Response Is Different From An Answer

This important difference between "response" and "answer" does indeed open up a sense of humility in my own self. Openness, and open tenderness, i.e. vulnerability, require such courage and self-reflection,. Rabbi Burger is defining "response" in a very particular way.. The word "response" implies "responsibility", "responsiveness", and so for me opens up another important difference: a "reflective", attuned response vs a "reflexive" self-gratifying response. "Eye for an eye" is, after all, a response one could make - a reflexive response which as Gandhi suggested, makes the whole world blind (and perhaps in light of this discussion is actually an "answer", and not a response). And while "Turning the other cheek" requires containment and self restraint, a truly reflective, attuned response, as described by a previous comment, is the grandma who scooped up her grandson and responded to his state of distress, the underlying cause for his aggression, with calm, attentive, tender care. Beautiful.