Tonight, those of us who practice Judaism, the oldest of the “Abrahamic faiths,” will begin to usher in our New Year.
Unlike December 31st, though, there will be no “Dick Clark’s Rocking Rosh HaShannah Eve,” no champagne corks flying, and no confetti streaming from the rafters.
In Judaism, Rosh HaShannah, while a joyous and festive occasion, is part of a ten day cycle called The Days of Awe, which begin tonight, and continue until we break our day-long fast at the end of Yom Kippur. It is a time of intense self-examination, as we try to identify and atone for, the wrongs we’ve done to others in the past year, and to find a way to return to a more spiritually productive path.
So what does that have to do with insurance? Well, truthfully, not much. But how we sell insurance, and how we treat our clients and carriers, have a lot to do with it. In my faith, we believe that, when we die, we will be judged first and foremost on how we conducted our business. How we treat those with whom we conduct commerce, the thinking goes, says a lot about how we treat all the people in our lives.
And I believe that.
It’s why I conduct my practice the way I do. It’s why I choose to blog with someone who shares my values (if not all of my opinions). It’s why, when I teach insurance to other agents, I always stress the importance of doing the right thing. Always.
Part of our process of atonement is to ask forgiveness from those whom we’ve hurt, by word or deed. On the one hand, I’m proud that, in the almost 2 years that I’ve been blogging, InsureBlog has had over 56,000 visitors. On the other hand, I’m sure that I’ve managed to hurt or offend at least a few of them. And so, if you’re one of the latter, I ask your forgiveness, and pledge to do better in the coming year.
I wish all of our readers a joyous, prosperous, and healthy 5767.
Unlike December 31st, though, there will be no “Dick Clark’s Rocking Rosh HaShannah Eve,” no champagne corks flying, and no confetti streaming from the rafters.
In Judaism, Rosh HaShannah, while a joyous and festive occasion, is part of a ten day cycle called The Days of Awe, which begin tonight, and continue until we break our day-long fast at the end of Yom Kippur. It is a time of intense self-examination, as we try to identify and atone for, the wrongs we’ve done to others in the past year, and to find a way to return to a more spiritually productive path.
So what does that have to do with insurance? Well, truthfully, not much. But how we sell insurance, and how we treat our clients and carriers, have a lot to do with it. In my faith, we believe that, when we die, we will be judged first and foremost on how we conducted our business. How we treat those with whom we conduct commerce, the thinking goes, says a lot about how we treat all the people in our lives.
And I believe that.
It’s why I conduct my practice the way I do. It’s why I choose to blog with someone who shares my values (if not all of my opinions). It’s why, when I teach insurance to other agents, I always stress the importance of doing the right thing. Always.
Part of our process of atonement is to ask forgiveness from those whom we’ve hurt, by word or deed. On the one hand, I’m proud that, in the almost 2 years that I’ve been blogging, InsureBlog has had over 56,000 visitors. On the other hand, I’m sure that I’ve managed to hurt or offend at least a few of them. And so, if you’re one of the latter, I ask your forgiveness, and pledge to do better in the coming year.
I wish all of our readers a joyous, prosperous, and healthy 5767.
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