The founder of the Jewish ethical movement, Rabbi Israel Salanter tells the story of a strange town on a Shabbat when he was invited to eat with one of the town’s most respected families. Returning from Services, his host noticed to is great horror that his wife had forgotten to cover the hallot. Fearful that Rabbi Salanter think his household was not knowledgeable about the tradition, the man yelled at his wife for forgetting this basic act. Mortified and blushing with shame, she ran to drape the cover over the bread. When it came time to recite the Kiddush, Rabbi Salanter stopped the man and said: “I am not sure the food in this house is kosher. It is a home that worries more about embarrassing bread than embarrassing people.”
“To say the right thing at the right time, keep still most of the time.” John W. Roper Those who get in trouble most often are those cannot seem to keep still, remain silent. Life teaches many lessons. Among the best lessons of life is one my father taught me at an early age was, “If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing.” The contributions we make to life via our mouth are many and varied. Most of the time, I reckon, they are not contributions at all, but things that diminish the richness of life.
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