The document summarizes key points from a book about how the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for systemic and socially intelligent thinking. It discusses how we are all interconnected and interdependent, and how developing love and sensitivity for others through reciprocal relationships is important for addressing challenges. The pandemic exposed how ignoring connections can harm all parts of the system. Moving forward requires perceiving others' needs as our own and prioritizing mutually beneficial relationships over individual interests alone.

1. Michael Laitman, PhD
NEW THINKING
NEW WORLD

2. Table of Contents 2
Foreword 3
Chapter One: The Age of Corona 5
Systemic Thinking 5
Social Intelligence 6
From Disconnection to Reciprocity 9
Updated Definition of Happiness 11
Chapter Two: Innovation in the Business World 14
An Opportunity to Lead the Market 15
Marketing and Sales in a Connected World 17
Relationships in the Organization as a Key to Success 19
Between Sensitivity and Creativity 20
The World of the New Employee 21
Chapter Three: Relationships, Family, and Community 23
Isolation and Social Distancing 23
Upgrading Relationships with Partners 25
The Integral Family 27
Social Ties, Good Viruses 29
Life’s Pleasures 32
Afterword 34
Table of Contents

3. 3
COVID-19 is one of the greatest crises humanity has experienced. Much
more than the pandemic, it is inducing a revolution in human perception.
We are still at its onset; we do not realize its magnitude or essence, but it
will change who we are as human beings. In this booklet, I will introduce
a new way of thinking that I hope will help readers put some order in
what seems like a chaotic world.
The coronavirus clearly illustrated an insight that until its arrival seemed
mainly philosophical: We are all in one boat. We are dependent on one
another throughout the globe and we are all parts of a single system. The
coronavirus crisis exposed our level of interconnectedness, but mainly its
negative sides. It illustrated how we can all infect one another and cause
widespread harm at an enormous speed. However, our interconnectedness
also has a vast positive potential. If we know how to tap into it, we will be
able to climb together to a more advanced form of living.
The vast system of connections affects us in numerous ways. For this
reason, it would be a mistake to think that soon we will be able to return
to the previous way of life since the system that has been revealed will not
allow us to return to our mode of thinking prior to the appearance of the
virus.
Instead, we must move on to a new perception of life. At the basis of this
new perception will be inclusive thinking and social sensitivity.
Nature’s system follows absolute laws, and we are a part of nature. We have
discovered some of nature’s laws through science, but there are others we
have yet to uncover. Nevertheless, these laws affect us just as all natural
laws affect us even when we are unaware of them.
The wisdom of Kabbalah, which I have been studying for more than forty
years, offers a unique perspective on the reality we live in and its laws. I
had acquired the knowledge from my teacher, Rav Baruch Shalom Ashlag
Foreword

4. 4
(RABASH, 1907-1991), the firstborn son and successor of Rav Yehuda
Ashlag (1885-1954), the greatest kabbalist of the 20th century, who was
known as Baal HaSulam (Author of the Ladder) for his Sulam (Ladder)
commentary on The Book of Zohar.
It is becoming increasingly clear that we need a new method to advance
the human mind and heart to the next level of development.
We will not be able to cope with the complicated challenges ahead without
unleashing our full potential as intelligent beings.
Despite astounding achievements in medicine, science, and technology,
and despite the expansive research into Artificial Intelligence, it is the
development of the human heart, mind, and spirit that we need the most,
and this realm has been getting very little attention.
For this reason, I am delighted that we have come to a time when the
insights contained in the wisdom of Kabbalah can help all of us. It may
come as a surprise, but the wisdom of Kabbalah leads toward “the next
generation,” the more advanced version of human intelligence, and
provides the required adaptations for success in an interconnected world.

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Chapter One: The Age of Corona
Systemic Thinking
People have always been fascinated with the idea that if they leveraged
innovative tools and methods they would have an edge over others,
improve the quality of their lives, and become more successful in life.
When we hear about the latest model of a smartphone, we feel an urge to
get it, be the first to have the latest version of the gadget. No one wants to
stay behind. We feel relevant if we have the latest model and think that
now we can deal with life’s challenges more successfully.
TheageofCOVIDhasbroughtabouttheneedforanewkindoftechnology:
human technology. This technology should enhance the positive
connections among people, expand the boundaries of our perception, and
grant us more advanced feelings and thoughts. The contagious virus has
highlighted the immensely complex system we live in, where each unit is
connected to, and dependent on all the others. You could safely say that
until the emergence of COVID-19, the level of our interconnectedness
was not so apparent. In that sense, the pandemic has put on the agenda
the key factor that will impact our thought and decision making processes
going forward, namely human technology.
Even before the coronavirus crisis struck, it was evident to many people
that dealing with the growing challenges and preparing for the future
trends will require systemic thinking.
The wisdom of Kabbalah describes this thinking in the following way:
“Each and every individual in society is like a wheel that is linked to several
other wheels placed in a machine. This single wheel has no freedom of
movement in and of itself but continues with the motion of the rest of the
wheels in a certain direction to qualify the machine to perform its general
function” (Baal HaSulam, “Peace in the World”).

