Cultivating Jewish Courage (Ometz Lev) | My Jewish Learning

I think all of the individuals we’ve looked at so far have stood up to be counted for some kind of cause, without fear of the consequences. Remember Oskar Schindler and how he risked his life, and spent his fortune helping Jews survive the threat of death camps? And what about Gandhi and his radical approach to fighting injustice with love. That had to have taken a lot of courage.

But being a world leader is not the only kind of life that takes courage. We all need courage at times to do what we want to do or feel called to do.

If you had the opportunity to do something you’ve always dreamed of doing but were afraid to try, what would it be? Would it be mountain climbing? Traveling to far-off places? Writing a book? For most of us any of those activities would take a certain amount of determination, passion, and shedding of fears. To some degree this initial shedding of fear is probably some of what King had to go through as well.

The difference for him would have been that he was doing this for the good of others—not for himself alone. When you know that what you do will help many people you would probably be able to summon greater courage than if it were only for yourself.

How freeing it would be to have that kind of courage! How freeing not to be bound by fear!

Here’s another idea. Have you ever thought of joining some kind of relief organization to bring aide to a far-off country? Such a big step would scare many people who have never done anything like that. But when you seriously consider how you could be helping others, you might very well warm up to the thought. You might surprise yourself and develop a passion for it.

Just an idea some of you might want to mull over.

This has been Part 51 of the Series A Life Worth Living. Read Part 52 – Nonviolent resistance.