Can you Balance Both Perspectives? A healthy relationship depends on a difficult skill: holding your own feelings while genuinely making space for someone else’s. The Kabbalah describes this phenomenon in our relationship with G-d as “higher knowledge”, the Divine perspective, and “lower knowledge”, the human perspective. One of the many ramifications of this idea is how we view challenge and pain. From the human perspective, challenge equals disappointment, frustration, and pain. From the Divine perspective, challenge is an invitation to uncover deeper treasures and blessings. In this week’s portion, we read about Tzaraat, a biblical form of discoloration, which, when appearing on a home, rendered the home ritually impure. In some cases, some of the stones of the home required removal, while in other cases, the entire home would have to be demolished. Rashi explains that the verse describing the Tzaraat of the home uses a joyous tone, as if the appearance was a positive phenomenon. That is because, when the stones were removed, they would discover treasures that were hidden within the walls: This is [good] news for them that lesions of tzara’ath will come upon them, because the Amorites had hidden away treasures of gold inside the walls of their houses during the entire forty years that the Israelites were in the desert, and through the lesion, he will demolish the house and find them. When a person experiences a challenge or difficulty, he experiences only pain and frustration. From the human perspective, even if something positive will eventually emerge from the challenge, it will come at a future time and is not sensed in the present. From G-d’s perspective, every challenge is an invitation to remove the bricks and discover a treasure. A healthy relationship respects both perspectives. We don’t abandon our pain, but we believe that from the Divine perspective, every affliction is just a facade, begging to be pulled away, in order to allow the discovery of a great treasure of opportunity and growth.
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