Mission

To “want” something, on the other hand, is more of a wish list or desire. Whatever “it” is that you “want” or desire, is not necessarily needed or essential for your life or for success. It is important to note that the “needs” of one person can potentially be perceived as the “wants” of another, and vice versa. As such, it is important that we perform the “need” versus “want” analysis from the perspective of objective criteria and not from the perspective of subjective criteria.

In 1942, Abraham Maslow introduced the “Hierarchy of Needs” which is a hierarchy of five human motivational needs arranged by ascending order of importance. The five ascending needs are (1) physiological, (2) safety, (3) social, (4) esteem, and (5) self-actualization. Only unsatisfied needs are motivators. Once a need is satisfied, the next level emerges as a motivator. It is often portrayed in the shape of a pyramid, with the largest and most fundamental needs at the bottom, and the needs of self-actualization at the top.

Physiological needs are obvious –they are the literal requirements for human survival. If these requirements are not met, the human body simply cannot continue to function. Air, water, and food are metabolic requirements for survival in all animals, including humans. Clothing and shelter provide necessary protection from the elements.

With their physical needs relatively satisfied, the individual's safety needs take precedence and dominate behavior. In the absence of physical safety – due to war, natural disaster, or, in cases of family violence, childhood abuse, etc. – people (re-)experience post-traumatic stress disorder and trans-generational trauma transfer. In the absence of economic safety – due to economic crisis and lack of work opportunities – these safety needs manifest themselves in such things as a preference for job security, grievance procedures for protecting the individual from unilateral authority, savings accounts, insurance policies, reasonable disability accommodations, and the like. Safety and Security needs include: Personal security, financial security, health and well-being, safety-net against accidents/illness and their adverse impacts.

After physiological and safety needs are fulfilled, the third layer of human needs are social and involve feelings of belongingness. The need is especially strong in childhood and can over-ride the need for safety as witnessed in children who cling to abusive parents. Deficiencies with respect to this aspect of Maslow's hierarchy – due to hospitalism, neglect, shunning, ostracism etc. – can impact individual's ability to form and maintain emotionally significant relationships in general, such as: Friendship, Intimacy, Family.

Humans need to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance, whether it comes from a large social group, such as clubs, office culture, religious groups, professional organizations, sports teams, gangs, or small social connections (family members, intimate partners, mentors, close colleagues, confidants). They need to love and be loved by others. In the absence of these elements, many people become susceptible to loneliness, social anxiety, and clinical depression. This need for belonging can often overcome the physiological and security needs, depending on the strength of the peer pressure; an anorexic, for example, may ignore the need to eat and the security of health for a feeling of control and belonging.[citation needed]

All humans have a need to be respected and to have self-esteem and self-respect. Esteem presents the normal human desire to be accepted and valued by others. People need to engage themselves to gain recognition and have an activity or activities that give the person a sense of contribution, to feel self-valued, be it in a profession or hobby. Imbalances at this level can result in low self-esteem or an inferiority complex. People with low self-esteem need respect from others. They may seek fame or glory, which again depends on others. Note, however, that many people with low self-esteem will not be able to improve their view of themselves simply by receiving fame, respect, and glory externally, but must first accept themselves internally.

Psychological imbalances such as depression can also prevent one from obtaining self-esteem on both levels. Most people have a need for a stable self-respect and self-esteem. Maslow noted two versions of esteem needs, a lower one and a higher one. The lower one is the need for the respect of others, the need for status, recognition, fame, prestige, and attention. The higher one is the need for self-respect, the need for strength, competence, mastery, self-confidence, independence and freedom. The latter one ranks higher because it rests more on inner competence won through experience. Deprivation of these needs can lead to an inferiority complex, weakness and helplessness.

This level of need pertains to what a person's full potential is and realizing that potential. Maslow describes this desire as the desire to become more and more what one is, to become everything that one is capable of becoming. This is a broad definition of the need for self-actualization, but when applied to individuals the need is specific. For example one individual may have the strong desire to become an ideal parent, in another it may be expressed athletically, and in another it may be expressed in painting, pictures, or inventions. As mentioned before, in order to reach a clear understanding of this level of need one must first not only achieve the previous needs, physiological, safety, love, and esteem, but master these needs.

Integration of collective jewish ideals & introduction to hierarchy of individual, community and religious needs.

The Hierarchy of Needs has been criticized as being ethnocentric in that it neglects to illustrate and expand upon the difference between the social and intellectual needs of those raised in individualistic societies and those raised in collectivist societies. Maslow created his hierarchy of needs from an individualistic perspective, being that he was from the United States, a highly individualistic nation. Since the hierarchy was written from the perspective of an individualist, the order of needs in the hierarchy with self actualization at the top is not representative of the needs of those in collectivist cultures. In collectivist societies, the needs of acceptance and community will outweigh the needs for freedom and individuality.

Additionally, some of these criticisms may be really about Maslow's choice of terminology, especially with the term 'self-actualization'. 'Self-actualization' might not effectively convey his observations that this higher level of motivation is really about focusing on becoming the best person one can possibly become, in the service of both the self and others: 'A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself. What a man can be, he must be. He must be true to his own nature. This need we may call self-actualization.' At these higher levels of motivation, what we do generally benefits everyone, but Maslow's term might not be as good at clarifying that as it could have been.

From the perspective of Jewish Ideals, Maslow’s conclusions may be partially criticized, in that it only looks at the needs of the individual and not the needs of those from collective cultures, communities or religions.

There is no dispute that each individual must meet individual needs as outlined on the Hierarchy of Needs, as well as strive to be a better person each and every day (in all areas). However, from the perspective of the Jewish Community, where Jews are mandated by the Torah to “love they neighbor as you would yourself” there is a positive mandate to go above and beyond to insure that the needs of others are met. In most cases, there are “Community needs” and, at other times, there are “Religious needs” which can be independent from each other, but more often than not, overlap. As such, since Judaism is largely based on community and communal based services/rituals, there is an urgency to identify and establish a blended “Hierarchy of Individual, Communal and Religious Needs.”