Here are some pictures you don't see everyday!!
Jews for Jesus vs. the Chabad messianic movement.
Photos from krint01 on the WeirdJews Livejournal group.
The Wolf
Monday, October 29, 2007
Two Wrongs...
Here are some pictures you don't see everyday!!
Jews for Jesus vs. the Chabad messianic movement.
Photos from krint01 on the WeirdJews Livejournal group.
The Wolf
Reflections.
There are occasions during the course of a year which give one reason to look back and reflect on where they've been and what they've done over the last year. In the Jewish religion, we have Rosh HaShannah and Yom Kippur, which afford us the chance to try to right the wrongs we've done in the last year. Among the secular culture, New Year's Day, with its famous resolutions, afford people the opportunity to resolve to make their lives better over the course of the next year.
There is another example of a date that can be used for reflection and resolution -- one that is personal to each individual person. That day is one's birthday. Everyone has a birthday once a year (even those people born on February 29 have a birthday every year, it's just celebrated on March 1st.) and can use it as a chance to look back at the past year and reflect on the upcoming one.
Most Orthodox Jews are well aware of the fact that they have two birthdays, one in the Gregorian calendar and one in the Hebrew calendar. The two calendars sync up on a nineteen-year cycle, so that every nineteen years, most people have their Hebrew and English birthdays together again.*
Today is my birthday, and it is a birthday that is a multiple of that nineteen year cycle. This affords me a chance to not only look back at the last year, but also at the last nineteen, and reflect at where I was in life nineteen years ago, what has changed for me since then, and what things might be like (and what I want them to be like) nineteen years from now.
Nineteen years ago, I was a young kid.
Now I am fully an adult.
Nineteen years ago, I was thin.
Now I'm fat -- although in the interim, I was fat and thin and then fat again.
Nineteen years ago I had a girlfriend with whom I wanted to spend my life, with whom I wanted to raise a Jewish family and with whom I was completely in love.
Now, I'm married to that same girl, have three children, a home of my own, and realize that what I felt then for Eeees was barely an infatuation compared to the feelings I have for her now.
Nineteen years ago, I was in my first year of college.
Today I'm applying to go back to college yet again.
Nineteen years ago, I had four living grandparents.
Today I have one.
Nineteen years ago, I had five aunts who were all happily married.
Today, only two are still married. Two are divorced and one is widowed.
Nineteen years ago, I was helping Skipper (my sister) get through high-school math.
Today, I'm helping Walter (my son) get through high-school math.
Nineteen years ago, I was a firm believer in a young earth, in biblical literalism and an avid follower of the books of R. Avigdor Miller and the like.
Today, I'm an old-earth Creationist. I'm pretty convinced of the truth of evolution, of the age of the Universe and most of the evidence that is used to support it. I'm far more skeptical today than I was nineteen years ago.
Nineteen years ago, I had pictured that I would make my mark writing fiction.
Today my non-fiction is read far more widely than my fiction ever was.
Nineteen years ago, I was just beginning to appreciate the value of Jewish learning. Having come out of a wasted high school career, I was certain that learning Gemara was a waste of time. The beis medrash I was enrolled in back then was slowly beginning to change my mind.
Today, I see immense value in Jewish learning. I see that it can teaches and instructs us in how to live our lives. I have learned to see value and opportunities for understanding in lessons that I might have considered obviously false and worthless nineteen years ago. I've learned to appreciate Midrash for what it is, and not for what others try to make it out to be.
Nineteen years ago, I would have believed anyone who told me about mekubalim, miracles performed by modern-day rabbis and the like.
Today, I'm far more skeptical. I'm not saying that it's impossible, but I've set the bar of proof a lot higher than I used to.
Nineteen years ago, I followed professional baseball passionately.
Today, I follow the game casually. I watched about two or three innings from the just-completed World Series. Other interests have caused baseball to fade into the background. Now, I spend more time on photography, on game design, on my blog and with my family.
Nineteen years ago, I didn't appreciate how much my parents put into raising Skipper and myself.
Today I have a far better understanding of what they went through.
Nineteen years ago, I was conflicted about who I was and what I wanted to be. I wasn't sure if I belonged in the yeshivish crowd, or among the Young Israel crowd, or in any of half a dozen other groups.
Today, I am finally comfortable where I am, in the middle of no particular group.
Nineteen years ago, I could barely learn Mishnayos.
Today, I just recently completed a siyum on all six sedarim of Mishnayos.
Nineteen years ago, I never could have imagined the Internet.
Today I earn my living through it. My life (and just about everyone's) is permanently changed because of it. Sometimes I wonder how I got through most of my life without it.
Nineteen years ago, I was a social wallflower.
Today, I'm still somewhat of a wallflower... but thanks to Eeees, I've become more social over the years.
Nineteen years ago, I was a slow-to-anger kid... it took a lot to get me upset, but when I finally got pushed over the line, I let it all out.
Today, I've learned to control those outbursts so that I don't even let it out anymore. I try to keep it as bottled up as I can and let it out in small doses over time.
Nineteen years ago, I was an Emergency Medical Technician.
Today I have no inclination to go into the medical field at all.
Nineteen years ago, I had just been fired from a job as a Ba'al Kriah for incompetence.
Today, I am a competent ba'al kriah, thanks to a shul where they were willing to work with me and help me to improve my laining.
Ninteen years ago, I thought I knew everything.
Today, not only do I not know everything, but I know that what I know now will be nothing compared to what I'll know in another nineteen years.
Nineteen years ago, I was committed to leading a life of Torah and Mitzvos.
Today, I still have that same commitment.
That's a brief picture of where I was back then and where I am now. I suppose the next question is, where am I going? What will I be like in nineteen years? What do I want my future to be like in nineteen years? Well, let's see, in nineteen years, my kids will all be in their 30s -- far closer to my current age than they their current ages. It's likely that all of them will be parents as well. With HKBH's help, they'll all be living Torah-observant lifestyles, raising their children to do the same.
But what about me? How do I see myself in nineteen years? I'm not sure that I can answer that... and maybe that's a failing on my part. I suppose I see myself having a lot more books in my head, both Judaic and secular. I certainly hope to see myself better able to learn Torah and far more advanced in my Torah learning than I am today. But I also hope to be far better read in science, literature and culture than I am today. I hope to be able to further build my skills in debate and rhetoric so as to be able to better articulate my feelings and ideas. I hope to become a better lomed mikul adam (someone who learns from everyone else).
And I hope to continue falling even further in love with Eeees; and that she does so with me. :)
The Wolf
* Alas, this isn't the case for me. Nineteen years ago, the cycle was off by one day for me. Furthermore, the cycle will again be off for me in 2026, 2045 and 2064. The next time these two dates come together on this cycle is in 2083.
There is another example of a date that can be used for reflection and resolution -- one that is personal to each individual person. That day is one's birthday. Everyone has a birthday once a year (even those people born on February 29 have a birthday every year, it's just celebrated on March 1st.) and can use it as a chance to look back at the past year and reflect on the upcoming one.
Most Orthodox Jews are well aware of the fact that they have two birthdays, one in the Gregorian calendar and one in the Hebrew calendar. The two calendars sync up on a nineteen-year cycle, so that every nineteen years, most people have their Hebrew and English birthdays together again.*
Today is my birthday, and it is a birthday that is a multiple of that nineteen year cycle. This affords me a chance to not only look back at the last year, but also at the last nineteen, and reflect at where I was in life nineteen years ago, what has changed for me since then, and what things might be like (and what I want them to be like) nineteen years from now.
