In the past, the future had a very definite cast. Everybody knew that the future was secularism. Religion was no longer relevant. After the Holocaust it was all over – the Jews who came from Europe with all the traditions were going to be the last generation. America was not a place for religion, and every year there would be more secularism and less religion.
However, the Rebbe said that in freedom we can be better Jews. Freedom allows us to serve God with a whole heart and with no fear with pride. It allows us to share it with others, something we could not do in Europe for at least 2,000 years. The Rebbe says here in America if you teach people they can do everything because of their freedom. There are no restrictions here so Judaism will be better here, stronger, more enthusiastic than it was back in the old country.
The Rebbe was very optimistic about the nature of American youth. The uncomplicated, honest straightforward innocent commitment that an American is capable of would bring fresh enthusiasm to the mitzvahs that we’re supposed to be observing and have been observing for three thousand three hundred years. Now it was going to be with more joy, totally voluntary, out of commitment, out of pleasure. What a beautiful picture compared to what was going on in Europe.
Now the future is young couples raising their children with the awareness that Judaism is alive and well, God is lovable, and God should be served wholeheartedly enthusiastically not only to maintain a sane society but to fulfill the bigger purpose for which we exist.
The message of Judaism has always been that God took us to Mount Sinai and gave us a Torah in which he describes the many many ways in which we can serve Him. He’s telling us what he needs from his creation, his wish list. Since receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai, that’s what we’ve been doing but recently we’ve lost our focus.
A mitzvah is something you don’t need – you’re doing it for someone else and that’s why charity is the ultimate mitzvah. The future is not only more mitzvahs, it’s mitzvahs done right. You don’t have to be observant, you don’t have to keep Shabbos, you don’t have to give charity – you don’t need anything. You’re a guest. But the Creator has a vast eternal plan and He’s depending on you to do it.
The future is human beings with no needs. It means that we’re going to stop being needy, we’re going to stop being dependent, we’re going to stop being miserable. We won’t have to scheme, we won’t have to compete, we won’t have to be jealous. We will be comfortable in being the creation, not trying to be a creator – and then we will serve the Creator with absolute joy.
We are here because we are needed, not needy. That is a divine truth. Therefore we can serve God with joy. Not only are we not burdened with needs, we’re actually fulfilling a vast eternal plan for the creator of the world.
If we are all here to serve the vast eternal plan that God envisioned when he created the world then we are indispensable to each other. I can’t fix the world unless you’re doing it with me because you have your piece of the world. God needs you for the same reason he needs me. That’s why we have to have one God – “One God” meaning one plan and one purpose for which we all exist.
We are not here to take care of our own needs. We are here to serve the creator, and every passing day makes that truth more compelling, more convincing, and more obvious. Anything we can do to further this cause and get more people to ask what they are needed for instead of what they need will make the world a better place.
