Love is not enough; relationship with the Rebbe

We learn from today’s — both Wednesday’s and Thursday’s — Tanya (in the Chitas cycle) that love of Hashem is not enough to make a dwelling for Shechinah, Hashem’s Presence. Because when A loves B, there are two elements: A and B. When a Jew (even a tzaddik) loves Hashem, he is still a “someone” who loves Hashem.

And, as we know from earlier chapters (starting with chapter 6), Shechinah rests only on something which is completely nullified to Hashem. So, when a person is in a state of love or fear of G-d, even though it is a great state, he is not completely nullified to G-d.

On the other hand, when someone does a mitzva, he is fulfilling the Will of Hashem (which is one with His Essence), being an instrument for the expression of Hashem’s desire. At that moment, he is completely nullified, and as a result can be said to have Shechinah rest on him.

In Friday’s Tanya, Alter Rebbe explains that when a person does a mitzva in speech and thought, he is only using his G-dly soul. When he is doing a mitzva in action, he is also using his animal soul, utilizing its energy and making it a vessel for G-dliness. This is why doing mitzvos in action is the ultimate level of making a dwelling place for Hashem in the lower worlds.

(The same is true regarding a love of a husband to his wife. What use is his love if it’s only in his heart? He has to express it. But if he tells her how much he loves her and brings her roses, but doesn’t take out garbage, does he really love her? As they say, love starts not in the bedroom, but in the [vacuumed] living room.)

This can be translated to our relationship with the Rebbe and Chassidus in general. It is not enough to be a chossid “on paper” — i.e., to learn and understand Chassidus and to love the Rebbe. I cannot say that it is completely useless, G-d forbid, but if a person says that’s all he ever wants to be, it seems to me to be a mockery of what Chassidus is all about. One must also do what the Rebbe wants, in the realm of speech and thought, but especially in the realm of action.

This has to do with both the realm of Chassidus (e.g., mivtzoim) and the realm of nigleh — including fulfillment of Halacha, starting from living according to Shulchan Aruch and ending with following even specific minhogim of Chabad (whose significance one sometimes does not understand, thinking it’s just a “shtick” — which for many people it is, but this does not detract from their value and importance).

Reb Dunin's yechidus

A couple encounters of Reb Reuven Dunin (mentioned before) with the Rebbe.

From here:

“How do I know whether I am fulfilling the Rebbe's will?”

Putting down the bundle of letters, the Rebbe calmly answered, “If you act in accordance with the Shulchan Aruch [Code of Jewish Law], then you know you are acting in accordance with my will. For if not, that means there are doubts about whether I fulfill the Shulchan Aruch.” [...]

“The thoughts that come from the yetzer [inclination] — you have to grab the yetzer by the sleeve and toss him out, and do what you have to do. Do not get into arguments with him; instead, turn your thoughts towards Torah matters, to whatever is necessary. [...]”

From an e-mail sent by Rabbi Kirschenbaum, the author of the above blog (I can't find a post with the same contents):

“Why are you so angry? What is the reason you are not someach (joyful)? I told you that I wanted you to be be'simcha. If you don't do my work with happiness, then you are not fulfilling my will, and you are not performing in the same way that I am.

“Because I can't be everywhere at once. I can't be in Holon, Kfar Chabad, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Eilat, Paris, Melbourne — and also in Brooklyn! Therefore I send out shluchim. I chose for you to go to Haifa and I want to make you a high commander, a general. I would hope that knowing what I want would be a source of joy that would stay with you — just knowing that the one who is being commanded is doing what his commander wants.” [...]

“It is not enough that you and your wife are Chassidim,” he added. “The children, too, must be my Chassidim and their material needs properly met. I want your whole family to be comfortable, so that they will be the finest Chassidim they can be.”

On laptops, part 2

If Ruven throws Shimon’s laptop from a window (while Shimon is watching*) and Levi catches it — let’s say if Levi can keep it, because the laptop is hefker, does Ruven have to pay Shimon for the laptop? Ruven can tell Shimon: “Why do I have to pay? I didn’t break the laptop.”

Update: I was asked: “Which laptop?” Why, MacBook Air, naturally.

__________
* Shimon has to be watching, so that he can do yeush on his laptop while it’s flying out of the window and make it hefker.

On laptops and babies

Please answer the poll on the right. The question (for posterity) is:

If a laptop is thrown out of the window, and before it reaches the ground, I smash it with a baseball bat, I am not liable for it, since I “broke an already broken thing”. What if I catch the laptop? Do I get to keep it, or can I return it?

 I don’t know the answer, but one possible reason why I would have to return it is that by catching it, I have retroactively shown that its status was not “broken”. (But didn’t the person do yeush by throwing it out of the window?)

This is similar to the case of “proving” that a kohen is not a kohen (e.g., when two people are engaged, then they realize that the guy is a kohen and that the girl is forbidden to him — the rabbis will sometimes use loopholes to look for “evidence” that the guy is not a kohen). Alternatively, it may be similar to the situation with a get, where the latter goes back in time and makes it as if the marriage has never happened. Or with teshuva that likewise goes back in time and erases a sin (or transforms it into a mitzva).

* * *

What does this have to do with babies? Rava, I think, rules that if the same scenario happens with a baby, chv"sh, the person with the bat is still a murderer. Because as long as the baby is still alive, even while it’s flying to its imminent death, one cannot say that its life is so worthless as to make it dead.

Which is a moshol given to the idea that we cannot say that the life of someone who is in coma is worthless, as long as he is alive halachically. Just being alive and lying there, the person already does something good. How? A soul of a person is compared to a candle. Just being in this world, it already introduces light into it, even if only on a spiritual level.

Which is why (besides other reasons) it’s good to have babies.

(Since some people have a problem with the concept of a metaphor, an allegory, an example, an imagined scenario, etc., let me state emphatically that I hope the said scenario never happened and never will, iy"H.)

Update: I just spoke to my rabbi, who told me that almost everything I wrote here is false. I shall investigate further and get back to you.

How I spent this summer

And by “summer” I mean Purim. A short essay.

