The Hidden Nexus between Ukraine and Turkey

While the world is grappling with the magnitude of the disaster that struck Turkey and Syria, the war in Ukraine is raging on without any sign of abating. Whether cities are being destroyed by shells or by an earthquake, the result is that countless lives are lost or devastated. It seems as though there is no connection between the two disasters, as if nothing ties wars with tremors, but this is not the case. Between all crises, be they earthquakes, wars, famine, or plagues, there is an underlying, hidden nexus that weakens human society and allows for the eruption of all crises.

Good social connections create stable, peaceful societies and peaceful international relations. They prevent exploitation of people and depletion of natural resources.

Humanity is not a collection of separate elements; we all influence one another because we are one entity, one body. Just as a weakness in the body makes it easier for various illnesses and problems to break out, a weakness in human society causes the eruption of crises that affect all of humanity.

When a person’s overall health is poor, it might manifest in a simple cold, in the failure of an organ, such as with diabetes, in cancer, or in the collapse of entire systems in the body. On the surface, we may not see the connection between the different medical crises, but underneath, it is the weakness of the body that allowed for the outbreak of all of them.

The same rule that applies to the body applies to the “body” of humanity. On the surface, crises seem unrelated. But behind all of them lies an inherent weakness in the human body: disintegration among the cells and organs of humanity.

The fact that we do not feel that we are one entity and operate as if we are separate elements that fight against each other, strive to dominate each other, or even to destroy one another, weakens the entire system, which is all of humanity. As a result, “illnesses” are breaking out everywhere.

The only difference between these ostensibly separate crises is that the overall weakness causes different symptoms to show in different places, according to specific conditions in different regions. Nevertheless, the way to prevent all of them is the same. Since their one cause is disintegration of human society, the cure that will heal all of them is reinforcing cohesion and mutual responsibility around the world.

While we must address each crisis separately, and try to restore peace in Ukraine and save what lives we can in Turkey, we must also work on long-term solutions to prevent or alleviate future calamities. To achieve this, we must foster stronger human connections on all levels.

As human connections are unraveling in every aspect of human life—from the family level to the international level—we must educate ourselves about the necessity of positive connections. Positive connections not only make us feel better, safer, and happier on the personal level. They change our entire society and our behavior in it, and consequently change the world.

Good social connections create stable, peaceful societies and peaceful international relations. They prevent exploitation of people and depletion of natural resources. The impact of such improvements affects us on the global level, and not only on the personal one.

If we are to make a lasting benefit from the horrendous pain that disasters such as the war in Ukraine and the earthquake in Turkey have inflicted on humanity, it is that we begin to implement a global plan to deepen our awareness of our interdependence on the quality of our relationships, and that only if we foster positive, supportive relationships, we might be able to avoid or lessen the severity of future crises.

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How to Unite a Nation that Is Not a Nation

Earlier this week, Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, gave a heartfelt speech where he called on both sides of the political rift surrounding the proposed judicial reform to lower the flames and build bridges above the disputes. “We are in the midst of fateful days for our nation and for our country,” Herzog said. “We have for quite some time now not been in a political debate but on the brink of constitutional and social collapse … we are on the verge of a violent clash—a powder keg…on the threshold of one man’s hand against his brother’s,” he stated, adding that both sides need to understand that if only one side wins … then all of Israel loses.

The divisions between us are not about this or that reform; they are reflections of our ingrained hatred, the same hatred that has haunted us since the inception of our people.

Are we really brothers? We certainly do not feel like brothers, at least not as it seems in protests and in clashes with authorities and the calls by political leaders to shed blood. So, are we brothers nonetheless?

The truth is that we are not. In its origins, the people of Israel came from different places, different tribes, and different cultures and faiths. Our ancestors formed a nation, but they did not come from the same family and there was no familial connection to keep them together at times of disagreement.

For this reason, whenever a dispute erupts among the people of Israel, it leads to fierce clashes, intense hatred, and a deep sense of alienation. The only way to solve these rifts is through acknowledging our origin, our consequent vocation, and by committing to carrying it out. Without all three, we will have no peace of mind and no peace. We can already hear voices among Israeli leaders calling for bloodshed “in order to save Israel’s democracy.” Unless we realize the purpose of our nation, we will fall once more, as we always have in the past, into such division that will bring upon us death and destruction.

