Thought for Shabbat

In this week’s Torah portion, Shmini, the text recalls that “Aaron was silent.” The great Chasidic rabbi, Nachman of Breslov, commented, “In youth, one learns to talk; in maturity, one learns to be silent. This is man’s problem: that he learns to talk before he learns to be silent.”

We are all familiar with the phrases, “Bite your tongue,” and “If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” This is all to suggest that sometimes the best response is no response at all. Keeping quiet helps us evaluate a situation before we take action. Silence enables us think through our next steps. Silence is golden in that it keeps us from trouble.

We would all do well to take a step back in intense communications and use our ability to keep soundless as a tool in making peace and finding resolution.