GEN394 When you are criticized, reflect on what the other person has said. Even if you believe the criticism to be overstated, ask yourself: Is there some truth in her words? If so, think of a way to avoid that behavior in the future.   Train yourself to feel gratitude, not animosity, toward your critics (unless you have reason to believe that someone is being malicious, or is always criticizing and never praising you; such a person should be avoided or ignored). Rabbi Simcha Zieel Ziv taught that we are all willing to pay a doctor for trying to heal us; should we be any less grateful to one who helps to improve our character?  Rabbi Noach Weinberg expresses this with an even more concrete illustration: “Everyone is grateful to someone who tells him that in his carelessness he dropped his wallet with a large sum of money in it. That should be our attitude to constructive criticism.”  Because the only way to become a better person is to overcome our faults, you should appreciate it when someone points out ways you can improve.  A person who is interested in becoming wealthy will utilze any tips and suggestions he hears if he thinks they will be financially beneficial.  In the same way, utilize any tips and suggestions that can be spiritually beneficial” (Rabbi Zelig Pliskin, Growth Through Torah, 378).  Refusing to listen to criticism cuts us off from the possibility of improvement.  As Maimonides taught: “One who hates admonition does not leave himself a path for repentance. Admonition leads to repentance” Laws of Repentance 4:2 Denial is a serious obstacle to repentance and self-improvement. TELVOL 1:393-4