PRESS ‘LIKE’ IF YOU ARE FOR UNITY!
11/08/2016 08:43:29 AM
Aug11
#UNITEDNATION #ONEPEOPLE #UNITYABOVEALL
We are not born with opinions. Yet, not too long after birth we go on opinionating overdrive. Whether we inherit, develop, fantasize or develop them on our own, we let our opinions go wild about everything and anything. Especially regarding one another.
I know exactly why you should do X, and that you acted idiotic when choosing Y. I can solve your troubled relationship, and I have a thesis on why you struggle with it in the first place.
We are too opinionated. That’s my opinion.
This Saturday evening, ‘Tisha B’Av’, we will commemorate the destruction of the Two Temples.
You might’ve heard this before, but it is worth repeating:
The 1st Temple which was destroyed as punishment for the cardinal sins – idolatry, adultery, and murder – led to a total of a 70-year exile. The second Temple however, which was decimated due to factionalism and baseless hatred between Jews, gave us an exile that has lasted 1946 years! PG may it end now!
For 1946 years we have been talking about unity. And for 1946 years we haven’t activated the magic formula.
The magic formula: That we are all part of one whole. That we all come from Hashem, and that He is within us. That we are one. Yes, we argue about ideas and ideologies, but it never should become personal. We are one! Judge ideas, not people. One team.
You’d think that these 3 weeks, dedicated to the memory of the Temples and the lesson of unity… would hit home!
You’d think that the 7 weeks of mourning during the counting of the Omer, where we remember the students of Rabbi Akiva and how they didn’t respect one another, causing their untimely demise… would hit home!
You’d think that the week of the Sukkos where we bind 4 types of vegetation to commemorate unity… would hit home!
You’d think that the myriads of times each day in prayer that we mention the blessing of peace, including the very last blessing of the Amida… would finally hit home!
And yet, for too many of us the penny hasn’t dropped! WE ARE ONE! We are sent down here to this world by the same Hashem with a joint mission of world perfection, each with our own flavour, and unique colour in the tapestry!
How many years will it take for us to accept that Hashem is waiting for a united nation?
How long until we realize that being united is the single most important human endeavour?
It’s been long enough!
We must commit ourselves to raise families where unity and peace reign supreme. Where gossip is abhorrent. Where grudges are a disgrace. Where judgement of the other is off limits.
Homes where love is #1. Where tolerance is sacrosanct. Where judging others favourably is the mandate. Where we celebrate our own uniqueness while creating space for the uniqueness and flavour of others.
1946 years is over 700,000 days of exile! ENOUGH!
I LIKE Unity.
Tue, 16 April 2024 8 Nisan 5784