Afshine Emrani

Remember. Your humanity is more important than your social status. Be kind.

Years ago my family was invited to a Shabbat dinner. A well dressed, scholarly gentlemen was also invited by the host. Around the dinner table, he bluntly asked my father why #education had been so important to him. My father explained how he had given up everything so that his children would learn, teach, support and contribute to society. The #scholar then attacked my dad for calling us “children” and managed to pawn my bothers and my mother against my father. As much as my father explained that “children” is a term used by parents affectionately, this intellectual convincingly argued that it was a degrading and controlling term. As we left dinner divided and broken, I remained uneasy. I later learned that this man, a college professor in his late 50s, had never been married and was without child. I recalled that my grandfather always held my mother’s hand while crossing the street, even after she had been married with four kids, not to belittle her, but out of love. As I grew older, I saw what compromise was necessary for marriage, for children, for love. #Kaballah had taught me that #God Who was everywhere had to retract in order for a world to be created, for people to come to be. God compromised, because God Loved. Don’t be fooled by pseudo-intellectuals who speak logically but kill with their tongue. In #love, #compromise is more important that correctness and #kindness more important than intellect. When I was younger I used to admire intellect, but the older I get the more I value kindness.