In an ideal society, everyone is devoted toward achieving his or her own unique greatness while simultaneously devoting that individual greatness toward the larger collective greatness of the nation. A leader’s role is to enable each individual to embark on his or her own journey of self-discovery and achievement, while also helping them devote their lives to a greater whole – to that which transcends themselves, to Hashem, the Jewish People, and the world as a whole.

There’s a story of two elderly men who had been childhood friends but had not seen each other in many years. One day, they ran into each other on the street, and were delighted to recognize one another. One of them lived in the area, so he invited the other into his home. They happily caught each other up on their lives, getting lost in their stories and jokes as the day went on. The guest finally noticed that it had become dark outside, so he asked his friend if he had the time.

After years of research and preparation, James had finally secured a slot to speak at the prestigious international physics conference. He would be presenting his studies in the field of quantum mechanics and was looking forward to the largest scale event of his life. He had never before presented at an official conference, let alone one of such prestige. It had taken every ounce of courage within him to even submit his work to such an event, and he knew that a successful lecture could change the trajectory of his career.

The essence of life is growth and progress, as we strive to fulfill our true purpose. And as we explained in our previous article, the only way we can genuinely change, transform, and evolve is if we have the capacity to assert our inner will and to create a new reality within ourselves. This requires a complete re-creation of self within our consciousness – a remolding of our inner world.

In addition to the k’dushas ha’aretz and the unique mitzvos of Eretz Yisrael, there is another fascinating phenomenon in the Torah that relates to the uniqueness of Eretz Yisrael. There are several instances where Chazal mention the concept of k’fitzas ha’derech, literally translated as “jumping the path.” This refers to the unique ability to travel at a pace more quickly than the laws of nature would normally allow, thereby enabling someone to travel extraordinary distances in mere seconds or perhaps even instantaneously. How and why does this occur?