[Avodah] the desire to be remembered

[Simi Peters via Avodah]

I would call this the need for recognition or the desire for kavod.  I think
it is a yetzer akin to the need for food or the desire for sex, the yetzer
hara that is 'tov la'adam' as Bereshit Rabba puts it.  Without the appetite
for food, we would probably die of malnutrition; without the desire for
sexual pleasure we would probably not want to procreate, and without the
desire for kavod/recognition, we would probably be sociopaths.  Our need for
recognition (desire to be remembered, if you prefer) enables everything from
toilet training to basic manners to our desire to contribute positively to
society.  If we did not need the approval of our parents and our peers, we
would never get far enough along the path of social interaction to learn the
rewarding nature of altruism and doing good for the sake of doing good.  The
process of socialization makes us human.  Without our need for
kavod/approval/recognition, it is hard to see how we could ever be educated.

 

Kol tuv,

Simi Peters 



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