Jewish Temperament

Understanding temperament through the prism of Chassidus and Kabbalah

Category: Left-Guardian

November 3, 2013

Personalities: Yitzchak

by Zalman

The forefathers are referred to as a merkavah, a chariot for G-d, meaning that every step they took was in complete accordance with G-d’s will. This was possible because their entire self was entirely dedicated to G-d. This, however, didn’t detract from their particular personalities, and it is for this reason that each of the forefathers represent a different spectrum of G-d’s attributes, directly corresponding to their own temperament.

What’s more, the Gemara states that all Jewish people possess three qualities: humility, empathy, and generosity. These qualities are inherited from the forefathers, with each one contributing a different quality. It turns out that each of the forefathers specifically contributed the quality that most represented their own temperament.

Yitzchak is famously cited in Chassidus as representing the left path — meaning the contractive path — of the sefirot, which include binah, gevurah, and hod. It is taught that the fact that Yitzchak resembled his father was miraculous, due to the vast difference in their respective personalities. In this way, Yitzchak was a Guardian, embodying such traits as logistical — organizing — intellect, a need for tradition and aversion to change, respecting and obeying authority unquestioningly, yet being amicable and social. The Torah doesn’t say much about Yitzchak, which is as much a testament to his humility than anything. Nevertheless, let’s see what we can find:

Logistical, organizing intellect: On the road with his father, unknowingly proceeding to his own slaughter, Yitzchak asks the simple question of, “Where is the sacrifice?” But notice his precise word usage and method, signifying his deductive and logistical reasoning: “Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the sheep for slaughter?”
Later in life, Yitzchak is said to have reaped one hundred times what was expected. This may be a simple, or even exaggerated, statement, or it may be a testament to Yitzchak’s innate ability for accounting.
Yitzchak was also known to be careful about his properties and those of his father, so that he would argue over wells dug, and he went out of his way to re-dig his father’s wells that were clogged by the Plishtim.
As well, something that impressed Yitzchak about his son Eisav were his questions about the details of ma’aser, in which a tenth of one’s possessions is given to charity.
Yitzchak also scheduled a meeting with his son Eisav, offering to bless him only after he brought Yitzchak a meal. The timing was significant on the other side as well, as Yitzchak was trying to fit in the blessing before his anticipated passing.

Traditional and change averse: Yitzchak was not allowed to leave his birthplace as his father did, rather he had to stay put in his traditional setting. As with Avraham, although this was instructed to him by G-d, Yitzchak was obviously the one temperamentally suited for such an instruction.
Somewhat inexplicably, Yitzchak claimed about his wife that she was his sister, following directly in the footsteps of his father who had done the same.
Additionally, Yitzchak was only convinced of his wife’s worth when she displayed the same three miraculous abilities as his mother Sarah: her bread was unusually satiating, her lamp lasted for an entire week, and a cloud hovered above her home.

Respect and obedience: The most glaring example of this is when, after being told he was the intended sacrifice for slaughter, Yitzchak walked with his father with the exact same level of cooperation he had before.
In an effort to respect his father’s honor, Yitzchak re-dug wells of Avraham that the Plishtim had plugged.
Yitzchak also clearly valued respect, which easily explains why he loved his son Eisav, even in the face of his great wickedness. Eisav is cited in the Gemara as being the greatest historical model of respecting one’s father. No wonder Yitzchak valued him so.
Yitzchak’s blessing to Ya’akov was filled with a message of being a master over his brother, and demanding his obedience.

Social: We don’t find much in the way of Yitzchak’s social life, however we do see that he made allies with Avimelech in a peace pact. Along the way, Yitzchak displayed his hospitality, giving his guests a meal and a place to stay the night.

Ultimately, Yitzchak is a good representation of what we know as the Guardian, the contractive type, and it is therefore fitting that we inherit from him the limiting attribute of humility.

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June 25, 2012

Korach

by Zalman

It would seem that Korach was a Guardian.

From a Torah and Chassidic perspective, Korach is related to conflict and division, as it states in Pirkei Avos. In fact, Chassidus relates Korach directly to the second day of Creation, which was an expression of Hashem’s Gevurah. Similarly, Korach represents division.

Even on a practical level, Korach’s primary complaint was that he wasn’t given the honor, respect, and authority of the rank he felt he deserved. From a strictly Keirsey perspective, every one of those descriptive words are related to the Guardian: complaint, honor, respect, authority, rank, and deserved.

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June 17, 2012

Temperaments: Guardian

by Zalman

According to Chassidus, each of the four temperaments can be described entirely with a single overarching term, which for the Guardian is contraction. As such, when we dig deeper into the Guardian’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 Guardian, we would find that his intellect, personal disposition, and relational disposition are all contractive.

