First in thought: seeing things from the spiritual perspective

In this week’s parsha, Chayei Soroh, we find Eliezer giving two different accounts of his meeting with Rivka. One detail from the two accounts concerns the order of asking Rivka’s name and giving her jewelry.

The way Torah describes it (Bereishis 24):

22. Now it came about, when the camels had finished drinking, [that] the man took a golden nose ring, weighing half [a shekel], and two bracelets for her hands, weighing ten gold [shekels].		כב. וַיְהִי כַּאֲשֶׁר כִּלּוּ הַגְּמַלִּים לִשְׁתּוֹת וַיִּקַּח הָאִישׁ נֶזֶם זָהָב בֶּקַע מִשְׁקָלוֹ וּשְׁנֵי צְמִידִים עַל יָדֶיהָ עֲשָׂרָה זָהָב מִשְׁקָלָם:
23. And he said, "Whose daughter are you? Please tell me. Is there place for us for lodging in your father's house?"		כג. וַיֹּאמֶר בַּת מִי אַתְּ הַגִּידִי נָא לִי הֲיֵשׁ בֵּית אָבִיךְ מָקוֹם לָנוּ לָלִין:

vs. the way Eliezer described it:

47. And I asked her, and I said, 'Whose daughter are you?' And she replied, 'The daughter of Bethuel the son of Nahor, whom Milcah bore to him.' And I placed the nose ring on her nose and the bracelets on her hands.

מז. וָאֶשְׁאַל אֹתָהּ וָאֹמַר בַּת מִי אַתְּ וַתֹּאמֶר בַּת בְּתוּאֵל בֶּן נָחוֹר אֲשֶׁר יָלְדָה לּוֹ מִלְכָּה וָאָשִׂם הַנֶּזֶם עַל אַפָּהּ וְהַצְּמִידִים עַל יָדֶיהָ:

So, we see that in the former description (that of Torah), first “the man” gave Rivka the jewels and only then did he ask her about her family. In Eliezer’s description, he first asked her about the family and then gave her the jewels.

Some commentators (such as Abarbenel) say that when making all the changes to his story, Eliezer made a diplomatic calculation: he tweaked the story in such a way that it would not seem strange or offensive to the parents of Rivka. So, while in reality he relied completely on Hashgacha Protis to guide him to the right person and thus “blindly” gave the jewelry to Rivka, when he was telling the story to the parents, he de-emphasized such a weird (to them) behavior.

Which is a lesson to us all: when talking to others, whose level of observance, or chassidishkeit, or emunas Hashem, or views in general differ from ours, we should not focus so much on the differences and not to draw attention to those things that our audience may find offensive or strange or that it would laugh at. This way we will be successful in our task to influence our audience.

* * *

Other commentators (I think it may have been Rabbeinu Behaye) say that “the man” described by Torah is actually M., the head angel. Eliezer was accompanied by Mr. M. on the first part of the journey. M. was the angel who shortened the length of the journey to one day; he gave Rivka jewelry; he changed the plates around so that Eliezer does not get poisoned. (It says that he even accompanied them on the beginning of their journey back, and only once they were on their way did he depart.)

So, in the first case, the angel already knew who Rivka was, and so he “gave” her jewelry: he designated in his mind (so to speak) that the jewelry should go to Rivka, even before she told Eliezer about her family. From Eliezer’s perspective, however, things were different: first he asked Rivka about her family and then gave her the jewelry.

This is an example of how sequence of events from the physical perspective can be different from the sequence of events from the spiritual perspective. Oftentimes we find discrepancies between our observations of the physical world and, lehavdil, that which is written in Torah. We must remember, however, that Torah contains in itself multiple levels of reality, including a multitude of spiritual levels and the physical level. Things may be true from a physical perspective one way, and may be at the same time true in a completely different way from the spiritual perspective.

* * *

In the song Lecha Doidi from Kabbalas Shabbos we say about Shabbos: “Soif b’ma’aseh, b’machshavah tchillo” — “Last in deed, first in thought”. Meaning, that Hashem created Shabbos last (of all days of creation), but in His mind if came first. The same can be said about our world (it came after the spiritual worlds, but the purpose of the creation is the physical world, into which a Jewish soul can come to do the mitzvos with the physical matter of it), and the same can be said about the Days of Moshiach. Though they will the last, seventh, era of the Creation, they, indeed, are the reason and the purpose for the existence of all the reality.

It says that tzaddikim already live in the Days of Moshiach. The unity between G-d and this world which will be manifest to us all during the time of geulah is already revealed to the tzaddikim: they already live on the level of ein od milvado — “there is nothing but Him” — and perceive the world this way. Just like the angel from the story above saw things from the spiritual perspective, just like from his point of view, the jewelry was already given, tzaddikim too see the world from the spiritual perspective first and see the jewel of creation, the Days of Moshiach, already given to the world and to Jews.

This is why we must cleave to the tzaddikim and follow their paths. I have heard it said about the Rebbe that oftentimes he demanded things of his chassidim which intially seemed impossible. At the first glance one might think that the Rebbe was an idealist, living in a fantasy world. It is true that the Rebbe was an idealist, but he was also a realist. He was simply walking ten steps ahead of us and telling us of how to follow him.

Oftentimes the instructions of the Rebbeim, the leaders of our generations, may seem strange and “backward”. Surely, we say, we can see with our eyes that things are the other way around, not the way the Rebbe says. But we must remember that the Rebbe already sees the true reality; he does not need the test of time to reveal its truth. And it simply makes sense to follow him.

More on the topic: “First in Thought”

Money

A simple idea that many people don’t fully comprehend.

