The Jewish Phenomenon

My freshman year in college I met my lifelong best friend. For the sake of privacy I will not share his last name so I will just call him by his first name, Rob. Rob was Jewish and the smartest person I had ever met. He was unlike most eighteen year old guys that I had known or grown up with. He had what I believed were almost super hero qualities when it came to education and life values and habits. He had abilities and knowledge that nearly everybody else in the dorm was missing in some sense. We became close friends and to this day we still are despite living thousands of miles apart. I always wanted to know what made Rob tick and influenced his choices in life. Now, almost twenty years later I found a book that I think helps give me some answers to this question.

In the book The Jewish Phenomenon, Seven Keys to the Enduring Wealth of a People, Steven Silbiger sheds some light on the inner working of Jewish heritage. Regardless of your religious beliefs or background, I believe this book can help you think about how you could apply seven powerful keys to shaping your life or those of your children.

The book breaks down the seven keys into the following concepts:
1. Understanding that Real Wealth is Portable; It's Knowledge
2. Take Care of Your Own and They Will Take Care of You
3. Successful People Are Professionals and Entrepreneurs
4. Develop Your Verbal Confidence
5. Be Selectively Extravagant but Prudently Frugal
6. Celebrate Individuality: Encourage Creativity
7. Have Something to Prove: A Drive To Succeed

The book is full of research and supporting statistics that back up these key ideas and concepts. I especially enjoyed the way the author explained the historical impact on the Jewish people as far back as the Old Testament and how it has shaped Jewish society today. It is also spiced up with some great Jewish humor which I plan on adding to my own book of humor to keep me laughing. Best of all, the author gives some how to tips at the end of each chapter so you can try and implement some of these ideas into your own life.The author has also compiled several appendices that are very helpful and informative if you are interested in further understanding Jewish heritage. They include an appendix on Yiddish, Hebrew, Yiddish Proverbs, and Jewish Calendar and Holidays.

As I finished reading each chapter I thought about how it applied to Rob and his family. In the case of an understanding that real wealth is portable it is knowledge, Rob graduated from college in two years and went on to med school. I had the pleasure and opportunity to visit his family on many occasions while in college. They were all very close and they definitely took care of their own. He went on to graduate from med school and is now a senior partner in a very successful cardiology practice. He has two brothers one who is a cardiologist as well and one who is a very successful CPA. His family was certainly selectively extravagant but prudently frugal. He did not follow popular trends but was an individual. He had something to prove and had a major drive to succeed by lasting through eight long years of med school.

I don't think I would necessarily classify this as a self help book, but a critical study more so on Jewish philosophy and habits. I love this book because it helped me understand one of my closest and dearest friends. You can learn a lot by studying successful people and the people discussed in this book definitely fall into the successful category, just like my best friend Rob.

--Derek Newman

I am a life long student of personal productivity and positive psychology. In other words, I am joyful and jubilant when I am learning. I am new comer to the blog world and I am just trying to learn from the many experts out there so that I can one day hopefully enrich the life of others in the same way they have enriched my life. I am grateful for Rosa and the opportunity she has given to me to share my thoughts in this wonderful atmosphere of learning and growing in knowledge and wisdom. I would also like to thank my good friend Dwayne Melancon for getting me in touch with Rosa. While not reading and studying blogs and other great things on the internet, I work as a project manager at Oracle.

Comments

[Steve Sherlock]

Welcome Derek! This is one good place to find and share learnings. There are lots of talented folks in this area. It is almost hard to not find out something new about one of the contributors every day.

While the seven keys shed light on the Jewish heritage, they look to be good keys to follow for anyone.

[Rosa Say]

Ah, now this is what I continue to love about JJL; the sharing of personal stories connected to our learning. How wonderful this is Derek; you must be an extraordinary friend to invest in deepening one of your friendships this way.

As Steve points out, the list of seven keys reads as a universal one, however I am also encouraged by the stereotypes it can serve to banish. I daresay that many of us who are not Jewish may assume we know more than we think we do about those who are! And for those who are, this sounds like a great book for journaling within the margins and white spaces about your own self-discovery of values played out over the course of a lifetime.

Welcome to Joyful Jubilant Learning Derek; I hope we will hear more of your stories!

[Dwayne Melancon]

Excellent review, Derek - I've already ordered my copy (it's a double edged sword - more to learn but when will I make the time...)

And I'm so happy to see you blogging, particularly here on JJL!

[Derek Newman]

Thanks Rosa and Dwayne. I had a great time reading the book and an even better time contributing to JJL. I look forward to my next posting here. Please keep me on your list and let me know how else I can get involved. Aloha!