03-20-2008, 06:49 PM
B"H
Hello. Thank you for reading my post. I am writing on the Fast of Esther, the day before Purim. This is primarily intended for those that celebrate Purim, although others are free to read it. Non-Jewish Aspies can relate to some aspects of the Jewish experience, including isolation, so I welcome them who would be interested in reading this. Please enjoy.
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Purim is a Holiday celebrating the deliverance of the Hebrew People from annihilation at the hands of Haman. The ancient Persian Empire was a relatively liberal and tolerant place. However, even there a hateful person like Haman could rise to power, manipulate the political structure, the media, along with the educational system, and spread a genocidal ideology. He prefigures the extreme Right of the Twentieth Century, along with neo-Stalinists, in his hatred and self-righteous bile.
Yet, when all hope was lost, salvation came. The Jews of ancient Persia were saved, and traditional Persian liberalism was restored. The Holiday of Purim celebrates this deliverance from evil. Queen Esther and Mordecai were merely the human agents of this deliverance. The real deliverance was the fulfillment of a Covenant made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. G-d promised Abraham deliverance in times of trouble. Purim was a fulfillment of that promise. Even the twentieth century genocides have not succeeded in eliminating the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
The Covenant with Abraham was also made with Moses at Sinai, a fulfillment of the Covenant made with Abraham. The Mosaic Covenant also promises deliverance, as did the Covenant with Abraham. However, the Mosaic Covenant was a modification in one respect. The Covenant with Moses was a more liberal Covenant than that made with Abraham since the Covenant made with Moses was made with a people and not merely a genetic family. The Covenant with Moses was a Covenant that accepted conversions, Gentiles joining Israel, and thus a total lack of the "racial purity" that the twentieth century demagogues loved so much. The Covenant with Abraham remains in place. However, it is joined by the Mosaic Law that defines itself as a Covenant of obedience, one that is more liberal on the question of descent, and also more demanding in terms of what is expected of those placed under it.
That line of thought leads me to another kind of threat of annihilation threat. This threat is not that posed by Haman, by Ahmadinejad, or by Tom Metzger. It is a different type of threat, the threat of spiritual annihilation. This threat is not merely present in the Reformed and Conservative Synagogues. Nor is it merely present in the "Messianic" Congregations. It is present right within Orthodox Congregations. It is present everywhere that there is a compromise with the Golden Calf, or so-called "practicality." Pragmatic ethics are a form of spiritual death. The most conservative and right-wing of people embrace pragmatic ethics, and fall dead of their own spiritual compromises. That is how so many religious conservatives have gone along with neo-conservatism.
Spiritual annihilation is not something that comes from anything obviously bad. It is not the result of dictatorships that obviously threaten the lives and liberties of a people that they would subjugate. Spiritual annihilation is something that often arises in liberal democracies. It is a form of assimilation. It is the other danger to guard against on this Purim.
Philosophies that tempt one away from Torah are almost never the "bad" philosophies. For some, maybe, but not for me. And, I would imagine not for the reader who has read this far in my article either. Idolatry does not tempt me from Torah. Sensualism does not really tempt me from Torah. In addition, Christianity and Islam have borrowed too much from Torah, often without attribution, to really tempt me away from Torah. If I were to embrace them, there would be too many reminders of the Torah for me to be comfortable. And, Reformed Judaism tempts me least of all, because there is no life there. Its services are boring and lifeless.
So, what does tempt from Torah? More often than not, it is "high morality" that tempts us from Torah. That may sound strange, but it is not. In my case, the two philosophies that would most tempt me from Torah are Pythagoreanism and Hinayana Buddhism. The former is a mathematical system is extreme beauty, elegance, and moral simplicity. The latter is a non-idolatrous system of Enlightenment and Transcendence. Both may have been influenced by Judaism (without most historians knowing or admitting it), but neither one steals from it without attribution. They represent a kind of allure, one to the realms of mathematical abstraction, the other to the Far East.
I do justice to both, of course. For the sake of the memory of Pythagoreas, I respect numbers. And, for the sake of the (albeit Mahayana) Tibetan Buddhists, I will refrain from watching the Olympics. The Olympics are pagan, anyway, in the Greco-Roman sense, something that utterly FAILS to tempt me to even watch them, much less to become an apostate! I so admire the serene philosophical abstractions of Pythagoras and Buddha, in certain profound respects, that I will concede that my younger self went away from Judaism to some variants of their philosophies. I learned valuable spiritual lessons while I was in their camps.
What brought me back? Well, that is complex. I do not want to go too far down this road. What brought me back is the fact that a personal God is not emphasized in the aforementioned two philosophies, at least not in my experience. This is the primary focus that brought me back to the Foundations of Torah. I believe that one's religious walk should be relational. This sets what I believe apart from Pantheism or Monism. Those two philosophies claim to be concrete, and yet they are abstractions. There is nothing more abstract than an abstraction that denies itself to be an abstraction. The need for a concrete reality leads me right back to the Fast of Esther, its concreteness, and the fact that it is not a fast of transcending the body as much as it is a joyous fast in anticipation of Purim Festivities.