Money represents willingness of other people to provide you with necessary things, while you provide them with some kind of service or product that they value. Let’s say you paint. Professionally. You create beautiful works of art. But you’re poor, because people do not appreciate your art. “Ugh,” exclaim some people, “to measure art in dollars and cents!” Well, it’s not really the art per se that is being measured. What is being measured is willingness of other people to grow your food, obtain and transfer electricity to your home, provide you with housing, make clothes for you, assemble together cars, computers, and iPods (not to mention make easels, brushes, paper and paints) for you — all in exchange of your creating your paintings. And people may just be unwilling to do that.

See, I may value my neighbor’s paintings. I may value them very much. But I may still be unwilling to cook for him, do his laundry, cut his grass, and educate his kids so that he can be free to paint and maybe give me one of his paintings. Sorry. There are things that I can do during the day that I value more.

This is what society is all about, in the end. The ultimate value of society is division of labor. I grow food. You chop wood. He makes tools. She makes clothes. Then we exchange them. Instead of each of us growing his own food, chopping his own wood, making his own clothes, etc. That way each person can focus on doing whatever he wants to do or can do best. Or what is more demanded or valued at the time. Or what is less supplied at the time. All of which is measured (in a market society) in money.

Money is merely a medium for exchange of the services that different members of society provide for each other. There is nothing inherently dirty, ugly, or nasty about it; no more than there is anything inherently nasty about one person doing a favor to someone in exchange for another favor.

(And just like services can be done for free, just like products can be given as gifts, money can be given as a gift too. There is nothing “not nice” about that. You’re merely giving a choice to your friend which of the products or services of the society to select from for himself.)

Paristocrats

Another wonderful piece from Gonzales. Despite somewhat noisy recording, it is a very nice clip; very strong performance.

A blitz duel on pianos; singalong

I love duels! And I love piano music. So, here goes:



More by one of the two pianists (Gonzales) — a singalong:



Besides the fact that I really like this music, I like the above because in the age when the music listened to by the majority (Jews and non-Jews alike) is not only bad music but in many cases not music at all (in that it fails to stand on its own feet and convey emotions successfully), this guy is doing propaganda of good music in general and piano music in particular.

[via Ilya Birman’s blog]

Damn, this is fine (another piece that I liked from the same album here):

(click ↑ on 720p for higher quality)

The impossible Danish

[via my chavrussa, TRP]

I feel like the same thing will happen at some point to the Western Ukrainians.



From the comments to another clip:

Halvtreds is not exactly “half sixty”. [...] 

Halvtreds comes from halvtredsindstyve where –indstyve means multiplies of 20 (or snese in Old Danish). The halvtreds, meaning 2½, comes from Old Danish that defines the basic number (3) minus a half, hence 2½ . The only word still in the Danish vocabulary of those is halvanden meaning 2 minus one half, hence 1½. The rest is only used for numbers.

Were it any other country (like France), I would say something like: “No wonder they offered no resistance to the Nazis”¹ or “no wonder they now have socialism”, but I actually like the Scandinavian people (not their political system, but the people and their history), so I won’t say that.

Another clip (with some profane language).

If you think this is a joke, here is an incident that happened on Danish TV, whose explanation was in the comments (I am correcting the English grammar):

The host in the studio attempted to ask when [the reporter] had last been travelling, but failed in grammar, and thus said 'rejsning' rather than 'rejste sidst'. [...] The reporter answered: "This morning, I think".

The first video reminds me of when I had just come to the US. I boarded a bus and asked: “Excuse me, does this bus go to LSU?” The bus driver, possibly baffled by my accent, responded in her Southern jargon: “Who?” I, somewhat confused, responded: “The bus? You? I?”

__________
¹ My professor of Latin once said that the reason why the Greeks lost to the Romans was the fact that Greek  language has a complex system of articles, while Latin (as all civilized languages such as Russian) has no articles. So, while the Romans were issuing quick laconic commands on the battlefield (such as “de oppresso liber”, which means “command the front line to retreat laterally, bring out the reserves, and flank the jerks with our Numibian auxilaries”), the Greeks were thinking about which articles to use. As a result, the Romans ended up ruling over the Mediterranean, while the Greeks ended up serving as grammar tutors to the Romans’ kids.

Coachman, don’t hurry the horses

Awesome song and awesome performance. One of the few on YouTube. This guy gets this song.



Having high standards pays off when you find something nice.

More by the same singer — a song about cavalry. Despite poor video and the audience clapping, the performance is very strong:

Doing your best

[A re-post.]

This Shabbos I heard an interesting dvar Torah from my rabbi.

In parshas Veyeira, Avraham did four things (amongst many others): he showed hospitality to strangers, he argued with G-d regarding destruction of the two cities, he kicked out his concubine and Sara's servant Hagar and her son Yishmoel, and finally, he participated in akeidas Yitzchok — an almost-sacrifice of his son.

This sequence of events is interesting in that it tests the main trait of Avraham's character — his kindness. Now, the first act, showing hospitality to guests, was not really much of a test. It was a natural thing for Avraham, who was a man of kindness (to the point that it says in one Midrash that during Avraham's lifetime Hashem's attribute of Chesed, kindness, complained that it's been replaced by Avraham). The second act was more difficult, since it involved arguing with G-d, but it was also quite a natural thing to do: Avraham had to argue in favor of people who were going to be destroyed, trying to find even one righteous person in their midst.

With the third act, however, we are already finding Avraham doing that which is not natural to him. And I am not only talking about arguing with his wife (it's not clear what took more guts: arguing with her or with G-d). Avraham had to send to possible death his son and the concubine who gave him birth. And sure, Sara's reasons were perfectly valid: she was looking at the bigger picture of transmitting her's and Avraham's message and purpose in life and creating a Jewish nation. When it became obvious that Hagar and her sone were not the right medium for it (and in fact would be counterproductive to this effort), Sara had to "let them go". Nevertheless, it took pursuasion from G-d for Avraham to do that which was completely against his essence: to apply gevurah, strictness.

