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Steer Clear of the Gray Zone

Avoid a Clouded Mind

 

Why do we needlessly bicker with people at work or eat that extra piece of cake we don’t need? It is because of the “leavening in the dough” we have inside [1].

This metaphor means that we become arrogant (our internal state becomes “inflated”) or that we wait around and let ourselves get enticed (the difference between a cracker and leavened bread=time).

I’ve seen something similar called the ‘gray zone’ by some therapists or a lack of ‘lev’ ‘paying attention’ [2].

When we aren’t paying attention or being vigilant about adhering to our standards of good behavior, we can easily enter a “Gray Zone”, a state of cloudy thinking wherein we give in to temptation, are insensitive to people, or do generally stupid things [3]. Then later, in a state of clarity, we realize how silly our behavior was. Or, worse yet, we quickly deny it or forget about it altogether!

An important part of growth and personal development is to avoid this Gray Zone. During Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot/Hoshana Rabbah, we should keep this behavior modification in mind.

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We must always think about what we are doing and not put ourselves in situations in which we may enter the cloudy Gray Zone. —IB   [1] Tractate Berachoth. [2] Throughout the Bible and in rabbinic literature ‘lev’ may literally mean ‘heart,’ but is used to mean emotions and the intellect at various times. [3] Adultery is done, according to our Sages, only when a spirit of ‘shtuth’ ‘stupidity’ enters the people. And the famous Rebbe Akiva teaches that ‘laughter and levity lead to [physically intimate] sins’ (Ethics 3:13).