IDENTIFY YOURSELVES

    Carl Rogers, one of the most influential modern day thinkers, developed a theory referred to as “Client Centered”. His theory enunciated the self concept, which reflected upon how a person perceives himself and how he perceives the world around him. If a person perceives himself in a positive way, then he will be motivated to live life in a positive and constructive way. However, if he has a distorted self image then he may begin to withdraw into his own cocoon and be very negative in the way he sees himself and the world around him. Our goal in life is to have a good self image that will motivate us to achieve our goals in life with great dedication and productive results.

    In our Parsha this week, Shlach, we are told of that infamous story of the Meraglim, the 12 spies that were sent by Moshe to spy out the land of Canaan before they were to proceed to the Promised Land. I am sure we all are familiar with the fact that 10 of the 12 spies came back with a somewhat dismal report, ‘  ושם ראינו את הנפילים בני ענק מן הנפלים ונהי בעינינו כחגבים וכן היינו בעיניהם

 ‘And there we saw in the Nephillim the sons of Anok and we were in our own sight as Grasshoppers and so we were in their sight’

    As we hear their report, we immediately react to these great leaders who, not only, saw themselves as Grasshoppers, but they also reflected on the fact that the Nephillim also saw them as Grasshoppers.

   What a distorted self image.  It is bad enough to be seen by others as Grasshoppers, insignificant, but to see themselves in the same derogatory way is truly a denial of one’s self which ultimately can lead to  self destruction.  This indeed, in my opinion, was the true sin of the Meraglim.

   This attitude must not prevail in our lives and in the lives of our children. We must rid ourselves of our own self negativity and replace our perception of ourselves with a positive self image leading to a positive self esteem. As human beings, and more so, as Jews, we must see the great potential that Hashem has blessed us with to go forth in life to achieve our true self actualization. We must never belittle ourselves and see ourselves as Chagavim, but, rather, to walk with pride and confidence projecting a good self image that will bring about greater respect and admiration from others.

 This idea must also be the attitude for our State of Israel.  Artzeinu Hakidosha must never see itself as Chagavim, insignificant and second class citizens to other world powers, but rather to walk with pride and confidence.  With this pride and confidence we will not let the world trample upon our glorious land as they did only a short time ago.

 Life is magnificent and we can truly be productive in so many ways as long as we have a good “Self Image” as a Jew and as a person created in the Image of G-D.