Eric in Israel

lazy

2008-05-20T07:36:00.001-07:00

Well I have been lazy. I lost my notebook for a while, so I didnt take notes for classes during the last few days. i did fortunately find my book, after the tour was over. Im staying at a family's home for 2 days in Har Nof. It is a ton better than staying at a lousy hotel for 40 bucks a night. Im in downtown Jerusalem right now at an internet cafe, and my next program, Yeshiva Light, starts tommorow night. I heard the Rabbi running the trip rented us an apartment so we do not have to stay in the Yeshiva, so I am excited for that. We had an interesting speaker, Gerald L. Schroeder, author of "Science of God" which was the best seller in the science industry for a year. I did not really understand him, as he graduated from MIT with a degree in Nuclear physics or something. But he basically proved, using Ramban (Nachmonidies), NASA, and the British museum and some other stuff that the world is 15 billion years old, and that the torah also claims the world is 15 billion years old. Like i said, I didnt really understand, but I think he claims that the big bang proves the Torah, it has been ~5500 years since God gave man "Neshama" the ability to build large cities and stuff, etc...just read his book if you want to know more. But the part of his speech I liked best/understood was when he quoted Rambam (Maimonidies) as saying ~"If you think the torah and science contradict then you dont understand either torah or science"

Volunteer work

2008-05-12T07:46:00.001-07:00

Volunteered today at a place where severely disabled are able to work and gain self worth. It felt pretty good, I helped a mentally disabled blind woman make cookies. She was feeling my hand and my bracelet, and then said in Hebrew "Clock makes tick tock", assuming my bracelet was a watch. What we perceive is not always the truth, eh? Interesting to see how much of a different perspective these people have on life than me.

Classes (May 12)

2008-05-12T07:45:00.001-07:00

We had 3 classes today. The first was given by Rabbi Gershenfeld and he tried to convince us that the world has an intelligent designer. He showed that the beginnings of things are often hidden, a seed to a tree, semen and egg to a human, etc. Rabbi Gershenfeld argued that in modern philosophy since Descartes, we use the maxim that all decisions should be based on logical explanations. Meaning, even if we are not 100% sure, that we must choose the more logical choice. He then used arguments from analogy, a waterwheel irrigates an area must have a designer then the world, so much more complex than the waterwheel, must have a designer.

The first argument he talked about that is against design is the common problem of evil, introduced by John Stuart Mill. Mill states that there is evil in the world, disorder in the world, and then there must not be a creator since if something is created by a perfect God, and then the result would be perfect. Therefore, there is no creator. Rabbi G argued that a design in itself proves a designer, regardless of its level of perfection. You cannot disprove a designer based on your own opinion of perfection; if you go into a room and think it is ugly, does that disprove that someone designed the room? I think this argument misplaces the burden of proof, as someone arguing for a designer must prove a designer, as opposed to proving there was no designer.

He said we live in an imperfect world because humans sin and cause problems to the world, i.e. Chernobyl. God gave us free will, and therefore some of us sometimes sin and cause problems to the world. He suggested another possibility, that God made evil so that humans can help. If there as no evil, we could not help less fortunate. Another argument is that humans are not complete, we make mistakes and have to grow and become more refined, or Godlike.

He then went on to argue from a scientific standpoint, that the scientists agree, regardless of whether they believe in God, that the world being here and have life is extremely unlikely considering all the exact levels we must have in relation to electrons, neutrons, ET all. (I do not understand most of this stuff) This leads to 3 common arguments: 1) Infinite Universes, and our circumstance is unusual, but possible since there are so many universes. This is called the multiverse hypothesis. 2) Only our universe, we are just very lucky that it happened to work out for us in our world. 3) Only our universe, and the physical laws, precise turning of physical constants to make intelligent life possible is just a coincidence. All three of these are very unlikely, compared to the possibility of an intelligent designer. Therefore, according to our principle related stated above that we must accept the theory that is more logical, design theory is more logical than any other theory, since the odds of any of the 3 arguments made are extremely small. Stephen Hawking: “The odds against a universe like our emerging out of something like the Big Bang theory are enormous. I think there are clearly religious implications.”