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According to Peter Senge, a systems scientist and a senior lecturer at
the MIT Sloan School of Management, systemic thinking is non-linear
thinking that focuses on the whole. Those who advocate systemic thinking
explain that traditional, linear thinking is irrelevant in the contemporary,
interconnected world. Life in the global age presents challenges that
require an expansive and multidimensional perception.
The human race is a part of nature’s system. It is a collection of units
that maintain reciprocal relations among themselves and with the world
around them. It is impossible to understand the processes unfolding
in the system through a narrow vision that focuses on the components
themselves as though they are detached from one another.
Additionally, it is impossible to isolate one component and care only for
its well-being regardless of the rest of the components since its well-being
depends on the well-being of the entire system directly or indirectly. This
complicated situation requires a different perspective and examination
of the world, and mainly, attention to the reciprocal connections in the
system.
According to futurist David Passig, “Our goal in studying systems is to
understand the logic in the system. When you understand the logic and
the patterns, you can identify the future stages of the system. This is what
enables us to understand what we are doing today” (Globes, May 5, 2018).
If so far it was mainly thinkers and academics who spoke about the need
to transition to systemic thinking, the coronavirus has turned theory into
reality: A virus at one end of the world quickly impacted its other end, the
lifestyleinonecountryaffectedthewaythediseasespreadtoothercountries,
and before we knew it, the virus came knocking on our door threatening
the lives of our loved ones. The mode of spreading of the virus indicates
not only the properties of the virus, but also the properties of the system of
connections among humans, and between humankind and nature.

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The COVID-19 stay-at-home period got us out of the box in terms of our
outdated thought patterns, where we saw only ourselves as the center of
events. Instead, the coronavirus has equipped us with a new vision that
Social Intelligence
focuses on the connections between us.
We have begun to pay closer attention to the relationships with kin,
to guarding the elderly in our families from contagion and loneliness,
to neighbors, who have suddenly become close, and even to video
conferencing programs that help us communicate long-distance. In this
way, we discovered that beyond providing for our basic needs, the valuable
assets we have are our social and family relations.
The corona crisis highlighted the importance of our personal connections,
but it turns out that the nature of these relations has a much greater
significance to our lives than we knew. According to the wisdom of
Kabbalah, the more we invest in developing a new approach to others, the
more we will realize that in this connection lies the key to expanding the
boundaries of our perception.
We are accustomed to perceiving our personal needs as opposed to the
needs of the people around us. We feel the needs of those with whom we
can relate as close to us, and those to whom we do not relate as not so
close. In each situation, our perception of reality separates between “me”
and “the other.”
A person feels other people and the rest of the elements of the surrounding
The coronavirus crisis has emphasized the gap between the old and narrow
perception of the world, which is still in use today, and the world itself,
which has long become a vast and thoroughly interconnected network.
The “software” embedded in us, which makes us think that we can exist
as separate entities, has been exposed as obsolete and irrelevant.

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reality, and instinctively examines how to harness them to one’s own
benefit. Even though this process happens mostly unconsciously, this
perception has shaped the nature of social ties in society, education, and
culture, as well as the way we interact in commerce and our economics.
As said above, today the world has become so connected that the ability to
satisfy the most basic needs has become dependent on others. The network
of connections that is being exposed seems gripping, shaking, pressing,
and impelling to take other people into account and keep other elements
in mind. In such a complicated reality, we must develop intelligence on a
completely different level, one that allows us to see all the parts of reality
as one system that is complementary and reciprocal.
A true systemic approach, not theoretical but real and practical, requires
a profound sense of the people around us. If we are naturally disposed
to satisfying our own needs, in order to advance toward a systemic
perception, we must develop social intelligence, namely the ability to aim
outwards, to be sensitive to the needs of others, and to see how we can
become instrumental to our environment. By doing so, we will contribute
toothersandtoourselvessinceweareinseparablepartsofthesystem.There
are mechanisms in our brain that aim toward creating positive mutual
connections, toward developing traits such as empathy, cooperation, and
consideration of others. However, we are far from realizing that potential.
Social intelligence relies on the level of awareness we have of the need to
form correct connections with society. On the most basic level, it is clear
to us that should one retire from society and live alone in a forest, he will
barely be able to survive. The more social intelligence develops, the more
we understand that the system of connections will not permit personal
gains but will require that everyone acts together to create a society where
everyone is happy to live.
One’s level of understanding how to connect oneself correctly to the
society—in a way that is both instrumental to society, and where society