Nineteen years ago, I was a young kid.
Now I am fully an adult.
Nineteen years ago, I was thin.
Now I'm fat -- although in the interim, I was fat and thin and then fat again.
Nineteen years ago I had a girlfriend with whom I wanted to spend my life, with whom I wanted to raise a Jewish family and with whom I was completely in love.
Now, I'm married to that same girl, have three children, a home of my own, and realize that what I felt then for Eeees was barely an infatuation compared to the feelings I have for her now.
Nineteen years ago, I was in my first year of college.
Today I'm applying to go back to college yet again.
Nineteen years ago, I had four living grandparents.
Today I have one.
Nineteen years ago, I had five aunts who were all happily married.
Today, only two are still married. Two are divorced and one is widowed.
Nineteen years ago, I was helping Skipper (my sister) get through high-school math.
Today, I'm helping Walter (my son) get through high-school math.
Nineteen years ago, I was a firm believer in a young earth, in biblical literalism and an avid follower of the books of R. Avigdor Miller and the like.
Today, I'm an old-earth Creationist. I'm pretty convinced of the truth of evolution, of the age of the Universe and most of the evidence that is used to support it. I'm far more skeptical today than I was nineteen years ago.
Nineteen years ago, I had pictured that I would make my mark writing fiction.
Today my non-fiction is read far more widely than my fiction ever was.
Nineteen years ago, I was just beginning to appreciate the value of Jewish learning. Having come out of a wasted high school career, I was certain that learning Gemara was a waste of time. The beis medrash I was enrolled in back then was slowly beginning to change my mind.
Today, I see immense value in Jewish learning. I see that it can teaches and instructs us in how to live our lives. I have learned to see value and opportunities for understanding in lessons that I might have considered obviously false and worthless nineteen years ago. I've learned to appreciate Midrash for what it is, and not for what others try to make it out to be.
Nineteen years ago, I would have believed anyone who told me about mekubalim, miracles performed by modern-day rabbis and the like.
Today, I'm far more skeptical. I'm not saying that it's impossible, but I've set the bar of proof a lot higher than I used to.
Nineteen years ago, I followed professional baseball passionately.
Today, I follow the game casually. I watched about two or three innings from the just-completed World Series. Other interests have caused baseball to fade into the background. Now, I spend more time on photography, on game design, on my blog and with my family.
Nineteen years ago, I didn't appreciate how much my parents put into raising Skipper and myself.
Today I have a far better understanding of what they went through.
Nineteen years ago, I was conflicted about who I was and what I wanted to be. I wasn't sure if I belonged in the yeshivish crowd, or among the Young Israel crowd, or in any of half a dozen other groups.
Today, I am finally comfortable where I am, in the middle of no particular group.
Nineteen years ago, I could barely learn Mishnayos.
Today, I just recently completed a siyum on all six sedarim of Mishnayos.
Nineteen years ago, I never could have imagined the Internet.
Today I earn my living through it. My life (and just about everyone's) is permanently changed because of it. Sometimes I wonder how I got through most of my life without it.
Nineteen years ago, I was a social wallflower.
Today, I'm still somewhat of a wallflower... but thanks to Eeees, I've become more social over the years.
Nineteen years ago, I was a slow-to-anger kid... it took a lot to get me upset, but when I finally got pushed over the line, I let it all out.
Today, I've learned to control those outbursts so that I don't even let it out anymore. I try to keep it as bottled up as I can and let it out in small doses over time.
Nineteen years ago, I was an Emergency Medical Technician.
Today I have no inclination to go into the medical field at all.
Nineteen years ago, I had just been fired from a job as a Ba'al Kriah for incompetence.
Today, I am a competent ba'al kriah, thanks to a shul where they were willing to work with me and help me to improve my laining.
Ninteen years ago, I thought I knew everything.
Today, not only do I not know everything, but I know that what I know now will be nothing compared to what I'll know in another nineteen years.
Nineteen years ago, I was committed to leading a life of Torah and Mitzvos.
Today, I still have that same commitment.
That's a brief picture of where I was back then and where I am now. I suppose the next question is, where am I going? What will I be like in nineteen years? What do I want my future to be like in nineteen years? Well, let's see, in nineteen years, my kids will all be in their 30s -- far closer to my current age than they their current ages. It's likely that all of them will be parents as well. With HKBH's help, they'll all be living Torah-observant lifestyles, raising their children to do the same.
But what about me? How do I see myself in nineteen years? I'm not sure that I can answer that... and maybe that's a failing on my part. I suppose I see myself having a lot more books in my head, both Judaic and secular. I certainly hope to see myself better able to learn Torah and far more advanced in my Torah learning than I am today. But I also hope to be far better read in science, literature and culture than I am today. I hope to be able to further build my skills in debate and rhetoric so as to be able to better articulate my feelings and ideas. I hope to become a better lomed mikul adam (someone who learns from everyone else).
And I hope to continue falling even further in love with Eeees; and that she does so with me. :)
The Wolf
* Alas, this isn't the case for me. Nineteen years ago, the cycle was off by one day for me. Furthermore, the cycle will again be off for me in 2026, 2045 and 2064. The next time these two dates come together on this cycle is in 2083.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Our Kids... Do We Want To Force Them To Keep The Mitzvos?
Rabbi Horowitz (who has been recently appointed at the "Bloggers' favorite rabbi") wrote a new article concerning teenagers. He makes the point that there are kids who rebel at young ages (13 or 14) and no longer have an interest in being frum. These aren't kids who are getting involved in drugs, alcohol, sex, etc., they just aren't interested in keeping the mitzvos (commandments).
As he says:
I am getting a new wave of parents begging me to speak to their children. The profile is chillingly similar: 13-14 years old boys and girls. High achieving in school. No emotional problems; great, respectful kids from great homes. Well adjusted. They just don’t want to be frum. Period. They are eating on Yom Kippur, not keeping Shabbos, not keeping kosher; et al.
What I found interesting was that right away, the very first commenter, chose to bury his (or her) head in the sand. The comment was:
I dont believe it. 13 and 14 year old kids are still very much under their parents control. They might not be as frum as their parents might want them to be, but eating on Yom Kippur and being Mechalel Shabbos at home with their parents there? Personally I think that you are trying to scare up some business for yourself. Maybe get more speaking engagements or more people reading your column. Kids at that age are not bold enough to go against their parents.
The commenter, IMHO, missed the point entirely. Could a parent enforce observance on a thirteen or fourteen year old? Probably. They could probably lock up the kitchen on Yom Kippur, make sure the kid doesn't go to parties on Friday night, bentches after every meal and so on. But is that really what we want? In my opinion, if you have to *force* kids to keep the mitzvos, then you've already lost a good deal of the battle.
Teenagers (and yes, even ones as young as 13) are old enough to begin searching for their own identity and to begin forming world-views. They are no longer at an age where they will simply accept the hashkafos of parents simply because it's what their parents believe and do. They are beginning to find their way in the world and will not be stuffed back in the bottle. As the parent of three kids in the age range of 11 to 14, I can tell you that they can all think independently of how you *want* them to think.