The fourth act, however, was a paradigm shift in difficulty, and it was the one that made Avraham into a Jew. Avraham had to go against his character completely, against everything that felt right to him, for no obvious reason except G-d's word. One lesson in that was that G-d's word was enough. A Jew cannot determine himself what his service to G-d is going to look like; he has to listen to what G-d demands. The other lesson was that a Jew may have to go completely against his nature and change his nature in order to serve G-d. The third lesson, which was the essence of my rabbi's dvar Torah, is that sometimes you have to do something that feels wrong. If you know objectively, rationally, that it is right, but subjectively, intuitively, it feels wrong — well, you have to go with the truth. Truth is not sentimental. Especially when we are talking about eternal truth, about connection to Hashem. (And presumably, in a Jew's life, everything is, one way or another, about connection to Hashem.)

For myself, there is another lesson yet. Sometimes when dealing with those who are dear to us, with our friends, with our relatives, with our parents, with our loved ones, with G-d Himself, we tend to do what feels right to us. What we are accustomed to, in a way that makes sense to us. Sometimes, however, it is not the right thing to do. Sometimes (or maybe always), the right thing to do is to find out what makes sense to and what is right for the other person — and do it that way, even if makes no sense to you, even if it "feels" wrong, even if you would not want this done this way to you. Because, if you're doing something for the other person, you have to do it for that person, not for you.

So, don't say "this is the best I can do". Because what you're really saying is: "This is what I do; this is my modus operandi, and here is my best effort at it". You have to stop doing what "you do" and start doing what the other person needs. If you truly love and care about the person.

Of course, as our Sages say, the biggest distance is between a person's mind and heart, and sometimes one's neck is quite narrow. Sometimes it takes time between knowing what is right and starting to do it. But even knowing what is right is already a good start.

I think.

Coincidence or Hewlett Packard?

As Einstein once said, "Do not worry about your difficulties in Mathematics. I can assure you mine are still greater."

He also said: "Randomness is G-d's way of staying anonymous*." On that note, I present you with the following article from Cracket.com: "The Five Most Mind-Blowing Coincidences that Cracked.com Could Find in a Day of Doing Research".

____________
* He got that from Tosfos on Bava Metzia. Everyone knows that Einstein was a fan of Tosfos when he wasn't busy patenting designs for refrigerators. More on Einstein:

Chopin

... I don’t like. But Beethoven I do.

Yanukovitch and a wreath

A tale in the style of Nikolai Gogol. It is actually made as a silent video, so those without sound can still get as much out of it as anyone else.

(For those of you who think this is just slap-stick humor, you have to have lived in Ukraine in order to get the insipidness of all the state "occasions".)

If there is a state better suited for libertarian anarchy than Russia, it's Ukraine. While in Russia there is a strange combination of authoritarian rule and chaos, in Ukraine there is chaos on all levels. Market anarchy really could not produce any more chaos, crime, despair or hardship than there already is.

Journey

A repost, from Kehos Chumash on parshas Lech Lecha:

* * *

Go from your land and from your birthplace: go away from your father’s house, to the land that I will show you:

Metaphorically, this command is given to every soul about to be born, which must then descend from its source in the heavenly spheres through progressively lower gradations, gaining more definition, self-awareness, and distance from G-d at each step, until it reaches the physical plane. Its next step is to begin the process of ascent, traveling back in the opposite direction to transcend the shortsighted perspective of the body. Finally, it must then transcend even its own holy inclinations. This verse thus can be explained as follows:

Go: Descend from the highest levels—

From your land: The word for “land” (eretz) is related to the word for “will” or “desire” (ratzon). “Land” therefore alludes to G-d’s will, which is identified with the sefirah ofketer. The soul is thus told to take leave of its lofty roots(keter) and descend to the next level, chochmah.

From your birthplace: Divine insight (chochmah) is called “father”, since chochmah “fathers” and gives birth to ideas. The soul must leave this level as well and descend even further, into the realm of understanding (binah).

Your father’s house: Binah is the womb where the seed ofchochmah is developed and expanded, which is why it is called “your father’s house”. The soul must descend even further—

To the land, i.e., to the physical world: This is the ultimate, most difficult descent, yet through it the soul arrives in this world, which is the “land”—

That I will show you: The non-descriptive “I” refers to G-d’s essence, which is likewise beyond description. G-d promises the soul that in the merit of descending into this world and fulfilling the commandments, it will be shown the “I” of G-d, enabling it to cleave to G-d’s essence [through Torah and mitzvos].

Once the soul enters this world and becomes garbled in a human body, it is commanded and given strength to—

Go: this time in the opposite direction, from the lowest sphere to the highest—

From your land: “Land”, as we have explained above, alludes to will and desire. Firstly, the soul must transcend the animalistic desires of the body. It is then told to go—

From your birthplace: i.e., to transcend the assumptions and limited perspective of the intellect and emotions of the ego. It must then go—

From your father’s house: i.e., to transcend those behavioral habits that it acquired and became accustomed to due to a faulty education and less-than-perfect environment. It must go beyond all of these limitations—

To the land that I will show you: to a holy place, such as a synagogue of place of Torah study, where desires of the Divine soul dominate and prevail.

Only after we have successfully transcended the limitations of the body’s animating soul can we then proceed to the next task, that of transcending even the inclinations of the Divine soul, its own ratzon (land), chochmah (birthplace), and binah (father’s house), and reach a level that is beyond reason, “the land that I will show you”, a place where the soul does not merely comprehend Divinity [as was before the birth, in the Upper Worlds] but actually sees it.

