What would God do?

[A Candymanifesto. It should be obvious from the second paragraph that I didn't write this. -LNM]

Every religion has its weak points, it's true failures. Modern Judaism's greatest fault is that it is discriminatory, perhaps even racist. It's time to talk about this openly.

Let's forget "what the Torah says" for a moment. Say we believe in God. We don't know whether or not the Torah is true... how can we? But we believe in God.

Unlike Moses, we have no burning bush. We do not hear God's voice. If God exists, he has hidden himself... like he hid himself in the story of Joseph, not speaking to anyone for the last 14 chapters of Genesis.

But we can see God's will in the universe. We can look around at the world today and ask ourselves, This is the world that God created. We are Adam and Eve, and this is our garden of Eden. What is our mission in this world?

Today's world is smaller than it once was. Suddenly, we can see what's happening all over the globe, all the time. An ingathering is taking place of Biblical proportions, a reversal of the mythical dispersion of from Babylon. The divisions that the gods set in place -- language, geography, race -- are crumbling before our eyes.

Our greatest challenge -- our *greatest* challenge -- is to overcome the prejudices that divide us as a human race. It is this "senseless hatred" that keeps us from each other, that causes endless pain and suffering in our world today. This is the message God has "encoded" in the world today. It is sad, shameful, that religion is often the cause of these prejudices, not their antidote.

Where is the great religion whose singular goal is human peace?

Judaism is one of the worst religions when it comes to the "other." The goy. The non-Jew. The non-believer. The non-frum. The non-kosher. The slave. The mamzer. The shiksa. The shvartze. The faigele. Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about.

When you say the word shiksa, or faigele, that is the definition of lashon hara/evil speech. You have taken the Torah, thrown it on the ground, and pissed all over it. Because you have learned nothing from it, taken away only the chaff and left the grain.

Jesus said it best: It is not what goes into our mouths that makes us unholy. It is what *comes out* of our mouths.

Does Judaism deserve to survive? Only if it moves humanity forward, instead of holding it back. Let us renounce once and for all the nonsensical notion of a superior race or religion. Let us find other reasons to be Jewish, other than "so that the Jewish race can survive." What good is our survival, if we lose our soul in the process? (Jesus again!) Let us stop using our religious heritage as an excuse to discriminate against our own fellow human beings.

Is it not a global embarrassment that Jews and Arabs, our closest cousins, cannot get along? Is there any bigger indictment of our current Jewish (and Arab) leaders than the fact that, in spite of so much that we have in common, we still have not made peace?

In this week's Torah portion, we encounter many great non-Jews. Bithya has mercy on the baby Moses and raises him as her own. Jethro, a Midianite priest, welcomes Moses into his family (he would eventually found the Jewish court system). When Moses is too lazy to circumcise his child, it is his Midianite wife, Tzippora, who performs the bloody rite and saves his life from the avenger. The Torah honors these non-Jews, welcomes them in in the spirit of Abraham. Where has this welcoming spirit gone?

Perhaps you are already thinking of holy prooftexts with which to disprove me. I argue in advance that even the devil can quote Scripture to his purpose. The Torah contradicts itself every time it violates "love thy non-Jewish neighbor as thyself" (Lev. 19:34). It is up to us to decide which commandment is true, and which is bubkis. And even were God to command us to do evil, we must not make the mistake of the 9/11 hijackers. We must have the courage to argue! Does not the name "Israel" mean "he who has wrestled with God and prevailed" (Gen. 32:29)? When God contradicts our common sense, our common morality, then something is wrong. It is our responsibility to challenge that notion of God. "Will the judge of the entire world not do justice?" (Gen. 18:25) "If it not be so, erase me please from this book You have written!" (Ex. 32:32)

Want to see God, like Moses did? Want to know what God wants? Close your eyes. Close your holy books. Now open your eyes to the world.

