Between Despair and Hope
Tens of thousands of civilians cross Ukraine's borders every hour, a mass of people laden with bags on their backs and children on their shoulders, with suitcases and memories dragging behind them.
Disagreements and wars come so that we can unite above them. Only the unity of hearts, when each cares for the well-being of the other, will save humanity.
I have many students and friends in cities all over Ukraine, from Kiev to Kharkiv, from Odessa to Lviv. I receive reports from them and follow their situation with concern. They tell me how they sought shelter in cold basements or fled to nearby villages, others sped westward in their cars for hours, praying that they would not run out of fuel and manage to escape.
The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) estimates that more than 500,000 Ukrainians have fled their homes as a result of the conflict, crossing the borders into neighboring countries such as Poland, Hungary, Moldova and Romania.
I have no doubt that the refugees will receive support and a warm embrace in Western European countries. I also believe that they will eventually return home and not stay permanently in host countries. Canada among others may open its doors to permanent immigration.
Israel, too, will surely act in accordance with the Law of Return, which gives Jews the right to relocate to Israel, and open its arms to welcome them. Israel has a place not only for the thousands of Jews who will emigrate from Eastern Europe, but for all Jews of the Diaspora.
Meanwhile, the world, including Israel, is helping with humanitarian aid to those affected by the conflict. But besides meeting people's basic needs, the most important help is inner support. We must ask that the spirit of love, bestowal and positive connection will soon prevail.
Disagreements and wars come so that we can unite above them. Only the unity of hearts, when each cares for the well-being of the other, will save humanity.
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领英推荐
Heal the Wounds
An old wound between the Russians and Ukrainians is being aggravated. It is sore and bleeding but not fully reopened. Just as Eastern European countries are now experiencing conflict, this will be felt throughout the world, in all of humanity. Eventually, everyone will experience the revelation of this war firsthand: man's control over man.?
Just as Eastern European countries are now experiencing conflict, this will be felt throughout the world, in all of humanity. Eventually, everyone will experience the revelation of this war firsthand: man's control over man.?
Before this war broke out, this ill feeling was not visible or tangible. It was deep and even slightly dormant. I remember images from the past when Russian and Ukrainian soldiers met; there was a faint inner connection between them, as if they already knew each other. And they are indeed psychologically close; they have an extensive common background.
On the other hand, with the outbreak of this war, acute hatred between them has risen to the surface, a sort of hatred so strong that you can feel and sense. It is literally palpable. ?
Two peoples who are not very different from one another, but actually are very similar, are discovering pure, clean hatred between them that precedes all ideological views. It is a natural hatred that springs from the power of human nature, which does not dress itself up in the guise of race, gender, nationality, or religion. It is not wrapped in history, language, or cultural differences. It is simply the inner sensation that one hates the other.
This sensation is deeper than any other kind of hatred we know. It is a spiritual hatred, and its only aim is to reveal the extent of the gulf in the relations between the two peoples and to learn from the uncovered chasm how to bridge it with love.
The discovery of fractures and differences, crimes and wounds, points us to the place of repair and helps us to focus on the core of the problem. Mediation and correction are part of a long-term process that works according to the plan of creation of bringing all conflicts into harmony.
We now see before us the first stage of this process. It is a fierce revelation of the power of hatred, the negative force aimed at bringing us closer to understand that there is a system of forces in nature working in us and with us. But against this revealed hatred, love should be awakened. Stable love can be evoked only with the help of a common prayer.