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Comments on What did the Kotzker mean by "If I am I…"?
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What did the Kotzker mean by "If I am I…"?
Frequently attributed (e.g. by Aish and Chabad) to R. M'nachem Mendl of Kock is:
If I am I because I am I, and you are you because you are you, then I am I and you are you. But if I am I because you are you, and you are you because I am I, then I am not I and you are not you.
I'd like good evidence or a strong argument supporting what he meant by this (or that he never said it at all). Two possibilities that come to mind are:
- If my actions are based on my looking out for only my own well-being, then I am merely myself and not truly part of the community.
- If my actions are based only on my concern for what others think of me, then I have no real existence of my own.
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