In today’s ever increasingly visual and virtual world, it is very easy to go down the rabbit hole of jumping to conclusions, based on the surface level story we are being fed on social media.
But yet, we all know that there is always more to the story, behind the scenes, filtered out for a specific narrative or clickbait agenda.
And still, the ‘judging a book by its cover’ struggle is real!
Interestingly, the altars in the Holy Temple were made of acacia wood and earth but both were plated with a layer of copper or gold respectively. Yet, as far as ritual laws were concerned the shiny coverings were completely inconsequential, and the altars were judged for their primary inner quality only.
This is indeed a timeless lesson!
In Temple times, we were not to judge an altar based on its covering. In 2022 this can mean: Don’t judge a person based on their Instagram profile, or lack thereof, or anybody for anything, for that matter!
Every individual was created, i.e. handpicked, by G-d Almighty. Questioning the value of another, or judging them based on external trappings or behaviors is casting doubt on G-d’s taste, so to speak.
So bottom line: If we can look at another and see their spark, their core infinite value, we can then encourage and support them in revealing this to their ‘outsides’ as well.