I’ll elevate it

In the haftorah for parshas Zahor, we read the following exchange between Shmuel the prophet and king Shaul:

13. And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “May you be blessed of the Lord; I have fulfilled the word of the Lord.”
14. And Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears? And the lowing of the oxen which I hear?”
15. And Saul said, “They brought them from the Amalekites, for the people had pity on the best of the sheep, and the oxen, in order to sacrifice to the Lord your G-d: and the rest we have utterly destroyed.”
16. And Samuel said to Saul, “Desist, and I shall tell you what the Lord spoke to me last night.” And he said to him, “Speak.”

17. And Samuel said, “Even if you are small in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? And the Lord anointed you as king over Israel.
18. And the Lord sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go, and you shall utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and you shall wage war against them until they destroy them.’
19. Now, why did you not hearken to the voice of the Lord, but you flew upon the spoil, and you did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord?”
20. And Saul said to Samuel, “Yes, I did hearken to the voice of the Lord. I did go on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and I brought Agag, the king of Amalek alive, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
21. And the people took from the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the ban, to sacrifice to your G-d in Gilgal.”
22. And Samuel said, “Has the Lord [as much] desire in burnt offerings and peace-offerings, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than a peace-offering; to hearken [is better] than the fat of rams.
23. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim. Since you rejected the word of the Lord, He has rejected you from being a king.”

There is a concept called “chassidish yetzer horah”, or “a yetzer horah that wears a kapoteh” — a yetzer horah that uses chassidish excuses. For example, when a chossid tells himself that something is wrong for him: some action, some pursuit, some environment, the yetzer horah then answers: “You are right. It’s not such a great thing; it’s not ideal. But we were sent into this world to elevate it — you will interact with this phenomenon which on the surface is wrong for you and will mekarev it to Hashem.”

This can range from going to a baseball game (which every chossid knows is pure evil, but perhaps he tells himself that he will somehow “elevate it”) to being in a relationship (of any kind) that is clearly wrong for one reason or another for a chossid, but he excuses it by telling himself that he will bring the other person in the relationship closer to Hashem, influence the person (even though deep in his heart he knows it’s hardly possible in this situation).

It can also include doing something that the Rebbe clearly said is wrong for a Jew or a chossid. The same excuse is applied: perhaps this situation can be “sacrificed to your G-d in Gilgal”.

Well, yes, it is true that we were sent into this world to elevate it. But we have to do it according to Hashem’s Will and according to the instructions of Moshe Rabbeinu of our generation. We must be very careful when trying to determine whether what we are doing is really appropriate, and whether we are really making a sacrifice that Hashem commanded or are just using this as an excuse to have a barbecue. “To obey is better than a peace-offering; to hearken is better than the fat of rams.”

[Part 2 here]

We don’t need no education, part 3

[Part 2 here.]

This is what (sometimes) happens when Jews don’t learn (almost) any chochmas chitzoinius:


(click on the image to enlarge)

A report on Purim spent in the holiest city of Jewish diaspora to follow at some point in future, iyH.

[Thanks to Altie for the picture.]

Where are you, Father?

There is a story I heard from my rabbi once. After one man died, G-d showed him the roads of his life. He saw all the places he’s been to, all the paths he has walked. And on those paths, he saw two sets of steps — his own and someone else’s. He asked G-d: “Whose are the second steps?" And G-d answered: “Mine. All your life I was right next to you.”

But then the man saw that in the most difficult places, the most marshy valleys, the steepest hills, there was only one set of steps. And he asked G-d: “Why did you abandon me in these places in my life?” And G-d answered: “I did not abandon you. I was carrying you.”

There are times in our lives, when we experience double concealment. Not only is Hashem hidden, as usual for this world, but he is doubly hidden. We doubt He even exists; we cannot see how He can possibly exist if this or that happens — where is He in our lives at these moments?

The answer that Chassidus provides is: He’s never been closer. His Light may not be revealed (which is why we experience darkness), but that means that His Essence is here. A child may not understand his father’s lecture on mathematics, and he is bored, but hey — it’s his father. And he is closer to his father than any of the students who actually understand and see his father’s brilliance. And when the child spends time with him, it’s not for the sake of the brilliance, but, again, because he just wants to be together with his father.

May we experience Hashem’s Light on this Shabbos and then His Essence this Purim and may we each bring Moshiach now.

Please say Tehillim or dedicate some mitzva for refuah sheleima of Chaya bas Golda Rivka.

V’atoh tetzaveh — the role of the Rebbe

[I am bringing this post up.]

Rabbi Paltiel’s lessons on the ma’amor V’atah Tetzaveh (also available from Kehos), the ma’amor we learn for Purim.

Frierdiker Rebbe’s Bosi LeGani was the most important ma’amor that he left for the chassidim after his histalkus. It was the ma’amor of the Rebbe’s generation — and the Rebbe revealed it in his Bosi LeGani’s.

V’atah Tetzaveh is the most important ma’amor for us, right now, post–gimmel tammuz. It’s the Rebbe’s message for us.

The famous explanation is that in this parshah, Moshe’s name is not mentioned and intstead he is called “atoh” (“you”), because when he said, “Take me out of your book” (if G-d decides to destroy His people, G-d forbid), he expressed his essence — his union with the Jewish people. Moshe Rabbeinu was a Rebbe. Rosh Bnei Yisroel.

The Rebbe takes this idea further and deeper. In what way was Moshe Rabbeinu the head of Jewish people?

The ma’amor talks about the role of a Rebbe, the Moshe Rabbeinu of the generation — to bring the oil of our souls, squeezed out by golus, to Hashem. To make Hashem real for us. It was Moshe Rabbeinu’s job to ask: “Are you Jews because of G-d, or are you Jews because you live in the miraculous circumstance, where Torah is obvious? Take a couple steps outside — will you still be Jews?”

That’s the advantage of Purim — then the question needed not to be asked. Jews were ready to do mesirus nefesh — for a whole year! — following the leadership of Mordechai and Ester, their example of mesirus nefesh. But then the question was: who is doing mesirus nefesh? Is it your G-dly soul, or is it you? In other words, it’s all very good to become machines and, when faced with a question “Will you bow down to idols or die?”, have revelation of ahavah mesuteres (hidden love) and answer, numbly, with the supra-conscious levels of your soul overriding all intellect and emotion, “Die”. But did this revelation of the essence of your soul penetrate the lowest levels of your soul? Surely not. They were merely suppressed.

