A
story is told about a certain man who had a Yechidus (private audience)
with the Lubavticher Rebbe, back in 1970. During the course of the
Yechidus the Rebbe asked him a question (I paraphrase): We find in
Judaism a strong emphasis and importance of the right side over the
left. There are many Jewish laws that nurture this idea. If so, why is
it that Hashem created a person’s body in a way that his most central
and vital organ, namely, the heart, is placed on the left side of his body and not on the right side?
Without waiting, the Rebbe answered: When two people are standing one
opposite the other, my heart is facing the right of my peer, so indeed
the heart is on the right side!
In other words, my heart, which represents my vitality and ability to be alive and achieve, was not created for me – for my own purposes. Rather it was given to me in order for me to help others. It is indeed on the right side if I’m seeing it from the right (pun intended) viewpoint.
(The above was taken from “Mishpacha Chassidit”, a weekly addendum to the Kfar Chabad magazine.)
I would like to add my own perspective.
IMHO, the definition of spirituality is the ability to go beyond oneself – to live one’s life for others. (Indeed, this was the way Samuel Hahnemann, founder of homeopathy, defined health: the ability to live one’s life for a higher purpose.) When we get “stuck” in our own story and cannot see past what we are feeling – that one insulted me, I’m not in the mood today, etc. then we are setting ourselves up for “heart problems.” A truly healthy person is not one who is has no issues, health or otherwise. It is the person who can acknowledge (without judgment) that he feels a certain way but he will not allow that to stand in his way of seeing the other, extending compassion toward them and helping them.
It is a lifetime of work, my friends, but well worth the effort. The beauty and heights we can reach by going beyond ourselves is a truly G-dly experience in this world.
Dedicated to my grandmother, Rivka bas Chaim Yehoshua, who dedicated her life to serving others…
You are missed.
In other words, my heart, which represents my vitality and ability to be alive and achieve, was not created for me – for my own purposes. Rather it was given to me in order for me to help others. It is indeed on the right side if I’m seeing it from the right (pun intended) viewpoint.
(The above was taken from “Mishpacha Chassidit”, a weekly addendum to the Kfar Chabad magazine.)
I would like to add my own perspective.
IMHO, the definition of spirituality is the ability to go beyond oneself – to live one’s life for others. (Indeed, this was the way Samuel Hahnemann, founder of homeopathy, defined health: the ability to live one’s life for a higher purpose.) When we get “stuck” in our own story and cannot see past what we are feeling – that one insulted me, I’m not in the mood today, etc. then we are setting ourselves up for “heart problems.” A truly healthy person is not one who is has no issues, health or otherwise. It is the person who can acknowledge (without judgment) that he feels a certain way but he will not allow that to stand in his way of seeing the other, extending compassion toward them and helping them.
It is a lifetime of work, my friends, but well worth the effort. The beauty and heights we can reach by going beyond ourselves is a truly G-dly experience in this world.
Dedicated to my grandmother, Rivka bas Chaim Yehoshua, who dedicated her life to serving others…
You are missed.
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