I was finally able to figure out what happened to my knee three weeks ago when I injured it playing football. I was diagnosed with a torn medial meniscus. This essentially means I will need surgery, but I don't know if it will be in Israel or after I get home at the end of May. The surgery will be arthroscopic, so the recovery will be fairly quick, probably less than a month.
I am still going to get a second opinion about whether or not I should get the surgery here in Israel but there will be surgery at some point soonish.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Dueling Divrei Torah
I came across an interesting idea about God's plurality in the book The Rabbi as Symbolic Exemplar. The book went in one direction, but I took two conclusions away, that are not compatible with each other. One is a humanistic interpretation, and another is a Maimonides-ian interpretation.
The verses in question are "נעשה אדם בצלמינו כדמותינו" "Let us make man according to our image, according to our likeness" (Gen 1:26) and "ויברא אלוהים את האדם בצלמו" "God created man in God's image" (Gen 1:27).
The biggest problem is that God is portrayed as being plural "Let us" and singular "God created." How do we deal with the fact that God can be plural, if the cornerstone of Judaism is "Hear O Israel, Adonai is our God, Adonai is ONE" (Duet 6:4).
My humanistic approach is that each individual person represents one part of God. Each person that ever lived, or ever will live, is one part of God. That is the plurality of God. All of the people of the world represent Gods plurality. On the other hand, humanity represents Gods unity. We are all humans, and even though we are unique, we are still part of humankind; so we are all the same in that aspect. When it says "Let us create man," it represents us creating life and continuing the human race. When God created man, God was creating humankind. All of us are living representations of parts of God, and God is represented by all of humanity together. God exists because humanity exists.
Another interpretation of this can be taken by using one of Maimonides 13 principles of faith. Maimonides maintains that God knows everything that will ever happen. God has seen to the end of time and is omniscient. God also is believed to exist outside of time. Instead of being everlasting, which implies existing for all time, God is eternal, which means God cannot be described in terms of time. If we accept these assumptions, that God is omniscient eternal, then when God created the world, God already knew everything about all living things that would exist, including all people. That means that parts of God included the knowledge of each one of us that exists today, along with everyone else that existed or will exist. Therefore, when God said "Let us create man in our likeness, according to our image," God was talking with us. God's knowledge included us and we were part of the thought of our creation. When God did the actual creation, God did it alone, because we did not yet exist. Since God knew of us before creation, we played a role in our own creation, and bringing ourselves to exist. Since God is able to exist outside the realm of what we can imagine, it is acceptable to believe that God could know that we would exist, even before we did.
I don't know that I necessarily believe either of these interpretations. I like the humanistic idea, but it does not feel totally satisfactory to me because it minimizes God to the point of only existing because people exist. I like the Maimonides idea, but struggle to accept the existence of an omniscient, eternal God.
Which one do you like?
The verses in question are "נעשה אדם בצלמינו כדמותינו" "Let us make man according to our image, according to our likeness" (Gen 1:26) and "ויברא אלוהים את האדם בצלמו" "God created man in God's image" (Gen 1:27).
The biggest problem is that God is portrayed as being plural "Let us" and singular "God created." How do we deal with the fact that God can be plural, if the cornerstone of Judaism is "Hear O Israel, Adonai is our God, Adonai is ONE" (Duet 6:4).
My humanistic approach is that each individual person represents one part of God. Each person that ever lived, or ever will live, is one part of God. That is the plurality of God. All of the people of the world represent Gods plurality. On the other hand, humanity represents Gods unity. We are all humans, and even though we are unique, we are still part of humankind; so we are all the same in that aspect. When it says "Let us create man," it represents us creating life and continuing the human race. When God created man, God was creating humankind. All of us are living representations of parts of God, and God is represented by all of humanity together. God exists because humanity exists.
