JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL: RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL: PATHS TO INTERPERSONAL PEACE

JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL: RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL: PATHS TO INTERPERSONAL PEACE: ETHICS

 

Shalom and Peace:

Today we continue with a bit more of Jewish Ethics (Great is Peace - Derek Eretz 10:3 ).

Rabbi Joshua said: Great is peace, for at the time Israel arose and said [Ex. 24:7]: "All that the Lord has spoken will we do and hear," the Holy One was pleased to give to them His Torah and blessed them with peace, as it is written [Ps. 29:11]: "The Lord will bless his people with peace."

We learn in the Talmud and Midrash that, although the Torah says the Hebrews intended to accept and obey the laws of Torah unconditionally ('will do'), and later study them ('will hear"), God held Mount Sinai over their heads and threatened to drop it on them if they didn't accept it (Shabbat 88a). Even so, when we live according to the spiritual and ethical lessons of the Torah, we enjoy peace: "Its ways are ways of pleasantness, and all its paths are peace" (Prov. 3:17).

Most of us can only control our thoughts, speech, and actions if we keep our yetzer ha ra, our selfish ego and will, at bay. We can control nothing else. If we think we can, we are delusional. Others also have free will. 

''God says, 'I have created the Evil Inclination,(ego) and I have created the Torah as an antidote against it. If you do not do good, sin awaits crouching at the door; it desires to control you, but you can overpower it' (Gen. 4:7). One's ego will spend all its time and energies trying to make one do selfish acts, which is why the verse says 'it desires to control you.'…If you want to, you can overpower the Evil Inclination, as it says, '… but you can overpower it.'  [Kiddushin 30b ].

If we wish to live in peace, we must negate our selfish will and align it with God's will. Integration, shlema, and wholeness, shalom, come from understanding that this is our true purpose in life. We achieve inner peace, peace in the home, and peace in the community by understanding that living according to Torah means that all of our derekim, paths, are towards peace.

 Rabbi Arthur Segal is an international lecturer, author, and teacher. Visit him at www.JewishSpiritualRenewal.org   . Follow him on FaceBook at 'Arthur L Segal', on Twitter at RabbiASegal, or his blog at http://rabbiarthursegal.blogspot.com  . Email at RabbiASegal@aol.com  

RABBI DR ARTHUR SEGAL www.JewishSpiritualRenewal.com/books www.FaceBook.com/Arthur.L.Segal www.FaceBook.com/RabbiArthurSegalJewishSpiritualRenewal www.RabbiArthurSegal.blogspot.com
Jewish Spiritual Renewal
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 Maker of Shalom (Oseh Shalom) help make us deserving of Shalom beyond all human comprehension!