Jewish Temperament

According to Chassidus, each of the four temperaments can be described entirely with a single overarching term, which for the Artisan is expansion. As such, when we dig deeper into the Artisan’s personality, we discover that this specific term describes its every aspect. The many aspects of personality are divided in Chassidus into three primary categories; those being intellect, personal disposition (i.e., with regard to oneself), and relational disposition (i.e., in the context of others). So, in short, if we were to categorize the Artisan, we would find that his intellect, personal disposition, and relational disposition are all expansive.

The Artisan’s intellect is Chochmah — expansive intellect. Chassidus goes to great lengths to describe what exactly Chochmah is. Here are some of the highlights: Chochmah is quick, sudden, and impactful. It doesn’t last long. It cannot be stimulated through active thought, rather it strikes an emptied mind, giving birth to something entirely new. Intellect at that level is not comprehensible, which means that it’s not really an idea or theory. This describes what Keirsey calls tactical intellect, that is, intellect of action. It’s the intellect of the athlete, the performer, the virtuoso, the one who does or says exactly the right thing at exactly the right time with the exact mix of grace and velocity to have the most impact. The intellect of the Artisan best translates into their art, in the broad sense of the term, to also include arts like athletics, culinary, literary, and more.

The Artisan’s personal emotion is that of Chessed — expansive personal disposition. The quality of Chessed is that which wishes to have an impact, as big as possible, on as much as possible. To “own” everything, to touch everything. Because of their unbounded Chessed, Artisans tend to be excited in the present, optimistic about the future, and uncaring about the past. They want to live as large as possible, in the here and now. It is this quality which also lends to the Artisan’s impulsive pleasure-seeking (see Tanya ch. 1), even if not in line with society’s (or in this case, Torah’s) directives. On the other hand, this also lends itself to the Artisan’s great generosity, always giving, always impulsively, without thought for himself.

The Artisan’s relational emotion is Netzach — expansive relational disposition. When found within the context of others, Netzach is the quality that competes, perseveres, and emerges victorious, despite the obstacles in the way. It is due to this quality that nothing can inhibit the Artisan, and in fact, the Artisan will specifically spite boundaries and inhibitions, which bears their quality of audacity and boldness. This also applies to people: the Artisan will manipulate others for their own purpose, and even bypass them entirely if they are deemed unhelpful. With the right purpose, this quality serves the Artisan’s life-mission, as we’ll see below (Divine Purpose).

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The Artisan in Judaism

Hero: Avraham Avinu

Symbol on the Merkavah: Lion

Davening Meditation: Contemplating the greatness of G-d through the wonders of creation. When we realize how amazing the universe is, from the celestial bodies to the minutest organism, and by G-d’s word all work in perfect tandem to produce the result we see around us, we can appreciate the greatness of G-d Himself. But it doesn’t stop there. As Chassidus teaches, creation is but G-d’s word, only a sliver’s sliver of radiance from His essential being. From this we recognize not only the infinitesimalness of the universe in G-d’s eyes, but the unfathomable enormity of G-d’s omnipresence, and we are driven to bring G-d into every moment of our lives.

Divine Purpose: The Artisan’s strength lies in positive manipulation of others, which, on a motivational level could be called inspiration. Depending on their specific role-variant, Artisan’s have an uncanny ability to inspire people and/or manipulate objects for their purpose. The purpose of the Artisan, then, is to use this ability to further disseminate G-d’s presence in the world. To uplift people with their infectious excitement and inspire them to appreciate G-d and His Torah, as Avraham did. To infuse all manner of physical objects with G-dliness, from cow-hide in a Mezuzah to wool in Tzitzis. From food on the Shabbos table to dropping a coin in the Tzedakah box. And this includes bigger things as well, like establishing a school or building the biggest Shul in town. Everything the Artisan touches should turn into gold of goodness.

Learning Torah through pshat: acquiring a piece of information. Artisans tend to like their Torah delivered practically, and in bite sizes. That includes halachos, mishnayos, and the like, as well as more “fun” areas, like history, aggadah, midrash, and cute vertlach. Additionally, of all the types, Artisans may be the best memorizers. In the context of Torah, they can memorize words, halachos, mishnayos, mesechtas, etc. They also memorize concepts and ideas, sugyos, shakla ve’taryas, etc. Artisans are not into asking deep or divisive questions; they aren’t as interested in understanding the material, as they are in knowing it. And once they have acquired new information, Artisans will hold it until it can be used, much like a tool, in the most impactful way. Interesting tidbit: Artisans often learn better when they are simultaneously doing or playing with something tangible.

Vocation: For an Artisan, there are times when Judaism can be a bit overbearing, what with all its rules and regulations. However, the Torah knows who we are and it has designated a significantly large part to Artisans.
To begin with, many Artisans go into business, especially entrepreneurship, earn money, and make great contributions to their chosen institutions. Wherever you may reside, almost all of the well-known major contributors to local institutions are, in fact, Artisans.
Judaism has always had a special place for art, especially speaking, music, and poetry, which Jewish people have engaged in throughout the ages. This becomes even truer now, when the Jewish music scene is just getting started. Not to mention Jewish visual art, which has produced quite a few talents in recent history.
Judaism also has a few obviously kinesthetic vocations, such as safrus and shechita.
In the past hundred or more years, a new industry has blossomed, which is an aspiring Jewish Artisan’s heaven. That industry is known by many as shlichus, to others as kiruv. Shluchim thrive on inspiration, and that’s exactly what they deliver to their constituents. They require impact, every moment of every day. The schedule is spontaneous and in many situations, they need to think on their feet. If there’s any place an Artisan can be successful, Shlichus is definitely a good one.