The Story That Captured The World's Imagination

Rarely does an event capture the imagination of the whole world.

This past week millions around the globe were fixated on the unfolding story of twelve boys and their soccer coach who were trapped in a Thailand cave and their incredible rescue by Navy Seal divers under most the difficult conditions.

The coming together of brainpower and goodwill from around the world was awe inspiring. 10,000 people participated, including 2,000 soldiers, 200 divers and representatives from 100 government agencies.

As I too read and watched the drama unfold, there was one phrase that I believe captured the heart and soul of this story. In explaining the coming together of so many diverse people and the planing and the successful execution of such a complex event, one of the divers attributed it all to the profound sense of a “common purpose”.

As with all truths they are pure and simple. In theory if not in practice.

If we want to achieve anything real in life we must first find a purpose. A cause greater then ourselves. Yes, we might be having fun and enjoying life. But what have we achieved if we have left nothing behind? What value is there in our own lives, if we have added no value to the lives of others?

But this alone in not good enough. For if we really want to change the world we must collaborate with others. The more we come together the greater the impact.

In order to do so we must first discover a “common purpose”. To the degree that we are able to align our unique individual talents with this “common purpose”, we are able to achieve the most difficult tasks in life.

The Jewish people have had their challenges. Ironically, in this regard too. In this week’s Torah portion, Moses is instructed by G-d to wipe out the nation of Midyan who were spiritually synonymous with “quarrel and discord”. In fact it is this ailment that has been the Jewish people’s Achilles' heel throughout our history.

There is only one way we can overcome this. We, the Jewish people, must come together - all of us - in order to discover our “common purpose”.

Common purpose can be defined as: something which is in the best long-term interests of all parties concerned. What, exactly this is, deserves a more rigorous examination and analysis of all the so called “facts” or even “axioms”. If "the devil is in the detail” how much more so in the real treasure.

Let us be inspired by the navy seal divers who sacrificed their lives in order to rescue twelve Thai children.

Let us be inspired by Aaron - whose anniversary of his passing is on this day - who dedicated and sacrificed his life in order to help all people find those “common purpose”.