The goal, as I said earlier, is not to enforce observance of the mitzvos. The goal should be to foster an environment in which your children *want* to keep the mitzvos. That's the only method that has any chance of success... because the time will come when your thirteen-year-old turns twenty, and you have no control over him/her at all. At that point, the only thing that you have left is how much you made your kids want to keep the mitzvos. You won't be able to force them anymore.
The Wolf
As he says:
I am getting a new wave of parents begging me to speak to their children. The profile is chillingly similar: 13-14 years old boys and girls. High achieving in school. No emotional problems; great, respectful kids from great homes. Well adjusted. They just don’t want to be frum. Period. They are eating on Yom Kippur, not keeping Shabbos, not keeping kosher; et al.
No anger, no drugs, no promiscuous activity. They are just not buying what we are selling. Some have decided to ‘go public’, while others are still ‘in the closet’. In some of the cases, their educators have no idea of what is really going on.
What I found interesting was that right away, the very first commenter, chose to bury his (or her) head in the sand. The comment was:
I dont believe it. 13 and 14 year old kids are still very much under their parents control. They might not be as frum as their parents might want them to be, but eating on Yom Kippur and being Mechalel Shabbos at home with their parents there? Personally I think that you are trying to scare up some business for yourself. Maybe get more speaking engagements or more people reading your column. Kids at that age are not bold enough to go against their parents.
The commenter, IMHO, missed the point entirely. Could a parent enforce observance on a thirteen or fourteen year old? Probably. They could probably lock up the kitchen on Yom Kippur, make sure the kid doesn't go to parties on Friday night, bentches after every meal and so on. But is that really what we want? In my opinion, if you have to *force* kids to keep the mitzvos, then you've already lost a good deal of the battle.
Teenagers (and yes, even ones as young as 13) are old enough to begin searching for their own identity and to begin forming world-views. They are no longer at an age where they will simply accept the hashkafos of parents simply because it's what their parents believe and do. They are beginning to find their way in the world and will not be stuffed back in the bottle. As the parent of three kids in the age range of 11 to 14, I can tell you that they can all think independently of how you *want* them to think.
The goal, as I said earlier, is not to enforce observance of the mitzvos. The goal should be to foster an environment in which your children *want* to keep the mitzvos. That's the only method that has any chance of success... because the time will come when your thirteen-year-old turns twenty, and you have no control over him/her at all. At that point, the only thing that you have left is how much you made your kids want to keep the mitzvos. You won't be able to force them anymore.
The Wolf
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Geocentrism: Jewish Press Readers Let Amnon Goldberg Have It
Last week, Amnon Goldberg wrote a letter to the Jewish Press advocating that the hard-geocentric model (i.e. that the earth is the center of the universe, not just the solar system) as the Torah-true model. I blogged about one little absurdity to the theory.
Well, in today's Jewish Press, there are six letters to the editor, all of which concern the extended debate surrounding Rabbi Natan Slifkin. Of the six letters, five take issue with Amnon Goldberg's letter and theory. Several of them even brought up the point that I made in my post, that a "rotating universe" would require most objects in the universe to zoom by at speeds far faster than the speed of light.
The Wolf
Well, in today's Jewish Press, there are six letters to the editor, all of which concern the extended debate surrounding Rabbi Natan Slifkin. Of the six letters, five take issue with Amnon Goldberg's letter and theory. Several of them even brought up the point that I made in my post, that a "rotating universe" would require most objects in the universe to zoom by at speeds far faster than the speed of light.
The Wolf
Monday, October 08, 2007
You Don't Have To Buy The Whole Package
Eeees and I recently attended a Bar Mitzvah. In fact, it was the Bar Mitzvah of the son of the couple with whom we had our snootiness problem about two years ago. Over the last two years, we have become friendly with the family, had them over to our house for meals, invited them to our son's Bar Mitzvah and now attended the Bar Mitzvah of their oldest son.
This Bar Mitzvah was not like the Bar Mitzvah that we had for our son. We had separate seating, they had mixed seating. All of our music was Jewish, theirs had quite a few modern tunes. Ours had a mechitza for dancing, theirs didn't. At theirs, the DJ gave away a giant blowup Simpson's couch to the best dancers (thank God our kids didn't come away with that - they were orange! :) ). We didn't have a DJ or prizes. But that's fine... no one has to do things our way, or their way.
During the festivities, Eeees and I talked about how our Bar Mitzvah was different from this and concluded that this type of affair was not one that we would have. If we had Walter's Bar Mitzvah to do over again, we would probably do it the same way again. Aside from the separate seating (which we did for other reasons), we preferred the way we did it to the way this Bar Mitzvah went. That's not to say that this Bar Mitzvah wasn't good... we had a great time, and loved being present to help celebrate our friend's simcha. It's just not the way we would do it... but that's fine - as I said above, two people don't have to celebrate the same simcha the same way.
One of the things that we talked about at the affair was how we seem to be somewhere in-between several different mehalchim (paths). We're not Yeshivish, yet I wouldn't say that we're really Modern Orthodox either. This past Shabbos we ate with a family who could be described as Yeshivish, maybe even Chareidi-like... and we were comfortable and had a great time. At the same time, we are also comfortable with our friends who just had the Bar Mitzvah, and they are clearly Modern-Orthodox and have a good time with them as well. We daven in a shul that could be described as Yeshivish, but yet has many people who are not in the Yeshivish mold. I don't wear a hat, nor do I cover my head with my tallis, and yet I am the regular ba'al kriah there and sometime ba'al tefillah as well. We hang around with people who are to the "right" of us and the "left" of us. So, where do we fit? What's our "label?" With which community to we belong? That was the question that Eeees asked me yesterday.
I responded to her that you don't have to buy the whole package from any one group. You can take some elements that you like from the Yeshivish mehalech, and some elements from the Modern Orthodox mehalech and some elements from other mehalchim and synthesize them into your own mehalech. There is no one, I told her (apart from some Chareidim) that say that you have to take the entire package of any one group and live by it. Feel free to borrow from here or from there. Sure, you may not end up fitting neatly into one of the "labels" but who cares? People don't (or shouldn't) live their lives to fit into a label -- they should live their lives according to the values, ideals and mores that they hold dear and wish to live by. And that's actually how we've been living our lives for the last sixteen years, taking a bit from here and a bit from there to form our own whole. Maybe we should start a new mehalech called "Wolfish?"
It's very interesting living in-between the different communities. We have a television in our house (and yes, it's in the living room -- not hidden away in our bedroom or in a closet). We go out to movies. I'm a firm believer in higher education (read: college) and critical thinking. I'm a firm believer in encouraging children to ask questions, not stifling them. If you're a regular reader of my blog, then you know my position on many matters regarding Judaism today. I'm very open about who I am and what I believe.
And yet, Eeees covers her hair -- not because of societal pressure, but because she believes that it's the right thing to do. I learn every day, not because I think it's an interesting intellectual pursuit or because I think that the learning police are going to catch me if I don't -- I do it because I think it's the right thing to do. I don't have secular music at a seudas mitzvah not because I don't like secular music, but because I think that, for me, it doesn't have a place at a seudas mitzvah. I monitor which television shows my kids watch, what movies they see and what internet sites they visit, because I think it's the right thing to do. (As an aside, George won a Simpsons blow up doll by the Bar Mitzvah. The DJ asked him who he likes better, Bart or Homer. Eeees and I were laughing because we knew that he had no idea who either of them were -- we don't let our twelve year old watch The Simpsons.) We have some definite ideas about what is considered tznius and how a young girl should act. We have rules on how we feel that our sons, as B'nei Torah should act, both in the Bein Adam LaMakom and Bein Adam L'Chaveiro categories. We have standards of kashrus that the kids know that they can't eat in certain places, even if they are labeled as kosher.
