The Necessity of Altruism

Written by: Michael Laitman
Published on: November 30, 2011
Category: Kabbalah

From One to Many

Originally, all people were internally connected. We felt and thought of ourselves as a single human being, and this is exactly how Nature treats us. This "collective" human being is called "Adam," from the Hebrew word, Domeh (similar), meaning similar to the Creator, who is also single and whole. However, despite our initial oneness, as our egoism grew we gradually lost the sensation of unity and became increasingly distant from each other.

Kabbalah books write that Nature's plan is for our egoism to keep growing until we realize that we have become separated and hateful to one another. The logic behind the plan is that we must first feel as a single entity, and then become separated into egoistic and detached individuals. Only then will we realize that we are completely opposite from the Creator, and utterly selfish.