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    Achieving great things – in your own way (Lech L’cha)

    The sidra begins, Lech L’cha – “Get yourself on the way”.

    Who is God talking to?

    In one sense, it is Abraham. In another, He is speaking to you, to me, to anybody.

    We all have to get going towards a goal.

    Without false modesty. Rabbi Chayyim of Volozhin says in his Nefesh HaChayyim, “Never say, ‘Who am I? What can I achieve? Will I make a difference?’ Understand one lesson – that everyone can achieve great things in his own way.”

    That’s the human problem, the problem of every human – “Am I really big enough to do great things? The most powerful man in the world is in Washington, and it’s not me.”

    Forget it. The most powerful person on earth is you, me, anybody.

    If we each listen to Lech L’cha and get on with our own individual task – however small it may seem – this will be multiplied millions of times over.

    What does the Shacharit service say? “What am I, how much is my life worth?”

    How does the siddur go on? “Nonetheless, I am a child of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob”.

    What is this “nonetheless” all about? It implies, “I may be small, but being a child of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob I am crucial to Jewish and world history!”

    Never say, “I don’t count!” Say instead, “I do count – because history can count on me!”

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