#431 Turn Criticism into a BlessingThe biggest blessing for a person is when someone points out to him not only his strengths and virtues, but also his weaknesses and shortcomings.
We see this in the Torah when Yaakov blessed his children before he died. Yet we see that he reprimanded some sons for having faults such as impulsiveness and acting in anger. But that itself was the blessing! When Yaakov told Revuen that he acted impulsively and Shimon and Levi that they acted in anger, he was helping them to focus on the traits they needed to improve. This is the way to self-completion and it is the best blessing possible!
Today, think of a weakness that someone pointed out to you that you need to overcome. Think about how you can improve in this area and turn this criticism into a blessing!
6 CheshvanIn 1948, the first census taken by the State of Israel placed the population at 780,000 -- 91% Jewish and 9% Arab. A vigorous influx of Jews would arrive the next few years, when 750,000 Jewish refugees fled from Arab countries. Subsequently, Israel has witnessed the dramatic homecoming of Jews from Ethiopia, the former Soviet Union, and dozens of other lands. The population of Israel currently stands at 6.5 million, of which 18% is Arab.
6 CheshvanGod appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am Almighty God. Walk before Me and be perfect" (Genesis 17:1). If a human being cannot be perfect, why did God demand perfection of Abraham?
The entire context of the verse indicates both the definition of this perfection and the way in which it can be achieved. It is obvious that no human being can aspire to equal God's degree of perfection. What man can achieve is to live according to God's teachings and thereby live up to his own human potential; more than man's personal maximum is not possible or expected. Thus, God did not say simply, "Be perfect"; He said, "Walk before Me + and thereby you will be perfect." When a person tries to live according to the Divine teachings, that constitutes human perfection, although one is technically never perfect.
Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch notes that the Hebrew word for "walk" in the above verse is not telech but heshalech which implies, "Go your way in spite of opposition, not making your progress dependent on external circumstances, but being led from within yourself: Let your movement proceed from your own free-willed decisions."
The picture is now complete; human perfection can be achieved by making a free-willed choice to live according to the Divine teaching.
Today I shall ...
... try to realize that although I cannot be absolutely without flaw, I can be perfect if I make free-will decisions to obey the Divine will.