This week, social media was consumed by a passionate debate surrounding Clavicular, a young influencer with millions of followers, who visited Israel. The trip exposed him to the beauty and safety of the land, the Israeli people and culture.
At the same time, a video resurfaced of him previously singing antisemitic songs, leading to a fierce discussion. Should someone with such a past be welcomed and embraced before publicly acknowledging and apologizing for his actions? Or should we believe that exposure to truth, education and friendship can inspire someone that young to grow and change?
The debate touches on a much deeper question: When we look at a person, do we only see who they are today, or do we also recognize who they have the potential to become tomorrow?
This week is the Shabbat of Vision (Chzaon). The Chassidic masters teach that on this Shabbat, every Jew is shown a vision of the Third Holy Temple that will be rebuilt very soon in the Messianic era. Yet many of us have never consciously experienced such a vision. How exactly are we shown something we do not see?
The answer is that the vision is not necessarily seen with our eyes, but with the deeper dimension of our soul, often called our ‘Mazel’.
Every person has two realities within them. There is the person we are today, the choices we have made, our strengths, and our struggles. But there is also a deeper version of ourselves: the person our soul already recognizes as our highest potential.
The purpose of this vision is to inspire us to become the person our soul already knows we can be.
Perhaps this is also how we should view others. This does not mean ignoring harmful actions or excusing mistakes; accountability matters. But Judaism teaches us that no person is defined only by their lowest moments. Within every individual exists a deeper soul, a capacity for growth, goodness and positivity.
As we prepare for Tisha B’Av, we remember that the destruction of the Temple came because of division and baseless hatred. Its rebuilding will come through the opposite: seeing the Divine potential in one another, replacing baseless hatred with baseless love and choosing to bring out the best in those around us.
The world is not transformed by giving up on people. It is transformed when we believe deeply enough in their potential that we help them become who they were meant to be.