humility Archives - Values & Ethics—Through a Jewish Lens

SELF-ESTEEM…

Posted by TTT | Dec 6, 2018 | gratitude, humility, leadership, problem solving |

MI-KETZ — We naturally want to make life good for our children. We may be uncomfortable seeing them struggle with homework, and we give them a little more help than we should. Deep down we know that, when they complete the task themselves, they’ll feel much better about themselves and will have learned a lot more about the material and their abilities. Joseph was abducted and sold by his brothers into slavery. Years later in this week’s Torah portion, when he has become viceroy to the King of Egypt and wields tremendous power, his brothers come to Egypt from...

MOVING BEYOND DENIAL…

Posted by TTT | Dec 6, 2018 | honesty, humility |

MI-KETZ — Sometimes the truth is sitting right in front of us. Sometimes the solution to our problems is the palm of our hands, but we just can’t see it. Luckily, we don’t move through this world alone. We have friends, family, and teachers who can help us gain perspective on our own lives. We just need to learn to listen. In this week’s Torah portion, Mi-Ketz, Joseph’s brothers are blinded by denial. They have come down to Egypt in search of food due to the famine in their own land. None of the eleven brothers can see that the Egyptian official in front of them is their brother,...

ISRAEL = TO STRUGGLE WITH GOD…

Posted by TTT | Nov 20, 2018 | attitude, communication, humility, new challenges, rituals |

VA-YISHLAH — Many people hold back on religion in their lives because they are uncomfortable with the concept of God. Does God exist?How could bad things happen to good people? Why does evil exist? These are all questions that people have addressed throughout time. Many sophisticated discussions and answers are imbedded in Jewish texts for adults to encounter and wrestle with personally. In this week’s Torah portion, Va-Yishlah, Jacob wrestles all night with a mysterious angel representing God. Because Jacob successfully survives this encounter, his name is changed to Israel. The translation of Israel is “to struggle with God”. The Torah is saying that to struggle with God...

SELF-DECEPTION…

Posted by TTT | 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...

Category: humility

SELF-ESTEEM…

MOVING BEYOND DENIAL…

ISRAEL = TO STRUGGLE WITH GOD…

SELF-DECEPTION…

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