The Rabbis and the Ideal Man

Amongst the different rabbis, there were a few underlying characteristics that define the ideal person. In light of the question, it is interesting to see that most rabbis spoke of the ideal man rather than person. Most likely, this is because during their time, women were not acknowledged with the same status as men were.
Rabbi Shimon the righteous wrote that “the world stands on three things: Torah, the service of God, and deeds of kindness.” If we look more closely at these three things, it is easy to see how they connect with all of the other characteristics the rabbis talk about. Rabbi Shimon says “by three things is the world sustained: law, truth, and peace.” The Torah is the religious law which should govern every man, within this law is the wisdom each man should strive to attain. Wisdom is very important and a prominent characteristic for the ideal person. Rabbi Yossei says “let your home be a meeting place for the wise; … and drink thirstily of their words.” With wisdom comes the study of the Torah, which is also very important. One of the rabbis says that a man who stops learning will die. Rabbi Gamleil says “beautiful is the study of the Torah with the way of the world.” Going further to the next important characteristic he says “all Torah study that is not accompanied with work is destined to cease and to cause sin.” Work is important for the ideal person not to become lazy. Another rabbi says “study the Torah and love to do work.” This ties in the characteristic of serving God and acts of kindness.
Peace is the next major characteristic of the ideal man. Rabbi Shammai says “say little and do much,” which really ties in both the work and peace aspect. I see the peace as an inner peace that controls the way this ideal man behaves. Another rabbi says that “I have found nothing better for the body than silence.” The ideal man is careful and wise with his words, soft spoken and has good judgment.
Basically the ideal man is someone who is wise, hardworking, and Studies the Torah.

Welcome to the class weblog (or "blog") for History 100, Western Civ Sect. 033 at George Mason University. I'm stealing a good idea, and much of the language of this post, from my colleague Mills Kelly.

This weblog will be the place where each of you publishes your weekly essays. Because the Blogger software does not provide a spell-check function, you need to write your work in a word processor first, then cut and paste it into the Posting box Blogger provides. To get started, read Mills's Guide to Blogging. It's really quite simple.

In addition to being the place where you post your weekly summary, this weblog is also a place where you can leave announcements for the group, post questions, pose problems, etc. It is not a public weblog, so only members of our class have access to it.

Allan