Today, a casual conversation on the commuter train, or perhaps with a co-worker or an acquaintance, more often than not voices our worries about a world in crisis. Our dialogue may start with the cost of commuting, the price of lunch, or the lack of better jobs, but inevitably leads us to bigger concerns—artificial preservatives, illness and disease, a declining economy, natural catastrophes, and global war. All too often, we find ourselves concluding these brief exchanges with, "What is this world coming to?"

Kabbalists tell us that there is only one purpose for all the crises we are experiencing in this world: It is to make us realize that we are out of balance with the general force of Nature, and that we have to restore our balance with it. In fact, everything else in Nature exists in perfect harmony, following the principle of love and reciprocity, and it is only the human ego that creates the imbalance in our world.

But Kabbalah also explains that the ego is our inborn nature, and we cannot simply eradicate it, no matter how hard we try. Hence, in order to bring about our vital balance with Nature, we only need to correct the way we use that ego. This means developing a different intention in everything we do—an intention of love and bestowal, which will make us balanced with Nature’s general, all-inclusive force.

Indeed, there is no better time to develop this intention and correct our use of egoism than today. In The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard, we are presented with some startling statistics about current consumption rates in the U.S. and their effects on our lives. For example, the U.S. alone, which roughly accounts for 5% of the global population, has used up one-third of the world’s natural resources in the last thirty years. Moreover, with 51% of the largest world economies comprised of corporations, we are producing and pushing consumption as the highest value of human identity across the globe. But the question is: Is the world becoming any happier, more peaceful, or secure?

The fact is that it is not, and Kabbalah explains that this is only because of our human egoism, which is completely opposite to Nature’s law of reciprocal "bestowal." Hence, by promoting our egoistic goals and intentions, we only deepen the global crisis and thus prolong our suffering.

Our experience shows that even when we develop methods of solving the crisis, they prove to be futile and the troubles only worsen. This is because eventually, we are bound to realize that we cannot affect a positive change as long as we remain within our present nature—the uncorrected human egoism.

Undoubtedly, our realization of a world in crisis is well at hand. But only when we become willing to adhere to Nature’s law of bestowal can we truly begin resolving the crisis. To do so, we must learn how to use our nature correctly—and that is what the wisdom Kabbalah is all about.