Thursday, January 22, 2009

Making Assumptions

When we see someone with a full beard dressed in black poring over the holy books day and night, there is no reason to assume that he is serving G-d more than his neighbor who wears a dime-sized yarmulke and is seemingly distant from observing the commandments on a high level. One who reaches a certain level of effort, becomes accustomed to it, and allows this to be the norm, he is no longer one who is serving G-d. Perhaps he was once.

(Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz)