Dear all,
The other day, I watched my kids playing Othello. One moment, the board was almost entirely black. Then, with a single move, the balance shifted, and suddenly, white dominated the board.
As I watched, I found myself thinking about how differently we see the world.
Life is rarely black and white. It is filled with nuance, shades of gray, and an extraordinary spectrum of perspectives and possibilities.
And yet, increasingly, we seem to approach the world as though it were an Othello board. Politics, education, religion, Israel, and so much more have become matters of black or white, right or wrong, us or them.
But unlike Othello, where a single move can change everything, our convictions are often difficult to shift. We become so certain of our own positions that we struggle to appreciate another perspective, let alone acknowledge that someone else might have something to teach us.
Hillel taught, “Do not judge another until you have been in that person’s place.”
What a powerful reminder! We don’t have to abandon our convictions to appreciate another point of view. We don’t have to agree with someone to listen with an open heart.
But we do have to be willing to look beyond the black and white.
Perhaps we can each take a moment in time to consider another perspective, to listen before judging, and to recognize that our own understanding may not be complete.
And perhaps, just perhaps, we will discover that the goal isn’t to turn the whole board black or white.
It’s to remember that we’re all playing on the same board.
With love and Shalom,
Rabbi Zachary R. Shapiro
