You can point to many reasons to write a spiritual will: This type of will remains somewhat controversial because it allows you to communicate your personal history to your family, share your thoughts and memories of your life, and leave a document detailing your achievements and values. By leaving your family with your ethical will, you will leave something meaningful so that they – and future generations – can learn from you and remember your stories after you leave. Prominent physician Andrew Weil propagated ethical will as a „gift of spiritual health“ to be left to the family, stating that „the main meaning of ethical will is what it gives to the writer in the midst of life.“ The goal of writing an ethical will is to connect a person to their family and cultural history, clarify their ethical and spiritual values, and pass on a legacy to future generations. It responds to the „universal needs“ of people. Writing an ethical will clarifies identity and focuses on the purpose of life. Writing an ethical will deals with a person`s needs to belong, to be known, to be commemorated, to make a difference in their life, to bless, and to be blessed. The first surviving ethical testament was written by Eleazar, the son of Isaac of Worms (c. 1050). „Don`t think about evil,“ Eleazar says, „because bad thinking leads to evil. Cleanse your body, the place of residence of your soul.
Give a portion of all your food to God. May God be among the best and give him to the poor. The testament of Judah ben Saul ibn Tibbon, a translator, (circa 1190) contains at least one passage worthy of Ruskins: „Avoid bad company, make your books your companions, let your shelves and shelves be your gardens and pleasures. Pick the fruit that grows there, pick up roses, spices and myrrh. When your soul is full and tired, move from garden to garden, from furrow to furrow, from view to sight. Then your desire will be renewed and your soul will be satisfied with joy. Nahmanides` will is a praise of humility without influence. Asher, the son of Yechiel (fourteenth century), called his will „ways of life“ and contains 132 maxims, often printed in the prayer book. One example is: „Do not obey the law of reward, nor avoid sin for fear of being punished, but serve God out of love. Ethical wills for planning purposes In fact, planners like Culver and Rehl focus on clients` problems for planning purposes and help them create ethical wills. While exact numbers on the number of people writing ethical wills are not available, they are clearly on the rise, based on the increase in web activity and the sale of ethical will resources. Ken Wheeler, a tax and estate planning attorney in Winter Park, Florida, says writing an ethical will — or as he likes to call it, a „statement of values and vision“ — offers clients an „opportunity to leave an intellectual, spiritual or cultural legacy that can influence, guide and inspire future generations of family members.
They can achieve a sense of immortality. According to Susan Turnbull, founder of www.Yourethicalwill.com and director of Personal Legacy Advisors, a Boston-based consulting firm, there are no rules of length. An ethical will can be a personal inheritance; The length can range from one to a few hundred pages, she says. Often, it can provide a personal story (a series of important stories instead of a dry list of events), messages to your customers` family, friends, and community about the values and feelings they want them to continue, information about the origin of the money they pass on, and their hopes for what it can accomplish. „I like to think of it as a container for information and messages that you think should never go unnoticed,“ turnbull says. When customers have problems, she says, they can express their thoughts in a tape recorder as if they were talking to a friend or child. Turnbull also has a guide available on its website on how to create an ethical will specifically designed for clients of financial and legal advisors. As a concept, ethical will is not new. They were most likely an integral part of preformed societies and, as such, were transmitted orally. The first written reference to ethical wills is found in both the Hebrew and Christian Bibles. Examples include Genesis chapter 49, and John chapters 15-18. Over time, they developed into written documents.
While ethical wills have traditionally been shared after death, as well as the reading of an individual`s last wishes and will, they are now more commonly shared over the course of the author`s life. Medieval ethical wills contain instructions from fathers to their children or from older teachers to their students. They were often written calmly in old age. Some of them have been carefully composed and read as formal ethical treaties. But most were written in a personal writing style and were intended for the private use of children and parents or a beloved student who held a special place in the respect of his teacher. Since they were not designed for publication, they often revealed the writer`s most intimate feelings and ideals. Israel Abrahams, while editor of the Jewish Quarterly Review, judged that many of these ethical wills are intellectually poor, but of a high moral standard. Spiritual testaments date back thousands of years in the Jewish faith. In biblical times, ethical testaments were generally instructive, and they were a formal record of the last desires.
In the Old Testament, Jacob blesses his children in his ethical will and tells them where he wanted them to bury him. Simply put, an ethical will is a statement made by you to your loved ones to provide a non-economic inheritance, in addition to what you left them in your legal will. Our desire is for us to pass on more than our home and savings accounts when we die. What imprint have we left on the loved ones we have helped shape and with whom we have shared knowledge throughout our lives? The beneficiaries of your ethical will may include a much larger group of people than your beneficiaries under a legal will to whom you leave your assets. It can include great-grandchildren, friends, nieces and nephews, and even long-time employees and neighbors. An ethical will can take many forms, including written texts, audio recordings, or even a full-fledged video production. Since it`s not legally binding, there aren`t many rules you have to follow. It is your last message to the world that brings with it your story, your statement about morality and your desires for those you leave behind. It is useful to use the letter format. Start with Cher (name the loved one(s) you are writing to). I suggest choosing a topic, setting the timer, and writing for 15 minutes (you`ll be surprised at how limiting time makes it less overwhelming in your busy schedule and how much can be written in that amount of time.) You can always go back to what you write for another 15 minutes on another day to add, subtract, and edit it. Consider these editing tips before you start rewriting or questioning yourself: Once you`ve completed your spiritual willpower, it`s important to keep it in a safe and accessible place.
You can either share it with your whole family or keep it in a safe place. Many include their spiritual will in their traditional will, as they intend to find it only after they die. If you could summarize a life experience in one letter, what would you say? Spiritual will gives you an ideal way to share your values, ethics, and important lessons with those you love. They go beyond a legal will and a desire to strengthen family ties. The concept of the old traditional ethical will was to „pass on ethical instructions to future generations.“ Modern heirs can resist being „controlled from the grave“ and are more likely to explicitly accept the spiritual blessings of the ancients. [Attribution required] Ethical will is not limited to the Jewish faith. They have also been incorporated into Christianity, and many secular groups are also calling on more people to write their own spiritual will. These have also become a big part of palliative care, end-of-life planning and social work. Whichever you choose, make sure your family knows how to access your spiritual will in a timely manner. Don`t forget to download it to your free and secure Cake account so that your loved ones can access it online. Unlike a legal will, you won`t find rules about what you can or can`t include in a spiritual will.
Often used as a tool for self-reflection and connection with loved ones, they can include the following: Ethical wills include a new concept: sharing values and principles. They can also be used to explain to your survivors your intentions behind the decisions you made in your legal will in case you think there might be confusion or bad feelings. How will you make sure that those you love remember what`s important to you? How will you teach important lessons, values, and ethics even after you die? An ethical will is not easy to write. It forces you to think honestly about your life, conduct a soul search, determine the things that matter most in this world, and decide what you want to pass on to your loved ones. In doing so, you will remember not only the positive aspects of your experiences, but also personal failures, worries, and regrets. Not everyone has the courage or strength for this journey, but it is an important first step in creating an ethical will. Think of your last will and last will as a legal document. Yes, it contains information about your physical assets, but what about your non-physical assets? How do you transmit traditions, values and teachings? For this, you need an ethical or spiritual will. Ethical will is an ancient document of Jewish tradition. The original model for its use is taken from Genesis 49:1-33.
A dying Jacob gathered his sons to offer him his blessing and ask them to bury him with his ancestors not in Egypt, but in Canaan in the cave of Machpelah.