RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL:JEWISH SPIRITUALITY: DEREK ERETZ: GOOD CONCEPTION IN IDEAS

 

RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL:JEWISH SPIRITUALITY: DEREK ERETZ: GOOD CONCEPTION IN  IDEAS

 

Jewish  Spiritual  Renewal:

 Derek  Eretz Zuta + Rabbah  :

Shabbat  08/13/11  

 

(aka  Derech  Eretz )

 

The JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL  class list is hosted by _Shamash:  The Jewish

Network_ (http://shamash.org/ )  a service of Hebrew  College/Yeshiva 

 

Shalom  my dear Chaverim, Talmidim, v' Rabbanim, friends, students and

fellow rabbis:  An oneg, joy-filled, Shabbat, Sabbath, this coming weekend... 

and Shavuah Tov to you for a good and peaceful  week.

 

Also, since this is our last class until after  Sukkoth in mid October as I

will be out of the USA lecturing, and leading Shabbaton and Holy Day  

services, I wish you L'Shanah Tovah Techatemu  VeTikatevu. May you be inscribed

and sealed into the book of life for a good  year!

 

 For those who observe Tisha B'Av, the 9th  of Av, (8/9/11), an easy  fast.

 

 For those who do not,  at least remember why the Temple was destroyed,

sinat chinam, baseless hatred,  and senseless divisions among Jews. [Talmud

Bavli Tractate Yoma  9b]. If we don't want to pray for the rebuilding of the

Temple,  let us agree to work on removing the barriers and disrespect that

many  denominations of Jews, as well as others, have for each  other.

 

We  continue with our exploration into the Talmudic Tractates of Derek

Eretz  Zuta and Rabbah. (aka Derech Eretz Zuta, aka Derech Eretz Rabbah.  As was

mentioned, zuta is Aramaic for 'small', and rabbah is  'large').

 

Remember that Derek Eretz is not about Jewish ritual. It is  about how we

are to treat one another and what traits of character, middot, we  are to try

to develop. The lessons are universal and ecumenical. The  development of

character traits and Jewish spiritual renewal  transformation is called 

Mussar.

 

For  those new to the class, Baruch ha Ba! Welcome! You can access last 

week's class  at 

Rabbi Arthur Segal: RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL: JEWISH RENEWAL: DEREK ERETZ: PAYING BACK LOANS ON TIME 

or http://rabbiarthursegal.blogspot.com/2011/07/rabbi-arthur-segal-jewish-renewal-derek_9919.html

 

 

 

From  here you will find links to preceding classes in this   series. So, 

together we  continue:

 

TALMUD  BAVLI

 

TRACTATE  DEREK 

 

ERETZ  ZUTA

 

(aka  Derech  Eretz)

 

Today  we will complete CHAPTER 3 of  Talmud  Bavli Tractate Derek Eretz

Zuta  Verse  3:5.

 

 ''The  following fifteen customs are ascribed to the sages: He is pleasant

in  entering, and so also when leaving; is prudent in his awe for Heaven; 

versed in wisdom; wise in his ways, has a good conception, a retentive

memory,  is clear in his answers, questions to the point, and answers according

to the  Torah; he learns something new from every chapter taught to him; he  

learns from the wise; he learns for the purpose of teaching it and

performing  it. 

 

Be  as the lower threshold, upon which all persons tread, and still it

lasts even  when the whole building is  demolished.''

 

For  the most part, the majority of this last verse of Chapter Three of

Derek Eretz  Zuta  is self explanatory. I would like to point out a few

things.  Compare this list in 3:5 to the list of traits in 1:1, which was our

first  class in this tractate.  Rabbi Arthur Segal: RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL : JEWISH SPIRITUALITY ; DEREK ERETZ ZUTA: MODESTY: TZNIUT  or_

(http://rabbiarthursegal.blogspot.com/2010/09/rabbi-arthur-segal-jewish-spirituality_8688.html )

  

 

Note  please how the middot, traits, in 1:1 are put into action in  3:5.

 

The  first two lines in 3:5 relate to humility and courtesy. We are to be 

pleasant. We smile and greet every one with sincere shalom and leave in the 

same manner. We don't cause a scene, and let our ego's flit around the room like a prima donna, making whatever the gathering is (service, class, a party,  even a shiva), all about  us.

 

The  third is about being God conscious in our behaviors and words. We have

 discussed this in  this class on Derek Eretz, in past classes for Hebrew 

College's Shamash Program, and an entire chapter is devoted to this in The 

Handbook to Jewish Spiritual Renewal: A Path of Transformation for the

Modern  Jew  (https://www.createspace.com/1000243192 )  .

 

Customs  4 through to 14 have to do with learning and teaching. Thirteen

and fourteen  teach us that we learn not so we can just 'talk the talk', but

'walk the  walk.'   Remember please that Derek means path, or  walk.

 

We  never say we know something already. Every time we study a chapter, or

go to a  lecture, we try to come away with at least one pearl of  wisdom.

