Choose two from the following choices

of super powers:

Step 1: Design

your Superhero

Welcome to our Superhero Design Workshop! Follow our simple

steps to design and perfect your own personal superhero!

... All of the staircases are rigged

to blow at the slightest touch.

Scenario 1:

How would your hero solve

this problem?

Charles Footswift has been captured by the

evil genius Moronicus Mastermind…

…Mastermind has placed Footswift in a locked iron vault

surrounded by a moat with mutated sharks with extra-long

and sharp teeth…

Mister Devilish has captured the President of the

United States and is holding him in an abandoned

warehouse…

How would your hero solve

this problem?

Step 2: Now that you have your hero designed let’s see

how he or she would solve some of the following

scenarios

…Mastermind himself is hiding out in a nearby room surrounded by his armed henchmen and holding his

Super-Plasma-Meteoric –Power-Ray Gun. The entire vault complex is hidden away deep in a forest.

Scenario 2:

…Surrounding the building are evil

goblin warlords armed with extra-

large swords…

...Every floor in the

building has a battalion of

battle-dogs...

…She is having a terrible

time trying to cope with her

loss…

Scenario 3:

Scenario 4:

Sally Sanderson comes home after a long day at work to find that her baby kitten

got out of her apartment and was eaten by her next door neighbor’s dog...

How would your hero solve

this problem?

Your dear, dear friend Barry Baldwater asks if he can meet

with you somewhere private...

How would your hero solve

this problem?

…Sitting down across the table from you and looking

suspiciously from side to side, he tells you that he has

been embezzling money from his insurance company

for the last six months and is looking for a place to

hide some cash...

...Knowing that you are his good friend of many years,

Barry asks if it would be alright with you if he put some of

at your place which, certainly, would be the last place the

Feds would come looking for it.

Food for

thought: Do heroes need to have special powers, talents or

abilities?

Are there any basic character traits that a hero

must have?

Should a hero inspire envy within us or inspire

us to grow to greater heights?

Step 3: Let’s continue

designing our heroes!

Do you think that any of the following character traits are important

for being a hero? Which are the three most important ones? Which

would help solve the last two scenarios above?

What about the traits that you

chose were so critical to being

heroic?

Are there any traits listed above

that a hero can do without?

Food for

thought:

Step 4: Understanding

what makes a TRUE hero

It seems that Heroism demands more than just special

talents, powers and abilities. There is a Torah source

that suggests this very clearly:

Who is the strong man or hero?

He who conquers

. his evil inclination

True heroic strength is found in the ability to overcome the

inner part of yourself that seeks to bring you down (known

in Jewish literature as the Yetzer Harah). It’s the part of

you that influences you to make immoral and bad decisions;

the part op you that encourages you to pursue physical

pursuits that have no deeper spiritual purpose.

Rabbeinu Yonah (1100s-1200s) explains that there are three

ways a person can be strong; physically strong, emotionally

strong and spiritually strong.

There is nothing unique about physical strength, he says; even

animals can strengthen their bodies to be able to lift heavy

burdens and move heavy things.

Similarly, emotional strength – overcoming one’s fears – is common among

those who have experience and knowledge in overcoming difficulties. Such

people have emotional self-control and are not uncommon.

Food for

thought:

Overcoming a spiritual challenge is the highest level

of strength –but does it make me a hero? If I’m

tempted to steal something and I decide not to – am I

a hero?

וא גיבור איזה ה

את יצרו שהכוב

In Hebrew the term generally used for Hero is “Gibor”; this

word has a double meaning, also being used to define a strong

person. The Rabbis in the Mishna (Avot 4:1) teach us how to

define true strength and heroism:

We have seen that being a hero relates to making

positive moral decisions. Let’s explore in what

way this is so: Let’s look at some of the classic Jewish Heroes and see how they

are characterized in Jewish texts. This should illuminate for us

what true heroism is all about.

Food for

thought: What do all of these classic Jewish heroes have in

common?

Hillel says be like the students

of Aaron, the lover of peace,

the seeker of peace...

And the man Moses was

exceedingly humble, more humble

than any man on the Earth...……

Grant the truth to Jacob, the

kindness to Abraham...……… …

Miriam the Prophetess took the

tambourine in her hand... How did the women of this generation know to take tambourines

out of Egypt? The Righteous women… had faith that G-d would

perform miracles in the desert…- the Midrash

Each of our great Jewish heroes is identified by specific

character traits. Abraham was known for kindness; Jacob

for truthfulness; Moses for humility; Miriam for her faith;

and Aaron for his great love of peace. There are many others

as well.

Think about your positive character strengths –

kindness, humility etc. – which are your strongest?

How might you work on yourself to develop these traits

further to the point where you too become the next great

Jewish hero?

With all this information in mind you are ready for

your last step: BECOMING A HERO!

Here’s a good question though: - we all know a lot of kind

people; we know humble and faithful ones as well; what marks the

difference between these people we know and the

legendary Jewish heroes mentioned above?

R Dessler explains that the heroes above did not just display

these character traits– they embodied them. Abraham didn’t just

act with kindness – he is the paradigm of kindness that all kind

people can look up to as an example. Miriam didn’t just have faith -

she was a pillar of faith who inspired generations of Jewish

women onto her path. Jewish men and women are heroes not when they

merelyact with good deeds – they have to live those

good deeds. They have to be those good deeds.

Food for

thought:

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