Max Nordau, one of the Zionist movement’s founders, was quoted as telling Ze’ev Jabotinsky that “logic is a Greek art and Jews can’t tolerate it. The Jew learns not by way of reason, but from catastrophes. He won’t buy an umbrella merely because he sees clouds in the sky. He waits until he is drenched and catches pneumonia.”
It is true. Jews generally do not believe in signs of upcoming occurrences, but we change after we receive strong blows. The Torah also writes about Jewish stubbornness that we are a “stiff-necked people” (Exodus 33:3; Deuteronomy 9:13; Nehemiah 9:16; Acts 7:51). It is due to the big ego residing in us. We can do nothing about it, as it is one of our inherent traits.
While it has its cons, it also has its pros. The pros of our stubbornness and our big ego in general is that if we apply the method we once received to rise above our ego, then we will be able to balance and manage two great positive and negative forces together, as it is written, “Love will cover all crimes.” We will have our “crimes,” our egoism, below—the minus—and above it, we can discover the quality of love, bestowal and connection—the plus. We will then become worthy of showing a positive example to humanity of how to overcome the divisive ego that tears human society apart, and how to cover that ego with an umbrella of love, giving and positive connection, effectively elevating human consciousness to new heights of harmony and peace.
Based on the video “Is Stubbornness a Characteristic Quality of Jews?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
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