Rav Kook has nailed Ga’avah – arrogance.  It is all about your orientation – people who are pursuing the truth pursue it avidly.  And people who do not do not…

In our enthusiasm to be humble and open, we might miss the mark and end up in sadness.  Rav Kook draws the line between these two related traits to help us stay joyous and healthy.

Ga’avah – arrogance – is in insidious.  It presents a wall that keeps us progressively more insulated.  Oy.  I just wish I could help all those arrogant people out there.  Ha ha.

Rav Kook describes and defines ga’avah (usually translated as arrogance) as a certain closed-ness to reality.  And he explains where that comes from, and how it is so destructive.  And maybe we tie Purim in a bit.

We often react with mixtures of midot, part of which are useful and part of which are not.  We have to learn how separate them out.  Then we can react with an accurate reflection of what we feel.

You’ve got to know where your vulnerabilities are and be able to establish firm fences around them.  And this may make you feel (and look) like a zealot, but that’s OK.  The Hashmonaim were zealots, and they were the winners of the Hanukkah story.

In order to stay tuned in to how we, as individuals, need to move in accordance with the will of our Maker, our hearts must stay open.  Not so simple,though, is it?

Binah is how we apply everything we learn to our own lives; how the ladder meets the ground

The Torah life is the latticework upon which our lives grow.  It is our job to do the work of allowing the Torah to circumscribe that life for us.  Please note that this class cuts off at the end, and you’ll never ever know the all-important secret that was revealed at the end.

Yir’ah – the cherishing of the opportunity of a moment – can be and has to be learned.  We can learn the bullet-points but we have to take them home.  And now we start looking at building blocks of yir’ah.