One of the greatest needs of a human being is acceptance. No one likes rejection. But inevitably, life happens and we will likely get rejected at some point or another. Maybe even multiple times.
What do we do then? How do we handle rejection?
Let me tell you what a man named Keane did after getting a rejection from a certain company that he applied for. Instead of accepting the rejection, he decided to reject the rejection. This is the email he sent to the company:
Dear Hiring Team,
Thank you for your interest in rejecting my application. I have reviewed your rejection email and was impressed by your decision-making process and commitment to moving forward with other candidates. However, I have received many rejection emails this year. Therefore, after careful consideration, I have decided not to accept your rejection at this time. Once again, I appreciate your courage to reject me and wish you every success in rejecting other candidates. I look forward to joining the team soon.
Best regards,
Keane
Chazal teach us that we must listen to everything a Baal HaBayis (host) tells us, except if he says צא — leave. If a host says “leave,” we don’t need to listen. The Seforim teach us that the host is a reference to Hashem. Even if Hashem says “leave,” you don’t need to listen.
Elisha ben Abuya, otherwise known as Achar, was a great sage turned heretic. The Talmud (Chagiga 15a) relates that he heard a Divine Voice (bas kol) proclaiming, שובו בנים שובבים חוץ מאחר — Return, rebellious children, except for Achar. His mistake was that he listened to this voice. He thought that everyone else can do Teshuva except for him. So he fell yet further.
The seforim teach us that even if the Baal Habayis is Hashem, we must not listen if the Host says “leave.” Hashem was simply testing him. Of course He wanted Achar to return.
The shofar can be seen as a rejection tool. Its sound is a call of rejecting rejection. No matter how far we’ve traveled away from Hashem and no matter how low we may have steeped, we can always return to Him.
No matter what voices we hear telling us we must leave. No matter what voices tell us we are worthless, unfixable, unholy. No matter how much we get rejected, let us remember that the call of the shofar is the true voice that we must listen to. Let it empower our ability to reject rejection and come back, no matter what!
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Issue 97.
