Sisu

“Have you heard of Finnish sisu?” asks a character in “Mortlake” — and it turns out that sisu is a sort of stamina or staying-power which the Finns have had to develop as a result of living next door to the Russians.
— Nigel Dennis, New York Times Book Review

When my car’s engine was threatening to stop as I was driving in the darkness to NYC, I was thinking of this clip. Not because of all the driving prowess, but because of what they said about sisu — a Finish version of guts, spine and other organs symbolizing courage and determination.

Lesson over, we stopped for a cup of hot raindeer blood [not really] and talked about why the Fins are so suited for motorsports.
— Tell me a bit about sisu. What’s sisu?
— Sisu in English means “courage”. What to a Fin is courage. Let me give you an example. Climbing up this tree. And then jumping down from there. Now that doesn’t mean sisu. It’s not courage.
— That’s stupidity.
— Exactly. Now, sisu we can relate very much to in motorracing. For example, you are driving a rally car in a forest extremely very fast. And you need courage to break light, to go throttle very early or go very close to the apex of the corners...

Now, I didn’t need to do any of that. I just needed to keep driving. In a way, it took more sisu (if I have any — I was born just across the border from Finland) than driving through ice on I-84E that I did last winter.

A little more sisu:

Paved with good intentions

There is a Russian saying: “A fool without initiative is better than a fool with initiative.” At least the first fool doesn’t do anything — he is just being an idiot quietly. The second one wracks havoc with his well-intentioned idiocy.

But of course, the lovers of the current President seem to think that as long as he has good intentions (something I also find quite hard to believe), all will be good. Everyone will try really-really hard and believe in our success, and we will succeed. Against the cynicism and the laws of nature.

It’s a bit like saying, “Dude, you’re trying to go from Boston to New York, but you got on I-95 North, not South”, and hearing in response: “Well, yeah, we may disagree about the direction in which we are supposed to go, but at least I am driving fast. You can’t disagree that I am driving fast, right?” Yeah, you’re driving fast — in the wrong direction. At this pace, you will get closer to New York by breaking down. Which is my answer to all those hurting souls who ask Conservatives: “Whyyyy would you want our President to faaaaail?! Doesn’t our country have enough problems?” Yes — people like you and the president you elected.

In any event, as Mises Economic Blog comments, “There are still elected people [...] who make sense.”

PARIS — The European Union’s crisis of leadership during the economic downturn was thrown into sharp relief on Wednesday, as the current president of the 27-nation bloc labeled President Obama’s emergency stimulus package “a way to hell” that will “undermine the stability of the global financial market.”

The blunt comments by the Czech prime minister, Mirek Topolanek, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the union, came just a week before a crucial meeting of the Group of 20 that was called to show global solidarity in fighting the recession. The comments were greeted with embarrassment by many Europeans who believe that the Czech leader does not represent a European consensus. [source]

Of course not. The European consensus is to cure an allergic response through a blood transfusion: by drawing blood from the leg and injecting it into the arm. What? It’s the problem with blood, stupid. We will inject some fresh blood into the system, and “jump-start” the body…

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The classical model of a liberal from everyday life is that driver who lets someone waiting to make a turn go in front of him, while there are fifty cars standing in the traffic behind him. It’s the typical description of liberal thinking that Henry Hazlitt warns about in his book, Economics in One Lesson: any time you make a decision about success or appropriateness of some policy, you can’t just think about one specific group of people. You have to look at everyone affected, including those not immediately in front of your nose.

You may bail out a company, saving a thousand jobs. So, you helped out a thousand people in front of you. But you hurt tens and hundreds of thousands by the same move! But no, the liberal never looks in a rear-view mirror. Emotion—reflex—response. Thinking too hard is cruel and immoral.

The art of economics consists in looking not merely at the immediate but at the longer effects of any act or policy; it consists in tracing the consequences of that policy not merely for one group but for all groups.

So simple. And at the same time, so ungraspable for a liberal mind.

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Now that we are on the topic of Czechs, a cute commercial about Czech beer and Bedř ich Smetana, the famous composer who wrote a piece called “Má Vlast” (“My Fatherland”) while already deaf:

— I can’t compose for you a national song, gentlemen, because I can’t hear anything.
— But sir...
— I can’t hear, gentlemen!..
A servant brings in beer; Smetana looks at it.
— Pen!..

Sweet memories of motherland

TRS and LE7 (who love Minnesota and Wisconsin respectively) inspired me to share how I love my state. Meaning, my birthplace.

It’s mostly scenes like this that bring up the memories of my sweet, happy, innocent childhood:

Driving lessons

Now that we are on the subject…



I was thinking of this movie yesterday in the traffic court. Also: people have lamest excuses. Don’t you think the magistrate has heard “I normally never speed, but I had to pick up my daughter from day care” before? The only break from monotomy was an elderly gentleman who, after telling his story for five minutes and being found not responsible, told the magistrate that the window in the court room is open.

(And since you’re asking: “not responsible”.)

Getting out of a ticket through Gemara logic

Dixie Yid is my hero (anybody who uses anything to stomp a cop and get out of a ticket is). I agree with his logic and disagree with the commentators’ arguments (I think they misunderstood what DY was saying).