So, this is the job of our generation. To allow the essence of our souls to be revealed, but, at the same time, penetrating even the lowest levels of our soul, not suppressing and destroying them. (And this, in turn, will lead us to bring about the state of affairs when G-d’s Essence is revealed in the lowest worlds, but does not destroy them.)

* * *

On the one hand, we have it comfortably. We are free from persecution. We are free to sit at homes, in our yeshivas, learn Torah all day. As some people say, things have never been better. Not just materially — spiritually.

And this view is the evidence that we are in the darkest golus. What are you happy about? The fact that you can sit all day and learn Torah? Have an amazing spiritual experience? Work on your avoida, your closeness to Eibeshter? Is this why the world was created? Where is the Beis Hamikdosh, where is revelation of Hashem in this world, where is ein od milvado and dira b’tachtoinim? (OK, I am done with the longest string of questions in my writing experience.)

This is the job of the leader of our current generation. To show this. To bring Hashem to us, make Him real, show Him in the Torah, in the mitzvos, in the world. And make golus real. Show what we are currently lacking — what we need to strive for with all our strength. The Essence.



May we reveal to ourselves and to the world this idea during the Shabbos and Purim. As one rabbi says, “It’s a very serious business — to be joyous.”

But not a snitch...

Another great scene from that movie. (Let me know if it is too quiet.)

“There is nothing like a sight of an amputated spirit. There is no prosthetic for that. [...]

Now, I have come to the crossroads in my life. I always knew what the right path was. Without exception, I knew. But I never took it. You know why? It was too damn hard.”

Coldness

In my town it is raining. Up north, in Fitchburg, it is still snowing, but here already it is too warm for snow. Winter is departing. We’ve had a few good snowy days, fewer than in some years, more than in others, definitely fewer than I remember having in Ukraine, but I am content.

In my heart, a hot summer was replaced by a lukewarm autumn, and then there was a long, bitter, cold winter. But it is warmer already, and I can feel the spring. Talk of hashgacha protis...

All my life I liked cold. Snow. Ice. Freezing wind in my face. Living for seven years in the South was torture for me. Not just because of the inbred American rednecks. Mostly because of the humid, hot climate.

In Chassidus, coldness is associated with something negative. With lack of passion. With cynicism. Frierdiker Rebbe once said: “A cold person is a step away from a heretic. A person must serve Hashem with passion and a warm heart.” (If you know the exact quote, please leave a comment.) One of the nicknames for a misnaged is “a kalte Litvak”.

One winter, Frierdiker Rebbe (before he had become a Rebbe) was standing outside, smoking. He saw a chossid walk out without a coat. He told him: “Be careful. You are cold.” The chossid answered: “And you?” The Rebbe responded: “I am protected.” Soon that chossid went off the derech. Frierdiker Rebbe saw that the cynicism, the coldness was taking over the chossid.

There is a story about Vilna Gaon. When he had heard that Chassidim use warm mikveh on Shabbos, he said: “It’s a good thing. The gehennim won’t be too much of a surprise for them.” When I read in Tanya that the people who delve into secular sciences for the sake of intellectual pleasure will be punished by the Hell of Ice, I thought that it’s a good thing that I like cold.

(Interestingly, it is in the South that I have started my journey towards Chassidus. The orbit on which I am right now is a result of the momentum I was given there, in the community of New Orleans. In Boston, the weather is nice, but I have never struggled so much in my life to stay afloat b’ruchnius. I won’t say much about the community. There isn’t much to say...)

I have just read a very interesting article by Naftali Silberberg called “Embrace your inner ice”. A quote from it:

They tried to cool our passion — and we are enjoined to never forget their chilling stab, and to utterly eliminate them from the face of the earth.

And on a personal level, there is an Amalek lurking within every one of us. It is the icy voice that attempts to inculcate us with apathy and immunize us against passion and inspiration. This Amalek, too, must be destroyed.

But how?

Well, the most obvious antidote to ice is heat. With enough heat you could melt a glacier.


But there's another way...

---

Ice.

Cold. Benumbed. Arctic. Inflexible, rigid, and unyielding.

In terms of spiritual service, ice represents absolute and unshakable commitment to G‑d.

Not a commitment based on emotions (warmth), not one that rests on a foundation of love and awe for the Creator or an appreciation of the beauty and importance of serving Him. For ultimately, any such relationship is based on a feeling of self: I love, I fear, I feel, I like, I appreciate, I understand...

And when the service depends on my warmth and excitement, it will fluctuate from day to day, even minute to minute. Some days will be sunny and warm; others will be overcast and chilly.

But if the commitment isn't driven by warmth and passion, by what I want and feel, but by what is wanted of me — then it's steady and constant, and not subject to vacillations and swings. Because what I'm wanted and needed for doesn't change.

And that is the advantage of Chassidus Chabad, the Lithuanian Chassidus, the cold Chassidus. As Lubavitch chassidim, we have a nuclear reaction burning inside us. But it’s not a nuclear explosion; it’s a channeled, controlled reaction of a nuclear plant. OK, sometimes that nuclear plant becomes a Chernobyl, but that’s already the details...

Aggressive women

As a continuation of the previous post, I just thought that all women pianists that I’ve ever seen have been quite agressive.

Marta Argerich:

Coming out of the closet

...about being yeshivish despite having been raised MO.

A very funny post by FrumSatire.

At my parents’ suggestion, I started seeing a psychologist. He was a shul member, a friend of the family. He dabbled in hypnosis. Every time he heard the word “marmalade,” he would start singing the “The Whiffenpoofs Song” in Pig Latin. At our first session, I told him, “Modern Orthodoxy is hollow and hypocritical.” “Yes,” he replied, “but what don’t you like about it?” He suggested I go to an Ivy League college for a few years, then decide. I told him that we were created to learn Torah, not to study “The Architecture of the Igloo.”

On snobbism

Is one still a snob when his snobbism is justified? (A reference to TRS saying recently that I am a snob because I think that classical music is much better at expressing emotions than rap.)

Listen to the Rebbe

Thanks to TRS for sending me this link. Interesting story there:

When the Alter Rebbe sent the manuscripts of the Tanya to be printed, he instructed the chassidim charged with that mission not to show the text to anyone. The chassidim, however, met a very great sage (his name was forgotten), and showed him the manuscripts. He perused them and was overcome with awe. Holding them in his hand, he exclaimed: “How illuminating! How illuminating!” Chassidim would say that with these words, he removed the light from the Tanya. Its inner G-dly power did not shine forth as forcefully and its intellectual dimension was emphasized.