[Based on Likutei Sichot, vol. 1, pp. 15–18.]

I am not crazy

I had the bits and pieces and this song stuck in my head since I had pizza with my fiancée in technically the only kosher restaurant (if one keeps Lubavitch shechita) in town about a month ago, but could not remember what the song was. Today my faith in my weird memory was vindicated. (I still have no idea why I know this song. And I don’t particularly like the lyrics.)

Parshas Noach — the role of the rainbow

[a re-post]

In this audio-shiur, Rabbi Paltiel discusses the role of the rainbow as a guarantee that the world would never be destroyed. Why a rainbow? What does it mean that the rainbow is a guarantee by G-d — isn’t it just a physical phenomenon?

That’s the whole point. It is a regular physical phenomenon, which was created de novo in the crucible of the Flood that changed the physical and spiritual laws of the Universe (Rashi comments that during the Flood, sun was suspended in the sky and time did not move). Nowadays it is a regular occurrence, in which we can see a direct promise of G-d. This is representative of hashgachah protis, Divine Providence.

Miracles can be of two types, says Rabbi Paltiel. One type is a direct violation of nature — e.g., the splitting of Yam Suf, the suspension of the sun, manna descending from the sky. The other type is a miracle occurring “through” the nature, without breaking its order. An example of the second type is the miracle of Purim. No natural laws were broken: right people were in the right place in the right time, making right decisions. This is the type of G-d’s involvement that is mentioned in the commentary of Bava Metzia (the volume of Talmud starting with discussion of laws regarding lost and found objects — which, both the loss and the discovery of the object, are seemingly random): G-d involves himself in the world, but in such a way that His involvement can be attributed (if one wants to) to random occurrences. Lehavdil, Einstein said a similar thing: “Randomness is G-d’s way of staying anonymous”.

This is what we call Divine Providence — when we attribute a natural occurrence to G-d’s involvement. Of course, a student of the second book of Tanya will tell you that all reality happens through G-d’s direct and willful creation of the world; G-d is constantly involved with every aspect of creation which He constantly brings out of nothingness into existence. Here, however, we are talking about a situation when Divine Providence can be readily observed — a ray of light penetrates through a veil that conceals the Creator from this world. Yet, this light could be interpreted as another shade of darkness, if one wanted to — it is clothed in the darkness.

This type of miracle is of an even higher order than an open miracle. It takes no effort to just circumvent the laws of Nature — indeed, they are nothing but a shell covering up the truth anyway. A miracle of such kind is no display of G-d’s Oneness with the world, the absoluteness of His existence. Chassidus (hemshech Samech-Vov, for example) teaches us that revelation of light does not come from the deepest and most essential aspects of G-d. Light and revelation of the truth of G-d’s existence is a natural state of affairs. C’est normal, as French say.

The concealment of the light and creation of the darkness is what takes a more essential “effort” (so to speak). It goes against the essential desire of the existence to reveal G-d in it. That is why it takes G-d’s Essence, not just his Light, to create the material world, and that is why the material world seems to have independent existence — only a world created with G-d’s Essence that itself has no source can have such a property (the upper worlds, created with the Light, reveal their dependence upon their source, because Light, being Ein Sof — Without End — is, nevertheless, not without a Beginning).

The revelation of of the light together with darkness, then, is a revelation of even a higher caliber. Before the flood, such a revelation could not happen. Such a revelation would destroy the world. After the flood, a possibility of revealing the light bound in the darkness was created. This is what teshuvah is all about — ability to turn one’s sin into a virtue through repentance. This also, says Rabbi Paltiel, is a lesson to our everyday life. We must see rainbow in everything that happens to us: we must see that every occurrence in our lives is an act of G-d, despite having ability to be described through laws of physics, biology, economics, etc. All our success and livelihood comes from G-d. It does not mean we can sit around and wait for success to happen. We must build our own Arc, despite the fact that it is up to G-d to deliver us. What we must realize is that our (required) efforts are nothing but a vessel filled with G-d’s blessing.

Living in such a way, we will complete the work of the Flood. Not only the rainbow, but every single aspect of physical reality will be a revelation of G-d inside the material world, Light revealed in darkness. This is what the Messianic Era is all about, and our efforts in living our life with recognition of G-d’s Oneness with the world (which we openly reveal by performing mitzvos in this world with this kavanah) draw it closer. May it come speedily in our days.

(I recommend listening to Rabbi Paltiel’s shiur for more details and much better presentation.)

Liberal humor

In the style of Lavrentiy Beria:



This is also (almost as) funny (gotta say again: kick-ass music despite the disturbing contents):



Which was reminiscent of this:



[videos via arbat]

P.S. After reading this (about Beria):

In 1924, he led the repression of a Georgian nationalist uprising, after which up to 10,000 people were executed. For this display of "Bolshevik ruthlessness", Beria was appointed head of the "secret-political division" of the Transcaucasian OGPU and was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.

 ... I had two thoughts: (1) no wonder the myths of blood-sucking monsters (vampires, etc.) were the most prevalent in the Eastern Europe, (2) no wonder Russia considers itself the Third Rome. That's why I am not so worried about America. The worst kind of monster it can produce is in the style of Woodrow Wilson or FDR.



I will leave you with this thought:

Dancing

My fiancée told me today that she liked this video, because chassidim in it, sometimes old and with gray beards, did not care how silly they looked while dancing. They were just dancing.

