Choose two from the following choices
of super powers:
Step 1: Design
your Superhero
Welcome to our Superhero Design Workshop! Follow our simple
steps to design and perfect your own personal superhero!
... All of the staircases are rigged
to blow at the slightest touch.
Scenario 1:
How would your hero solve
this problem?
Charles Footswift has been captured by the
evil genius Moronicus Mastermind…
…Mastermind has placed Footswift in a locked iron vault
surrounded by a moat with mutated sharks with extra-long
and sharp teeth…
Mister Devilish has captured the President of the
United States and is holding him in an abandoned
warehouse…
How would your hero solve
this problem?
Step 2: Now that you have your hero designed let’s see
how he or she would solve some of the following
scenarios
…Mastermind himself is hiding out in a nearby room surrounded by his armed henchmen and holding his
Super-Plasma-Meteoric –Power-Ray Gun. The entire vault complex is hidden away deep in a forest.
Scenario 2:
…Surrounding the building are evil
goblin warlords armed with extra-
large swords…
...Every floor in the
building has a battalion of
battle-dogs...
…She is having a terrible
time trying to cope with her
loss…
Scenario 3:
Scenario 4:
Sally Sanderson comes home after a long day at work to find that her baby kitten
got out of her apartment and was eaten by her next door neighbor’s dog...
How would your hero solve
this problem?
Your dear, dear friend Barry Baldwater asks if he can meet
with you somewhere private...
How would your hero solve
this problem?
…Sitting down across the table from you and looking
suspiciously from side to side, he tells you that he has
been embezzling money from his insurance company
for the last six months and is looking for a place to
hide some cash...
...Knowing that you are his good friend of many years,
Barry asks if it would be alright with you if he put some of
at your place which, certainly, would be the last place the
Feds would come looking for it.
Food for
thought: Do heroes need to have special powers, talents or
abilities?
Are there any basic character traits that a hero
must have?
Should a hero inspire envy within us or inspire
us to grow to greater heights?
Step 3: Let’s continue
designing our heroes!
Do you think that any of the following character traits are important
for being a hero? Which are the three most important ones? Which
would help solve the last two scenarios above?
What about the traits that you
chose were so critical to being
heroic?
Are there any traits listed above
that a hero can do without?
Food for
thought:
Step 4: Understanding
what makes a TRUE hero
It seems that Heroism demands more than just special
talents, powers and abilities. There is a Torah source
that suggests this very clearly:
Who is the strong man or hero?
He who conquers
. his evil inclination
True heroic strength is found in the ability to overcome the
inner part of yourself that seeks to bring you down (known
in Jewish literature as the Yetzer Harah). It’s the part of
you that influences you to make immoral and bad decisions;
the part op you that encourages you to pursue physical
pursuits that have no deeper spiritual purpose.
Rabbeinu Yonah (1100s-1200s) explains that there are three
ways a person can be strong; physically strong, emotionally
strong and spiritually strong.
There is nothing unique about physical strength, he says; even
animals can strengthen their bodies to be able to lift heavy
burdens and move heavy things.
Similarly, emotional strength – overcoming one’s fears – is common among
those who have experience and knowledge in overcoming difficulties. Such
people have emotional self-control and are not uncommon.
Food for
thought:
Overcoming a spiritual challenge is the highest level
of strength –but does it make me a hero? If I’m
tempted to steal something and I decide not to – am I
a hero?
וא גיבור איזה ה
את יצרו שהכוב
In Hebrew the term generally used for Hero is “Gibor”; this
word has a double meaning, also being used to define a strong
person. The Rabbis in the Mishna (Avot 4:1) teach us how to
define true strength and heroism:
We have seen that being a hero relates to making
positive moral decisions. Let’s explore in what
way this is so: Let’s look at some of the classic Jewish Heroes and see how they
are characterized in Jewish texts. This should illuminate for us
what true heroism is all about.
Food for
thought: What do all of these classic Jewish heroes have in
common?
Hillel says be like the students
of Aaron, the lover of peace,
the seeker of peace...
And the man Moses was
exceedingly humble, more humble
than any man on the Earth...……
Grant the truth to Jacob, the
kindness to Abraham...……… …
Miriam the Prophetess took the
tambourine in her hand... How did the women of this generation know to take tambourines
out of Egypt? The Righteous women… had faith that G-d would
perform miracles in the desert…- the Midrash
Each of our great Jewish heroes is identified by specific
character traits. Abraham was known for kindness; Jacob
for truthfulness; Moses for humility; Miriam for her faith;
and Aaron for his great love of peace. There are many others
as well.
Think about your positive character strengths –
kindness, humility etc. – which are your strongest?
How might you work on yourself to develop these traits
further to the point where you too become the next great
Jewish hero?
With all this information in mind you are ready for
your last step: BECOMING A HERO!
Here’s a good question though: - we all know a lot of kind
people; we know humble and faithful ones as well; what marks the
difference between these people we know and the
legendary Jewish heroes mentioned above?
R Dessler explains that the heroes above did not just display
these character traits– they embodied them. Abraham didn’t just
act with kindness – he is the paradigm of kindness that all kind
people can look up to as an example. Miriam didn’t just have faith -
she was a pillar of faith who inspired generations of Jewish
women onto her path. Jewish men and women are heroes not when they
merelyact with good deeds – they have to live those
good deeds. They have to be those good deeds.
Food for
thought:
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