So, we're neither here nor there. But you know what? I'm happy that way.
The Wolf
(Side note: While I was composing this post, Walter called me to inform me of two extracurricular clubs he is joining at school. One will work through mishnayos Seder Nizikin and finish by the end of the school year. The other is a Latin club. It seems that he too wants to take from multiple mehalchim as well.)
This Bar Mitzvah was not like the Bar Mitzvah that we had for our son. We had separate seating, they had mixed seating. All of our music was Jewish, theirs had quite a few modern tunes. Ours had a mechitza for dancing, theirs didn't. At theirs, the DJ gave away a giant blowup Simpson's couch to the best dancers (thank God our kids didn't come away with that - they were orange! :) ). We didn't have a DJ or prizes. But that's fine... no one has to do things our way, or their way.
During the festivities, Eeees and I talked about how our Bar Mitzvah was different from this and concluded that this type of affair was not one that we would have. If we had Walter's Bar Mitzvah to do over again, we would probably do it the same way again. Aside from the separate seating (which we did for other reasons), we preferred the way we did it to the way this Bar Mitzvah went. That's not to say that this Bar Mitzvah wasn't good... we had a great time, and loved being present to help celebrate our friend's simcha. It's just not the way we would do it... but that's fine - as I said above, two people don't have to celebrate the same simcha the same way.
One of the things that we talked about at the affair was how we seem to be somewhere in-between several different mehalchim (paths). We're not Yeshivish, yet I wouldn't say that we're really Modern Orthodox either. This past Shabbos we ate with a family who could be described as Yeshivish, maybe even Chareidi-like... and we were comfortable and had a great time. At the same time, we are also comfortable with our friends who just had the Bar Mitzvah, and they are clearly Modern-Orthodox and have a good time with them as well. We daven in a shul that could be described as Yeshivish, but yet has many people who are not in the Yeshivish mold. I don't wear a hat, nor do I cover my head with my tallis, and yet I am the regular ba'al kriah there and sometime ba'al tefillah as well. We hang around with people who are to the "right" of us and the "left" of us. So, where do we fit? What's our "label?" With which community to we belong? That was the question that Eeees asked me yesterday.
I responded to her that you don't have to buy the whole package from any one group. You can take some elements that you like from the Yeshivish mehalech, and some elements from the Modern Orthodox mehalech and some elements from other mehalchim and synthesize them into your own mehalech. There is no one, I told her (apart from some Chareidim) that say that you have to take the entire package of any one group and live by it. Feel free to borrow from here or from there. Sure, you may not end up fitting neatly into one of the "labels" but who cares? People don't (or shouldn't) live their lives to fit into a label -- they should live their lives according to the values, ideals and mores that they hold dear and wish to live by. And that's actually how we've been living our lives for the last sixteen years, taking a bit from here and a bit from there to form our own whole. Maybe we should start a new mehalech called "Wolfish?"
It's very interesting living in-between the different communities. We have a television in our house (and yes, it's in the living room -- not hidden away in our bedroom or in a closet). We go out to movies. I'm a firm believer in higher education (read: college) and critical thinking. I'm a firm believer in encouraging children to ask questions, not stifling them. If you're a regular reader of my blog, then you know my position on many matters regarding Judaism today. I'm very open about who I am and what I believe.
And yet, Eeees covers her hair -- not because of societal pressure, but because she believes that it's the right thing to do. I learn every day, not because I think it's an interesting intellectual pursuit or because I think that the learning police are going to catch me if I don't -- I do it because I think it's the right thing to do. I don't have secular music at a seudas mitzvah not because I don't like secular music, but because I think that, for me, it doesn't have a place at a seudas mitzvah. I monitor which television shows my kids watch, what movies they see and what internet sites they visit, because I think it's the right thing to do. (As an aside, George won a Simpsons blow up doll by the Bar Mitzvah. The DJ asked him who he likes better, Bart or Homer. Eeees and I were laughing because we knew that he had no idea who either of them were -- we don't let our twelve year old watch The Simpsons.) We have some definite ideas about what is considered tznius and how a young girl should act. We have rules on how we feel that our sons, as B'nei Torah should act, both in the Bein Adam LaMakom and Bein Adam L'Chaveiro categories. We have standards of kashrus that the kids know that they can't eat in certain places, even if they are labeled as kosher.
So, we're neither here nor there. But you know what? I'm happy that way.
The Wolf
(Side note: While I was composing this post, Walter called me to inform me of two extracurricular clubs he is joining at school. One will work through mishnayos Seder Nizikin and finish by the end of the school year. The other is a Latin club. It seems that he too wants to take from multiple mehalchim as well.)
Sunday, October 07, 2007
A Quick Take on Geocentrism
This past week's Jewish Press had a letter from Amnon Goldberg, of Sefad, Israel, advocating geocentrism as the Torah-true view of cosmology. He relies on Mach's Principle (something that has never been fully accepted by the scientific community) to make the point. He states:
Mach’s Principle shows that a universe going around the Earth every 24 hours will produce exactly the same effects as Foucault’s Pendulum, Coriolis forces, earth bulge, weather patterns etc., as an Earth rotating in its axis every 24 hours.
Now, I'm not going to claim that I fully understand Mach's Principle, but one of the main problems I have with it is this:
The Andromeda Galaxy is the closest galaxy to the Milky Way. It lies aproximately 2.5 million light-years away from us. If one maintains that the entire universe rotates around the earth every day, that means that the Andromeda Galaxy would speed along, making a 15.7 million light-year journey every day (circumference = pi * diameter)*. That results in a speed *much* faster than the speed of light. And objects that are even further away would have to travel even faster to make it around the earth every day. To me, a rotating earth sounds much more reasonable.
The Wolf
(*Yes, I know the path that the galaxy would take would be an elipse and not a circle -- I just used the formula for the circumference of a circle as an approximation.)
Mach’s Principle shows that a universe going around the Earth every 24 hours will produce exactly the same effects as Foucault’s Pendulum, Coriolis forces, earth bulge, weather patterns etc., as an Earth rotating in its axis every 24 hours.
Now, I'm not going to claim that I fully understand Mach's Principle, but one of the main problems I have with it is this:
The Andromeda Galaxy is the closest galaxy to the Milky Way. It lies aproximately 2.5 million light-years away from us. If one maintains that the entire universe rotates around the earth every day, that means that the Andromeda Galaxy would speed along, making a 15.7 million light-year journey every day (circumference = pi * diameter)*. That results in a speed *much* faster than the speed of light. And objects that are even further away would have to travel even faster to make it around the earth every day. To me, a rotating earth sounds much more reasonable.
The Wolf
(*Yes, I know the path that the galaxy would take would be an elipse and not a circle -- I just used the formula for the circumference of a circle as an approximation.)
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Are Children Conceived Through IVF Spiritually Defective? -- Part II
Back in June, I commented on a column on Chabad.org by Rabbi Manis Friedman regarding couples who use IVF (and other assistive methods)* to have children. In his original article (no longer available at Chabad.org, but available here), he argues that children born through IVF are somehow spiritually deficient. He brings two examples of people whose conception was not 100% natural and how they required "correction" (his term) later in life.
