Overcoming  Ulterior Motives - Parshat Behar-Bechukotai

Since the days of Freud, we have spoken more openly of ulterior motives. Whether or not you agree with his theories and methods, we are thankful to his creating a culture where people are more aware of their psychological makeup. Freud, of course, did not invent the concept. The concept, in fact, is thousands of years old.

In this week’s parsha, the Torah describes the phenomena discreetly. We are told to do no wrong to our fellow and the Torah adds “may you be in awe of God”1

Rashi explains the addition of the mention of being in awe of God with this particular activity. When we give a friend advice, only we  know whether or not we actually had the best interests of the other person in mind or whether we had an ulterior motive to give this specific advice. The Torah reminds us, Rashi says, that God as well knows our true motives. So when giving advice we may not say “no one will ever know”. God knows. And we are then invited to check our own motives and take responsibility for our deeds. Overcoming ulterior motives then becomes a goal and a challenge for us.

To do the right thing because it is the right thing to do.

Self-transcendence is our ability to be able to do something while not necessarily considering our own selves or our own well-being. As an example, self-transcendence is the ability of someone to jump into the street to save a baby from an oncoming car. According to Dr. Viktor Frankl, the founder of logotherapy, “it is a characteristic constituent of human existence that it transcends itself, that it reaches out for something other than itself.”2

We may not be immune to ulterior motives. But it is the ultimate level of self-transcendence to not allow those motives to get in the way of helping others. Let us do the right thing because it is the right thing to do.

Image by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke from Pixabay

Footnotes

  1. Vayikra 25:17
  2. Frankl, Viktor E.. The Will to Meaning: Foundations and Applications of Logotherapy (p. 127). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

 

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