Step 1: Sales Tax and Capital Gains Tax. These taxes determine the budget of the next fiscal year. They are indicators of the economic situation of the country. The size of the government is determined by how well the economy is doing. There is no deficit spending, no bailouts, no stimulus packages.
Step 2: Each citizen gets a ballet where that person ranks in order what forms of government spending are most important to him. There is a list of items to choose from in which the person has to choose less than the whole list.
Step 3: The rankings are aggregated, and based on the aggregation the budget of the next year is determined. The items highest on the most people's lists gets the most money and priority. The items lowest on the list get little to no money and/or are not funded at all.
Step 4: Any surplus gets distributed to people with very low incomes in the form of work incentive subsidies.
Step 5: The next year's budget and tax rates are adjusted to reflect any surpluses. Departments that run on a deficit will be reorganized so that they are able to function within budget.
(Side note) Step 6: All social issues (ie. abortion, gay marriage, ect..) will be determined by popular vote on the state level. Municipal issues ( parking, street cleaning, zoning, ect...) will be deternimed city by city and district by district also by popular vote.
(Side note) Step 7: Voting in all elections, budget and representative, is mandatory, and punishable by the forfeiture of government services for that year. Voting can be done over a full week period to prevent people from being penalized unfairly.
What do you think?
Monday, August 31, 2009
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Overvigilence in reporting abuse?
Today I spoke to an elderly couple in Williamsburg. They were both under the impression that a Jewish mother would not harm her own child. Even with the story in Israel where the mother abused her own child, this couple was under the impression that it really can’t happen in real life. The old women told me that a while back someone she knows brought her son into the emergency room to be treated for a bump on the head. The hospital called social services and accused the mother of abusing her child, to the point where they were going to put the child in foster care with non-Jews. The old women felt that the hospital was being over reactive, young kids bump their heads all the time. Just because the child had a bruise on his head doesn’t mean that the parents were negligent in their duty as parents.
On the one hand, I understand the old woman’s concern. The old saying popularized by mothers who don’t want to deal with the fact that their kids are wild and out of control is, “boys will be boys.” Boys get bumps, scrapes, and bruises in the course of having the adventures of their youth. I don’t think there is one kid who grew up without getting at least one scrape. What would be the point of being young if you don’t get to enjoy it with a little adventure culminating in small personal injury? A little bump on the head is not sure proof of abuse.
On the other hand, I understand the concern raised by the hospital workers and social services. They have an obligation to protect themselves from liability. If someone walks into the hospital and is a victim of abuse it is the responsibility of the workers to ensure that they do everything in their power to prevent the abuse from continuing. To do anything less leaves the hospital open to future lawsuits, not to mention the moral responsibility to help those in need that cannot help themselves.
The one comment that I think that old women wanted to make was that there are certain groups that have more cases of reported abuse. The Jewish Nation, as the Am Kadosh, should be intrinsically less susceptible to cases of abuse due to the commandments, as well as the cultural stigmata attached to having something like that take place in the purview of the Jewish home. Since this should be the case, the hospital workers should not have been so quick to assume abuse and automatically call social services. The hospital should have been a little more discriminating in its reporting of bumps and bruises.
Alas, we live in America, land of equality under the law, both for the good as well as the bad. While it is possible that the fact that the Jewish people, aware of their higher moral standard, would be less likely to abuse their children; the fact remains that a hospital has its duty to leave this possibility as just that, a possibility. Everyone must be treated equally under the law if the rule of law is to be respected by all. For while it is true that Boys will be boys, it is also true that abuse can take place in any culture, no matter if the probability is possibly lower in one culture for cases of abuse.
Friday, August 28, 2009
War, Women, Wills, and Wrong Children: The Divine Morality of the Torah
As a standard for objective morality at first glance this week's Parsha, Ki Teitzei, seems to leave a lot lacking from the perspective of today's modern individual. In today's day and age war is wrong, rape is the equivalent to murder, inheritance is a matter of personal choice, and the stealing of meat and wine is not an offense punishable by death.
Yet, in Parshas Ki Teitzei it seems that all these things are fine. "When you go to war on your enemies...", as if war is inevitable and permitted. (Though the word כִּי could be translated as "If", never the less the standard translation which is most used is "When.") "And she shall be your wife.", without her choice in the matter. She is a captive and has no say in what happens to her. "To him is the right of the first born.", even though you don't like that son as much as the other you still have to give him first priority. "This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious...glutton and a gluzzard. And all the men of the city shall stone him with stones, and he will die.", glutton and gluzzard gets the death penalty.
In terms of objective truth, there are a few ways to look at this.
It really all boils down to perspective. In the eyes of the Torah, and in the eyes of the Jewish People, we are all servants of the God in Heaven. The human being does not contain intrinsic value outside the value given to him/her by God in the context of the given laws. The modern standard of morality gives intrinsic value to the human being irrespective of God and his laws. When people say that the Torah's morality doesn't fit with today's standards they are correct. But only because the people of today look at morality as something divorced from God. People today only think they know better, think they have to apologize, or reinterpret because they have separated the morality from the morality giver.
In my mind, looking for objective morality outside the world of religion leads directly to moral relativism. No one will convince anyone else that their standards are correct unless political correctness comes into play. The only way out of moral relativism is the acceptance of some sort of standard that is "Outside." In order for any such standard to carry any weight, it must be posited that the morality comes directly from someone that every person respects. That someone is God. While it is true that one can not know God outside their own head, it is the objective standard revealed in the Torah that is the starting point. The Torah guides us in the perspective we should be taking when looking for answers to our moral questions.
