The World Only Needs One Thing From Israel
We were woken up here in Israel at 3am by a huge earthquake in Turkey. The tall apartment buildings in my neighborhood felt it, and a friend on nightshift nearby told me his chair started shaking. At noon I was on a Zoom call with Turkey when the shaking started again - and the 3rd earthquake was just reported at 3pm Israel time - BREAKING: A 3rd #earthquake just hit #Turkey 30 minutes ago, this time 7.5 on the Richter scale. See drone footage @Sisodia19Rahul
As per usual we're sending aid teams to help with the rescue in Turkey. We're even sending supplies and doctors to treat the wounded in Syria - a country we're at war with.
As much as we like to be viewed as good humanitarians and always send help in these situations - the world doesn't really appreciate it.
Subconsciously the world is expecting something great to come out of Israel. Something that will calm everything down and make our lives safe and pleasant. Instead it's getting the opposite.
When we're fanning the flames of hate and division here inside the country - it's bad for us and radiates bad vibes to the countries around us and the entire world.
As I said the other day - What's bad for Israel is bad for the world. When we're fanning the flames of hate and division here inside the country - it's bad for us and radiates bad vibes to the countries around us and the entire world.
And the opposite is true. When we're not trying to force our opinions on each other; when we're actively trying to build bridges between us and provide the world with good examples of social cohesion - we radiate positive vibes to our surroundings and the whole world. It's good when we do this with non-Jews inside Israel such as Arabs - but the most powerful way for us to extract the positive forces from nature is when Jews come together above their differences.
This is why I'm always writing about the importance of consciously investing in our connection, to overcome the negative forces pulling us apart. These engaging "discussion circles" can be organized with people of any age.
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What's Special About Israel?
The following is for people who really want to understand the special system called Israel.
The current protests and clashes indicate a complete absence of solidarity. Everyone is pushing their own agenda thinking that only they are right and the other side is wrong.
The Jewish state is unlike other countries because the Jews are unlike other people. Each of us carries within us contradictory forces, desires, and insights equal to those of an entire nation. So the only way to reconcile between us and connect us is through mutual concessions. As long as we avoid doing this, things will continue to deteriorate. And the whole world is watching.
Even if we tried to split the country into several smaller countries where people more or less agree with one another, it would still not help. Because the division is not only between us; it is within us! We need to make ourselves whole just as much as we need to make our society whole. Until we understand who we are as a people, as Jewish people, what we need to do as Jews, and accept that we must carry out our role in the world, we will not make peace with each other.
Jews have always had disagreements. They're an inherent part of our nature. And the whole point is not to make them disappear, but to build good relationships above these rifts that will be stronger than the chasm and fortify our structure as a nation.
The connection and the unity of the people of Israel are very different from those of other nations. Other nations maintain unity by maintaining similarity of views, culture, or faith. But we maintain solidarity by understanding the vitality of contradictions, and embracing our conflicts as an impetus to foster stronger ties. With this awareness we can build stronger bonds precisely because we learned to overcome a deeper gap than any other nation feels.
It is an unnatural bond, a manmade connection that challenges the natural rejection that nature has installed in us for anyone who is different than us. But it is actually this connection that makes us sturdy, that builds a new nation based on us willingly choosing to unite above our differences.
This unique unity is the secret to the robustness and durability of the people of Israel. Understanding how to form such a bond is the secret wisdom that our nation must teach the world.
The differences that exist among the Jews and within the Jews will never disappear, nor should they. But when Jews learn to build bridges and truly connect with others different than us, we'll find peace and happiness, and the world will find it with us.
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2 年I think we often forget how powerful such aid can be in terms of helping avoid or even repair harm of bad relations. That's also one reason why I very much respect this effort. I watch Israel send aid to Syria while the US refuses and I see a really positive example by Israel of how we ought to be.