What’s Your Story?
It doesn’t really matter.
What matters is how you choose to tell your story.
A young girl once wrote to the Rebbe. Her father was encouraging her to attend a new Jewish School that was opening in the area. However, as she explained to the Rebbe, “I do not want to be a guinea pig to be experimented on”. The Rebbe’s response completely changed the girl’s perspective and as a result her experience at the new school. He simply crossed out the words “guinea pig” and wrote in its place, “pioneer.”
The way you tell your story is more important than the story itself.
This explains why Moses, in this week’s Torah portion, recounted the story of the Jews’ prior 39 years in the dessert. Didn’t they already know the story? After all, most of them had lived through it and experienced it first hand.
However, it’s not just about knowing the story but perceiving it the right way. Therefore, Moses shared the entire story in order to frame it in a healthy and positive way.
Julia Brody, a Chabad Hebrew School graduate and friend, recently penned a beautiful article for USA Today College. She wrote how telling her story, and creating a new narrative, helped her heal after her mother’s tragic passing two years ago (read the article here).
You don’t get to choose your story but you can choose how to tell it.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Benjy Silverman