A problem I keep facing is superstition. Whether it is true or not, my modern mind has a very hard time imagining a world with demons and angles running around.
From: avakesh: In praise of superstition
"In fact, in such a world leading a purely physical existence is distinctly abnormal. For the affordable price of credulity, folk religion acquires an abiding closeness to God in all His manifestations, right here, all around us. The difference between popular sensibility and Maimonidean rationality is like that of a luscious rain forest and the driest of deserts. The former surrounds its dwellers with life-giving moisture from all ends. The latter
deprives them of life-sustaining water, leaving them to be nourished by trust that it exists somewhere else and with measured, limited, barely sufficient cupfuls in their canteens."
In what must be a coincidence, I'll let you read into that what you want, I started reading Maimonidies *Guide to the Perplexed *this morning. The first chapter begins with the meaning of *zelem, *which Maimonidies takes as "essence" rather than form. The Rambam seems to be pushing back at the world of superstition, and I find myself cheering him on as I read. "Go Rambam! Fight back against those who think G-d has a hand!"
One of the things that drew me into the world of Observant Judaism was the dialectic reasoning found in the Talmud. At the end of the day the law might go with Hillel over Shammi, but that is not to say Shammi was wrong. In grad school I was taught that this type of reasoning was developed with feminism and post-modernism. I was stunned when I learned it had existed millennia earlier.
Which brings me back to demons and angles. Perhaps I am a little over the top in how I view these things. Certainly avakesh has a point. Being superstitious does bring G-d much closer
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Monday, October 29, 2007
Who am I?
A few facts about me.
I once spent time chopping wood on a Bhuddist retreat.
I am married.
I have spent a lot of time in a variety of Christian churches.
I recently became obesrvant.
I still meet old friends who do not even know I am Jewish.
All my life has been a spiritual journey.
No matter what I have seen/tried I still have mountains to climb.
Those mountains are inner mountains, and I started this blog to help me climb them.
Yad is my pen-name.
I once spent time chopping wood on a Bhuddist retreat.
I am married.
I have spent a lot of time in a variety of Christian churches.
I recently became obesrvant.
I still meet old friends who do not even know I am Jewish.
All my life has been a spiritual journey.
No matter what I have seen/tried I still have mountains to climb.
Those mountains are inner mountains, and I started this blog to help me climb them.
Yad is my pen-name.
Lashon Hara -- Evil Speech
When I fist learned about Lashon Hara I was excited.
I once worked at a company that was destroyed by Lashon Hara. The company ran outdoor adventure trips, and the staff spent all their time together. I woud routinely discuss who was going out, or sleeping, with who even before they themselves had done anything.
In the end it was the owner of the company who was the vicitm. Everyone shared there individual gripes and complaints against him. These stories piled up. Eventually people came to see the owner as incompetent, and if he left surely someone better would take over. Talnted staff quit. For a variety of reasons the company eventually shut down, but a once vibrant company of people who loved to chat and socialize was gone.
Sitting at home with some friends we all look a little lost. What do we talk about? We have all seen the impact Lashon Hara can have, and now we do not know what to say. What do we talk about?
The initial excitement about not speakin Lashon Hara fades as we face the dull reality of relearning how to be -- how to simply sit down and talk amongst friends.
I once worked at a company that was destroyed by Lashon Hara. The company ran outdoor adventure trips, and the staff spent all their time together. I woud routinely discuss who was going out, or sleeping, with who even before they themselves had done anything.
In the end it was the owner of the company who was the vicitm. Everyone shared there individual gripes and complaints against him. These stories piled up. Eventually people came to see the owner as incompetent, and if he left surely someone better would take over. Talnted staff quit. For a variety of reasons the company eventually shut down, but a once vibrant company of people who loved to chat and socialize was gone.
Sitting at home with some friends we all look a little lost. What do we talk about? We have all seen the impact Lashon Hara can have, and now we do not know what to say. What do we talk about?
The initial excitement about not speakin Lashon Hara fades as we face the dull reality of relearning how to be -- how to simply sit down and talk amongst friends.
What this blog is all about
Inner Yad is about the inner process one goes through while becoming more religious -- specifically becoming a more observant Jew.This is a blog about the inner conflict and change one goes through and as such the blogger, Yad, remains anonymous.
What can you expect from this blog? I will end this post with a quick word on the phrase "becoming more religious".
Phrases like "becoming more religious" or "becoming observant" drive me nuts. I have always been religious. Saying that I am becoming more observant sounds like I am improving, which I think I am, but if someone one else is not observant, the last thing I want them to think is that I think less of them. I do not, which is why phrases like "becoming more religious" drive me nuts. Personally they describe me becoming something better than I am, but please do not take them to be about you or anyone else. I am in no position to judge others.
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