Winds of Change.NET: 48 Ways to Wisdom: Way #8

September 20, 2002

48 Ways to Wisdom: Way #8 - Constant Joy

by Joe Katzman at September 20, 2002 1:06 AM

This is a regular feature on Winds of Change. Every Friday (for Friday evening begins the Jewish Sabbath), we cover one more way to wisdom from Rabbi Noah Weinberg. These materials are written by an Orthodox Jewish Rabbi, but retain their full value no matter what creed you follow.

"Way #8 is B'simcha - with joy. Some people may have more "natural" joy. But joy can be studied and mastered like any other tool.... You're not reaching your potential unless you have joy."

Of course, what we don't want is phony joy. And it's important to understand the difference. Joy isn't silly drunkenness, playing jokes, or making fun of people. Joy, says Rabbi Weinberg, is the deep happiness that comes with fulfilling your potential.

For thoughts and tips on how to understand the distinction, cultivate real joy, and develop an "attitude of gratitude" that takes things in stride, read the full article.

I'm certainly giving this one some very close consideration.

POSTSCRIPT: Reader Michael Marcus has some thoughts about last week's Way #7 - True Charisma. He says:

"...The closest any orthodox drash comes is "total dependence on God". Christianity approaches this self-unreliance (e.g. Meister Eckhart) in the context of the "poor in spirit" (Sermon on the Mount). But what Weinberg eccentrically calls humility is far better designated by at least one other term. He writes: "Humility means living with the reality that nothing matters except doing the right thing." Well, excuse me, that�s integrity, for which the word "anivut" will simply not do. And naturally, by sacrificing the genuine meaning of anivut, he forgets himself all the time and uses humility in its traditional way throughout the article. Oops.
ALSO odd that Aish have a picture of a graven image."

The first paragraph I'll leave to the folks at Aish to answer, but the second seems pretty clear to me. The graphic isn't of G-d, but of Moses, to whom the article referred many times. Of course, as Michael points out some Orthodox Jewish sects consider any realistic representation a "graven image." I guess Aish Ha'Torah isn't one of them.

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