Israel Under Attack… again
Ancient Israel
The country of Israel, in its present location, exists on land given to the Jews after WWII. The United Nations Partition Resolution divided Great Britain’s former Palestinian mandate into Jewish and Arab states. Hate and anger toward this new nation erupted among Arab states who saw this as a loss of some of their territory. This animosity has infiltrated into the general population of the world, in that anti-Israel sentiment lives in the hearts of many who can’t really elucidate why they have such hatred. It all seems illogical and irrational. Why does Israel draw to it such hatred?
The Biblical Abraham lived in Babylon. He observed the world and how our desires operate on us in a constant self-serving direction and discovered a force dwelling in nature behind and beyond our selfish desires. Using this force, he worked out how to direct our desires in a completely opposite direction — giving. He found that reaching an optimal harmonious life requires striving to emulate and to acquire a giving intention above our inborn selfish desires, even though it goes against natural human instincts.
Abraham taught others this method and many joined him, forming a society based on the idea of exercising and attaining the ability to give love and positively connect above innate divisive drives. In doing so, they discovered the most fundamental law of nature that became known as “Love your neighbor as yourself.” This is nature’s fundamental law and the key to a complete sense of peace, harmony and happiness.
These people were called Israel, meaning “straight to the Creator.” They left the lack of understanding, rejection and division in Babylon and went to Egypt. Over time and generations, they were influenced by the worldly lifestyle of Egypt, and lost their inner unity, the force that had kept them connected.
Present Day Israel
Israel’s founding father David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the modern State of Israel on May 14, 1948, establishing a safe haven for Jews fleeing persecution and seeking a national home on land to which they cite deep ties over generations. These deep ties had been anchored by the weight of the imperative to love one another. The persecution of Jews had become a world disgrace when concentration camps were discovered where Jews were imprisoned and murdered. This was the level of hate toward these people, and it is still pervasive throughout the world.
The current fighting between Israel and Hamas, who recently launched a surprise attack in Gaza, is the latest in seven decades of war and conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. At the core of the ongoing dispute are the Israeli settlements, the status of Jerusalem, and refugees, but primarily deep-seated anti-Semitism.
So why now? The world we live in is a modern-day Babylon but is divided in ways far beyond the issues that drove the Jews our of ancient Babylon. It is becoming more and more clear that the discord we see and feel on the planet must be healed or we will kill each other.
This Israeli war is being called more serious and dangerous than past conflicts between these two entities. Considering the law of unity among those original Jews who fled to Egypt, and the fact that modern-day Israelis have lost that internal imperative, we can easily see that the eruption of this war may be Nature’s reminder about who they are supposed to be. If we look closely, we can see it and understand why all the people of the world must emulate it if we are to survive.
“Millions of Israelis are showering their soldiers with supplies, gifts and support. People from all walks of life give of themselves, not asking who will receive their help. At times of crisis, personal beliefs and goals are replaced by an outpouring of kindness and the spirit of unity that brings people together.
The people of Israel now feel a wave of that unifying spirit. Their hearts expand to help and encourage each other. They share a mutual anger about the cruelty they just bore. Stories and scenes of heroism inspire, while those of bloodshed and anguish sadden. This swell of emotions has melted the icy barriers dividing them before the tragic events on October 7, 2023, and they are now opening their hearts to each other.
While a unified spirit awakens in the people of Israel, it is important to plan for the future, using common sense and learning from history. Why? It is because if animosity again becomes routine, it will freeze over today’s warmth.”
Michael Laitman, PhD, Spiritual leader and resident of Israel
The spirit of love and connection is again alive among the Israeli people. It is a good sign. The moral message of this war is to be good to each other all the time.
Why Does This Matter?
Anti-semitism is alive in the hearts of many. Yet, the American news media are not reporting this war as being Israel’s fault, as they usually do. They are reporting that this is “an unprovoked attack by the Palestinians on Israel.” Does this represent some shift in the mind-set of people? The external always ascends and descends according to the internal. Our thoughts and the inner landscape of our world views inform our external actions.
It has always been of interest to me that there are continual conflicts and local wars happening somewhere, but when it involves Israel and the Palestinians, it becomes an internationally recognized incident, and all eyes and ears are following its progress. And with good reason. Israel is the country that reveals to us the inner state of mankind.
There are only two forces in the universe — reception and bestowal. When we live in a state of receiving, we do whatever we want to without any concern for the impact our actions may have on others. This is our world today. This has been Israel for decades. Giving, on the other hand, represents that internal state in which we derive all our pleasure from caring for others before ourselves. Israel is demonstrating this now during wartime.
Will it continue so we are provided with a correct model for our interactions with each other? Or will they again regress into selfishness? And most importantly, can people from all nations of the world embody the principle of bestowal and live in harmony?
Laitman writes this. “I thus hope that the unifying spirit now filling the people of Israel will stay with us, and that we will not let the next dissenting upshot in our thoughts sweep it aside. Instead, I hope we make a promise to stay united — adding the wisdom of unity to our emotions of unity — and request the strength for such unity to flourish and spread not just among the people of Israel, but among humanity.”
I hope so too.