No one is born wise, but no one dies with all the knowledge. At any given moment a person can, and is even required to develop. It is what makes him who he is and what he is.
A person who studies is a person who develops. Also in broad intelligence, and “knowledge is power”, also in his ability to deal with complex, changing and unexpected situations, and above all – knowledge teaches him how to live morally as a human being.
Perhaps this is the reason why the study of the Torah stands at the heart of Judaism’s worldview as one of the highest values: deciphering the ‘cipher’, the secret of correct conduct, and the ability to live by it. This is a process that a person goes through throughout his life. That’s why the Jewish phrase “talmid hacham” is also used. The wise man is also always a student, in the sense that he is hungry for knowledge, strives to learn and seeks to develop. He never says to himself “That’s it, I already know everything, there is no more insight that will be new to me”.
Parshat of the week: Parshat Amor
This principle is taught to us by Rabbi Yitzchak Arama, one of the great men of Spain during the period of the exile, in his commentary to the Shavuot Parsha. The parasha instructs us to count the count of the Omer, which we count these days, between Passover and Shavuot. 49 days, where the 50th day is the holiday of Matan Torah.
At Passover we left Egypt, and turned from a nation of slaves into a tiny and young nation. But we still haven’t received what sets us apart from the people: the Torah, the education, the knowledge of how to live independently that is not based on another culture, Egyptian in this case.
Parshat of the week: Parshat Amor
And so the people began to count. Counting, in essence, teaches about lack, about passing between days, about expectation, about the fact that we are on a journey towards something great. As a prisoner counts the days until the moment of release, and as the worker doing hard physical work counts the hours until the break or the end of the day. The count shows the inner ambition and expectation.
Every year we repeat this count, day after day for 49 days, in order to internalize this message: constant development is required to make ourselves better people.
This is our right, and this is our duty. Both as managers, both as professionals, both as family members, and as human beings.
The author is Ziv Elol, entrepreneur, investor, CEO Lips and the author of the book “Fathers of Management”.“
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