While I don’t necessarily object the intellectual dimension being emphasized, this is a cautionary tale for those who reveal something (even if it’s true) that the Rebbe asked not to reveal. This should suffice for those of understanding.

For those without understanding who wear yellow flags: I am talking about you.

(Recently I was asked if I was “neutral”. I answered that I was “drive”.)

Pay Every Penny Saved to Israel

This clip is pretty funny for obvious reasons. But I think it can also serve as a cautionary tale. I think it’s rather obvious of what and for whom, so I won’t say more than that I find the mannerisms, the content, the form, and even mentioning the little son all too familiar.

Sure, everything was created in opposites. But I think there is more to it than that.

(Thanks to my chavrusa for the clip.)

Quotes of the day

I prefer the company of peasants because they have not been educated sufficiently to reason incorrectly.

— Michel de Montaigne

Thank you for sending me a copy of your book. I'll waste no time reading it.
— Moses Hadas

Grown-ups never understand anything for themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.
— Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Just because the little girl discovered that the magical land in the wardrobe is full of jerks doesn’t mean that she should give up on it completely. Every magical land is full of jerks; otherwise, there would be no story.
— Me (aka, one of the jerks)

Make sure if affects you

The following post contains a detail that may be disturbing to some people; so, be warned.

Most people know the famous story with Mitteler Rebbe and the interrupted yechidus. Tonight, I found a detail about it which I had not known before. I can’t find the story online at the moment (if someone can, please leave a comment with a link), so I will summarize it as I remembered it.

The story went as follows. One day, a man entered a yechidus of the Mitteler Rebbe. Shortly after, Mitteler Rebbe interrupted the yechidus and canceled all other meetings for the day. He locked himself in his office, saying Tehillim. He secretary thought that something terrible must have happened, so he also started saying Tehillim. Other people present asked the secretary what was up, were told, and also started saying Tehillim. Soon, the whole place was saying Tehillim.

Eventually, when the Rebbe left his office, he explained what had happened. When a Jew would come into his presence for yechidus with a specific question, which usually had to do with some fault of character or avoida, in order to prescribe a method to fix this flaw, Mitteler Rebbe would “associate” himself with a Jew and find corresponding fault in his own character or avoida, albeit, on a higher level. (The Rebbe was able to do this being a neshama klalis, which is usually the point for which this story is told.)

With this particular Jew, however, Mitteler Rebbe was not able to find anything even remotely similar to what the Jew had done. This made him think that the flaw was so deep that it wass not even consciously perceived by the Rebbe himself. This upset the Rebbe, who started saying Tehillim hoping to gain knowledge of that fault. Eventually he was able to see it.

The story usually ends here, without going into detail about the specific aveira of the Jew and what that corresponded to in, lehavdil, the Mitteler Rebbe’s avoida.

Tonight someone told me what both were. The Jew who went to yechidus was working at a cemetery. He had seen someone beautiful being buried there and could not control himself, committing a forbidden act with the body.

Now, what was the corresponding problem that Mitteler Rebbe was able to find on his own level? Learning Chassidus but not letting it affect one’s character and avoida.

The only reason I posted this detail is that it is both a striking image and an important lesson for everyone learning Chassidus and being engaged one way or another in the world of Chassidishkeit.

Update (from a comment): “I heard that the Mittler Rebbe said that he sometimes says Chassidus that is too deep for anyone to understand, and even though he knows nobody will understand it he still gets enjoyment from teaching the Chassidus.

This was, on a very refined level, M'eyn the sin that this person did, since in that case as well all the pleasure is in the Mashpia, and the Mekabel gets nothing.”

Some crazy *beep*

— Ma’am, what are the circumstances of your husband’s death? Was he ill, was he sick?..

— Was he swallowed?

So, speaking of craziness. What is an average crazy thing  that you expect a crazy French person to do? I’d say: wear pointy shoes and eat a sandwich of chopped pigeon liver. A Russian? Stay in a drunk state for so long he has no idea the state regimes have changed (true story from early 90s). A Crownheightster? To write an angry letter demanding that a local clothes store was closed because it sells elbow-less shirts (ok, maybe I am underestimating here a bit).

What about an American? How about feeding your cows live to an alligator that lives in a lake — excuse me, a bayou — nearby? I mean, I am looking at this scene and thinking: “Yes, it is totally believable that there is a lady living in Florida or Louisiana who does this.” (The scene itself is not halachically problematic, except the said alligator-feeding part, but it has some obscenity in it.)



— Officer, we have a problem with Hector.
— What problem?
— He went swimming.

Russian posts

I wish I had patience to write like this, translating all my English posts into the language of Pushkin, and all my Russian posts into the language of Douglas Adams.

I also wish I could write this well or be as smart in general.

OK, the program. I skipped about half of the lectures, preferring to hang out with friends, but I did take in some. Haven’t heard anything new, but did notice a certain (already oft-mentioned) tendency of the kiruv workers to pass their opinions as fact. For example, Esther Segal (a really good speaker, BTW) referred to the existence of a single primal Jewish soul as fact at least four times, whereas AFAIK it’s only a contested kabbalistic opinion, just like transmigration of souls is; and as Saadia Gaon said about that (free translation): “Gilgul? Bloody nonsense!”

Another speaker, one David Karpov, spoke about reconciling science and religion. He described three method of settling conflicts: 1) science must yield; 2) religion must yield; 3) let’s compartmentalize and not think about them. After dressing down these straw men, he offered a fourth alternative (to which I have long subscribed): science and religion speak about different things in different languages, and there can be no real conflict between them. However, while knocking the straw men down he mentioned Goedel’s incompleteness theorem and claimed that this was why science could never figure out the mechanism of emergence of life or put together a unified field theory. I collared him after the lecture and asked: first, Goedel’s theorem is formulated in the abstract, so why are you claiming as fact that it’s precisely those two problems that science can’t solve? Second, does it bother you as a Habadnik that the Rebbe had unequivocally chosen the first method, writing about how unreliable carbon dating is and how God must have created dinosaur bones in situ, etc.?

