The way in which Moses lived his life and led the Jewish people teaches us that selfless devotion to the greater good is the key to any successful collective.
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The home, the shul, the house of learning are the three keystones of Jewish existence. The source of our vitality and endurance as a nation, they nurture our spiritual and emotional selves, clarifying our priorities, sanctifying our lives, and enabling us to achieve greatness.
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What separates a Mandela from a Zuma? Or a Nixon from a Lincoln? The answer is obvious – values. Principles and ethics and models of behaviour that are stuck to no matter what.
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History is replete with examples of people who had the world at their feet, and then threw it all away.
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Human beings are social creatures. We are influenced heavily and decisively by those around us, and very often base our thoughts, actions and opinions on what others think, do and believe. How do we withstand this social pressure, this groupthink? And more than this, is there a way we can use it to our advantage?
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For many of our sages, humility is the ultimate Torah value. The Ramchal sees it as one of the highest spiritual and moral states a person can reach. The Ramban writes passionately about humility in his famous letter to his son, describing it as the access point for a host of other Torah values. For the Rambam, humility is the rare exception to his Golden Mean – a trait which requires us to go to extremes. Why?
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How do we respond when we are confronted with our own moral failings and misdeeds? Do we acknowledge openly what we have done wrong, and take full responsibility? Or do we withdraw into our defences, deflecting our wrongdoing, turning a blind eye, maintaining the façade? As it turns out, how we answer that question can change both the past and the future.
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We don’t just remember our Jewish history. We relive it. We re-integrate the experiences, and make them part of our daily lives – tangible and relevant in every way.
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By all the laws of history, the Jewish people should not exist… yet here we are, the same identifiable nation we’ve always been. What is the secret to our survival?
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Counting the omer can completely change our relationship with time. A seven-week journey of personal growth and character refinement, it offers us an escape hatch from a life of fleeting experiences into something transcendent and everlasting.
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