Creatively Advancing into Novelty
“We don’t really fit the categories of the West, and I’m ok with that. The Torah calls us an ‘Am,’ which loosely translates ‘a people,’ but it’s a Hebrew term, it has its own valence. So, Judaism is a nexus of history, religion, peoplehood, culture, shared destiny…I think in some ways, ethnicity rose again in…
………………………. There are so many things that pop in my head–nuggets of wisdom if you will–which I would love to share with my son. The problem is that he is only 9 months old and right now he’s focused on learning how to feed himself. So, I will be posting my fatherly wisdom here for…
I remember sitting with my wise old Rabbi once and hearing a baby scream. He looked at me and said, “Did you ever notice how babies come into the world with their tiny fists clenched?” “Yes,” I said. “Do you know how our sages explain that? They say that babies, not knowing any better, clench…
A fish swims through the sea While the sea is, in a certain sense Contained within the fish! Oh, what am I to think Of what the writing Of a thousand lifetimes could not explain If all the forest trees were pens And all the oceans, ink? Lyrics from The Dryness and The Rain by…
I think every bold statement we’ve ever made Should be qualified by the words, “I think” or “That’s how I see it right now,” or “But I could be wrong,” or “Maybe.” After all, how many times now Has it been brought to light That we were at least partly wrong When we knew for…
In general, Loquacity (rambling talk) opens the doors of the soul, and the devout warmth of the heart at once escapes. Empty talk does the same, but even more so… Empty talk is the door to criticism and slander, the spreader of false rumors and opinions, the sower of discord and strife. It stifles the…
“The Odyssey, from Greek mythology, is the classic Western saga, so much so that now we use the word “odyssey” to describe all significant human journeys. A religious myth is not something that is not true. Although it may not be true in particular, it is overwhelmingly true in general. Even the ancients knew…
“The Invisible Seen” When our dull wits had so declined as to set us mid the squalor of the merely sensible creation, the Very God consented to become a body of His own, that He as one among us might gather our dim senses to Himself, and manifest through such incommensurate occasion that He is…
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom –Psalm 111:10 Last night at Valley Mosaic we enjoyed a great discussion about fear. The discussion centered on the above quoted verse from Psalm 111. The conversation ranged from defining what fear means to each of us, to speculating on what the Bible means when…
Like many students who had to take an intro philosophy class in college, I was forced read Plato’s Five Dialogues. For those who don’t know, These five dialogues focus primarily on the historical character of Socrates, Plato’s teacher. In them, Socrates discusses or debates a subject, often an ethical one (friendship, piety) with a friend…