Middah Reflection #1: Achrayut - Responsibility
Middah Reflection #2 - Anivut, Humility
Middah Reflection #3 - Savlanut vs. Zrizut, Patience vs. Alacrity
Middah Reflection #4 - Messianic Yearning
Middah Reflection #5 - Pursuit of God in Justice
Middah Reflection #6 - Actualizing One's Potential, by Shmuly Yanklowitz
Middah Reflection #7 - Activisms of Love and HateShould we fight for justice with hearts full of love or hearts full of anger? Which is more rewarding? Which is more productive? Which must we cultivate as religious activists? Rav Soloveitchik argued (A Theory of Emotions, 183):...
Middah Reflection #8 - SlothClassically, the vice of sloth (laziness) had two components: 1. acedia – a lack of caring or indifference. 2. tristtitia – sadness, sorrow, or despair. I would argue that the negative... Social Action or Spiritual Practice: Which is the Priority? By Alan Morinis, Director of the Mussar InstituteThe title of this essay makes no sense to me. To set up social action on one hand and spiritual practice on the other, as if these could be considered separable alternatives, seems to me like asking, “Which is more important for life: brains or heart?” Try living without either of them.... The Moral Foundations of Gilgulim (Reincarnation), by Shmuly YanklowitzVideo- Shmuly's Drashah - 17 March 2009. |
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Responsibility is one of the most important midot to cultivate in one’s soul. Acharayut (responsibility in Hebrew) comes from the root “acher” (other). To take responsibility means to cultivate the “ability” for response” to an “other.” This responsibility to another is born in the moment where no...
Anivut (humility) has a very special priority in positive Jewish self development. Rav Kook wrote (The Moral Principles, page 174) that “Humility is associated with spiritual perfection. When humility effects depression it is defective, when it is genuine it inspires joy, courage, and inner...
Activism requires a very calculated and sensitive balance between patience and alacrity. On the one hand, one must have the patience for teaching and engaging the apathetic and the uninformed. On the other hand, one must also have the alacrity to respond to crises and injustices at the most...
Religious Jews are taught at a young age to yearn for the geulah (redemption). With sophistication, the student comes to learn that messianism is not just about seeking an end but is also a worldview, a process of living with a vision and with a dream. What is one to do if they lack...
“Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with beings divine and human and have prevailed,” (Bereshit 32:29). Yaakov Avinu is blessed with a new name only once he has struggled both with G-d and humanity together. The Jewish people are named Israel only after...
Our work is never done! This is what makes Jewish activism so intimidating and also so invigorating. We never complete the larger goals. We are never whole. Until the day that we pass from the earth, we are unable to fully step back and “throw the towel in.” The Maharal M’Prague taught:...
