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...that with this current war and the seemingly endless hatred towards Jews being fearlessly expressed worldwide, I'm simply not in any mood any more to argue with my fellow Jews.
The purpose of life in Olam Hazeh (this world) is to perfect our middos (character traits) via the performance of Torah mitzvos, in order to secure a better place in Olam Haba (the world to come).
I've stated learning Mesilas Yesharim (Path of the Just) 15 minutes every night after I daven Maariv. My outlook is changing in many ways...
The purpose of life in Olam Hazeh (this world) is to perfect our middos (character traits) via the performance of Torah mitzvos, in order to secure a better place in Olam Haba (the world to come).
I've stated learning Mesilas Yesharim (Path of the Just) 15 minutes every night after I daven Maariv. My outlook is changing in many ways...
In my opinion, this world is the NOW and the world to come is when you leave this world~!
Last edited by veggienut; 08-26-2014 at 09:18 AM..
I've stated learning Mesilas Yesharim (Path of the Just) 15 minutes every night after I daven Maariv. My outlook is changing in many ways...
That is very admirable, Flipflop.
Is it somewhat common for Jews to look at themselves in an honest way and identify their flaws and try to improve on them?
About 25 years, I hired a Jewish employee who had a very strong personality. At first, he and another employee with a strong personality did not get along well. Then one day, out of the blue, the Jewish guy apologized to the other fellow for not being nice to him, and the two got along very well from that point onward.
I hadn't thought about that incident for years, but your post reminded me of it.
I believe Mesilas Yesharim may be one of the most important Jewish works of the last 1500 years.
You'll often see Jews who are not deeply connected to Torah talk about a concept called Tikkun Olam, which loosely translates to "repairing the world." These Jews, who are of course well-meaning, attempt to repair the world through acts of kindness and charity, doing things like giving blankets to the homeless, working in soup kitchens, building houses for the poor, etc. No doubt these acts have a positive affect on the world and are for the greater good.
But I also believe a Jew who is unwilling to turn the mirror on himself and look at his own character traits and his owns actions is unable to improve the world, no matter how many soup kitchens he works in.
There's a whole movement in Judaism, popularized long ago by Rav Yisroel Salanter, called the Mussar Movement. While I belong to a community that focuses almost entirely on Talmud learning, many close to me recently have begun to focus on mussar and how we should have a daily focus on improving our own character traits. I fell re-energized in life, and I'm terribly excited to see how I can translate these ideas to success in marriage, success in the workplace and more...
You'll often see Jews who are not deeply connected to Torah talk about a concept called Tikkun Olam, which loosely translates to "repairing the world." These Jews, who are of course well-meaning, attempt to repair the world through acts of kindness and charity, doing things like giving blankets to the homeless, working in soup kitchens, building houses for the poor, etc. No doubt these acts have a positive affect on the world and are for the greater good.
I only thought this was seen and done within the Reform movement~?
While I belong to a community that focuses almost entirely on Talmud learning, many close to me recently have begun to focus on mussar and how we should have a daily focus on improving our own character traits. I fell re-energized in life, and I'm terribly excited to see how I can translate these ideas to success in marriage, success in the workplace and more...
That's very good of you, Flipflop. Like you, I try to be a good person and treat people with respect. I still cringe when I think how nasty I was to a parking lot attendant 45 years ago.
At work about 15 years ago, an acquaintance made a purposely insulting comment to me and I did not like it one bit. When I later saw him in a hallway, he smiled and kind of indicated that he wanted to resume our cordial relationship, but I just gave him a very mean stare. That went on for several months when he and I crossed paths.
One day I was talking with another worker and he said that a person we both knew was more than just obnoxious, he was actually evil to people. I thought about myself and realized that I had been holding a grudge too long, so when I again saw the guy who had insulted me I smiled back at him, and we became cordial again.
I guess this is not the most emotionally heartwarming story a person could tell, but the end result is that I think I am a better person than I used to be. However, I still carry grudges toward a couple people at the golf course (one guy asked a person to shoot me and another said I drive a golf cart "like a Chinaman", whatever that means), so I guess I have a ways to go in improving myself.
Wow, maybe no Peace on Earth, but Peace in the Judaism forum.
Let me go see if I can pull this off in the Christianity forum.
Be back in a year.
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