This article generated a lot of debate and discussion at the time it was published and in the following months. Apparently, someone on the Imamother message board knows Rabbi Friedman and asked him for clarification of his statements. His response is below:
I find this response just as troubling as the original article.
In this response, Rabbi Friedman brings examples of birth trauma and other traumas that happen in the womb affecting a child later in life. I'm not qualified to state whether or not people have memories going as far back as in the womb, so I won't comment on that aspect of the article. Yet, even if I grant that he is correct on this, that's a far cry from saying that a person can remember something from before their very conception. It's one thing to say that a baby "remembers" a c-section, a premature birth or a difficult labor. It's another thing entirely to say that it remembers something that happened prior to its own conception.
Furthermore, when he says:
It is simply irresponsible to take comfort in the mistaken belief that the absence of that intimacy will have no effect.
I'm curious as to why he thinks this? Does he have some scientific data to show that the lack of intimacy in the conception of a child is detrimental to the child? Has he done a study on this? Perhaps we should also account for the type of bra that the mother wore right before conception or the brand of mattress that was used. Is it "simply irresponsible" to dismiss these possible factors? No, it's not... simply because there is no data to show that they have any effect on the child. The same could be said for the lack of intimacy itself.
Now, if Rabbi Friedman were simply leaving matters in the spiritual realm (i.e. that such a child has spiritual difficulties), I could disagree with him, but not really disprove his point. However, he goes on further to state:
Practically, a child born through assisted reproduction might at some point in life, for example, need help with their own capacity for intimacy or closeness in interpersonal relationships. Should such a problem develop, parents should know where to look for the cause.
In other words, the problems that such children face are not only spiritual, but also emotional and social. Well, now, we have something that we can test for. Does he know of a study that shows that IVF children have these emotional and social problems? Does he have some data (even anecdotal) that we are not privy too? My guess would be no.
To be fair, he uses the weasel-word "might." But since he doesn't *know* what the effects are, he could just as easily have said any of the following:
All of the above have just as much scientific validity as his statement.
He tries to soften his criticism by stating that the parents of IVF children did nothing wrong, but even so, the kids need a fix. As he states:
Like in a case where one must violate Shabbos to save a life – no one would ever argue that saving this life wasn’t an incredible mitzvah. And yet, there’s Teshuva that needs to be done to rectify the “overridden” Shabbos. Or if a Rov instructs someone to break their fast on Yom Kippur, they should make up for the “lost” fast on another day – even though absolutely no sin or transgression was committed.
Now, I will grant that Rabbi Friedman knows far more about halacha than I do. But the above paragraph is downright puzzling. If one is required to override Shabbos to save a life, then it is a mitzvah to do so... and you should *never* need to do teshuva for doing a mitzvah. Part of teshuva is vowing not to do the same thing again in similar circumstances. How could a person do that... in the same circumstance, they are *required* to do the same thing. If one has to pick up the phone to call an ambulance on Shabbos, then I can't see how teshuva is required... if the same circumstance came up again, you'd do the same thing! I can't fathom the idea that Hatzoloh members, who respond to calls on Shabbos and Yom Tov have to do teshuva for their actions.
(That being said, I do recognize that it is possible to have to override Shabbos and still be at fault. One who leaves work late on Friday and now finds himself driving through a dangerous situation when Shabbos starts has to keep driving... but there is some negligence on his part and some teshuva is required there... but unless he is calling infertile parents negligent, then the two cases are not analogous.)
He goes on to state:
Similarly, we need to pay attention to the assisted reproduction child’s “loss” while that does not in any way – whatsoever – imply guilt or wrongdoing on the part of the parents.
That's fine, I suppose. The same logic applies to crack babies too -- it's not their fault, but there is, nonetheless, a serious problem. However, at least with crack babies, there is a measurable, observable deficiency that we can then use to go back to pregnant women and say "Don't smoke crack! If you do, your baby will have problems X, Y and Z." But in this case, we don't have any data as to what the problems will be... indeed, Rabbi Friedman didn't even come up with any conclusive problems at all!
Lastly, I found it interesting that while in this response he recommends searching for a homeopathic doctor to address problems that arise in such children, he did not do so in the original article. In the original article, the recommended method of overcoming problems with such children was the saying of Chitas (a Hebrew acronym for Chumash, Tehillim and Tanya).
In short, I'm not sure what Rabbi Friedman was hoping to gain with this response. He is making the mistake of comparing post-conception traumas to things that happen before conception (where no trauma is possible -- how can you traumatize that which does not yet exist?) and using faulty logic to show that some sort of "fix" is necessary to a problem that he himself is not sure exists.
The Wolf
Hat tip: OnionSoupMix
*(As in my last post, I'm using IVF as short-hand for all types of artificial reproductive assistance)
This article generated a lot of debate and discussion at the time it was published and in the following months. Apparently, someone on the Imamother message board knows Rabbi Friedman and asked him for clarification of his statements. His response is below:
I am writing in response to questions received about an article of mine that appeared on Chabad.org about assisted reproduction.
Firstly let me note that the article was written as part of a symposium on the subject and was meant to present only one aspect of the discussion – namely the importance and significance of intimacy, and was not in any way intended to be a Halachic ruling or direct instruction to individuals who required the blessing of assisted reproduction.
HaShem created an incredibly intricate world with countless details. As students of Torah, we believe that no detail, large or small, is insignificant. Each creation is made a certain way for certain reasons.
If this is true of the growth of a single blade of grass, as the Baal Shem Tov teaches, then surely it is true of the birth of a child. If a child is born a certain way it is for a specific reason, and that reason is not trivial or dispensable.
The fact that a child is created from man and woman; the fact that the gestation period is nine months; the fact that birth involves contractions and labor; these are all necessary for the child’s future, as are all the other attending details. Should anything be changed or different, that would effect some quality or aspect of the baby’s health that would need to be compensated for.
Even conventional health professionals are coming to recognize that certain problems in adulthood can be traced to unusually difficult labor, premature birth, cesarean section, and other birth irregularities.
As the circumstances of birth do so effect the development of the child, it is important and helpful to know what those effects are and what particular circumstances may have contributed to their presence. For example, what are the special needs of a child born prematurely? Another example would be the lasting effect of separation from the mother too soon after birth. These effects can be physical or emotional and are not limited to childhood but last into adulthood.
To dismiss this would be irresponsible and detrimental to the child.
The same must be said of the importance and significance of the physical contact and relationship that leads to conception. It is simply irresponsible to take comfort in the mistaken belief that the absence of that intimacy will have no effect.
Like in a case where one must violate Shabbos to save a life – no one would ever argue that saving this life wasn’t an incredible mitzvah. And yet, there’s Teshuva that needs to be done to rectify the “overridden” Shabbos. Or if a Rov instructs someone to break their fast on Yom Kippur, they should make up for the “lost” fast on another day – even though absolutely no sin or transgression was committed. Similarly, we need to pay attention to the assisted reproduction child’s “loss” while that does not in any way – whatsoever – imply guilt or wrongdoing on the part of the parents. It is a responsible recognition of the child’s unique condition, and, in fact, would be a natural extension of the selflessness that the parents have already clearly demonstrated!
