“The whole world is waiting for  Jews to be Jews”

- Reb Shlomo Carlebach

what does Reb Shlomo Carlebach mean by the whole world is waiting for Jews to be Jews?…the answer to that question could fill all of the pages of this publication, if I was able to properly and thoroughly respond to it, that is…with the understanding I do have, however, I’ll say this: while on the surface it seems as if the world has been trying to exterminate the Jews for the past few thousand years (which it has), in reality, subconsciously, all the world is waiting for the Jewish people to live up to the high spiritual standards prescribed by our holy Torah in order that the Redemption will soon come…I spent some time in Ghana with my sister in 1998…during our time there, we were put up by a pastor and his family for a week…he was so excited to have Jews staying with him!…he loved the Jewish people and he loved the land of Israel… why?… because he knew, as he said to me, that the redemption was destined to come through the Jewish people…and though that might be hard for most Jews to swallow, especially those who grew up in a secular, liberal, everyone-is-equal type of environment, we must realize its truth…this is not to say that Jews are better than non-Jews…rather, it points to that which makes us Jews different from non-Jews…one need only look back at the numerous times (too many times!) world governments and empires have tried to crush the Jewish people in hopes of removing us from the face of the earth, and all the times they have failed (every time), to realize that there is indeed something unique about the Jewish nation, something unique about the Jewish soul…if one were to think logically and rationally about the matter, the Jewish people should have vanished long ago...such a small nation, not known for its tremendous physical or military strength, should not be able to survive the wrath of powerful war machines…yet, time and time again, the Jews have emerged as survivors…whether it be from the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Spaniards, or, in this century, the Germans, we have endured the pain and suffering, the torture and embarrassment of our oppressors, each time (thank the Divine One) surviving through it all as a nation still intact…

            to get back to the idea that the redemption will come through the Jewish people, this idea that the Jews are “The Chosen People”…let me tell you a short story…an elder Jewish man was being beaten by a Nazi soldier during WWII…as the soldier was kicking and hitting this Jewish man, he shouted to him, “So, you still think you’re the Chosen People?”…the Jew responded softly, “As long as we’re not the ones doing the beating, we’re still the Chosen Ones”…

we see from this story that the purpose of the Jews being chosen to bring redemption to the world was not intended to create an aura of arrogance in the Jewish people, but rather a sense of amazing responsibility and duty…we Jews have a very large task in this world…in down-to-earth Jewish thought, it is known as tikkun olam—the fixing of the world…in Jewish mysticism it is known as the elevating of the nitzotzot, or sparks of light, which have been trapped in physicality since the beginning of Creation…(to read more on this subject, I suggest Aryeh Kaplan's book Inner Space)…it is our job to release these sparks and lift them up from the level of the mundane to the realm of the holy…this was the purpose given to the Jewish nation…other nations have different missions to fulfill, which are also important… just as each individual human has a different reason for being here, each nation of people has been given a different assignment to complete in this world…a Jew who is trying to follow the ways of a Japanese person, for example, is not fulfilling his/her intended mission…for sure, one can learn many amazing things from people of other cultures, but, inevitably, the path one walks on should be the path his/her soul is screaming out for…

so, what Reb Carlebach is saying to us in the few words above is a very deep thing…he is telling all of us, each and every Jew, that the whole world is waiting for us to connect with the light of Torah…that the whole world is waiting for us to realize and manifest the beauty of our tradition…we don’t need to become American, or Indian, or French, or members of any other nation…we need to become Jews!…we need to live with such a deep awareness and such a heightened consciousness so that one day, may it be soon, we will bring peace to all the world, Jews and non-Jews alike…where do we find the teachings, the lessons, and the infinite wisdom to live in such a manner?…in the deep wells of the world of Torah…and though you may not believe these words I say to you now, look into it, give it chance…I promise that if you enter the world of Torah with a loving heart and an open mind, you will experience the infinite light

“Blessed are You, the Divine One, King* of the Universe, Who brings forth bread from the earth.”