The portion-parasha of Shoftim discusses the commandment to
set-up Cities of Refuge given in Numbers 35:9-34. Moses had already designated
3 such cities on the East bank of the Jordan even though they would only be
functional after all 6 were established, and that would be after
the conquest of the land of Israel. Moses was setting an example of acting with
zeal –' ze'ri'zut ' that if a mitzvah presents itself to you, do not permit it
to go stale – do the mitzvah now. The cities of refuge would be a safe
haven for people who had murdered someone accidently because of a certain
degree of carelessness. These Cities of Refuge were Levite cities and places of
learning. And it was here, the perpetrator of the accidental murder through
carelessness would take steps to atone for his sin and fix his character
-become more careful and watchful - za'hir. The Brai'tah of Rabbi Pinchas ben
Yair taught that the study of Torah brings a person to a place of being more
careful –' ze'hi'rut ' and this gives him more 'drive' and 'motivation' –
ze'ri'zut. We study Torah in order to share our learning with others and teach,
so we can do the mitzvoth and avoid sin. In order to do this we need to develop
a framework for character and spiritual development - the Path of the Just – the '
Mesilat Yesharim ' with which we can ascend Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair's ladder of
spiritual development.
Ze'hi'rut – is being watchful and careful, and ze'ri'zut –
is being passionate and motivated. They actually impact on one
another so one can begin a discussion on either one. Ze'ri'zut - being
passionate and intrinsically motivated says the ' Mesilat Ye'sharim '- the Path
of the Just is the opposite of ' Laziness'. We all have a problem with '
laziness', because of our ' earthiness' .This make us heavy and suffer from '
inertia'. It is expressed by procrastination in getting started and not
finishing things we have started. Today, the experts say that there is no
such thing as a ' lazy child'. There is usually something getting
in the kid's way , so the question we should be asking is not how
can we motivate children , but what is getting in their way , how can we help ,
how can we create the conditions so kids will motivate themselves. In the same
way, Rabbi Chaim Vital says the source of' laziness' is ' utzvut '- sadness.
According to the research, intrinsic motivation, happiness and well-being is
dependent on a person's needs for ' autonomy and self-direction', mastery
– competence, and ' relatedness – belonging' being met and that he has a sense
of purpose. People who feel connected by the inner beings, are competent and
supported by others have the 'drive and passion' in what they do.
However, the reason that we suffer from 'procrastination '
is that we do not successfully deal with the ' negative emotions' associated
with some tasks. Instead we cope by procrastinating, avoiding the task and '
give in ' to feel good, despite
the fact that it is in our best interests to do the task. We can deal with the
negative emotions by using the characteristic of ze'hi'rut- watchfulness
to monitor and manage our emotions. Being successful in observing God's
positive and negative commandments means we need to be competent and show '
mastery ' in whatever we do. We also need to use ' metacognition ' and our'
executive functions ' to think about our thinking, to monitor what we are
doing, self- regulate our emotions, being reflective and not impulsive in our
thinking. It also includes organizing, planning and using working memory –
hindsight and foresight to solve problems, maintaining focus, ignoring
distractions. The way to self- regulate our negative emotions that cause us to
avoid tasks and procrastinate is to use our executive functions in
the form of ' mindfulness'. Mindfulness' helps us to be ' neutral and outside
observers' who in a non-judgmental way are aware of our negative emotions. This
awareness will signal the need to inhibit our habits of
procrastination, put our emotions aside and get on with our plan.
Kids should be learning Torah in order to share their learning
with others and apply their learning to the real world of mitzvoth and social-moral
behavior. They should be monitoring and self-assessing their learning and
behavior. We can support them with more formative assessment as they learn. In
this way kids focus on what they are doing and not only on ' how they are doing
' in the form of grades given by the teacher. We can promote the midah of ze'ri'zut
= intrinsic motivation and drive in kids by supporting their autonomy so
they feel their learning and doing of mitzvoth is self-directed that the
learning is relevant and meaningful to their lives , they are competent and
have a sense of belonging in a community of learners. The midah of ze'hi'rut =
carefulness is supported by encouraged by promoting executive functions –
mindfulness, self –assessment and monitoring .Mindfulness promotes both
intrinsic motivation by making us more attentive and connected to what we are
doing and executive functions and self-regulation by making us more aware of
our thinking and emotions.
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