In which I say nothing

 

As the high holidays approach, a young man's fancy turns to inspirational messages exhorting repentance. Or something like that.

Anyway, I was thinking about something as I prowled through the 11th grade morning prayer services, getting annoyed as is my wont.

It seems that the power of being human is not just in being able to talk, David Bowie notwithstanding. Yes, speech is an incredible gift which has guided discourse and the establishing of advance civilization. Additionally, I know that the term "speech" is not to be taken literally -- the sign of humanity has to do more with the notion of language on the whole but I got to thinking about speaking and I suddenly realized a lesson which is often discussed at this, the day of our judgment.

The pwoer isn't the power to talk -- the true power is in the ability to choose not to speak. Our use of language is discretionary, not instinctual! We can decide not to speak in a given context and that control over saying a particular thing or nothing at all is what truly sets us apart. With a word we can hurt another or lift another up. With silence we can let others discover for themselves or continue to be mystified.

I often think of this scene from Ocean's Eleven. Rusty says nothing but Danny fills in the gaps as if Rusty made a persuasive argument! This is the sound fo silence.

Refraining from speaking slander (Lashon Hara, or evil speech) marks a control over the tongue. My dog, Sparky, and all his dog friends can't help but bark when someone knocks on the door, or when someone makes a noise or, it seems, a cloud floats by. We implore them to quiet down but they can't make that choice. A baby has yet to learn the power of stopping when the crying fit descednds. This is growing up.

And, of course, the choice should be not just not to speak, but not to communicate. We can get a message across with our body language, our eyes. And these messages can be as powerful.

So choose to be human and show you can choose to listen to The Talking Heads (Psycho Killer...) over David Bowie.