How well do you stack up against these nine pieces of advice? TB Pesakhim 113

We find a lot of good advice in today’s daf TB Pesakhim 113.  “Rabbi Yoḥanan further said: The Holy One, Blessed be He, proclaims about the goodness of three kinds of people every day, as exceptional and noteworthy individuals: About a bachelor who lives in a city and does not sin with women; about a poor person who returns a lost object to its owners despite his poverty; and about a wealthy person who tithes his produce in private, without publicizing his behavior…

“The Gemara cites a similar statement. The Holy One, Blessed be He, loves three people: One who does not get angry; one who does not get drunk; and one who is forgiving. The Holy One, Blessed be He, hates three people: One who says one statement with his mouth and means another in his heart, i.e., a hypocrite; one who knows testimony about another person and does not testify on his behalf; and one who observes a licentious matter performed by another person and testifies against him alone. His testimony is meaningless, as he is the only witness; consequently, he merely gives the individual a bad reputation.” (Sefaria.org translation)

I’m happy to report that the overwhelming number of people return lost objects. In an experiment around the globe, researchers turned in “lost” wallets at banks, hotels, post offices, and many other places saying they didn’t have time to return wallet and asked them to take care of it. “Researchers were surprised (at the results from the first experiment-gg). But then they ran the experiment again in three countries (Poland, the United Kingdom and the United States), adding “big money” wallets containing $94.15. The difference was even starker. Way more people emailed to return the wallets with the larger amount: 72 percent compared with 61 percent of people given wallets containing $13.45 and 46 percent of people given cashless wallets.

“Why?

“The evidence suggests that people tend to care about the welfare of others and they have an aversion to seeing themselves as a thief,” said Alain Cohn, a study author and assistant professor of information at the University of Michigan. People given wallets with more money have more to gain from dishonesty, but that also increases “the psychological cost of the dishonest act.”

Christian Zünd, a doctoral student and co-author, said a survey they conducted found that ‘without money, not reporting a wallet doesn’t feel like stealing. With money, however, it suddenly feels like stealing and it feels even more like stealing when the money in the wallet increases.’” (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/14/learning/would-you-return-a-lost-wallet-what-if-it-had-lots-of-money-in-it.html)

 

I know when I get angry I don’t think straight nor do I speak well and correctly. Many years ago I began working to correct this trait. I was inspired by something Roger Kamenetz wrote in his book Stalking Elijah: Adventures with today’s Jewish Mystical Master. He wrote that he has a poster in his office which reads. “Annoying people are my patience teachers.” I have become less likely to be angry and become a more equable person thanks to all my patience teachers!

I only wish politicians would realize that God hates the hypocrite, the person who says one thing, but means and acts in the complete opposite way. Congress has too many of these representatives and senators in my estimation.

How well do you stack up against these nine pieces of advice?