So, you voted for change, did you?
Well, sucker, here is what you get: http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/081121/business_us_markets_stocks.html
Not laughing are you?
The President of the New York Fed, the head of the deepest cesspool of financial evil outside of the City of London, is being handed the keys to the printing press, the guns of the IRS/Secret Service/et al.
We truly do get what we deserve.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Saturday, November 15, 2008
How to Begin?
Jews analyze every aspect of the Torah. It is an obsession so pervasive that I could almost infer that it is a genetic trait rather than learned behavior. The Jews have dissected every word, every letter, even every blank space thousands upon thousands of times - and then each succeeding generation began anew at bereshith and incorporated and parsed the analyses of the previous generations.
If this people, whose lives are thoroughly steeped in the traditions and ideas of their near and distant forbears, can yet find room for dissent and dispute, how am I, uneducated and untrained, lacking the most basic tools to search for these truths in the manner of the Jews, ever to hope to glean the simplest precept with any clarity or certainty?
Near as I can tell, this immersion in the study of the Torah and the oral traditions did not begin with the destruction of the Temple and the Diaspora, but dates back to at least the Babylonian Exile, and probably began at the base of Sinai, where the written and oral Laws are believed to have been given.
If I am grafted into the tree and am adopted as an heir - having equal standing - would I not share equal responsibility for study? We are told to study, to meditate, that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word.
But where do I begin?
Do I start as a Jewish child would? What am I to study? How am I to study? Are there parts of the Jewish tradition, writings, teachings which I should not study? How do I meld the old and the new?
This is exciting and intimidating simultaneously.
If this people, whose lives are thoroughly steeped in the traditions and ideas of their near and distant forbears, can yet find room for dissent and dispute, how am I, uneducated and untrained, lacking the most basic tools to search for these truths in the manner of the Jews, ever to hope to glean the simplest precept with any clarity or certainty?
Near as I can tell, this immersion in the study of the Torah and the oral traditions did not begin with the destruction of the Temple and the Diaspora, but dates back to at least the Babylonian Exile, and probably began at the base of Sinai, where the written and oral Laws are believed to have been given.
If I am grafted into the tree and am adopted as an heir - having equal standing - would I not share equal responsibility for study? We are told to study, to meditate, that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word.
But where do I begin?
Do I start as a Jewish child would? What am I to study? How am I to study? Are there parts of the Jewish tradition, writings, teachings which I should not study? How do I meld the old and the new?
This is exciting and intimidating simultaneously.
Friday, November 14, 2008
An Exploration in Judaism - 1
The past couple of days I have been listening to lectures by Orthodox Jewish scholars on many subjects.
The coincidence of belief between Christians and Jews, when truthfully compared, teaching against teaching, precept versus precept, is strikingly dissimilar. Like many others, I just assumed that Jews were Christians without the rest of the Bible - no Christ.
That's not the case.
In fact, I was quite surprised at the hostility evidenced in many of the lectures toward Christianity (frequently disguised as a joke) and by the presentation of erroneous information about the fundamentals of Christian theology. As they were audios only, I cannot assess whether the presenters knew the information was untrue or were persuaded it was factual.
What was just as interesting to me, however, was the nature of the Jewish approach to the practice of religion and the obligations of the faith. It was so technical and precise, words and phrases being dissected and parsed, entire lectures seemed to consist of a legal analysis of God's intent.
The evident reliance on oral tradition over the written word was a further surprise.
This is not to say that I had not heard that this was the Jewish practice, but more of the case that I took what I had heard to be the biased observations of non-Jews.
The passion and sense of special-standing expressed in various ways was an additional stand-out property.
It prompted me to ask many questions as I listened and meditated on the lectures.
Is present-day Judaism consistent with the historical Hebrew practice? Besides the obvious that there is no Temple and that temple-related acts are necessarily excised, where does the current religious expression differ from 2000 years ago or 3000 years ago?
How much of the Hebrew faith are Christians supposed to continue?
Is Christianity a radically different religion, as several of the lectureres stated, and if so, is radically different because it has strayed from the true path or is it radically different because Jesus meant it to be?
I don't know, but it seems as good a time as any to explore and see what truth I can find.
I did like the idea that each person is supposed to make their own copy of the Torah.
The coincidence of belief between Christians and Jews, when truthfully compared, teaching against teaching, precept versus precept, is strikingly dissimilar. Like many others, I just assumed that Jews were Christians without the rest of the Bible - no Christ.
That's not the case.
In fact, I was quite surprised at the hostility evidenced in many of the lectures toward Christianity (frequently disguised as a joke) and by the presentation of erroneous information about the fundamentals of Christian theology. As they were audios only, I cannot assess whether the presenters knew the information was untrue or were persuaded it was factual.
What was just as interesting to me, however, was the nature of the Jewish approach to the practice of religion and the obligations of the faith. It was so technical and precise, words and phrases being dissected and parsed, entire lectures seemed to consist of a legal analysis of God's intent.
The evident reliance on oral tradition over the written word was a further surprise.
This is not to say that I had not heard that this was the Jewish practice, but more of the case that I took what I had heard to be the biased observations of non-Jews.
The passion and sense of special-standing expressed in various ways was an additional stand-out property.
It prompted me to ask many questions as I listened and meditated on the lectures.
Is present-day Judaism consistent with the historical Hebrew practice? Besides the obvious that there is no Temple and that temple-related acts are necessarily excised, where does the current religious expression differ from 2000 years ago or 3000 years ago?
How much of the Hebrew faith are Christians supposed to continue?
Is Christianity a radically different religion, as several of the lectureres stated, and if so, is radically different because it has strayed from the true path or is it radically different because Jesus meant it to be?
I don't know, but it seems as good a time as any to explore and see what truth I can find.
I did like the idea that each person is supposed to make their own copy of the Torah.
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