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Have you ever signed a rental agreement or a home mortgage? If so, you've seen pages of fine print.
Pages and pages and pages... Did you really read them?
Probably not. And like me, you probably don't read the screen full of tiny print before clicking "Okay" or "I agree to the terms" on the internet.
That's a mistake... because the companies know we don't read them.
And they make sure everything helps them, not us. I learned this the hard way.
A few days ago my seven-year-old made some accidental "in-app" purchases on my iPhone. She was home from school and using my phone to stay entertained (big mistake).
Without realizing it she racked up $150 in charges. She had been lured by an app promising "diamond stars" and "coins," and she assumed it was fake money.
I immediately contacted Apple. Over and over again the representative read me the legal terms. I was responsible for the purchases.
I kept explaining what happened. It was like talking to a brick wall.
I finally got so frustrated I wondered why a $724 billion company really needed my $150.00.
I don't blame the customer service person. She was doing her job. But sometimes bigness and rigidity kill kindness.
Kindness makes room for mistakes and forgiveness. When we rely only on the fine print, we lose the human touch. And when we lose that, we lose part of what makes life rich and meaningful.
The Hebrew word for kindness is chesed. Chesed can also mean love because kindness
flows from the love we offer to one another, rooted in the love God offers to us.
Usually I have an action step at the end of every mail suggesting you check out a book or product.
Today I simply ask you go out and perform an act of kindness. Say something kind to a friend, a co-worker, or the cashier at the grocery store. We need it now more than ever.
Rabbi Evan Moffic
evan@rabbi.me
Evan Moffic
Congregation Solel
1301 Clavey Road
Highland Park, Illinois 60035, United States
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