| Kabbalah
and Education A Kabbalistic Approach to Spiritual Growth |
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| Kabbalah and Jewish Meditation |
Part
53 The
task of "pursuing peace" is, in some ways, the most essential of
all the educator's analytical tasks. Therefore, if the educator lacks the
time, maturity, or ability to perform a comprehensive analysis of his
student's negative, positive and borderline attributes, he should at least
concentrate on reinforcing and strengthening the positive. This technique,
in and of itself, has tremendous possibilities for developing character and
can eventually bring about a complete rectification of the student's
personality. When good is nurtured and strengthened, it grows and begins to
take up "more space," nudging out the negativity, or sweetening
the bitterness that blocks its way. Thus, while it is most efficient to work
on all three fronts, where this is not possible, the educator should
specialize on fortifying the good. There
is another way that this concept of "pursuing peace" appears which
reinforces its priority as a strategy. The great first century teacher,
Hillel said: "Be among the disciples of Aaron, loving peace and
pursuing peace, loving people and bringing them closer to Torah."
In this context, pursuing peace means to actively involve oneself in
the effort of peacemaking--of resolving conflicts between people and
alleviating distance between individuals and God. "Pursue" means
to "leave one's place" and to help others who are elsewhere. This
effort benefits both giver and receiver alike. The very act of concern both
helps to solve the problem and fortifies the peacemaker's preexisting love
of humanity. This side-effect, which reflects positive benefit back to the
peacemaker, fulfills the original premise that categorized "pursuit of
peace" as good. Fixing
a behavior or personality trait means changing one's inner relationship to
God. There are two primary modes of serving the Creator: as a servant and as
a child. A servant is obligated to submit to his master's will. Though he
should be motivated by affection, nonetheless his primary motivation is
derived from fear. A child, on the other hand, serves his or her parent out
of love and sense of gratitude toward them, as the Zohar says: "
. . . a child strives for the sake of his father and mother, whom he loves
more than his own body and soul . . ." The process of rectification is
the process of adding love to fear, and elevating one's service from that of
a servant to that of a child. We must realize that we are all children of
God and that our obligation to fulfill God's commandments does not make us
servants, rather it is an obligation of the child to his or her parent. Fear
precedes love and is the necessary foundation for love, but once love is
added, the fear must become subservient to it. Good
exists as a balanced expression of love and fear. Nevertheless it is often
contaminated with self-consciousness, and this is its point of separation
from God. That which is separate requires pursuit, and forceful unification
with its source, so that it can better serve the ultimate purpose of
revealing God's unity in the physical world.
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