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Michael Laitman: The Ninth of Av—From Darkness to Light

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July 17, 2015

This coming Monday at 7:30 pm, I will be ” target=”_blank”>book on the topic, Like a Bundle of Reeds: why unity and mutual guarantee are today’s call of the hour, I referenced numerous sages and Jewish leaders who pleaded with our nation to unite. Today, in light of cold front amassing in the West, I think it is more pertinent than ever that we heed that call and unite above all our discords.

I chose to title my lecture, “From Darkness to Light,” because I am a firm believer in the power of our nation to overcome adversities. I have learned that the painful events that our nation experiences have but one purpose—to urge us to unite. Redemption is a big word, but if you detail what it means, you are left once more with our ancient motto, which is so desperately needed today: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Put simply, redemption is the ability to love others. This is the only correction we are required to do.

The clouds of anti-Semitism are but a clarion, a herald trumpeting that we should stand as one and state our commitment to unity above all differences. At the foot of Mt. Sinai we emerged as a nation when we abandoned our squabbles and united “as one man with one heart.” By that declaration, we “recruited” the power of unity to stand against the power of egoism.

Now, again, we are facing a mountain of hatred toward us. As then, so now, the solution lies in our unity, in our mutual guarantee. We need not change our ways of life. We simply need to state aloud, and feel within, that our unity is more important to us than our differences.

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