A Song in Your Heart

One of the most moving experiences I ever had was as a soldier on an army bus, being transported from my home base somewhere in the center of Israel to the northern front where hostilities were erupting. We were on the way to dangerous mission, much more perilous than we realized at the time. There were about thirty of us on the bus, each with full gear and ready to go.

We were nervous to say the least. I hadn't smoked a cigarette for seven years, but my buddy sitting next to me put a Marlboro in my hand, so I too lit up. The pack of cigarettes made its way around the bus, and soon, almost everyone was blowing smoke rings in the air. We looked at each other and wondered which of us would come home on a stretcher or in a body bag. Such are the thoughts of combat soldiers, shaped from painful prior experiences.

No one said a word. No one dared intrude in the intimacy of a comrade's contemplations. Well, the cigarette didn't help much and the closer we got to our embarkation point on the Lebanon border, the more the knot in my abdomen – and in everyone else's – tightened.

The silence was so thick that you could cut it with a knife. The tension was ever so tangible. All of a sudden, one of my comrades - a wonderful young man from a national religious background - started singing a tune of hope and encouragement, sung to the famous words of Rebbe Nachman of Breslev:

Kol haolam kulo, gesher tzar me'od; veha'ikar, lo lefached klal... Continue reading A Song in Your Heart in this week's amazing issue of Breslev Israel web magazine.

My beloved Rabbi and teacher Rav Shalom Arush is a phenomenal spiritual guide; use his advice to retaliate against the Evil Inclination in Evening the Score.

Psychotherapist Zev Ballen writes about the Emotional Terrorist.

Rivka Levy shares the Reflections of an Uman Wife and Racheli Reckles has a lively talk about mikva in Archaic or Romantic?

Dr. Shoshana Kesner discusses Natural Childbirth. We can raise those babies in a better world if we read Dovber Halevi's Emuna Strategy for Peace.

Blankenase is part 14 of Solomon's Trains, by Yaakov Bar Nahman. Duel with the Shadows is part 49 of Warriors of Transcendence.

This week's Torah portion is Beshalach.

Don't miss our two newest CDs, Eyes of Holiness , something every man needs. If you have an unmarried daughter, age 12 and up, The King's Daughter can literally save her life.

Have a great week!