Yet, in Parshas Ki Teitzei it seems that all these things are fine. "When you go to war on your enemies...", as if war is inevitable and permitted. (Though the word כִּי could be translated as "If", never the less the standard translation which is most used is "When.") "And she shall be your wife.", without her choice in the matter. She is a captive and has no say in what happens to her. "To him is the right of the first born.", even though you don't like that son as much as the other you still have to give him first priority. "This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious...glutton and a gluzzard. And all the men of the city shall stone him with stones, and he will die.", glutton and gluzzard gets the death penalty.
In terms of objective truth, there are a few ways to look at this.
- The Torah doesn't know what it is talking about. We know better and are more civilized than the standards that are written in the Torah.
- The Torah really doesn't mean what it says. we can apologize the text to fit with our own modern sentiments.
- Our own modern standard of morality is faulty, and the Torah's morality is the one true way of doing things.
- The Torah was given to the people at that time. It was meant to evolve with the morality of different generations. In each generation the text can be reinterpreted to fit with the going standard.
It really all boils down to perspective. In the eyes of the Torah, and in the eyes of the Jewish People, we are all servants of the God in Heaven. The human being does not contain intrinsic value outside the value given to him/her by God in the context of the given laws. The modern standard of morality gives intrinsic value to the human being irrespective of God and his laws. When people say that the Torah's morality doesn't fit with today's standards they are correct. But only because the people of today look at morality as something divorced from God. People today only think they know better, think they have to apologize, or reinterpret because they have separated the morality from the morality giver.
In my mind, looking for objective morality outside the world of religion leads directly to moral relativism. No one will convince anyone else that their standards are correct unless political correctness comes into play. The only way out of moral relativism is the acceptance of some sort of standard that is "Outside." In order for any such standard to carry any weight, it must be posited that the morality comes directly from someone that every person respects. That someone is God. While it is true that one can not know God outside their own head, it is the objective standard revealed in the Torah that is the starting point. The Torah guides us in the perspective we should be taking when looking for answers to our moral questions.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Originality: One Book
In the process of walking around the neighborhoods of Brooklyn I have ran into a few interesting people with many interesting ideas. Today I heard a very interesting idea from a fellow sitting on the stoop of his apartment building smoking a self rolled cigarette and drinking a cold beer.
Basically, there is only one book. Every book ever written after that one book is just a response to the ideas put forward by the first book. Every thought that we have is a response to stimuli but the way we each get to that response is a manifestation of that first idea.
What this means is that even when we think we are having original ideas, we are only reflecting on what we learned in the past. There is nothing new under the sun. Even when we marvel at a sunset and admire the beauty of God's creation, our description of the experience is part of that original idea. The greatest poets are copywriters promoting ideas that are not really their own.
I found this idea interesting but not really compelling. On one hand, it fits very well with the idea that Everything is written in the Torah. On the other hand, if all new ideas are just manifestations of "The original idea" then what is The Original Idea? If the original idea is something intrinsically built into the fabric of humanity, and all ideas are manifestations of who we are, could it be possible to actually have a real idea as we know it without being human? We need a frame of reference to conceive of any idea at all. Without a frame of reference, any idea conceived of would be intrinsically meaningless. In my mind the greatest artist in the world create, they don't just copy. They create within the context of the world they live in.
In Berashis Rabba it says that Hashem looked into the Torah and created the world. What this means is that the Torah itself was created without context,and the world with it's humanity was created by God within the context of the Torah. When the Torah was given back to humanity, it was given within the context of an already existent humanity. The people at the time had to put the ideas being given to them into a framework that they could understand. Even the One Book, The Torah we have today, can not be said to be the Torah without context that Hashem used to create the world.
Because of the fact that the One Book, the One Idea, has never been written down. Because it would take more paper than the atoms in the world. Because of this, new ideas are always possible. While there may not be anything new under the sun, new ideas are continually being brought into the sun's light on a momentary basis.
Basically, there is only one book. Every book ever written after that one book is just a response to the ideas put forward by the first book. Every thought that we have is a response to stimuli but the way we each get to that response is a manifestation of that first idea.
What this means is that even when we think we are having original ideas, we are only reflecting on what we learned in the past. There is nothing new under the sun. Even when we marvel at a sunset and admire the beauty of God's creation, our description of the experience is part of that original idea. The greatest poets are copywriters promoting ideas that are not really their own.
I found this idea interesting but not really compelling. On one hand, it fits very well with the idea that Everything is written in the Torah. On the other hand, if all new ideas are just manifestations of "The original idea" then what is The Original Idea? If the original idea is something intrinsically built into the fabric of humanity, and all ideas are manifestations of who we are, could it be possible to actually have a real idea as we know it without being human? We need a frame of reference to conceive of any idea at all. Without a frame of reference, any idea conceived of would be intrinsically meaningless. In my mind the greatest artist in the world create, they don't just copy. They create within the context of the world they live in.
In Berashis Rabba it says that Hashem looked into the Torah and created the world. What this means is that the Torah itself was created without context,and the world with it's humanity was created by God within the context of the Torah. When the Torah was given back to humanity, it was given within the context of an already existent humanity. The people at the time had to put the ideas being given to them into a framework that they could understand. Even the One Book, The Torah we have today, can not be said to be the Torah without context that Hashem used to create the world.
