In EmunahSpeak:
The Clarity of Context, we said that whatever
you see your neighbor do you also did once upon a time or may well do tomorrow
with but a slight variation on the theme, not enough to take it out of whatever
aveira was the touchstone between your two neshamos at different points in
time.
And then we
asked: So why is it that there is a Grand Canyon disconnect between the
understanding with which you view your actions and the jaundiced eye that you
cast upon the missteps of your friend, sufficient to ignite within you a desire
to talk about it?
The thrust of
the answer was that while we are well aware of all of the circumstances
surrounding our failures we are quite often clueless as to the back story
attending the other guy's lapse, with the result being as was stated above.
EmunahSpeak:
The Clarity of Context addressed the why of an individual's actions to which we
are usually not privy.
But there is also the where, as
in where someone is holding, which
focuses on one's persona as opposed to one's actions, and while we shouldn't be
judging anyone for any reason, most of us tend to fall into the trap of appearances.
In the world of appearances,
those who have racked up great accomplishments (i.e. knowledge of all of
Shas Bavli, the publication of acclaimed seforim etc.) are presumed to be
holding in a very good place whereas those who, at first glance, don't show
anything are not.
Rav Yerucham Levovitz z"l comes to tell us that it is
not so.
He asks why the twelve spies that Moshe sent out to spy the
land, who were all great tzadikim, spiritually crash landed whereas Rachav, who
by some accounts was a biblical version of a Tel Aviv street walker, reached a nose
bleed height of spiritual development.
Rav Yerucham answers that it all depends on where one's
ruchniyas GPS takes him. If one is going
south, even imperceptibly, fuggetaboutit, because we're going eyeball to eyeball
with a potential spiritual freefall.
So much for the spies.
And the flip side is no less true. If one (Rachav et al.) is heading north in
growth mode, even if it is sub-atomic progress that's invisible to the naked
eye, it's skies the limit as far as future potential is concerned.
In the world of ruchniyas there is no neutral space where
one can run in place or tread water.
It's either up or down and prior accomplishments or baggage don't come
along for the ride.
