Blog: The Art of Mouth-to-Ear Resuscitation

One of the most popular leather-binding services in Israel is called D. Roeber and Sons, Inc. It’s owned by a tall, jolly man named Danny Roeber, who moved with his family from Minnesota to Israel 20-something years ago. He lives near Jerusalem now, and his little blonde boys have become “Sons, Inc.” and everyone uses his bindery services.

But to me, he’ll always be Spiderman. 

Because one fine spring day in Minnesota, 20-something years ago, he showed up to our annual Lag B’Omer parade in a Spiderman costume. And I had never met Spiderman before! 

So if you ask me for the secret to successD. Roeber and Sons, Inc.? That leather is Spidey web composite!

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Even before I met Spiderman, Lag B’Omer, the holiday we’re celebrating this Sunday, always held a special place in my heart. It’s in the heart of spring, my favorite time of the year. It’s the day before my birthday, and it’s a pleasant, delightful holiday. 

Everyone comes out to go out together, it’s all about “Shevet Achim Gam Yachad,” brotherly togetherness and there ain’t nothing better than that.

We are remembering Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, two true superheroes of Jewish history, giants in the field of brotherly love, and we’re trying to emulate their love.

And now, as the expression goes (somewhat), let’s put our mouths where our love is. 

What power does talk have in our efforts to create brotherly unity.

People like to say, “Talk is cheap.” But hand-sanitizer is also cheap. Should we stop using it?

Talk is cheap. It’s true. It doesn’t cost you anything to speak. Especially on nights and weekends. But the question is not how much your words cost you; the question is how much they cost the people who hear them.

Maybe because talk is cheap, folks underestimate its power. We neglect sometimes to realize the cutting power of a sharp criticism or the healing power of encouraging words.

Everyone knows the song Kol Haolam Kulo, about how the whole wide world is a very narrow bridge and the main thing is not to fear. But the song only addresses how to keep yourself from plunging into the abyss. What about the people crossing with you? How to help them keep steady? 

One thing is for sure: calm, reassuring words are a terrific start.

Think about this narrow bridge. All around us, there are people traversing this narrow bridge called life. A famous office sign declares, “When I woke up this morning I had one nerve left, and you’re getting on it!” It’s funny but for many people, it is absolutely accurate. For people with a lot of stress in their life, be it from health issues in their family, or insurmountable financial challenges, or awful relationship issues, they begin the day with the deck stacked against them, and their nerves badly frayed. While everyone around them is nurturing positive attitudes and optimistic outlooks, they can’t even see the future from where they stand. 

Their nightmare begins the moment their night ends. They wake up in the morning, remember the harsh reality they’re facing, and the first breathe of the day for them is a groan of despair. And yet, to their endless credit, they push themselves up and out of bed, get dressed, pull themselves together and come out to face the world.

They exit their homes on a narrow bridge, sustained only by the single, sinuous thread of hope they’ve managed to find in their hearts.

For such a person – and the next person you meet could easily be that person, you can never know – an encouraging word and a friendly conversation is a lifeline. It shines a bright light of trust into their darkened field of vision. It raises them up above their obstacles and allows them to think about happiness. It reminds them that deep within, they themselves believe and even know that hope is never lost. 

And G-d forbid, a heartless criticism or a careless, harsh word could easily sever that fragile thread of hope and send them reeling off that narrow bridge back into the bed of hopelessness.

In school, it is always the healthiest, sturdiest, happiest children with the most stable homes and lives who reply to insults with “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.” The weaker children, who arrive at school already half-broken by their awful lives, they never say that. In fact, they would probably reverse the saying. And adults are just children who have grown up.

The Parshah this week is called “Emor” which means “Say.” Say indeed. We must know our own strength, especially that potent strength contained on tip of the tongue. We have the power to save lives with our words. 

So whether you are speaking to your spouse, your children, your family, your co-workers, your employees, or complete strangers, speak kindly. You might just save their life.

As we celebrate Lag B’Omer, let us remember and remind each other: Love works best when expressed.

Express it!