And on Simchas Torah we just dance. Dance, dance, dance. Dance with Torah. Simchas Torah is not about intellectual appreciation of Torah. It is not about Torah changing our lives, improving us. It is not even about our union with higher spiritual realms through Torah. It is about being Torah’s feet and legs.

And that is why it is such a holy day. On Rosh HaShanah we establish our relationship with G-d; we are judged, we are measured. On Yom Kippur, we establish our unity with G-d, the essence of our souls uniting with His Essence. On Sukkos we take that high level of unity and rejoice in it; allow it to flow around ourselves; encompass us; we live in this holiness and make it our dwelling.

But on Simchas Torah we make ourselves into a dwelling. A dwelling for G-d. We become Hashem’s feet. This day gives us strength to declare in our behavior and realize in our minds, throughout the rest of the year, that Hashem is literally everywhere. In every, even the most mundane, aspect of our lives, in our minutest everyday activities. Everything about us — every atom, every hair, every sigh, every thought, every smile and every tear — becomes an expression of His Will and His Glory.

News Headlines

...from 2035 (if the liberals have their way):

"Ozone from electric cars kills millions in world's seventh largest country, California"
"Minorities trying to get English recognized as nation's third language"
"Spotted owl plague threatens Northwest"
"Baby conceived naturally; scientists stumped"
"Iran still closed; physicists estimate ten more years before radioactivity decreases to safe levels"
"Castro finally dies at age 112; Cuban cigars could be imported legally but President Chelsea Clinton has banned all smoking"
"George Z. Bush announces run for President in 2036"
"US Postal Service raises first class stamps to $18 and reduces mail delivery to Wednesdays only"
"New study: diet and exercise key to weight loss"
"Last conservative moves from Massachusetts"
"US Supreme Court rules punishing criminals violates their civil rights"
"Average NBA player over nine feet tall"
"Federal law requires registration of all nail clippers, screwdrivers, fly swatters, and rolled up newspapers"
"Congress authorizes direct deposit to campaign accounts of illegal contributions"
"Capitоl Hill intern indicted for refusing sex with congressman"
"IRS lowers tax rate to 70%"

[via ЗВЕРЬ]

G-d willing, our grandchildren will unearth this post and say: “Wow. This is what they feared the future would be like. Thank G-d the libertarians destroyed the government and set us free.”

P.S. While I was driving in the car, I had a thought that some Secret Service agent reading my blog may misconstrue the last sentence as a veiled threat to the President. Let me clarify: I am all for peaceful and victimless (not counting the bureaucrats’ paychecks) transfer to market anarchy.

Computer games make you more manly

Back in the day, while watching this video:



... I would have the same reaction as this commenter:

As I was watching this, not only did my hands become so sweaty that I couldn’t hold the mouse, but also did the steps of my feet.

Having recently played Assassin’s Creed II, however, where one has to do things like this (fully controlling the player’s actions):



... and like this (this wasn’t the hardest of the tombs, but it was the first one, so when I was playing it, my hands were sweating, and my language wasn’t the nicest):



... I barely had any reaction to the video above, even though it involves real people in real world. Especially considering the scenery was much duller than in the game. (Remember, there was no central planning or zoning laws in Venice or Florence.)

They leave no survivors

“No survivors, eh? Then where do the stories come from, I wonder.”

Who am I?

Where am I in this picture?



It’s hard to be between the worlds.

It is even harder to be in several worlds at the same time. Spread between them, like an electron sharing several orbitals. An electron can pull off being in two places at the same time, going through two slits simultaneously, down two parallel paths. But I am too big for that. And when the reality of my situation catches up with me, when I am forced to make choices... I start feeling like Bilbo. Too much butter spread over too little bread. A wire stretched too thin.

Ad Hashem Elokecho

During Yom Kippur davening, while waiting for the rabbi to finish with his dvar Torah, I was reading through Rav Soloveitchik's commentary on the “liturgy”. Rav Soloveitchik commented on the line “Shuva Yisroel ad Hashem Elokecho” that “al Hashem” and “ad Hashem” have different meanings: one refers to returning to the paths of Hashem, while the other refers to returning to Hashem Himself. Rav Soloveitchik concluded that while certain Orthodox Jewish communities of today seem to have no problem of returning and keeping to the paths of Hashem, they have, unfortunately, little concept of cleaving to Hashem Himself.

I showed this to my rabbi who was sitting next to me, saying Tehillim. He read it carefully, smiled and answered: “[In order to cleave to Hashem Himself, one must] learn a ma’amor Chassidus [Chabad]”.

Just sayin’...

More on the topic:

“Living in the times of Moshiach through the study of Chassidus”

Who needs to carry guns if we have police?

The last post was satire. This, however, is not funny (via arbat):

Connecticut invasion

The case of Erik Scott

I hope y'all feel safer next time you see a police "officer". More on the topic.

P.S. Comments from the blog:

— They say that people who go to work in police don't have a high IQ.

— They say that about any profession. [Except, somehow, science. — CA] But they don't say about any profession that only its members have the rights to carry weapons

Tough life as a protector of the state

More on the subject:



And:



Also:

Cops on video

Compare and contrast

I hope y’all had a nice Yom Kippur. Mine was all about love. And that, sometimes, is all you need... But more about that later.

For now, something completely different. Two songs. Ignore the visual content.

Exhibit Q:



Exhibit R (I am hiding a few past-nisht images, but music is completely instrumental):



And just as a bonus:



And a bonus-bonus:

Russia a century ago, in color

Some awesome stuff. Although for some reason it’s mostly Asian Russia that was photographed. Probably because it was more exotic to Europeans.

[via Mottel]

See more here (click on the links to see various photos).