There is no question that those who use assisted reproduction, when all else has failed, certainly love their child and very likely give them more affection than the regular birth child. There’s also no question that, having checked with a rov and following his instructions, that child will then be born completely in accordance with HaShem’s will.
But even a miracle baby may need some special attention to compensate for the lack of the physical, natural process – however miraculous. Like the Torah tells us of the Monn food from heaven couldn’t satisfy like food from earth.
Therefore, my point about this process is that people should be aware. Parents should know that the physical intimacy of mother and father is necessary not only for them but for the child as well.
Practically, a child born through assisted reproduction might at some point in life, for example, need help with their own capacity for intimacy or closeness in interpersonal relationships. Should such a problem develop, parents should know where to look for the cause.
If, for example, a child shows signs of alienation or distance and cant seem to warm up to a relationship, the first thing to consider is to remedy the absence of intimacy in his or her own birth process. (And I would strongly encourage to seek out a good homeopathic doctor who will find the right remedy for the individual child.)
As I mentioned, this is the case with many birth irregularities. We know this is true of children who are weaned prematurely. The same would be true of a child who, because of an emergency, is whisked away from the mother before she could hold the child. There’s no question that in an emergency, the child should be whisked away and – in spite of the possibility for undesirable consequences – rushing the child away immediately is the right thing to do. But at the same time, we must not dismiss the trauma that that causes.
So when assisted reproduction is a necessary alternative and the circumstances are such that halacha allows it, then it is not only allowed but necessary and it facilitates the performance of this awesome mitzvah. But the original and natural method of conception holds benefit that this child will not be receiving, far more significant than the difference between, for example, mother’s milk or formula.
It is true, as many have pointed out, that the Messiras Nefesh and emotional involvement of the parents in the assisted reproduction process, and the and deep bond it can create, may in fact compensate to a greater or lesser degree. But it is not a certainty that would render this conversation moot.
So, I am not disagreeing with Halacha and I am not dismissing, G-d forbid, the virtues and miracles of assisted reproduction. I’m only urging that in using these methods, we not pretend that nothing is missing.
In conclusion, this subject demands a lot of study and a lot of thought. The purpose of the original article was not to discuss the virtues of alternative birth processes, but to talk about the significance and importance of real, holy, sacred intimacy – something sorely lacking in modern society as a whole.
Those couples who have babies through assisted reproduction should be rewarded for their efforts and be blessed with only Nachas form their children and children’s children in the merit of their Mesiras Nefesh and may they never need any remedy or any compensating. But just in case… it’s good to know.
Wishing you and all of Klal Yisroel a Gmar Chassima Tova.
Sincerely,
Rabbi Manis Friedman
Firstly let me note that the article was written as part of a symposium on the subject and was meant to present only one aspect of the discussion – namely the importance and significance of intimacy, and was not in any way intended to be a Halachic ruling or direct instruction to individuals who required the blessing of assisted reproduction.
HaShem created an incredibly intricate world with countless details. As students of Torah, we believe that no detail, large or small, is insignificant. Each creation is made a certain way for certain reasons.
If this is true of the growth of a single blade of grass, as the Baal Shem Tov teaches, then surely it is true of the birth of a child. If a child is born a certain way it is for a specific reason, and that reason is not trivial or dispensable.
The fact that a child is created from man and woman; the fact that the gestation period is nine months; the fact that birth involves contractions and labor; these are all necessary for the child’s future, as are all the other attending details. Should anything be changed or different, that would effect some quality or aspect of the baby’s health that would need to be compensated for.
Even conventional health professionals are coming to recognize that certain problems in adulthood can be traced to unusually difficult labor, premature birth, cesarean section, and other birth irregularities.
As the circumstances of birth do so effect the development of the child, it is important and helpful to know what those effects are and what particular circumstances may have contributed to their presence. For example, what are the special needs of a child born prematurely? Another example would be the lasting effect of separation from the mother too soon after birth. These effects can be physical or emotional and are not limited to childhood but last into adulthood.
To dismiss this would be irresponsible and detrimental to the child.
The same must be said of the importance and significance of the physical contact and relationship that leads to conception. It is simply irresponsible to take comfort in the mistaken belief that the absence of that intimacy will have no effect.
Like in a case where one must violate Shabbos to save a life – no one would ever argue that saving this life wasn’t an incredible mitzvah. And yet, there’s Teshuva that needs to be done to rectify the “overridden” Shabbos. Or if a Rov instructs someone to break their fast on Yom Kippur, they should make up for the “lost” fast on another day – even though absolutely no sin or transgression was committed. Similarly, we need to pay attention to the assisted reproduction child’s “loss” while that does not in any way – whatsoever – imply guilt or wrongdoing on the part of the parents. It is a responsible recognition of the child’s unique condition, and, in fact, would be a natural extension of the selflessness that the parents have already clearly demonstrated!
There is no question that those who use assisted reproduction, when all else has failed, certainly love their child and very likely give them more affection than the regular birth child. There’s also no question that, having checked with a rov and following his instructions, that child will then be born completely in accordance with HaShem’s will.
But even a miracle baby may need some special attention to compensate for the lack of the physical, natural process – however miraculous. Like the Torah tells us of the Monn food from heaven couldn’t satisfy like food from earth.
Therefore, my point about this process is that people should be aware. Parents should know that the physical intimacy of mother and father is necessary not only for them but for the child as well.
Practically, a child born through assisted reproduction might at some point in life, for example, need help with their own capacity for intimacy or closeness in interpersonal relationships. Should such a problem develop, parents should know where to look for the cause.
If, for example, a child shows signs of alienation or distance and cant seem to warm up to a relationship, the first thing to consider is to remedy the absence of intimacy in his or her own birth process. (And I would strongly encourage to seek out a good homeopathic doctor who will find the right remedy for the individual child.)
As I mentioned, this is the case with many birth irregularities. We know this is true of children who are weaned prematurely. The same would be true of a child who, because of an emergency, is whisked away from the mother before she could hold the child. There’s no question that in an emergency, the child should be whisked away and – in spite of the possibility for undesirable consequences – rushing the child away immediately is the right thing to do. But at the same time, we must not dismiss the trauma that that causes.
So when assisted reproduction is a necessary alternative and the circumstances are such that halacha allows it, then it is not only allowed but necessary and it facilitates the performance of this awesome mitzvah. But the original and natural method of conception holds benefit that this child will not be receiving, far more significant than the difference between, for example, mother’s milk or formula.
It is true, as many have pointed out, that the Messiras Nefesh and emotional involvement of the parents in the assisted reproduction process, and the and deep bond it can create, may in fact compensate to a greater or lesser degree. But it is not a certainty that would render this conversation moot.
So, I am not disagreeing with Halacha and I am not dismissing, G-d forbid, the virtues and miracles of assisted reproduction. I’m only urging that in using these methods, we not pretend that nothing is missing.
In conclusion, this subject demands a lot of study and a lot of thought. The purpose of the original article was not to discuss the virtues of alternative birth processes, but to talk about the significance and importance of real, holy, sacred intimacy – something sorely lacking in modern society as a whole.
Those couples who have babies through assisted reproduction should be rewarded for their efforts and be blessed with only Nachas form their children and children’s children in the merit of their Mesiras Nefesh and may they never need any remedy or any compensating. But just in case… it’s good to know.
Wishing you and all of Klal Yisroel a Gmar Chassima Tova.