How Lubab Pleases His Wife in Three Easy Steps

It has been almost three months since I told my wife I doubt the existence of god and the validity of Judaism. Our relationship has had its ups and downs since my revelation. I've been hesitant about blogging about our relationship for a few reasons. Mostly because I don't enjoy reading asinine "advice" from some of the bottom-dwelling trolls who frequent my blog. But, a number of people who are in similar situations have asked how things are going. I hope their interest in my relationship is because they are unsure about what to do in their lives and are looking for support or advice or direction or something along those lines. With that in mind here's an update and a few words of advice.

The wifey and I have been getting along great. After I told her what I was thinking things got rough for a little while. My timing may not have been the best. (Not that there is ever a good time to tell your significant other that you don't believe what they believe in). I say that timing may not have been best because she was finishing her recovery from having the baby, the kid wasn't yet sleeping well, and also throw in any of the other complications a marriage has when you add a baby to the picture. Each of these individual issues were getting better at the time we had our talk but my revelation added additional stress to the mix.

I can think of three specific things I've done that have helped improve our relationship.

1) I started putting on tallis and tefillin on a regular basis. In one of our discussions she said that she knows I'm not one of those guys who spends all day in the bais medrish (understatement of the year) but she expects me to do certain basics like daven, and go to shul. So, I made an effort to daven. I even made sure she saw me doing it. (e.g. I'd pop into the kitchen with my tallis and tefillin on and ask her a question or something.) My actions had a definite impact. I think my effort said to her "I care and am willing to take action to show that I care."

I want to give credit to Come Running of These Dreams of Who???? for helping me with these next two improvements. CR, thanks for chatting.

2) Come Running pointed out to me that many women are willing to do a lot of work (make two massive Shabbos meals for example) but want their effort to be appreciated. This isn't a major revelation but guys are stupid. I made an effort to vocalize my appreciation when she did work around the house. "Thanks for the meal, I really appreciate it.", "I appreciate that you picked me up from the subway.", "I really appreciate it when you get the place ready for Shabbos." Boys, let me tell you, this little word ("appreciate") is of great value. Use it. I guarantee results.

3) I noticed that Mrs. LubabNoMore is more stressed out when there is work to be done around the house. In talking to CR I realized that if I do more to help out around the house she might be less stressed. I know, not exactly rocket science, but I'm a man, what do you expect? Left to my own devices I would be wallowing in my own filth in under a week. But I digress. I started putting in a effort to do more around the home and *presto-change-o* she was less stressed and happier with me in general.

All these little gestures have been adding up. I'm happier, she's happier and the little babe is the most adorable thing I've ever seen. Wifey and I haven't talked about religion in a while. We will have to at some point in the not too distant future but for now I'm just going to keep building on what we have so when that day comes we'll be ready for it.

Note: I will use my discretion to censor (or not) any comments that reference my wife. And I don't want to hear you whine about it. When you start paying me taxes then you can start complaining about free-speech rights.

Dem bones, dem bones

[Let's hear again from our favorite guest blogger, the Candyman!-LNM]

This week's portion takes us to the end of Genesis, where the scene is rather bleak. The brothers have been driven out of Canaan, the promised land, from hunger, and find themselves in a foreign land. Their patriarch, Jacob (who describes his days as "full of hardship"), has recently passed away, and now Joseph, their protector, lies on his deathbed. It is against this backdrop that Joseph promises his brothers,

“And God will surely remember you, and raise you up from this land, to the land he has promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob… God will surely remember you, and you shall raise up my bones with you from here.” (v. 50:24-25)

וַיֹּאמֶר יוֹסֵף אֶל-אֶחָיו, אָנֹכִי מֵת; וֵאלֹהִים פָּקֹד יִפְקֹד אֶתְכֶם, וְהֶעֱלָה אֶתְכֶם מִן-הָאָרֶץ הַזֹּאת, אֶל-הָאָרֶץ, אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּע לְאַבְרָהָם לְיִצְחָק וּלְיַעֲקֹב. וַיַּשְׁבַּע יוֹסֵף, אֶת-בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לֵאמֹר: פָּקֹד יִפְקֹד אֱלֹהִים אֶתְכֶם, וְהַעֲלִתֶם אֶת-עַצְמֹתַי מִזֶּה

This symbol—Joseph's coffin rising from its grave—resembles resurrection, as does Joseph's rising from the pit during his lifetime (see last week's post). What's even more interesting is that Joseph juxtaposes the image of the Israelites "rising" (Hebrew ELH) from Egypt and his own bones rising. Joseph seems to be suggesting that his bones, his symbolic resurrections, are linked with Israel's redemption from exile.

