By Laura Seymour
Dear Families,
In November, a book by Dr. Jordan Peterson titled “We Who Wrestle with God: Perceptions of the Divine” was released. I immediately bought it (and recommend it!), but I also just discovered that he’s really famous for his earlier book, “12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos,” which offers practical life lessons.
This week, Aish.com published an article by Debbie Guttfreund titled “Clean Up Your Room: 4 Jewish Lessons from Jordan Peterson.” How many rules or lessons do we really need? When teaching about the 613 commandments, most people ask, “How many do we actually have to do?” The first question back is, “For what?”
Most of us are simply looking for guidance on how to live our best lives, and the bookshelves and internet are filled with advice.
I love the 12 rules, but sometimes four are even better — and all of Dr. Peterson’s lessons are steeped in Jewish values:
1. Clean up your own room
Jewish wisdom teaches that when you want to make a change, you begin first with yourself. Clean up your own room. Take responsibility for your life before trying to change the world.
2. Your actions show who you are
The Mishna teaches, “Study is not the primary goal but action is” (“Ethics of the Fathers” 1:17).
Peterson encourages us not only to act according to our beliefs but also to speak up when our voices are needed: “When you have something to say, silence is a lie.”
3. Focus on who you can become
This echoes the words of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks:
“Every day in which we do not do some good deed, take some step toward God, is a day wasted — and our days on earth are too few to waste even one.”
4. Your character determines what you see
Peterson writes: “The better ambitions have to do with the development of character and ability, rather than status and power. Status you can lose. You carry character with you wherever you go, and it allows you to prevail against adversity. What you aim at determines what you see.”
These are simple but important ideas, and Debbie Guttfreund sums it up perfectly:
“But it all starts with making your bed and cleaning up your room.”
If only it were that simple — but maybe it is. All learning reminds us that we don’t need to look far to find life’s messages. The real wisdom is in taking action!
Laura Seymour is Laura Seymour is Jewish Experiential Learning director and Camp director emeritus at the Aaron Family JCC.