Yonason Goldson
I'm a Talmudic scholar and professional speaker, as well as a former hitchhiker and circumnavigator, applying ancient wisdom to the challenges of the modern world. I've published seven books, including, Proverbial Beauty: Secrets for success and happiness from the wisdom of the ages.
Homepage: http://yonasongoldson.com
Parshas Noach — A New World Order
Posted in History, Weekly Parsha on October 28, 2008
The aftermath of the Great Flood and a changed reality for mankind and the world. Adapted from my forthcoming book (G-d willing), In a Single Glance: a Philosophic Overview of Jewish History from Creation Through the Talmud.
Unmasking Halloween Monsters
Posted in Culture on October 27, 2008
Fortunately, our children provide us with endless examples of lessons we should have learned when we were children ourselves. Like this one.
The No-News News
Posted in Politics on October 27, 2008
Headlines scream that the Anchorage Daily has endorsed Barak Obama for president, thereby overlooking Alaska’s own governor, Sarah Palin. What a blow to the Republican ticket — even her own state’s leading newspaper doesn’t endorse her!
Of course, since 88% percent of American journalists identify themselves as Democrats, what else would anyone expect? But as long as it perpetuates the illusion that the election is a runaway for Obama, we’ll hear about it, at full volume, as often as possible.
The danger of self-fulfilling prophecy to the democratic process is disturbing. But as long as the electorate are willing to allow the baises of the newsroom shape their perceptions it may be inevitable.
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
Rabbi Blech articulates how writers of fiction have an obligation to accurately represent reality lest, as in this case, readers and viewers who may never have any other exposure to the Holocaust come away with the perverse misperception that mankind’s greatest crimes really weren’t so bad.
Life with a teenager
Posted in Education and Parenting on October 25, 2008
The good news is — it’s not just your kid.
Freedom to Think
Posted in Culture, Politics, Science and Nature on October 24, 2008
It’s truly remarkable how a society that worships so passionately at the twin altars of political correctness and non-judgmentalism can indulge in such unabashed group-think and censorship of thought and speech.
I just saw Ben Stein’s extraordinary documentary Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, which chronicles the attack by the mainstream scientific community — not against the concept of “intelligent design” but against allowing any debate whatsoever on the subject. Stein compellingly demonstrates how today’s amoral and intolerant culture of dogmatic Darwinism mirrors the Darwinian euginics movement that contributed to the rise of Nazi Germany.
I couldn’t help but draw a parallel with the mainstream media’s love affair with one presidential candidate and its unapologetic assault against the other. WSJ columnist Daniel Henninger shines the light of objectivity on the lopsided coverage (with special attention to SNL producer Lorne Michaels’s unsually candid comments), while Michelle Malkin makes a mockery of the media portrayal of Sarah Palin as a bumbler.
(One snippet: which VP candidate, in an interview with Katie Couric, praised FDR for his response to the stock market crash? Answer: it wasn’t the one in high heels. Oh, and FDR wasn’t president when the stock marked crashed in 1929. Bonus points if you know who was; you may also be qualified to run for high office.)
If one side has a 100,000 watt speaker system and the other side has a cardboard megaphone, where is free speech then? (This is actually the answer to those on the far right who accused John McCain of “trampling on the First Amendment” with his finance reform legislation.) And if those who try to speak out are ridiculed, censured, or otherwise browbeaten for their minority opinions, how long until even freedom of thought is disallowed.
Case in point: Joe the Plumber, who had the audacity to hope that he could get a straight answer to a fair question. Actually, the answer the candidate gave was straight. But the attack dogs that pounced on him afterwards are bound to discourage other questioners. On that point, I’ll give Jonah Goldberg the last word.
… except for this: here we have two striking examples of the culture war about which I’ve already written.
The Roots of Wisdom
Posted in Ethics of Fathers on October 24, 2008
Here’s my latest on Pirkei Avos 3:22 — The Roots of Wisdom. Avoiding the famous road paved with good intentions.
Parshas Bereishis — Finding Grace
Posted in Weekly Parsha on October 22, 2008
Koheles (Ecclesiastes) tells us what is evident from the narrative of Creation: that G-d created man yashar — upright. But man corrupted himself, thereby corrupting the world that was created for him. Since then, it has been a long, tortuous struggle toward reclaiming the perfection of Eden.