Another interpretation of this can be taken by using one of Maimonides 13 principles of faith. Maimonides maintains that God knows everything that will ever happen. God has seen to the end of time and is omniscient. God also is believed to exist outside of time. Instead of being everlasting, which implies existing for all time, God is eternal, which means God cannot be described in terms of time. If we accept these assumptions, that God is omniscient eternal, then when God created the world, God already knew everything about all living things that would exist, including all people. That means that parts of God included the knowledge of each one of us that exists today, along with everyone else that existed or will exist. Therefore, when God said "Let us create man in our likeness, according to our image," God was talking with us. God's knowledge included us and we were part of the thought of our creation. When God did the actual creation, God did it alone, because we did not yet exist. Since God knew of us before creation, we played a role in our own creation, and bringing ourselves to exist. Since God is able to exist outside the realm of what we can imagine, it is acceptable to believe that God could know that we would exist, even before we did.
I don't know that I necessarily believe either of these interpretations. I like the humanistic idea, but it does not feel totally satisfactory to me because it minimizes God to the point of only existing because people exist. I like the Maimonides idea, but struggle to accept the existence of an omniscient, eternal God.
Which one do you like?
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
I'm still here
I bet you thought I forgot this blog existed (unless you are my mother or Sami who remind me almost weekly to give an update). Well, I'm still here in Israel and already in full swing of my second semester.
Most of my classes from first semester are still the same: Hebrew, Bible, Grammar, and Liturgy. The history classes have changed and I'm now taking History after the destruction of the 2nd Temple and history of the Arab-Israeli conflict from 1948 to today. Of course I am also still in the education seminar each week. The classes are really great and Grammar is still my favorite class. It is just like a puzzle and all one has to do is follow the rules to get to the answer.
During break, my parents, Beth, and Sami were all here visiting. Sami came in right before finals (so I had to do all my studying before that), my parents arrived the morning after I finished finals, and Beth came a few days later but was leading a birthright group, so we didn't get much time to see her. We spent a lot of time touring around Jerusalem and a few days in other parts of the country. I took my mom to Ein Gedi one day for a hike and I made her climb a mountain. She will also probably never let me take her on a hike again after what we did, because it was a scary hike at times. We were a few hundred feet up with no railings and a narrow ledge to walk on.
Another day, my mom and Sami and I rented a car early in the morning and had an extremely long and fun day. We started by driving up to Har Hatzofim (Mount Scopus) to visit Sami's old stomping grounds from her semester in Israel during college. Then to the border with Jordan and north to the Kinneret. On the way, we were able to see the Dead Sea from the road. We arrived in Tiberias and had lunch on the shore of the Kinneret on a beautiful day. From there, we drove up to Tzfat, a town famous for mysticism and candles. The candle factory in Tzfat makes some of the most beautiful Havdalah and Shabbat candles. We left there late in the afternoon heading to Acco to see the sunset. We arrived at the Mediterranean literally 2 minutes before the sunset. We were able to get fantastic pictures of us at sunset on the shore. That meant we saw all three main bodies of water in Israel in the same day. While trying to leave Acco, we ended up almost getting stuck in the old city there, and I was forced to drive through alleyways just a few inches wider than the width of the car. We continued south to Haifa for dinner and a great overlook from the Tayellet (promenade) atop the Baha'i Gardens. On the way back to Jerusalem, we dropped off my mom in Kfar Saba with her friend Sharon and then finally made it home by about 11 pm.
Right now I am in training for Riding4Reform, a 5 day bike ride through Israel to raise money for the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism. I'm riding a few days a week for up to 2 hours at a time. On Shabbat, I rode to Gilo, a city next to the security fence between East and West Jerusalem. I am still looking for donations for the ride, and if you would like to donate, I would love you forever. Let me know if you would like to donate and I can let you know how.
That's all from this update, but keep posted for more common updates, including the return of "the coolest thing I learned this week" on Thursday
L'hitraot from Jerusalem
Most of my classes from first semester are still the same: Hebrew, Bible, Grammar, and Liturgy. The history classes have changed and I'm now taking History after the destruction of the 2nd Temple and history of the Arab-Israeli conflict from 1948 to today. Of course I am also still in the education seminar each week. The classes are really great and Grammar is still my favorite class. It is just like a puzzle and all one has to do is follow the rules to get to the answer.
