On Jewish Identity

In a public letter written after his liberation from Soviet imprisonment in 1927, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson wrote that the release was not his alone, but a redemption for every Jew, even one for whom the title “Jew” may seem irrelevant.

A person may consider such titles and affiliations to be a throwback to the past, opting instead for a just and ethical universalism. Is it not preferable to be a “citizen of the world”?

Yet for all of its just motivations, this is not the way to better the world around us. If one wants to bring true redemption to the world at large, one must first redeem himself and to his immediate environment.

This comes from a true sense of knowing who you are.