Shame-and-Guilt
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Please Note: Some
alterations or (additions) have been made relating to ‘Names’ and ‘Attributes’
of אֱלֹהִים - Elohim, having been corrected like it
once was pre the “Masoretic Text”.
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Remember the following truth from our
beloved Torah!
“Ye shall NOT ADD TO THE WORD which
I command you, NEITHER SHALL YE DIMINISH FROM
IT, that ye may keep the commandments of אֱלֹהֵיכֶם יְהוָה - the LORD your Eloleichem,
which I command you”. Davarim - Deuteronomy 4:2. (JPS-1917).
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With Rabbi,
Dr. Reuven Ben Avraham-Goossens, PhD.
This short study covers our lives living as Hebrews, and doing what we
should know and understand from our beloved Torah!
The Question is as follows: What lesson
can you learn for your life regarding the difference between ‘Shame’ and ‘Guilt?’
There are two types of cultures: ‘shame cultures’ and ‘guilt cultures’.
In the ‘shame culture’ the highest value is ‘honour’. Whilst in the ‘guilt
culture’ it is ‘righteousness’.
‘Shame’ means feeling bad in how we have failed to live up to our expectations. Whereas ‘Guilt’ is what we feel when we fail to live up to
what our own conscience really demands of us. ‘Shame cultures’ are usually
quite ‘visual’. Shame itself has to do with how you appear in other people’s
eyes. And ‘Guilt’ is more internal. You sadly cannot escape it by becoming
invisible. Your conscience accompanies you wherever you go, regardless of
whether it is seen by others. Guilt cultures are cultures of the ear, and not
the eye.
Let us look at the sad story of the very first sin committed in the
Garden of Eden for it was actually all about ‘appearances’, ‘shame’, ‘vision’,
and ‘the eye’. The creature in the tree said to the woman:
“for אֱלֹהִים - Elohim (God) doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as אֱלֹהִים - Elohim, knowing good and evil’”. Bereshit - Genesis 3:5. (JPS-1917 Version of the Torah).
However, it was the appearance of the tree
that the Torah emphasises:
“The woman saw that the tree was good to eat and desirable to the eyes, and that the tree was attractive as a means to gain intelligence”, Bereshit - Genesis 3:6.
The key emotion in this story is ‘Shame’. Before eating the fruit, the
couple were “completely naked … but as we know completly ‘unashamed’” (Bereshit
- Genesis 2:25). After eating the fruit they felt ‘Shame’ and they immediately covered
themselves up and hid.
The first sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden was that they
followed their eyes, and sadly not their ears. Their actions were determined by
what they saw, the beauty of the tree, not by what they heard, and that being
the word of אֱלֹהִים - Elohim which had
so powerfully warned them ‘not to eat from it’.
Our beloved Hebrew faith is a religion of ‘listening’, and not just ‘seeing’.
Listening is the sacred task. As we will know well, the most famous command in Hebraism
is saying daily the blessed “Shema Yisrael - Listen Israel”. What made
Avraham, Moshe, and all the prophets, who were different from their contemporaries;
is that they heard the Voice, a Voice that to others is completly inaudible?
In one of the great dramatic scenes of the Tanakh, אֱלֹהִים - Elohim teaches
Eliyahu that He is not to be found in the ‘whirlwind’, the ‘earthquake’, or ‘the
fire’, but in the “still, small voice” (Kings 1,
19:12). It takes ‘training’, ‘focus’, and the ‘ability’ to create silence in
the soul’ to learn how to listen, whether to אֱלֹהִים - Elohim or to a fellow
human being. ‘Seeing’ shows us the beauty of the created world, but ‘listening’
connects us to the soul of another, and I pray to אֱלֹהִים - Elohim as He speaks
to us through His Word, calls to us, summoning us to our task in the world.
If I were asked, how to find אֱלֹהִים - Elohim in our life’, I would say: ‘Learn to listen. Listen to the song of the universe in the ‘call of
birds’, the ‘rustle of trees’, the ‘crash and heave of the waves’. Listen to the poetry of
our prayers, the music of the Tehillim. Listen deeply to those you love and who
loves you. Listen to the words of אֱלֹהִים -
Elohim in the Torah and hear Him speak to you and teach you! Do ntt worry
about how you or others look. The world of appearances is a false world of
‘masks’, ‘disguises’, and ‘concealments’. Listening is not easy. I confess
it can be hard at times. But listening feeds the ‘soul’, and the ‘self’, ‘and
the Divine in our lives!’
I pray the above has somehow blessed you!
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Please Note: “hebraicstudies” links are located down
the page!
This site was originally created, for those
who desired to return to our blessed and wonderful faith. Thus be wise and work
on your faith and pray at least two or three times a day (if possible) and
always seek our beloved אֱלֹהִים - Elohim’s guidance,
for His love is always with us, especially when we seek Him, blessed be He!
However this site has become very much a teaching site with hundreds of
studies!
Remember what אֱלֹהִים - Elohim, blessed be
He, said the following through a number of our prophets...
“Hebraic Studies” motto is as follows;
“The More Torah, the More Life”,
For Elohim is the One who
gave us our ... “Life!”
May the שָׁלוֹם - Shalom = Peace
of צְבָאוֹת- יְהוָה= the LORD of hosts, be with
you, and please always uphold our blessed שַׁבָּת - Shabbat, as well as
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שָׁלוֹם
עֲלֵיכֶם - Shalom
Aleichem - Peace be with you!
Enter ...