Mentch - Be a Man
Baruch Axelrod
Publisher: Spines
Summary
Everyone seems to be publishing cookbooks: recipes for appetizers, recipes for desserts, recipes forChinese, Persian, Moroccan or Tunisian cuisine, and endless recipes for cakes and sweets. There areeven “recipes” for buying a car, for purchasing an apartment, for choosing a partner, or for securing amortgage or a cheap loan.The only recipe no one has yet discovered is the recipe for human behavior.Unlike baking a cake, the challenge in writing a recipe for a human behavior lies in the fact that theflavors and proportions are far more complex. These proportions reflect the weight we give to thingsthat matter most to us. Today, when the wisdom of the elders is relied upon less and less, each personchooses the taste that feels right for him.Yet, as we know, tasting is not always simple. So how can one ensure success in this craft?For years I have argued that choosing the right measure is the mother of all wisdom, and that it takestime and practice to master. My advice to young people just beginning their professional journey issimply to experiment: a little of this, more of that, and next time adjust the balance again—and againand again—until the mixture being kneaded turns out just right.In this book, I attempt to write a recipe for human behavior, a recipe for being a Mentch. I try toexamine the basic ingredients that make us human, how people can build a healthy society, and how wemight approach that universal goal: the prevention of suffering and pain—first and foremost forourselves, and then for others. Alongside the ingredients that can make us better, I also ask: what arethe things a Mentch would never do?
Available since: 01/08/2026.
Print length: 96 pages.