My biggest problem with any of his arguments, even though I do think there is a creator, is his arguments from analogy. A friend and I tried to find a premise to connect designs we witness to the design of the world, but failed. Just because things we see being produced must have a creator, does not mean we can make assumptions that a thing like the earth, has a creator. We have no reason to compare the earth to a thing created, since the creation of the earth is incomprehensible to us, especially compared to the making of a waterwheel.

The second class was given by Tom Steinberg about Teffilin. He made a very inspiring speech, saying that true happiness is needs 3 aspects: Intellectual through the mind, emotional through the heart, and physical through the body. He starts by showing 2 examples in the Gemara, where Rabbis generally supported not being overly happy, but in these 2 circumstances they showed great happiness and it was accepted because they were wearing Tefflin. The main prayer we say when wearing these Tefflin is the Shema:

Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.

(Praised be the name of the glory of God's sovereignty for ever and ever)

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Take to heart these instructions with which I charge you this day. Impress them upon your children. Recite them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them serve as a symbol on your forehead; inscribe them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

This paragraph has many words which show unity, such as love, one, etc. A sign is often a symbol for something much bigger. A sign with an arrow pointing to New York represents something much larger than the sign itself, and wearing the Teffilin and praying is a sign for our connection to god. It is to remind us that we can have this special relationship with God emotionally, physically, and intellectually. Also, the letter on the head part of Tefflin is a Shin with numerous branches, supposed to be representing the different branches of our thoughts and hidden brain, and much as a tree’s core is hidden in the ground, our core is hidden in our head. This stuff is very far fetched, but is still inspiring and definitely a cool topic to think about. I doubt I will lay Teffilin on a regular basis, but maybe sometimes. The last class was a group Talmud discussion with Rabbi Fully Eisenberger. We dealt with a circumstance where a Jew was negotiating to buy a piece of land, and another Jew, without the knowledge of the negotiation, swept in and bought the land. When he found out that the other Jew was in negations, he offered the land as a present. He did not want to sell it, as it is bad in Judaism to sell the first piece of land someone buys in Israel, but he can give it as a gift. The Jew who was in negotiation refused to accept it as a gift, as it is said, “He that despises gifts shall live.” Neither ended up benefiting from the land, and was called the land of the rabbinical students as it was an issue they argued over. There are some interesting things to consider in this story. Was the 2^nd Jew wrong to buy the land? Should it be accepted as a present? Who is the just owner? I think that the 2^nd Jew is the owner, but he took it upon himself when hearing that someone else was in negotiation, to give the land as a gift. He became a more special person by rising to this level, as did the original one in the negotiation. Out of this seemingly bad experience, two Jews were able to rise above their own material desires to become more “holy.” I think this shows how we can benefit from bad experiences, and that bad things happen for a reason.

Activities (May 10-11)

2008-05-12T07:00:00.002-07:00

Saturday night we went to Tiberias, a city of 50,000 in the northern Israel on the Sea of Galilee. It has a very beautiful shoreline and many tourist shops along the piers. I did the same boat ride last time, but it was till fun. People danced, drank, and sang for about an hour. We then had a pretty good dinner at a beachside restaurant which has beautiful waitresses and solid food. After dinner we walked around the small tourist area for a little before heading back. I saw a couple friends from MSU who are on Mayanot. The we had to stop at a hospital to pick up a student who has migraines, and by the time we got back it was around 2 30 AM, and we had to be on the bus 9 AM the next morning. Not a pleasant experience.

On Sunday we went to a winery in the Golan Heights, which I also went to in the winter. It is still pretty cool to see it again, and taste a couple of wines. We went jeeping in the Hula Valley, land conquered by Israel in the 1967 6 day war. Saw some old bunkers and battle sights, but there were these annoying bugs like I have never witnessed before. Literally hundreds of bugs were on or near me the entire time. I actually wanted to hear the guide’s talking about the battles but could not as a result of the bugs.