Because of the fact that the One Book, the One Idea, has never been written down. Because it would take more paper than the atoms in the world. Because of this, new ideas are always possible. While there may not be anything new under the sun, new ideas are continually being brought into the sun's light on a momentary basis.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Understanding the Shidduch Crisis (hint hint: It has to do with money)
Walking through Williamsburg one might get the sense that there are lots of older mature people walking around. Every man has a beard, and a long one too. The women are all pushing strollers with many children in tow. All along the streets people are rushing here and there to get to where they are going. There is a place for everyone, and everyone knows their place, even if that place happens to be government housing on the corner of Wythe and Taylor.
As I walk around I feel a sense of envy. I'm an unmarried man at the age of 23. What I see is people my own age with 3 children running around living happy lives. They may not be making fortunes, and they may complain that the parking tickets are bankrupting them, but when you look on their faces you see a sense of contentment that I can only imagine in my own head. What would it be like to walk blissfully with a wife and children down Lee Ave, my own bekishe blowing in the wind, the heat of the summer day pouring down my forehead? What would life be like when my only real worry was a bike lane, and all my prayers answered together with a few kapitlach of Tehillem in the big Vishnetze Shul?
Many people in the more modern community look down on the people who accept social services. They think there is something wrong with living in government housing, accepting food stamps, medicaid, and Priority 7. At the same time they cry about a Shidduch Crisis. They cry about the fact that people are getting married at a much later age than they used to, and that some people are not getting married at all. The honest truth is that in order to get married at an age when you are not going to be financially independent you must take some form of subsidy. You must accept some sort of social services to survive.
The Chassisishe community has accepted this fact. They start families at very young ages. By keeping the community insular and the education about standard, the hashkafos are about uniform throughout. The rest is up to looks and personality,which is a personal choice, and when you limit the choice to a certain group of people there really isn't that many people to choose from. The rest is money to start a family, and with subsidies from the government that becomes less of a worry.
In the Yeshivish communities the tendency is to get married a little later than in the chassidish communities. This is due in part to the fact that while the Yeshivas encourage full time learning, they also see government handouts as less than ideal. (At least less ideal than the Chassidish communities.) Only people who are still learning passed a certain level will be considered worthy of receiving financial support from the community in the form of a Kollel check, and with that enough to survive with the government subsidies. Learning becomes the ends that is justified by the means of taking government money. However, it takes time to realise that a person wants to dedicate their life to learning, and so it takes time for a man in the Yeshivish community to get married. The girls are left waiting.
I was not cut out for "learning." I went to college after realising that all I would be doing by sitting full time in Yeshiva would be wasting my time. Still unwilling to take subsidies from the government, though I take plenty from my parents, I am still not married. I am a working boy, doomed to wait till I get a job till I find a gold digger to take my money. And while I look at the people in Williamsburg with envy at there lifestyle and bliss, I also look at them with a sort of sadness. In the end we are all going to the same destination, does it matter who has more great grandkids when we get there?
As I walk around I feel a sense of envy. I'm an unmarried man at the age of 23. What I see is people my own age with 3 children running around living happy lives. They may not be making fortunes, and they may complain that the parking tickets are bankrupting them, but when you look on their faces you see a sense of contentment that I can only imagine in my own head. What would it be like to walk blissfully with a wife and children down Lee Ave, my own bekishe blowing in the wind, the heat of the summer day pouring down my forehead? What would life be like when my only real worry was a bike lane, and all my prayers answered together with a few kapitlach of Tehillem in the big Vishnetze Shul?
Many people in the more modern community look down on the people who accept social services. They think there is something wrong with living in government housing, accepting food stamps, medicaid, and Priority 7. At the same time they cry about a Shidduch Crisis. They cry about the fact that people are getting married at a much later age than they used to, and that some people are not getting married at all. The honest truth is that in order to get married at an age when you are not going to be financially independent you must take some form of subsidy. You must accept some sort of social services to survive.
The Chassisishe community has accepted this fact. They start families at very young ages. By keeping the community insular and the education about standard, the hashkafos are about uniform throughout. The rest is up to looks and personality,which is a personal choice, and when you limit the choice to a certain group of people there really isn't that many people to choose from. The rest is money to start a family, and with subsidies from the government that becomes less of a worry.
In the Yeshivish communities the tendency is to get married a little later than in the chassidish communities. This is due in part to the fact that while the Yeshivas encourage full time learning, they also see government handouts as less than ideal. (At least less ideal than the Chassidish communities.) Only people who are still learning passed a certain level will be considered worthy of receiving financial support from the community in the form of a Kollel check, and with that enough to survive with the government subsidies. Learning becomes the ends that is justified by the means of taking government money. However, it takes time to realise that a person wants to dedicate their life to learning, and so it takes time for a man in the Yeshivish community to get married. The girls are left waiting.
I was not cut out for "learning." I went to college after realising that all I would be doing by sitting full time in Yeshiva would be wasting my time. Still unwilling to take subsidies from the government, though I take plenty from my parents, I am still not married. I am a working boy, doomed to wait till I get a job till I find a gold digger to take my money. And while I look at the people in Williamsburg with envy at there lifestyle and bliss, I also look at them with a sort of sadness. In the end we are all going to the same destination, does it matter who has more great grandkids when we get there?
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Why Tznius, and not something more relevant?
Have you ever wondered why the Rabbunim focus so much on modesty at the expense of things that might be much more important on a social level? When it comes to swine flu, stolen funds, and fraud wouldn't it make more sense to focus on things like hygiene, not stealing, and honesty?
The answer is No.
