HILLEL SAYS: "PEOPLE NEED PEOPLE WHETHER THEY LIKE IT OR NOT!"

Hillel says, "Do not separate from the community. And do not trust yourself until the day of your death. And don't judge your friend until you are in his place. And don't say something is impossible to hear because it will be heard in the end. And do not say that when I have time available I will study, lest no time will be availed."

Your Hillel Navigator

1. How do these statements relate to each other?

A Word

Separating yourself from the community removes communal influence and communal pressures from our lives. Some feel after they have worked on themselves that the community has nothing to teach them. They trust that the community may no longer contribute to their growth. Don't be fooled, says Hillel, you will need others to keep you from falling, so, don't trust that you can do this life on your own.

Similarly, understand that within a community you must be able to communicate with each and every member. Do not belittle another by saying that this is something that she could never understand, for isolating her is tantamount to separating yourself from the community.

Also, judging someone instead of first empathizing with him also places a barrier between you and that person. This, too, is separating yourself from your community.

Finally, don't trust that you will have time to study if you do not make it a priority. Study is meant to be done with a friend. This is the final ingredient for connecting with the community. Communicating through Torah study with a friend is the antithesis of separation, particularly when the intent is a desire to communicate, learn and grow.