I was on a panel discussing the 13 Principles of Jewish faith, and the audience was invited to ask questions.

A woman in the back of the hall got up and asked,”I speak on behalf of the majority of unaffiliated Jews. Some of us doubt G-d’s existence, and don’t go to synagogue. You spoke eloquently about the final redemption in a world driven by the spiritual quest for Divine knowledge rather than material pursuits. I want to know what awaits me and 90% of Jews today who are non-observant, if Moshiach came tonight?”

One panelist said: “G-d will have mercy,” but the audience groaned negatively to this condescending answer.

There are questions and there are Questions. The woman’s question went straight to people’s hearts and cut to the bone, while I sat at the podium getting hot under the collar. I wasn’t going to get away with an evasive cliché or humorous answer. This was a defining moment. My response could make it or break it for hundreds of people.

Praying for the right words, I took a deep breath and said.

“On Simchat Torah 1887, a great Rebbe, mystic and scholar spoke about the great virtues of simple folk that can supersede the most pious scholar.

These were not mere words. The Rebbe indeed spent a lot of time with a close friend who was non-observant.

An elder Chasid respectfully asked the Rebbe, “I understand that a simple person has certain virtues, yet the Rebbe seems to exaggerate. Why does the Rebbe waste precious time with this fellow, when so many of the Rebbe’s students would give anything for just a few minutes of the Rebbe’s wisdom and inspiration?”

The Rebbe asked this Chassid, who was a jeweler, to show him diamonds of differing value. Choosing the largest and brightest stone, the Rebbe exclaimed, “Isn’t this the most precious of the lot?” Not wanting to contradict his Rebbe, the Chassid reluctantly said, “Well, it’s not really the most precious.”

“But it is so large and beautiful,” countered the Rebbe. The Chassid replied, “With all due respect, Rebbe, you need a trained eye. The naked eye cannot tell the value of a stone, the cut, the color, the clarity.”

Smiling, the Rebbe replied, “If that is the case with stones, how much more so with souls. You need a trained eye; our naked eye cannot evaluate a soul.”

Only G-d knows the nature of souls. I don’t know whose soul is greater, yours (I pointed to the woman) or mine, or this panelist’s. It is not for us to judge or measure the value of souls. Sometimes the one with the greatest challenge is the one with the greatest soul.

We know little about a soul’s journey. Why is one child born into a healthy, nurturing home and another into a dysfunctional, abusive home? Why is one child born into a home permeated with spirituality, and another into a home with a negative or minimal Jewish appreciation? Only G-d knows.

One thing is for sure: each soul is pure and holy, and no one has the right to pass judgment on them.

The Torah tells us that Moses was the humblest man on the face of the earth. Looking into the future, the great Moses was humbled by the last generations, at the footsteps of Moshiach. Why?

Our generation, born after so much suffering, and being killed with the kindness and temptations of an open society- humbled Moses! Despite all that happened, Jews still exist. “Every person has his hour” (Ethics of our Fathers 4) this one attends a class, this one lights a Shabbos candle, that one says Yizkor on Yom Kippur...

Our strength of survival humbled Moses. Moses’ generation had witnessed miracles and revelations: The exodus from Egypt, parting of the sea, Torah at Sinai, forty years of miracles in the wilderness. But our generation did not see miracles. We came after the Holocaust and the pogroms, the Cossacks, the Inquisition and the Crusades. And we are now inside a Struggle for Israel’s survival. Yet, we still exist in New York or Bangkok, Melbourne or Stockholm, Tel Aviv or Capetown - THAT humbled Moses.

I don’t know much more than you do, certainly not on a heavenly level, but my Rebbe taught that if Moshiach comes tonight, those most challenged will be the first to march.

If Moshiach comes tonight, by tomorrow morning everyone will recognize that Torah and Mitzvot is the way for a Jew to live up to their divine calling and potential.”

There was a hush in the room. The woman who asked the question was in tears. I was also deeply moved, I knew that the answer was not my own. I felt privileged to have a Rebbe who taught me how to answer such a question.