It is true that many people need to work on hygiene so as not to smell like a toilet filled with excrement and catch all sorts of wonderful toilet related illnesses. It is true that many people may take office supplies every now and again, even when they are not supposed to. It is also true that many people do things that may or may not be considered fraud in the books of American Law.
However, not everyone is guilty of these things. For the most part we are righteous and upstanding people who want to do what is lawfully right.
But when that hot looking woman starts walking down the street in her revealing attire leaving very little to the imagination, I don't know any warm blooded man who doesn't look and think to himself... Even if only for a second.
And I don't know one girl who wakes up on a summer morning and says, "You know what? Today, on this 100 degree day, I'm going to wear long sleeves and love it." While there may be people in Williamsburg who think this way, I highly doubt it.
It may be true that some people rob, cheat, and steal. It is definitely true that we all "follow our eyes."
For all of you who cry about the fact that the Rabbunim don't focus on the issues that seem important, ask yourself this: How much of these issues (hygiene, stealing, and honesty in business) do you personally need to work on? Then ask yourself how much you need to work on the issues the Rabbunim are talking about. Next time you see an unshowered person walk into a store and steal some swine flu medication without paying sales tax be sure to tell me about it. I'm sure cows will fly first, and I'm sure that person isn't YOU.
While there probably is something more relevant to talk about that Tznius, skirt lengths, and wandering eyes, how much more fun is it to talk about "the horrors" of scantily clad women?
The answer is No.
It is true that many people need to work on hygiene so as not to smell like a toilet filled with excrement and catch all sorts of wonderful toilet related illnesses. It is true that many people may take office supplies every now and again, even when they are not supposed to. It is also true that many people do things that may or may not be considered fraud in the books of American Law.
However, not everyone is guilty of these things. For the most part we are righteous and upstanding people who want to do what is lawfully right.
But when that hot looking woman starts walking down the street in her revealing attire leaving very little to the imagination, I don't know any warm blooded man who doesn't look and think to himself... Even if only for a second.
And I don't know one girl who wakes up on a summer morning and says, "You know what? Today, on this 100 degree day, I'm going to wear long sleeves and love it." While there may be people in Williamsburg who think this way, I highly doubt it.
It may be true that some people rob, cheat, and steal. It is definitely true that we all "follow our eyes."
For all of you who cry about the fact that the Rabbunim don't focus on the issues that seem important, ask yourself this: How much of these issues (hygiene, stealing, and honesty in business) do you personally need to work on? Then ask yourself how much you need to work on the issues the Rabbunim are talking about. Next time you see an unshowered person walk into a store and steal some swine flu medication without paying sales tax be sure to tell me about it. I'm sure cows will fly first, and I'm sure that person isn't YOU.
While there probably is something more relevant to talk about that Tznius, skirt lengths, and wandering eyes, how much more fun is it to talk about "the horrors" of scantily clad women?
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Are you "wholly Jewish"?
It is necessary for him [the Jew seeking wholeness] to free himself from those stupid claims that would impose Juda- "ism" on him as a canon of definite, circumscribed 'Jewish duties" (vulgar orthodoxy), or 'Jewish tasks" (vulgar Zionism), or-God forbid-"Jewish ideas" (vulgar liberalism). If he has prepared himself quite simply to have everything that happens to him, inwardly and outwardly, happen to him in a Jewish way-his vocation, his nationality, his marriage, and even, if that has to be, his Juda-"ism"-then he may he certain that with the simple assumption of that infinite "pledge" he will become in reality ''wholly Jewish."
And there is indeed no other way to become completely Jewish; the Jewish human being arises in no other way. All recipes, whether Zionist, orthodox, or liberal, produce caricatures of men, that become more ridiculous the more closely the recipes are followed. And a caricature of a man is also a caricature of a Jew; for as a Jew one cannot separate the one from the other. There is one recipe alone that can make a person Jewish and hence because he is a Jew and destined to a Jewish life-a full human being... Our fathers had a beautiful word for it that says everything: confidence.
-Franz Rosenzweig in "Toward a Renaissance of Jewish Learning" p. 66This was written in the early 1920s in Pre-Holocaust Germany. How much of this comment do you think still holds true today in ''Our" present day Jewish community for present day Jews?
Friday, August 14, 2009
Let me be your friend or (A well meaning friend)
I'll tell you where you're goin wrong
Make sure you are goin Right
Keep you on the right path
I'll tell you what job to take
What a wife that one will make
you know she's not good for you
Seems like my bashert to me.
Chorus: Let me be your friend
Let me be your friend
Let me be your friend.
I know you hate me now
you'll probably thank me later
I know what you really want
I know who you should marry
I know what is good for you
exactly what you should do.
I know what job you should take
What a life you should make
chorus....
I value our friendship so much
Your'e the idiot
I'm the know much
You are lucky I'm around
Without me you would drown.
So what, I married the one you love?
That I took the job you wanted
I took the extra puff.
I only had you in mind.
Ain't You Happy NOW?
chorus....
This is not friendship.
It's servitude
I'm the slave, you're the master.
You think you know what's good for me
All I want is to be set free.
I know who I should marry
The job I should take
the risks I should carry.
While I may not be as wise or smart
My choices
My dignity
My life
Make my ignorance redemption in the sunlight.
Make sure you are goin Right
Keep you on the right path
I'll tell you what job to take
What a wife that one will make
you know she's not good for you
Seems like my bashert to me.
Chorus: Let me be your friend
Let me be your friend
Let me be your friend.
I know you hate me now
you'll probably thank me later
I know what you really want
I know who you should marry
I know what is good for you
exactly what you should do.
