0 responses to “To all youngsters, last Shabbat I was in the holy city of Tzefas, with its majestic perch overlooking mountains, it feels as if you are in heaven – no wonder it was the home of the greatest Kabbalist of all time, the Ari-Zal – and remains a mecca for spiritual seekers – a Chabad institution called Ascent welcomes hundreds of visitors weekly, from spiritual seekers to backpackers, but one group in particular is unique – secular Israelis – soldiers to be certain – the army, realizing, these youngster torn asunder from the bosom of their beloved God, ripped apart from their 3,300 year old heritage by an older generation under the dogmatic influence of communistic atheism, they have lost the understanding of what it means to be a Jew, an Israeli, and have no will to carry on the survival of the Jews in Israel – hence the army brings them to Chabad to reignite their soul – for within each and every Jew, the passion for truth is as raw as the epicenter of a nuclear explosion, the pure spirit of God resides, even if layers of apathy, ignorance and even agnostic intolerance conceals it – and there in the mountain above mountains, the soul of all souls, we danced; but during one of the speeches, where a battle hardened Israeli was trying to inspire their Jewish soul, after the lecture a question was posed – “why should I remain in Israel? it is hard to make a living.” – and the answers appealing to his guilty conscience came, but I saw that he has no conscience to feel guilty, for to feel guilt you must first have a conscience (at least visa-vie that which one attempts to make you feel guilty about ) so though I was a guest I asked to speak – “shortly,” accepted the lecturer and I said – (the punch-line) “Gone are the times when our physical lives are in danger (in other words, those who established the state were primarily motivated with survival) but today, it is our souls that are in danger! – wherever you are, whoever you are, please promise me but one thing, that you will make your life meaningful.””