In response to the first question Mr. Karpov told me a story of a pauper who was making rounds of an apartment building, asking people to help a poor cello player, until one of the dwellers asked him to come in and play the cello he happened to have. “Just my luck to run into a cello!” muttered the poor man. “I, too, have run into a cello,” Mr. Karpov told me, “for I normally don’t count on my audience being familiar with Goedel’s theorem. You’re right, this is my personal opinion.” The answer to the second question was more equivocal: since the late Rebbe propounded the aforementioned opinion in the 70s and 80s, thereafter abandoning the topic, Mr. Karpov made a far-reaching conclusion that he must have changed his mind.

Read on.

This is why Chabad started in Russia. I mean, what Americans speak this way? And don’t talk to me about Rav Soloveitchik. He was educated in Berlin, and it’s not clear how much of what he wrote his followers actually understand (perhaps they understand it and merely use it as an excuse to break Halacha).

Also, all of you know this story:

The knight Godfrey, before leaving to the Holy Land on a crusade, asked Rashi to prophesy about the success of the crusade. Rashi answered that Godfrey would fail on the crusade and return with only three horses. Godfrey answered that even if one detail of this story would be off, he would kill Rashi.

Godfrey’s crusade failed, and he had to return back to Europe. But — with four horses! He was making sure they all four survived with great care. As he was about to enter his city, with bloodthirsty thoughts, a stone from the gates fell down on one of the horse’s heads and killed it. Godfrey, full of remorse, went to see Rashi only to find out that the great sage had died a few days before.

Well, the problem is that Godfrey died in the Holy Land. And Rashi died five years after Godfrey.

Vos iz bread pit?

One Friday night, in my yeshiva, a ba’al teshuva got up to give a dvar Torah and said something like: “a high school girl, who is only interested in Brad Pitt...”. At this point, one of the mashpiim, who was sitting across the table from me, looked up and asked in confusion: “Vos iz bread pit?”

I remember myself thinking at the time that bochrim need some “muggle studies” classes in yeshivos. (Now I know it would probably not save the situation.)



Perhaps Yossi and TRS could have Mendi Pelin do a news report about their encounter with the aggression of Crownheighters fighting against the sewer filth that innocent Jewish kinderlach reading Jewish blogs are exposed to.

Speaking of encounters, interesting news from Gizmodo.

Remember kids, if the green light goes on in your laptop, someone is watching you somewhere.

 Made you look, heh?

Cheilek elokah mima’al mamosh

My opinion on Martin Grossman has been expressed already in the post’s title. My opinion on the efforts to save him from death penalty is expressed in the same way.

But I find these pictures strange for so many reasons that I would not know where to begin.

At the same time, I think everyone should also read this.

Where is Hashem?

I was talking to my pianofortical friend tRP today, and he complained about having no skills in mekareving atheists. Actually, that’s what I told him his problem was. This was prompted by him complaining that he’d invited an atheist friend of his to a Friday night dinner, and the friend refused, asking never to be invited again, explaining that he doesn’t want to do “anything religious” (what a weird notion for an atheist, huh?).

tRP’s response was: “What’s so religious about spending time with friends at a Friday night dinner?”

But that’s what’s ironic about this situation. An atheist sees a table with a bunch of Jews, some of whose heads and sometimes elbows are covered, with a rabbi in a hat (and a face covered with moss), candles, and children with angelic faces and thinks: “Religion! G-d! Cult! Fundamentalism!”

While a religious person at the table (or, even a frum person) is thinking: “Hey, I am just relaxing with my buddies. It’s Shabbos. Time to chill.” Even when the rabbi gives over a sicho which he looked through 15 minutes before Mincha, most people don’t really think about G-d. For them, it’s usually time to turn off their brains. And for the most part, discussion is never about Yiddishkeit.

So, ironically, the atheist should have nothing to worry about. I mean, he should, but he doesn’t.

As to the question what to do to mekarev him, my answer was: “Don’t talk to him about religion. Talk to him about life.” Unless his name is Marvin. In that case, don’t talk to him about life.

Also, now that we are on the topic of pianoforticism, TRS has recently called me a snob for saying that classical music is better at relaying emotions than rap is (I know what you’re thinking: a pot calling a kettle black. I agree). But listen to the following playing. Not a single note is wasted. It’s like I am seeing Brahms right in front me, smoking his pipe, drinking his beer, eating his sausage and crying, crying...

Elevating reishus

Let your boat of life be light, packed with only what you need — a homely home and simple pleasures, one or two friends, worth the name, someone to love and someone to love you, a cat, a dog, and a pipe or two, enough to eat and enough to wear, and a little more than enough to drink; for thirst is a dangerous thing.
— Jerome K. Jerome, Three Men in a Boat

In this post, I described a person’s involvement in things “permissible but not necessary” (i.e., things which are neither muttar nor ossur) as “addictions”. I.e., if a person has to wear nice clothes to feel like a mentch, it’s similar to the Rebbetzin Rivka having to eat in the morning in order to daven. So, this person has to wear the nice clothes to function as a person, and therefore, as a Jew. But, I asked, wouldn’t it be nice if the person did not have such addictions?

In his fourth shiur on Tanya (in the Leap Year series), Rabbi Paltiel describes this differently. He does not use the concept of addiction. Instead, he looks straight at the purpose for which something in the realm of klipas nogah is used for. If a person dresses up nicely to feel more together in order to daven (or learn Torah, perform other mitzvos, etc.) better, then he elevated those clothes into the realm of kedusha. Clothes, nice house, nice food, entertainment, lots of money — if these things directly augment one’s service of Hashem, they are made holy!

If, on the other hand, they are used for their own sake, for indulgence, they are made into a sin; their spiritual status is lowered to that of sholosh klipos tmeios.

I cut out the particular part where he describes this. I found the language and the examples used rather interesting.



And yet, we find Alter Rebbe objecting to his grandson (not Tzemach Tzedek) wearing clothes in the latest Parisian fashion.

In other news, the value for the speed of light was (more or less) confirmed using chocolate; French President’s einekel had a bris al pi Halacha, while a famous Italian cooking show host was fired for using cat meat in one of his dishes.

Demanding a timeless answer, or Tradition, tradition! (part 4)

In the famous sicho about Purim, the Rebbe asks the famous question: why is the name of G-d not mentioned in the whole of Megillas Ester? He gives an answer (brought down in our tradition) immediately: because Mordechai did not want non-Jews who would translate Megillas Ester in their languages to replace the name of G-d with, lehavdil, names of their deities.