I know what job you should take
What a life you should make
chorus....
I value our friendship so much
Your'e the idiot
I'm the know much
You are lucky I'm around
Without me you would drown.
So what, I married the one you love?
That I took the job you wanted
I took the extra puff.
I only had you in mind.
Ain't You Happy NOW?
chorus....
This is not friendship.
It's servitude
I'm the slave, you're the master.
You think you know what's good for me
All I want is to be set free.
I know who I should marry
The job I should take
the risks I should carry.
While I may not be as wise or smart
My choices
My dignity
My life
Make my ignorance redemption in the sunlight.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Why I like Obama's Health Plan
I like free stuff.
I don't care where it comes from.
I may have to pay for it in the future,
But what the hell?
It's cheap now.
And who cares about the rich who will have to pay?
I'm not that rich.
I think the plan is the worst thing for the country.
But Gosh Darn it, I want it anyway.
Because I'm selfish.
In a perfect world there would be no government to take advantage of people and steal their money to finance other people's spending.
But that day is Not today.
Today, Robin Hood is in the White House and the rich gots no where to run.
F*#$ morality, I'm gonna get me some
subsidized Health care.
I don't care where it comes from.
I may have to pay for it in the future,
But what the hell?
It's cheap now.
And who cares about the rich who will have to pay?
I'm not that rich.
I think the plan is the worst thing for the country.
But Gosh Darn it, I want it anyway.
Because I'm selfish.
In a perfect world there would be no government to take advantage of people and steal their money to finance other people's spending.
But that day is Not today.
Today, Robin Hood is in the White House and the rich gots no where to run.
F*#$ morality, I'm gonna get me some
subsidized Health care.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
You are all full of it !!!
I am shocked and outraged. I don't understand how something like this could happen in our community. We who pride ourselves on being the upright stand up citizens that the world should look to for guidance. Have we really sunk so low?
And our leaders, they are not much better. The leaders of last generation could at least put a sentence together in a coherent fashion. Our leaders can't even speak loud enough to tell the people talking in Shul to be quiet. It really boggles my mind.
First there was the chickens, now the roosters laying eggs, something has to be done before it is too late. This outrage has gotten out of control and eventually someone will have to get up and take a stand for the truth that we all believe in.
I understand some people sitting in an apathetic haze, imagining themselves above all the nonsensical politics, but someone should know better. It's not like we are asking for very much, just your second child, not your first born. Is that too much to ask?
People in this generation take too much for granted. They take it for granted that they can say whatever the hell they want, to whomever the hell they want, and no one will give a damn. Everyone is outraged about something or another, and it is time that this outrage come to an end.
People just should not have to be subjected to the nonsensical ramblings of random upset nut jobs who sit in their basement, or studio, or house, or office, or prison cell, and tell them what is wrong with the world. Because in the end, what is really wrong with the world if you have your head stuffed so far up your Tuchus you can't tell green from brown.
It really is that simple.
So I implore each and every one of you to call your congressman and tell him you care about this important issue. If you are one of those unfortunate individuals who can not think, and therefore do not live in the wonderful US of A, get on a plane as quick as you can and move to America. We need more people like you to solve our problems.
For all of you who are sitting there wondering, "Hey, what's going on? Where is the deep philosophy we have come to expect and ignore?" Don't worry, I'm sure there is some deep message that you can piece together from all of these wonderful words.
But in case it wasn't clear enough. All you big people, with all your big complaints about the world, can weigh your words on a scale and see how much they weigh. More than your second born son? I think not. Your approval or disapproval in regard to whatever the Gadol or political leader happened to do or not do really makes no difference. You could have said just the opposite opinion and we all would have been equally entertained for the few seconds it took us all to read it. Your views that you so eloquently write to make people agree with you in how horrible the world happens to be now that Obama is in the White House, the greatest Gadol in the world passed away, the second greatest Gadol in the world banned or didn't ban vacations, you were constipated all day and couldn't take a dump. That is all it is, your little views. Meaningless. Founded in nothing but your own subjective view of the world and not binding on anyone in any way.
Get off your soapbox, your moral high horse, and pick up a shovel in the real world. (The irony is in the hypocrisy.)
And our leaders, they are not much better. The leaders of last generation could at least put a sentence together in a coherent fashion. Our leaders can't even speak loud enough to tell the people talking in Shul to be quiet. It really boggles my mind.
First there was the chickens, now the roosters laying eggs, something has to be done before it is too late. This outrage has gotten out of control and eventually someone will have to get up and take a stand for the truth that we all believe in.
I understand some people sitting in an apathetic haze, imagining themselves above all the nonsensical politics, but someone should know better. It's not like we are asking for very much, just your second child, not your first born. Is that too much to ask?
People in this generation take too much for granted. They take it for granted that they can say whatever the hell they want, to whomever the hell they want, and no one will give a damn. Everyone is outraged about something or another, and it is time that this outrage come to an end.
People just should not have to be subjected to the nonsensical ramblings of random upset nut jobs who sit in their basement, or studio, or house, or office, or prison cell, and tell them what is wrong with the world. Because in the end, what is really wrong with the world if you have your head stuffed so far up your Tuchus you can't tell green from brown.
It really is that simple.
So I implore each and every one of you to call your congressman and tell him you care about this important issue. If you are one of those unfortunate individuals who can not think, and therefore do not live in the wonderful US of A, get on a plane as quick as you can and move to America. We need more people like you to solve our problems.
