משנה מסכת אבות
ה:ט ארבע מדות באדם, האומר שלי שלי ושלך שלך, זו מדה בינונית, ויש אומרים זו מדת סדום. שלי שלך ושלך שלי עם הארץ. שלי שלך ושלך שלך חסיד. שלי שלי ושלך שלי רשע
In the Talmud, (in volume Pirkei Avot, which deals with how to conduct ourselves) we also learn about how to think about self and other in respect to our property and income versus another persons. Read the text above, and add your comments and thoughts below.
matthew
ReplyDeletethese are the four people we talked about in class the other day. these four people are people we encounter all the time, even if we don't think about it. these four people exist within ourselves and within everyone else around us. the greedy person or the evil person is what we show as a young child when we want everything we see. The saintly person that gives everything is when a person gets married and begins to share every thing with his or her significant other. The moron thinks that whats yours is his and whats his is yours, this is a when you have a child you would give anything for your child and you would take away anything from your child to keep it safe. and the common person thinks that whats mine is mine and whats yours is yours is the teenager, teenagers are able to distinguish between whats yours and theirs.
Ariane #11
ReplyDeleteThis text deals with four different types of people. One of them is the neutral person who believes that what's mine is mine, and what's yours is yours. A selfish or bad person could fall under this category because they don't want to share what they have with others nor do they want to gain anything. The second is the evil and greedy person who believes that whats his is his and what's yours is also his. The third person is the generous and selfless person who believes that what's mine is yours and that what's yours is also yours. This person is willing to give up what he has to help another person. The fourth and final person is the "moron". He believes that what's his is yours and what's yours is mine. I think that all of these characteristics are logical and can be applied to everyone. Everyone has at least one of these characteristics, but I think that it is best to have a little bit of everything so that you can not only take care of yourself and your needs, but also those of the others around you.
Alex RAfailov comment #11
ReplyDeleteInt he world we live in today all of these characteristics are around us. These chracteristics could even describe us. I know my self that as a child i used to be evil and greedy because i either wanted to take something from my brother or get the new toy and not share with anyone. There are greedy people out there who just take stuff for themselves and do not share it with the people around them. A saintly person is the complete opposite. This person would be someone who does mitzvah and gives back to others and also when a person gets married he shares his stuff with the certain other that he is with. A Saintly person is really generous and will share anything with another person. The saintly thinks that whats mine is yours and whats yours is yours. The moron thinks of it a different way believes that whats yours is mine and whats mine is yours. He is viewed as a moron. The most common characteristic is the common people. They can be selfish or they could be good people. They believe that whats mine is mine and whats yours is yours. These people are selfish because they just want everyhting to themselves and do not share with others. Everyone in this world has at least one of these characteristics. These people could be bad or good and to find the middle you should have a bit of everything so that you could help others and yourself. This would not make you selfish and it would make you generous and not look bad from the outside.
Adira Brown Comment #3 of second set
ReplyDeleteLike Alex said above, we are surrounded by such traits in our everyday lives, and in many cases may find them within ourselves. I believe that each person has a little bit of each characteristic within themselves, however it is what we choose to prevail and shine through that defines us. In שלי שלי שלך שלך, we find the person who chooses to seem effortless; the person who lets their desire to avoid any difficult circumstances shine through. They believe that if everyone keeps to themselves, and 'what's mine is mine and what's yours is yours,' then everyone will be better off. The next characteristic is שלי שלך שלך שלך. This describes the selfless person. the one who says that there is another way to avoid sticky situations, but while helping others. What's mine is yours and what's yours is yours, leaving only one person benefiting from the trade. The next trait is that of a fool. One who believes that שלי שלך שלך שלי. in no situation would it truly make sense to have what's mine as yours and what's yours as mine. Lastly, we have שלי שלי שלך שלי; the person who lets their greed overcome them. I believe that no matter which trait we each choose to describe us, within every person is a semblance of each one. It is our job to make the right choice as to what others need. Put others before your self.
From such a young age, we are trained to develop a sense of שלי שלך שלך שלך. This trait is supposed to create selfless toddlers and kind- hearted kindergartners. By trying to better society from a young age and make children share, adults think they are doing the best.
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Comment #11, extra credit
ReplyDeleteSince the text deals with four different types of people, the selfless, the selfish, the average and another version of average. The text does not give us the way to be. It givese us four options but not an answer. I don't want to be average so that rules out two of my options, I am not that selfish so that rules that option out and i am not selfless so than what is my option?
My answer to this is that in order to be a righteous person you posses each one of the four. That sometimes we are average, other times we are selfish and sometimes we do selfless acts. In order for us to be human we have to have each of the four.
These four different people are all around us. What’s mine is mine and what’s yours is mine is viewed as the greedy or evil person. They have no boundaries and don’t have the ability to empathize with others the way the other three people do. This may seem like a rare case, but in reality we all know plenty of people and have even had our own moments when we’ve felt entitled to something that isn’t ours. In The Wolf of Wall Street Jordon said that he thought that the money of the people he scammed was better off in his hands, after all, he was much better at spending it. Serial killers never stop to wonder if the people they’ve killed might’ve deserved to live and many conmen and corporations only see people as tools to acquire money from, rather than people entitled to their own belongings. We all have friends who feel entitled to our full attention constantly and then think that we’re mad at them when they don’t receive it because they can’t comprehend that they are not entitled to us the way they want to be. Plenty of us have siblings who steal from us constantly, but would be extremely mad if we took something from them. What’s mine is yours and what’s yours is mine is perceived as the moron. This also may seem rare, but there are plenty of people who live their lives believing that the world owes them something, as if they are entitled to instant karma every time that they are generous to others. Not only are they ignoring that Karma is a Hindu concept that has nothing to do with our religion, but they also feel that when they are generous, they should be treated generously in return. This defeats the point of generosity, but is extremely common. How many times have you heard someone say “But I’m a good person!” or “Why do bad things happen to good people” when something in their life goes wrong, as if being generous with their time or money makes them entitled to more in life. There are plenty of people who do good because they believe that they will be rewarded for it in the afterlife. This isn’t exactly what’s mine is yours and yours is mine, but is very similar because these people give away their belongings because they believe that if they do then they are entitled to something greater that isn’t theirs. What’s mine is mine and what’s yours is yours is seen as common, many may even say selfish, but I think that it is a healthy way to live. What’s mine is mine and yours is yours allows everyone to claim their time, money and belongings and because your time and possessions belong to you, you have the ability to decide what you want to do with them. If you want to spend your time or money on someone else then you have the power to do that, that doesn’t make them the owner of your time or money, that was simply your choice to be generous. What’s mine is yours and what’s yours is mine is perceived as saintly, but I see it as a very unhealthy way to live your life. Having a large sense of entitlement is wrong, but having no sense of entitlement is a form of self-denial. When a what’s yours is yours and mine is mine person helps others they are being generous because they are giving away something that is theirs. It is them choosing to spend their time or money on others, but the “saintly” person has no choice. He firmly believes that what’s mine is yours so he is helping others because that time and money never really belonged to him in the first place. This person has no control over his life because he is entitled to nothing. If nothing belongs to him then he is simply surviving, existing only for the sake of others and cannot live for himself. I don’t think that it’s selfish to live for yourself because if you do not look out for yourself, no one will.
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