| Our mission- To convince the people; not to be "extremists" |
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| Written by Rabbi Binyamin Zev Kahane | |
| Feb 09, 2005 at 12:21 PM | |
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By Binyamin Zev Kahane Translated by Yaakov Ish Tam Often, it is easier to throw out "extreme" words without explanation, to be an "in your face, I don't care what the world thinks" kind of guy instead of saying the same thing, but in a manner which will be accepted by the general population. Often, this can be achieved simply by thinking a little before you speak. The question is, is there an internal will to convince, a desire that the listener should understand and agree, or is the intention to say that I am correct and you are not? For any normal person, the former holds true. I will clarify my words so that they will be understood. This is a very important issue to me. It is impossible that you should speak to someone, attempt to convince him that your way is the best, without him opening up a little bit to your position, and at least begin to understand where you're coming from. If you do not even succeed in getting this far, the problem is not necessarily with them but with YOU. (Granted, there are some exceptionally stubborn people, who are like talking to the wall, people full of hatred toward us, I am not discussing them) You see, the things which we are saying are so logical and clear that you'd have to be blind not to see them!! The question is, whether or not WE understand that it is so clear? In my humble opinion, perhaps it is here that the problem lies. It is possible that deep down we believe that although what we are saying is true, it is difficult to explain to the average person, and far removed from reality. This certainly isn't so! We have the only solution, after everyone else has realized that they are stuck. Our beliefs are not "extreme" they are as normal as the sun rising every morning. It is vital that we understand this: Less extremism for its own sake- more focusing on ingraining truth in the people, to successfully convince them to leave behind their lies, their shallow packaged excuses and their dead end solutions. It needs to pain us when we are unsuccessful at convincing people the validity of concepts as basic as the ones we espouse. It is clear to me, that there are masses of people out there who want to hear our message, who want to be convinced that we are right. The only thing standing in the way is their many fears: their image, what people will say etc. If we are unable to convince people like this, the fault is with us. Taken from a letter written by Rabbi BZK published in the book "Tal Binyamin" |