After this we went kayaking/tubing on the Jordan, something I had also done exactly, this time a year ago on birthright. I noticed some interesting things this time. First of all, most of the people on this little trip are Israeli Arabs, and the rest are tourists. There are almost no Jewish Israelis on the river or near the river on the beaches. When on my tube there were 2 dads with their children, obviously Arab, and the dad tells the kids to say hi to us. I thought this was very cool. We hear so much about the hatred towards Israel, Jews, and America, but this dad wanted his little boy to say “hi,” not shalom, or salem alekem, etc… I just found this interesting. But to counter this, when the girls in our trip were on their tube, an Arab in his underwear on one of the beaches along the river flashed them his penis. Obviously, this is interesting in another way, probably just a teenager being a boy, but still disrespectful. I do not know anyone personally who flash random women their penis.

We went back to Jerusalem, about a 4 hour drive, after this long day. I had to use the trees on the way to excrete my waste, since there was no bathroom anywhere near where we were. Definitely more in touch with nature now. We are staying at a very nice hotel, the Olive Tree, located between Me’ah Shearim (religious Jewish area) and East Jerusalem (Arab area). You can notice a lot of tension in the area, but nothing too serious.

Discussions (May 11)

2008-05-12T07:00:00.001-07:00

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.

First Shabbos (May 10-11)

2008-05-12T06:59:00.000-07:00

It was pretty similar to the shabbosos of the past that I have experienced in Israel. On Friday night we prayed for a good while, mincha, kabbalos shabbos, and maariv. It was kind of fun, a lot of dancing during kabblos. We had a decent dinner, with most of the usual mass produced shabbos food. Afterwards we had an oneg, which consisted of everyone drinking beer and a shot or two of Jack Daniels. Good times, just relaxing and talking. I ended the night playing a bunch of games of Gin Rummy with some kids.

Saturday I was pretty sick from the bad meal in Zefat and since I was up a good portion of Friday Night, I ended up sleeping in until 3 PM, so I felt very good all. However, I regret missing two classes; especially the one given by Tom Steinberg, the major donor for our trip, on his business experience. I also missed a speech by Rabbi Gershenfeld, regrettably. When I finally woke up I saw my old roommate who is in Israel on Birthright through Mayanot. We chatted for a while till he had to go to his group. I then wandered into the lobby where I had an intense discussion on a variety of topics with a fellow Meor’er (my group). Then one of the leaders joined in on the conversation (I provide what details I can remember in my next post). We eventually had 3^rd meal; a light meal consisting mostly of vegetables and pastries. I then showered and accidentally missed a speech by Rabbi Gershenfeld again! I had no idea he was speaking at this point, when I went to shower. We had a short Havdalah and headed for the evening activities, where I once again had some intense conversations.

Mystical Zefat and Preparing for Shabbos (May 9)

2008-05-09T08:12:00.001-07:00

We had to wake at 6:30 this morning and be on the bus at 7 to head north to Zefat (pronounced Tzfat). This city is one of the oldest and holiest in Israel and has been the home to numerous famous rabbis. Zefat is also famous for its kabalistic presence and unique art galleries. We prayed in the shul of the late Rabbi Yosef Caro was the author of Shulcan Arooch, a condensed version of the Halacha, Jewish law. When we were done praying, we walked down to a mikvah (purity bath), but I did not go in as, to be honest, it was pretty disgusting. It looked very spiritual with candles and was filled with water from an active spring.

I then went to a semi famous, tiny restaurant stand where a man makes this food that is a combination of a pancake and pita. He then puts some local herbs and common vegetables on the pastry. The atmosphere and watching him cook was better than the actual food, but it tasted fine. I walked around Zefat for about an hour looking at the art and the unique people. There are Jews from a specific sect or orthodoxy, called Breslov that live mainly in Zefat. They are kind of wacky, often referred to as “hippie Jews.” Some believe that if every Jew says the name of their founding Rabbi, Nachman Meuman, than the Messiah will come. Some of them also smoke a lot of weed, but hey, whatever makes them happy. And that is was Rabbi Meuman’s main point was; that all Jews should always be happy.

We are now in the Galilee, northern Israel, at a very nice kibbutz resort for Shabbos. I am kind of feeling shitty as I left my glasses on the bus, lost all my lip balm and my lips are very rough now, I have had a ringing in my right ear since I got here (this is the worst, I understand why Van Gogh cut his ear off now), and I am extremely tired. But Shabbos is coming and hopefully all these minor problems will go away. I am looking forward to sleeping in a little tomorrow and just relaxing. Hopefully some of the things that are out of my control will go away soon and I can fully enjoy my experience in Israel.

