The Phoenix Jewish news., 1960-05-27
JEWISH BOOK CORNER
Judaism And Psychio+rY

his own self. He is completely de-
pendent upon the mother for his
well being and therefore has no
ego and no sense of his selfness..
Then the infant grows and gradual
ly develops a sense of 81" as
separate from the "you". He begins
to realize that he himself is some
thing apart from other entities and
that he has his own individuality
which he becomes aware of through
his own weakness and his own i'm
portance.
PSYCHIATRISTS TELL us that
this is an important stage, for the
child'S father and mother assume
major importance as his protec-
tor, and along with this new sense
of his individuality there is also
an awareness of his dependence,
and thus the child now moves into
that transition period which be-
comes very difficult for each child
to maintain on his own.
The last stage is the growth
from Semi-dependence to complete
independence and the ability to
give ones self freely in love to one
another. Every human being starts
by being Self-centered and then
must learn how to give as well as
to receive. This, of course, is the
problem that each of us faces in
life, for there are many of us
who have never broken away, so
to speak, from the golden string,
and some of us have never been
weaned away to accept ourselves
as being independent.
This means that we must face
our problems not as we would have
them or could have them, but as
they actually present themselves
to us. What does this imply? Does
Self-acceptance mean that we ac-
cept our imperfections, habits and
general behavior, or does it mean
that we overlook them as not being
part of our personality?
To develop emotionally we have
to learn to accept the world realis-
tically and come to terms with our
selves. We must set before ouselves
a true and definite picture of what
we have become and begin from
this point. No human being is so
rigid and so inflexible that he can
not turn from one to another.
JUDAISM HAS ALWAYS stress
ed that man must live with himself,
and in the reading of the Ethics
of the Fathers comes the state
ment of Rabbi Ben Bagbag, "Ac-
cording to the effort is the re-
ward" In other words, every man
achieves what he does for himself.
If person Furnishes himself need
lessly, then he brings about his
own Illustrations and if a person
truly gives of himself and finds
human happiness in fulfillment,
then, too, from the effort comes
the reward.
This is the Dynamics of the Jew
ish faith-that within us is the
potentiality of self-reliance, for
none of us can escape the fact that
once we accept ourselves with all
our limitations and with all our
problems, we nevertheless must
look upon ourselves in the highest
realm rather than the lowest. The
human self is not a gift. It is an
achievement. It is something that
is not static, but growing process
in which in Judaism we find that
God is our Helpmate. He is with us
as our co-worker, to struggle
through the problem and to see
ourselves standing through the Bat
tie and finding the victory through
the work of our own hands. 1t was
Robert Browning who wrote, IA
mans reach should exceed his
grasp, or what's heaven for?"
WHY DID OUR sages teach that
man should become an eternal stu
dent of the Torah? Because our
tradition never wanted our people
to become SNUG, self-satisfied, and
complacent. The Ethics of the
Fathers taught the wise under
standing of human life by saying
that every man turn it over, and
let him dwell upon it day and night
till everything good is contained
in it.
This is the way to look upon your
self. Turn yourself inward and out
ward, for there is much good that
lies in each of us, and yet it takes
confidence in ones self to bring
it out and to let it bloom where it
can serve the best good.