Get Excited about the Exodus  

The first incident happened long enough ago that I cannot recall the circumstances of my trip. I was flying somewhere to give a speech — I cannot recall where, or what it was about. Instead of schlepping seforim, I brought along copies of the various sources I needed to review for quoting in the drashah.

A very dignified and respectful einah-Yehudis was looking on and noticed that the text I was reading was something other than English, and that I was rapidly scribbling notes from right to left. She asked what I was doing. I explained that I was about to give a speech to a Jewish crowd, and I was reviewing my material. She inquired if I did this often, to which I replied in the affirmative.

Her next comment — to paraphrase the words of the Gemara, “nichnesu k’eres b’libi” — stung my heart. “So you mean your job is to get people to work on themselves? When do you work on yourself?”

I can’t recall anybody having said something like that to me before — or since, for that matter. A powerful piece of mussar like that should never be ignored, no matter its source. Indeed, didn’t Chazal instruct us, “Adorn yourself (first) and then adorn others”? I had to admit to myself, I had a ways to go.