6 | MAY 26 • 2022
1942 - 2022
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PURELY COMMENTARY
opinion
The War in Ukraine Is Changing the World
T
he war in Ukraine is unlike any war
that’s been. Although it seems local,
this war is changing the world. In the
end, after all the pain, the parties will estab-
lish new relationships, and new relationships
will be established around the
world. This war is the begin-
ning of a formation of a new
world order, where all parties
unite against the one common
enemy of all of humanity:
egoism.
It will take time, but every-
one involved will realize, and
the whole world with them, that they are not
fighting against each other, but against an
enemy within them. If we let the idea sink in,
even a bit, it will make it happen even sooner.
The casualties, the injured and the
lost property are a terrible price to pay.
Nevertheless, global processes always come
at a cost. We should not blame others for
the cost, and we should not think that there
is nothing each of us can do to change the
world. It is in the hands of every person to
change the world for the better, and to make
the atrocities of war, and all atrocities that
humans are inflicting on each other, disappear.
All we need is to realize that the only
enemy lies within us — our self-centered atti-
tude. It incites us against each other, demon-
izes and vilifies anyone who disagrees with
us, tells us that we are the only ones entitled
in this world and thereby sets us off against
each other. We are all like that, infected with
a pandemic of narcissism.
Nevertheless, there is a lot we can do to
change the world. First, we must accept that
there is a good reason we are so different
from each other. Each of us makes a unique
contribution to the world that no one else
can. If we were all the same, the contribu-
tions we receive from others, and on which
our lives depend, would be absent, and we
would not survive, in the most physical sense
of the word.
We will realize that our ego is the enemy
only when we realize that singularity is the
wrong key word for happiness. Today, the
key word for happiness is complementarity
— mutual satisfaction of each other’s materi-
al, social, emotional and spiritual needs.
We are living in a world where we are all
dependent on each other. The food we eat,
the clothes we wear, and the appliances and
gadgets that we use are all made by people
we do not know, in places we do not know,
and reach us in ways we do not know. But
were it not for this chain of myriad unknown
individuals, we would not survive, since we
cannot provide for our needs by ourselves.
The same goes for social ties. All our con-
nections, communications and interactions
with other people are made possible with the
help of countless people who serve us with-
out our awareness. But were it not for them,
we would not be able to work or socialize.
Despite this obvious fact, we behave
toward others with as little consideration as
possible, and when we are nice or consider-
ate, it is because we have an ulterior, selfish
motive. We do not have the prerogative to
keep up this behavior. We are destroying the
world and destroying ourselves.
Now, too, we are headed for a catastrophe
unless we pay attention and begin to act like
one entity, one global society that works like
a single, united family. The war will change
the world, but I hope we can change our-
selves before the war changes us.
Michael Laitman is founder and president of Bnei Baruch
Kabbalah Education & Research Institute. This essay first
appeared in the Times of Israel.
Michael
Laitman