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

