Two amazing lessons [of many!!!] we can take from Yehonatan Lober ztz"l Hy"d:
1] He had not one iota of cynicism in him.
Cynicism is defined as an inclination to believe that people are motivated purely by self-interest. The Sifrei Mussar [based on Tanach, Chazal and other sources] are filled with the idea that people have many hidden motivations that are less than pure. A little bit of healthy cynicism could be beneficial in order to recognize and combat our lower inclinations. But there is an overabundance of it in the world. We need more pure individuals who can see the light hidden in all the darkness.
For some reason, people are attracted to cynicism and cynics. Take a guy like Tucker Carlson. He is a cynic par extraordinaire and has tens of millions hanging on his every word.
Or take twitter/x: A medium of millions of cynical, angry and negative people getting together to [very often] vent their feelings. NOT a good place to be.
2] In Israel, Oct. 7th is called השבת השחורה. He never called it that. Shabbos can't be black. Shabbos is only light. A spark of the hidden light of creation shines every Shabbos.
The two things are related. We need to focus on the light and thereby dispel the darkness.
