We learn that every person has a flame inside of his or her self. In Kabbalah, this flame is understood to be a piece of Hashem, called the neshamah, the soul. This flame is our connection to Hashem and what helps us to understand what Hashem wants us to know. When we have an epiphany, or a sudden understanding of a concept, Hashem is speaking to us through our neshamah.
We also learn that every object, plant, and animal has in itself a spark. This spark comes from its very creation. Since our connection with Hashem is deeper than that of the lower forms, we have a flame, whereas the lower forms of life only have this spark. But the sparks in these lower forms can speak to our flame. These sparks try to get our flame, and us, to take the path toward Hashem. For instance, when we see a lobster, if we realize that it is impure to eat and refrain from eating it, we fulfill the task of that creature. When we see a chicken and realize that it is pure, and then eat it or its eggs with a berachah, we fulfill its task. But, unlike the lobster, the chicken has also elevated itself, because we said a berachah on it when we ate it, and we use its energy to learn Torah and do the will of Hashem.
Every person has an inclination both for Good and for Evil: a Yetzer ha-Tov and a Yetzer ha-Rah. Basically, we must always decide between serving Hashem and doing his will, or turning away from Hashem and worshipping Idols. When I perform a mitzvah I am utilizing my Yetzer ha-Tov, and am walking in the Path of Hashem. And when I turn away from mitzvot (like when I get a tatoo), I am utilizing my Yetzer ha-Rah and am turning away from Hashem.
So we always have this battle in our minds between the Yetzer ha-Tov and the Yetzer ha-Rah. When the creation talks to us, it wants us to go toward Hashem and perform Mitzvot and use our Yetzer ha-Tov. However, sometimes this is very difficult. If we have become entrenched in a life of giving in to our Yetzer ha-Rah rather than following our Yetzer ha-Tov, we may not know how to begin.
Usually we begin our journey through the eyes of someone else. Rebbe Nachman teaches that if you see one spark of goodness in someone else, he or she will do teshuvah and return to Hashem. If someone sees something good in us and he or she takes the time to talk with us and become our friend or our teacher, this initial contact - even if it only happens one time - can change us forever. By seeing that one spark of goodness in our life, that person can give us the courage and the strength to turn our lives around and turn to Hashem.
Those of us that are studying in Yeshivah and are considered Ba'alei T'shuvah may well understand this. I personally can think back to a time when I met someone who had no reason to see the good in me. But that person took the time to talk to me, and to help me. This started me down the path toward Hashem. My personal flame became stronger, and the sparks of the surrounding objects helped me along. The more I learn, the more I want to follow this path of Hashem.
Sometimes, though, it is also difficult to continue. An explanation from one of Rebbe Nachman's stories can help us along. We live on the earth, and imagine Hashem in the sky. If my soul creates a light that goes straight up, Hashem can see that light. When I take a step toward Hashem, on the earth my step seems very small. But no matter how small my step on the earth, my light from my soul is moved a large amount, because my light moves with me around the curvature of the earth. Hashem sees my light and therefore my small steps and is pleased. Hopefully he will let me see some of the sparks in the objects around me to help me along.
One time, after I started back toward the path of Hashem, I was privileged to hold the Torah scroll. When I held that Torah, and thought about the number of people that had read those words, that had fought for this scroll I hold in my hand, and the story that is included about our people in these words, I was humbled. I am only a man, holding this scroll, but I was allowed, at that moment, to see the light from this sefer torah, because at that time I needed the strength to continue on my path.
What can we learn from all this? We learn that it only takes one spark or one step to start on the path back to Hashem. And once we start on the path, Hashem will help us, and other Jews will help us too. This week, we had a fast day commemorating many things, including the destruction of the Temple which happened because we didn't walk in the way of Hashem. We also commemorated the Shoah, the Holocaust. From the Holocaust we learn stories of bravery and sticking to Judaism in the face of great peril.
There was a story on the bulletin board here at the Yeshivah. It talked about a group of people in a concentration camp. During Chanukah, they took oil from their soup and a potato, along with a little bit of wool, and they used these things to light a light for Chanukah. We learn about people that hid Teffillin so that a whole bunk-house would be able to keep the Mitzvah of Tefillin. We learn about people who memorized pieces of Tefillah (Prayers) or parts of the Torah, so that they could still pray and study Torah in the camps. These people fought the Nazis with their minds and not their bodies. It's because of people such as these that we merit having Israel today.
It's because these people stayed on the path of Hashem, that we are free now to study Torah and celebrate our holidays. Am Yisrael Chai, the Jewish People Lives. We survived the Greeks like Alexander the Great, the Romans, the Nazis. We revitalized a "dead" language, something that had never happened before. All these things make me proud to be a Jew, and all these things motivate me to study Torah and walk on the path of Hashem.
See the good in people, and they can do teshuvah, be proud of our Judaism, and perform mitzvot; these things will bring us to a better world, a place closer to a world without suffering and war.