Confusing Paths

Day after day, we've been hearing about Iran. Israeli public officials, rather the leaving such discussions for behind locked doors, having been displaying their opinions, worries, and indecision in public. Do we bomb Iran to stop their A-bomb production or don't we? Do we take the chance of blowing up the Middle East or don't we?

In Tehran, there is no such confusion. Since they have a burning dark-side belief - the spiritual inverse of emuna and true holiness - they move forward single-purposely in their program to develop atomic weapons aimed to annihilate us.

So why are Israel's leaders so confused?

They don't know what our country is all about. Hashem did not give us this holy land for the purpose of Club Med and Maccabee Tel Aviv. The sidewalk cafes on Sheinkin Street don't contribute to our mission that Hashem intends for us to fulfill. Israel is neither Vienna nor Venice, and certainly not Monte Carlo. Yet, our leaders in total disregard of what Hashem wants from us, make wrong decisions. That's no surprise - they're simply confused.

Here's a critically important lesson for all of us: people are confused because they're not on the right path, even further confused about which path to take, and disconnected from their ultimate purpose in life. Even temporary success in whatever endeavor we're currently pursuing won't satisfy us in the long run unless we're pursuing our designated path in life. With the tachlit, our ultimate purpose, we'll only look in the mirror and end up saying, "So what?"
 
One cannot possibly be happy with his current lot in life if he's disengaged from his true lot in life, fulfilling that purpose that the Creator created him to fulfill. Those fortunate people who live their lives while focusing on their true goal in life are always happy. But, to find one's true goal – the very purpose that the Creator created him to fulfill – one must get to know the Creator. To get to know the Creator, we must establish an intimate personal relationship with Him by speaking to Him daily in personal prayer. The more we get to know the Creator, the quicker and closer we arrive at our designated path in life; the more we pursue our true path and purpose in life, the more we understand everything that happens to us. A person who understands what the Creator wants from him is truly happy and fulfilled, no matter what. His happiness is internal, independent of outside influences...

Continue reading Confusing Paths on this week's stimulating issue of Breslev Israel web magazine.

Also featured this week:

Rav Shalom Arush's The Power to Win might be the most important thing you ever read.

Rabbi Nissan Dovid Kivak: Disinterest or Enthusiasm?

Rabbi Avraham HaCohen Kook: Sanctity in Space

Zev Ballen: Teenage Rebellion

Howard Morton: Throwing the Beatles in the Mikva

Rivka Levy: Fixing the Past

Chaya Ovadia: Falling Apples

Tikvah Motley: Training for the Elite

Adina Hershberg: The Genuine Facebook

USA Speaking Tour, Dec. 11-25, 2011

G-d willing, we'll be in the USA for two weeks in December, including the first nights of Chanuka. Our time slots are closing quickly, so if you'd like for us to visit your community, please send an email right away to Yosef Nechama, Breslev Israel's general director.