Sjimon den Hollander
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      • The Crusades and Maoz Tzur
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      • The Tosafists
      • Yehuda haLevi
      • Ritual Murder and Blood Libel
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      • Abraham Maimonides
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      • The Barcelona Disputation
      • Qabbala and the Zohar
      • The Cairo Geniza
      • The New Sephardi Identity
      • David Reubeni and Shelomo Molkho
      • Shabbatai Tzevi
      • Da Costa and Spinoza
      • Yiddish Texts
      • Ḥasidism
      • The Jewish Enlightenment
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      • On Modern Orthodoxy
      • Could Jews Accept the Prophets ​of Christianity and Islam?
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      • Glossary
    • The Jews of Medieval Western Christendom >
      • Introduction
      • Chapter 1. Prior Legacies >
        • 1A. The Muslim Legacy
        • 1B. The Christian Legacy
        • 1C. The Jewish Legacy
      • Chapter 2. The Roman Catholic Church >
        • 2A. Theological Doctrine
        • 2B. Ecclesiastical Policies
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      • Chapter 3. The Older Jewries of the South >
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        • Rejecting Human Sacrifice (2012)
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Grow Up and Become a Better Person! ​(2012)
​


(A download option for this sermon in PDF can be found below.)

Some of you have probably heard of the Christian dogma of the initial sin, meaning: the existence of inherited, genetically ingrained evil in human beings.  People are born in sin, and that defines them.
As worded in classic Calvinist theology: “Man is wholly incapable of doing any good and inclined to all evil.”  Also, the philosopher Kant wrote that man “is a slave of his passions and inclined to all evil”.
On the other side of the spectrum, in other circles, there is a widespread concept that humans are innately good.  When children are born, their souls are pure like fresh fallen show with no concept of evil, greed or anger.  But as they grow up, they become corrupted by society and infected with bad traits.  Adherents of this thought are baffled to hear the findings of research.  When the rates of violence were measured over the course of people’s life spans, it became clear that the most violent stage of life is…  NOT later in life, when people have been longer exposed to an evil, corrupting society, NOT even at the notorious age of adolescence, but around the age of 2!!!

Experimental psychologist Steven Pinker writes:  “A typical toddler […] kicks, bites, hits, and gets into fights with peers, but after “the terrible twos” the rate of physical aggression goes steadily down over the course of childhood”.  The new prevailing insight is now that children do not learn aggression; they learn not to be aggressive.

Is the Christian dogma of people being innately evil then correct?  That cannot be right either, because clearly many people behave ethically in most cases and are capable of selfless acts of charity.  Noble concepts such as righteousness, fairness, kindness and benevolence are also engraved in our conscience...    So, there must be two inborn sides to people’s nature.

Judaism acknowledges and names both these sides within human beings.  Each person, according to Judaism, is born with two sides, two drives inside himself: The Yēṣer ha-Tobh (a good inclination) and the Yēṣer ha-Ra` (a negative force).

The art of growing and evolving to a higher level is to learn –throughout our entire lives– how to deal with our negative drive and how to channel it, so it does not take hold of us.  Controlling the Yēṣer ha-Ra` does not make us boring softies, but it does make us worthier and happier people, more emotionally balanced, and more in control of our lives.  However, it does require training and perseverance, a constant process of self-reflection and self-improvement.  That is what these last ten days and especially Yom Kippur are all about.

No one here is perfect, and that’s okay, but we can all become ever better and happier people; a little bit more, each day.  It is a tricky process though.  This Yēṣer ha-Ra` is playing a trick on us.  Or, not to personify our evil inclination, I should say: “We are constantly playing a trick on ourselves.  One of these tricks is: When two people do something bad to each other, even if the harm is equal, each person tends to rate his/her own action as not-so-bad, understandable-under-the-circumstances, excusable, while the other person’s action is perceived as much worse than one's own.  It is extremely hard for people to actually recognize their own mistakes.