The Guardian’s intellect is Binah — contractive intellect. Binah starts with an existing entity, which it breaks down into a multitude of small fragments. Binah sets the boundaries to the reach of an idea, determining where the idea applies, and where the idea doesn’t apply. In attempting to understand the forest, Binah inspects it tree by tree, until the entire vastness of the forest is documented. Binah, when separated from intellectual pursuits, describes what Keirsey calls logistical intellect, that is, intellect of organization: “Guardians can be enormously creative in seeing to it that the right people have the right supplies in the right place at the right time to get the job done.”

The Guardian’s personal emotion is Gevurah — contractive personal disposition. With Gevurah we try as much as possible to limit the attention we call to our individuality, with less and less need to creatively reform ourselves or our surroundings. Because Guardians are so defined by their Gevurah, they try not to make a splash, preferring to leave things just the way they were yesterday. Guardians want to know that they are safe in every way, and that everything is in its proper place, lest something suddenly blow up in their face. In this way, Guardians are consistently concerned, about their health, their families or jobs, community standards; anything that has a possibility of deteriorating into something uncomfortable, and even worse — dangerous. Guardians therefore respect authority unquestioningly, and in most cases act themselves as the pillars of society, ever mindful to uphold its standards and values.

The Guardian’s relational emotion is Hod — contractive relational disposition. Being that it is contraction within the context of others, Hod loses much of the intensity of Gevurah, instead becoming submissive. This quality brings humility, gratitude, and socialness. Because of Hod, Guardians pride themselves in being dependable, consistently coming through for others. Guardians like to ensure they belong to a community, a society, or an institution, in which they can lend a helping hand to those in need. Guardians are considered to be the most sociable of all the temperaments, always willing to go the extra mile for a friend, without so much as a mention of the discomfort it might cause them.

* * *

The Guardian in Judaism

Hero: Yitzchak Avinu

Symbol on the Merkavah: Ox

Davening Meditation: During davening, the Guardian meditates on the perfect state of G-d’s spirituality and how the Neshama was at one time unified with that perfection. When we reflect upon how far the Neshama has fallen and its inability to touch G-dliness, we are awakened with a sense of yearning, thirst, and urgency to bring our Neshama back to its origins. This meditation inspires us to be as unified with G-d as we can on this earth, through learning Torah and accomplishing mitzvos, aware of our humble state and submitted to G-d’s will.

Divine Purpose: The Guardian is best at humble servitude. The famous terms eved Hashem (servant of G-d) and kabolas ol (accepting the “yoke” of G-d’s work), describe the Guardian’s role perfectly. Guardians set the standard for proper behavior, they keep it and enforce it religiously. The Guardian views life as a ladder; we start at the bottom rung and work our way up step by step, slowly but surely. The more Divine work the Guardian humbly accepts upon himself, the more worthy and deserving he becomes. The more mitzvos the Guardian accomplishes, the more Torah he learns, the closer becomes to G-d. And it doesn’t stop with the Guardian himself, but the Guardian teaches others the proper way, and raises them up step by step as well, transforming them into better people and bringing them closer to G-d.

Learning Torah through remez: what this piece of information teaches us about other information. Guardians like the practical parts of the Torah, including halachah, mishnayos, history, aggadah, and midrash. Many Guardians are especially fond of gematriot and other hidden associations. Due to their general tendency to follow rules, Guardians are especially diligent in their studies. As a result, Guardians can become very well-versed and knowledgable, retaining a lot of the information they learn. The method of the Guardian is to understand all the little bits and pieces until they’ve gathered all the information on the subject. Consequently, they ask questions, sometimes sharp and precise, to uncover the relationships between different laws or facts, and to determine when multiple facts or laws contradict or coincide. Guardians are generally able to resolve philosophical ideas (e.g. R’ Chaim Brisker’s method in Gemara) mainly through kabolas ol, and only when they are told the ideas. However, a thorough and intuitive comprehension of philosophical ideas and arguments does not come naturally to the Guardian.

Vocation: Much of Judaism is about following rules, and that’s right up the Guardian’s alley. Diligent Guardians who have had successful years in Yeshiva might stay in education, especially becoming a menahel, mashgiach (dean or principle), or even doing office work. Many Guardians continue active learning in kolel, as an elementary-school teacher, maggid shiur, or even as a rosh yeshiva. Guardians who become teachers generally excel at keeping their charges disciplined and focus on integrating students successfully into a functioning society.
Guardians do want security, though, especially financial security, which leads many Guardians to go into business, specifically in office work and clerical jobs (records, inventory, accounting, etc). Many Guardians will become bankers, managers, executives, brokers, and so on. Being financially secure is especially good for the Guardian’s mental and emotional well-being, and it also feeds into their desire to be beneficent, helping others as much as they can.
Shlichus (or kiruv) can be a good opportunity for anyone, Guardians included. However, when establishing a new institution in a new place, beware of the first few years, during which Guardians have an especially difficult and stressful experience: being away from family, friends, and community; having zero financial security (which doesn’t mean money available rather a reliable income); and uncertainty in the future. It is significantly less stressful for the Guardian to accept a position within an existing and established institution, maybe a desk or teaching job, receiving a regular check.

