-The Rebbe
When completing a year of activity and programming, it's fitting to take a look back and reflect on what's been accomplished, and what needs to be improved on. Tonight was the 1st annual banquet & award ceremony for JTeen, my organization for the Jewish teenagers of San Diego. While looking for a few words of inspiration I could use during the evening's proceedings, I came across a very powerful & insightful thought in regards to the teenage years, as taught by the Lubavitcher Rebbe and adapted by Simon Jacobson, author of "Toward a Meaningful Life" (wisdom which the singer Matisyahu has said inspired his song Youth). During the youthful "cultural revolution" of the 1960's, unlike many other adult leaders, the Rebbe spoke often about the inherently positive nature of the changes the world's youth were demanding and seeking. He explained like this:
A young person is like fire. With direction and guidance, he or she can change the very shape of the world. Without direction, the fires of youth are wasted at best, while at worst, they can become a dangerous, destructive force. To lead a meaningful life means harnessing the fires of youth; but first we must understand the purpose of youth itself.
The period of adolescence is nestled between childhood and adulthood. Teenagers are no longer content to play like children but don’t yet have the knowledge and experience to be fully engaged in adult pursuits. Youth is one of the most precious periods of a person’s life, and yet one of the most difficult.
What most young people are searching for is a meaningful cause. They are overflowing with a mixture of adrenaline and confidence -- “I want to change the way the world works,” teenagers often think. “I can change the world.” Adults, burdened with the pressures of everyday life, convince themselves that the world just is the way it is, but young people cannot tolerate such resignation. This is the constant conflict between the two groups: young people abhor the status quo, while adults’ lives revolve around it.
Many adults simply write off the teenage years as a rebellious period that a person must simply outlast. Young people, meanwhile, often think that adults have forgotten how to appreciate the very meaning and thrill of life. Youths are rebellious, and adults see the rebellion as one step shy of a crime.
But rebellion is not the crime; the crime occurs when the rebellion has no healthy outlet. Rebellion, in fact, can be the healthiest thing for a human being -- a pure energy that inspires a person to not give up easily, to refuse to tolerate injustice, to not go along with an idea just because everyone else is thinking it. The worst thing we can do with a young person’s spiritual or psychological energy is to bottle it up; in fact, we must do everything we can to tap this energy, to focus it, and channel it properly. To satisfy the needs of our teenagers in today’s society, we must first recognize that their restlessness and hunger for meaning is not material but spiritual in nature, and that only spirituality can feed spiritual hunger. that their lives include a higher purpose, that they must use their youthful energy for good and moral purposes.
The fire of youth must be used not just to build careers but to build homes and communities based on love and giving. It is the responsibility of adults to provide young people with a blueprint, a spiritual guide to life -- which consists of G-d’s word and His instructions of how to best lead a meaningful life.
This concept, I think, can apply to our lives as well, no matter how old we are. That flame of passion within us that desires to make a difference, can & must be channeled practically in the world, and the Torah teaches us how. May we light up the world with our candles, and work to better understand and help the youth around us to light up the world in the special way only they can.
Shabbat Shalom!
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