After the first sin of the Tree of Knowledge, mankind began a rapid downward spiral toward destruction. Kayin (Cain) murdered his brother, Hevel (Abel), introducing a more profound element of corruption into the human race. For a time, the descendants of Adam’s third and most righteous son, Sheis (Seth), kept themselves apart from the descendants of Kayin and thereby preserved their purity. But over time, the generations intermingled, until the spark of G-dliness within man became all but extinguished.
Within ten generations, HaShem saw that the wickedness of Man was great upon the earth, and that every product of the thoughts of his heart was eternally evil. And HaShem reconsidered having made Man on earth, and He felt profound anguish. And HaShem said, “I will blot out Man whom I created from the face of the earth…”
But Noach (Noah) found grace in HaShem’s eyes.
What was accomplished by Noach finding grace in G-d’s eyes? He did not stop the inexorable decline of the human race. He did not convince a single person to repent. He did not delay the destruction of the world by a single instant.
But Noach achieved true greatness by not allowing himself to become corrupted by the corruption all around him. By retaining his own inner purity and righteousness in a world of moral chaos, by resisting the influence of a human society that had lost its own sense of humanity, Noach succeeded in a uniquely heroic accomplishment. By not becoming a murderer in a society of murderers or a thief in a society of thieves, by not allowing the distorted values and mores of his time to erode the values and ethics that had been handed down to him from the Highest Authority, Noach saved himself and, by doing so, he saved mankind as well.
We often feel that we don’t have much impact on the world around us. Sometimes, as in the times of Noach, it is enough that we do not allow the world to have an impact on us. As we depart the holiday season and enter the darkening days of winter, it’s a lesson we should all take to heart.
More insights into Parshas Bereishis can be found here.
Shmini Azteres — on one foot
Posted in Holidays, Philosophy on October 19, 2008
The Talmud records a now-famous episode in which a prospective proselyte comes to Hillel the Elder and says he will convert on condition that the sage teach him “the whole Torah on one foot (al regel achas).”
Hillel responds by saying: “What is hateful in your eyes, do not do to your neighbor. The rest is commentary; go learn it.”
Reb Yisroel of Ruzhin offers this tantalizing, novel interpretation. He explains that the proselyte was really posing a question of much greater sophistication. He understood the cycle of the Shalosh Regalim— the three Pilgrim Festivals of Pesach, Shavuos, and Sukkos — and how they fit together so that the Jewish people could reexperience annually the physical and spiritual redemption of their ancestors.
What he did not understand was the regel echad— the One Festival of Shimini Atzeres, which is attached to Sukkos but not really part of it. His play on words, asking for an understanding “on one foot (regel),” was really an inquiry into the nature of the one Festival (regel) that remains apart from the other three.
Hillel answered him this way. Each of the Festivals celebrates a specific event and is defined by specific practices. Pesach commemorates the exodus from Egypt through the commandment to eat matzah; Shavuos commemorates the giving of the Torah at Sinai through the custom of staying up through the night learning; Sukkos commemorates the miracles through which the Almighty sustained the Jews in the desert by commanding us to move out of our homes into little huts.
Once all that is done, once we have reawakened and, we hope, revitalized our relationship with our Creator, one essential step remains: to revitalize our relationship with our fellow Jews. And so the Torah added an extra regel — festival — not commemorative of any event nor defined by any specific practice. By extending the festival season for an extra day, we have the opportunity to remind ourselves that, no matter how much we may strive to perfect our relationship with the Master of the Universe, we accomplish nothing unless we strive equally to perfect our relationship with our neighbors and fellows.
If we aren’t cautious, religious fervor and passion can become a source of dissension and division in the Jewish community. We are allowed our differences in how we adhere to Torah law; we are required to make distinctions between authentic Torah practice and those interpretations that have strayed from legitimate tradition. But in our conduct toward our fellow Jews, and in our passion for promoting unity within the Jewish community, there is not justification for not fighting against divisiveness with the same zeal we may have for attaching ourselves to the One G-d who charged us all, together, in His service.
We have met the enemy, and it is …
… the electorate that will choose the next president of the United States based on their knowledge of issues like these.
Read ’em and weep.
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