Hoping for other Selves

Rabbi Zusya wisely spoke,"When I get to Heaven they will not ask me, 'Why were you not a Moses?', but rather, 'Why were you not Zusya?'"

I recalled this quotation yesterday after a talk with a student. They wrote a wonderfully mediocre paper. I commented, "You have cited all the appropriate sources, you have repeated the central arguments, you exhibit an adequate understanding of the texts..... but... WHERE ARE YOU?"

The student stared blankly, not comprehending my criticism. "Okay, so you know how to use a library, you know how to take notes in class, but CAN YOU THINK?" And by 'think' I wonder if they can hope and dream and imagine and reason and create.

When I think about the critical moments I have in evaluating the conduct of my close friends and loved ones I find that I do not want them to be more like someone else; I want to hear their unique voice again, buried as it is, so deep beneath expectation and P.C. phraseology. I do not want my wife to be more like Hilary Clinton, or the neighbour, or Mother Theresa or Martha Stuart...I want Marla to be MORE MARLA. I want my children to be more themselves, to manifest their species-being in the products or their labour, to express their unique perspective in their words and deeds.

I want the same for my students. My sincere hope is that I will hear a unique voice sing out in the pages of an assignment. I do not want to produce academic clones of my own jaded perspective, I do not want them to be more like me in their thinking and their writing. I want to help them develop the skills to articulate their own ideas, to express their own view of this shared reality.

Can we take this holiday season as a license to be creative in sharing our peculiar voice with others? It takes courage, but I promise, I will be listening....