(“Three Generations”)

Copyright Nazis

Down with lawyers

Talmud says: “If you have an inclination to kill, you should become a butcher. If you have an inclination to steal, you should become a lawyer. If you have an inclination to lie, you should become a journalist. If you have an inclination to do all three acts, you should become a politician.”

From Facebook:

Funny thing: in Japan, where everything else costs 2 to 4 times what it does in the US, healthcare costs much less and quality is higher.

It would be interesting to know how they do this, but two things come to mind: In the U.S. we have a system that subjects medical students to hazing and limits the number of medical students; in Japan, they limit the number of lawyers produced each year.

What Crown Heights used to look like

Through the eyes of a Brazilian journalist in 1976.

The gallery.

Cops on video

Of bugs and men

Incredibly entertaining clip (some strong language in the middle and at the end):



Every time I see a police car or a motorcycle drive by, I get the same feeling as when I see a bedbug or a cockroach or hear of a hotel or an apartment infested with the creatures (which is not as often now that I have left the South, but let me use this opportunity to advertise this web-site).
        It is a feeling of seeing a parasite not so far away from oneself. A feeling of danger. A feeling of harassment. A feeling of disgust and brezglivost’, the word that Google translates as fastidiousness, but I don’t think the translation is quite right. The best way to translate it is by giving examples: not eating somewhere because you’re not quite sure the standards of cleanliness are high enough is brezglivost’. Not giving your hand to another person because he disgusts you so much (not necessarily physically) is also a case of brezglivost’.
        Then comes a feeling of waste.
        Saying that policemen in the present state (no pun intended) play an important role in the society is not too different from saying that fleas occupy an important place in the food chain and have their own niche in the ecosystem.
        Give me a break. They are parasites. The whole state and all its institutions is a case of parasitism. Has always been; shall always be, until it is replaced with freedom or righteousness (and the second will require a greater change in the nature of things than a lion lying together with a lamb).
        Any beneficial service that they do provide is offset by the negative influence on the society they have (think, for instance, about the amount of crime and deaths and human lives destroyed and corrupted due to the war on drugs or criminalization of prostitution). Private organizations would do a better job of protection than the thugs in the blue uniforms. As a result, by creating a monopoly of police, the police in fact precludes the organizations and individuals that would benefit the society much more from doing so. Even their good, then, is also evil.
        For some more light entertainment, read this.
        (In this, by the way, I differ from the conservatives. They — for instance, arbat — see the police as someone who works for them; they see themselves as the police’s employers. When they see a police car, they feel safe. I think that is simply a case of conservative naiveté.)

This was also interesting, but not as much as the clip above (for the record, besides casual use of caffeine and alcohol, I have never personally used any drugs):

Overdose: Next Financial Crisis

(kol isha alert; otherwise, quite clean... good stuff)

Dira b’tachtoinim

Some Lubavitcher bochrim take an opportunity to put a tefillin on a man protesting against using chickens for Kappores:

A gutt yar to y’all!

On Rosh HaShanah, we make Hashem our king. How do we do that? By focusing on being his nation. After all, Rosh HaShanah is not the day when the world was created, but the day when the human being, the centerpiece of Hashem’s design, was created.

One simple kavanah to have is that when one has a privilege serving a king, taking out his garbage is as precious as being his first minister. Every single little bit of Torah and mitzvos is priceless to us.

On the first day of Rosh HaShanah, the Rebbeim Chabad did not speak — even words of Chassidus. They just concentrated on the idea of crowning the King and said Tehillim the whole day.

Remember, the way you spend the Head of the Year will reflect on how the Body of the Year will be spent.

Shana Tova U’Mesuka, ksiva v’chassima toiva! May we all meet the King of Kings this year, face-to-face, in this world, with the revelation of his Moshiach and coming of geulah.

Looking for a band to play at a wedding

I am looking for a traditional instrumental band (or just a group of musicians) to play at my wedding mid-January in Boston area, be"H. Must be able to play this kind of music:





Nothing electric!

Please contact me with any suggestions, advice, proposals (with price included), referals, etc. We are on a tight budget, so we are looking for someone who won’t charge too much (so, Musical School students rather than super-professional bands), but any suggestion is welcome.

2010

...was a good year for the governments.

In the US, the government prolonged a depression.

In Russia, the government through negligence allowed forest fires to rampage through the country, destroying houses, farms, and fields, killing tens and displacing thousands of people, raising daily mortality of Moscow from 6,000 to 10,000 cases a day (because of smoke), and causing billions of damage. Putin’s changes in Forestry Codex, reduction in firefighters forces, and other “reforms” are working well.

Production of grain in Russia dropped twice in this year. Putin is planning to ban grain export from Russia. As a result, grain prices are rising already, and food prices are projected to rise twice this year.

Now tell me: if those forests belonged to private individuals; if they were a private property, would their owners allow such things to happen?

But hey, President Medvedev proposed a change from “Militia” to “Police” as the name for Russia’s... umm...  police. It’s the first step in improving the effectiveness of police at catching businessmen.

Some pictures.

Some videos:





This is a great video (with appropriate “quotes” from Soviet movies):



Some people equate the word anarchy with chaos. I don’t know if it is possible to imagine a greater chaos that results from the government’s “order”.

Happy Birthday, Universe!

Tomorrow is the birthday of the Universe, the first day of Creation. Happy birthday and Merry Shabbos, y’all!

Tanks and roads

Some nice Russian war songs.

A great scene from a movie.

