Are we ever really listening or are we just waiting for the other person to finish so that we can have our say? Moshe Rabbeinu knew our weakness and in his parting words he gave us one last vital lesson to ensure we have a viable enduring society: Listen to what your brother has to say.
In parshas Devarim as we know Moshe Rabbeinu begins his final summary of the Torah. And very early on in his farewell speech even before he reviews the mitzvos of the Torah with the Jewish People he exhorts them to remember one principle of utmost importance encapsulated in three words which may be even more vital today than when they were first spoken on the border between Eretz Yisrael and the land of Moav: “Shamoa bein achichem — Listen among your brethren.”
“Listen among your brethren and you shall judge justly” (Devarim 1:16). That sounds quite simple doesn’t it? Why then is it so hard?
We are a people that love to talk yet often find it hard to listen. Yes we may have enough good manners to restrain ourselves (at least sometimes) from interrupting others in the middle of what they’re saying but how attentively are we really listening to them? Usually we’re just waiting for them to finish so we can say what we want to say. And all too often we’ve judged them before they even began speaking. Let’s admit it at least to ourselves.