Sincerely,
Rabbi Manis Friedman
I find this response just as troubling as the original article.
In this response, Rabbi Friedman brings examples of birth trauma and other traumas that happen in the womb affecting a child later in life. I'm not qualified to state whether or not people have memories going as far back as in the womb, so I won't comment on that aspect of the article. Yet, even if I grant that he is correct on this, that's a far cry from saying that a person can remember something from before their very conception. It's one thing to say that a baby "remembers" a c-section, a premature birth or a difficult labor. It's another thing entirely to say that it remembers something that happened prior to its own conception.
Furthermore, when he says:
It is simply irresponsible to take comfort in the mistaken belief that the absence of that intimacy will have no effect.
I'm curious as to why he thinks this? Does he have some scientific data to show that the lack of intimacy in the conception of a child is detrimental to the child? Has he done a study on this? Perhaps we should also account for the type of bra that the mother wore right before conception or the brand of mattress that was used. Is it "simply irresponsible" to dismiss these possible factors? No, it's not... simply because there is no data to show that they have any effect on the child. The same could be said for the lack of intimacy itself.
Now, if Rabbi Friedman were simply leaving matters in the spiritual realm (i.e. that such a child has spiritual difficulties), I could disagree with him, but not really disprove his point. However, he goes on further to state:
Practically, a child born through assisted reproduction might at some point in life, for example, need help with their own capacity for intimacy or closeness in interpersonal relationships. Should such a problem develop, parents should know where to look for the cause.
In other words, the problems that such children face are not only spiritual, but also emotional and social. Well, now, we have something that we can test for. Does he know of a study that shows that IVF children have these emotional and social problems? Does he have some data (even anecdotal) that we are not privy too? My guess would be no.
To be fair, he uses the weasel-word "might." But since he doesn't *know* what the effects are, he could just as easily have said any of the following:
- Practically, a child born through assisted reproduction might, at some point in life, for example, be strangely drawn to fertility clinics.
- Practically, a child born through assisted reproduction might, at some point in life, for example, show an unusual fondness for turkey basters.
- Practically, a child born through assisted reproduction might, at some point in life, for example, have a desire to marry a lab technician.
All of the above have just as much scientific validity as his statement.
He tries to soften his criticism by stating that the parents of IVF children did nothing wrong, but even so, the kids need a fix. As he states:
Like in a case where one must violate Shabbos to save a life – no one would ever argue that saving this life wasn’t an incredible mitzvah. And yet, there’s Teshuva that needs to be done to rectify the “overridden” Shabbos. Or if a Rov instructs someone to break their fast on Yom Kippur, they should make up for the “lost” fast on another day – even though absolutely no sin or transgression was committed.
Now, I will grant that Rabbi Friedman knows far more about halacha than I do. But the above paragraph is downright puzzling. If one is required to override Shabbos to save a life, then it is a mitzvah to do so... and you should *never* need to do teshuva for doing a mitzvah. Part of teshuva is vowing not to do the same thing again in similar circumstances. How could a person do that... in the same circumstance, they are *required* to do the same thing. If one has to pick up the phone to call an ambulance on Shabbos, then I can't see how teshuva is required... if the same circumstance came up again, you'd do the same thing! I can't fathom the idea that Hatzoloh members, who respond to calls on Shabbos and Yom Tov have to do teshuva for their actions.
(That being said, I do recognize that it is possible to have to override Shabbos and still be at fault. One who leaves work late on Friday and now finds himself driving through a dangerous situation when Shabbos starts has to keep driving... but there is some negligence on his part and some teshuva is required there... but unless he is calling infertile parents negligent, then the two cases are not analogous.)
He goes on to state:
Similarly, we need to pay attention to the assisted reproduction child’s “loss” while that does not in any way – whatsoever – imply guilt or wrongdoing on the part of the parents.
That's fine, I suppose. The same logic applies to crack babies too -- it's not their fault, but there is, nonetheless, a serious problem. However, at least with crack babies, there is a measurable, observable deficiency that we can then use to go back to pregnant women and say "Don't smoke crack! If you do, your baby will have problems X, Y and Z." But in this case, we don't have any data as to what the problems will be... indeed, Rabbi Friedman didn't even come up with any conclusive problems at all!
Lastly, I found it interesting that while in this response he recommends searching for a homeopathic doctor to address problems that arise in such children, he did not do so in the original article. In the original article, the recommended method of overcoming problems with such children was the saying of Chitas (a Hebrew acronym for Chumash, Tehillim and Tanya).
In short, I'm not sure what Rabbi Friedman was hoping to gain with this response. He is making the mistake of comparing post-conception traumas to things that happen before conception (where no trauma is possible -- how can you traumatize that which does not yet exist?) and using faulty logic to show that some sort of "fix" is necessary to a problem that he himself is not sure exists.
The Wolf
Hat tip: OnionSoupMix
*(As in my last post, I'm using IVF as short-hand for all types of artificial reproductive assistance)
Sunday, September 23, 2007
300 Seconds
The shul was running early by Neilah. Shofar blowing was scheduled for 7:37, but it was 7:10 and we were closing in on the end of Chazaras HaShatz. The Shliach Tzibur slowed down his recitation. We recited the entire Avinu Malkeinu responsively (instead of just the customary nine lines). As it turned out, that was quite a moving experience. We were on an emotional high at the close of the holiest day of the year. We all sang the last Avinu Malkenu together, beseeching God to grant us favor despite our lack of merits and asking Him for His charity and kindness.
And yet, when we finished, we were still five minutes too early. So the Rav told the Shliach Tzibur to wait five minutes before we started Sh'ma Yisroel.
We all had five minutes at this emotional and spiritual high point. 300 seconds. Some patiently waited. Some read or learned. Some took the opportunity to pray. I was one of the latter group.
I had 300 seconds of unscripted, improvisitional prayer time at this most unique part of the year. I had 300 more seconds to pray for whatever I wanted, not just what was printed in the machzor. 300 final seconds to pour out my heart to God above.
Some of the things I prayed for were selfish. I prayed that my family and I enjoy good health and happiness during the coming year. I prayed that we have good parnassah. I prayed that Walter do well in his new school and continue to grow in Torah. I prayed that George overcome his social issues and find happiness and friends. I prayed that Wilma continue to be the sweet, loveable girl that she is becoming. I prayed that Fred (the collective name for our kids) grow up to be people who are involved in Torah and Mitzvos their entire lives and be people that everyone in K'lal Yisroel can be proud of. I prayed that Eeees and I both have success in graduate school.
I also prayed that a wonderful single girl whom Eeees and I know finally finds her chosson. I also prayed that those who are waiting for children finally be granted them. I prayed that specific people who suffer from various physical ailments be granted a complete recovery; along with all the other people who need a complete recovery.
At some point, I moved on to things that were beyond the realm of my own circle. I prayed that this year there should be peace in K'lal Yisroel; that the various factions should stop fighting with one another. I prayed that it should be a year of greater understanding between the members of our seemingly hopelessly fractured nation. I prayed that this should be a year in which poverty and crime should be unknown among our people. I prayed that it should be a year in which everyone's prayers should be answered in the best way possible.
And I finished by praying that it should be a year in which we finally see the coming of Moshiach.
And just as I finished, the chazzan called out "Sh'ma Yisroel..." My 300 special seconds were up.