The Rebbe, however, is not satisfied with the answer. He says: this might have been a good reason back in the day, but nowadays it’s not. We, however, have the same Megillas Ester. And it is eternal — both in its message and in minute details. Therefore, there must be a reason applicable even to us today that G-d’s name is not mentioned.

If you want to know the reason, you can learn the sicho in Yiddish or Loshon Koidesh (from what I remember, the reason was that during Purim, G-d’s Essence — which cannot be described by any name — was the main actor) or listen to it here. But what’s interesting to me is that the Rebbe is not satisfied with an answer: “Well, there were circumstances back in the day, which led to this state of affairs, and today we inherited the results, even though the reason for their appearance may not be applicable anymore. We should keep the results out of respect for the tradition.”

He is not satisfied just like all the “modernizers” of Judaism are not satisfied, but his approach is not to shed or “update” these customs, whose superficial reason may lie in the past, but to find and explain the deeper reason for their existence throughout the ages and, especially, today.

See a post I wrote a while ago: “Spiritual timelessness of Judaism” (it’s about Kislev, not Adar, but the message is applicable to the topic of this post). My main point there is that historical circumstances of Jewish customs’ or laws’ appearance are merely vessels which drew down the essence of the customs and the laws: the spiritual energy that is associated with them that allows us to connect (ourselves and the world) to Hashem through them.

Also, see part 2 of the “Tradition, tradition!” series.

[source of the image]

Masculinity...

...is when you wear a pink shirt and still feel like a man. I actually like the lyrics of the song — very romantic (not joking). Mixed singing, but honestly, I can’t even hear the women; I think men’s voices are higher.



This video just shows once again that Russians (or, in this case, Byelorussians) can beat Americans at anything — even at looking metrosexual.

Now that we are on the topic of classy songs, I can’t help but bring this one out:

I like flutes

Enough said. (See the previous post for more Celtic music.)

Roinnt ceoil, le do thoil

For my rabbi who likes Celtic music. In this particular sequence, I like the first reel more than the others.



I apologize to le7 for this one:



 There is a Jew attending a local school who, like me, likes Martin Hayes. And just like me dislikes assholes.

For a long time my roommate thought the following song was about McDonalds. This is one of the songs I use to illustrate to English speakers how American songs sound to me (not in quality, in which they are greatly inferior, but in the percentage of words I understand).



After years of listening to this song in my car, I understand almost all the words:

Legacy of Galen, or Tradition, tradition! (Part 3)

I was reading some time ago the biography of Aelius Galenus, aka Claudius Galenus, aka Galen of Pergamum, known to most of people today simply as Galen, the famous doctor and anatomist of Roman Empire. Now, the figure of Galen is near and dear to the hearts of all students of Chassidus Chabad, since anatomy and physiology that can be found in the works of Chassidus (e.g., Tanya — including the famous descriptions of compartments of the heart, one’s seed coming from one’s brain, etc.) is borrowed from Galen.

But that’s not the reason that I am mentioning him today. As one could tell from a series of a few recent posts, I have been pondering for a while about the role of tradition in the life of a human being, a Jew, a Chossid and an amateur philatelist. Some of my thoughts are more positive, some are more negative (positive and negative in what aspect, you ask? good question...), some are more traditional (no pun intended), some are more heretical. After this meta-paragraph, let me present to you the part of Galen’s biography that caught my attention, namely, his legacy (you can skip to the bottom line after the quotes if you so desire):

Regarding buzz

I don’t really like beer. I just drink it for the buzz.

— A colleague of mine

You know you’re not that cool when the Google Buzz fiasco has no effect on you, since apparently, you don’t have so many friends, enemies, ex-boyfriends, ex-girlfriends and crazy stalkers that total disruption of your privacy affects you that much. (Although, I do care about my privacy a little. I certainly hope no ex-girlfriends of mine read this blog.)

Regardless, a couple cartoons regarding Buzz from Gizmodo (click on the images to enlarge):





Also, an angry review of the Buzz fiasco by one lady who is much cooler than me (what made me think she’s angry?.. well, the title was a bit of a tip-off).

By the way, it’s certainly fun when somebody messes up. It’s especially fun when the giants mess up. As all the non-Roman contemporaries of  Teutoburg Forest massacre know. Of course, when the giant is falling, you start feeling a little sorry for it, as the contemporaries of the Battle of Adrianople can attest.

Tradition, tradition! (Part 2)

[Part 1 here.]

There are two ways to look at traditions.

Russian field and billiards

Also, the same song from Dmitriy Khvorostovsky, with some landscape images from Russia:



As one of the comments on Youtube says, "La musique russe il n'y a pas mieux, les chanteurs vivent leur musique. C'est l'âme d'un peuple, on ne s'en lasse jamais."

Windows are dangerous

This is not another PC vs. Mac post. It's a reference to something my rabbi said when he heard a speaker express an opinion that owning Internet at home is dangerous because a child may use it to visit sites with terrible content. My rabbi commented on that: "Having windows in your house is also dangerous".

Labels

Two ways exist of uniting Jews with Torah. One is to bring Torah down to Jews. Another is to elevate the Jews up to Torah.

On Google Mail, one has labels to the left of the messages. The labels are used instead of placing the messages in folders. This way, each message can have multiple labels (e.g., "personal", "shidduch", "humor", "New York"), can be grouped with other messages in more than one way, and can be searched through multiple keywords.

One can assign a label to a message through the "Labels" drop-down menu. One can also drag: either drag a message onto a label, or drag a label onto a message.

The interesting thing is: if you drag a label onto the message, the latter stays in your Inbox but acquires the particular label (it becomes added to the left of the message's subject). Then you can repeat this with the other labels. But if you drag the message onto the label, it disappears from the Inbox and can be found by clicking on the label. Then, other labels can be assigned to it.

This reminded me of two ways a person can associate himself with Torah, with Yiddishkeit. One way is making "frum Jew" one of his labels. He is a frum Jew. He is also a medical student. He is also someone who plays poker. He is also someone who enjoys kayaking. He can be identified by any of these labels, but generally speaking, he is still in the same place he was before (in his "Inbox"), even though he acquired additional labels (and perhaps lost some) — one of which happens to be frum Yiddishkeit.

