I Should, I Should Not, I Can, I Must Not”- How To Avoid A Blind Choice
Biden says he will stop sending bombs and artillery shells to Israel if it launches major invasion of Rafah”, so read the headlines.
I can only hope it isn’t his own voice, but that he’d been ill advised by the voice of others.
Perhaps then, he’ll come back to the right choice.
In this week’s Torah portion, we are commanded, “Don’t place a stumbling block before the blind” and this law includes the prohibition of giving bad advice. Even if it might not necessarily be bad for the recipient, it must not be given with any selfish or ulterior motives.
Jewish law is reminding us that when we are offering advice, we must place aside our own agenda and make sure that the words we share are with the pure intention of assisting the person who we’re advising.
This might feel more obvious when offering a consultation in business or advise to a neighbor…but we must also be introspective when offering guidance to our family members or children. I must first ask myself, “Is my advice perfectly pure of my own agenda?”
The Ba’al Shemtov, founder of Chassidism, encourages us to follow the same process when giving ourselves advice.
Often times one part of me is sure of one choice, while another part feels resistance. I find myself with polarized opinions inside of my own head. My mind says “no”, my heart says “yes”, my fears say “don’t” my goals say “do”.
“I should, I shouldn’t, I can, I mustn’t”. Does that chorus sound familiar to you?
“Don’t place a stumbling block before the blind”, we are reminded.
Our ego consciousness is blind to the truth and the advice it tries to impose on us can self-implode. What feels good, looks good and sounds good at this moment, might not be in my best interest in the long run.
The Ba’al Shem Tov is encouraging us to hold aside our ego’s agenda, (it might be seeking, honor, validation, approval or it could be avoiding effort, shame or disapproval), so that we can tune in to our soul’s authentic voice.
Regardless of the dilemma, we are assured that if we can quiet our self-serving agenda, G-d assists with guiding our soul’s intuition to the ideal choice.
Wishing you a Shabbat Shalom.
