A good friend of my wife's went to visit her parents in the States recently. Her family is from the Midwest and are frum, but would not call themselves "Ultra-Orthodox." When she was with her father, somebody who he knows asked him, "You consider yourself Orthodox, don't you?" "Yeah, of course, why?" "Then why don't you dress like those guys you see on the news, only black and white with those side-curl things?" Without giving much thought he replied, "You know how Homer Simpson and Flanders both go to the same church? Well… I'm Homer"
What a great line!
Okay, on to more important things.
I ran into an interesting Gemara (Chagigah 5a) this week. In the very last line of Koheles, Shlomo HaMelech writes "For G-d will bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it is good, or whether it is evil."
The Gemara asks, what exactly is "every hidden thing"? My first reaction would be something a person did against another without his knowing, or something he did thinking "Hashem won't see it." Something along those lines.
Rav replies "somebody who kills a louse in front of his friend and disgusts him," while Shmuel replies, "somebody who spits in front of his friend and disgusts him."
The M'harsha adds that Rav was saying that by not thinking of others, even in such a way that he is merely disgusting another, a person will be held accountable. Shmuel adds that regarding a louse, it's possible to simply flick it away, however even spit, which a person has no control over, he could still cover it up instead of leaving it exposed.
From here we see a very clear lesson, which is something we don't normally think about. Usually, when we think of interpersonal relationships, we think of bigger things, such as not hurting others financially, physically, or emotionally. However, even something as "small" as not disgusting others, needs to be considered in all our actions.
Which of course means, every time I find a slug sliming its way in our home, I shouldn't pick it up and bring it to my daughters… dang … why did I have to learn this Gemara??
Have a wonderful Shabbos and may all wives have mercy on their husbands over the next week.