There is probably nothing that kills an educational environment like cynicism.

I was once discussing prayer with a group of 20 adults. We were sitting in a circle. One woman made a thoughtful personal comment – and another woman in the circle rolled her eyes. It only took a moment, but everyone saw her eyes roll. What happened to the group? Everyone immediately closed down. No one wanted to be the next target of rolling eyes. We could talk intellectually about the subject, but no one would open up personally, no one would open his/her heart, total shutdown.

On the other hand, I once taught a group of 18 year old boys from New York City. As I walked into the classroom I stated: “No cynicism allowed here. Leave it at the door.” One boy looked up at me and said: “You just asked me to remove my whole personality! There’s nothing left!” 20 minutes later we wrote a beautiful piece of poetry and all of his friends were in shock. So was he.

We all agree there must be some rules for schools, classrooms, and educational environments in order for serious and sincere learning to take place.

Students who beat other children – are not allowed in the classroom.
Students who steal, cheat, and vandalize property – are not allowed in the classroom.
Students who abuse others – are not allowed in the classroom.

But why do we set our standards so low?

I recently spoke to a group of rabbis and Jewish educators and said that if I had to summarize their charge in a brief sentence it might be: souls evoking souls.

I don’t know much about music, but a student once told me that if you hold 2 guitars facing each other and pluck one string of one of the guitars – the same string of the other guitar begins to vibrate. Amazing. Sympathetic vibrations.

We, human beings, also function like guitars. The disposition and frame of mind that someone emits evokes a similar reaction in the people around him or her. When I’m around someone very cynical, I tend to become more cynical; when I’m around a story-teller, I begin to tell stories. When I’m around a profound and thoughtful person, that side of my personality is evoked. I’m not a chameleon, but I’m affected by the people around me.

What happens when people are in touch with their inner lives, when their life becomes an expression of their spiritual connection? A soul vibration evokes the soul vibrations of others. First – I pluck the soul string of my life – and that evokes the sympathetic vibration of another’s soul string.