Pillow Book of Talmud Wisdom

Chapter 18 Ten People is a Community—Jews on Cooperation (1)
The scene of single-handedly running the world can only be seen in the cowboys of the American West. The Jews attach great importance to cooperation. They believe that finding a suitable partner is half the battle, whether in business or in life.

As the "Talmud" says: Don't despise anyone—anyone has his own place, and can create miracles with money and time.

10 people are the community
A peddler was walking on the street and yelling: "Does anyone want to buy the secret of life? Does anyone want to buy the secret of life?" When the passers-by on the street heard this, they rushed to him, including several rabbis.Everyone scrambled to buy his secret of life.The peddler said: "The secret to enable people to really live is to pay attention to using their own tongue." In Jewish fables, there are many similar stories and aphorisms admonishing others to be more careful when using their tongue (speech). "Talmud" said: "The tongue is good, there is nothing better than it; if it is bad, there is nothing worse." The tongue is bad, in the words of a rabbi, It means "will cause anger or discord in others".Precisely because "speaking carelessly" will cause ethnic disputes externally, and internal discord among themselves, the Jews pay great attention to controlling their tongues (Jews do not easily talk about money, and I am afraid it is also one of the tongue control regulations) .And once there is a quarrel between the Jews due to inadvertent words, the person who made a slip of the tongue will often apologize to the other party as much as possible, asking him to forgive.If the other party accepts the apology and expresses forgiveness, then of course everything is over.

But what if the person involved is determined not to forgive?At this point, the Jews have their own unique solution.This person who was "speaking carelessly" and could not be forgiven by the person involved would turn to ask 10 other Jews who had nothing to do with it, explain the whole process to them, and tell them that he had already told them He apologized, but the other party still refused to forgive, and then asked the 10 people if they could forgive him.If they all agree to forgive him, then no matter whether the attitude of the person involved has changed, the slippery person need not worry anymore, because he has been forgiven by everyone.If the person concerned is dead before the lapse of speech apologizes to him, then the lapse of speech can also invite 10 Jews to come to the grave of the deceased and beg for forgiveness in front of everyone.If these 10 people forgive him, it means that the deceased forgives him.

The Jews ingeniously came up with such a way to get rid of one of the parties, giving the slippery person a chance to resolve their grievances.Therefore, these 10 people can make decisions with wisdom in them.The reason why it is stipulated that the forgiveness of 10 people can replace the forgiveness of the parties is because in the eyes of the Jews, less than 9 people (including 9 people) can only be individuals, and 10 people are collectives. 10 people are the "minimum quorum" for the Jews to form a community, and 10 people can form a "assembly".Therefore, the attitude of 10 people is the attitude of the Jewish collective, and the forgiveness of 10 people is the collective forgiveness of the Jewish people.This means that in a sense, the existence and collective authority of the Jewish nation is always higher than that of individual Jews, and the Jewish community has the right to intervene in the grievances and grievances between individuals, lest it cause the division of the collective and bring disaster to all Jews.To borrow another fable to express it, it is: everything that the Jews do personally is also what they do to the Jewish nation.

There was a ship carrying many people on the sea.One of the passengers took an awl and dug a hole under his seat.The passengers next to him were taken aback and blamed him one after another.But he said: "This is my position, you don't care what I want to do." As a result, it didn't take long for the hole to be dug, and the whole ship sank to the bottom of the sea.Therefore, the "Talmud" teaches that every Jew should consciously measure his actions, words and deeds from the perspective of their impact on the Jewish nation as a whole.Because of this reason, when the Jews ask for the forgiveness of sins, they don't say "I" so and so, but must say "we" so and so.Because even if a person commits a crime alone, the Jews must think that it is a collective crime.In their view, the Jews are like a big family, and if they commit a crime, it means that all Jews have committed a crime.Therefore, it is necessary to make a confession and ask for forgiveness from the standpoint of "us".Conversely, although I have not committed a crime (such as stealing), if I discover a Jew's theft, the discoverer himself must apologize to God. "Because one's own charity is not enough, others will steal." This is not because Jews are used to self-abuse, but a strong sense of national consciousness and a sense of national responsibility derived from this consciousness, which is a relatively simple tenacity of regional ties Thousands of times the "moral" bond, and this "moral" bond only needs "10 people" to weave!

Emphasis on team spirit
The Jews may be the most collective spirit and unity and cooperation nation in the world.Its two great works, the Bible and the Talmud, which have influenced the world, are the crystallization of collective wisdom.The cooperation of the Jews is often the cooperation of dozens or thousands of people, which makes people have to greatly admire this collective spirit.One of the reasons for the extraordinary wisdom of the Jews is probably not unrelated to this.

Perhaps as a result of shared bad luck and stress, the associations of many Jews were often confined to a small circle of friends or fellow Jews.Although this kind of circle is sometimes too closed, it still makes many famous Jews know each other quite well and become academic confidants and opponents, promoting mutual exchanges and competitions, and at the same time promoting common development.This may be another important reason why the Jewish nation has a large number of talented people!

There is a Jewish proverb: Giving happiness to others is like spraying perfume, and when you spray it, you also get a few drops on yourself.

