#80 Jewish Leadership: Courage, Determination & Activism

#2. COURAGE. From the Inside out.

In Hebrew, the word for courage is אֹמֶץ לֵב, (ometz lev) – strength of the heart. It’s more than just your actual heart, it’s the source of your strength and your inner power. Courage is the ability to do something in the face of pain or fear. It’s like being brave.

Be strong and courageous, be not in fear or in dread of them; for it is indeed your God, Adonai, who marches with you: [God] will not fail you or forsake you. – Deuteronomy 31:6

_______________________________________________________________________________
#3. WATCH this Courageous Story

_______________________________________________________________________________

#4 DETERMINATION. נְחִישׁוּת (n’chishut) Do you have it? Good quotes!

“Determination is doing what needs to be done even when you don’t feel like doing it.”

“Do not underestimate the determination of a quiet man.”

“The difference between the possible and the impossible lies within a person’s determination”

Now Absalom gave his attendants these orders: “Watch, and when Amnon is merry with wine and I tell you to strike down Amnon, kill him! Don’t be afraid, for it is I who give you the order. Act with determination, like brave men!” – II Samuel 13:28

So . . . . what does this all mean?

_______________________________________________________________________________
#5: ACTIVISM. “TIKKUN OLAM” תִקּוּן עוֹלָם (ti’kun o’lam) IS THE JEWISH IDEA OF CHANGING THE WORLD. 

“You’re never too young to change the world.” – unknown

“You cannot make positive change in the world until you take responsibility for it, until you see yourself as being responsible for changing it positively.” – Rabbi Darren Levine

“I’m no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept.” – Angela Y. Davis

Tikkun Olam has come to connote social action and the pursuit of social justice. The phrase has origins in classical rabbinic literature and in Lurianic kabbalah, a major strand of Jewish mysticism originating with the work of the 16th-century kabbalist, Rabbi Isaac Luria. The term is used in the Mishnah (the body of classical rabbinic teachings codified circa 200 C.E.). There, it refers to social policy legislation providing extra protection to those potentially at a disadvantage.

_______________________________________________________________________________

#6 WHAT DOES A JEWISH LEADER LOOK LIKE? Let’s see…

_______________________________________________________________________________

#7 RESPOND AND REACT

1. What is the definition of Leadership?
2. How would you explain courage to a friend?
3. What is determination? How do you express your determination?
4. What is the Hebrew phrase for “change the world?”
5. What type of leader are you?