Scanning the scans

Eli: Well, since we’re talking again, I’ve been thinking about the big flap over body scans that you guys are having (although you made it through Thanksgiving OK)—it kind of fits with your “Divine Reversal” theme.

RR: Oh, really, how’s that?

Eli: It’s probably not divine, exactly, but there’s this big reversal between the right-wingers and left-wingers on this one. The right-wingers, who are for law and order and eternal vigilance in the war against terror, are against the beefed-up security, and the lefties, who are always freaking out about civil liberties and the right to privacy, are backing it.

Movie review: The Social Network

Eli is my youthful alter ego, introduced back in June in “How Eli got his name.”

RR: So, Eli, we haven’t talked in a long time. I just saw a movie that made me think of you—The Social Network.

Eli: Made you think of me? Hey, I might be a nerd, but no one’s ever accused me of being a computer nerd!

RR: So you’ve at least heard of  the movie, but I wasn’t thinking of that aspect of it. I guess it was the college setting for one thing—although 2003 Harvard seemed more depraved than UC Santa Cruz back in your day, circa 1968. Harvard almost made Santa Cruz seem idealistically hedonistic.

Eli: Yeah, I can see that. Make love not war. 

Mussar: Frugality

Here’s my latest contribution to Rivertonmussar.org, dealing with the counter-cultural virtue of frugality.

Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. (1 Timothy 6:6–8)

Frugality is not the most popular virtue in the age of consumerism in which we live. Rabbi Mendel tells us, “Be careful with your money. Do not spend even a penny needlessly.” In the afterglow of the recent global economic meltdown, this looks like good advice. But it also has the potential to derail the global recovery, since today’s economy depends on the opposite of frugality, on free and ever-expanding spending. Contentment is hardly considered a virtue, but a sign of sloth and lack of imagination.

Mussar: Righteousness

Here’s this week’s emphasis in Mussar, the Jewish discipline of character development. Even if you’re already a character, you should check out more at www.rivertonmussar.org.

Our Messiah warned us, “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Mt. 5:20). We often interpret that sentence as if the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees were defective, but Yeshua might be saying the opposite: “Unless your righteousness is even better than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you’ll never make it into the kingdom of heaven.” Such words must have filled the original hearers with despair. How can I be more righteous than a Pharisee—especially if I’m a simple Galilean farmer or fisherman or wife and mother?

Ishmael, Esau, and Boutros

I was just reviewing an article by Jewish theologian Michael Wyschogrod and came across this paragraph below, which sheds much light on the whole matter of election and non-election, important themes throughout Genesis and all of Scripture. That they remain important issues today is evident from last month’s meeting of the Synod of Middle East (Roman Catholic) bishops, where Archbishop Boutros declared: “We Christians cannot speak of the ‘promised land’ as an exclusive right for a privileged Jewish people. There is no longer a chosen people–all men and women of all countries have become the chosen people.” Wyschogrod’s words are far more in line with the truth of Scripture:

Beyond winners and losers

We’ve talked enough about the election, so how about a discussion on the doctrine of election, the fact that God freely chooses one people over others? It’s scandalous idea in today’s world, but an undeniable part of Scripture. The election produces winners and losers; how about the doctrine of election?

Let’s consider the case of Isaac and Ishmael. The Akedah, the story of the binding of Isaac in Genesis 22, is firmly associated with Rosh Hashanah, but we sometimes forget that it’s the second of two special readings for the holiday. First we are to read the preceding chapter, which tells of the birth of Isaac and the expulsion of Ishmael from Abraham’s encampment. From this brief description, you might think of Isaac and Ishmael as opposites, but what’s most striking in the narrative are the similarities between their two stories.

Mussar: Humility

I dedicate this commentary to the memory of my good friend Rube, Rabbi Richard Rubinstein, who died Thursday, November 4, after a long battle with cancer. Rube exemplified humility among his many strengths and virtues, and it strikes me as no coincidence that humility is the focus for this week at rivertonmussar.org.

 

Man’s self-adoration is the strongest love that God implanted within [him]. Rabbi Mendel

When I was still in high school, I started smoking a pipe. It was messy and inconvenient, especially since I had to hide all the paraphernalia from my mother and her keen sense of smell. But pipe smoking seemed really cool compared to the bland habits of the bourgeoisie, and a number of my friends took it up. Once, we were discussing what kinds of pipes were better than others, and agreeing on how low-class the name-brand pipe tobaccos were. A friend who was a year or two older was listening in, and he finally said, “You guys sound just like the people who argue about who has the coolest sports car or stereo system.” He was right, of course, but human society just tends to organize itself around hierarchies—the haves and the have-nots, the insiders and the outsiders, the cool and the uncool. In contemporary America, the old hierarchies of race, social class, and wealth might be fading away, but they’re being replaced by new markers that reflect our rampant consumerism, like the size and expense of things that we own. All of these markers provide a way for us to compare ourselves to others . . . and to think that we come out on top. Thus, we feed the self-adoration that Rabbi Mendel so aptly describes.