What's the big deal about respect?
Let's think about it for a minute.
Everyone deserves respect. We all have merit in this world. We all have something to share and to teach from our life's experiences.
Without respect, many negative things may happen between two people. They might not listen to one another. They might not speak to one another. They might not even look at one another. They might not think about one another. They might not help one another. They might even do harm to one another.
Think of what the world would be like if we gave more respect to even one person. We learn, in fact, that in the time of Rabbi Akiva, there was hope for the imminent coming of Moshiach. What can we do now to bring Moshiach in our time? Perhaps we can begin with more respect.
We can start by focusing on a single person. We can greet him with a smile. We can ask how he is doing. We can ask for his opinions and advice. We can thank him for the good he has done. We can recognize his special interests and abilities. We can humbly say we are sorry for not giving him more of our attention.
We can encourage others to give us more respect, too. We don't have to be treated like doormats. We can ask others about how we can gain more of their respect. We can patiently spend time with people to iron out differences.
It takes time to show more respect. It is an ongoing process, at times even a soul-searching process; definitely not something that happens overnight. Thus, we have this mourning period of the Omer to dwell on this.
Like Rabbi Akiva's students, we can study Torah with someone new and we can become friends. "Hillel says: Be of the disciplines of Aaron, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving your fellow creatures, and drawing them near to the Torah" (Ethics 1:12).
Without respect, many negative things may happen between two people. They might not listen to one another. They might not speak to one another. They might not even look at one another. They might not think about one another. They might not help one another. They might even do harm to one another.
Think of what the world would be like if we gave more respect to even one person. We learn, in fact, that in the time of Rabbi Akiva, there was hope for the imminent coming of Moshiach. What can we do now to bring Moshiach in our time? Perhaps we can begin with more respect.
We can start by focusing on a single person. We can greet him with a smile. We can ask how he is doing. We can ask for his opinions and advice. We can thank him for the good he has done. We can recognize his special interests and abilities. We can humbly say we are sorry for not giving him more of our attention.
We can encourage others to give us more respect, too. We don't have to be treated like doormats. We can ask others about how we can gain more of their respect. We can patiently spend time with people to iron out differences.
It takes time to show more respect. It is an ongoing process, at times even a soul-searching process; definitely not something that happens overnight. Thus, we have this mourning period of the Omer to dwell on this.
Like Rabbi Akiva's students, we can study Torah with someone new and we can become friends. "Hillel says: Be of the disciplines of Aaron, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving your fellow creatures, and drawing them near to the Torah" (Ethics 1:12).
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