The second way is for the person to move fully from the place where he was and acquire for himself a completely new identity: that of a frum Jew. All that he is becomes seen (by himself and others) exclusively through the light of Yiddishkeit. And, inside that "location" (the mission given to one by Hashem), he may attach other labels, look at them, and identify himself with them, but only on the terms of the new main identity.

Which way is right? Which way does Chassidus (i.e., the Rebbeim from the Alter Rebbe to the Rebbe) say one should do it? Is there one way that's better for all, or is it different for each person? Can there be combinations?

Bella, ciao

(translation)

Regarding poetry

Все ужасней и гаже стихи,
С каждым веком они только хуже.
Каждый мнит, что он с рифмою дружен,
А стихи невозможно плохи.

Все в поэзию прут – от сохи,
От тоски, от безделья и скуки.
Им бы делом занять свои руки,
Вместо этого пишут стихи.

(source)

Communist mitzva tank

...during the Civil War in Russia. Well, not a tank but a train.

Be passionate

Are daled amos enough?

It has become customary to say that a man needs only six feet of land. But a corpse needs six feet, not a person.
 — Anton Chekhov

I had the following conversation with someone as a part of Yud Shvat farbrengen. Originally I didn’t want to post it until I thought it through completely, but was nevertheless persuaded to post anyway. The topic of the conversation was how much a person should be a human vs. a chossid.

Regarding Russian roads...

Question: How come Russia has such bad roads?
Answer: It’s a form of national defense.

Some footage from German “Eastern front” (i.e., Russia) during WWII:



By the way, that song (which is very funny, if you speak this most cultured language) is from a very popular Russian movie Gardemariny (“Marine Guards” — think of it as Russian “Three Musketeers”), which had some of the cheesiest musical scenes in the history of the Soviet cinematography:



Of course, now that we are on the topic of cheesy Soviet music scenes — a little dance in Ivan the Terrible’s court:

Get out!

Dedicated to all the people in yeshiva/seminary/kollel and to all misnagdim.

Get Out
by Esma-Movie

Regarding pirates...

Monotheism

In Judaism, we believe there is only G-d.

Update: After much deliberation (see comments), it was determined that this is in fact heresy. But the reason this is not what we believe in illustrates what Rambam (and numerous others) meant when he said that G-d is one but not (just) in a numerical sense (not “one but not two”).

iPad

The world intelligentsia responds to the new phenomenon. Click on the images to enlarge.

If you’re ever bored at work...

...you can do things like this (but don’t look if you get disgusted easily, especially by bugs; or if you hate modern art).

Evolution from a student to an employer

Russian realities:

— First we brag how we haven’t spent any time studying but get good grades.
— Then we brag how we don’t do anything at work but get paid good money.
— Then we complain how we pay decent salary to some young punks who don’t know anything and don’t do any work.

North Caucasus

As a special series (see the previous post), I present to you North Caucasus, the birthplace of white people. Click on the images to enlarge.

Dima Chatrov

I present to you the awesome craziness and crazy awesomeness that are the photographs from all over the world by Dima Chatrov. Click on the images to enlarge, but to see the full beauty of it, I suggest you go to his blog (and blog-roll it). Each post with a picture has a link under it with a picture in larger resolution.

Pythagorean theorem, etc.

Everyone knows that most truths in the world can be proven from the Pythagorean Theorem. For example, Einstein's Theory of Relativity. And existence of G-d. Amongst other things.

But what is the proof of the theorem itself?

Here is a nice visual version:

(from here)

Also, did you know that 0.999... = 1? Equal mamosh.

And that 0⁰ = 1?

And also: 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8 + 1/16 + ... = 1



[via Ilya Birman's blog]

Landscapes of sugar, flint and cinnamon

This artist creates rather awesome-looking mini-models of landscapes using materials from everyday life.

Some quotes by Anton Chekhov

A few selected quotes:

Just eyeball it!

How good are you at eyeballing things visually? I am this good:



So, apparently, somewhat average. How good are you? Take a test.

What is it like to be a bat

In the famous proof that consciousness cannot be material, Thomas Nagel asks a question: “What is it like to be a bat?” The essence of the proof is that even if one were to study and know every single aspect of the bat’s nervous system, one would still not know what it is like to be a bat — to have an experience of being a bat. (The bat is used to make the example more stark. Bats use echolocation to navigate in space. In other words, bats “see” through their hearing.)

So, if you know everything about the system which is physical but still don’t know X (which is part of the system), then X must be not physical. In this case, X is consciousness.

This is a good example of what it is like to know English well enough to understand many (maybe most) words in a text, and have a lot of words sound familiar, but still not to understand what the text is saying:

riverrun, past Eve and Adam's, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs.

Sir Tristram, violer d'amores, fr'over the short sea, had passen core rearrived from North Armorica on this side the scraggy isthmus of Europe Minor to wielderfight his penisolate war: nor had topsawyer's rocks by the stream Oconee exaggerated themselse to Laurens County's gorgios while they went doublin their mumper all the time: nor avoice from afire bellowsed mishe mishe to tauftauf thuartpeatrick: not yet, though venissoon after, had a kidscad buttended a bland old isaac: not yet, though all's fair in vanessy, were sosie sesthers wroth with twone nathandjoe. Rot a peck of pa's malt had Jhem or Shen brewed by arclight and rory end to the regginbrow was to be seen ringsome on the aquaface.

This is what a game of baseball looks like to a foreigner:

Evolution of a liberal reform

From arbat:

All starts with the leftists finding a “Problem”. Oftentimes the Problem is not really a problem. For instance they think that asset inequality is a problem. Even though it is the main stimulus for the economy’s development. To call it a problem is similar to calling voltage difference in the electric grid a problem that needs to be corrected as soon as possible, so that there is no difference in electric potentials at all. [For those less physically inclined, replace electric grid with a ski resort and the voltage difference with the height difference between the top and the bottom of the hill.]

Having identified the Problem, leftists propose a Plan. Oftentimes the Plan involves people giving up some kind of freedom and the government, in turn, forbidding the Problem away. As a rule, the freedom is indeed taken away. It’s the only part that goes according to the Plan. The original “Problem” remains the same, but in addition to it arise a number of “unforeseen side effects”. Which are of course presented as the next set of “Problems”, which are treated with new Plans (instead of getting rid of the original plan, which caused the problems in the first place), and so on.