This reminds me why Gemara is so dangerous — because it is geshmake! You can so easily lose yourself in the intellectual pleasure of learning it that you forget that this is Eibeshter’s Will and Essence. When one chossid asked Tzemach Tzedek: “What should I do that I don’t enjoy learning Torah?”, the Rebbe answered: “And what should I do that I do enjoy learning it?”

The post was also referenced on Volokh Conspiracy blog.

Chanukah ma’amor: Mem-gimmel — Tannu Rabbanan — Ner Chanukah; driving through snow

(the proper shape of Menorah — with straight branches)

I am happy to say I drove safely through beginning of snow storm to spend Shabbos by my rabbi; then was able to dig out my car, as well as his and his son’s (with whom I had some interesting conversations). Apparently, I left one of the windows in the car a little open over Shabbos (during the snow storm). No permanent damage. Then, today I drove to NYC (in the morning) and (tonight) back. Yes, I am crazy. But maybe one of my relatives lit a menorah tonight as a result of my trip (no, that wasn’t the whole point of the trip — I wish…).

Meanwhile: a good ma’amor to learn during the Chanukah. The topic is one of my favorites: “Ani Hashem Loi Shanisi” (I, G-d, have not changed) — what does it mean, on multiple levels, from G-d being the Master of the Universe, causing every minute change every single second (then how does He not change?) to G-d as He is in His Essence. As usual, Rabbi Paltiel’s shiurim are full with chassidishe stories, great mosholim and nice ellucidation of deepest topics in Chassidus. The ma’amor doesn’t mention the explanations provided by Tzemach Tzedek or Mittler Rebbe (in Chapter 9 of Sha’ar HaYichud), but provides new and (in the style of Rebbe Rashab) well-structured explanations that touch more of seider hishtalshelus.

I was listening to this ma’amor tonight while driving from NYC. I-95 was fine; I-91 was OK (averaging 65 mph); I-84, however, was frozen for the most part. I could not drive above 35 mph, because my ten-year-old Nissan with its all-season tires immediately turned into a boat (something I discovered on Friday while driving through the beginning of the snow storm to my rabbi), but I could not drive slower than 30 mph, because I needed momentum to go through the snow. All the while big eighteen-wheelers were driving by (or I was driving by them, when I wanted to go faster). The separation between lanes completely deteriorated — cars and trucks were going where there was some break from ice (which would sometimes end abruptly, forcing cars to drive/float to a different “lane”).

I-90 was a little better; it started raining and got quite foggy. Unfortunately, on that portion of the highway, there seems to be some white dust in the air, which makes my windows dirty and difficult to see through. At this point, however, I ran out of window washing liquid, so I had to rely on moisture from passing cars to clean my front window.

My town was a total amechaya: completely frozen and white (in comparison to boring-grey Brooklyn); being able to drive below 30 mph without danger of being run over was nice (in fact, there were so few cars on the street late at night that it reminded me of Dickensian times with cabs plowing through the snow).

While driving on the icy interstate, a few thoughts ran through my mind:

1. Wow, this is really dangerous. Hey, look at another car by the side of the road!
2. It would suck to be an atheist right now.
3. At the same time, I feel nothing. I almost just slid into that truck while changing lanes, but I feel no emotions. This, I guess, is what adrenaline does to you.
4. [A bunch of neuroendocrinological pathways allowing for point 3.]
5. Were these roads privately owned, they would be in a much better condition.
6. Something I read in a sicho of the Rebbe. The lights of Chanukah menorah are actually a lot like Chassidus (and, lehavdil, String Theory). Here’s how:

Greeks introduced the idea of “secular Judaism”; Hellenist Jews tried to create what pretty much modern-day Israel and many “Jewish” communities throughout US are; fanatical “Orthodox” Jews battled against them (and the forces of assimilation) and created a new reality in Torah; as a result, Chanukah Menorah was lit. Today, we have nothing remaining from the Temple. Sure, certain things are done instead of services and rituals of the Temple (e.g., davening, washing for bread, etc.), but the services themselves do not exist. With the exception of lighting of Menorah. That, at least in its appearance, exists — as instituted by the Rabbonim.

Here we have the classical Chassidic idea of descent for the sake of ascent. We have Greeks defiling Jewish land, Jewish culture, religion and finally, Beis HaMikdosh, which lead, however, to creation of a new level of yiddishkeit and an aspect of Beis HaMikdosh which proved resistant to destruction of the Temple, exile, and even assimilation (Chanukah and menora remain the most popular Jewish symbols even, ironically, amongst assimilated Jews — even though these symbols celebrate the defeat of the ideas that govern these Jews’ lives).

The descent lead to revelation of something eternal existing beyond limitations of time and boundaries between darkness and light. Light within darkness itself was revealed — and this light was stronger than the light “imposed” on darkness. When you open windows and a dark room becomes illuminated, nothing about the room’s essence has changed — once the windows are closed, the room will revert to darkness. But if you reveal the light hidden within the room itself, within its darkness, then it will remain glowing always, unconditionally. This is what the coming of Mashiach, geulah and dira b’tachtoinim are all about: revelation of light within darkness. Revelation of G-d within physicality of this world.

So, tapping into its spiritual source of eternality and revelation of light within darkness, the act of lighting of Chanukah menora draws closer the light of the Menora that will be lit in the actual Beis HaMikdosh, which will be rebuilt speedily in our days, with the coming of Mashiach.

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I was told today by a complete stranger to “stop torturing mice and go back to yeshiva”. I wish it were this easy. Well, maybe it is…