And an American version:

Cute. But still too Western. :)

Another nice song:

Where there is a will, there is a shall

The story of Reb Yekusiel Lepler from Kuntres Limmud Ha’Chassidus:

* * *

In the days of the Mitteler Rebbe, the knowledge of the students in the field of Chasidus was astonishing. The Rebbe had instructed all young men not burdened with earning a livelihood to study Chasidus at least three hours daily. In time, every chasidic community boasted a growing number of youthful scholars. Later many of these young scholars became mashpi’imand teachers in different communities. This had a marked effect on the local chasidim, since the study and knowledge of Chasidus promptly increased.
        In the town of Lepli, there lived a chasid of the Alter Rebbe, a salt merchant by trade, named Reb Yekusiel. He was renowned as an oived (his first audience with the Alter Rebbe is recorded elsewhere) but his grasp of Torah, in general, and of Chasidus in particular, was extremely limited.
        Once one of the young mashpi’im passed through Lepli and spent a week there, daily reviewing from memory a discourse of the Mitteler Rebbe. The discourses he discussed were extremely abstruse and profound. The young man was exceptionally gifted mentally and an eloquent speaker. Every word he uttered was sparkling and clear; his audience was very impressed. Reb Yekusiel, no great intellect, could not follow the discourses. He grieved bitterly and castigated himself for being so obtuse.
        The famed chasid, Rabbi Shmuel Dov of Borisov, told me that Reb Yekusiel had described the incident to him. “Just imagine,” Reb Yekusiel said. “I was then about forty years old. For fifteen years I had visited the Alter Rebbe, and all that time I studied Chasidus to the best of my abilities. Suddenly, something new! A stripling, a mere chick, comes repeating the Rebbe’s discourses intelligently and enthusiastically; I listen and don’t understand. I can feel that the topics are deep, wonderful topics, but I don’t grasp a thing.
        “Every day, when I heard the lad and couldn’t follow, I was deeply distressed. Every discourse struck me like a hammer. I berated myself and resolved to master those discourses. I asked the lad to repeat them for me over and over again. He even did his best to interpret them for me, but my head was like a lump of wood and my brain absorbed nothing. Three weeks I kept that young man at my home. My family cared for the store while I spent days and nights on end laboring to understand what the young man taught me. To my sorrow, it did no good. He finally left and I was like a foundering ship. I fasted and prayed, but to no avail. So, I went toLubavitch, to the Rebbe.
        “For nine months, I hadn’t been in Lubavitch. I found a new world there—about fifty or sixty young men devoting long hours every day to Chasidus, reviewing the discourses and explaining them to each other. I arrived in Lubavitch on a Wednesday. That Friday, before Kabbalat Shabbat the Rebbe delivered a discourse, and the next day before Mincha a bi’ur [elucidation] on the discourse. I grasped the discourse and could repeat parts from memory, but the bi’ur was beyond me. To my utter amazement, the young men understood the bi’ur too. I was very troubled that I couldn’t grasp the bi’ur; I prayed all night and fasted the next day.
        “On Monday I had an audience with the Rebbe. I told him all that had happened at home, the visit of the young man to Lepli, his reviews of the discourses that he had heard in Lubavitch, and that I understood the simpler ones but not those that discussed deeper subjects. I also mentioned that I had understood the discourse of Friday evening but not its bi’ur.
        “The Rebbe replied, ‘Nothing stands in the way of will.’ He explained that though will is only a soul-power—not soul-essence—still it can control the soul to reveal the powers and senses in their essence. Will can certainly affect powers inferior to it, such as intellect and emotion, since it is their superior. When one truly wills, even his faculties are magnified.
        “Having heard from the Rebbe that everything depends on my will, I decided to remain in Lubavitch until I would begin to understand. Through travelers by way of Lepli, I notified my family of my new plans and instructed them to operate the business in my absence. Four months I labored physically and spiritually to accustom myself to concentrate on one topic for hours without interruption, and to review a single subject scores of times. I am forever indebted to one young man, Efraim Smilianer, who reviewed the discourses with me many times in succession until I was able to comprehend them. Usually I would seclude myself in the basement of the Large Synagogue or in the attic. Finally, that Tishrei I felt like a new man. I had ‘scoured the pot’ and had become a receptacle for Chasidus. I then returned home.”
        Before leaving Lubavitch, Reb Yekusiel had a most fascinating audience with the Mitteler Rebbe, but this is not the occasion for discussing it. From the account of Reb Yekusiel, we can glimpse a typical old-time chasid. When he was told in an audience that all depended on his will, he didn’t budge until he corrected his deficiency, regardless of any difficulties.
        My grandfather, Rabbi Shmuel, told my father, Rabbi Sholom DovBer, that the Mitteler Rebbe had divided his chasidim into groups. Besides the general classifications of intellectuals and ovdim there were sub-categories. For each group he wrote special discourses and books. For one group ofovdim he wrote Shaar HaTeshuva VehaTefillah part I, for a second group, part II, and part III for a third. For one group of intellectuals, he wrote Shaar HaEmunah, for another Ateret Rosh, and for the highest group Imrei Bina. Shaar HaYichud and Shaarai Orah discuss general concepts and are intended for all chasidim. Shaar HaYichud is the key to Chasidus, and Shaarai Orah, the alphabet of Chasidus.
        Once my father asked my grandfather a question in Imrei Bina, “Shaar Kriat Shema,” chapters 54-56, on the subject of “bread, oil, and wine” of Torah, Secret Torah and Secrets of Secrets, revealed and hidden and their intermediary. My grandfather explained fully and then said:
        “Imrei Bina was written by the Mitteler Rebbe expressly for Reb Yekusiel Leplier. Reb Yekusiel was a clod. Though earlier he had an audience with the Alter Rebbe, and a rich one at that, still, ‘you cannot place a head on an other’s shoulders.’ He had a sensitive heart and prayed with warmth. When the Mitteler Rebbe returned from Little Russia and settled in Lubavitch, he devoted himself to teaching the young men Chasidus. Reb Yekusiel grew envious and longed to share their knowledge. He toiled strenuously until he was capable of understanding the most abstract subjects.
        “Once I couldn’t understand a number of passages in Imrei Bina, in “Shaar HaTefillin,” chapter 32 concerning direct and reflected illumination, and chapter 37 concerning the creation of concept from its source. I worked over the problems and then had an audience with my father (the Tzemach Tzedek), to whom I presented my difficulties. He referred me to Reb Yekusiel who was in Lubavitch at the time and spoke of him at length. Among other things my father remarked that Imrei Binawas composed for Reb Yekusiel. I was to ask him my questions, and then repeat his answers to my father who would elaborate.
“Reb Yekusiel habitually spent hours daily in prayer, so I requested YosefMordechai the attendant to notify me when Reb Yekusiel had concluded. Later, after I finally questioned Reb Yekusiel, he pondered for a while and said, ‘I am a storekeeper. It is customary that before a storekeeper delivers the merchandise he receives payment. I have the merchandise. Pay the price and I will give it to you.’
        “I asked him what payment he was demanding, and he answered that I review the discourse delivered that Shabbat. Whatever he didn’t understand I was to explain, and what I couldn’t, I was to ask my father. I agreed. He then solved my questions so clearly and systematically that I was amazed to hear such words from a man mediocre, if not actually simple, in his knowledge of Talmud. He was remarkably fluent in the profundities of Kabbalah and Chasidus, and he discussed them elaborately, with deep and broad explanations.
        “When I repeated Reb Yekusiel’s replies to my father, he commented, ‘Reb Yekusiel is a living example of the Rabbinic saying4 that what you seek diligently you will find. He labored much and found much.’
“That evening Reb Yekusiel came to demand the stipulated payment, and I, for my part, reviewed the discourse. He paid close attention throughout. It is unforgettable, observing an old chasid listening to a discourse—every organ of his body listened! He asked that I be kind enough to repeat the discourse again at dawn the next morning, and I complied. At that time he presented his questions, most of which I had to refer to my father. I spent a week of utter delight with those queries and replies.
        “From that time on, whenever Reb Yekusiel visited Lubavitch we spent many pleasant hours together. He distinctly remembered everything he had seen since his first visit to Liozna in the summer of 1786. He was fond of remarking, ‘Every week I have an audience in my mind with the Alter Rebbe, asking him whatever I wish.’ For he remembered every audience he had with the Alter Rebbe, the Mitteler Rebbe, and the Tzemach Tzedek. The Alter Rebbe had blessed him with longevity and he lived almost a century.”
        Rabbi Shmuel Dov of Borisov extravagantly lauded Reb Yekusiel’s abilities, declaring that he had never encountered so penetrating an intellect and so sharp and orderly a mind. Reb Yekusiel possessed the priceless trait of deep love for intellectual effort and no obstacle could deter him in his studies. When concentrating, Reb Yekusiel literally shut his eyes and ears and permitted nothing in the world to disturb him.
My father (Rabbi Sholom DovBer) said to me, “The narrative my father (Rabbi Shmuel) recounted to me about Reb Yekusiel’s extraordinary abilities and his attainment of greatness only through tremendous personal endeavor, how he converted himself from a clod to a powerful thinker—affected me deeply in my own development.”
        I have elaborated at such length here to demonstrate the fact that through genuine effort one can attain incredible intellectual heights. Everything depends solely on the person himself.

