We all know what the ego is and how it is self-centered. This ego
causes the ills of the world. If we can capture it and control it for the
betterment of the Creator, with the Creator’s help, the world would be
transformed.
The opposite of the ego is altruism. This is our goal.
Altruism is what we are to toil for. We see this exemplified within the Torah,
in two specific passages.
Deuteronomy 6:4, “Love YHVH your Elohim with
all of our heart, all of our soul, and all of our might."
Deuteronomy 19:18b, “You are to love your
neighbor as yourself for I am YHVH.”
We will comment more on these verses in future postings. In
the meantime we can see that the Torah is really about community, altruism, and
unity. However we are not speaking in the modern sense where compromise,
exploit without another’s knowledge, and coercion is applied, for these are
tools of the ego. It is the relinquishing of the control of the ego to
altruism. It is transforming from selfish motives to selfless motives. Meaning
we should work just as hard at altruistic activities as we did for selfish
activities.
Ask yourself: Can we, simply by following Torah and/or Judaic
practices, expect the ego to transform into selflessness?
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