Reminds me of someone who’s discovered a prescription pad, a medical encyclopedia in Chinese and a Korean dictionary and works this way as a village doctor, prescribing away.

Also reminds me of public high schools. Teachers treat students as idiots. As a result, the student behave like idiots. As a result, the teachers treat them as idiots, etc. I called it a feed-forward cycle of idiocy.

Different approaches

Most people knows this joke: “Americans have spent millions of dollars to develop a pen that would work in zero gravity. Russians use pencils.”

Here is another example of a difference in problem solving, but this time — from real life:

The problem: A centrifuge has 12 spaces for test tubes. Whenever one puts the tubes in the centrifuge, they need to be balanced. For instance, if you number the spaces from 1 to 12, and you’re inserting four tubes, they have to be positioned at the places 1, 7, 2 and 8 (or 1, 7, 3 and 9; etc.). Question: how should you balance five test tubes?

A mathematician’s/physicist’s approach: First balance three tubes. Do it by placing one tube and then placing two tubes such that they are equidistant from each other and from the first tube. Having balanced the three tubes, insert the other two such that they are also balanced. For example, you can have the tubes at the positions 1, 5, 9, 2 and 8.

A biologist’s approach: Hmm. Five doesn’t divide in two. Hmm. Take a sixth test tube, fill it with enough water to approximately balance one of the test tubes. Now we have six test tubes. Put them in the positions 1, 2, 3, 7, 8 and 9.

More Petersburg

Thanks to e and street signs about not fishing or swimming.

Some more pictures of Peterburg. Click on the images to make smaller. I mean, to enlarge.

[source1; source 2]

Organ regeneration vs. replacement?

And all the nations will fear you

As everyone knows, our sources say that a Jew wearing tefillin is a source of fear for the nations:

Rav Avin Bar Rav Adda said in the name of Rav Yitzchak, “What is the source that Hashem lays tefillin? As it says נשבע ה' בימינו, ובזרוע עזו, Hashem has sworn by His right hand, and His powerful arm… (Yeshayahu 62:8)

…בזרוע עזו, with His powerful arm — this refers to tefillin, as the verse states: ה' עז לעמו יתן, Hashem gives might to his nation (Tehillim 29:11). … And where is the source that tefillin are עוז, might and power for the Jewish people? As it is written וראו כל עמי הארץ כי שם ה' נקרא עליך, ויראו ממך, and all the nations of the world will see that the name of Hashem is called upon you, and they will fear you (D’vorim 28:10). … Rav Elazer the Great said this verse is referring to the tefillin worn on the head.” (Brachos 6a)

Today, in a US airplane, a tefillin-wearing Jew was a source of fear to at least one stewardess and a pilot. News flash:

If grandmother had a beard...

... she would be a grandfather.

If Guy Ritchie was born in the Soviet Union, he would create a Sherlock Holmes like this:



If Soviet cartoonists were making a horror movie in Hollywood, they would make something like this:



I have to say, I prefer this version of the Soviet Sherlock Holmes trailer, with the original music:

A musical pause

Something Classical (I assume everyone knows Chopin):



Something classy (I assume everyone knows the tale of Bremen Musicians):



Something Russian (I assume most Americans don’t know Garik Sukachev):

Ear of beholder

A real-life conversation:

Sherlock Holmes: Watson, I thought you liked music!
Dr. Watson: Music? Yes. But this... I thought someone was sick, or maybe a cat got stuck in a chimney.

Making Ж539; Inner life of cell

I have no idea what’s going on here (if you do, leave a comment; if you can’t, tell somebody who can), but the video is entertaining.



Art is cool. But so is Biology:

Some celebration

Congratulations to fellow conservatives, libertarians, anti-liberals and generally speaking, people with functioning cerebral cortex. The once–freedom loving state of Massachusetts has a Republican senator.

I opened my last Corona to drink for this. Virtual l'chayim to all freedom-loving world.

Stereotypes

Thanks to tRP for this map.

Europe from the point of view of Hungarians.

Click to enlarge.

Why this MA election is interesting

Paraphrasing from Arbat:

At first it was supposed to be regular boring MA election, in which Brown was supposed to lose with a huge difference. That’s why it was boring. Then it turned out that the difference was not as huge as it had seemed originally. Republicans decided to use this small opening to shove their foot into and show that if in Massachusetts of all places Democrats are winning with difficulty — watch out Congressmen of other states.

Liberals decided not to turn this into a referendum on Obama. But in their infinite wisdom, their created a slogan: “Voice for Brown is a voice against our reforms”. Which, of course, made this election into a referendum on Obama.

Some say that Brown is ahead. The only poll that makes sense to follow is the one at the voting booths. Or Rasmussen, which is usually correct and which gave Marta 49 and Brown 47. So, the chances, taking error into account, are about the same.

Thus, it’s not important whether Brown will win. After all, it’s MA. It can’t be kissed by a princess and turn into some Texas. If Brown wins, it will be a miracle of miracles. But a regular simple everyday miracle is already enough.

If you don’t live, you won’t have to die

Thanks to TRS for inspiring me to write this post.

Dedicated to today’s Rambam, a song from Russian movie, Irony of Fate (the clip with the song — man singing — is below):

If you don't have a home,
The threat of fire means nothing.
And your wife won't leave for another,
If you, if you,
If you haven't a wife, if you've got no wife.


If you don't have a dog,
Your neighbor won't poison it.
And you won't fight with your friend
If you don't have a friend.

The orchestra rumbles with basses,
The tuba player blows his horn.
Think for yourself, decide yourself,
To have, or not to have.
To have or not to have.

If you don't have an aunt,
You won't be able to lose her.
And if you don't live,
Then you won't have to die.

If you don't have an aunt,
Your neighbor won't poison her,
And your wife won't leave you for your friend,
If you don't have a friend.

The orchestra rumbles with basses,
The tuba player blows his horn.
Think for yourself, decide yourself,
To have, or not to have.
To have or not to have.

 

Technology

“Back in the day, the technology was less advanced but more charming.”

That’s what people like me (backward, old-fashioned romantics) like to think. I don’t know if it’s true or not. Reading this and this posts, I am thinking there might just be a chance that people took their jobs more responsibly. But who knows?

Who is to blame? I think PETA.