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Rabbi Arthur Segal’s love of people, humanity, and Judaism has him sharing with others “The Wisdom of the Ages” that has been passed on to him. His writings for modern Jews offer Spiritual, Ethical, and eco-Judaic lessons in plain English and with relevance to contemporary lifestyles. He is the author of countless articles, editorials, letters, and blog posts, and he has recently published two books:

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

and

A Spiritual and Ethical Compendium to the Torah and Talmud

You can learn more about these books at:

www.JewishSpiritualRenewal.org
ALL ENTRIES ARE (C) AND PUBLISHED BY RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL, INC, AND NOT BY ANY INDIVIDUAL EMPLOYEE OF SAID CORPORATION. THIS APPLIES TO 3 OTHER BLOGS (CHUMASH, ECO, SPIRITUALITY) AND WEB SITES PUBLISHED BY SAID CORPORATION.
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Saturday, September 27, 2008

RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL:JEWISH RENEWAL:JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL:SHAVUOT:SEEING VIRTUE

RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL:SHAVUOT: MAJOR LESSON OF THE REVELATION AT SINAI

 RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL:SHAVUOT: MAJOR LESSON OF THE REVELATION AT SINAI
 
 
Dear Editor:
 
Jews celebrate on June 8's eve, Shavuot, commemorating Moses receiving the Torah atop Mt. Sinai. It is 7 weeks from Passover. Shavuot is derived from the Hebrew for 'seven.'
 
The sages teach that Sinai was chosen because it belonged to no nation so that the teachings in the Torah could belong to all humankind. The whole of Torah has been distilled to: "What is distasteful to you, do not do to your fellow."
 
As a rabbi, I am often consulted with situations involving human conflict. Genesis 37:14 asks us to: "look into the wholeness" of your fellows. We are not to look at their defects.
 
It is human nature to notice the defects in others, whereas a person is often oblivious of his own shortcomings. I counsel those with relationship situations to pray: "Let me see the virtues of others and not their faults."

To attain spirituality one should not look out of himself, and not look into others. We should take our own inventory and not that of other people. What we do not like in others, the Talmud teaches, are exactly the faults we have, that we are ignoring. Talmud Bavli Tractate Kidushin 70a: "He who condemns others, sees in them his own faults. "

While it is easier to hold resentments to others, it keeps us from growing spiritually.  It is not the way of Torah nor of the two great religions stemming from it. We can achieve perfect unity if we indeed pay attention only to our own defects.  The true way to God is to get along with one another locally as well as globally. This is the major lesson of the Revelation at Sinai circa 3300 years ago.

Rabbi Arthur Segal

JEWISH RENEWAL

JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, SC

BLUFFTON, SC

SAVANNAH, GA





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