Nigleh and Nistar

From Frierdiker Rebbe’s Kuntres Limmud Ha’Chassidus:

* * *

An example from the laws of sacrifices: “When a man will bring of you an offering to G-d...” The text should preferably have read, “When a man of you will bring.” The interpretation is, “When a man will bring” (note: the Hebrew yakriv also implies “approach”)—i.e., when one desires to approach the service of G-d, “of you an offering to G-d”—the initial step must be “of you,” of yourselves, the idea of approach and sacrifice being the offering of one’s abilities and faculties to Him.    
          Parenthetically, Reb Alter Yechiel, a Liozna teacher, once told my great-uncle Rabbi Boruch Sholom that he had taught Talmud to the Mitteler Rebbe on a profound level when his pupil was a lad of ten. Reb Alter Yechiel once asked him the meaning of the quoted verse with the observation noted. the Mitteler Rebbe replied, “When a man brings of you—when one offers to G-d all he has, then he is an offering to G-d (Havayeh)—higher than the nature He has endowed in time and space. This person is not merely an offering to Elokim, symbolic of Nature.”
          In civil law we find, “Two grasping a talit,” a garment, [each one claims, “I found it,” each one claims, “It is all mine”]. Talit refers to encompassing light, the spark of good implanted within material objects. When two grasp a talit, i.e. both perform a mitzvah with a physical object, they release and clarify the spark of good imprisoned within that object. They redeem the spark from “exile” in matter, and elevate the matter itself from its intrinsic crassness, since the material object was an instrument for fulfilling the Divine plan of creation.
          Now, the souls of the two who performed the mitzvah, upon their ascent to the True World, seize the talit, the spark that had been in the physical object, the material having already been purified and the spark elevated through the performance of the mitzvah. “One says, I found it”; he insists that his efforts redeemed the spark. The other claims that it was through his endeavors that the material became purified, and that he transformed it into a vehicle for G-dliness. Each demands, “It is all mine.” The ensuing discussion concerns the manner of purification to determine the reward due each disputant.
          In the laws of Shabbat we find the principles of the private and public domain [in which carrying is permitted or prohibited]. According to the inner interpretation they correspond to the Four Worlds: the private domain—Atzilut; the public domain—Briya, Yetzira, Asiya.

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