Each individual Jew has pride in the context of being a member of Am Yisrael (the Jewish nation). The Rambam explains how the functionality of the nefesh (soul) is completely different from that of the body - there is only one soul. We can appreciate a beautiful panoramic view from the top of a mountain, or a beautiful niggun (tune), but we are not always to excited by a single rock, or a single note. The art of combining many details into a larger, single unit, into "one." Everything we do in this physical world reveals our "one" soul. What is the root of a Jew's pain? From the ground level perspective, Jews are a nation just like all other nations; however, we are a nation that has everything and is completely self-contained. |