Faith

The trust
That when you hurl yourself from habit's precipice
The shattered bits, reconstituted
Will form a better semblance of you
Than what was before Read full post

Talmud study and high school students

On 11/16/2011 15:02, Email-List-Guy wrote:
> Please see http://bit.ly/s7hDle
>
> The first part of this article is a moving tribute to Rav Finkel titled
>       For Love of Torah and Every Jew
> The second part is titled
>       Passion: the Missing Ingredient. It begins with

The op-ed is at
http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=244187

Quote from one of the students:

“I don’t understand it,” he added, “I can’t follow the text, and don’t see why we cannot just learn what the halacha is instead.”

For one thing: I came to Talmud study at age 22 or 23. I don't think I would have had the discipline or analytical maturity in high school to do anything but hate it either. I balked at analyzing texts - but that's what Talmud is.

Secondly: I've been dabbling in Jungian typology over the last six months or so. This preference for practical halachah over (abstract) Talmud analysis strikes me as reflective of the intuitive/sensate divide (being sensate). And if my Google stats are accurate, approximately 75% of the population are sensation-preferrers. I love Talmud, and I'm an intuition-preferrer. Go figure.

In my off-the-cuff, humble opinion, Talmud is not for everyone! (Oh look, the Ramchal seems to agree in the hakdamah to Mesilas Yesharim.) I realize that this is antithetical to the yeshiva world, but I suspect that students' attitudes to Torah learning will change if we can avoid this fixation. There are so many modes of learning out there!

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Yetzer ha-Ra and The Matrix

I saw The Matrix for the first time today. Bit of a spoiler below.

I liked seeing the dramatization of being entrapped in a false world; I think it relates nicely to the fantasy that we can all too easily and effectively create for ourselves. I've heard that this is what Rambam understands as the meaning of yetzer ha-ra: distorting our perception of the real world through fantasy.

One of my main challenges (especially as a 5w4 Enneagrammer) is to live in and act on reality, and not within my own constructed world. I think the film would have been all the more powerful if Cypher had not turned malevolent in his betrayal, but rather impassively reflected the inevitable powerlessness of man against the seduction of fantasy. Likewise I would like to see more of an inner struggle in Neo; what struggle there was seemed understated and superficial. Read full post

Secular life is religious in nature

...in the life of the Jew, religious and social life are closely interwoven. There is only a single element of life and all areas of the Jew's existence and activities are embodied in the one Divine thought of God's law. It is particularly in these aspects of "secular" life that religion finds its ultimate fulfillment; the Jew considers them religious in nature, considers them religion itself, and they are therefore an integral part of the Law.

Rabbi SR Hirsch, CW II, 387 Read full post

The Garden

There, nestled in the deep, a garden lies.
It is a place of beauty
Walled all round;
The garden is pristine and still.

One day you walked close by the hedge;
They opened wide the gates for you
On hinges unforeseen.

You entered in;
But through some madness
Heeded not the garden...
Trampled, desecrated; left.

The gates are closed again;
And I, retired within to mend, and wait. Read full post

The Measure of Success

I just got home from the doctoral organ recital of a very good friend of mine from high school, whom I had last seen ten years ago, when we were both undergrads. We had been roommates back in organ summer camp, and I would consider him as close a friend as I had. In these ten years, he has gone from an outstanding, competition-winning young organist, to (seemingly) building himself up as a world-class player. He always impressed me as a down-to-earth, humble person to boot. And he also introduced me to Monty Python.

I started thinking about this, and I must admit, I despaired a bit. What greatness have I achieved in the last ten years? Do I have any kind of bekius? Have I refined my personality to any great degree? Am I an outstanding father? No! Alas, what has become of me? Why have I failed when others, whom I was so close to, have succeeded so gloriously?

And then I continued to think. Indeed, one of my core traits is that I am a generalist. I thrive on achieving a basic level of competence in many areas; it's not in my nature to be "the best" at any one thing - my best is to be good at lots of things. I continued to think: just a second... in the last ten years, what have I done? I have learned a new language with its own alphabet totally different to what I grew up with. I know how to learn Gemara. I have taught myself web development. I have managed to do a halfway decent job of integrating myself into a new society which bears very little resemblance to what I grew up with, and am making strides in carving myself out a niche in it. I am raising three beautiful children!

Self-doubt be [beep]ed! I certainly cannot claim that I have realized my full potential, or that I never mess up. But to think that I have achieved less than my old friend just because his success is more apparent is an unforgiveable short-selling. I am making remarkable use of the tremendous gifts that God has given me in so many areas: analytical, linguistic, personal mettle... My path has lain in a totally different direction to his - and I am following it faithfully. That's the measure of success.

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The Scream

As the car rolled toward the intersection, I was consumed by conflict. I knew that, by going straight, I would be headed toward a place where I could fulfill my perverse desire. A right turn would bring me back to the paths of my normal life, with nothing to bat an eyelid at. My hands tensed on the steering wheel. Straight or right? Nearer and nearer I sped toward the crossing... and I knew that my heart had decided. I was going straight.

Suddenly a shrill, piercing scream echoed out. The world slowed to a crawl. I turned my head and saw my phone ringing insistently on the passenger's seat. Swallowing, I signaled a turn and quickly eased the car over, making a right turn onto the side street and pulling to the side. I answered the call.

And I knew that I had met the shriek that I heard that night... silently, years before, on another crossroads between good and evil. Yes, the Hand that had gently nudged me away from degradation so long ago has a Voice as well, speaking to me now through the darkness of night. I am thrilled to hear my old Friend. I missed you, though in truth you were never gone at all.

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