The psychologist Baumeister, who studied numerous perpetrators of destructive acts, from rather innocent to very severe ones, found that no one thought that they had done anything wrong.  In our widdūy -our confession- we pray: Ashamnu, Baghadnu, Gazalnu (we sinned, we cheated, we stole… etc.)  Only on a rare occasion do we say: Ashamti, Baghadti, Ganavti (I… sinned, I cheated, I stole…)

Of course it is for a good reason the prayers are formulated the way they are!  It is very important that we are not just concerned about our own soul’s growth, our own self-improvement, but about the conduct and destiny of the entire Jewish people.  We should feel responsible for each other.  Therefore, we also need to look critically at what happens within the Jewish world at large and be bothered if there is wrongdoing or hypocrisy.  That is why not looking critically at our Jewish communities or (let’s say) at Israeli society is not the answer.  Whenever there is wrongdoing, we should see it, and we should feel upset because of it, and look for ways of improvement.

But, having said that, the hardest part is to acknowledge: I did such-and-such wrong, I am sorry about it, I hate that I did it, and I decide not to ever do this again.  From now on, this is not part of my lifestyle any more.

Children learn to control their primal impulses when they grow up.  This process should not stop with adulthood.  We can keep growing spiritually and become even better people.  If only we can recognize where our flaws are and make a conscious decision to change.

In these last moments of the Day of Atonement, let us all renew our dedication to God –Who is the ultimate Source of all that is good. Let us renew our resolution to be the best person we can be,  which God-willing will be better than last year. May we improve ourselves and strengthen and inspire our communities and the people around us to reach higher levels.
​

