitism and anti-Israelism thus rise due to the people of Israel’s failure to implement the role required of them in the world.
Therefore, the people of Israel need only come to the realization that they hold their own as well as humanity’s life and well-being in their hands. By starting to tilt the scales toward connection, they will bring harmony to themselves and to the world, whereas by continuing to tilt the scales toward division through their indifference and rejection of their role, they will continue inviting problems to the world and hatred to themselves.
It is thus my hope that the people of Israel will acknowledge their role and start making efforts to connect sooner rather than later, because if things keep developing as they currently do, then not only will the elimination of the State of Israel become a reality, but we will experience wars and major suffering on a global scale the likes that we have never seen before.
Why can’t Palestine recognise Israel?
The people of Israel alone determine the attitude that the nations of the world have toward them. The nations of the world have no free choice in how they perceive Israel. According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, Israel are people with free choice, because it was the people of Israel who were granted the ability to rise above the egoistic human nature—the desire to enjoy at the expense of others—that runs on autopilot within each and every person. If the people of Israel make the choice to rise above the divisive egoistic drives and unite, then an abundance of goodness will flow out to the world through them. Likewise, if the people of Israel fail in making that choice, letting egoism continue to grow unabated, then no agreements will help them: it will be bad for them and for the world.
Free choice is the choice to connect among each other and by doing so, reveal the upper force—the force of connection and love—here in this world. If we fail to make that choice, then the negative side of the force of connection and love—division and hatred due to egoistic desires growing without any effective regulation—will ripple out to all humanity in depth and width. This is the root of any positive or negative attitude toward Israel from the nations of the world.
Today, since the people of Israel are not making any effort to realize their unifying role in the world, then anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli sentiment—including denial of the State of Israel—grows in order to pressure the people of Israel to fulfill their duty in the world.
Is Israel an apartheid state? What are the facts that prove or disprove this opinion?
I have no interest in such labels that people pin on Israel. I evaluate Israel solely according to the authentic Kabbalistic sources that I have been studying for the past 40-plus years.
In any case, taking into consideration the amount of Arabs in Israeli society, from studying at universities through to assuming respected professions such as lawyers and doctors, I wouldn’t consider Israel an apartheid state. Apartheid is something else entirely. But again, whatever name-calling is addressed at Israel doesn’t matter to me. What matters is the intensifying need of the people of Israel to carry out their role in the world: to unite (“love your neighbor as yourself”) and be a conduit for unity to spread worldwide (“a light unto nations”). If the people of Israel will observe such a condition, then it will be good for them and for the world. If they don’t, then it will be the opposite.
Defining Israel as an “apartheid state” or a “terrorist state” or whatever other classifications are attached to Israel doesn’t matter because it won’t change reality. What matters is our attitude to the law of nature that determines everything: to learn how it determines everything and how we are in relation to it.
I need to realize that as a Jew, I ignite the hatred that others have toward me. In other words, if I fail to work on connecting positively to others, starting from a positive connection to the people of Israel, then I stimulate the massive human ego—the desire to enjoy at the expense of others—which divides between people. Accordingly, negative sentiment toward Israel and the Jewish people grows from one day to the next, leading to decisions that are based on this growing hatred. Therefore, what do I have to battle against if I myself give birth to that hatred against me?
All I see in such negative labeling of Israel is that we fail to do what we need to do. I don’t attribute anything to Israel’s haters themselves. If the people of Israel will function correctly, as a conduit of unity and love to the world, then the world will respond positively to Israel… and vice versa. The nations of the world are like a shadow of the actions of the people of Israel.
Which side is right in the Israel-Palestine conflict?
No side is correct because no side knows the truth. The question is: what is the truth?
The people of Israel alone determine the attitude that the nations of the world have toward them. The nations of the world have no free choice in how they perceive Israel. According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, Israel are people with free choice, because it was the people of Israel who were granted the ability to rise above the egoistic human nature—the desire to enjoy at the expense of others—that runs on autopilot within each and every person. If the people of Israel make the choice to rise above the divisive egoistic drives and unite, then an abundance of goodness will flow out to the world through them. Likewise, if the people of Israel fail in making that choice, letting egoism continue to grow unabated, then no agreements will help them: it will be bad for them and for the world.
Free choice is the choice to connect among each other and by doing so, reveal the upper force—the force of connection and love—here in this world. If we fail to make that choice, then the negative side of the force of connection and love—division and hatred due to egoistic desires growing without any effective regulation—will ripple out to all humanity in depth and width. This is the root of any positive or negative attitude toward Israel from the nations of the world.
Today, since the people of Israel are not making any effort to realize their unifying role in the world, then anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli sentiment—including denial of the State of Israel—grows in order to pressure the people of Israel to fulfill their duty in the world.
Therefore, Palestinians are not responsible for the way they think and behave toward Israel. The law of nature draws humanity to connection at the peak of its development, and those who resist and deny Israel act according to their function within this system, which is to pressure the people of Israel to exercise their free choice. I thus see in Israel’s haters simply the force of nature, which reveals itself to us in such a way. The people of Israel, however, have free choice, i.e. the ability to change themselves, as they have been given a method of the world’s correction. So who’s to blame? I can’t say that Palestinians or anyone in the world are to blame for any of their hatred toward Israel, since no one in the world other than the people of Israel have free choice. There is a statement in the wisdom of Kabbalah about this: “the heads of ministers are in the hands of God.” That is, those in ruling positions around the world have no free choice in how they think and act, since the demands of the system of nature operate on them in order for them to carry out what needs to unfold in nature.