[Avodah] self esteem

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

R' Zev Sero asked:

> Ein hachi nami, but what do you do if the subject of your biography
> really was an illuy? Pretend he wasn't?!

This is a very important question. For me, the answer is to focus on whatever it was that he had to struggle with.

Learning comes easy to an illuy, so his ability to learn a great amount, or at a young age, does not impress me at all. But just because he was good at learning, that doesn't mean that his midos were so great. Maybe he understood deep concepts easily, but found it difficult to control his temper or get out of bed in the morning.

Just as an example, "The Making Of A Gadol" has several stories about the several times that Rav Yaakov Kaminetzky struggled with his smoking habit. It tells of how hard he fought, and several of the aytzos he used, and I found it very inspiring.

Akiva Miller

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