You can't understand the chumash/Pentateuch without understanding the later Prophets (i.e. the prophets that aren't taught in schools because 'they are too hard'). The image of bones and resurrection is reminiscent of a passage in Ezekiel (37:1-14). There, resurrection is used in the context of a very different national crisis, the destruction of the first Temple and the exile of the Israelites to Babylonia. Ezekiel watches in disbelief as a heap of dry human bones wears anew sinews and flesh, returning to life. The image, God explains, is symbolic (v. 11-12):

"And He said to me: Son of man, these bones are all of the house of Israel; behold, they say, “Our bones have dried up, and our hope is lost, and we are doomed.” Therefore, prophesy to them, saying, “So says my Lord, God: Behold, I am opening your graves, and I shall bring you up from your graves, My nation; and I shall bring you to the land of Israel…"

ְ וַיֹּאמֶר, אֵלַי, בֶּן-אָדָם, הָעֲצָמוֹת הָאֵלֶּה כָּל-בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל הֵמָּה; הִנֵּה אֹמְרִים, יָבְשׁוּ עַצְמוֹתֵינוּ וְאָבְדָה תִקְוָתֵנוּ--נִגְזַרְנוּ לָנוּ. לָכֵן הִנָּבֵא וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵיהֶם, כֹּה-אָמַר אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה, הִנֵּה אֲנִי פֹתֵחַ אֶת-קִבְרוֹתֵיכֶם וְהַעֲלֵיתִי אֶתְכֶם מִקִּבְרוֹתֵיכֶם, עַמִּי; וְהֵבֵאתִי אֶתְכֶם, אֶל-אַדְמַת יִשְׂרָאֵל

The symbolism here is strikingly similar to that of the Joseph narrative. Like Joseph’s bones, the dried bones in Ezekiel’s vision are a symbol of hope for a nation recently exiled. In both cases, the bones are linked to a return to the homeland of Israel. In the Ezekiel story, though, the symbol of bones has an added significance. Bones are used to relay Ezekiel's vision of hope precisely because they are a symbol of hopelessness—the Israelites say, metaphorically, "Our bones have dried up, and our hope is lost." This was particularly appropriate for the generation of the Babylonian exile, whose faithlessness is a running theme for the prophets of the exile.

The similarities between the Joseph narrative and Ezekiel's vision suggest that the Joseph narrative was written with not only the Egyptian, but also the Babylonian exile in mind. Reading the story of Joseph, an exile in Ezekiel’s day might well identify with the message of hope and redemption embodied in Joseph’s bones. For such an individual, the entire redemption from Egypt would be a symbol for a promised redemption from Babylon. The Joseph story seems conveniently appropriate for this audience.

Furthermore, a second exile/descent to Egypt occurred shortly after the Babylonian conquest. What happened was that the remaining Judeans in Israel feared Babylonian reprisal after the Babylonian prefect, Gedaliah, was assassinated. So, they turned tail and ran away to their ally Egypt, against God's wishes (Jeremiah 40-43). An alter apikorus (elder heretic) in Israel once explained to me that this "self-imposed exile" to Egypt is the real reason for the fast of Gedaliah observed on 3 Tishrei.

Now, whoever wrote the Joseph story knew a decent amount about Egypt. It's tempting to speculate that the author was one of these second Egyptian exiles, living at the time of Jeremiah or Ezekiel. Drawing upon what he knew of Jewish folklore and Egyptian culture, this exile crafted a powerful, symbolic folk tale about resurrection and redemption, bringing hope to a people whose bones were almost entirely dry.


[Author's note: again, this material is copyrighted, please contact me before reproducing it. Thanks!]

