Comments for New Jerusalem Talmud

Comment on Saving indigenous cultures, Multiculturalism, and evil by Meir Simchah

Meir Simchah — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 11:46:58 +0000

Your basic point is simple: Not all cultures are created equal. People tend to assume so. Here are some examples of institutions that we’re better off without …

And then, you probably need to go into the particulars of what the boundaries are according to our Torah and how those who accept this Torah are to relate to those who don’t. That’s a big project, and it’s not one well developed in the literature of ethical monotheism as far as I’m aware (since most have been more interested in articulating universals which the goyim would find acceptable rather than setting out what amounts to a foreign policy for a courageous and perhaps also powerful Israel).

The issue of preaching to the converted is a familiar one. Someone whose assumptions are against your position cannot be convinced as long as his assumptions remain intact. For that reason, typically, arguments don’t convince. In my experience people maintain their assumptions even in the face of failure to grasp reality; a dropping away or shift requires an act of will or a miracle, or both. Does Chabad do better with farbrengins than Aish with arguments? Those who are convinced by Aish already know what they wanted to find (note that best-selling title _Permission to Believe_); someone who has a mind-altering experience (discovers that space and time look very different on acid, pours out his heart at a farbrengin, watches mind dissolve in Buddhist meditation, sees a ghost, etc.) that person just got a wrench tossed into his basic machinery and he needs to rebuild in a way such that the wrench will be a part of what’s going on and not a gear stopper. Probably we were looking for those wrenches too. But the result of a wrench is less predictable, because this means doesn’t dictate the end. I figure this is why 1 – God will do really far out miracles in the eyes of the nations (wrench), and 2 – the Bible has become well known (plausible explanation).

I do have great faith in the Richard Dawkins of the world that they will maintain their assumptions, and God is very good about letting people believe what they wish. … So first you learn to believe with a mountain waiting over your head, and then there’s Purim.

Yours,
mS

Comment on Apparently Israeli voters are bigger idiots than Bush-voting Americans by sergey

sergey — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 04:02:45 +0000

jews can’t be idiots.

Comment on Expert-ism Daf by matjew

matjew — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 10:42:32 +0000

It should be made clear, this \’daf\’– such as it is– is only a compilation of the ideas, points and comments made during our discussion of the subject, by the people who were there. Edited down for brevity and laid out on the page and grouped in ways that hopefully will provoke further discussion and exploration. It\’s more questions than answers.

It doesn\’t mean that the pronouncements within are supposed to be authoritative (or even endorsed by the editorship). In fact davka (specifically) it\’s meant to show different sides or angles of the machloket (debate), at many levels. Each daf being presented at this stage of the \”New Jerusalem Talmud\” development is at the BEGINNING of a process, not a final product.

The original talmud took hundreds of years and thousands of great and wise minds to develop. This (NJT) grows out of respect from exactly that process, and believes that such a process is more productive of true wisdom than the standard academic world\’s formation of knowledge.

Comment on Birth and the Earth Daf by matjew

matjew — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 06:32:08 +0000

This discussion took place May 5, 2009. The ‘dafs’ will be posted in a better format eventually but I wanted you all to be able to see and comment.

Comment on Expert-ism Daf by matjew

matjew — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 06:30:39 +0000

This discussion took place on June 8, 2009. Eventually we will have the ‘dafs’ posted in a better format but I wanted you all to be able to see and comment.

Comment on Chinese Communists control the capitalist world… by truth

truth — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 22:19:13 +0000

Anyone who relates Obama to socialism or communism is a racist and Unamerican。Only idiots would believe the brain-washing teaching and guileful image of China government. China’s economy is projection of delusion and fake GNP.

Comment on Land of Plenty by Mike Vincenti

Mike Vincenti — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 17:02:04 +0000

The best way to revolt here in America is to revolt against the Federal Reserve System- not our politicians unless the spineless leaches hide behind the all mighty dollar- err.. I mean, the almighty lobbyists of the Finance Industry! That bastard birth of a national bank has hijacked American politics and is slowly killing the American spirit among its own citizens. If we all refuse to submit to the demands of the IRS, they can’t send us ALL to jail, can they?
I’m hosting a Tea Party. Who wants to come!?!?!?

Comment on Land of Plenty by matjew

matjew — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 23:28:03 +0000

Yes I think American identity IS something real– it is about freedom to be renewed, reinvented, to pursue ‘happiness’ and an infinite number of interests and hobbies and careers, without barriers to entry based on color or ethnicity or religion. The willingness to embrace that constant renewal makes one an American, I think.

But that’s hand in hand, as you say, with revolution, you hit the nail on the head Mike. Some of the founders, especially Jefferson, envisaged revolutions once a generation! That was part of the rationale for the right to bear arms… that in order for the ‘republic’, for citizenship, for American freedom to continue to mean something, it had to literally be re-revolutionized, that everyone should feel the thrill the founding fathers felt when they broke away from the British. The first big event after the constitution was the Whiskey Rebellion!

And even the Civil War amounted to a revolution, by southern conservatives… some say there WOULDA been more revolutions in the 20th century but they got derailed by the World Wars, which made America way more totalitarian (not necessarily evil like fascism and communism, but massively empowered the state.) The 60s also was a near miss, an almost-revolution, and I was around the 1999-2000 protests which amounted to a stillborn revolution. American freedom, without which American identity is hollow, MUST be renewed by radicalism. But you’re right that the current power structure is too strong… as the TAZ points out http://www.hermetic.com/bey/taz_cont.html our revolutionary acts need to be inventive, new, we can’t attack it head on.

But I don’t have the answers… and I’ve partly removed myself from the game, by moving to another revolutionary polity in Israel…

Comment on Land of Plenty by mushroom

mushroom — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 21:23:18 +0000

That’s good analysis. I’ll have to think about it awhile. Thanks.

Comment on Land of Plenty by Mike Vincenti

Mike Vincenti — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 13:37:06 +0000

America, in my opinion, is still stifled by English tradition. Freedom of mind and spirit as it is championed in the “American Dream” is a rather expensive endeavor. Capitalism strives on consumerism and in a land where green paper is as renewable as the credit line you claim it is (which it is not), idealism is traded like a commodity for the goods and services available. This, of and within itself, is not bad- it is a luxury. The price paid for such goods and services are all part of the financial architecture of American culture (read English culture). The real price paid is a total lack of true American identity. This was the most interesting part of your post. And it is what encouraged me to engage in dialogue. I agree with most of what you say. I only have a different take on the matter…
I am mostly Italian with a little German in me while living in America under English tradition while under the influence of Christian thought and dogma but at the same time live in a uniquely large Jewish population during which I find myself more and more atheist and antiestablishment. So what am I? Who am I?
I am a computer tech and I am a rock and roll drummer. Tradition has served me no purpose and so long as we learn from history, tradition, like religion, serves to temper and mould the spirit and mind. A livelihood void of tradition and religion is like putting a blank canvas before an artist. Therefore, if America is as you say it is and is unique in that it is “founded on an ideal” (which I whole-heartedly believe is true), we as “REAL” Americans ought to justify our being not by the traditions and religions of empires past- but through revolution, let us claim our own essence and be tied not to tradition or religion but bound by our own principles that are free from previous coercion (whether it be political or religious). Americanism is the passion of the artist, of the philosopher, of the musician and of the poet.
So long as the current power structure that extends beyond the political boundaries of America does not interfere with the endeavors of its citizens, America will be a great place to live.