 

When  we teach Torah, we do not dishonor Torah (and in this case Torah

again  includes Talmud and Midrash) by teaching falsehoods. When our talmidim

and/or  congregants know all of Torah and Talmud and the sages' commentaries,

then  they can listen to our opinions. The trait of humility teaches us, to

teach  others correctly, before we give our opinions. 

 

Second  to last for today's class is: ''has a good conception.''  How we

think, how we form ideas, determines how we act,  including teaching. As Dr.

Bob Taylor, a psychologist asks: "How could such  highly-educated and

precisely-trained professionals veer off the path of  objectivity?" His answer is

simple. We are humans, homo sapiens. And we will  continue to make wrong

judgements, until we learned to divorce ourselves from  ego, meditate for

answers, and move toward becoming homo  spiritus.

 

When  we conceive ideas based on ego, we are having cognitive bias. This

results in  results in "perceptual distortion, inaccurate judgment or

illogical  interpretation."

 

Because  the above is the result of ego, Derek Eretz Zuta began immediately

with  teaching us modesty and humility and ego deflation.  These biases

helped  us in primitive times, but wreck havoc in our lives today. The

Semmelweis  reflex  is the predisposition to deny new information that  challenges

our established views, while the  confirmation bias  involves the

inclination to seek out information that supports our own  preconceived  notions.

 

The  overconfidence effect involves unwarranted confidence in one's own 

knowledge. This is dangerous for a rabbi to have, yet we see it often. The 

fundamental attribution error,  involves the tendency to attribute  other

people's behavior to their personalities and to attribute our own  behavior to

the situation. When others act idiotic, they have the problem.  When we act

even more idiotic, we can rationalize ways to justify  it.

 

So  the behavior of having a good conception, doing away with ego, and

arrogance,  and pre-conceived notions so that we can learn and teach properly,

is all  important, for rabbis as well as parents, anyone in a profession or

social  situation.

 

''Be  as the lower threshold, upon which all persons tread, and still it

lasts even  when the whole building is demolished.'' This last bit of advice 

from Chapter Three of Derek Eretz Zuta is not advising us to be a door mat.

It  is using a building as an analogy to life. Stay as humble as the lower 

threshold. Don't take ourselves, our kudos, our belongings, so seriously.

All  things pass away. In the end we are left with our spiritual inner selves.

 The building gets demolished, but the lower threshold still  remains.

 

 I  work with many people now, due to the economy, have literally lost

their homes  on the ocean front, their cars, their memberships in country clubs,

and even  synagogues. And they have lost the pseudo-friends that they had

because of the  money spent in these institutions. The are left with only the

lower threshold.  And now they are learning, for the first time in their

lives, to live  spiritually. 

 

Living  with Jewish Spiritual Renewal doesn't mean taking a vow of poverty.

Quite the  opposite. But it does mean living a life where we know that our

adult toys,  are far less important, than our relationships with family,

true friends, and  the  Divine.

 

Next  class, which will be after Sukkoth, in mid October, 2011, Baruch ha

Shem, we  will begin with chapter four of  Derek Eretz Zuta  .

 

We  discuss the middot, character traits, of this verse ,  throughout the 

majority of chapters in  ''The  Handbook to Jewish Spiritual Renewal: A Path

of Transformation for the Modern  Jew'' '

(http://www.jewishspiritualrenewal.net/ )  as well as in most chapters of ''A  Spiritual and Ethical Compendium to

the Torah and Talmud''   _

(http://www.jewishspiritualrenewal.net/index.html#Compendium2 ) .

 

What  are your ideas about living a life following the advice set out in

Derek  Eretz?  How has learning to respect others helped you in your 

interpersonal  relationships? How  has understanding the spiritual and ethical

teachings of  Judaism helped you live a more  joyous life?

 

Next  class, Baruch ha Shem, we will continue with Derek Eretz Zuta,

Chapter  Four. Thank you for joining  me.

 

For  those who want a d'var Torah on Parasha '' Va' et chanan''  from '''A 

Spiritual and Ethical Compendium to the Torah and  Talmud ''

(http://www.jewishspiritualrenewal.net/index.html#Compendium2 ) 

 

please  click  on:  

 Rabbi  Arthur Segal: RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL:CHUMASH CANDESCENCE: PARASHA 

VA'ET-CHANAN:DEUTERONOMY 3:23- 7:11_

(http://rabbiarthursegal.blogspot.com/2008/02/dr-arthur-segalchumash-candescence.html )    

 

  

Shalom:

 

Rabbi Arthur Segal_  www.jewishspiritualrenewal.org_

(http://www.jewishspiritualrenewal.org/ ) 

Via Shamash Org  on-line class service

Jewish Renewal_  www.jewishrenewal.info _ (http://www.jewishrenewal.info/ ) 

Jewish Spiritual  Renewal

Jewish Spirituality

Eco Judaism

Hilton Head Island, SC,  Bluffton, SC, Savannah,  GA

 

If  visiting SC's Low Country, contact us for a Shabbat meal, in our home

by the  sea, our beth  yam.

 

Maker  of Shalom (Oseh Shalom) help make us deserving of Shalom beyond all

human  comprehension! 

 

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