There are times at work when I get stuck. I’ve noticed that this happens when I do not have a very clear vision of how to move forward. This happens to my kids as well.

My oldest son, Shemer, who is in fifth grade, will often refuse to do his homework. I spend more time trying to persuade him to do his work than it actually takes him to complete his assignments. Anxiety builds up in his mind. He convinces himself that the tasks are difficult, that he does not know how to do it, that there is so much homework that he can’t do it. He becomes overwhelmed and unable to move forward. He is stuck.

When this happens I point it out to Shemer. I let him know that he can either ask for help or he can move onward himself. He usually asks for help and I explain, step-by-step, what we are going to do. By breaking it down into small steps that are achievable, we continue doing his homework together. Before he knows it, his homework is finished and the crisis is over.

It is disheartening and frustrating to me when I see that people are stuck and unable to proceed. This is especially true when I look at the leadership of institutions and nations. Lacking vision, such leaders often look backwards instead of forwards, instilling fear instead of hope.

Last month, I attended the Second International Jewish Bloggers Convention in Jerusalem. The keynote speaker, Ron Dermer is a senior adviser to Prime Minister Netanyahu. His address was entitled, “Defending Israel Online.” He told us that we are engaged in a war and that the role that bloggers play is as important as that of soldiers.

I cringed at his words. He was turning communication, the most important tool in building bridges between people, into an instrument of war and instigating its use as such. Instead of applauding the efforts of people using social media to cross borders and engage with each other to make the world a better place, he only looked backwards from a defensive position.

In his recent speech to the United Nations, Prime Minister Netanyahu instilled me with pride, defending not only Israel’s right to exist but celebrating our truly remarkable achievements. As he did as Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, when I loved to listen to him as a New York college student in the 1980s, Netanyahu delivered his address, pitting Israel as the hero against unbelievable odds. However, now I listened from a different perspective. Prime Minister Netanyahu positioned Israel against its enemies, as part of the struggle against “the greatest threat facing the world today.” Netanyahu portrayed us as victims, not as protagonists who are acting towards a vision but as reactionaries defending themselves against a threat.

For Netanyahu and his government, there is a war going on. Israel is the victim who is helpless. We are stuck and unable to build a better future not because we do not want to, but because of everybody else.

There is always a way to achieve what you set out to do. I have a different vision from the current government and I act to bring it into reality. While I have used social media as a means of communication to defend Israel and counter misinformation, I have used it more as a means to help to bring people together, not to exacerbate their differences and create divisions.

As Ron Dermer was telling Jewish bloggers that we were engaged in a war and we must use social media to defend Israel, I was receiving messages with words of support and encouragement for a microblogging event I was organizing from colleagues in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Egypt, Bethlehem, Lebanon and Jordan. Together, we used the micro-blogging platform of Twitter to raise money for charity and to bring people from different backgrounds together.

The event, Twestival Local, www.twestival.com, was organized by regions. As the coordinator of the Jerusalem Twestival, I was working with the Mideast team, facilitated by a woman in Dubai. Together we worked toward our vision of international cooperation supporting social causes and succeeded in reaching out to each other, crossing boundaries and overcoming obstacles.

I repeatedly see that when I come together with others and work towards a goal, we are able to achieve things greater than we could achieve on our own. Whether it concerns personal challenges, professional dilemmas or even international relations, reaching out, asking for help and engaging others towards a vision and goal is a vehicle through which we can accomplish great things. 