A Bridge to Somewhere

In today's age of unprecedented communication, with all the unbelievable tools at our disposable, one would think that it would be easy to communicate.

It is, if you know what you want to say and how to say it.

What oftentimes happens is that we speak without really "saying" anything.

Words are said and heard without any real communication occurring. I am not really talking to the other person and the other person is not really listening to me.

I am talking at the other person and the other person is hearing what he thinks I am saying.

Good communication goes beyond technological compatibility, Facebook vs. Twitter. Real communication occurs when minds and hearts connect; when two people can accurately transmit and receive their respective thoughts and feelings.

What allows two people to communicate effectively?

Contrary to popular belief, it does not depend so much on external similarities or similar lifestyles, as it does on the sincerity with which one approaches the other.

To be a good communicator you need to be interested in understanding the other person as much as you want him or her to understand you.

The following dialogue, A Bridge to Somewhere, is, we believe a good example of real communication. Two apparently diametrically opposed individuals, coming from totally different backgrounds and cultures -- one an American Chabad rabbi working in Uruguay to "activate souls," as he puts it, and the other a well established doctor, self proclaimed atheist from the interior of Argentina -- explore their Jewishness with surprising results, establishing a line of communication that not only transcends their differences but feeds off them…

We witness a communication that does not just connect two individuals, but that seems to connect each one of them with different aspects of themselves as well.

We share this dialogue--the first part of several installments, which will follow in the weeks to come--both because of its content as well as its unique style. We trust that you will find it educational as well as entertaining.

Enjoy!