Chapter Five

It follows that this union with G-d exists in every Jew, man or woman, young or old, whether learned in the Torah or ignorant of it. At the same time, however, various factors influence the feeling of this union, either strengthening it or weakening it.

This will be understood by an example: Two men, one of whom is deaf, are walking in a busy street. The deaf person does not hear the honking of the cars or the exclamations of the drivers, but the healthy person does. However, if the noise of the traffic becomes overwhelming, the healthy person, too, is deafened by the noise and hears no better than the deaf fellow. On the other hand, the deaf person, too, can notice signs and feel the actual touch of objects around him.

The tumult of worldly material life deafens the ears of reason and dulls the senses of the brain and heart. This is particularly true of youth born amid wealth, and raised in a life devoid of Torah and religion. In them and their like the bonds of spiritual attachment are broken: their ears become deaf to the word of G-d, to observing the practical precepts; their eyes are closed to the beauty of G-d's Torah.

Two circumstances may motivate a person to do teshuvah (to repent and return to G-d): a) abundant good, or b) crushing poverty. Nowadays, the cause of religious reawakening is, to our regret and misfortune, very bitter, but the effect-the return to G-d, to His religion and Torah-is sweet. This awakening demonstrates that the Jewish heart is alive, and the soul of the Jewish nation is perfectly intact.