Decisions, Decisions! A Lesson on Priorities

(6) In all thy ways acknowledge Him, And He will direct thy paths.

In all of your affairs you should know G-d. Think and concentrate that whatever you are doing is in order to be carrying out something for G-d and then He will help you succeed.

Rabbi Yosi says: The money of your friend should be as dear to you as your own. Prepare yourself to study Torah, for it is not an inheritance for you. All of your actions should be for the sake of Heaven.

(1) Every human being has many dispositions, and everyone is both different and very distant from anyone else: One person may have a violent temper, always angry; but another's mind is at ease and he is never angry, or if he does feel anger it is a soft anger once in several years. A person may be very haughty, but another has a very humble disposition. A person may have very strong desires, never satisfied; but another may have a very pure heart, not even desiring those few things that the body requires. A person may be very greedy, not satisfied by all the wealth in the world, as it says, "A lover of silver never has his fill of silver" (Ecclesiastes 5:9). But another may have modest desires, and is satisfied with the smallest thing even if it is not truly enough for him, and he will not exert himself to acquire what he needs.

(2) Between each pair of extremes, there is a middle disposition equidistant from each. There are some dispositions that are innate, and some that individuals are more predisposed to than other, and still others that are not innate at all, but are learned from others or self-taught either because he decided to acquire [this trait] or he heard from others that it is a good one to have and he practiced it until it became part of his personality.

(3) Neither of the two extremes within each trait are appropriate ways to live, and one should not practice these extremes, and if he finds himself naturally inclined to one of them, or he already learned one of them, he should work himself back to the good life, that is the "straight path."

(4) The "straight path" is (generally) the middle trait within each [pair of] dispositions, equidistant from each extreme. Therefore the early sages commanded that a person should constantly pay attention to her character, measure it, and keep it on the middle path so that he might be physically healthy (lit. wholesome). For example, one should not be temperamental and easily angered, nor should he be numb like a corpse. Rather, she should be somewhere in the middle -- not getting angry except over something important that is worth it, and then just enough to ensure it won't happen again. Similarly, only desire the things that the body actually needs to live as it says "The righteous man eats to satisfy his body." (i.e. he enjoys healthy food in moderation, neither an ascetic nor a glutton) Similarly, he should only work enough to earn a living as it says "a little is good for the righteous" (i.e. neither lazy nor a workaholic) neither overly cheap nor generous, rather give as much charity as she can afford and give sensible loans to those who need. He should not be constantly partying and clowning around, nor should he be depressed and morose rather be calm and content, with a pleasant face all his life, and so on for all other character traits. This is the way of the Sages; anyone whose character is completely balanced may be called a sage.

(5) One who is carefully self-reflective, and who thus moves oneself from one's norm toward one side or the other: this one is called pious. For instance, one who moves oneself away from proud-heartedness toward the opposite side and attains a lowly spirit: he is called pious, and his is the middah of piety. But if he moves himself only toward the middle [of the scale] and becomes humble, he is called wise, and his is the middah of wisdom. And so on: this is so with all the rest of the middot. The early pious ones would incline their dispositions from the middle of the scale toward one of the two extremes: some would incline toward the first extreme and others would incline toward the other. This is going beyond what the law requires. We are commanded to walk in these intermediate paths which are good and straight, as it is said: "Walk in [God's] ways." [Deuteronomy 28:9]

(6) They taught the following interpretation of this commandment: "Just as God is called 'gracious,' you too must be gracious. Just as God is called 'compassionate,' you too must be compassionate. Just as God is called 'holy,' you too must be holy." As such, the Prophets called God by many appellations: "Slow to Anger," "Abundant in Graciousness," "Just and Fair," "Pure," "Mighty," and "Powerful" - in order to demonstrate that these are good and proper ways for a person to accustom oneself to act, in imitation of God to the utmost of one's ability.

(7) This is how one trains himself towards these dispositions until they become part of his personality: By constant, repetitive practice of the actions [characteristic of] the golden mean and drill over and over, constantly until these actions are easy, and are no longer challenging. Through this practice, these traits will become part of the personality for they are attributes of the Creator and the middle road which we are obligated to walk, which is called the "Path of God." This is what our father Abraham taught his sons, as it says "for I know him, so that he will command his sons and his household, etc." and one who follows this path brings good to himself as it says "in order to bring to Abraham all that He spoke of him."