JEWISH WISDOM

"A fool says what he knows, and a wise man knows what he says."

I have gleaned this material from the Old Testament, the Torah, the Kabbala, the Talmud, my Ancestors, Rabbi Zalman Schacter, Ram Dass, and my father, Sidney Cooper, and my friend, Alan Cahn.

Jews originated as an ethnic and religious group in the Middle East during the second millennium BCE.

Jews make up only .002 (2 per thousand), or about 1 in every 480 people worldwide are Jews.

Simple principles have been expressed in their liturgy – written, oral, and rituals throughout their existence. Principles with very practical meanings. These principles are lived daily by pious Jews. And, of course, many of these principles show up in their wit – given that humor is so fundamental to the Jewish culture.

The strength of these principles might explain why Jews have prospered in every land they have been allowed to settle, even though they repeatedly face forced exile, annihilation, and brutal antisemitism.

What are these principles that have guided Jews for millennia?

·   What you don't see with your eyes, don't invent with your mouth.

·   Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.

·   If they gossip about everyone to you, then they are gossiping about you to everyone.

·   Gossip uses someone else's weakness as entertainment.

·   Never engage in rumors and gossip because they're just as fake as those who started them.

·   There's a difference between knowing somebody and hearing about somebody. Just because you "heard" doesn't mean you "know."

·   The best revenge is to have enough wisdom not to seek it.

·   Weak people revenge. Strong people forgive. Wise people ignore.

·   Rejoice not at your enemy's fall – but don't rush to pick them up either.

·   While seeking revenge, dig two graves – one for yourself.

·   Living well is the best revenge.

·   Forgiveness hides a pleasure that you can't get back from revenge. Do not delight in an enemy's demise.

·   Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them more.

·   Destroy your enemies by making them your friends.

·   Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.

·   A friend you have to buy, enemies you get for nothing.

·   Forgive others not because they deserve forgiveness but because you deserve peace.

·   We judge people where we are ourselves the most ashamed.

·   Shame is that feeling that comes over you, making you feel small, weak, and unworthy.

·   Shaming another person does not define who they are; it defines who you are.

·   What your daughter does, the mother did.

·   To get joy, we must give it, and to keep joy, we must scatter it.

·   A joyful spirit is evidence of a grateful heart.

·   You don't have the power to make life fair, but you do have the power to make life joyful.

·   Find a place inside where there's joy, and the joy will burn out the pain.

·   He who finds a faithful friend finds a treasure.

·   Helping people help themselves is the highest form of charity.

·   You can do nothing to help someone who doesn't want to help themselves.

·   There is no better feeling for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up.

·   Don't depend too much on anyone because even your own shadow leaves when you are in the dark.

·   Learn to carry yourself on your own back. People will drop you quicker than they picked you up.

·   Just because someone desires you doesn't mean they value you.

·   Don't lean on others; you don't need to. You were born with two feet for a reason.

·   The walls that confine you are the ones you build yourself.

·   The highest form of wisdom is kindness.

·   You begin saving the world by saving one person at a time; all else is idealism or politics.

·   One person can stop a great injustice. One person can be a voice for the truth.

·   One person's kindness can save a life.

·   A doctor saves lives; it's up to people to create lives worth saving.

·   When the last tree has been cut down, the last fish caught, and the last river poisoned, only then will we realize we can't eat money.

·   Good and bad fortune are often indistinguishable.

·   If life has dealt you some bad cards, then let wisdom make you a good card player.

·   Just when it seems like it is getting good, something has to come along and ruin it.

·   You never know what worse luck your bad luck saved you from.

·   Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a blessing.

I'll end this post with two quotes that run deep in the DNA of the Jewish people.

Albert Einstein: "The pursuit of knowledge for its own sake, an almost fanatical love of justice, and the desire for personal independence – these are the features of the Jewish tradition which make me thank my stars that I belong to it."

Rabbi Zalman Schacter-Shalomi: "A mensch is someone to admire and emulate, someone of noble character. The key to being a real mensch is nothing less than character, rectitude, dignity, a sense of what is right, and being responsible."