9. 9
provides a sense of security and belonging—will determine the level of
a person’s social intelligence. In such a state, the positive feelings of the
individual and the people around will be inseparable from one another.
Observing evolutionary processes proves that there is a consistent course
of tightening connections among contradictory elements to the point of
creation of mutual existence and complementary mutual connection among
the components of the system. For example, molecules developed from
atoms, and multicellular organisms evolved from unicellular organisms
after going through phases of conflict and subsequent “understanding” of
the benefits of collaborative existence.
Similarly, human society is evolving toward connectedness. A life of
mutual complementation and mutuality is congruent with the general
course of evolution in nature as a whole, and will therefore constitute the
ideal form of living.
In the advanced state, people will feel other people’s needs as their own.
Therefore, when they satisfy the needs of others, people will feel as though
they are satisfying their own needs. When human society develops in
this direction, people will feel positive mutual complementation in the
relationships between them, contrary to the present state where more
often than not, we feel ties as inhibiting and restraining.
Connection on such a level must be perceived as idyllic and impractical
since there is an apparent contradiction between one’s personal interest
and the interest of the collective. But reality proves the contrary; this is
the law of the connected world.
As early as the 1940s, Baal HaSulam wrote, “In our time, the countries are
all linked in the satisfaction of their needs of life, as individuals were in
their families in earlier times. Therefore, we can no longer speak or deal
with just conducts that guarantee the well-being of one country or one
nation, but only with the well-being of the whole world, for the benefit or

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According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, social intelligence that is based on
sensing the other is included in a rule that was formulated thousands of
years ago: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Baal HaSulam said that love
of others can reveal a new reality: “When one comes to love others … one
passes from one’s narrow world, filled with pain and impediments, to an
eternal and broad world of bestowal upon the Creator and upon people”
(The Writings of Baal HaSulam, p. 63).
The wisdom of Kabbalah describes a process by which one develops love
of others. We can get some clues about the nature of this work through
Ashlag’s letters to his disciples: “I am ordering you to begin to love one
another as yourselves with all your might, to ache with your friends’
pains, and rejoice in your friends’ joys as much as possible” (Letter
No. 49). In other words, love of others is something one must practice
regularly through sympathy with others’ feelings. Developing love is a
gradual process that requires constant searching for ways to remain in
it and increase it: “Set your hearts on thinking thoughts and devising
proper tactics to truly connect your hearts as one, so the words ‘Love your
friend as yourself’ will literally come true in you” (Letter No. 47).
The wisdom of Kabbalah describes love as a mechanism based on
reciprocity. If people relate to one another with care and love, each of
them feels complete confidence and can rise above the natural need to
fend only for oneself. This manner of connection fosters a system that
functions harmoniously.
Usually, “Love your neighbor as yourself” is perceived as a figure of speech
From Disconnection to Reciprocity
harm of each and every person in the world depends and is measured by
the benefit of all the individuals the world over” (Baal HaSulam, “Peace
in the World”).

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or as admonition, but today even leading researchers find that this is the
future basis of connection between the individual and the society.
Prof. Ichak Adizes, a renowned professor of management, explains
that all the problems in the world stem from disintegration, namely
disconnect between subsystems. In the human body, disintegration
might be expressed as an illness. In a large body such as a company or an
organization, disintegration will manifest in miscommunication between
people, which in turn might lead to a crisis and even collapse. The lack
of communication manifests in insensitivity to the feelings of others
and unwillingness to be considerate of them. Every relationship in our
lives is affected in the same way: with a partner, social ties, national and
international relations, and even ecosystems.
According to Prof. Adizes, the highest level of integration is in mutual
relations of connection and love. Thanks to her love, the mother is
connected to her children and feels their needs even from a distance. The
ability to develop love and sensitivity for other elements of human society
is the key element we will need in order to solve problems and prosper in
tomorrow’s world.
From generation to generation, our desires develop. In antiquity, we
mainly strove for food and shelter, and the main requirement was
physical strength. The more our desires and needs developed, the more
we developed our ability to think and invent ways to satisfy our desires.
This is how science and industry were created. Today, knowledge is the
dominant power, and in the future, robotics and artificial intelligence (AI)
will replace the muscles and the brain. What will be man’s advantage in
such a world? Adizes argues that it will be the loving attitude that people
will be able to endow upon their environment.
Kabbalah says that relating to others with love exposes the system of
connections that we live in, that we influence, and that influences us. This