During break, my parents, Beth, and Sami were all here visiting. Sami came in right before finals (so I had to do all my studying before that), my parents arrived the morning after I finished finals, and Beth came a few days later but was leading a birthright group, so we didn't get much time to see her. We spent a lot of time touring around Jerusalem and a few days in other parts of the country. I took my mom to Ein Gedi one day for a hike and I made her climb a mountain. She will also probably never let me take her on a hike again after what we did, because it was a scary hike at times. We were a few hundred feet up with no railings and a narrow ledge to walk on.
Another day, my mom and Sami and I rented a car early in the morning and had an extremely long and fun day. We started by driving up to Har Hatzofim (Mount Scopus) to visit Sami's old stomping grounds from her semester in Israel during college. Then to the border with Jordan and north to the Kinneret. On the way, we were able to see the Dead Sea from the road. We arrived in Tiberias and had lunch on the shore of the Kinneret on a beautiful day. From there, we drove up to Tzfat, a town famous for mysticism and candles. The candle factory in Tzfat makes some of the most beautiful Havdalah and Shabbat candles. We left there late in the afternoon heading to Acco to see the sunset. We arrived at the Mediterranean literally 2 minutes before the sunset. We were able to get fantastic pictures of us at sunset on the shore. That meant we saw all three main bodies of water in Israel in the same day. While trying to leave Acco, we ended up almost getting stuck in the old city there, and I was forced to drive through alleyways just a few inches wider than the width of the car. We continued south to Haifa for dinner and a great overlook from the Tayellet (promenade) atop the Baha'i Gardens. On the way back to Jerusalem, we dropped off my mom in Kfar Saba with her friend Sharon and then finally made it home by about 11 pm.
Right now I am in training for Riding4Reform, a 5 day bike ride through Israel to raise money for the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism. I'm riding a few days a week for up to 2 hours at a time. On Shabbat, I rode to Gilo, a city next to the security fence between East and West Jerusalem. I am still looking for donations for the ride, and if you would like to donate, I would love you forever. Let me know if you would like to donate and I can let you know how.
That's all from this update, but keep posted for more common updates, including the return of "the coolest thing I learned this week" on Thursday
L'hitraot from Jerusalem
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Coolest Thing I Learned This Week 11/11
The last installment was late, but this one is right on time.
Every week, on Wednesday's, we have Israel seminar where we discuss the modern Israeli state. This week, we began discussing the situation regarding the settlements in relation to the 6 Day War. We had two speakers come in to talk to us, but we spent time in class discussing as well. One of the speakers gave a great example about what needs to happen for peace to come to this part of the world.
He said there are three variables: a democratic state, a Jewish state, and the whole land of Israel. He said that you can only have two of those at a time, but not all three. If you have a democratic Jewish state, you have to give up the territories. If you have a democratic state in the whole land of Israel, you have to give up the Jewish aspect of the state. If you have Jewish state in the whole land of Israel, you have to give up democracy.
This is a very simple way of looking at the situation, but also very obvious. Having all three of these together is impossible. If you have to choose, which one would you give up?
Every week, on Wednesday's, we have Israel seminar where we discuss the modern Israeli state. This week, we began discussing the situation regarding the settlements in relation to the 6 Day War. We had two speakers come in to talk to us, but we spent time in class discussing as well. One of the speakers gave a great example about what needs to happen for peace to come to this part of the world.
He said there are three variables: a democratic state, a Jewish state, and the whole land of Israel. He said that you can only have two of those at a time, but not all three. If you have a democratic Jewish state, you have to give up the territories. If you have a democratic state in the whole land of Israel, you have to give up the Jewish aspect of the state. If you have Jewish state in the whole land of Israel, you have to give up democracy.
This is a very simple way of looking at the situation, but also very obvious. Having all three of these together is impossible. If you have to choose, which one would you give up?
Monday, November 8, 2010
Coolest thing I learned this week (11/8)
It's been a little more than a week, but here is the coolest thing I learned recently:
The Hebrew word for ladybug is פרת משה רבינו. For those of you who don't read Hebrew, that says parat moshe rabbeinu. That literally translates to 'cow of Moses our teacher.'
