“Don’t take it personally.” That’s what Emily had been hearing since she was a young girl. She tended to be on the sensitive side, and she was easily insulted or hurt by things people would say to her. Even though Emily knew they meant no harm, it was just her nature to be hurt. And so, everyone was constantly telling her not to take it personally. Honestly, she was sick of hearing that and she wished that phrase never existed in the first place.
But one day that changed. Emily was window shopping with her best friend, Jane. They started out in the mall, and then were planning on walking up and down the avenue. They were on their way out of the mall when Emily spotted the large poster. In the big, spacious lobby at the entrance of the mall, a large poster was affixed to the wall. “Take it personally”, it said in huge letters. Well, that was a first!
Until now Emily had only heard the opposite – and now something was telling her to take it personally. This intrigued Emily, and she went to take a closer look. It turned out to be an advertisement for a company that makes personalized Hebrew rings. Next week they were having a boutique in the area displaying some of their unique pieces. It wasn’t something Emily was interested in, but because she loved their advertisement, she felt she had to check it out.
On Wednesday morning, the day of the boutique for personalized Hebrew rings, Emily rose bright and early. She decided to go to the library to do some research about Hebrew rings in general, so that she’d know what to expect when she arrived at the boutique.
It turned out that Hebrew is the language of the Jews, and of the Land of Israel. Well, that was something to know about. Emily knew she was Jewish, though she knew close to nothing of what that meant. Now she was more eager to see the display of personalized Hebrew rings than she had been before.
When she got To the boutique, there were many people milling about. Several tables were arranged, with big signs indicating what each table had: PERSONALIZED HEBREW RINGS. HEBREW RING GOLD. HEBREW RING SILVER. JEWISH WEDDING RINGS. And so on and so forth.
Emily struck up a conversation with the woman manning the “personalized Hebrew rings” booth. She learned that Hebrew rings had so many different functions. Emily loved everything she heard, and it made her feel warm and fuzzy inside. She became so friendly with the woman, that she even ended up telling her about how she got there – how when she was young, everyone told her not to take it personally, and how she saw their ad “take it personally” and why that meant so much to her.
Emily decided right then and there to purchase a personalized Hebrew ring, with her name spelled out in Hebrew. She wore it every day from then on. It helped her not to be too sensitive. It helped her feel connected to her Jewishness. And it made her feel great!
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