Thread by @kilovh, Remembering a life-changing experience I had at the hands of a teacher [...]

Remembering a life-changing experience I had at the hands of a teacher of mine, a rabbi in Jerusalem

It was a bar mitzvah of one of the Yeshiva rabbis' sons, in the heart of Jerusalem

There was a break in the dancing and the speeches in Hebrew start. I ducked outside...

This other rabbi was there on the corner. He doesn't smoke, but if he did, he would have been smoking. The air was cool after the heat of the hall. He was watching the late night customers at the green grocer across the street

They say new York city never sleeps but I've never seen anywhere with the circadian rhythm of Jerusalem, especially in the religious neighborhoods. All ages at all hours, going somewhere with things in their hands...

And this Rabbi saw it all and knew it all, he was more local than the locals, he knew everyone and everything in that city at every hour.

He was (and is, he should live and be well) a true character who probably deserves a full biography of his own, the stories are endless

I had been in his class for a few months, various interactions. He is the kind of Rabbi that makes you uneasy because his tact and politeness are so perfect that you know he could tell you what he really thought of you and it would blow your mind

He's one of the few people I've met who has true charisma in the sense that you always want to get closer to unveil the mystery and the closer you get the more uneasy you become, etc.

Anyway he engaged me in conversation. Some small talk I don't remember, and he seems to be preparing to give me some honest low-level basic life criticism

Now you have to understand, I was 18 and I thought all my issues were profoundly wrapped up with sins against G-d and controlling my desires and my deep hedonistic tendencies and my inability to have any religious discipline whatsoever, etc.

So when he says basically, in much nicer words I'm sure, "you know what your problem is?" I'm waiting to finally hear how he has intuited my inevitable failure at this holy school and how I shouldn't have even been admitted etc.

He tells me, "You're very smart and a very good student in my class, but when other students are less quick to grasp the idea, you're very dismissive of them. I think you should be more considerate and respectful of your fellow students, it's not nice."

This totally blew my mind and in its own way helped to reorient my life. I was totally unaware. *totally* unaware

This comment pulled me from tortured overwrought egotistical introspection, and put me on a path to thinking at least a little about others

And if this is not the core of Chassidus, who knows what is...

It is the Jewish month of joy and I am thoroughly convinced this incident is the key to joy. My life has been getting progressively more joyous since that moment.

We must find the way to help others, to lift others up, to do kindness to others. To foster love and peace

The more we do this and the less we worry about how bad we allegedly are, the more joyous we shall be. I pray G-d helps me and helps you in this regard.

Latest Threads Unrolled: