Today I went on my first bike ride of the season. I have not biked since the end of last summer, and boy does it feel good to be back in the saddle. What a sore saddle it truly is. Ouch!
For the past few months my bike has just sat in my room collecting dust. I bought a fold up bike because the last bike I got was stolen out of my garage, and once learned I don't repeat mistakes. So I went to the store and got a Dahon Matrix, which can be folded and kept right next to my bed. Now if anyone wants to steal my bike, it will literally be "Over My dead body."
The problem is that once the bike is in my room it is a big hassle to take out of the house. Who wants to drag a bike through the house every time that you want to use it? Certainly not me. And so, months go by with out the smallest peddle.
Eventually though I have to say enough is enough and get over the laziness. Today I did just that. I got over my laziness and dragged my bike out of the house for a small bike ride. You can't ride 50 miles right away. You have to build up to it. Rome wasn't built in a day, neither was Tulsa Oklahoma, and nether is my ability to bike long distances without at least some warm-up before hand.
May this be the beginning of a great biking season, and may everyone enjoy their own biking experiences. If you don't have a bike, go out and buy one. The feeling of moving under your own power is so rewarding and empowering, not to mention the exercise value.
(For all those that don't know what to buy, I recommend either the Dahon Matrix[because that's the one I have] or the Trek FX series [it's a hybrid, great for riding in the city and the country too]).
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Meteorite
While I was Downtown today I walked into an interesting store. The name of the store was 'Stoned', and they sell all sorts of stones. You name it and they probably have it, in all sorts of shapes and sizes. There were even some carved into the shape of human skulls.
I walked through the store and picked up one stone after another. None of them seemed right. Some were polished, others were too shiny, and still others looked like something a gypsy woman would wear while doing palm readings. I walked to the back of the store and asked the saleslady what the most dense and heavy stone she had in the whole store. She showed me the meteorites.
When I saw those meteorites all sitting there I knew I would buy one. Unpolished, small, and heavy, with a key chain piece welded on, what was not to want to buy? I could carry around a piece of outer space where ever I go, a small slice of heaven.
The only problem: for a dark little piece of metallic rock, 30 bucks was a little bit expensive. Who knew, I thought it was difficult to get into heaven, it is just as expensive to buy something that comes from heaven.
I bought it anyway.
I don't think the meteorite thought twice before it plunged into the Earth's atmosphere. I wouldn't think twice about spending money to buy it. It took so long to get to Earth, the least I could do is swipe my credit card.
I could have probably gotten it for free by staring up at the sky and waiting with hope in my eye, but I am all about that instant gratification. Why wait looking up at space for something that will never fall into your backyard, just go spend a few bucks and have it right next to the key to your front door.
And you know what? If I was ripped off, so be it. It looks cool and that is all that counts. Who says there has to be some sort of deep meaning?
I walked through the store and picked up one stone after another. None of them seemed right. Some were polished, others were too shiny, and still others looked like something a gypsy woman would wear while doing palm readings. I walked to the back of the store and asked the saleslady what the most dense and heavy stone she had in the whole store. She showed me the meteorites.
When I saw those meteorites all sitting there I knew I would buy one. Unpolished, small, and heavy, with a key chain piece welded on, what was not to want to buy? I could carry around a piece of outer space where ever I go, a small slice of heaven.
The only problem: for a dark little piece of metallic rock, 30 bucks was a little bit expensive. Who knew, I thought it was difficult to get into heaven, it is just as expensive to buy something that comes from heaven.
I bought it anyway.
I don't think the meteorite thought twice before it plunged into the Earth's atmosphere. I wouldn't think twice about spending money to buy it. It took so long to get to Earth, the least I could do is swipe my credit card.
I could have probably gotten it for free by staring up at the sky and waiting with hope in my eye, but I am all about that instant gratification. Why wait looking up at space for something that will never fall into your backyard, just go spend a few bucks and have it right next to the key to your front door.
And you know what? If I was ripped off, so be it. It looks cool and that is all that counts. Who says there has to be some sort of deep meaning?
Monday, April 27, 2009
What are Mitzvos?
There are two categories of Mitzvos (Commandments) given in the Torah.
Chukim are Torah laws that we cannot understand under the above understanding. Without Hashem telling us that certain things are wrong, we would not come to the understanding on our own. Logic, based on utilitarian and economic concerns, would not come to the conclusion of any of the Chukim. These are laws that are specifically given to the Jews to make us special as a unique people. These laws can all be understood in the framework of ideas that make the Jewish People a cohesive nation. In choosing the Jewish People as his chosen nation Hashem gave us things that build the bond between us and him, laws that seem almost nonsensical when thinking of them from the point of view of pure logic, yet it is precisely these laws that build the relationship that we have with him.
There are other ways of looking at the Mitzvos that are deep seated in the minds of many Orthodox Jews all over the world. Many of these other ways have nothing to do with any philosophical underpinnings. Some of these ways are as simple as a coins in a charity box, others are as complex as the Kabbalistic understanding of the underpinnings of the universe being powered by Mitzvos. I think that the one extreme based on the 'Mitzvos Currency' is much to simple, especially since the value of each mitzvah can never be determined. I also think that the 'World resting on a pillar of Mitzvos' model is much to complex to form a basis for the individual performance of Mitzvos. It leads to individuals giving up hope on all the commandments when they are confronted with the seeming enormity of their sins. It leads to complete paralysis of thought, extreme guilt in the face of natural disasters, and the blatant denial of natural cause and effect when it comes to the real world. Everything becomes unknowable, even the things that can presumable be reasonably proven.
Both of these problems do not arise when we look at the Mitzvos the way explained above. Mitzvos were given for a reason, not necessarily to hold up the world, but to hold up the Jewish People, as Hashem's chosen people in this world. They were given both to hold the Jewish People to a higher ethical standard than other people, as well as to form the Jewish People into a unique nation.
It is at this point that the question arises, why did Hashem give us these specific Mitzvos and not any others? If the Mitzvos have no intrinsic value on their own, was it just random that God decided to give us these mitzvos? If it is just random, why should we do any of them? For example, why a lulav esrog bundle and not an oak branch?
The answer is, Yes. All we can get by speculating on the reasons of individual Mitzvos is speculation. Any intrinsic value we can imagine that the Chukim have on an deep level, besides for the fact that Hashem gave them to us as the Jewish People, ie. deep Kabbalistic reasoning, is simple 'Science Fiction' based on unrealistic unfounded science and faulty logic. Such speculation leads to changes in Halacha that are not based on Tradition, both for stringencies as well as for leniencies. Such a break in tradition leads to unneeded divisiveness in the community.
We can never know why Hashem chose to give us these specific Mitzvos(Chukim). What we can know is the observable effect that these specific Mitzvos have on the Jewish people. They bind us together as one community in the service of Hashem. This itself can be seen as reason enough for God to have given them to us in the first place. There maybe some deep reason behind the Mitzvos, acting on any such reason detracts from something that is certain, the only observable thing that the Mitzvos truly bring about, Brotherhood between the Children of Hashem.
People can spend their entire lives imagining things that may or may not exist. They can imagine in their own head that the actions that they have amazing impact on the world, more than can actually be observed. On the other hand, people can live in the real world, where the impact of each action is observable to a certain extent,and where each Mitzvah that a person does is intrinsically valuable, not because it has an impact on the cosmos, but because it is something that we believe Hashem asks of us, no matter what the reason happens to be. If we do happen to think that there is some sort of reason the what Hashem asks of us, the least we can do is root that reason in some sort of observable reality.
- Mishpatim
- Chukim
Chukim are Torah laws that we cannot understand under the above understanding. Without Hashem telling us that certain things are wrong, we would not come to the understanding on our own. Logic, based on utilitarian and economic concerns, would not come to the conclusion of any of the Chukim. These are laws that are specifically given to the Jews to make us special as a unique people. These laws can all be understood in the framework of ideas that make the Jewish People a cohesive nation. In choosing the Jewish People as his chosen nation Hashem gave us things that build the bond between us and him, laws that seem almost nonsensical when thinking of them from the point of view of pure logic, yet it is precisely these laws that build the relationship that we have with him.
There are other ways of looking at the Mitzvos that are deep seated in the minds of many Orthodox Jews all over the world. Many of these other ways have nothing to do with any philosophical underpinnings. Some of these ways are as simple as a coins in a charity box, others are as complex as the Kabbalistic understanding of the underpinnings of the universe being powered by Mitzvos. I think that the one extreme based on the 'Mitzvos Currency' is much to simple, especially since the value of each mitzvah can never be determined. I also think that the 'World resting on a pillar of Mitzvos' model is much to complex to form a basis for the individual performance of Mitzvos. It leads to individuals giving up hope on all the commandments when they are confronted with the seeming enormity of their sins. It leads to complete paralysis of thought, extreme guilt in the face of natural disasters, and the blatant denial of natural cause and effect when it comes to the real world. Everything becomes unknowable, even the things that can presumable be reasonably proven.
Both of these problems do not arise when we look at the Mitzvos the way explained above. Mitzvos were given for a reason, not necessarily to hold up the world, but to hold up the Jewish People, as Hashem's chosen people in this world. They were given both to hold the Jewish People to a higher ethical standard than other people, as well as to form the Jewish People into a unique nation.
It is at this point that the question arises, why did Hashem give us these specific Mitzvos and not any others? If the Mitzvos have no intrinsic value on their own, was it just random that God decided to give us these mitzvos? If it is just random, why should we do any of them? For example, why a lulav esrog bundle and not an oak branch?
The answer is, Yes. All we can get by speculating on the reasons of individual Mitzvos is speculation. Any intrinsic value we can imagine that the Chukim have on an deep level, besides for the fact that Hashem gave them to us as the Jewish People, ie. deep Kabbalistic reasoning, is simple 'Science Fiction' based on unrealistic unfounded science and faulty logic. Such speculation leads to changes in Halacha that are not based on Tradition, both for stringencies as well as for leniencies. Such a break in tradition leads to unneeded divisiveness in the community.
We can never know why Hashem chose to give us these specific Mitzvos(Chukim). What we can know is the observable effect that these specific Mitzvos have on the Jewish people. They bind us together as one community in the service of Hashem. This itself can be seen as reason enough for God to have given them to us in the first place. There maybe some deep reason behind the Mitzvos, acting on any such reason detracts from something that is certain, the only observable thing that the Mitzvos truly bring about, Brotherhood between the Children of Hashem.
People can spend their entire lives imagining things that may or may not exist. They can imagine in their own head that the actions that they have amazing impact on the world, more than can actually be observed. On the other hand, people can live in the real world, where the impact of each action is observable to a certain extent,and where each Mitzvah that a person does is intrinsically valuable, not because it has an impact on the cosmos, but because it is something that we believe Hashem asks of us, no matter what the reason happens to be. If we do happen to think that there is some sort of reason the what Hashem asks of us, the least we can do is root that reason in some sort of observable reality.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Homeless on the Train, Social Acceptability, and Farts
Today, while on the train, I smelled something truly repulsive. I smelled a homeless man sleeping on the train surrounded with used plastic bags. It seemed from the smell that the fellow had not showered or done anything to improve his appearance in many years.
As I got on the train the intense smell hit me like something out of a nightmare. It was horrible. I made eye contact with a random stranger that had also just gotten on the train and said, "they shouldn't allow this to happen." The guy nodded his acquiescence, he understood exactly what I meant. The whole side of the train car was empty due to the stench of the sleeping homeless guy. Even the windows being open on the train didn't mitigate the smell. It was awful.
At the next stop both myself and the other guy made a dash for the next car and safety from the intense odor. While I was for the moment safe, I still felt disgusted from the whole thing. How can a person go so long without any concern for personal hygiene? How can The City allow people to ride the subway endlessly until they smell so bad? But more importantly, how could the other people stand to stay in the same car as the smelly dude?
When little kids, and immature adults like myself, smell what seems to be flatulence in our vicinity we always make a big deal out of the situation. "Who did it?" is the question most frequently asked, as if the knowledge of the perpetrator would somehow make the smell more bearable. All the mature adults respond with the same response, "What are you making such a big deal over? Everyone farts! Grow up!" My response, and many other like minded people's answer is simple, "Just because everyone does it doesn't mean you have to do it near me. And just because everyone does it doesn't mean everyone around you should be subjected to your odeur de fumier." Everyone uses the toilet every once in a while, but every place need not be made into a toilet.
The answer to how the other people could be sitting in the car and not be bothered by the smell of all sorts of unwashed bodily fluids is because of the old adage, "people can get used to anything." No matter how badly some situation becomes, if a person is made to feel accustomed to the situation as a normality he will stop caring about it, and will even go so far as to deplore those that remember how it truly once was. My one time Rosh Yeshiva used to say, "when you are in the sewer, you don't smell the stench."
When kids are young they realize intrinsically that when someone farts it is a bad thing. The person who did the deed deserves the worst punishment that children can give, public humiliation. It is only when people get older and everyone decides that it is socially unacceptable to make fun of a person who passes gas in public that people begin to accept the smell as a norm.
There is something to be learned from the kids making fun the producer of a bad smell. We can learn where we went wrong in our evaluation of the world. It shouldn't be socially repugnant to make fun of a smelly person. It should be socially repugnant to be a smelly person. It is only when we lose our way in the toilet that we think that we can use anywhere we want to do our dirty work.
As I got on the train the intense smell hit me like something out of a nightmare. It was horrible. I made eye contact with a random stranger that had also just gotten on the train and said, "they shouldn't allow this to happen." The guy nodded his acquiescence, he understood exactly what I meant. The whole side of the train car was empty due to the stench of the sleeping homeless guy. Even the windows being open on the train didn't mitigate the smell. It was awful.
At the next stop both myself and the other guy made a dash for the next car and safety from the intense odor. While I was for the moment safe, I still felt disgusted from the whole thing. How can a person go so long without any concern for personal hygiene? How can The City allow people to ride the subway endlessly until they smell so bad? But more importantly, how could the other people stand to stay in the same car as the smelly dude?
When little kids, and immature adults like myself, smell what seems to be flatulence in our vicinity we always make a big deal out of the situation. "Who did it?" is the question most frequently asked, as if the knowledge of the perpetrator would somehow make the smell more bearable. All the mature adults respond with the same response, "What are you making such a big deal over? Everyone farts! Grow up!" My response, and many other like minded people's answer is simple, "Just because everyone does it doesn't mean you have to do it near me. And just because everyone does it doesn't mean everyone around you should be subjected to your odeur de fumier." Everyone uses the toilet every once in a while, but every place need not be made into a toilet.
The answer to how the other people could be sitting in the car and not be bothered by the smell of all sorts of unwashed bodily fluids is because of the old adage, "people can get used to anything." No matter how badly some situation becomes, if a person is made to feel accustomed to the situation as a normality he will stop caring about it, and will even go so far as to deplore those that remember how it truly once was. My one time Rosh Yeshiva used to say, "when you are in the sewer, you don't smell the stench."
When kids are young they realize intrinsically that when someone farts it is a bad thing. The person who did the deed deserves the worst punishment that children can give, public humiliation. It is only when people get older and everyone decides that it is socially unacceptable to make fun of a person who passes gas in public that people begin to accept the smell as a norm.
There is something to be learned from the kids making fun the producer of a bad smell. We can learn where we went wrong in our evaluation of the world. It shouldn't be socially repugnant to make fun of a smelly person. It should be socially repugnant to be a smelly person. It is only when we lose our way in the toilet that we think that we can use anywhere we want to do our dirty work.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
More comments for others means more readers for you
In the blogging world the way you get new readers is by being noticed on other blogs that people read. The way to get noticed is by leaving comments on the more popular blogs for others to find of interest. The more comments you leave, the more links you leave, the more readers you have a chance of getting to your site. Unfortunately there isn't enough time in the day to both read all the blogs that are out there, come up with interesting responses that others will like enough to check out your blog, and also write stuff for yourself.
It is a real issue that has to be dealt with, however I have recently been commenting on other blogs more frequently so I have no time to talk about it. I will make a few points on the subject before I get back to my commenting.
Circumstances often dictate that a person act in ways that are not always in line with the party line. In fact sometimes the party line is far from the chocolate cake that people will not even want to get out of bed and get coffee to revitalize the economy. In speaking to many people, in many different life situations, it remains an obvious conclusion that people are better off without shoes on a sunny day than with ingrown toenails.
I have found that many people are indifferent to the situation and hardships that many other civilains take for granted. They think that things will be like the Brooklyn Qweens expressway forever, always backed up and constipated. However, the world is not such a sad place. The light at the end of the tunnel runs to Rebbe and askes a question of extreme importance. Not Why, not What, not When, but Who? Who is cooler, more hip, most shtark? The answer is not as good as the question, it never is.
Guess what?
What?
I have been rambling on about nothing at all, putting one word after another. Who knew?
Life is so funny like that.
Did you know that it costs more money to go to college than it does to buy an airplane? It's not true, though I suppose you could technically buy a really cheap airplain. But then again, I suppose when Moshiach shows up with the No Jew left behind plan, and the No child left behind plan gets left behind things might be different. Though I suppose the demand for plain plane tickets might be more expencive than a college tuition. I am sure in such an eventuality they will have price controls put on the eagle wing seats.
So what does this all have to do with the price of tea in china?
O ya, commenting.
Leave your comments below.
It is a real issue that has to be dealt with, however I have recently been commenting on other blogs more frequently so I have no time to talk about it. I will make a few points on the subject before I get back to my commenting.
Circumstances often dictate that a person act in ways that are not always in line with the party line. In fact sometimes the party line is far from the chocolate cake that people will not even want to get out of bed and get coffee to revitalize the economy. In speaking to many people, in many different life situations, it remains an obvious conclusion that people are better off without shoes on a sunny day than with ingrown toenails.
I have found that many people are indifferent to the situation and hardships that many other civilains take for granted. They think that things will be like the Brooklyn Qweens expressway forever, always backed up and constipated. However, the world is not such a sad place. The light at the end of the tunnel runs to Rebbe and askes a question of extreme importance. Not Why, not What, not When, but Who? Who is cooler, more hip, most shtark? The answer is not as good as the question, it never is.
Guess what?
What?
I have been rambling on about nothing at all, putting one word after another. Who knew?
Life is so funny like that.
Did you know that it costs more money to go to college than it does to buy an airplane? It's not true, though I suppose you could technically buy a really cheap airplain. But then again, I suppose when Moshiach shows up with the No Jew left behind plan, and the No child left behind plan gets left behind things might be different. Though I suppose the demand for plain plane tickets might be more expencive than a college tuition. I am sure in such an eventuality they will have price controls put on the eagle wing seats.
So what does this all have to do with the price of tea in china?
O ya, commenting.
Leave your comments below.
You have got to be kidding me!
In this day and age you often find many people are sarcastic. The only way you can really tell if they are joking is if they are real obvious about their sarcasm. A friend might make a comment to you that you think is perfectly on the level, and then 10 minutes later after you have acted on this new information, you're friend tells you, "you couldn't have possibly thought I was serious." But you did, you thought your friend was being honest,in reality though he was "just joking."
Every so often you are told something that may make you're BS meter turn on and say that the person doing the telling is not being completely honest. When that happens the best thing to do is just laugh, no matter what the circumstances.
Rabbi giving a Shiur that seems to be too over the top? Laugh.
Politician telling you he will do one thing when his record says just the opposite? Laugh.
A friend tells you something that you know is a complete falsehood? Laugh.
You just heard about the latest fad that people are into and cannot believe your ears? Laugh, really loud! Your ears are fine.
I take this wonderful advice to heart whenever the opportunity arises to do so. Though, in middle of the over the top Shiur I try to cover up the laugh with my hand for Kavod Hatorah. In most circumstances a nice hearty belly laugh will put the most preposterous things back into perspective.
After all, if you think it is preposterous, the person saying it is probably being sarcastic and disingenuous.
This healthy dose of skepticism can keep you sane in a world that is going increasingly insane and unreal. It will prevent you from looking the fool, (though in some circumstances it can have the opposite affect, so don't laugh too loudly.) More importantly, the laughter will act as a natural filtering mechanism where only the things that YOU think are truly important get through.
Every so often you are told something that may make you're BS meter turn on and say that the person doing the telling is not being completely honest. When that happens the best thing to do is just laugh, no matter what the circumstances.
Rabbi giving a Shiur that seems to be too over the top? Laugh.
Politician telling you he will do one thing when his record says just the opposite? Laugh.
A friend tells you something that you know is a complete falsehood? Laugh.
You just heard about the latest fad that people are into and cannot believe your ears? Laugh, really loud! Your ears are fine.
I take this wonderful advice to heart whenever the opportunity arises to do so. Though, in middle of the over the top Shiur I try to cover up the laugh with my hand for Kavod Hatorah. In most circumstances a nice hearty belly laugh will put the most preposterous things back into perspective.
After all, if you think it is preposterous, the person saying it is probably being sarcastic and disingenuous.
This healthy dose of skepticism can keep you sane in a world that is going increasingly insane and unreal. It will prevent you from looking the fool, (though in some circumstances it can have the opposite affect, so don't laugh too loudly.) More importantly, the laughter will act as a natural filtering mechanism where only the things that YOU think are truly important get through.
Monday, April 20, 2009
A Mouse in "The John": A story of True Bravery
I am scared of mice. You know, those rodent things that crawl around on everything like a biblical plague, mice. Well I am scared of them. I don’t know what exactly I am scared of, but…
One day when I was “going to the bathroom” I saw a mouse running around on the floor. Trapped together with the tiny little animal, I freaked.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. A MOUSE,” I screamed out loud for anyone around to hear. Then I bolted for the door. I didn’t want to stay around long enough for the little rodent to start crawling up my pants leg.
I slammed the door shut with a bang.
By this time my brother had already gotten out of bed. As a kid he had a great fear of mice and would stay in bed all night just so he would not have to experience seeing one of the little creepy crawly creatures. Now though in his older years he is the brave one, while I am the one terrified of the little things.
I don’t usually scream out loudly for no reason, and the few times I do you can always tell that I am joking. But this time, “The Mouse Scream” was noticeably 100% genuine. I was not faking or crying wolf, there really was a mouse in the house, and the bathroom no less. My brother could tell that I was visibly freaked out, and that is when he scooted into action.
Hearing the noise that I had made, my father came down stairs. He came down the stairs, and with his usual inquisitive voice asked, “ Is everything all right down here?”
I took turns with my brother describing the situation. “There is a mouse in the house! In the bathroom of the house!”
Both my father and my brother charged into the bathroom, still a little suspicious of a practical joke. They look around and at first glance they don’t see any mouse around, though there did look like something that could have been someone/thing digging into the floor. There looked like some sort of wood chips on the tiles of the floor, but that could have been anything, including the general disrepair to the place. Like any house not owned by people who care about nothing besides for upkeep, the house could use to have some improvements. All improvements aside, a mouse was something that deserved immediate attention.
They both gave another look around as I peered over their shoulders. I didn’t want to have another contact with the little sheretz, seeing a live mouse once a night was enough for me.
Just when they were about to give up hope of finding anything, and just when they were about to start accusing me of crying wolf and waking up the house, they found the mouse at the bottom of the mopping bucket, hiding between the mop and the other scrubbing utensils.
I’m sure it must have been scared knowing that it was about to meet its mouse maker, but that didn’t prevent it from putting up a fight that would make the greatest mouse warriors in history proud.
My brother got in his head the great idea of drowning the mouse in the bucket of the mouse’s own making. He got the washing cup from near the sink and turned on the bathtub to fill the cup with water. His plan was to fill up the bucket one cup at a time and thereby drowning the mouse. Before pouring in one cup though, he decided that the better move would be to just move the bucket that the mouse was in right into the bathtub.
He picked up the bucket and quickly moved it into the bathtub, but as he moved the bucket the mouse took its moment to fight back. The little gray mouse ran up the side of the mop handle, intent on making its escape into what it thought was a better world. My brother, seeing that the mouse was making its move, took hold of the mop handle and hit it against the bottom of the bucket. By this time the mouse had already gotten out and was inside the bathtub.
My father and I were at this point cheering on my brother and his brave fight with the little creature. I was giving my brother that brotherly pat on the back that people give each other when they want to express that feeling of thanks for a job well done. “Come on man. Get it, get it,” I said under my breath. My father meanwhile looked over in an earnest concentration at the general situation. “Look, It got out of the bucket,” my father pointed out to my brother.
It was at this point that the mop, in the hand of its human master, slammed down on the tub and on top of the mouse. “Got it,” my brother shouted. My father then turned the tub on and it began to fill up as my brother continued to smash the mouse.
The mouse was dead.
Scooping the mouse into the bucket with some water, my brother moved the mouse to the toilet where it went to feed the alligators living down in the sewers.
While one of the mice was now dead, it was quite possible that others remained. And so, in the middle of the night, at around 1 o’clock in the morning, my brother went out to get mouse traps and poison. I was already in pajamas and going out into the night for some mousetraps just didn’t warrant getting dressed. After such an experience, I really just wanted to get right back to sleep.
In retrospect there are probably many things I could have done differently, first among them was not to be such a wimp and let my brother do all the fighting and killing . I probably could have been less of a coward when seeing the unexpected little creature running around digging up the bathroom. I could have told a much better story if it had been me with the broom smashing the mouse with 100 lbs of pressure. What can I say? I’m afraid of mice, at least the kind that roam the bathrooms of houses in search of people to bother. The last thing anyone needs while they are adding volume to the toilet bowl is a mouse adding to the excitement of the experience.
I guess I'm just irrationally scared of mice.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Biting off more than I can chew: But how much is the proper bite?
There are too many blogs to read. There is just no two ways about it.
There are just too many movies to watch. No way around that either.
Too many books.
Too many TV shows.
Too many of everything to occupy the 24 hours in the day.
All around the world people are producing something that they want other people to pay attention to.
How do you choose what to do and what to ignore?
The Torah has the perfect answer: Learn Torah.
There: your choice has been made for you.
But has it really?
Torah, Nevim, Kesuvim, Mishna, Gamarah, Rishonim, Gaonim, Achronim.... Kabbalah, Philosophy, Rebbe Stories, Tehillim
Even learning Torah leaves a million choices.
It's like standing in front of the takeout counter at a restaurant, and the guy behind the counter keeps shouting, "Are you ready to order?"
But it all looks so good, you can't really make up your mind.
So there are two choices:
1) Do what you did yesterday and get the same burger and fries that you have always gotten.
2) Pick something random off the menu, and pray really hard that what you choose is something yummy.
Both choices are sub-par.
One involves no risk, one involves total risk. None of the two choices represent a middle ground.
I suppose the only thing to do is stop reading, stop buying take out, stop imagining that I'm learning, and start writing again, (and cooking for myself.)
More posts, more often, coming up.
There are just too many movies to watch. No way around that either.
Too many books.
Too many TV shows.
Too many of everything to occupy the 24 hours in the day.
All around the world people are producing something that they want other people to pay attention to.
How do you choose what to do and what to ignore?
The Torah has the perfect answer: Learn Torah.
There: your choice has been made for you.
But has it really?
Torah, Nevim, Kesuvim, Mishna, Gamarah, Rishonim, Gaonim, Achronim.... Kabbalah, Philosophy, Rebbe Stories, Tehillim
Even learning Torah leaves a million choices.
It's like standing in front of the takeout counter at a restaurant, and the guy behind the counter keeps shouting, "Are you ready to order?"
But it all looks so good, you can't really make up your mind.
So there are two choices:
1) Do what you did yesterday and get the same burger and fries that you have always gotten.
2) Pick something random off the menu, and pray really hard that what you choose is something yummy.
Both choices are sub-par.
One involves no risk, one involves total risk. None of the two choices represent a middle ground.
I suppose the only thing to do is stop reading, stop buying take out, stop imagining that I'm learning, and start writing again, (and cooking for myself.)
More posts, more often, coming up.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Which one of the Haggadah's Sons are you closest to?
The way I see it you can read the passage about the four sons any way you want. I have heard so many different readings that it boggles the mind. Wise can be wicked, wicked can be wise, and everyone is simple. It really all depends on what the person doing the reading wants to get across as his main point of the day. It doesn't matter what the plain reading of the Haggadah is, it is all about projection. What do you think of yourself, and what do you think others think of you? Do you feel wise, wicked,simple, or just plain ignorant?
The Wise One | 6 (42%) |
The Wicked One | 4 (28%) |
The Simple One | 3 (21%) |
The Ignorant One | 1 (7%) |
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Getting Advice, Making up my mind
Do you ever ask for advice but secretly don't really want any? Do you ever ask for advice just to get confirmation that you are doing the right thing? I do this very often. I ask someone for their thoughts on a subject not because I want to hear a competing view to what I have to say, but because I want the affirmation that my opinion is the correct one.