ATV and BBQ (May 8) Happy bday dad!

2008-05-09T08:11:00.000-07:00

What an awesome afternoon. We went on ATV rides through the outskirts of Jerusalem and through a forest, near some small lake, etc. It was very cool, especially driving the ATV as I have never driven one. Then we were supposed to go horseback riding but I opted to stay at the ATV place because of my allergies. I was about to go again when one of the rabbis did not get to go at all, so I let him take my spot. It turns out he crashed the ATV and was charged $1,000. After this we went to a different forest and had a very good BBQ dinner that included chicken breast and wings, hummus, salad, beer, fruit, etc…The best meal we have eaten up to this point.

That night, after showering, we went to one of Me’ah She’arim, the ultra orthodox community in Jerusalem. First we stopped at a 24/6 bakery (closed on Shabbos only) and had some fresh homemade rugelah and other pastries. After, we saw the biggest yeshiva in Israel, Mir Yeshiva, which has around 5000 students. Met our rabbis’ old rabbi and talked to some of the students. Following that, we went to a place where a lot of the students hang out on Thursday nights, a little restaurant that serves cholent. Life as a religious student is so different than life in college. They sat, or stood since no chairs were left, chomping down on the midnight cholent schmoozing with each other. The trip paid for a cholent for me but I could barely eat it as I was so full. It was very interesting to see a Thursday night for these Yeshiva students. It seemed like they were happy, normal young men just enjoying each other’s company. It really is such a different lifestyle than we live at Michigan State; it is almost like a different world. Walking around Me’ah She’arim and the Yeshiva felt like I was in a shtetl in Europe 100 years ago or something, almost surreal.

2nd Day of Classes (May 8)

2008-05-09T08:09:00.002-07:00

Last night we had free time in Jerusalem, but I opted to stay in and go to sleep. I crashed at about 7 30 PM, and the bus from Jerusalem did not return until nearly 3 AM; it was a good thing for me that I chose to sleep or I would have been miserable.

This morning we had two classes, the first entitled “Mystical Perspective of Israel” and was given by Rabbi Gershenfeld. I honestly felt the lecture was a bit farfetched, but very interesting nonetheless. He started by demonstrating how every piece of land on the world has a unique function; Columbia can grow coffee, Nebraska can grow corn, and France can grow wine. Israel, he argued can grow one’s spirituality. Israel is usually referred to as “Aretz Yisrael,” (Aleph Raysh Tzadi, Yud Sin Raysh Aleph Lamed) especially in the bible. When broken down, Rahtz (Raysh Tzadi) means “run”, and the alpeh before it means “I”. Yud Sin Raysh (from Yisr) means straight, and Alpeh Lamed means to God. So Aretz Yisrael can roughly translate to “I run straight to God.” Far fetched like I said, but still interesting. As a result, he argues, that when one studies torah in Israel, he is pushed forward faster than usual by the land itself; that is a person is more capable of being spiritual in Israel. He used an analogy of someone paddling up a current against someone paddling with the current. In Israel, you are studying with the current. I am not sure if I buy his argument, as it could easily be a coincidence, but it is something to think about.

The second class was called “Good Things are Worth Fighting for” and was given by Rabbi Avigdor Silver. His speech was an autobiography of his life, traveling from Europe to Australia to Israel, being chased by the Nazis and fighting for Israel in the 1967 and 1973 wars. He had a very cool story that included losing and then getting back control over his left arm, watching a Nazi submarine chase his boat to Australia, and fighting for his life in a hospital. However, nothing about the class was controversial, or even really based in Judaism. The point, at least that I got, was that Israel is something that is worth fighting for and something that we must fight for.

