BEYOND AM YISRAEL

Our Torah Responsibility As Jews

Ashirah Yosefah

“Thus says the L-RD G-D, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread out the earth and everything in it, Who gave breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk there:  I, G-D, have called you in righteousness.  I took your hand, created you, and made you a covenant people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes of the blind and to release prisoners from jail and those who sit in darkness from the dungeon.  I am G-D; that is My Name.  I will not grant My honor to anyone else or My glory to idols.” (Yeshayahu 42:5-8, The Living Nach, A Translation by Aryeh Kaplan)

In the years preceding his death, the Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson instructed his followers that the time had come for Jews to reach out to the nations of the world and to instruct them in the Seven Universal Laws of mankind, to live a life according to Torah and by so doing to exemplify in the eyes of all mankind the reality of the G-D of Israel and the importance to His Torah.  In saying this, The Rebbe reflected that he had pondered long and hard why it was that we had not yet merited seeing Moshiach and the conclusion at which he had arrived was that Jews were not upholding their responsibility to the nations as expressed by G-D to Moshe Rabbeinu, commanded in Torah, and re-emphasized by the Prophets of Israel.  It is in the spirit of The Rebbe’s vision and discernment that Shuvoo addresses a number of the articles on this website to Jews, encouraging the covenant people to live up to this requirement of our covenant with Hashem.  In the increasing darkness of falsehood and the growing evil that engulfs our world, it is time for Jews to be Jews … it is time for Jews to be Light to the Nations.  As The Rebbe was wont to say, “A little Light dispels a lot of darkness.”

Before Jews can be Light to the Nations, we must connect to the ultimate Source of Divine Light, Hashem, through obedience to His commandments set forth in Torah.  We must absorb and internalize His Light before we can share that Light with others, both Jews and non-Jews.  It is our hope and our prayer that articles presented on this website will inspire Jews to step into this role that has been so long ignored, that we might encourage one another to strengthen ourselves in our service of Hashem and share the Light of His Torah, beginning with the Seven Universal Laws, to the many amongst the nations who are now clamoring for spiritual clarity and turning to Jews and towards Torah for help.