Closed Minds and Open Sewers

Rav Avigdor Miller zt’l

Q: Last week you said that we should be close-minded. You said that being close minded is a greatnes. But I heard from a prominent mashgiach that a person should be open-minded?

A: If your mind is closed, and it’s open only to the subject of Hashem, that’s the most open mind you could have. And if your mind is open to anything at all, if it lets everything in, then it’s the most closed mind that there is.

Because, let’s say, your mind is open because you want to be open-minded. So whatever you hear comes into your mind. And what is the result? All kinds of sewage collect in your mind. All kinds of garbage are now filling up your mind, so there’s nothing in your mind at all. It’s just a garbage disposal, that’s all.

But when your mind is always full of Hashem, full of Torah, full of noble thoughts, full of בחינה, full of ideals of the Torah, so your mind is closed. It’s a close mind – nothing can come in except for good things. That’s the most valuable mind in the world. That’s the mind that Hashem loves.

I’ll give you a mashal. In a bank you have the bank vault, the safe. It’s a closed place. There’s nothing in there except for gold and silver. And stacks of greenbacks; that’s all that you’ll find there. You want an open place?! Walk out of the bank, stop at the curb, and look down into the sewer. That’s an open place. Everything runs into the sewer. Which is more important? Which is more valuable?

TAPE # 647 (JUNE 1987)