Indeed, Jerusalem means the “city of peace” (“Ir Shalom”), and it is the center of the world’s spiritual force, but at the same time, Jerusalem is the furthest place from peace that I know. It is because we Jews do not want peace (Heb. Shalom); we do not want to reach a state of perfection (Heb. Shlemut).
Peace means reaching a state of “love your neighbor as yourself.” That is the condition for peace. It is a whole and complete state. Moreover, according to what makes us Jewish to begin with, that we once united (the Hebrew word for “Jew” [Yehudi] comes from the word for “united” [yihudi] [Yaarot Devash, Part 2, Drush no. 2]) to a point of a common love, then we need to first realize our unification among each other, and then humanity will follow suit.
We need to turn to ourselves, to our relatives and friends, to the people around us, and build a state of peace. If we would each do so, among all Jews, then we would be able to also turn to our Arab cousins. At that time, they will understand us and will also want peace, as the upper force would help us reach it and would be felt within the peace that it brings.
Based on the video “Will Jews and Arabs Ever Live Peacefully in Jerusalem?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Photo by Robert Bye on Unsplash
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