A Soulful Journey

  Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel said that " the Bible is meant to be our critic, not we its critic." 

Back in 1921 Charles Schwab was earning one million dollars each year.  He was hand  picked by Andrew Carnegie to construct the steel industry.  Why was he paid such an exorbitant amount?  Schwab admitted that he was paid this salary because of his unique ability to deal with people. Dale Carnegie interviewed him.   “I consider my ability to arouse enthusiasm among my people the greatest asset I possess, and the way to develop the best that is in a person is by appreciation and encouragement.“There is nothing else that so kills the ambitions of a person as criticisms from superiors. I never criticize any-one. I believe in giving a person incentive to work. So Iam anxious to praise but loath to find fault. If I like anything,I am hearty in my approbation and lavish in my praise."    How To Win Friends and Influence People It is much easier to find fault than praise but what does it benefit  the person who receives it?  More, how does it  ...

 "What sort of fellow can you be-  to sit down and play cards with a fellow who'll sit down and play cards with a fellow like you?"  - Groucho Marx What made Groucho famous was his ability to be self-deprecating and disarming about our human proclivities.  He taught us how to laugh at ourselves.  What a wonderful gift.  Think of how much kinder and friendlier the world would be if we learned to laugh at us.

Two thousand years ago, Rabbi Tarfon exclaimed, "You know the problem with our generation? No one knows how to accept criticism." And Rabbi Akiva replied, "You know the problem with our generation?  No one knows how to give criticism." Be careful with every spoken word as they can lift up or destroy.

"Improve yourself before you go about improving others."  - Baba Metzia 107b It is easy criticize, far more difficult to be self-critical.

 "The unfortunate thing about constructive criticism is that nobody appreciates it as much as the one who's giving it." -unknown Perhaps then the right attitude is to consider the person at the receiving end before we consider our superiority in critiquing them.

"The authenticity of the scrolls is currently in great doubt, particularly since the word "Oldsmobile" appears several times in the text..."  - Woody Allen In our days, perhaps more than we have known in generations, we need to filter what we read and hear through the lens of fact-checking and healthy doubt.  It is a Jewish ideal that we question everything in the pursuit of truth.

 A young poet came to a well-known critic with a book of poetry.  While listening to the poorly written verses, the critic dozed off.  The poet noticed and asked: "How can you pass an opinion on my writings when you are sleeping?" "To sleep is also an opinion," the critic replied. It is not easy to take criticism for what have have done but it is the path of growth.  Pay attention to what people say...and what they do not say.

Once in a particularly irascible mood, George Bernard Shaw took pen in hand to reply to critic who is complained that he had split an infinitive. ”Well, why not to double split, or treble, quadruple, quintuple, centuple split? Nothing wrong with split as such, is there? What is grammar?  Usage. Whose usage?  The usage of the best masters of the language.  I am one of the best 10 living now."

A cantor held a position in a synagogue for many years.   The people became tired of him but the president did not want to tell the cantor what the congregation thought.   It was decided that this question should be taken to a closed ballot at a meeting.   After the vote was cast it was discovered there was only one person who voted for the cantor; all others were against    The cantor was humiliated and turned pale.   The people, seeing his reaction, regretted the incident and each approached the cantor apologetically, saying, “I gave you my vote.   That individual vote was mine.” Every person gave the same story.   Finally, the cantor said, “Yes, my friends, individually you are good, but all together you are good for nothing.”    

An author once brought his book, called “The Hands of Moses” to Rabbi Charif for his approval.   After reading it and not finding it worthwhile, the Rabbi wrote: “I would suggest that you change the name of the book.   Instead of calling it “The Hands of Moses,” call it the “Face of Moses”   because it is something one can’t look at.” Humor is often funny.  Even more often it is harmful.  Laughter at another's expense can cause lasting pain.

There are many types of criticism.  Some are damaging while others are intended for growth.  Sometimes it is totally dependent on the way they are taken. “The secret of Reviews is that you don’t read them.” – Dick Cavett quoting Woody Allen Know yourself.  Know your limitations as well as expansiveness.