Sunday, April 28, 2013

48 Ways: #23 - A Good Heart

Hi,

Pirkei Avot 6:5 teaches that Torah is acquired in 48 ways, which it lists for us. The twenty-third of the 48 is lev tov, a good heart.

Elsewhere, such as early in Pirkei Avot, lev tov is understood to refer to an instinctive, inherent generosity. This is important in one's studies because its opposite, selfishness, leads a person to close his mind to trading ideas and perspectives with others. Generosity opens a person to share his learning with others, and through that sharing one's knowledge and wisdom grows.

Have a great day,
Mordechai

4 comments:

  1. I was wondering... Is there a distinct word for frustration in mishnaic Hebrew?

    In my own psche, anger is anger plus an object to blame for being thwarted.

    And savlanut does appear to be the antonym for both.

    So I'm wondering if ka'as is doing double-duty, and here it's about the frustration side of the ka'as territory rather than the usual "anger".

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  2. R' Micha-
    Is this comment meant for this post?

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  3. Not sure if this was your intent but the bnei yisachar has a wonderful shtikle on 'lev tov' and its connection to Lag B'omer

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  4. Anonymous 9:29 AM-
    Entirely unintended; thanks!

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