"It has been said that
This task is like the action of a candle.
The candle makes no effort to combat the darkness; it does not go from place to place to shed its light.
Its sole function is to burn with a little flame of its own, and without ulterior motive, it casts a light which dispels shadows.
"
Count Potozki was a rather famous convert to Judaism, a Polish aristocrat with lands and fortune.
He was burned at the stake in Vilna and his buried ashes became a holy place.
One of the many anecdotes attributed to him was his response to the frequently asked question: Dear Count, if you really wish to be a decent person, or even a religious man, we could understand, but why on earth should you want to be a Jew?
His answer was based on the Midrash that the Torah was originally offered to all the peoples of the earth and only the Jews accepted it.
Furthermore, as it is written in the Bible, the choice remains open for all men: 'Because not only with you alone do I make this covenant, I make it with those who are here this day before the Lord and with those who are not here with us today' (Deuteronomy 29:13-14).
In fact, the covenant is an eternal bond with all the generations of those who choose to be of
When those of the nations are drawn to the covenant, they convert; when Jews feel that they do not wish to be a part of it, they leave the fold.
From this it follows that one of the reasons for the Exile is to enable the Jews to wander among the peoples of the earth and gather up these isolated sparks."
–Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz