The Wisdom of Rabbi Noah Weinberg, Part 1

I was recently joined on our podcast, The Future of Jewish, by Raphael Shore, the former COO at Aish HaTorah.

In 1974, after meeting five backpackers at the Western Wall, Rabbi Noah Weinberg founded Aish HaTorah (which means “the fire of Torah”), a Jewish education center in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Admittedly, I’ve heard “mixed reviews” about Aish HaTorah. But after Shore spoke so highly of Rabbi Weinberg in this episode, I was curious to learn more about the rabbi, who passed away in 2009 just before his 79th birthday.

What I found in a simple Google search blew me away: timeless wisdom, tools anyone, Jewish and otherwise, can utilize to enact a more purposeful, fulfilling life, while helping others do the same.

In this essay, I’d like to share with you some of Rabbi Weinberg’s knowledge, insights, and perspectives by which I was particularly inspired:

1. Every day, set aside time to ask three questions: What am I living for? What do I need to change? What am I going to do about it?

2. The most virulent disease in the world is ignorance. Ignorance can kill you. It spreads throughout entire societies and is extremely difficult to combat, especially since victims are usually unaware they have been infected.

3. Count your blessings, but also make your blessings count.

4. Effective listening means: hearing the words, understanding the message, and putting it into action.

5. The “I-You-They” game is based on the premise that we usually describe people on three emotional levels. When we refer to ourselves, we tend to paint the best-possible picture. With others, we prefer not to insult them to their face, so we paint them gray. And when people aren’t around to defend themselves, we paint them black. “I” am white. “You” are gray. “They” are black.

Lead with your head, rather than muddling through life based on feelings alone. Otherwise, you will be stuck in the “I-You-They” game.

6. In Judaism, we go much deeper: We say “clarity or death.” Death, in this case, is the complete absence of consciousness; reduced consciousness is therefore partial death. Either you know what you are living for, you know what you want, you know what your pleasure is — or you are living like a zombie. Jewish consciousness says that, before doing anything, stop to ask yourself: “Why am I doing this?”

7. The words listen and silent have the same letters.

8. In Hebrew, arichat sfatayim literally means “arrange it on your lips.” To gain more clarity and wisdom, try saying things out loud. Articulate what you are thinking, what you are learning, and what you know about living. Don’t keep it in the back of your head.

Moreover, thinking through a problem is only one step in the resolution process. A problem that remains in your mind will often go unresolved. Hearing the problem through your ears provides a level of objectivity and perspective, and helps focus your attention.

9. “It’s the real thing.” “Just do it.” “Fly the friendly skies.” The advertising industry spends billions to develop slogans — a quick and effective way to articulate core thoughts. Slogans enable us to remain clear about our goals and motivations, and inspire us to keep going when we feel like giving up. Before attempting anything, ask yourself, “What do I hope to accomplish?” Then put your answer into a slogan that will stick in your mind.

10. In Hebrew, Bi’vinat ha’lave literally means “understanding the heart.” The heart is the seat of emotions. We say: “My heart is heavy, my heart is lifted, my heart is broken,” et cetera. To understand your heart is to understand your true inner self, yet many people go through life making assumptions about who they are. They never take time to “meet” themselves. Don’t be afraid to discover that “the real you” may be different than the “the current you.”

11. People often avoid making decisions out of fear of making a mistake; in actuality, the failure to make decisions is one of life’s biggest mistakes.

12. Root out negative motivations that corrupt your behavior. Let's say that you give charity. Why? One motivation is to help humanity. Another is the pleasure of being constructive. A third is the desire to do the right thing. These are all positive motivations. A negative motivation for giving charity is, “I want people to admire me.” That’s corruptive. The next time you give charity, do so anonymously. Eliminate the wrong reasons. They are destructive.

13. See the power and the pleasure of understanding truth. Be in touch with the awe of “wisdom.”

14. Stop looking at what you are. Look at what you can be. You can solve humanity’s problems, instead of just accepting them and suffering. You can destroy or create the entire world. Use this power proactively. Always be aware of the awesome power within you, and within every human being. Treat everyone with reverence, caution, respect, awe. And treat yourself the same way.

15. Life has the potential to be one thrill after another, if you understand the power of every moment.

16. The Hebrew word yirah means both “to fear” and “to see.” Making the right choice is a constant human struggle. We have an inclination to take the easy way out, and to ignore the coming consequences. “To see or not to see?” — that is the Jewish question.

17. Some Jews customarily visit their future burial plots every year, usually before Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish new year). Why? It’s not morbidity. It makes the point clear: “I am mortal, and this is where I’ll end up. So what do I want written on my tombstone?”

18. Objectivity and humility are linked ideas. Objectivity gives us the ability to rise above selfish desires and do the right thing, for the right reasons — which leads to humility. This is why the Talmud likens arrogance to idol worship. Without humility, we can’t hear wisdom, because we are too stuck in our own subjective reality.

The Sages ask a fundamental question: Why was the Torah presented to Jews in a desert? Because a desert is empty, a symbol to create space for wisdom.

This is part two in a series about the teachings of Rabbi Noah Weinberg, who founded Aish HaTorah, a Jewish education center in the Old City of Jerusalem, in 1974. Read part two here.