Mt. Herzl (May 7)

2008-05-09T08:09:00.001-07:00

Today is Yom Ha’atzmaut (independence day for Israel). We visited the military cemetery to honor those who died in combat and allow us to be in Israel today. For me, along with reading Ron Paul’s manifesto, it made me hate the military draft even more. Stories of fallen soldiers have always brought a tear to my eye, perhaps from sorrow, or perhaps because of how much I respect them. However, today I saw something I have never seen: At a very recently dug grave of a soldier named “yosi” who was killed in the Lebanon war at the age of 22 (just a year older than myself) two parents were praying and mourning. The father, struggling successfully to refrain from crying, and a mother running her hands on her son’s gravestone drowning in a pool of her own tears. I do not know if this soldier was drafted or not. I do know that the war probably could have been avoided and his life saved.

The fact that Israel holds a military draft is quite a moral dilemma for me. Jews are finally supposed to be in a free homeland, yet they are virtually owned by the state, used as slaves for her master’s warmongering. When a country holds a draft it is basically telling her citizens that she owns their lives, free to dispose of them how she wishes. How free are Jews, who are subject to a draft, living in Israel? If Israel is really worth dying for, as many Israeli’s believe, then why is a draft necessary? Wouldn’t enough young citizens volunteer to fight for something they so strongly believe in? Honestly, these are questions I asked myself for the first time today, as I have always taken for granted that Israel needs a military draft. Seeing parents mourn the loss of their child as a result of a war that had no definitive result definitely affected my thoughts. Israel may or may not be a reason to go to a war, but one thing is for sure; it is the decision of the individual to make whether he or she wants to risk their life, not a decision for the government to force upon them.

First Class (May 7)

2008-05-09T08:07:00.000-07:00

After breakfast (I had egg white and cheese sandwich on wheat with some veggies and then some kugel) I prayed a little Shacaris (the morning prayer). We had 3 1 hour lectures. The first was given by Rabbi Beryl Gershenfeld. He started his lecture by asking what the single most important foundation or verse of the torah is. The answer is “The Torah which Moshe commanded us is the heritage of the congregation of Jacob.” There are some important parts of this verse that must be considered; first is the idea of inheritance. When someone inherits something, it allows them to lead a different life. If I inherit 25 million dollars I could quit school and travel until I die. The inheritance of the Torah allows Jews to live more freely as it gives us the moral wisdoms without having to spend energy (or work) to find them (gain money). It must be understood that this inheritance is for all Jews everywhere and during any time period. We must take advantage of it. After all, what good is 25 million dollars if we let it sit in the bank and never spend it? Of course, this assumes that the torah is a divine document that does indeed hold moral truths, a topic we did not discuss in this lecture.

By having the term “us” in the verse, it means that we must follow the torah for ourselves, not for God. By following the torah, we can live better lives. He used the example of Kobe Bryant committing adultery, and possibly rape, saying Kobe must not be happy. Obviously, I do not agree with him 100% without seeing something that shows Kobe is actually unhappy. The rabbi used a lot of assumptions. When I asked him how we know Kobe is not happy he just said something like “trust me.” I was very unsatisfied with the answer.

Furthermore, the Torah gives us 3 things that were not in the world prior to it: 1. Gave humans radical free will 2. A strive to fix our morals and 3. stresses literacy. To prove the first point he showed how Greeks and Babylonians believed that we were puppets of the Gods or that life was a natural circle we had no control over. The 2^nd point he argued by referencing Bill Clinton’s, Barack Obama’s, and John McCain’s biographies by stating that they each had rough childhoods which lead them to yearning to fix the world (I hope all 3 get caugh in a scandal and end up in prison, but that’s just me). He argued the 3^rd point with my favorite part of the lecture: That Judaism is the only religion which has an obligation to learn daily.

The 2^nd speaker was Tom Steinberg who works for the well known Tish family in New York. His speech was much less interesting to me than the former. Out of his speech I got the following: That we have two parts of our heart, the urge to do great things and the urge to do evil. The part of the heart that urges you to do bad gets you by saying to yourself “Do something little for me and I will do something good for you.” For example, take a small bite of the cake and I you will feel happy. Then take another small bite, etc. And before you know it, the entire cake is gone. This part of your heart adds insult to injury then chastising you for lacking the self discipline necessary to resist the cake. This is the part of the mind that leads to greed and always wanting more, and not letting yourself become content. As I think about it, I suppose this speaker was also meaningful as much can learned from his metaphors. He also noted that time is a non renewable resource, so we must use it wisely. And, using it wisely is opposing illusions. Take that as you wish, but I took it as meaning we should ignore fake pleasures such as sports, video games, TV shows etc. and focus on what is real.