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relation shines a new light on what man considers good and bad. Quite
likely, such a perspective will show that things we previously regarded
as beneficial will manifest as detrimental to us, and things we did not
notice before will manifest as essential. This is why it is written in ancient
writings, “I have seen an opposite world.”
In the coming years, activities that promote emotional attachment and
cooperation among people will build the more advanced way of life for
humanity. As in any evolutionary process, at some point we will not be
able to maintain proper social life without adopting an approach of mutual
complementation. Those who will adapt their thinking to existence as
part of a whole will have a relative edge over those who will continue
to espouse the narrow perception. At the end of the process, education,
culture, and economy will be redesigned through feedback. That is, we
will design the atmosphere and the social systems, and they will design
us in return.
Currently, we are at a crossroads: Either we choose to develop a systemic
system and social intelligence while there is still time, or we will wait
passively for nature to impel us to do this, as it does with the coronavirus.
Baal HaSulam explains this idea in the following way: “The law of
development, which is spread over the whole of reality, is certain to reform
all evil to good and useful, and acts … without asking permission from
the people” (Baal HaSulam, “Peace in the World”). When this happens,
continues Baal HaSulam, man “suffers horrendous torments and pains
while under the ‘press of development’ which carves its way ruthlessly.”
Yet, nature leaves humanity with the option to take “this above-mentioned
law of development under their own government” (ibid.). If people choose
this, they can “free themselves entirely from the chains of time, and greatly
accelerate time, namely the completion of the ripeness and correction of
the object, which is the end of its development.”

13. 13
Until the arrival of the coronavirus, our lives were a never-ending
race to satisfy desires that constantly awakened in us. The compulsory
break brought with it new thoughts concerning the essence of our basic
happiness. Alongside persistent financial concerns, we had some moments
of looking from aside at our present way of life: the way we ran it, our
habits, excessive significance we attributed to certain things, and our
neglect of what really matters.
It turns out that the familiar way of life was very costly: It put us under
pressures and anxieties even if we were fortunate and affluent. As we
were racing, it became almost impossible to enjoy peaceful time with the
family, and social events that did not come with a price tag of hidden
competition. How did we come to this race? What do we want to achieve
at the end of it? What is causing us to keep at it?
The wisdom of Kabbalah says that the impetus to keep racing is the
substance at the basis of our makeup. It is called “will to receive delight
and pleasure.” The will to receive, as Kabbalah usually refers to it, causes
us to constantly examine ourselves and our achievements compared to
those of others. The aspiration is to constantly feel superior to everyone.
Like it or not, our sense of happiness is always achieved by comparing
ourselves to the situation of the people around us. We assess our
satisfaction with life using a relative standard: Is my salary higher than
the average? Is my personal situation better? If the majority of the people
around me are better off than I am, I will be dissatisfied with life.
The culture of excessive consumerism fits the mechanism of the will to
receive, which is also called “egoism,” like a glove to a hand. It sells us
an illusion that if we only purchase the newest model before everyone
else, it will grant us satisfaction and happiness. Gradually, we learned to
Updated Definition of Happiness

14. 14
consume not according to our natural needs but as a way to satisfy our
passion to improve our image of ourselves. Advertising expanded and
grew, and began to constantly present the next item we “must” have. In
this way, we began to think that our happiness depended on our material
achievements and our purchasing power.
However, man’s desires are not static; they are in constant growth. For
this reason, even if we obtain what we want, it gives us only a momentary
satisfaction. It was said about this, “One who has one hundred wants two
hundred.” This illusion of the pleasure that the next purchase will bring
us, in addition to the constant drive to excel over others, wears us out and
eventually leaves us very few moments of satisfaction and happiness.
Additionally,whentheegoismdevelops,itpushesustoacttowardobtaining
our personal goals even if at the expense of others. However, the more
the system of connections among people tightens and interdependency
increases, the more we will see that egoistic success cannot yield lasting
happiness since our personal happiness will depend more and more on
the well-being of the entire system. Success at the expense of others will
manifest as detrimental to us, and as a result, the paradigm of happiness
will change.
In the new world, the level of success and happiness will not be tied to
personal achievements, but to the quality of connections among people.
A person who has developed social intelligence will receive emotional
satisfaction from the people around, and the good connection with them
will give that person a sense of happiness. Therefore, in every interaction
one is in, he or she will look for ways to benefit the people around. It will
be clear to that person that this is the way to make others and oneself
happy since we are all connected in a single system.
Developing the mutual connection among everyone is a process that is in
line with the course of nature’s evolution, and will therefore lead us to a

15. 15
“The benefit of each and every person within his
collective is evaluated not according to his own benefit,
but according to his service to the public. … He who harms the
collective takes his share in the harm, and he who benefits the
collective takes his share in the benefit.”
Baal HaSulam, “Peace in the World”
betterandmoreadvancedstate.People’ssensethattheyarecomplementing
one another will lead them to realize their personal potential and to true
happiness.
It is a kind of psychological inversion that is still difficult to grasp since
the operating system within us aims only toward self-concern. Therefore,
advancement toward systemic thinking and its many benefits depends
on learning the new approach and practicing it in all the systems of
connections in our daily lives. This is what we will focus on in the coming
chapters.

16. 43
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