Is your child special?

Recently an educator (Mr. McCullough – a high school teacher of 27 years) spoke to a group of graduates saying:

“You’re not special. You’re not exceptional…Yes you’ve been pampered, cosseted, dotted upon, helmeted, bubble wrapped…If everyone is special than no one is…”[1].

 After he said that he was hammered, but also praised in some quarters.

I think Torah has a unique twist on this topic. Yes, “you come from a drop of semen and are destined to return to the dust of the earth[2]”. But on the other hand, we are holy. We are truly unique and G-dly. We are the chosen people. “The world was created for me (alone)[3]”. That itself is a drive to do more – but even without any accomplishments – we are really special[4].




[1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4qfUyfPEj4 
[2] Mishnah Avos 3:1
[3] Mishnah Sanhedrin 36a
[4] This is illustrated by what R’ Simcha Bunim M’Pshischa said to his students: “you should all have two pieces of paper, one should say “the world was created for me” and the other it should say “I come from dust”.