What Would Rabbi Moskowitz Say?
I’ll be honest, I miss Rabbi Moskowitz’s class. During the past week I decided to play a little game called “What would Rabbi Moskowitz say?”. The game is very simple. When I am thinking about a certain personality type or trying to understand a certain emotion I simply imagine asking Rabbi Moskowitz and then imagining that he is the one thinking about it. To my surprise, this method has lead me to an insight numerous times.
Why this method works, I still do not fully understand. I am not operating with any new facts. It is not changing or proposing a new direction on the topic. It is merely imagining Rabbi Moskowitz thinking about the problem.
Maybe next time I’ll play the game to understand why my method works.
Over the past week I went camping with my family. Out in nature, I immediately felt the desire to find the most difficult hikes to be able to see the most beautiful scenery. This made me think of two types of people; the traveler and the adventurer.
The traveler is someone who likes to travel the world. He feels this desire to see everything and to be constantly on the move. The more places he gets to see the better. He will proudly tell you that he has been in this many countries and this many continents.
Then there is the adventurous person. This type of person is more interested in hiking to the top of Mount Everest than sigh seeing. He finds activities that are risky and exhilarating. He completes one difficult task only to find something even more difficult and more risky to do.
I decided to see what Rabbi Moskowitz would say regarding these two personalities. Why do they do what they do? What drives them?
Here is what I imagined Rabbi Moskowitz replying.
The Traveler
This person is unhappy with his situation. He is constantly on the go because he is trying to get away from his conflicts. He knows that there must be something better for him out there, a better way of life or a better culture. Therefore, he lives his whole life in search of that better thing. What he is really looking for is a better situation.
When such a person is traveling he is temporarily deceived. All the things that bothered him back home don’t exist. Because the objects that elicit and make shown the conflicts that he has do not exist, he makes the mistake in believing that the conflicts themselves are gone. But new, similar situations arise that elicit the same conflict and the person grows unhappy and wants to move on again. He in never satisfied and will always be on the go.
The Adventurer
The adventurous person has a completely different thing driving him. The reason why he wants to scale the tallest mountain is because he wants to be stronger than nature. He defeats one mountain now it’s time to fight another. He also likes to take risks. Look at the risks with these horrible consequences and look at me. avoided these consequences. Nothing happened to me. He gets satisfaction from showing himself that he is not influenced by anything and is not subject to the laws of nature. This person is unhappy that during his daily routine he is subject to nature. He is subject to his boss and to daily traffic. He uses adventures and risk taking a sort of outlet for this frustration.
This does not mean that traveling and adventuring are bad themselves. I am merely explaining what the personalities that are addicted to traveling or to adventures are.
Why this method works, I still do not fully understand. I am not operating with any new facts. It is not changing or proposing a new direction on the topic. It is merely imagining Rabbi Moskowitz thinking about the problem.
Maybe next time I’ll play the game to understand why my method works.
Over the past week I went camping with my family. Out in nature, I immediately felt the desire to find the most difficult hikes to be able to see the most beautiful scenery. This made me think of two types of people; the traveler and the adventurer.
The traveler is someone who likes to travel the world. He feels this desire to see everything and to be constantly on the move. The more places he gets to see the better. He will proudly tell you that he has been in this many countries and this many continents.
Then there is the adventurous person. This type of person is more interested in hiking to the top of Mount Everest than sigh seeing. He finds activities that are risky and exhilarating. He completes one difficult task only to find something even more difficult and more risky to do.
I decided to see what Rabbi Moskowitz would say regarding these two personalities. Why do they do what they do? What drives them?
Here is what I imagined Rabbi Moskowitz replying.
The Traveler
This person is unhappy with his situation. He is constantly on the go because he is trying to get away from his conflicts. He knows that there must be something better for him out there, a better way of life or a better culture. Therefore, he lives his whole life in search of that better thing. What he is really looking for is a better situation.
When such a person is traveling he is temporarily deceived. All the things that bothered him back home don’t exist. Because the objects that elicit and make shown the conflicts that he has do not exist, he makes the mistake in believing that the conflicts themselves are gone. But new, similar situations arise that elicit the same conflict and the person grows unhappy and wants to move on again. He in never satisfied and will always be on the go.
The Adventurer
The adventurous person has a completely different thing driving him. The reason why he wants to scale the tallest mountain is because he wants to be stronger than nature. He defeats one mountain now it’s time to fight another. He also likes to take risks. Look at the risks with these horrible consequences and look at me. avoided these consequences. Nothing happened to me. He gets satisfaction from showing himself that he is not influenced by anything and is not subject to the laws of nature. This person is unhappy that during his daily routine he is subject to nature. He is subject to his boss and to daily traffic. He uses adventures and risk taking a sort of outlet for this frustration.
This does not mean that traveling and adventuring are bad themselves. I am merely explaining what the personalities that are addicted to traveling or to adventures are.
Great idea, but an even greater game!
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