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From the Bimah
February 2006

I have always felt that if you think the person you're speaking to might be the Messiah, your attitude towards him or her is more likely to change; more likely to improve.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't have an opinion, or make a judgment about the person, or the person's actions for that matter. (For consistency's sake, judge yourself by your actions as you do others. Too often we judge others by their behavior and ourselves by our intentions. It's nearly impossible to judge other's by their intentions.)

One of my favorite short stories helps illustrate the point. It appears in M. Scott Peck's book, The Different Drum.

The story's name is the Rabbi's Gift.

Read it and then apply it when you're around someone with whom you disagree. Think about it when a cold-caller phones your home asking you to purchase a new credit card, or to support a local charity. Think about it when you're driving and someone cuts you off in traffic.

It doesn't give a pass to rude and immoral behavior; if anything it can help transform you; transform your reaction to others. Ideally it can soften you, making you less tense about life. Ideally it can make you feel more philosophical-spiritual if you will-about your daily routine.

THE RABBI'S GIFT
Once there was a small town, and near it a monastery in decline. The monastery's grounds were overgrown and dusty; it had only 6 monks left, all of whom were over 70 years old; all of whom were living their lives without much hope or joy. As it happened, near this monastery there was a little hut where a certain rabbi would come for hitbod'dut, solitary time and meditation.

One day, the abbot of the monastery, in a moment of desperation, decided to go speak to the rabbi about their problem, perhaps he could help them reverse their decline, their loss of direction and spirit. He came to the rabbi and poured out his heart to him.

The rabbi told him, we have similar problems. We have synagogues that are empty and families that are crumbling, Jews who could care-less about their wisdom filled religious tradition." The two men embraced and wept. Then they sat and studied Torah together until it was time for the abbot to leave. As he left, he asked the rabbi, "Is there anything more that you can tell us?"

"Yes," the rabbi replied, "One of you is the Messiah!" The abbot went back to the monastery and told his brother monks what the rabbi had said.

During the next weeks, they all thought about it and wondered, "If the rabbi's words were true, which one of us is the Messiah?" As they thought about it, they realized that each of the brothers had a quality that might mean that he was the Messiah. Brother Thomas was very kind.

The abbot was their leader and the holiest among them. Brother Timothy had taken a vow of silence, perhaps that qualified him. And could it even be Brother Joseph, who had a sharp and critical tongue?

With this in mind the monks began to treat each other with greater respect, because they saw their brothers as if for the first time. And their attitude towards themselves improved too, because although no one was so bold as to think that he was the Messiah, still-you never know. So, they learned respect, and they changed the way they viewed others and themselves.

And this new attitude changed the whole atmosphere at the monastery. The grounds were fixed up. People started coming by to speak to the monks. The monastery reconnected with the world. And always they remembered the rabbi's gift.

Rabbi Michael Gotlieb