Power of Midot

Midot is the plural form of the Hebrew noun mida often translated as "character trait" or "value." (Interestingly, a company named Midot Systems provides integrity diagnostic systems.) Paralleling this Biblical focus on character traits is the sixth step of 12-step programs which reads,"we were entirely ready to have God remove these defects of character." How is this done?

The origins of the word midot provide a clue. Midot actually means "measurements." Over time, its meaning evolved from "measurements" to "character traits." The evolution of midot implies that the way a situation is measured or sized up gives rise to a response. Over time, these responses pattern into a character trait.

A violent behavior can be measured as scary or pitiful (or both), depending on how it is measured. Some behaviors viewed as scary might give rise to anxiety that could evolve into a fear-based character trait. The same behaviors might be viewed as pitiful and give rise to sympathy that could evolve into a love-based character trait. The measurement is the key to character and remeasurement allows for character change.

Proper American Icon

While studying the photos of the latest Muslim bonfires, I noticed KFC signs more than once. Then I came across this comment in a recent New York Review of Books article which discussed madrasas - the fundamentalist Islamic schools: "Pakistan..banning the public performance of music and depictions of the human form. The one exception to this, bizarrely, is the image of Colonel Sanders outside the new Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in Peshawar. This was apparently because the Colonel was judged to be sporting a properly Islamic beard."

Being Honest with Ourselves

Warren Buffett once said that the problem with fooling others is that you might start fooling yourself. It is probably more difficult to be honest with ourselves because we rationalize behaviors that we don't want to change.

I came across a story on shemayisrael.com that properly illustrates this issue. A rabbi saw a former student of his and was surprised by his lack of observant living. He asked him why he was no longer observant. The former student replied that he had found too many doubts.

The rabbi asked the former student, "if I can answer all of your questions, would you then return to being observant?" The student said, "Absolutely, but I doubt that you will be able to since my questions are very strong."

The rabbi guaranteed him answers, but first needed an answer himself. He asked, "When did these questions develop in your mind? Before you stopped being observant or after?

The young man thought for a moment and then replied, "To be honest, Rabbi, all of the questions came after I became non observant. But that is irrelevant. Now I am bothered by them and if you can answer them, I'll become observant once again."

The rabbi said that he was sorry but he could not help him. The student was shocked and asked why he couldn't. The rabbi explained. "I do have the answers. But they are answers for questions. You don't have questions. You have answers. For answers I have no answers.

You stopped putting on tefillin because you were too lazy to get up early in the morning. You ate non kosher because you are a glutton. You stopped keeping Shabbos because you don't want to be restricted. But you once learned in yeshiva; so your conscience bothered you and you found that you still were not enjoying life. Therefore, you had to come up with answers to relieve yourself of those terrible, guilty feelings. These answers are what you call 'questions'. But they are not real and so I cannot disperse them intellectually. As long as you are not honest with yourself, you will never accept the truth, keeping your brain from working properly."