Third Act

Writing this blog has been a great experience for me. No, I'm not about to start a swan song about ending LubabNoMore. I don't have any plans to shut this puppy down. I just want to give you some insight into where my head is at these days.

I was talking to TheCandyMan and he mentioned to me that I have a lot of unfinished, unpublished posts . (He has access to the blog's inner workings and can see all the notes and posts I've started.) I told him that I just don't have the same burning desire to post I had when I first started the blog. The fact is I've gotten to a point where I'm feeling pretty comfortable and just don't need to get it all out. I'm still far from where I want to be (which is reasonably openly non-orthodox) but blogging everyday doesn't feel like something I need to do.

When I first started the blog I was just getting comfortable with the idea that I don't believe in god. Now, that's just a fact of my life. I'm still me but I don't have this pressing need to get these thoughts off my chest. This has impacted the blog in a few ways. Most noticeably I don't post everyday. A few months ago I would stay up late almost every night and post about my latest idea, or question, or story. These days I just don't feel that same desire. I think quality is the other area where the blog has (occasionally) suffered. As I was losing the need to blog I tried to keep posting everyday. The result has been posts that are not as good as I would like.

So here is the plan moving forward...
I'm going to stick around, but in order to keep up the quality expect that I won't post as much as I used to.

This community is great and I want it to keep growing. I get the feeling there are many lurkers who benefit a great deal from the blogs. Lurkers: You guys (and gals) should blog. It's easy. Come on in. The water is fine. We're all still anonymous anyway. If you want any help setting up an anonymous email address and blog send me an email. I'm happy to show you how to do it/set it up for you. LubabNoMore@gmail.com

Blog! You'll be glad you did.

Random thought:
Maybe the skeptic blogs have a natural lifetime. Maybe because they have a natural starting point (religious) and natural end point (irreligious but comfortable with it) they all are destined to be somewhat short lived. On the other hand if you start religious and then end up irreligious but uncomfortable with it you get Shalom Auslander who still can't stop writing about it. I think the blogs of XGH keeps rising and falling because he's chasing a specific dream. What do you think? Also, if you blogged for a while, then stopped, what keeps you coming back to the skeptic blogs?

Joseph, resurrected

[LNM: No posts for half a week, then two posts in less than 24 hrs. So it goes. Here's this week's installment from TheCandyMan.]

Hey folks, it's the Candyman. Sorry to post on Friday... I know many of you are busy! If you're in a rush, I humbly suggest printing out the post before Shabbat (click on the title of the post, then press 'Print'). You'll have plenty of time to look it over once the sun sets.

Last week, I mentioned the early Pharisaic rabbis. In the formative days of Rabbinic Judaism (the forerunner of Orthodoxy), a vicious debate raged in Jewish communities: was there life after death? The Pentateuch, of course, makes no such promise. You get a peaceful and long life for keeping the mitzvot/commandments, nothing more. (There's no mention of any messiah, either.) The Talmudic rabbis thus pondered: Resurrection of the dead, from whence in the [written] Torah? The answers they give are midrashic/exegetical in nature and hard to understand. The debate is still going on.

The story of Joseph is interesting in this regard, because its running theme is deliverance from death. The theme expresses itself through a number of literary devices, the first of which is the plot. Joseph is a man who is saved from the brink of death, over and over again. Furthermore, Joseph is believed dead by his family (Gen. 37:33, 42:22), to the extent that his brothers don't even recognize him when they see him. When Joseph finally reveals himself, then, he is a man come back from beyond the grave. Joseph becomes a "lifegiver" for both Egypt and for his brothers, saving them from the famine. Joseph saves lives on the spiritual plane, as well as the physical one. When he is found to be alive, Joseph’s father Jacob – hitherto fated to die in perpetual sadness over his son – is described (v. 45:28) as having his “spirit brought to life" (or "spirit resurrected"). In addition, through Joseph, the guilt-ridden brothers are given a chance to redeem themselves. Rescue from death, whether physical or spiritual, is an idea that surfaces again and again in the plot of the Joseph story.