Currently, many of us still feel as one nation, albeit a deeply divided one. Yet, that feeling is quickly dissipating in the face of slurs and hollers that stymie any attempt at unity and demand a total surrender to the dictates of the entitled. These people do not feel that we belong to one nation, even if officially we do.

This is why our only option to avoid yet another dismal chapter in the annals of our nation is to take up our vocation as a national task. Only if we return to our roots, to our legacy to the world—to be as one man with one heart and to love one another as ourselves in order to set an example for humanity—will we be able to overcome the rifts that tear us apart.

No foreign general or leader has ever been able to defeat Israel unless Israel first defeated one another and paved the way for a conqueror to come and plunge the relics.

The divisions between us are not about this or that reform; they are reflections of our ingrained hatred, the same hatred that has haunted us since the inception of our people. The hatred we see on Israel’s streets today is the same hatred that divided and weakened the leadership of Israel’s first kingdom, and the same hatred that set off a bloodbath among the Jews inside the surrounded city of Jerusalem, which led to the fall of the Second Temple. It is always the hatred between us that inflicts on us adversity, and nothing else.

No foreign general or leader has ever been able to defeat Israel unless Israel first defeated one another and paved the way for a conqueror to come and plunge the relics. No leader ever turned against Israel unless he saw that Israel were weakened by their own discord. Today, we are paving the way for the next villain to come and exploit our disunion. But as then, so now, the new chapter of Israel’s chronicles of defeat will not be for the might of our foe, but for the infirmity of our union.

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What the UN Really Expects from Israel

The State of Israel’s relationship with the United Nations has often been fraught with tensions and criticism. This was underscored by recent comments made by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk who pleaded for an “illogic escalation” of violence to stop, referring to an Israeli counter-terrorism operation in Jenin . Again, the UN omitted to condemn a series of terrorist attacks in Jerusalem, claiming the lives of innocent civilians, including small children .??

If the world were to decide about the creation of a Jewish State today, certainly there would be a unanimous decision to prevent it from happening.

The UN’s hostility to the state of Israel is hardly a break from the norm. In 2022 the UN condemned Israel more than all the other countries combined in the world. It is a consistent trend.

In my book , New Antisemitism Mutation of a Long-Lived Hatred, I talk at length about the UN’s anti-Israeli bias.

If the world were to decide about the creation of a Jewish State today, certainly there would be a unanimous decision to prevent it from happening. A hint of this negative disposition towards Israel was evident in the UN General Assembly of Dec. 2021 when the nations voted 160-1—Israel being the only dissenting vote—in favor of a resolution to renew funding for UNRWA, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine. The organization has faced harsh criticism over the years, from alleged ties to terrorist organizations to corruption charges.

If there is anything good about the UN anti-Israeli trend, it is that we can finally see how undesirable we are in the eyes of the world. I think that in the near future, we will see the UN calling for Jews who moved to Israel over the past century and a half, to be sent back to the Diaspora claiming that it is the place where they belong as they were not the original residents of the land of Israel.

Israel keeps looking for better diplomatic ways to explain its position, to show that it is valuable to the world and that Jews have a historic right to live in the land of Israel. We don’t understand that the world does not see things the way we do. It does not care about history, and it does not care about the “startup nation” we have built here. It sees us as a belligerent, invasive nation that has taken what does not belong to it by exploiting the world’s remorse over the Holocaust.

What we are getting absolutely wrong is that we continue to ignore our obligation to the world. We are here to build “a national home for the Jewish people,” just as the Balfour Declaration says. Regrettably, instead of building our home together in unity, we are divided into factions fighting one another. If Jews are not carrying out what we are meant to do here, then we have no reason for being here. This is how the world sees it, and the sooner we realize it, the better.

Rav Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam) has already warned that: “Israel must present something new to the nations. This is what they expect from the return of Israel to the land! …Justice, and peace. And this wisdom is attributed to us alone. If this return is canceled, Zionism will be canceled altogether… And its residents are destined to endure much suffering. Undoubtedly, either they or their children will gradually leave the country, and only an insignificant number will remain, which will ultimately be swallowed among the Arabs.” (“The Writings of the Last Generation”)

We need to rebuild our nation by re-establishing our unity under the motto, “as one man with one heart.”?We have every right to declare that this is our goal in being here once again in the land of Israel and that we will not allow anyone to interfere with our efforts. Not only will the world respect this declaration, but it will also support it.