What has happened to America? Maybe you loved Charlie Kirk; you listened to him every day. Maybe you couldn't stand some of the things he said; he made your blood boil.

But a shocking and graphic murder, such a public desecration of another human being, shakes us all to the core.

It makes you want to cry out.

But don’t just cry for the murder of Charlie Kirk. Or for the pain of his wife and two children. Don't just cry for America, for a society that feels that violence is the needed solution to undesired speech. Do something about it. Help us all heal.

Humanity, the ancient Jewish sages taught, is a single being. America is a vital limb of that being. And each of us is a vital, living cell of that body. The more the blood circulates and the neurons connect, the healthier is the entire body of all humanity and all its parts.

But when we cease to hear one another out, when you could take a bullet for engaging in dialogue, then the circulation of life for all of us is in danger. It’s not just the other we have lost. It’s the G‑d-point within us all, the point that makes us one.

That’s what it means when we say we believe in G‑d. Not just a G‑d up there in the heavens. The same G‑d is within this human being standing before you.

You don’t snuff out the imago Dei like you might swat a fly because its buzz disturbs you. You may hate the words, you may abhor the ideas, sometimes you might even have righteousness and justice on your side. But when you take the life of a human being who is not out to kill you, you are killing the sanctity of all of our lives. As the Talmud teaches, you are destroying an entire world.

That’s what happened when Charlie Kirk was shot. America took a bullet. The dignity of humankind took a bullet. The possibility that we might talk and understand one another as human beings lay bloodied on the ground.

Yet there’s hope. It depends on you. Because there’s something each of us can do. All of us, whether we saluted his opinions or opposed them, can learn from Charlie Kirk.

Think of someone you don’t want to talk to. Someone you’ve been avoiding like they were a live wire dangling over a puddle. Someone who would make for a difficult conversation.

I don’t mean some dangerous fanatic who has lost the ability to reason. No matter how sensible you find your own opinions, you can find sensible people on the opposite side of the fence. That’s just part of the innate beauty of humanity, part of our resilience as a species, part of being G‑dlike.

Maybe it’s your mother-in-law. Maybe it’s the nudnik student who keeps on pushing back in class on everything that resonates with you. The clean-cut, right-wing guy who shows up in a button-down shirt and tidy slacks when everyone is wearing t-shirts and jeans. The leftist activist at work pushing an agenda you can’t tolerate. Maybe it’s your dad. Your child.

Just walk over—in private, away from the influence of the crowd—look them sincerely in the eye, and say, “Let’s talk.” Rare is the human who can turn down that offer.

Let’s be honest: We all avoid difficult conversations as though they were haunted houses, preferring, instead, to live difficult lives.

But do it, just for today. Sit down with the other guy. And listen.

The more you listen, the worse it’s going to get. Suffer a little. It’s good sometimes.

Then, paraphrase back, as honestly as you can, everything they just threw at you. Make sure they agree with your playback. Yes, it’s painful. There’s no healing without pain.

And now talk. It may be futile. It may not. Whatever. You’re not out to win. Do it for Charlie. Or just do it for yourself. Do it for all of us. We all need the healing.

The two of you may disagree on every point, but you can still respect that divine spark that burns inside. Listen to the G‑d-point inside this human being, not just the words.

As the Rebbe would say, just a little more kindness and good deeds will bring Moshiach. The most healing thing you can do for America today may be to actively, really listen to the other guy. It may be one of the kindest things you can do for the world today, as well.