Repeated phrases and keywords also function to highlight a theme of deliverance from death. The verb “to live” (HY in Hebrew) appears to function as a keyword, appearing frequently in the narrative. A repeated phrase in the narrative is “and we shall live and not die!” (Gen. 42:2, 43:8, 47:19) The phrase is uttered by Jacob, Judah, and the Egyptian people, all of whom are rescued by Joseph in one way or another. Another refrain is “still alive,” used seven times in the narrative referring to either Jacob or Joseph (v. 43:7, 43:27-28, 45:3, 45:26-28, 46:30). The phrase is especially conspicuous at the climax of the story, the revelation of Joseph’s identity to his family.

A final clue to the this theme is the use of the symbolic pit in Joseph’s two falls. Joseph suffers two major setbacks in his life: first, his kidnapping at the hands of his brothers, and second, his imprisonment at the hands of Potiphar's wife. In both cases, his fall is depicted in the Biblical imagery of death: he is cast down (and raised from) a pit (v. 37:19-28, 40:15), an image that in the Jewish Scriptures is suggestive of the grave (for example, see Jacob’s speech of “going down” to Sh’ol here in 42:38; for an explicit reference to the “pit,” and its identification with Sh’ol, see Ps. 30:4, Proverbs 1:12). This emergence from the grave is a symbol of resurrection, or at least deliverance. Joseph is twice rescued from the pit, rescued from death, brought back to life.

The plot, language, and imagery of the Joseph story all point to a major theme of the story, deliverance from death/resurrection. But why did this author(s) include this theme? The closely related question: what did resurrection mean to its original readers (who probably didn't believe in heaven)? That discussion will have to wait until next week.

[Author's note: I'm working on a publication that includes these ideas, so they are under copyright. Please don't reproduce them without my permission!]

Kosher in the Workplace Returns

Back in August I wrote about how I felt guilty when my office would order kosher food for me - a closeted atheist. The issue hadn't come up again until last week.

A member of our "executive board" wanted to meet and spend a little time with the staff. A day was set for this head honcho to come and talk to us over lunch. As the date approached a member of our administrative team asked me to pick out a kosher lunch for her to order.

Meanwhile, since August I have also been feeling much more comfortable with not adhering to halacha. For the most part this happens on Shabbos. (Turn on the baby mobile here, check email there, yadda, yadda, yadda.) But opportunities to violate Shabbos come around every seven days. If you are an orthodox Jew in the habit of keeping kosher you don't often find yourself in situations where you are presented with treif. (I suppose there is non-kosher food everywhere but that's why I say "orthodox Jew in the habit of keeping kosher". If you are in the habit you kind of put up blinders and don't even see the other food. At least I don't. But I digress.)

So here was this situation where I was a) asked to make special arrangements and b) didn't feel the need for special arrangements. I told our administrative professional that if I ordered food I would take care of it with my company credit card. In the end I didn't order any food.

The day of the lunch came. That morning I thought briefly about packing a lunch as I was getting ready for the day. (Very briefly. Like the amount of time you spend remembering if you locked the front door.) I considered just eating at work but then thought maybe I should pack a lunch. In the end, in my rush I didn't pack a lunch.

By now it's obvious where all this is heading. I ate one of the catered sandwiches our office provided from a non-kosher restaurant. I want to say that lunch that day was spontaneous but I don't think it really was. I think a fair way to describe it is that I was aware of a possible course of action in my mind ahead of time but I didn't mentally commit to it in any serious way. I just let it happen.

I don't want my dropping of religious practices to be some kind of major statement. I don't need to get up on a pedestal in the middle of Times Square raise a cheeseburger above my head and declare "I am not keeping kosher!" [CHOMP!] I am certain in my beliefs and I don't need to make any drama around it. In fact, if I made my behavior change into some kind of dramatic event I would question my motives. Just blogging about it now feels like I'm making a bigger deal about it than I want to.

Prior to the lunch it had occurred to me that this particular event would be a good first time to eat with the rest of the office. Mainly because most attention would be draw to the big-name exec who graced us with his presence. (No irony intended. He's an honest-to-goodness big shot.)

