Introduction

It is not simple to live in our times, perhaps it is not simple to live at all (as Chazal allude: טוב לו שלא נברא משנברא) . We used to have prophets who saw us "from the tops of rocky mountains". Seers who could explain to us the Big Picture. And we knew with certainty whether we liked their message or not, that they were true, that they were right.

For lack of prophets, we sought out leaders. People who'll show us the way, who will inspire us to look beyond our small circle of people and issues. Leaders who can interpret the past for us and then point to the road which will take us into a desirable worthy future.

It is not simple to live in our times, for God took away the prophets and our old leaders passed away. We traded them in for "elected officials", for sectarian "religious leaders", for "opinion makers" and "trend setters". In the process, we gave up on demanding an understanding of our past, and we are in the dark regarding our future.

How can we live in the present with an unexplained past and unclear future?

So we are in the times of plenty. Every question, like in the internet, has plenty answers. They are not really answers, but more like "hits". We don't have one prophet but hundreds. We don't have one leader but rather multitudes of temporary "mini-leaders".

So perhaps the best way to live in these times is to observe, think and record. Try to understand what we observe, try to record what happened lest we forget. try to share thoughts with others so perhaps we can understand. And from time to time maybe we can gain an insight, learn a pure truth, peek into a true sliver of the past, see a glimpse of the light of the future.