How is it that the moment someone else succeeds, you immediately feel bad about yourself? Why, instead of rejoicing with them, why does your heart become constricted and you feel like you have to 'expose' their true motive?
In a fascinating lesson on the story of Pinchas, Rabbi Yoav Akrish reveals the psychological mechanism that causes us to interpret people negatively when they are doing good. Why did the tribes despise Pinchas after he saved them? And what does this teach us about ourselves?
We will understand that when we interpret the actions of others negatively, it actually says something about us - about my jealousy, laziness, and fears. But there is a way to change that.