Wow, Eureka, that’s what you say when an idea has been floating on the surface of your mind (maybe for ten years) and then suddenly like a whirlpool, in a vortex, it downloads

As we had occasion to mention from Kabbalah, we have three primary drives, the ego, the instincts and the mind.

However the hardest to understand is the ego.

But with the help of God, I believe I sort of got it.

The ego is a sense of greatness.

In other words, from a purely, instincts level, a human and animal are very very similar.

In fact, many people desire to think of themselves as a upright animal, denying any sense of moral obligation.

But we humans have two opposing realities (God makes everything in balance) which animals don’t have and that is both a mind and an ego.

The ego is a sense of deserving – in other words, if a cockroach finds a bit of food or any animal for that matter – it doest assume “I deserve this” – but if you give a person something, the ego which really is a foreign element in the human psyche immediately assumes, “I deserve this!” (this is why in fact, according to Judaism saying “thank-you” is, well, Judaism; for when we say thank-you it eliminates that sense which puffs up our ego.)

The ramifications of believing, you are deserving, are very deep; for there is another human characteristic called jealousy – so if “I deserve x, and you have it” and hence “I don’t believe that is fair!” so I will obviously try to correct the injustice, either by stealing or ensuring you don’t have it.

This of-course (as we have mentioned) relates to the greatest desire man has, which is a positive self-image (which is why a jealous egotistical person tries to demean others, called a bully; this is why there is terrorism, antisemitism etc.)

Hence in life, we are all faced with an awesome choice: shall we allow all that blesses us to curse us! or shall we thank-God for our blessings! hence contributing not to our ego, but humility, hence goodness and kindness!!