The last election campaign brought to the surface internal tensions that we had long wanted to think had been healed. The public atmosphere is enveloped in a spirit of polarization and division, and there are those who are trying to fan the flames and exaggerate their statements.
Once again, there is talk that perhaps we are actually a collection of distinct tribes and not a single people.
In times like these, it is good to return to the torch of unity that the Lubavitcher Rebbe carried in equally tense times. The Rebbe began his leadership when tensions between sections of the nation were at their peak. The charges of anger between the communities were great and explosive. Many thought there was no way to bridge the gaps.
The Rebbe offered a different perspective: not to look at the external, but at the internal.
The external image does indeed create a gap that is seemingly difficult for his sister. One is an academic and the other is a simple worker. One is a scholar and the other is a captive baby. One is from the Eastern faiths and the other is from the Ashkenazi faiths. One is rich and the other is poor. One is a believer and the other declares to be an atheist.
But if we peel back the outer layers, we will discover an inner point that connects us all.
Exciting mobilization
The Rebbe taught us to see the soul in every Jew. Even someone whose outward appearance is harsh and prickly is soft and gentle inside. Even someone who despises all matters of faith believes in his heart. Even someone who appears to be a wicked person has a divine soul in him, a part of God from above.
This inner point is our truth, not the outer veil.
All the divisive discourse that has erupted now does not reflect who we truly are. This murky wave will pass, and it will soon become clear that what unites is greater than what divides.
An example of this was the moving story that happened last week, when nearly a hundred people responded to a call on social media to complete a minyan for an elderly man waiting at his wife's grave. There were young and old, religious and non-religious, Ashkenazi and Sephardic. This is the true essence of the Jewish people.
This inner gaze must be cultivated and internalized. We must not be dragged along by the heated and blunt discourse. We are one people, with treasures of love and kindness, giving and helping others. The inner diamond is sometimes covered in dust, but beneath the dust lies the shining diamond.
A day of joy and thanksgiving
This coming Tuesday we will commemorate the 11th of Nisan, the day the Rebbe's holy soul descended into the world, one hundred and thirteen years ago. It is a righteous day, a day of joy and awakening, a day of thanksgiving to God Almighty. It is a day on which it is fitting for each and every one to awaken the memory of the personal contact they had with the Rebbe, and to strengthen themselves by studying his Torah and walking in his ways.
We, who have been blessed with the great light of the Rebbe, who have enjoyed the light of his Torah, his insightful advice, his precise guidance, the abundance of his blessings, and his great leadership, deserve to thank God for planting this great soul within us.
This is a day for increasing love of Israel, for spreading Judaism, for acquitting many with the mitzvot, and most importantly – for strengthening the Rebbe's main passion – the expectation of true and complete redemption through our Messiah.
May the promise of the Sages be fulfilled in this month of Nissan: "In Nissan they were redeemed - in Nissan they will be redeemed.".
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