2) Tell us about a time that you pushed past a fear, when you did something you were sure you could not do?
3) Think of a time when you watched a learner do something they were sure they could not do. What "muscles" did they need to "flex" to do it?
4) What do they, and we, need in order to push past fear in this way?
Give me a single example of courage in your life — or that you've witnessed in someone else's life — one example of courage that did not require uncertainty, risk and emotional exposure...
...vulnerability is the birthplace of courage. And if we want to be brave, we have to be real. And that requires risk.
With regard to the dates of these festivals, the Sages taught: When Adam the first man saw that the day was progressively diminishing, as the days become shorter from the autumnal equinox until the winter solstice, he did not yet know that this is a normal phenomenon, and therefore he said: Woe is me; perhaps because I sinned the world is becoming dark around me and will ultimately return to the primordial state of chaos and disorder. And this is the death that was sentenced upon me from Heaven, as it is written: “And to dust shall you return” (Genesis 3:19). He arose and spent eight days in fasting and in prayer. Once he saw that the season of Tevet, i.e., the winter solstice, had arrived, and saw that the day was progressively lengthening after the solstice, he said: Clearly, the days become shorter and then longer, and this is the order of the world. He went and observed a festival for eight days. Upon the next year, he observed both these eight days on which he had fasted on the previous year, and these eight days of his celebration, as days of festivities.
2) What does he learn about the world? About himself?
3) Can you think of a time when realizing that something was out of your control made it less scary?
A crisis highlights all of our fault lines. We can pretend that we have nothing to learn, or we can take this opportunity to own the truth and make a better future for ourselves and others.
(25) If there is anxiety in one's mind let them quash it, and turn it into joy with a good word.
§ The Gemara explains another verse in Proverbs: “If there anxiety in a person's heart, let him quash it [yashḥena]” (Proverbs 12:25). Rabbi Ami and Rabbi Asi dispute the verse’s meaning. One said: He should forcefully push it [yasḥena] out of his mind. One who worries should banish his concerns from his thoughts. And one said: It means he should tell [yesiḥena] others his concerns, which will lower his anxiety.
2) What are the 2 strategies being offered in the bottom text?
3) Do you think one is better than the other? Why or why not?
4) What are the strategies we can offer our children?
We tend to be our worst selves when we’re afraid, so we have to be intentional about choosing kindness and generosity.