The Mishna in Pirkei Avos (2:4) says, “Do not judge a man until you have come to his place.”
This means that you need to truly understand what someone is going through, and what he’s gone through until now. Otherwise, you will mistakenly think you know why he did what he did and you may treat him inappropriately.
This applies to all dealings with others. We need to connect to them in a way that helps us see things from their perspective.
When Moshe went to the Jews to relate Hashem’s message of the upcoming redemption, there’s an unusual musical note on the verse.
“And Moshe spoke thusly to the Children of Israel, but they didn’t listen to Moshe from weakness of spirit and hard work.” (Shmos 6:9)
Under the word Moshe is the musical notation called “T’vir, broken.” Usually, it is connected with a note called “Darga, step,” which has an upward tone.
In this case, though, it stands alone, as Moshe endeavored to make himself feel broken and low in order to connect with his flock and get through to them.
Alas, they were still unable to hear what he had to say, but it was due to the stress and not because he had failed to empathize with them.
Thought of the week:
When the Torah commands us not to be cruel to animals, it isn’t for the animals’ benefit, but because we should not be cruel.
