Quite often a man finds himself in a crowd of strangers. He feels lonely. No one knows him, no one cares for him, no one is con-cerned about him. It is an existential experience. He begins to doubt his own ontological worth. This leads to alienation from the crowd surrounding him. Suddenly someone taps him on the shoulder and says, “Aren’t you Mr. So-and-so? I have heard so much about you.” In a fraction of a second his awareness changes. What brought about the change? The recognition by somebody, the word!

 “The Community,” Tradition (Spring 1978), Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik