Wednesday nights - Rav Benzion's Tanya shiur..........Please continue to daven for the good health of the Rebbe (Yechiel Michel ben Devorah Leah) and Rebbetzin (Feiga bas Sarah).

Friday, April 22, 2011

Sefiras HaOmer: Collective Kavod

We know that during the days of Sefira, 24,000 of Rebbe Akiva's talmidim passed away. We are told that it is because "shelo nahagu kavod zeh b'zeh", they did not deal carefully with each others honor.

The Rebbe interpreted this to mean that they did not feel their own kavod--their own worth--enough to be more careful. They failed to understand that the way they deal with themselves affects the entire kehila.

"How scrupulous one is about his own kashrus, about coming to minyanim, making sure to learn as much as he possibly can, what one allows into his home..."

If we don't care enough to be careful about our own kavod and well-being, then we are being hurting the kavod of everyone. "Zeh b'zeh" means that they did not act as though their own actions and integrity effected the next person.

Nobody is an island, and how we behave even in our most private moments ripples throughout a given kehilla or chevra and Klal Yisroel at large. If we don't value our own growth and connection to Hashem, we will never relate to others properly.

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