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June 7, 2012

Jewish Temperament Theory

by Zalman

Over the past century, as the fields of the behavioral sciences exploded in breadth and reach, there has been a relatively quiet revolution growing parallel. The underlying premise behind this revolution is that there are a specific number of personality types, and every person is born to be a single type. Once we understand which type a given person is, most, if not all, of his behaviors, attitudes, and even thinking methods, can be explained by his temperament, and at times even anticipated.

This is the study of human temperament.

Loosely speaking, this revolution was widely popularized by Isabel Briggs-Myers’ Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Once it was published, people the world over were clamoring to find out “who they were”. More recently, Myers’ work was brought to a completely new level, in structure and application, by a preeminent psychologist, David Keirsey. In his book, Please Understand Me II, Keirsey not only polished the theory and made it more understandable and accessible, he also made it more scientific. While Myers had 16 types, Keirsey divided them into 4 basic types. While Myers based her Indicator on the theoretical work of Carl Jung, Keirsey based his work on 60+ years of observing people. While Myers tried to deduce thought and emotion, Keirsey established observable phenomena. And, most importantly, while Myers’ types fluctuate in their applicability, Keirsey’s remain consistent throughout the spectrum.

After studying the work of Dr. Keirsey, it becomes eminently apparent that the ideas he lays forth are to be found within the depth of Chassidic wisdom. Here, we will attempt to uncover many of the relationships between sage Chassidic teachings and modern-day personology.

It starts with the four temperaments: Artisan, Guardian, Idealist, and Rational. Each of these types are extremely different in every aspect of personality, from intellect to language; from interests to orientation; from self-image to values. We will explore the four types in depth, but for now, let’s suffice with a short list of descriptive words for each.
The Artisan is described by Keirsey as being tactical, optimistic, artistic, audacious, excited, impulsive, and generous.
The Guardian is considered logistical, dependable, beneficent, respectable, concerned, authoritative, and grateful.
The Idealist is diplomatic, mystical, empathic, benevolent, authentic, enthusiastic, intuitive, and romantic.
Finally, the Rational is strategic, pragmatic, relativistic, ingenious, autonomous, purposeful, resolute, calm, and abstract.

Chassidic doctrine is punctuated by Kabbalah’s famous 10 Sefirot, from Chochmah to Malchus. However, if we were to compact the sefirot into what are called kavim, or paths, we would discover that there are but four general categories:
The right path, expansion, represented by Chochmah, Chessed, and Netzach.
The left path, contraction, represented by Binah, Gevurah, and Hod.
The center path, unification, represented by the Da’as, Tiferes, and Yesod.
Malchus, abstraction, also in the center, without its own distinct qualities to speak of.

When viewing the Sefirot in this light, the correlations become obvious (compare the following terms with those describing the temperaments above):
The Artisan expands, like the right path of the spectrum, which include Chochmah (expansive intellect), Chessed (expansive personal disposition), and Netzach (expansive relational disposition). Some terms to describe these sefirot would be: creative, generous, optimistic, competitive, and audacious.
The Guardian contracts, representing the left path of the Sefirot, which include Binah (contractive intellect), Gevurah (contractive personal disposition), and Hod (contractive relational disposition). Words that describe these sefirot might include: logistical, respectable, concerned, beneficent, and grateful.
The Idealist, representing the center path, unifies with Da’as (unifying intellect), Tiferes (unifying personal disposition), Yesod (unifying relational disposition). These sefirot may be described with words like: intuitive, mystical, kind, empathic, and romantic.
The Rational represents Malchus, which is not as much a path as it is a single abstract point. Malchus also represents expression, primarily through speech, and can be described with words such as: abstract, purposeful, and relativistic.

It can be seen, then, that with Chassidus, we have a wealth of relevant information on personology that we may not have seen before. Everything described here is yet brief. And as we explore these themes even more in depth, we find more and more correlations between Chassidic teachings and the modern understanding of temperament. Not only that, but Chassidus also adds a level of purpose and meaning to an otherwise dry, if accurate, study of personality. With Chassidus we understand the purpose of knowing ourselves, and the consequent self-improvement journey we should embark on once we find out.

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