A New Perspective

 A Long time ago in a land far far away, a small group of people were chosen to fulfill a divine mission to protect the world. They have survived millennia, through the rise and fall of empires, wars, revolutions, tyrants and every other dark evil man could conjecture. Despite these dangers, they have thrived due to a systematic tradition of passing down their teachings from master to pupil in an unbroken chain. Their spiritual and academic teachings have bestowed upon them wondrous abilities that they have used to significantly progress humanity for the better. They bring light unto the darkness and have done so despite their numbers and challenges.

Nearly every sci-fi or fantasy book has a similar premise; but this is not wizards or Jedi, these are the Jews. Throughout the Jewish people’s nearly 5,000-year history, they’ve been small in number and on few occasions nearly destroyed. They have faced the darkest forces in history yet survived and prospered because of their divine mission and teachings. These teachings were given by G-d at Mt. Sinai to the Jewish people as the five books of Moses and as the Oral Law, the explanations of the written Torah. Since then, countless texts have been written exploring and explaining the secrets given which only a handful of people in history ever master.

But of all the teachings, books, oral lessons, stories and more handed down to each generation, one book in particular sticks out. Would you believe that the leader of every generation left one piece of advice for the next, and that advice was the guide post for how to act, live, do business, love, go to war, and simply interact your fellow man? Well there is such a book, it is called Pirkei Avot, or Ethics of the Fathers.
So why call this blog the Jewish Jedi? I am not the biggest Star Wars fan, nor a rabbi. I am just a Jewish guy curious about the universe. In particular I am fascinated by Pirkei Avot. Can you imagine any society where the greatest leader of each generation left one piece of advice for the next? The only good analogy available are the Jedi.

We all know who the Jedi are but for educational sake let’s define them. The Jedi are fictional protagonists of George Lucas' Star Wars. Wikipedia defines the Jedi as "an ancient monastic, spiritual, and academic meritocratic organization" and that the "Jedi Order mostly consists of polymaths: teachers, philosophers, scientists, engineers, physicians, diplomats and warriors, who value knowledge and wisdom..."

The Jedi tradition was always to have a master and 'padawan.' Padawan is actually a sanskrit word roughly translated as "learner." Judaism up until 2000 years ago functioned off that same format. Jewish sages or rabbis, had chosen pupils and sometimes even thousands of students. The sage, or yoda of their generation, would either leave behind a collection of teachings or sometimes just a few written words. Pirkei Avot, is book where each master left behind their greatest wisdom for the generations to come.
The former Chief Rabbi of the British Commonwealth, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks describes it fairly well. He writes:

“Avot, AKA “The Ethics of the Fathers,” is unique as a sustained account of what it is to live the life of Torah. Avot is to the Oral Law what Proverbs is to Tenakh, a book of wisdom. But this is the distinctive wisdom of a group of people who traced their ancestry to the prophets and were real, if quiet, revolutionaries, turning Judaism from a religion of state, politics, Temple and priests into one of synagogue, school and house of study. Avot is the classic statement of the life of study and teaching.”
Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks (http://www.rabbisacks.org/the-jewish-bookshelf-10-essential-books-first-published-in-the-south-african-jewish-observer/)

I believe the Avot is not only a Jewish study of ethics, but really the manual to how everyone can live, work and grow. This blog will not only be my musings of life but an exploration of Avot in through the world we are living in today. I plan on applying it to my life and seeing how others followed it’s course.

The greatest part of Avot is how so many teachings and sayings we all know come from its pages. How about this one: "According to the pain is the gain."  This wasn’t originally said by Muhammed Ali, Vince Lombardi, Schwarzenegger, or even Yoda but Rabbi Ben Hei Hei. The rabbi had a fun name but was a giant of wisdom. This is but one of the many mottos, sayings and teachings found in Avot. Thanks for joining my blog and I look forward to exploring the Ancient Jewish Guide to Success with you in the time ahead. Who knows, maybe we’ll get an ebook out of it.