Rabbi Pinto: "Stop everything, it’s time for self-reflection"
In a recent lesson, Rabbi Yeshayahu Pinto emphasized the importance of self-reflection in a person's life, particularly as we approach the month of Elul. During his discourse, Rabbi Pinto employed a unique metaphor to illustrate how we should contemplate our lives and grasp the true reality."Life," said Rabbi Pinto, "is like a torch that a person spins around. From a distance, it appears as a ring of fire. But the closer you get, the more you see it’s simply a torch spinning rapidly."Rabbi Pinto explained that human life operates similarly to this torch. The closer a person looks and approaches the truth, the more they see things as they truly are, rather than as they might seem from afar, where they can appear misleading or deceptive. The evil inclination, Rabbi Pinto warned, works tirelessly to distance a person from the truth, presenting them with rapidly spinning falsehoods. However, when a person draws near and contemplates with a clear mind, things become clarified, and they perceive life in a deeper, more meaningful way.To avoid this mistake and get closer to the truth, Rabbi Pinto noted that God has commanded us to engage in self-reflection at various times throughout the year. "Every night during the Shema," Rabbi Pinto said, "we must pause and perform a daily self-assessment. Every week on Friday night – a weekly self-assessment. Every Rosh Chodesh – a monthly self-assessment. And in the entire month of Elul – an annual self-assessment."He concluded that these pauses and the approach to truth enable a person to understand that life is not a ring of fire but rather a spinning torch. "Only when we stop and truly contemplate can we see reality for what it truly is," Rabbi Pinto concluded.
This article was written in cooperation with Shuva Israel
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