When lunch did come I noticed a lot of meat sandwiches but I looked for and found tuna. I took some cheese salad, grabbed some chips and a drink. Nothing non-kosher per se but there were onions in the tuna and who knows what kind of cheese was in the salad. I figured my choices were in the range of what frum people who "eat-out" eat.

Only one person mentioned to me that they noticed my change in menu: my Reform co-worker YR. He made a small scene actually but I ignored him. I was trying to assimilat- er, "blend-in".

Pieces of Eight

I was hit with this meme by Come Running a while back. Then later Frum Satire tagged me as well, so despite my initial hesitation here are my answers. The meme wants answers in eights which makes it fitting to post on Hanukkah.

Disclaimer: Answers are posted in no particular order. Some of these answers are well thought out, others are not, a few may even be flat out lies! Enjoy!

8 Passions in my life:

Wife

Baby

Family

Friends

Good Movies

Good Sci-Fi

Understanding the way things work

Successful systems (devices, programs, social, etc.)

8 Things to do before I die:

Contribute something worthwhile to humanity

Learn to play the guitar well

Run for office

Spend time in Europe

Live openly as an atheist

Have a daughter

Run a marathon

Own my own business

8 Things I often say:

No problem.

Frak (and variants thereof)

What’s the deal?

Wanna get some coffee?

(Things I say to my baby)

Oh poor baby, what’s wrong?

Who’s my baby?

Goo, goo, goo, goo… GA! (this material kills!)

Do you like to chew on your hand? Yes you do!

8 Books I read recently:

The Making of the Fittest by Sean Carroll

A Brief History of Time by Professor Stephen Hawking

The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins

Thus Spoke Zarathustra, by Friedrich Nietzsche,

god is not Great by Christopher Hitchens

Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

1984 by George Orwell

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

8 Songs that mean something to me:

I want to hold your hand - Beatles

What’s My Age Again - Blink 182

I Can’t Turn You Loose - The Blues Brothers version

Rockin’ In The Free World - Neil Young

Nevermind - Nirvana

2112 - Rush

Birdhouse in your Soul - TMBG

Tonight, Tonight - Smashing Pumpkins


8 Qualities I look for in a friend:

Friendly (not as obvious as it sounds)

Fun

Smart

Different

Interested in the world around them

Conversationalist

Willing to hear my crazy theories out

Maybe being a little bit crazy doesn’t hurt…

Because I’m a stinker this meme will end here. WAY too many questions for my taste. I’ll refrain from inflicting this upon other people. No offense to those who have inflicted it on me. :P

In kofer news...

This blog has been slowing down lately. I will post the reasons why this week.

From "Patterns in Time" to "Early Rabbinic Writings": a Hannuka story

[LNM: In honor of Hanukkah here are some chocolate gold coins from The Candyman. (Mesh bag not included.)]

Hi all, Candyman here again, saying "Put on your yarmulke, it's time for Hannuka!" Y'know, Adam Sandler did a lot for Jewish pride when he came up with that silly song.

This week, I thought of a book that hasn't entered my head in years: Patterns in Time: Chanuka, by Matis Weinberg. I was a young and impressionable young man when I read it, my first year in yeshiva, but I remember thinking that book was genius. I stayed up all night reading it. I'd probaby be more critical of it today. Still, Weinberg is very creative, with a focus on p'shat (plain meaning), and it's worth checking out if you have the chance.

A couple of years ago, a friend informed me that Weinberg, once touted as a rising gadol (giant), had been accused of making sexual advances towards the young men at his yeshiva in Israel. I was very saddened to hear that. It's a huge shame, and a story that is becoming way too common. When it comes to the child molesters, some rabbis seem more interested in saving face than protecting children. In any case, Weinberg's book is still worth checking out. We all have challenges... they are written into our DNA. Sometimes we pass the tests, and sometimes we fail. But ideas should never be judged on where they come from. The rabbis of old got this right (Mishna Avot 5:27): Look not at the jug, but what it contains. There are new jugs full of old wine, and old jugs that contain even no wine at all.