Our last speaker is a psychiatrist or psychologist, I actually forgot (is there a difference anyways?), named Dr. Ephraim Becker. He basically talked about Kantian theory, acting from duty and not from selfish motives, and never using someone as a means to an ends. That we should train ourselves, through practice, to constrict ourselves and allow others to exist. This is what he said God does; constricts himself in order to let us exist, since in Judaism everything is God, we are just one substance. And God, being almighty as he is, allows us to exist by constricting himself. Dr. Becker urged us to stop acting as selfish children work towards becoming ideal by emulating God’s attributes, i.e: thinking of others. As children we are very selfish and think of ourselves, and as we become adults we should work on thinking of others.

While this sounds all nice and fuzzy, it is very controversial. As he admits, we are working against nature in this circumstance. Gravity is pulling us towards our real or infant urges, and we must work against that force to become godlier. And this, according to him, is an emotionally healthy adult; someone who fights their childish urges and follows God’s image. But many would argue that we should embrace our natural instincts, and we are only healthy when we allow nature to control us, and do not try to act against her laws. Dr. Becker did not offer any insight on this, and my coffee was fading off by this time of the morning. While I want to agree with him, I am not sure if I can. I always preferred the line of thinking that it is in our best selfish interests to help others because helping others make me happy; not trying to help others just for the sake of helping them. His line of thinking of course similar to Kant’s motive from duty, as our action is only moral if we our acting from altruistic duties. Although, I do agree with the doctor that we should only treat other humans as an ends and respect them for who they are in themselves and not what their purpose to ourselves is. I.E.: I respect Mike as a person, not because he provides me service “X.”

Jetlag

2008-05-09T08:06:00.000-07:00

Could not sleep well last night at all. Went to sleep around 11, woke up 3! Times to urinate and after the 3^rd time I could not fall asleep. It must have been around 3 maybe 4 AM since it was pitch black for hours as I lay in bed. I did think something that bothers me (what a surprise, right?) though. Why could the democrats not nominate a more moderate and experienced candidate such as Bill Richardson (Gov New

Mexico

) or Joseph Biden (Sen Conn)? McCain is a fiscally liberal warmonger, but Clinton and Obama are even more fiscally liberal and nearly as big of warmongers. Obama even said he wants to invade Pakistan or Iran? What the heck is with that? Ugh, talk about choosing the lesser of two evils.

May 5-6

2008-05-09T08:04:00.000-07:00

Cesar from Peru drove me to the airport. Prior to that, my aunt and I went for a nice walk somewhere in Westport. Flight was fine; ate, slept, played poker, and read. Once in Israel we stopped for a picnic on the way to the hotel. At the hotel they had food again, but I passed despite it looking tasty. Went to the Western Wall, as today is YomHazikaron (day of remembrance) where we remember the lost Israeli solders. The ceremony was quite cool. We saw it from atop a balcony of a multi million dollar apartment that overlooks the lone wall left from the 2nd temple. President Shimon Peres, among others, spoke. It was all in Hebrew and consequently I understood very little.
It was cool to see a bunch of snipers around the area, security in the general vicinity was very tight. After the ceremony we tore shirts that the organizer gave us, since we had not seen the Wall in the last month…It is a sign of mourning to tear one’s clothes and we mourn since we have not seen the wall lately. We then all went down to the wall itself, and I prayed for a few minutes. Then back to the hotel now its nearly 11 PM and I am exhausted due to lack of sleep on the airplane.

Manifesto/New Yorker's rights

2008-05-05T08:33:00.000-07:00

On the airplane ride to White Plains NY, I read about ¾ of Ron Paul’s latest book: “Ron Paul Revolution: A Manifesto.” He divides the book into 5 sections (paraphrasing): The foreign policy of the founding fathers, the constitution, free market economics, civil liberties, and sound money. From what I have read I obviously agree with most of it. Even if my quality of life declined for a period of time, I would like to live in a country where we live as he describes how America should be, with a small federal government and friends with the entire world. To me, the free market part makes the most sense. I really cannot comprehend how we allowed the gov't to become this involved in everyday activities like watching TV, or eating in a restaurant. Really, how is regulating that the gov't's jobs?

