by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen Melman
Armed Forces recruitment campaigns recently used for their recruiting slogan: An Army of One. As Jews, this has been our slogan since time immemorial. The Patriarchs were alone in their respective generations in their campaign for belief in ethical monotheism. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob each knew that the entire success of the campaign rested on their shoulders alone. And Joseph, all alone in pagan territory,was just one man against the cultural might of the entire Egyptian empire. Same for Moses. And Judah Maccabee launched a rebellion almost single handedly. Armed with but his faith in G*d, he brought the Syrian Greek empire to its knees and restored the light, cleansing and rededicating the Holy Temple in the process.
We are born alone in the world, armed with a mission to be morally upright and kind, and to leave the world a more righteous place than we found it. We are born, swearing allegiance to this mission as the angel sends us off, as we jump off the plane into the blue yonder of the hospital gowns. Floating alone, we are armed only with an all-consuming desire to imbue our lives with holiness.
Not only are we Jews "an army of one," we are also "an army of THE One." We are a reflection of the Divine. Only ONE can make a tenth, to enable a minyan to function. Nine is worth nothing until you add ONE. Armed with only a sincere and beating heart, one person can transform the world, enabling both the Kedusha and the Kaddish. One person can connect worlds, invoking legions of angelic beings to come and provide harmonic backup.
They say it's not easy to find true heroes these days. "They" are right and they are wrong. If the thought flashes in your mind that you might be needed for the minyan, then most likely you probably are, as that flash of insight is your conscience calling. Your soul which is connected to the network of all souls. Come to the minyan. You might just be the tenth. And for the person who needs to say Kaddish, you will be a hero indeed.
Chag Urim Sameach!
Happy Chanukah!
© 2000 - 2007 by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen Melman
These words of Torah are written in the merit of my beloved father, Israel J. Melman, obm, Yisrael Yehoshua ben Harav Ya'aqov Hakohen Melman, z"l
http://seferchabibi.blogspot.com/2007/07/yahrzeit-of-my-father-27-tammuz.html
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9506EEDC1630F93BA35754C0A9649C8B63
Chabibi stands for CHidushei Baruch Binyamin ben Yisrael Yehoshua
(a chidush, from the word chadash, means a new, original or fresh perspective)
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