Wow. I've got to say that writing that depressed me a bit. So let's say something short and nice about Hannuka. You are probably familiar with the miracle of the oil. When the Jewish Maccabees reclaimed the Temple from the Greeks, there was only one bottle of oil left, enough to light the menorah (lamp) for only one day. Amazingly, this little bottle lasted a full eight days! The miracle is famous enough. But what is the source text for this miracle?

You may be surprised to learn that the miracle of the oil does not appear at all in the earliest Jewish texts about Hannuka, which are the Apocryphal books I and II Maccabees (~100 B.C.) and the later text "Megillat Antiochus" (~200 C.E., reprinted with translation in the back of the Birnbaum Siddur/prayerbook... whose translations are excellent and worth checking out, especially if you are finding yourself bored during davening/prayer). In fact, the earliest source for the miracle of the oil appears to be the Talmud (B.T. Shabbat 21b), which as we know was finalized sometime around 700 C.E. However, as Wikipedia points out, there is a somewhat reminiscent story brought down in II Maccabees 1:18-36 about a fire in Nehemia's days. (Many of these points have already been made in the comments on the post earlier this week about Hannuka. Good job, people.)

Talk of apocrypha reminds me of a time about ten years ago, when I first ventured forth from the walls of the yeshiva to a local university library. At the time, I was searching for answers to questions which my Bible and Talmud study had raised in my mind. Who wrote the Bible? When and how did the "Oral Torah" develop? Needless to say, my yeshiva education had not provided me with the answers. At the library, I chanced upon a book by the late Jewish historian Hyam Maccoby, called Early Rabbinic Writings. It was a collection of mostly Pharisaic texts, most of which never made it into the Mishna. The book, which is very good and easy to read, is part of a wonderful series called the Cambridge Commentaries on Writings of the Jewish and Christian World. Each volume in the series is a sampler of primary sources from different eras or groups, e.g. Apocrypha, Pseudoepigrapha, Rabbinics, Qumran sect, etc. There are so many ancient texts out there that, sadly, neither yeshiva students nor rabbis are familiar with today. If you are looking for answers, they are a good place to start.

Shouting at Each Other

If believers can't prove anything is true, and skeptics can't prove anything isn't, and in the end we each just believe whatever makes most sense to us personally, then why are we blogging?

On that cynical note... Happy Chanukah!

Should Jewish Skeptics Celebrate Hanukkah?

Should skeptics celebrate Hanukkah? We are all familiar with the story of the menorah, and the pure olive oil which lasted for eight days. And while much focus is put on the "miracle of lights" the miracle isn't as important as the Judean victory. The celebration of Hanukkah is really about the defeat of the Hellenists (or Greeks) and the reestablishment of Jewish law in Israel. The Maccabees were victorious over Antiochus' attempt to spread Western culture and his banning of religious practices. In essence, Hanukkah is the victory of the religious over the secular.

I'm fairly certain that the wide-spread celebration of Hanukkah by orthodox and non-orthodox Jews has a lot to do with Christmas. (Look at Purim for comparison.) But essentially Hanukkah is a celebration of being frummie. That said, if you are a skeptic or orthorpax, why do you celebrate Hanukkah?

Living on a Prayer: Redux

Follow up post to: Living on a Prayer

The past few weeks I've been making a real effort to put on tefillin everyday and pick up a siddur at prayer time. As I've written before, I haven't found any benefit in reading words I don't believe in. (see link) But, I've found a different approach to "prayer" which I have found useful. While I have my tallis and tefillin on I simply think through my day ahead. I concentrate on what I have to do for the day and I focus on the key points. I make an effort to visualize what I need to do and how I will do it well. I can't remember where I first heard of this idea but I know that some athletes apply this approach to achieve success on the field. I've been very happy with how it's worked out so far. I find it gives me a little extra focus when I sit down at work or when I'm taking care of business at home. Interestingly, I think the tallis and tefillin help give me focus. I think the reason why is that I'm used to blocking everything else out when I have them on so when I put them on now they contribute to clearing my mind.

I'm pleasantly surprised.