In a way I can see why this may be construed as egotistical. It may very well be very egotistical, I don't know, I just do it anyway. To me, the opinions of others are nothing more than new bits of information to take into account when doing my own thinking. The views expressed by friends, parents, teachers, and even Rebbeim are not some sacred bits of wisdom that only they have access to. Their views on all subjects are just that, Their views. When I ask someone for their advice, what I want is either extra information that I don't already have, or some support in the decision that I want to make. If they have advise and/or guidance the last thing I need is for it to be pushed down my throat, even if they do think they are speaking the word of God.
Recently I have been going through an existencial crisis of sorts. Not in the "is there a God or not sort of crisis," but the type where I have to determine the next step in my life sort of crisis, and I don't have that nessesarily pinned down yet. I find myself floating by life waiting for something to happen, some though to strike and bring me that little bit of inspriation that tells me what it is I should be doing with myself. I sit up late at night and do nothing of real importance, and I wake up late with the sun already high in the sky. My parents are visibly peeved at my mode of existence, "get a job, any job is better than sitting around and doing nothing," my father tells me. "Any honest work is good work, at least you will be joining the workforce of people who go on the train and have something to go to every morning."
I am not convinced. In my mind his advice is clouded by the fact that he has been working at the same job for who knows how many years. It is the advice of a person who judges success and failure in a specific fashion that I may not nesessarily agree with. Perhaps not all honest work is good work. Maybe it is better to wait for the job that I want than to lower my expectaions of the type of job that I could possibly get. But then the circular reasoning of my mother comes to bear it's full weight, "the only reason you can even think about waiting is because you are being supported by your father who made the decition not to sit and wait, so stop sitting and waiting and get any entry level job." Makes perfect sense, Right? Though maybe I don't nessessarily approve of the wonderful way my father chose to make his choices. Maybe being a success is not as black and white as just getting any job just to get out of the house.
At the end of the day though it really all boils down to economics. How long can I continue to live before the limited resourses I have available get used up and I need to start picking fruit to earn a few bucks? How long will it take before my parents get so sick of my indecision and deside to make the chioces for me by booting me out of the house? Or will I turn into Hamlet, standing at the crossroads forever never making up his mind.
In a way I can see why this may be construed as egotistical. It may very well be very egotistical, I don't know, I just do it anyway. To me, the opinions of others are nothing more than new bits of information to take into account when doing my own thinking. The views expressed by friends, parents, teachers, and even Rebbeim are not some sacred bits of wisdom that only they have access to. Their views on all subjects are just that, Their views. When I ask someone for their advice, what I want is either extra information that I don't already have, or some support in the decision that I want to make. If they have advise and/or guidance the last thing I need is for it to be pushed down my throat, even if they do think they are speaking the word of God.
Recently I have been going through an existencial crisis of sorts. Not in the "is there a God or not sort of crisis," but the type where I have to determine the next step in my life sort of crisis, and I don't have that nessesarily pinned down yet. I find myself floating by life waiting for something to happen, some though to strike and bring me that little bit of inspriation that tells me what it is I should be doing with myself. I sit up late at night and do nothing of real importance, and I wake up late with the sun already high in the sky. My parents are visibly peeved at my mode of existence, "get a job, any job is better than sitting around and doing nothing," my father tells me. "Any honest work is good work, at least you will be joining the workforce of people who go on the train and have something to go to every morning."
I am not convinced. In my mind his advice is clouded by the fact that he has been working at the same job for who knows how many years. It is the advice of a person who judges success and failure in a specific fashion that I may not nesessarily agree with. Perhaps not all honest work is good work. Maybe it is better to wait for the job that I want than to lower my expectaions of the type of job that I could possibly get. But then the circular reasoning of my mother comes to bear it's full weight, "the only reason you can even think about waiting is because you are being supported by your father who made the decition not to sit and wait, so stop sitting and waiting and get any entry level job." Makes perfect sense, Right? Though maybe I don't nessessarily approve of the wonderful way my father chose to make his choices. Maybe being a success is not as black and white as just getting any job just to get out of the house.
At the end of the day though it really all boils down to economics. How long can I continue to live before the limited resourses I have available get used up and I need to start picking fruit to earn a few bucks? How long will it take before my parents get so sick of my indecision and deside to make the chioces for me by booting me out of the house? Or will I turn into Hamlet, standing at the crossroads forever never making up his mind.
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