Thou Shall Be Proud

Three Jews were condemned to death by firing squad. They stood against the wall, holding hands and shivering with fear, as they closed their eyes in trepidation, waiting for the end. The countdown began: 10. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4…
Realizing that their time had come, one Jew opened his mouth and cried out, “Shema Yisroel Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echod!”
His companions opened their eyes in shock and quickly admonished him: “Silence, you fool! You’ll get us all into trouble!”
***
Religious pride has always been a rarity. Pride existed since the dawn of history, but was used only for self-centered purposes such as wealth and conquest. It was pride that killed Abel. It was pride on which the idea to build the Tower of Babel was formed. And it was pride that caused nations to rise and fall. It was all about man, his lusts and his ego. But pride in beliefs and religion – who ever heard of that?
Such was the way of the world for the first two millennia.
Then, finally, Abraham came onto the scene. Born to typical, upper-class, idol-worshiping parents, already as a youngster he broke the rules. All alone, he began questioning the origins of the universe, the secret of creation, and man’s purpose in life. Blind faith in rock and stone did not appeal to him as the ideal way to live.
. After much searching, he found G-d. In the sun, moon and mountains, and in the depth of the human psyche, in the happiness of the sunny days, and in the tears of the rainy nights, he found the divine touch. He discovered The Truth.
And once he found that truth, his life and destiny was changed for eternity. The revolution burnt in his bones, and his mission kept his soul aflame. One more touched by the message, one more connected to the divine – that was all he lived for, all that counted.
It wasn’t easy; he was betrayed by his father and thrown into a fiery pit, shunned by society and labeled an outcast, yet his conviction did not falter. Against the whole world stood one lonely creature fighting not for personal pride but for a noble cause, not for conquest of land but for conquest of hearts and minds. And he won.
In truth one may call Abraham the first man to walk out of the box; the first human to break from the norm and be “open-minded”; the father of all philosophers

Almost four millennia later, the children of Abraham are still on it, fighting the forces of evil with forces of good and dispelling darkness with the brilliant light of our faith and our Torah.
While the Jewish nation as a whole is experiencing a renaissance, with many of us reconnecting to our roots, there are still those left untouched by the message, their souls resting on low flames. Their religious pride is in the dust, stored in the old album up in the attic.
To them and to all of us, let the story of our grandfather be a shining example of the virtue of pride, the obligation to question and probe for answers. And, most importantly, let it remind us of our responsibility to share with the world. We must stand up for the right stuff (not only the preservation of endangered species) and fight the war on evil.
If we change our opinion of ourselves, the world’s opinion will respond in like manner. Be proud and be admired; be apologetic and shameful and you’ll be disgraced. It’s just the way of the world.