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| Art: Xetobyte |
We are all connected, like a single, fluid mass, and this is why we are able to help each other change.
When one of us begins moving forward, everyone else is pulled along.
But if you yourself are standing still, how can you expect to push someone else ahead?
If you need to help someone else overcome his fault, first find that flaw within you. Move forward in that area, and then you can pull along the other guy.
The Mitteler Rebbe:
ReplyDelete"When a chassid enters into yechidus, he reveals to me the inner maladies of his soul, each on his own level, and seeks my assistance to cure his spiritual ills. To help him, I must first find the same failing - even in the most subtle of forms - within my own self, and strive to correct it. For it is not possible to direct someone else in cleansing and perfecting his character unless I myself have already experienced the same problem and undergone the same process of self-refinement.
"On that day," continued the Rebbe, "someone came to me with a problem. I was horrified to hear to what depths he had fallen, G‑d forbid. Try as I might, I could not find within myself anything even remotely resembling what he told me. But this man had come to me, so I knew that somewhere, somehow, there was something in me that could relate to his situation.
"And then it occurred to me that it must be something imbedded so deep within me that it was way beyond my conscious reach. The thought shook me to the very core of my soul and moved me to repent and return to G‑d from the depths of my heart."
"We" meaning, Just the Chosen Nation?
ReplyDeleteThanks in advance.
anonnymous
Well it is written for Jews but this particular situation would apply to everyone I would think. If you want to help someone, you need to identify with them first, and the Rebbe is explaining ho to do that.
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