Discussions (May 11)

There is a law school student on the trip who also enjoys discussing philosophy and politics, something that most students on vacation in Israel do not care to talk about. On Shabbos we started our conversation with, well I do not remember exactly, but it was not related directly to Judaism. We discussed Nietzsche and his Genealogy of Morals, how he believes that the Jews changed the entire idea of morals from master morality (Good/Bad) to slave morality (Good/Evil). It got into a discussion, inevitably, regarding the truth, behind Judaism, God, and the divinity of the Torah. I was generally arguing that it does not matter so much the truth behind these things, if one who follows them lives a fulfilling and happy life. Then he asked me to prove how I believe in God, and I was like I don’t know, ask Yoni. Then Yoni, who is running the logistics of the troop, happens to randomly walk into the lobby. He first argued that nothing can be proved 100% outside of math, then demonstrated why he thinks with 99.9999% certainty in a God, or creator during this time, for argument’s sake I generally argued again him. His 3 premises for a Creator were 1) the world around us, 2) what has happened to him, and 3)What has happened/is happening to the world in general. He argued his first premise by some of the typical arguments that nothing can be created from nothing, Aquinas’ watch argument on a beach (If you find a complex watch on a beach is it there randomly and formed by waves or put their and designed by an intelligent creator?). Obviously there are well known arguments against these, which I do not use because, well, I do not know them off the top of my head. His second premise he really did not argue, but I assume from the conversation it meant his wife, daughter, job, family, etc. And his 3^rd premise he argued by the existence and support for Israel; how when one Israeli is killed it is reported on the cover of the biggest newspaper, and when thousands die in other places, like Myanmar, it is back page news He said these 3 things give good reason to believe that there is a God. Naturally, this leads to the question: why did God create the world? And, if there is a God, when did organized religion come into effect?
This is where the Torah comes in, as Judaism believes it is the guidebook given by God to the Jewish people how to live life. He argued the divinity of Mt. Sinai with 3 premises. 1)3 million people were there, 2) History repeats itself, and 3) Past, present, future. The first two are directly related, as Judaism and much of the world believes that 3 million Jews saw/felt God’s presence when he gave us the Torah. Obviously people will say it could have been a conspiracy amongst a few wise men or something, but he countered that by saying that historians generally agree that history repeats itself. But, if you accept that maxim, then why does no other religion ever claim even five people, let alone 3 million to have witnessed God at the same time and lived? He answers that if multiple people made up a story like this, then it would lead to disagreements and the parents would not strongly uphold the laws and traditions that remain in Judaism today, over 3000 years after we received the Torah. His 3^rd premise is pretty self explanatory. The torah, assuming it was given to us at Sinai, talks in detail about the past, present (the actual giving and receiving of Torah) and the future. Therefore, he concludes that it is very likely that the Torah is a divine document.

The next interesting conversation I had was with the same Meor’er, on the way to the beautiful shore side city of Tiberias. He was asking me why I support Ron Paul, and our conversation got into healthcare. He is one of those people who strongly believe that the government should be involved in supplying and regulating the healthcare industry. I am happy to say that I, at the very least, got him to question his own theories. I told him that one of Obama’s biggest financial supporters is the healthcare industry. When someone gets something for free, they want the most expensive possible. This would mean that the healthcare companies could give expensive procedures, prescribe the most expensive pills, etc. without the individual caring in the least bit, since the government is paying through the theft of working citizens. The example of Lasik surgery, something that insurance (and it is easy to compare insurance to government, since the patient does not pay the costs directly in either circumstance) does not cover, is one of, if not the only, part of the medical field that has increased in quality and decreased in price over the last decade. Why? When someone has to pay for a service out of their pocket they look for the best possible quality with for the least possible price, very simple stuff here. If people had to pay for a check up, then they would look around for a cheaper one than just go to any doctor and not even ask the price. This is a very simple argument that socialist idealists do not even consider.