The night before, Jin wanted to give back as much hurt as he had received. Reading his draft in the morning, he no longer felt he had to send it. He reported the insulting comment and blocked the account. When we respond to something hurtful, we can distinguish between causing the same hurt and taking steps to protect ourselves.
A modern interpretation for this story
A question to take with you
When I feel like answering hurtful words in kind, what can I do first to protect myself?
Share the question together with a link to this story.
About the source and this adaptation
In the Babylonian Talmud, Berakhot 7a:19–20, Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi watches a rooster while waiting for a moment associated with divine anger so he can curse a neighbor. In the preceding passage, the sign is a change in the rooster’s comb. He falls asleep at that moment and, on waking, reconsiders the curse in light of the mercy described in Psalms 145:9. The next segment adds Proverbs 17:26 as a warning about punishing another person. The source refers to the neighbor who disputes biblical verses with a term from ancient religious controversy. The wisdom line paraphrases the rabbi’s change of mind. The phone and comment scenes are modern fiction created with AI assistance.
