I’ve heard so often from people that they don’t have any connection to Judaism, that they are not knowledgeable in Torah nor are they particularly observant. They therefore feel like they don’t belong and hesitate to participate. Does this sound familiar? Have you or someone you know thought along these lines?
I’d like to tell you a story about a chassid who was sent by the Previous Rebbe, R. Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, to visit Jews in outlying communities and inspire them in the observance of the mitzvot. When he returned to the Rebbe, he told him that the Jews he visited had asked him the purpose of his trip, and he had answered them using the following analogy. In previous generations, there were traveling scribes who would journey from community to community, checking the Torah scrolls and correcting any cracked or faded letters.
“Every Jew is like a Torah scroll,” the chassid explained to the local people. “But sometimes some of its ‘letters’ a mitzvah here or a mitzvah there become faded. My mission is to restore the letters.”
The Previous Rebbe appreciated the analogy, but told the chassid that it was not entirely appropriate. “The letters of a Torah scroll and its parchment are two separate entities. Therefore when a letter fades, its restoration can be considered as fashioning a new entity. A Jew’s relationship with his/her heritage is, by contrast, a fundamental part of his/her being. It is like the letters of the Ten Commandments that were carved into two tablets of stone; once carved the letters became part of the tablet itself.
“They may become filled with other substances or covered with dust to the point that they are not seen, but the letters are still intact. All that is necessary is that they be uncovered. One does not have to create anything new.”
Please know, no matter your level of knowledge or observance, a Jew is a Jew! You are as Jewish as Moses! Feel welcome to come and claim your stake in your heritage.