This is something I've known for a long time, but not one person was able to answer why that was the word. Until last Tuesday...
We were on a field trip to the Academy for the Hebrew Language, essentially a place where a bunch of people sit in a room and make up new Hebrew words. At the end of the trip, I asked our 'guide' why ladybug was called פרת משה רבינו. He didn't have an answer for me at the time, but took my phone number and said he would look it up and call me back.
The next morning, I got a phone call, and it was the Professor from the Academy. He explained to me that in many different languages, including Russian, the word for a ladybug has devine influence. In Russian, it is called the cow of God. When Mendele Mocher Sefarim was creating the word for ladybug (its great, they know who created the word) he was originally going to call it פרת אלוהים, the cow of God, but instead, changed it from God to Moshe Rabbeinu.
Now you may be thinking, ladybug in English has nothing divine about it, but you would be wrong. The Lady of ladybug refers to Mary, mother of Jesus.
For more information, check out the wikipedia page of ladybug, it is very interesting.
I hope you learned something
להתראות
The Hebrew word for ladybug is פרת משה רבינו. For those of you who don't read Hebrew, that says parat moshe rabbeinu. That literally translates to 'cow of Moses our teacher.'
This is something I've known for a long time, but not one person was able to answer why that was the word. Until last Tuesday...
We were on a field trip to the Academy for the Hebrew Language, essentially a place where a bunch of people sit in a room and make up new Hebrew words. At the end of the trip, I asked our 'guide' why ladybug was called פרת משה רבינו. He didn't have an answer for me at the time, but took my phone number and said he would look it up and call me back.
The next morning, I got a phone call, and it was the Professor from the Academy. He explained to me that in many different languages, including Russian, the word for a ladybug has devine influence. In Russian, it is called the cow of God. When Mendele Mocher Sefarim was creating the word for ladybug (its great, they know who created the word) he was originally going to call it פרת אלוהים, the cow of God, but instead, changed it from God to Moshe Rabbeinu.
Now you may be thinking, ladybug in English has nothing divine about it, but you would be wrong. The Lady of ladybug refers to Mary, mother of Jesus.
For more information, check out the wikipedia page of ladybug, it is very interesting.
I hope you learned something
להתראות
Monday, November 1, 2010
My Dvar Torah
Here is the Dvar Torah I delivered this morning:
Abraham Lincoln, president of the United States, 1861 dash 1865
Michael Jordan, NBA superstar, 1985 dash 1993 and 1996 dash 1998 (let’s not talk about the years he played for Washington)
Jacob, son of Isaac, Middle Bronze Age, circa 1800 dash 1653 BCE (give or take)
There is a great short story by Linda Ellis about how the dash of people’s lives are what matter most, not the dates that began and ended them. These three people, Lincoln, Jordan, and Jacob, did great things in their time. But it is not what they did with that time, rather how they did it, that made them great.
In our פרשה this week, תולדות, we learn about Jacob and Esau. We all know the story. Jacob and Esau fight in the womb, Jacob comes out second holding onto Esau’s heel, he exploits Esau into giving up his birthright, then eventually, one day while Esau goes out to prepare food to receive his blessing, Jacob swoops in and ‘steals’ that. It seems that Jacob doesn’t come off as the most honest person in the world.
Before we get into the consequences for Jacob’s actions, we have to look back and see exactly what happened. After Rebekah became pregnant, and she felt some struggling inside her, she went to God and asked מה פיתום, whats happening?. God told her that, “Two peoples are in your belly; two nations shall branch off from each other…the elder shall serve the younger.” When they came out of the womb, Jacob came out second, meaning God prophesized that Esau would end up serving Jacob.
What if Jacob and Esau knew about God’s prophecy before they were born? What if they were not struggling inside to get out first, but rather, to stay in longer? What if Jacob was not holding onto Esau’s heel, rather he was pushing him out first?