For all of you who are sitting there wondering, "Hey, what's going on? Where is the deep philosophy we have come to expect and ignore?" Don't worry, I'm sure there is some deep message that you can piece together from all of these wonderful words.
But in case it wasn't clear enough. All you big people, with all your big complaints about the world, can weigh your words on a scale and see how much they weigh. More than your second born son? I think not. Your approval or disapproval in regard to whatever the Gadol or political leader happened to do or not do really makes no difference. You could have said just the opposite opinion and we all would have been equally entertained for the few seconds it took us all to read it. Your views that you so eloquently write to make people agree with you in how horrible the world happens to be now that Obama is in the White House, the greatest Gadol in the world passed away, the second greatest Gadol in the world banned or didn't ban vacations, you were constipated all day and couldn't take a dump. That is all it is, your little views. Meaningless. Founded in nothing but your own subjective view of the world and not binding on anyone in any way.
Get off your soapbox, your moral high horse, and pick up a shovel in the real world. (The irony is in the hypocrisy.)
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Fear; is that ALL?
Take a look at two verses in this past week's Parsha.
And now, Yisroel, what does Hashem your God require of you? Only that you fear Hashem your God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve Hashem your God with all your heart and with all your soul; to keep the commandments of Hashem, and His statutes, which I command thee this day,for your good.(D'varim 10:12/13)
So basically God wants us to fear Him, do what He does, love Him, serve Him with all our heart and soul, and keep his commandments and statutes. In the end, we are told that this is all for our good.
So what's with the "ONLY" at the beginning of the whole thing? It seems like God is asking a lot from us. If I asked anyone to do similar, and prefaced it with the word "only", you'd think I was off the wall.
Rashi, seeing the problem inherent in the pasuk, says, "Even though you did all this, His mercy and His affection are still upon you, and with all that you have sinned against Him, He demands nothing of you, except only to fear..." and "Our Rabbis derived from this verse that everything is in the hands of Heaven except the fear of Heaven." Basically, the people in the dessert have been so bad, yet God still loves them, and all God asks is that they fear him. Through this fear everything else will follow. He reads the first part of the verse as the main part, and everything else as secondary.
The simple reading though, and the reading that doesn't remove all free will from humanity, is that God is asking the world of us. Even when asking the world of us, it is implied that there is something more we could be giving, something that God is not demanding of us, but something we could be giving never the less. I wonder what it is that "כִּי אִם" excludes?
If I learned more, I probably would have the answer...
So basically God wants us to fear Him, do what He does, love Him, serve Him with all our heart and soul, and keep his commandments and statutes. In the end, we are told that this is all for our good.
So what's with the "ONLY" at the beginning of the whole thing? It seems like God is asking a lot from us. If I asked anyone to do similar, and prefaced it with the word "only", you'd think I was off the wall.
Rashi, seeing the problem inherent in the pasuk, says, "Even though you did all this, His mercy and His affection are still upon you, and with all that you have sinned against Him, He demands nothing of you, except only to fear..." and "Our Rabbis derived from this verse that everything is in the hands of Heaven except the fear of Heaven." Basically, the people in the dessert have been so bad, yet God still loves them, and all God asks is that they fear him. Through this fear everything else will follow. He reads the first part of the verse as the main part, and everything else as secondary.
The simple reading though, and the reading that doesn't remove all free will from humanity, is that God is asking the world of us. Even when asking the world of us, it is implied that there is something more we could be giving, something that God is not demanding of us, but something we could be giving never the less. I wonder what it is that "כִּי אִם" excludes?
If I learned more, I probably would have the answer...
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Structure or Chaos?
You have got to ask yourself one question. Are things really as straight forward as they seem? There are prophesies that tell what is to come in the future. They are cloudy formulas that once read can give up the secrets of the future. All you need is the proper perspective and you will be able to know all that will come. Nothing is unknown, all is told. Is this the way the world works?
Perhaps the world is not like that at all. Perhaps all has not been told, all has not been written by the prophets of the past. Every action we take can have meaning in the unknowable tomorrow. Even visions given to people of wisdom are only glimpses of a possible changing future. Even the word of God is subject to his people’s choices on this world.
There are two extremes that a person can choose from. There is the extreme of determinism on the one hand telling people to act in such a way to be on the good side of a certain tomorrow. There really is nothing a person can do to change the future; all a person can do is try to have the right intentions. There is complete freedom on the other hand telling a person that nothing really matters; anything is possible, and one way or another it’s all good. On the one hand there is complete Structure; on the other hand-Chaos.
While there is no real practical application to this question, even if either extreme is true, a person cannot live a sane life adhering to either of them. It is an interesting question to think about.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Being eaten inside from uncertainty: existential angst
When you know what is right, all is Good with the world. You know your place, you know who you are, and you know what you are supposed to do. When you don't know what is right, then you have a problem. What should you do, what should you not do? Every choice is trivial, every choice is humongous. Where to go shopping goes from a simple question of, one place is good and the other place is not, to one of Where Do I Go?
Frumkeit, Religious Judaism, gives structure, everything has a right and a wrong thing to do. Do one thing, you do right by God; do something else and you have sinned. People who live righteous lives know that they are doing the right thing, they never have a question of what to do. If such a question ever comes up it is in the realm of, what does God want me to do. Personal responsibility is shifted onto God. But then, isn't God the thing that makes it matter in the first place?
The thing is, even with the conception of God in a person's mind, one still has the big question in his mind, What do I do? Saying that it is the will of God doesn't answer the question. Because, Why should I listen to God? Koheles answers that very question at the end, "The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God, and keep his commandments; for that is the whole duty of everyone." But then, since when has purpose and duty meant anything? Even a slave has the free will to do what he wants, irrespective of the wishes of the master.