The Wolf
And yet, when we finished, we were still five minutes too early. So the Rav told the Shliach Tzibur to wait five minutes before we started Sh'ma Yisroel.
We all had five minutes at this emotional and spiritual high point. 300 seconds. Some patiently waited. Some read or learned. Some took the opportunity to pray. I was one of the latter group.
I had 300 seconds of unscripted, improvisitional prayer time at this most unique part of the year. I had 300 more seconds to pray for whatever I wanted, not just what was printed in the machzor. 300 final seconds to pour out my heart to God above.
Some of the things I prayed for were selfish. I prayed that my family and I enjoy good health and happiness during the coming year. I prayed that we have good parnassah. I prayed that Walter do well in his new school and continue to grow in Torah. I prayed that George overcome his social issues and find happiness and friends. I prayed that Wilma continue to be the sweet, loveable girl that she is becoming. I prayed that Fred (the collective name for our kids) grow up to be people who are involved in Torah and Mitzvos their entire lives and be people that everyone in K'lal Yisroel can be proud of. I prayed that Eeees and I both have success in graduate school.
I also prayed that a wonderful single girl whom Eeees and I know finally finds her chosson. I also prayed that those who are waiting for children finally be granted them. I prayed that specific people who suffer from various physical ailments be granted a complete recovery; along with all the other people who need a complete recovery.
At some point, I moved on to things that were beyond the realm of my own circle. I prayed that this year there should be peace in K'lal Yisroel; that the various factions should stop fighting with one another. I prayed that it should be a year of greater understanding between the members of our seemingly hopelessly fractured nation. I prayed that this should be a year in which poverty and crime should be unknown among our people. I prayed that it should be a year in which everyone's prayers should be answered in the best way possible.
And I finished by praying that it should be a year in which we finally see the coming of Moshiach.
And just as I finished, the chazzan called out "Sh'ma Yisroel..." My 300 special seconds were up.
The Wolf
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Quick Question About Shabbos, Yom Kippur and Avinu Malkeinu
Normally, on Yom Kippur, we say Avinu Malkeinu (Our Father, Our King) after each of the services. This year, however, because Yom Kippur comes out on Shabbos, it will be omitted (as the prayer is always omitted on Shabbos). Nonetheless, it *will* be recited following the last service, Neilah, at the close of the day.
My question, very simply, is why?
I came up with two hypotheses:
1. Since it is after shkiah (sunset) and it is only a safek (doubt) as to whether it is really Shabbos or not (depending on whether the day begins at shkiah or tzais hakochavim [when the stars appear]), we say it.
2. Neilah, being the last prayer of the day, is meant to end on a spiritual and emotional high note, and so the prayer is recited anyway, *despite* the fact that it is Shabbos.
Of course, the real answer could be a combination of these, or neither of the above.
Anyone have any thoughts?
The Wolf
My question, very simply, is why?
I came up with two hypotheses:
1. Since it is after shkiah (sunset) and it is only a safek (doubt) as to whether it is really Shabbos or not (depending on whether the day begins at shkiah or tzais hakochavim [when the stars appear]), we say it.
2. Neilah, being the last prayer of the day, is meant to end on a spiritual and emotional high note, and so the prayer is recited anyway, *despite* the fact that it is Shabbos.
Of course, the real answer could be a combination of these, or neither of the above.
Anyone have any thoughts?
The Wolf
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Menachem Boas -- Is He Still Working?
There is an artist named Menachem Boas, who specializes in the art of micography (also called microcalligraphy). This is an art form where words are used to form pictures.
There are many micographists in the Jewish community. Menachem Boas, however, is generally regarded as the best of the bunch. While most micographists work in black and white, he works in color.
I first came across his works about twenty years ago, when I visited my aunt and uncle in Baltimore. On their wall, they had a Boas print. It was a picture of Mordechai leading Haman around on a horse in Shushan. The text consisted of the entire book of Esther.
When I saw it, I fell in love with the art form. I thought it was both beautiful and clever, both stunning and ingenious (maybe that's why I like Escher as well). While I wouldn't say that I obsessed over it, I always looked forward to the day when I'd be able to get a copy of that print for myself.
That day eventually came when Eeees
bought it for me early in our marriage. It now proudly hangs on our wall.
Over the years, I found other prints of his as well, including one of the Splitting of the Sea (the text of Sh'mos), the seige of Jericho (text of Joshua) and the skyline of Jerusalem (text of T'hillim/Psalms).
However, I've noticed that at least some of his stuff is becoming harder to find. Yesterday, a reader wrote to me asking me about my Joshua print, stating that she couldn't find it anywhere on the web and asking if mine was for sale. I told her that mine wasn't for sale (I love it too much) but I did spend some time looking for it online. Oddly enough, the only picture I found of it online was the one that was on my blog about two years ago. I could not find a copy of the Esther print at all either.
Which leads me to wonder if he is still active in the field, and if he is, why doesn't he set up a website? I'm willing to bet that there is enough of a demand for his work to warrant putting one up. I know that I would probably buy more works from him. I'd love to find out for sure if he's still working in this field and what new works he has.
While we're at it, there is another artist that I happen to like in this field as well. Ellen Miller Braun works in Israel and makes some very nice micographic works (she'll also customize one for you for a bar mitzvah or the like). When Eeees and I were in Eretz Yisroel, we discovered her works and bought her Shir HaShirim. You can order them over the web (at the link above) and she'll even ship to the US.
Any other micography fans out there? Let me hear from you.
The Wolf
There are many micographists in the Jewish community. Menachem Boas, however, is generally regarded as the best of the bunch. While most micographists work in black and white, he works in color.
I first came across his works about twenty years ago, when I visited my aunt and uncle in Baltimore. On their wall, they had a Boas print. It was a picture of Mordechai leading Haman around on a horse in Shushan. The text consisted of the entire book of Esther.
When I saw it, I fell in love with the art form. I thought it was both beautiful and clever, both stunning and ingenious (maybe that's why I like Escher as well). While I wouldn't say that I obsessed over it, I always looked forward to the day when I'd be able to get a copy of that print for myself.
That day eventually came when Eeees
bought it for me early in our marriage. It now proudly hangs on our wall.Over the years, I found other prints of his as well, including one of the Splitting of the Sea (the text of Sh'mos), the seige of Jericho (text of Joshua) and the skyline of Jerusalem (text of T'hillim/Psalms).
However, I've noticed that at least some of his stuff is becoming harder to find. Yesterday, a reader wrote to me asking me about my Joshua print, stating that she couldn't find it anywhere on the web and asking if mine was for sale. I told her that mine wasn't for sale (I love it too much) but I did spend some time looking for it online. Oddly enough, the only picture I found of it online was the one that was on my blog about two years ago. I could not find a copy of the Esther print at all either.
Which leads me to wonder if he is still active in the field, and if he is, why doesn't he set up a website? I'm willing to bet that there is enough of a demand for his work to warrant putting one up. I know that I would probably buy more works from him. I'd love to find out for sure if he's still working in this field and what new works he has.
While we're at it, there is another artist that I happen to like in this field as well. Ellen Miller Braun works in Israel and makes some very nice micographic works (she'll also customize one for you for a bar mitzvah or the like). When Eeees and I were in Eretz Yisroel, we discovered her works and bought her Shir HaShirim. You can order them over the web (at the link above) and she'll even ship to the US.
Any other micography fans out there? Let me hear from you.
The Wolf
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