honesty Archives - Values & Ethics—Through a Jewish Lens

SELF-DECEPTION…

Sep 20, 2018 | honesty, humility, problem solving, responsibility

HA-AZINU — Every so often we get caught, or catch ourselves, doing something wrong. Very often we come up with creative justifications for what we did. The person I snapped at was rude to me first. Or I stole a video because the store makes too much money anyway. In this week’s Torah portion, Moses reminds us that when we do things that are wrong, we must focus on the imperfection in ourselves and not use twisted logic to find another source of blame. Actually, modern psychological studies show that all people think they are basically good, regardless of...

DEVELOPING THE ABILITY TO LISTEN…

Sep 20, 2018 | communication, honesty, problem solving

HA-AZINU — We all want our children to listen. There are several kinds of listening that we expect from our children: obedience to what we tell them to do, paying attention generally to what we say, and taking in our criticism. But often children choose not to or can’t listen to what we tell them. All of these different kinds of listening can be difficult for children, whether they simply want to do what they want to do, or because their attention is elsewhere, or finally because it’s hard to hear criticism. Our Torah portion begins with the injunction...

DECEIVING OURSELVES…

Aug 21, 2018 | communication, honesty, life changes

KI TAYTZAY — “You can run, but you can’t hide”. We all have our demons, the parts of ourselves that we wish were better or wish didn’t exist within us. The best way to deal with them is to acknowledge their reality, confront them, and challenge them. Only then do we stand a chance of working them out of our system. This week’s Torah portion, Ki Taytzay, contains a wonderful mitzvah. We are instructed to return lost objects that we may find lying in the street. Though I may be appreciative of this when I am the owner who...

FACING UP TO CONSEQUENCES…

Jul 25, 2018 | courage, honesty, humility, responsibility

VA-ETCHANAN — We often do not think of the potential consequences before we take action. Hopefully, we stop to think about the impact on our surroundings when we are making big decisions that require a lot of thought. But in the moment when we react quickly or when a decision doesn’t seem as though it has far-reaching implications, it is unlikely that we are running through all possible scenarios in our minds. So what happens when we are later faced with the consequences of those actions? In this week’s Torah portion, we see Moses dealing with the consequences of...

PURIM—Masks and Identity

Jul 9, 2018 | holidays, honesty, self care

PURIM — From the time we are born, our identities begin to evolve. In certain instances however, our identities become fixed over time, especially as they are formed in relationship to siblings. “She’s the smart one”, we think to ourselves. “He’s the one good at sports”. “She’s the one with the special needs; I’m the perfect one”. We often define ourselves in relation to another sibling, especially if parental expectations solidify those identities. Overstressed parents, who may have a child with problems or special needs, might expect another child to be “perfect” or at least more self-sustaining. Such expectations...

Category: honesty

SELF-DECEPTION…

DEVELOPING THE ABILITY TO LISTEN…

DECEIVING OURSELVES…

FACING UP TO CONSEQUENCES…

PURIM—Masks and Identity

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