grow_up_and_become_a_better_person___2012_.pdf
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  • Personal
    • Introduction
    • Curriculum Vitae
    • My Journey to Judaism
    • Testimonials
  • JUDAISM
    • Judaism - Introduction
    • Jewish History >
      • Paleo Hebrew
      • The Pentateuch
      • Stories of Creation
      • Stories of the Flood
      • Priestly Writings
      • Prophets of Israel and Judah
      • Biblical Poetry
      • Flavius Josephus
      • The Dead Sea Scrolls
      • Midrash
      • Oral Torah and Talmud
      • Origins of Christian Anti-Jewish Attitudes
      • Byzantine Jews Before the Advent of Islam
      • Yannai
      • Jews Under Islam
      • Byzantine Jews After the Advent of Islam
      • Qara'ites
      • Saadia Gaon
      • The Jewish Golden Age (part 1): Hasdai ibn Shaprut
      • The Jewish Golden Age (part 2) Andalusian Poetry
      • The Jewish Golden Age (part 3) Samuel haNagîd and Ibn Gabirol
      • Christian-Jewish Polemics
      • The Crusades and Maoz Tzur
      • Rashi
      • The Tosafists
      • Yehuda haLevi
      • Ritual Murder and Blood Libel
      • The Ḥasidé Ashkenaz
      • Toledot Yeshu
      • Moses Maimonides, Philosopher
      • Moses Maimonides, Rabbi, Leader, Physician
      • Abraham Maimonides
      • Maimonidean Controversies
      • Host Desecration Libels
      • The Barcelona Disputation
      • Qabbala and the Zohar
      • The Cairo Geniza
      • The New Sephardi Identity
      • David Reubeni and Shelomo Molkho
      • Shabbatai Tzevi
      • Da Costa and Spinoza
      • Yiddish Texts
      • Ḥasidism
      • The Jewish Enlightenment
      • Modern Jewish Thinkers
    • Jewish Thought >
      • On Modern Orthodoxy
      • Could Jews Accept the Prophets ​of Christianity and Islam?
    • Jewish Law >
      • A Mikwèh in Uganda
      • Shabbat Distance
  • Scripture
    • Torah - Pentateuch >
      • Genesis
      • Exodus
    • Nebi'im - Prophets
    • Ketubim - Further Scriptures >
      • Tehillim - Psalms
      • Ruth
      • Lamentations
      • Esther
  • Liturgy
    • Daily Prayers
    • Shabbat Eve in Synagogue
    • Shabbat Eve at Home
    • Shabbat Morning
    • Purim
    • Passover/Pesach
    • Omer Counting
    • Shabhu'oth
    • Tish'a beAv Evening Service
    • The Month of Elul
    • Rosh haShana Eve in Synagogue
    • Rosh haShana Eve at Home
    • Rosh haShana Morning in Synagogue
    • Yom Kippur
    • Sukkot
    • Ḥanukka
  • CHRISTIANITY
    • Christianity - Introduction
    • Jesus, the Jewish Messiah
    • Could Jews Accept Jesus as a Prophet?
    • Why do Jews not Accept Jesus as the Messiah?
    • The Barcelona Disputation
  • ISLAM
    • Islam - Introduction
    • Islamic Dietary Laws
    • Torah and Qur'an >
      • Tafsîr Al-Tabarî
      • Tafsîr Al-Qurtubî
      • Tafsîr Al-Mîzān
    • Why Do Jews not Believe ​in the Prophet Muhammad?
    • Do Jews Follow the Sunna of Moses?
  • (DIS)COURSES
    • Biblical Hebrew
    • Medieval Hebrew Texts >
      • Syllabus
      • Course Classes >
        • Introduction and Important Information
      • Prep Readers
      • Paragraph Assignment >
        • Assignment Explanation
        • Original Text
        • Guidelines for your Paragraph Assignments
        • Finished Chapters
      • Essay Assignment
      • Glossary
    • The Jews of Medieval Western Christendom >
      • Introduction
      • Chapter 1. Prior Legacies >
        • 1A. The Muslim Legacy
        • 1B. The Christian Legacy
        • 1C. The Jewish Legacy
      • Chapter 2. The Roman Catholic Church >
        • 2A. Theological Doctrine
        • 2B. Ecclesiastical Policies
        • 2C. Imagery of the Jews
        • 2D. Cultural Creativity
        • 2E. Looking Ahead
      • Chapter 3. The Older Jewries of the South >
        • 3A. Southern France
        • 3B. Christian Spain
      • Chapter 4. Northern France and England >
        • 4A. Northern France
        • 4B. England
      • Chapter 5. Germany and Eastern Europe >
        • 5A. Germany
    • Judeo-Arabic Philosophers
    • Sermons >
      • Rosh haShana >
        • Hardships That Generate Inspiration (2019)
        • Rosh haShana Meditation (2018)
        • Abraham’s Struggles and What We Can Learn From It (2014)
        • The Blessings of Monotheism (2013)
        • Rejecting Human Sacrifice (2012)
      • Yom Kippur >
        • Confession: Guilt Trip, or Acknowledgement? (2019)
        • Yom Kippur and Being Connected (2015)
        • Changing Your Brain (2014)
        • Grow Up and Become a Better Person (2012)
    • Holocaust Commemoration
  • OTHER LANGUAGES
    • عربي
    • فارسي
    • Bahasa Indonesia >
      • Pembacaan Kitab Suci
      • Liturgi Yahudi
    • Deutsch
    • Español >
      • Sagrada Escritura
      • Liturgia
    • Français
    • Igbo
    • Italiano
    • Kiswahili
    • Luganda
    • Nederlands >
      • Tanach (Bijbel) >
        • Thora >
          • Genesis
          • Exodus
        • Profeten
        • Geschriften >
          • Psalmen
          • Ruth
          • Klaagliederen
          • Esther
      • Liturgie >
        • Daily Prayers
        • Sjabbat Avonddienst
        • Sjabbatavond Thuis
        • Sjabbat Ochtenddienst
        • Sjabbatochtend
        • Poeriem
        • Pesach
        • Omertelling
        • Sjaboe'ot
        • Tisj'a be-Ab
        • Rosj haSjana Avonddienst
        • Rosj haSjana Ochtenddienst
        • Kipoer
        • Soekot
        • Chanoeka
      • Joodse Geschiedenis
    • Português >
      • Sagrada Escritura
      • Liturgia
  • UGANDA
    • Pesach in Uganda
  • Contact