Kinnah Turned Kedusha

When I look around me, sometimes I am disturbed by what I see both in me and in the world.

• Woe that a Neshama can speak, but it is dismissed by the listeners, albeit without malevolent intent or even awareness – the neshama made into חינם.
• Woe that a child yearns with curiosity to understand the world, but his voice is squelched by the adults who “know better” and need to “discipline” – the neshama made into חינם.
• Woe that one can argue and disagree, putting the other one down, without appreciating the kernels of value and kedusha of the one with a different opinion or approach – it’s as if the neshama of the other is nothing.
• Woe that a conversation can be just “words that fill the space” without the person or neshama behind it – it’s as if the neshama of oneself is nothing.

But how to repair?

I can learn to value every neshama and interact with that in mind, according each neshama the respect it deserves, including my own. נשמה שנתת בי טהורה היא.

Each person is a face of Hashem and expresses an aspect of Hashem that no one else can express. שבעים פנים לתורה.

When faced with an individual who on the surface appears anti-Torah or of very different values than me, I can search deeper for the spark they have to share or represent. איזהו חכם הלומד מכל אדם.

I can give permission for the other’s existence, appreciate the other’s role, as Hashem does by creating him and giving him a particular significant mission, and as the Angels do: ונותנים רשות זה לזה.

Helpful Ingredients: Empathy. Love. Courage. Creativity. Humility/Objectivity. Patience. Perseverance. Perspective/Context. Hope.

Helpful Strategies: Look Deeper. Ask Further. Think Broader. Listen Longer.

May we live in a world where נשמות are understood and valued, where נשמות thrive and bring unity among diversity, where נשמות pave the way to the rebuilding of the Bais Hamikdash Bimhaira v’yamenu!