While in NYC I witnessed a lot more government intervention than I see in the more moderate state of Michigan. No smoking, trans fats, etc. Just little things, but I still question how the government, local, state, or federal, has any right to intrude on private businesses as they do in NYC. But then on Saturday night I think I saw the reason: The entire city is drunk. Adults my parent’s age are stumbling through the streets. And I don’t mean drunk on a bottle of wine or a martini or a scotch on the rocks…I mean drunk like a bottle of vodka. People in their 40s and 50s were literally tripping over each other; when people get drunk to this extent they do not want the responsibility that comes with minor rights, such as smoking in a bar. For example, if I owned a smoke free bar and one of these adults started smoking and I asked him to leave, what would be my immediate re course if he said some stupid drunk shit and continued to smoke? I would need to waste more money on security guards or something to solve the problem. So I think I at least see how the people in NYC lost their right to smoke in private institutions as they would rather be treated like babies with the government as their parents.

New York recap

2008-05-05T08:29:00.000-07:00

Its 11 am and I am leaving for JFK airport at 4 from Connecticut, where I’ve been since Friday. I’ve been here since Friday and we spent last night (sat) in Manhattan. Friday we went to nice Italian dinner; had a very good calzone and some tasty wine. Then we walked some café’ where the people tried to hard. I mean the waiter was wearing like one of those Jamaican hats and had dreadlocks…and he was white. I had a piece of chocolate cake which was good, despite the liberal infused atmosphere that in addition to our waiter included some really bad music and tables too low for our chairs.
Saturday we drove down to the city. Went on a pretty cool lecture/walking tour about Jews in New York since the 1650s and their impact on Jewry and America as a whole, and specifically some Jews in the financial market like Belmot, Goldman-Sachs, etc…The beginning when he was talking about the Brazilian immigrant Jews in the 1650’s was more entertaining than the latter talk about the financial impact.
That night we went to an awesome steakhouse, Keens, with a bunch of my family members. From my mom’s side my cousin Devin, who is a sophomore at NYU, met us, and on my dad’s side, along with my aunt who I am staying with, a few more distant cousins ate with us. My cousin Lloyd and his 2 children, and his son’s wife who is pregnant! Dinner was really good, but I should have ordered one of their classic “mutton chops” (a mutton is an older lamb). We had a nice bottle of Argentinean Red Wine and I ordered a mammoth salad wedge drenched in bleu cheese which was outstanding, but I felt really fat afterwards. I chose a Kansas Strip (on the bone) which was good, but paled in comparison to the famous mutton chop. Lloyd had a 20$ shot of scotch and my aunt had a 15$ martini, but I guess those are the prices in NY.
After dinner my cousin Devin and I met up with one of my longtime friends who I know from home and his buddy. They are living in Brooklyn and it was really good to see my buddy who I have seen only once in the last year or so. We went to a hookah bar somewhere I think in West Village, crazy prices for drinks so I passed. My buddy surprised me and paid for the bill, so I could have drank for free but I wouldn’t want to be a shnor like that anyways. Afterwards, we went to my cousin’s friend’s dorm room. It was really nice with a full time security guard, kitchen in the room, and even wood floors. Sure beats Hubbard. Her friends seemed pleasant and drunk so I said goodbye to her and me and my friends from Brooklyn left.

Yesterday I slept in and then we went to the Yankess game where they beat Seattle 8-2. It was exciting at the begining but the last runs were scored in the 4th inning. Because closed roads and traffics, it took 2.5 hours to get back to Connecticuit as opposed to the 45 minutes it would usually take. Pretty crazy, but it is awesome to be at Yankee stadium in its last season of existence. For dinner my aunt made a truly marvelous dinner: Cesar salad and tomato-mozzarella-basil salad. And for main course she made lamb chops and asapargus. Of course we drank another bottle of dry red wine which was outstanding. The best dinner are always home cooked.
Now I am really pumped for Israel. I am nervous as I have never been away 3 months and I am very close to my family. But I am going to have a great time and hopefully learn a ton.