If Jacob knew that he was destined to earn the blessing and birthright, and had been humble and patient, he would not have needed to run for his life from his brother, because it is not as important what you do, but how you do it.
There is a great story about Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai from the Talmud Bavli in Eruvin 13b (about halfway down the page if you want to find it). They are arguing for three years about who the הלכה agrees with in regards to pure and impure objects. Eventually, the voice of God comes down from the heavens and says ”אילו ואילו דברי אלוהים חיים, which literally means ‘these and these are words of a living God’.” Essentially saying you’re both right. That is confusing enough, but if you keep reading, you’ll see that even though they are both right, the הלכה will be set according to Beit Hillel. Why? Because “נוחין ועלובין היו, they were patient and humble.” The הלכה was set according to Beit Hillel because of how, not what, they did.
In essence, it is important to always try to do things with intention, to always strive to be the best version of yourself you can be. We do this in prayer when we pray with Kavanah. Saying the prayers fulfills Gods commandments, but praying with Kavanah fulfills ourselves.
And it is not just in prayer that we should use Kavanah. In something as simple as meeting a new person there can be Kavanah. One of my favorite examples of a way we can improve is by not using, what my camp director Jerry Kaye calls, the convention handshake. The convention handshake looks like this. You go to say hi to someone or meet someone knew, shake their hand, but already look past them for the next person you are going to meet. Instead, we should be in the moment; make eye contact, learn the person’s name, use ‘active listening.’ We all know these skills and by using them, we can help fulfill ourselves.
Now, back to our great people.
Within his dash, Lincoln freed the slaves in the south and worked diligently his entire presidency to bring peace back to the country during the Civil War.
Michael Jordan, in his dash, was known as the best and hardest working basketball players ever, he is also know because he won 6 NBA championships, 5 MVP awards, had 14 All star game appearances, 2 gold medals, 10 all NBA 1st team selections, and so on
So what about Jacob? In his dash, he extorted a birthright he knew he would get, usurped a blessing he was destined to have, and was forced to flee his homeland to protect himself from his own brother. But that wasn’t the end of his dash. He was able to make things right. When he met his brother again, he purposefully and meaningfully apologized. When Esau saw this, he was no longer angry with Jacob. Esau forgave his brother and embraced him the way brothers should.
Jacob eventually made the most of his dash by doing things with intention, with a purpose. He learned that it is not the events and dates, the what, that define our lives, but the dash, the how, that is truly defining. What’s in your dash?
Boker Tov
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Coolest thing I learned this week (10/28)
There was no update last week because of our Tiyul (trip) to the north of Israel, but here is the coolest thing I learned this week.
Janus Corczak was a schoolteacher in Poland and later ran an orphanage in the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II. In 1942 his orphanage of almost 200 students was taken to Treblinka and the Nazis offered Janus the chance to escape and/or switch to the Aryan side. He refused and accompanied his children to the death camp, eventually dying there with all of the children from his orphanage.
This of course is not an uplifting story, but I learned a quote that he said that I will always remember as I continue to teach.
"Children are not little people, they are people"
Its a small distinction, but makes a big difference. If we treat our students like people (equals), instead of little people (inferiors), we will be able to better connect to them and teach them more.
Also, on a total side note, I got the whole Harry Potter series in Hebrew today! I'm very excited to start reading it.
Shabbat Shalom from Jerusalem
Janus Corczak was a schoolteacher in Poland and later ran an orphanage in the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II. In 1942 his orphanage of almost 200 students was taken to Treblinka and the Nazis offered Janus the chance to escape and/or switch to the Aryan side. He refused and accompanied his children to the death camp, eventually dying there with all of the children from his orphanage.
This of course is not an uplifting story, but I learned a quote that he said that I will always remember as I continue to teach.
"Children are not little people, they are people"
Its a small distinction, but makes a big difference. If we treat our students like people (equals), instead of little people (inferiors), we will be able to better connect to them and teach them more.
Also, on a total side note, I got the whole Harry Potter series in Hebrew today! I'm very excited to start reading it.
Shabbat Shalom from Jerusalem
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)