A child knows what he has to do; he has to balance the pursuit of short term fun vs. the long term wisdom of the will of his parents. The parent has the power of punishment to make the long term wisdom felt in the short term. So playing with matches is punished with a smack, because even though the child didn't burn the house down now, the wisdom of the parent says that such behavior is conducive to an eventual outcome that is undesirable. The problem is playing with matches is fun, and that fun can be considered of more value than the standing house. It is only because the child can not make real value judgments on his own that the parent has to step in and restrict the child's action.
But we are not children. The power to judge between the value of the fun from playing with matches can be weighed against the perceived value of the house. In fact, without automatic reward and punishment by the hand of God, that this is exactly what God wants of us. "I call heaven and earth to witness against you today:I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. So that you and your children shall live, Choose Life."(Deuteronomy 30:19) Even though the heavens and earth are witnesses, the choice is ultimately left up to us. God has told us his will; do what he wants and get life, do otherwise and get death. But the choice of proverbial death is never taken away. One can always choose not to listen to the will of God.
Responsibility can not be shifted onto God. God leaves the choice up to us. We could listen to God, we could not listen to God. Many people think that just by saying that they are listening to God takes away all responsibility from the consequences of their actions. This is not the case. The choice is still there, it never goes away.
This is not my own thinking, but I am thinking of these ideas.
Frumkeit, Religious Judaism, gives structure, everything has a right and a wrong thing to do. Do one thing, you do right by God; do something else and you have sinned. People who live righteous lives know that they are doing the right thing, they never have a question of what to do. If such a question ever comes up it is in the realm of, what does God want me to do. Personal responsibility is shifted onto God. But then, isn't God the thing that makes it matter in the first place?
The thing is, even with the conception of God in a person's mind, one still has the big question in his mind, What do I do? Saying that it is the will of God doesn't answer the question. Because, Why should I listen to God? Koheles answers that very question at the end, "The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God, and keep his commandments; for that is the whole duty of everyone." But then, since when has purpose and duty meant anything? Even a slave has the free will to do what he wants, irrespective of the wishes of the master.
A child knows what he has to do; he has to balance the pursuit of short term fun vs. the long term wisdom of the will of his parents. The parent has the power of punishment to make the long term wisdom felt in the short term. So playing with matches is punished with a smack, because even though the child didn't burn the house down now, the wisdom of the parent says that such behavior is conducive to an eventual outcome that is undesirable. The problem is playing with matches is fun, and that fun can be considered of more value than the standing house. It is only because the child can not make real value judgments on his own that the parent has to step in and restrict the child's action.
But we are not children. The power to judge between the value of the fun from playing with matches can be weighed against the perceived value of the house. In fact, without automatic reward and punishment by the hand of God, that this is exactly what God wants of us. "I call heaven and earth to witness against you today:I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. So that you and your children shall live, Choose Life."(Deuteronomy 30:19) Even though the heavens and earth are witnesses, the choice is ultimately left up to us. God has told us his will; do what he wants and get life, do otherwise and get death. But the choice of proverbial death is never taken away. One can always choose not to listen to the will of God.
Responsibility can not be shifted onto God. God leaves the choice up to us. We could listen to God, we could not listen to God. Many people think that just by saying that they are listening to God takes away all responsibility from the consequences of their actions. This is not the case. The choice is still there, it never goes away.
This is not my own thinking, but I am thinking of these ideas.
Monday, August 3, 2009
The MeMe you love, Or 7 things you love
Before listing 7 things that I love, first I must define love. For what is more depressing than putting love in a little box of definition? What is love? Ok, the question seems a little too much for me at this time of night. I guess I'll just have to leave the question of love for another time. Perhaps when...
Anyway... I've been tagged in a meme by Moshe and Mak, they both want to know
Anyway... I've been tagged in a meme by Moshe and Mak, they both want to know
7 things I Love
- I love Biking. Sitting in the saddle for hours and hours, moving my feet, feeling the power of each rotation of the wheel moving me from one place to another. The feeling as my muscles exerts itself to push me up the hill. The exhilaration as I fly down the hill at speeds so fast that I am afraid my bike will tip over from the wind. The short stop as I miss hitting an old lady walking across the street. The swerving between cars as they honk their horns in frustration. The pain of the fall as my bike tips over, spilling me on to the pavement. A cracked tooth, and getting up and riding again.
- I love to read fiction. For most of us reality consists of a routine done so many times it becomes second nature. Eventually the monotony encompasses all aspects of life until everything is swallowed up by the boredom inherent in the routine. Fiction is an escape from that monotony, and I love my escape.
- I love to argue till I see both sides. There is nothing more gratifying than arguing a point out loud till a conclusion is reached. Worlds move as topics are discussed. Emotions flare. Reason gets sharpened. A more truer understanding of how things work is reached in both parties' minds. Even where one side wins an argument, there is usually a better understanding of the position after the argument is won.
- I love food. Some people eat to live. I live to eat. There are not many things in this world that can be said to be ends in of themselves. I think food and it's consumption is one of those things. From choosing what to eat, to purchasing the food, to preparing it, to consuming it, each step of the process gives its own little reward. The smell, the taste, even all the steps in the digestion process, I revel in it, and enjoy every moment.
