Effective Communication
A couple of days ago, I was speaking with an acquaintance who shared the following challenge he was facing:
After overseeing a merger with another law firm, he was encountering some resistance from a few of his attorneys. Although they were receiving a raise, better working conditions, and job security, they were still unhappy with the new arrangements.
There may be many facets to the quandary, but perhaps one way to address the issue is through effective communication.
When wishing to convey a directive to a member of our workforce, we may choose to share our instructions without looking for any input or another opinion on the matter. While it still may generate the intended results, our colleague may be left feeling unmotivated or disinterested in the assignment.
A far more effective form of communication is to treat our co-workers or employees as partners of our team by taking interest in their opinions, exchanging ideas and formulating a plan together. This ensures that they buy into the vision to the extent that they take ownership of their job as well.
This week, we commence the new Book of Devarim (Deuteronomy) in the Torah. The book of Devarim is a 37-day-long speech by Moses. In his speech, Moses recaps the major events and laws that are recorded in the Torah’s other four books. Moses wrote all five books. But, as our sages explain, in the first four books Moses transcribed everything as he received it from G‐d, while in Devarim he says it “in his own words.” The book of Devarim acts as a bridge between the Written Torah and the Oral Torah. At the same time, our Sages teach that “the Shechinah (divine presence) spoke through the mouth of Moses”. Therefore, the teachings of Moses and of the subsequent Jewish leaders are treated with similar sanctity and reverence to the earlier four books of the Torah.
But why is the Book of Devarim and Oral Torah necessary? Enclothing the Torah in human intellect seemingly lowers its spiritual content.
Nevertheless, this is G‐d’s intent in giving the Torah: that it permeate mortal thought and thereby elevate man’s understanding. Whenever a person studies Torah, regardless of his or her spiritual level, they are making its infinite truth part of their personal nature. The Torah gives us the foundations and guiding principles by which we can deduce the practical applications for modern life.
Through using our intellect to comprehend Torah and apply its lessons to our own lives, we become partners with G-d in making the world a better place thereby fulfilling the purpose of creation to make a home for G-d in this world.
This Shabbat is customarily called Shabbat Chazon, the Shabbat of the vision. It refers to the vision of Isaiah mentioned in this week’s Haftorah regarding the ultimate destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem thousands of years ago, a moment which we commemorate this coming week on Tishah B’av. On a mystical and more positive note, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev (1740-1810) explains that on this Shabbat G-d shows a vision of the future Third Temple to every person. Although we may not see it physically, our soul senses it and as a result motivates us to complete our side of the partnership and usher in the redemption when we will once again rebuild the Third Temple in Jerusalem.
