Editor’s Note

Going to Extremes

These days, everything seems to be going to extremes: computers are faster, storms are stronger, terrorists are more brutal, and people are more bewildered than ever. Moreover, these changes are not only happening more quickly—they seem to be gaining speed by the hour!

Indeed, a major shift is happening. Below are a couple of studies that demonstrate just how confusing and uncertain our world has become.

According to this statement from the United Nations released September 3, 2007, “The United States leads the world in labor productivity.” The report also added that, “The average U.S. worker produces $63,885 of wealth per year, more than their counterparts in all other countries.”

However, an August 14, 2007 report by the US Census Bureau reveals, “The nation’s international deficit in goods and services decreased to $58.1 billion in June from $59.2 billion in May.”

Does that make any sense? How can the country that produces far more wealth (money) than any other country in the world also have by far the greatest deficit? Is America a poor country, or does it just sound that way?

This isn’t the only area where the extreme is becoming the norm. According to the Archives of General Psychiatry, “The number of American children and adolescents treated for bipolar disorder [manic depression] increased 40-fold from 1994 to 2003, researchers report today in the most comprehensive study of the controversial diagnosis,” The New York Times reported on September 4.

Why is this happening? In the wealthiest, most productive country in the world, life could be heaven on earth… but it isn’t. To be what America could be, another element should be added—unity.

In this issue of Kabbalah Today we will try to address some of the above problems and offer solutions. The alienation of youth, described in the article “You Have a New Message,” the climate change, discussed in “Inconvenient Truth,” and the Harry Potter frenzy, presented in “The Secret of Harry’s Magic,” are all signs that in every realm of life, we are at the edge of our rope.

On the positive side, there is an answer to the problems we are facing, and it is found within these articles. For the most part, the answer to each challenge is similar: if we are united by one goal—the discovery of life’s driving force—The Creator—we will find the underlying unity behind the extremes of the life we face in the 21st century. If we do not unite, our emotional, social, and financial systems will become dysfunctional and we will be facing a national, if not global, breakdown.

Each article presents the solution of unity in its own way, but the spirit of bonding is present throughout the paper. We truly hope you will enjoy and benefit from reading and contemplating the message, as this is the goal of Kabbalah Today—to unite all of humanity through the discovery of the one Source of all wisdom, the Creator.

Sincerely, The Editor