Some time ago, while discussing the situation of the Jewish community in La Plata, someone told me, with a touch of sadness, that one of his sons had suggested that if he, as a father, had truly wanted his children to lead active Jewish lives, they should have moved to Israel. "Now that you didn't," he continued, "don't complain.".

The reality is that there are far more opportunities to live a fulfilling Jewish life in Israel than in La Plata. From the density of the Jewish population, the language, and the food to the availability of places to pray, everything is "easier" in Israel. However, there is no excuse for not living a Jewish life even outside of Israel.

And it's actually very simple. When one has a strong identity, nourished by knowledge and rooted in the Jewish soul, which is a portion of God on high, literally, there is no environment or difficulty that can prevent one from living an active Jewish life.

One can complain and say it's difficult... Did anyone ever say it would be easy? Is it easy to earn a living or raise children to be good people? And yet the whole world was created with this system where one must work to earn a living and actively strive to raise one's children.

The novelty of the Torah is that we have the Divine promise that we only have to take the initial step, open a small hole like the eye of a needle, and He will open for us a hole like the door of the Ulam (which measured 5m wide by 10m high).

To begin with... How long has it been since you took your child (or yourself) to a synagogue on a Shabbat morning?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

sixteen + 16 =

Can manage your subscriptions to this entry.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.