- I love Hashem. Like a child who sometimes tells his parents No when they ask for something, I love Hashem. Like a captain of a ship that ignores his navigator and goes with his gut, I love Hashem. As the heart loves the brain, so I love Hashem. As the farmer loves the rain, though he has to run in doors to protect his Shabbos clothing, I love Hashem. As a child grown old loves the former smack of his father, I love Hashem.
- I love Shabbos. Because for one day a week there is no physical construction, only mental and psychological development. And because there is nothing like a Shabbos nap, even if you did sleep half the week away.
- I love me. If I were not myself, who would I be? I would not be able to say "I" and mean the same person writing these words. Without love of self who are you as a person? Are you even a person at all?
Sunday, August 2, 2009
What is left for Religion?
It used to be the saying "delve into it, and keep delving into it, because all is in it" meant something. The Torah contained everything, and it was unquestioned. If you had a question on any subject you looked into the Torah, or one of the commentaries, for an answer. As a document revealed by God, it was expected that all the answers be contained in it. While there were a few people that looked to the natural world for answers to life's questions, for the most part people relied on their religion for the last word on what to do, as well as the answers to all of life's little problems. It is true that today there are some people who still do this when it comes to all of their questions in life,but by and large this is no longer the case. In fact, people that live there lives by looking into the Torah, or any book for that matter, for the answers to their questions are look at some what silly by everyone else in the world.
I had a Rebbe in 10th Grade who would say,"the Torah is not a story book." The implication being that there was more to the Torah that a mere list of entertaining stories. The truth is though, that for many many years all the stories ever told to children were stories from the Torah. There was no such thing in a religious household of secular stories, everything that was told over to the children came from Torah sources.
Just as Torah was used as a source of stories, it was also used as a source of history,ethics,medicine,natural history, and any other type of source imaginable. In every use that can be imagined, Torah was used. As a tradition handed down from God himself, what reason could there be for not using the Torah to answer all of life's questions?
Along the way something changed. Medical advice started coming from people who study medicine. Stories started coming from people who made up stories. History started coming from Historians. Science started coming from scientists. Philosophy started coming from Philosophers. Specialization in disciplines took away from religion the crown of "Only source." While in the beginning the Torah was quoted as source for these various studies, in the end the study of the subject itself through pure observation, and not the Torah, became the source of Truth in every subject. It was then that apologetics was born to reconcile the Torah with the new Truth of Science. Ever since that day religion has been on the run. Instead of science having to adhere to religion, religion now has to adhere to science, and little by little religion has been chewed away at.
What void is Religion left to fill?
Philosophy stole God. Psychology stole Mussar. Law and Economics stole the Halachos of proper business practice. Science of all kinds took the cloak of God off the world and left the world naked for all to see. Where once people said "O'say Ma'say Bereshis" with awe of the the greatness of God through his creations, now all that is left is natural phenomena which God happened to create.
I understand the Hasidim who refuse to teach secular studies in their schools. You get a full Religion as it was for hundreds of years. The cost is students who don't hesitate when asked to smuggle drugs, in the form of deliver a package with out asking any questions. The cost is the going to a Rebbe when you have a medical question at the risk of not first going to someone who has studied medicine their whole life. The cost is not being part of the "real world."
I understand the Reform Jew who wants to embrace the compartments and live totally in the real world. Is anyone the same at work as they are at home?
What I can't understand is the Orthodox/Modern Orthodox/Conservative view which wants its cake and wants to eat it too. Once the academic disciplines are done chopping up everything what is left for the Real World Religious Jew?
I had a Rebbe in 10th Grade who would say,"the Torah is not a story book." The implication being that there was more to the Torah that a mere list of entertaining stories. The truth is though, that for many many years all the stories ever told to children were stories from the Torah. There was no such thing in a religious household of secular stories, everything that was told over to the children came from Torah sources.
Just as Torah was used as a source of stories, it was also used as a source of history,ethics,medicine,natural history, and any other type of source imaginable. In every use that can be imagined, Torah was used. As a tradition handed down from God himself, what reason could there be for not using the Torah to answer all of life's questions?
Along the way something changed. Medical advice started coming from people who study medicine. Stories started coming from people who made up stories. History started coming from Historians. Science started coming from scientists. Philosophy started coming from Philosophers. Specialization in disciplines took away from religion the crown of "Only source." While in the beginning the Torah was quoted as source for these various studies, in the end the study of the subject itself through pure observation, and not the Torah, became the source of Truth in every subject. It was then that apologetics was born to reconcile the Torah with the new Truth of Science. Ever since that day religion has been on the run. Instead of science having to adhere to religion, religion now has to adhere to science, and little by little religion has been chewed away at.
What void is Religion left to fill?
Philosophy stole God. Psychology stole Mussar. Law and Economics stole the Halachos of proper business practice. Science of all kinds took the cloak of God off the world and left the world naked for all to see. Where once people said "O'say Ma'say Bereshis" with awe of the the greatness of God through his creations, now all that is left is natural phenomena which God happened to create.
I understand the Hasidim who refuse to teach secular studies in their schools. You get a full Religion as it was for hundreds of years. The cost is students who don't hesitate when asked to smuggle drugs, in the form of deliver a package with out asking any questions. The cost is the going to a Rebbe when you have a medical question at the risk of not first going to someone who has studied medicine their whole life. The cost is not being part of the "real world."
I understand the Reform Jew who wants to embrace the compartments and live totally in the real world. Is anyone the same at work as they are at home?
What I can't understand is the Orthodox/Modern Orthodox/Conservative view which wants its cake and wants to eat it too. Once the academic disciplines are done chopping up everything what is left for the Real World Religious Jew?
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