We are not alone
When alien enthusiasts claim that we’re not alone they might be on to something. We’re not alone because of the myriad electronic devices that we plug into or use to stay connected to other people. We seldom find ourselves totally alone. In a list of top reasons for mobile phone breakages dropping it in to the toilet featured near the top of the list. Even brief moments of silence seem to evade us today.
But let us not lament the death of silence and solitude just yet. Instead we much learn to view our constant attachment to others and the irritations they might cause us as the price we pay for companionship. This weeks Torah portion describes the punishment for the person with Tzaraat leprosy “All the days of plague he shall dwell alone; outside the camp shall his dwelling be.” The Rabbis explain that Tzaraat was the consequence of speaking badly about others. Since the individual caused separation of friends by speaking against others, he too will suffer the punishment of being alone.
Being all alone is a great distress. Everyone needs other people. Man loves company even if it is only that of a small burning candle said Georg Lichtenberg.
Having people around you is the source of many benefits, but there is a price to pay. Your friends and relatives are bound to do things that irritate you (just as you are bound to do things that irritate them). If you keep in mind that the alternative to having people around is being all alone, it becomes easy to view the drawbacks of having friends and relatives as a price well worth paying. A wise woman once said: “Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty.”
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