Once upon a time there was a farmer who was driving a donkey and a mule, both of which were carrying heavy loads.The donkey didn't feel anything when walking on the road, but when it came to the steep path in the mountain, it felt very strenuous, so it asked the mule to share a part of it for it.But the mule ignored him.Soon, the donkey was exhausted and died on the road.In this wilderness, the farmer had no other choice but to add to the mule what the donkey carried.The mule complained so much that it was full of remorse. It said, "I deserve to suffer. If I could help the donkey a little when it begged me, I wouldn't be burdened with all the burdens and be overwhelmed."

This story illustrates the importance of a spirit of mutual assistance and cooperation.When working with others, remember that "helping others is self-help".Selfishness is the greatest enemy of mutual aid.

Cooperation is a happy thing, and some things can only be done if people cooperate with each other.And all successful people have one thing in common, that is, they all focus on teamwork and cooperation.

In fact, many times, cooperating with others does not mean that you are at a disadvantage.Because uniting and cooperating with others is to strengthen oneself, and uniting and cooperating with others is to help oneself.

Once upon a time, there were two hungry people got a gift from an elder: a fishing rod and a basket of fresh huge fish.Among them, one person asked for a basket of fish, and the other person wanted a fishing rod, so they parted ways.The person who got the fish, pitched bonfire with dry sticks, and cooked the fish. He wolfed down the fish, but before he could taste the meaty aroma, he ate up all the fish soup, in a blink of an eye.After eating the fish, he had no way to maintain his life, and soon he starved to death beside the empty fishing basket.The other person continued to starve with his fishing rod, and walked towards the beach with difficulty step by step, but when he saw the blue ocean not far away, his last bit of strength was exhausted, so he could only Helplessly, with endless regrets, he let go and left the world.

There were two hungry people. They also got a fishing rod and a basket of fish from the elders.It's just that they didn't go their separate ways, but agreed to find the sea together. They only cooked one fish at a time, and after a long journey, they finally came to the sea.From then on, the two began to fish for a living. A few years later, they built a house, had their own families, children, and a fishing boat they built, and lived a happy and healthy life.

This is a living example of cooperation to survive.In reality, maybe you have mastered the key technology to produce a certain product, and he has the raw materials of this product. At this time, the best way for two people to develop is to cooperate.If they all want to develop independently, the result may be that none of them can grow up.

pay attention to other people's opinions

2000 years ago, Jesus said, "Quickly agree with those who oppose you." Over 2000 years before Jesus was born, King Actus of Egypt gave his son some astute advice.King Aktu said, "Be tactful. It will give you what you want." In other words, don't argue with others.Don't tell him he's wrong and don't provoke him, but use a little people skills.Therefore, if you want to get others to agree with you remember: respect other people's opinions.Don't point out the extremes of the other party.

Deere is a building materials businessman. His competitors spread everywhere that Deere's company has a bad reputation and inferior materials, and is about to go bankrupt, causing Deere to lose an order for 10 bricks.Dill explained to others that he didn't think his rivals would seriously hurt his business.But this nuisance aroused an unknown fire in his heart, and he really wanted to smash the fat head of the man with a brick.It happened that on this day, Dill received a batch of building bricks from a building material dealer. The model he proposed was not available in his company, but his competitor who spoke ill of him did.

This made Dill feel embarrassed, should he tell his opponent about the opportunity of this business, or do it according to his own wishes, so that the other party will never get this business?In the end, Deer picked up the phone and dialed the competitor's home. The person who answered the phone was the opponent himself. His Virginia business.As a result, that opponent was very grateful to Dill.Deere said: "I got amazing results. Not only did he stop spreading lies about me, but he even transferred some businesses that he couldn't handle to me." Deere also felt much better than before. The haze between the opponents has also been clarified, and the relationship between the two has also developed rapidly towards the friendly side.Kathryn Alfred of Kings Hill, North Carolina, is an engineer for a spinning company.He proposed to the company representatives how to improve working methods, improve work efficiency and how to increase employees' wages, but he did not listen to other people's opinions, so his plan was not passed.He said: "I was too busy defending my new approach to leave room for them to admit the mistakes of the old approach without losing face. So my proposal was stillborn. I deeply understand that I mistakes made."

“Shortly afterwards, I asked for another meeting, and in this meeting, I asked them to say what exactly the problem was. We discussed each point, and when the time was right, I guided them with my low-key advice. I meant to propose a solution. When the meeting ended, it was actually my proposal, and they enthusiastically accepted it. I am now convinced that if I frankly point out that a certain person is wrong, not only will I lose good effect, and can do a lot of damage. You just rob others of their self-esteem and make you persona non grata by blaming others." If you want to learn some ideals about life, self-control, Suggestion, then you learn from Franklin!He was the most able, kind, and gregarious diplomat in American history.When Franklin was a young man, an old man once severely criticized him, saying that you are really hopeless.You've hit everyone who disagrees with you.Your opinion has become too valuable for anyone to afford.Your friends find that they are much more at ease when you are not there.You know too much, and no one can teach you any more, and no one is going to tell you anything, because that would be thankless and unpleasant.So you can no longer absorb new knowledge, but your knowledge is very limited.

(End of this chapter)