Baruch Hashem, that pintele Yid has not died in the neshamas of our people. You just have to find it. Take, for example, an exchange I had with an Israeli taxi driver who made "Aliya" from South America.

Taxi drivers in Israel are all philosophers and have opinions about everything that they love to share with their passengers....

"What is your name?" I asked our driver.
"Matthew," he said.
"The name jarred ...it hit me like a ton of bricks.
"Tell me your Jewish name."
"Mattityahu" - he replied.
"Please don't take any offense, but may I tell you something from my heart?"- I asked?
"B'vakasha - please," He said willingly.
"I don't wish to offend you, but do you know that one of the reasons why our forefathers were deemed worthy of being redeemed from Egypt was that they did not alter their distinct Jewish names. Shem Yisroel Kadosh.... the names of the Jewish people are holy. They are rooted in eternity, and reflect our heritage, our destiny, our legacy and our covenant. Just consider that you have come back to the land of your fathers after having been away for nearly two thousand years, and you call yourself Matthew when you have a glorious name like Mattityahu. Do you know who Matthew was? Do you know who Mattityahu was?" - I asked?

Instead of waiting for a response, I went on to explain that Matthew was one of the Twelve Christian Apostles, while Mattityahu was the Kohen Gadol - the High Priest who saved the Jewish people from extinction in the days of Chanukah....and today, you have bartered that holy name for that of a Christian Apostle! Do you understand that?

Our driver, like most Israel taxi drivers, did not lack for words, but now he was silent - the pintele Yid started to work in his neshama, so I continued.

"Tell your family tell your friends, your co-workers, that from now on, they are two call you Mattityahu." And with this, I gave him a copy of my book, "Hachayim Heim Nisayon - Life Is a Test." In Israel, I always carry a copy with me, for you never know whom you might meet and who might need it. By the time we got out of the ca, he had become Mattityahu. Yes the pintele Yid that Jewish spark in every neshama is there.