Cats
It was a beautiful Shabbos morning in Yerushalayim. It was right after this year’s ‘blizzard’ and the fresh air, mid morning sun, and melting snow were the perfect backdrops for a pleasant walk. I was on my way to deliver a dvar Torah at the local nursing home and took advantage of the time to collect my thoughts and appreciate the wonderful surroundings. I arrived at my destination and there they were – cats, three of them. At that moment it dawned on me that I don’t like cats. It seems funny to say, but I don’t go for their “energy”. They seem cagey, suspicious and even sneaky.
..And then I remembered a Chazal – לך לאומן שעשני “go to the craftsman that made me”.
Who made these cats the way they are? Towards whom do I have a complaint? Do I have a better plan for the בריאה than the Borei Kol Haolomos?
הצדיק רב צבי מאיר brings this Chazal in connection to favorably judging our fellow Jews. When we see something off putting in another we naturally have taanos on them. Why does he act so? Where did she pick up such terrible middos? Or, why do they look the way they do? Every honest person knows that so much of his own ways are the effect of “nature and nurture”. We don’t blame ourselves for not having a better memory or that our parents didn’t teach us proper table manners. So why do we so readily blame others?
Hashem wants every type of person with every type of trial in His world. He was the one who sent that pure neshama into a body with many, many bad middos and created trying life circumstances that left someone else a bit unusual. אין צייר כאלוקינו – there is no artist like our G-d, says the גמ' בברכות. He has an amazing, unfathomable plan for the whole world and this person’s unsavory personality is a prescribed part of that plan. Having taanos on the person shows we are lacking in our emunah that there is a Grand Maestro guiding the orchestra of this world.
If we can overcome the tendency to blame others for their faults, we will have a clear field of vision towards the inner beauty in every Jew. Making the words, לך לאומן שעשני, a mantra to say when feeling negative about others, can be a powerful tool to help us prevail over those unconstructive sentiments.
(Please send comments and questions to [email protected])
"if you would lilke to recieve these Avodah thougths every 2 weeks sign up at
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It was a beautiful Shabbos morning in Yerushalayim. It was right after this year’s ‘blizzard’ and the fresh air, mid morning sun, and melting snow were the perfect backdrops for a pleasant walk. I was on my way to deliver a dvar Torah at the local nursing home and took advantage of the time to collect my thoughts and appreciate the wonderful surroundings. I arrived at my destination and there they were – cats, three of them. At that moment it dawned on me that I don’t like cats. It seems funny to say, but I don’t go for their “energy”. They seem cagey, suspicious and even sneaky.
..And then I remembered a Chazal – לך לאומן שעשני “go to the craftsman that made me”.
Who made these cats the way they are? Towards whom do I have a complaint? Do I have a better plan for the בריאה than the Borei Kol Haolomos?
הצדיק רב צבי מאיר brings this Chazal in connection to favorably judging our fellow Jews. When we see something off putting in another we naturally have taanos on them. Why does he act so? Where did she pick up such terrible middos? Or, why do they look the way they do? Every honest person knows that so much of his own ways are the effect of “nature and nurture”. We don’t blame ourselves for not having a better memory or that our parents didn’t teach us proper table manners. So why do we so readily blame others?
Hashem wants every type of person with every type of trial in His world. He was the one who sent that pure neshama into a body with many, many bad middos and created trying life circumstances that left someone else a bit unusual. אין צייר כאלוקינו – there is no artist like our G-d, says the גמ' בברכות. He has an amazing, unfathomable plan for the whole world and this person’s unsavory personality is a prescribed part of that plan. Having taanos on the person shows we are lacking in our emunah that there is a Grand Maestro guiding the orchestra of this world.
If we can overcome the tendency to blame others for their faults, we will have a clear field of vision towards the inner beauty in every Jew. Making the words, לך לאומן שעשני, a mantra to say when feeling negative about others, can be a powerful tool to help us prevail over those unconstructive sentiments.
(Please send comments and questions to [email protected])
"if you would lilke to recieve these Avodah thougths every 2 weeks sign up at
http://rdsvaadim.com/subscribe/