“Before you judge a man, walk a mile in his shoes.”
-- Popular adage attributed to Mary T. Lathrap
We all want to be seen for who we are, yet how often do we take the time to truly understand others? We seek validation, but do we give it? When we do, is it for their sake or for our own?
Maybe the real question is if we’re willing to slow down enough to listen without turning their words into a mirror for ourselves.
My father, Rabbi Yaacov Haber, often shares the idea that when Moshe approached the burning bush, Hashem told him, “Take off your shoes. You are standing on holy ground.”1 Shoes are insulation. They let you walk over stones, glass, even Lego, without feeling a thing. But if you want to lead, if you want to hear God’s voice, if you want to connect to another human being, you have to take off the insulation. You have to feel.
Think of the connection between two people in sync. Along with shared interests or shared space, they also know each other’s rhythms, feeling safe enough to …
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