So, during this Fast of Esther, I have taken off from work. I have decided to meditate upon a step-by-step walk with my Maker. One day at a time, just as the Jews of Persia had to rely on their Maker one day at a time, facing annihilation. And, so, making it to Purim after another years is a Gift enough on its own. That day-to-day walk is the real freedom from abstraction, the real transcendence from time. I need no metaphysical journey beyond that. And, it is on that point that I will wish all of you a happy Purim, and a day-to-day walk with your Maker. I pray that your humble walk be a joyous one.
All the best.
Hello. Thank you for reading my post. I am writing on the Fast of Esther, the day before Purim. This is primarily intended for those that celebrate Purim, although others are free to read it. Non-Jewish Aspies can relate to some aspects of the Jewish experience, including isolation, so I welcome them who would be interested in reading this. Please enjoy.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Purim is a Holiday celebrating the deliverance of the Hebrew People from annihilation at the hands of Haman. The ancient Persian Empire was a relatively liberal and tolerant place. However, even there a hateful person like Haman could rise to power, manipulate the political structure, the media, along with the educational system, and spread a genocidal ideology. He prefigures the extreme Right of the Twentieth Century, along with neo-Stalinists, in his hatred and self-righteous bile.
Yet, when all hope was lost, salvation came. The Jews of ancient Persia were saved, and traditional Persian liberalism was restored. The Holiday of Purim celebrates this deliverance from evil. Queen Esther and Mordecai were merely the human agents of this deliverance. The real deliverance was the fulfillment of a Covenant made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. G-d promised Abraham deliverance in times of trouble. Purim was a fulfillment of that promise. Even the twentieth century genocides have not succeeded in eliminating the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
The Covenant with Abraham was also made with Moses at Sinai, a fulfillment of the Covenant made with Abraham. The Mosaic Covenant also promises deliverance, as did the Covenant with Abraham. However, the Mosaic Covenant was a modification in one respect. The Covenant with Moses was a more liberal Covenant than that made with Abraham since the Covenant made with Moses was made with a people and not merely a genetic family. The Covenant with Moses was a Covenant that accepted conversions, Gentiles joining Israel, and thus a total lack of the "racial purity" that the twentieth century demagogues loved so much. The Covenant with Abraham remains in place. However, it is joined by the Mosaic Law that defines itself as a Covenant of obedience, one that is more liberal on the question of descent, and also more demanding in terms of what is expected of those placed under it.
That line of thought leads me to another kind of threat of annihilation threat. This threat is not that posed by Haman, by Ahmadinejad, or by Tom Metzger. It is a different type of threat, the threat of spiritual annihilation. This threat is not merely present in the Reformed and Conservative Synagogues. Nor is it merely present in the "Messianic" Congregations. It is present right within Orthodox Congregations. It is present everywhere that there is a compromise with the Golden Calf, or so-called "practicality." Pragmatic ethics are a form of spiritual death. The most conservative and right-wing of people embrace pragmatic ethics, and fall dead of their own spiritual compromises. That is how so many religious conservatives have gone along with neo-conservatism.
Spiritual annihilation is not something that comes from anything obviously bad. It is not the result of dictatorships that obviously threaten the lives and liberties of a people that they would subjugate. Spiritual annihilation is something that often arises in liberal democracies. It is a form of assimilation. It is the other danger to guard against on this Purim.
Philosophies that tempt one away from Torah are almost never the "bad" philosophies. For some, maybe, but not for me. And, I would imagine not for the reader who has read this far in my article either. Idolatry does not tempt me from Torah. Sensualism does not really tempt me from Torah. In addition, Christianity and Islam have borrowed too much from Torah, often without attribution, to really tempt me away from Torah. If I were to embrace them, there would be too many reminders of the Torah for me to be comfortable. And, Reformed Judaism tempts me least of all, because there is no life there. Its services are boring and lifeless.
So, what does tempt from Torah? More often than not, it is "high morality" that tempts us from Torah. That may sound strange, but it is not. In my case, the two philosophies that would most tempt me from Torah are Pythagoreanism and Hinayana Buddhism. The former is a mathematical system is extreme beauty, elegance, and moral simplicity. The latter is a non-idolatrous system of Enlightenment and Transcendence. Both may have been influenced by Judaism (without most historians knowing or admitting it), but neither one steals from it without attribution. They represent a kind of allure, one to the realms of mathematical abstraction, the other to the Far East.
I do justice to both, of course. For the sake of the memory of Pythagoreas, I respect numbers. And, for the sake of the (albeit Mahayana) Tibetan Buddhists, I will refrain from watching the Olympics. The Olympics are pagan, anyway, in the Greco-Roman sense, something that utterly FAILS to tempt me to even watch them, much less to become an apostate! I so admire the serene philosophical abstractions of Pythagoras and Buddha, in certain profound respects, that I will concede that my younger self went away from Judaism to some variants of their philosophies. I learned valuable spiritual lessons while I was in their camps.
What brought me back? Well, that is complex. I do not want to go too far down this road. What brought me back is the fact that a personal God is not emphasized in the aforementioned two philosophies, at least not in my experience. This is the primary focus that brought me back to the Foundations of Torah. I believe that one's religious walk should be relational. This sets what I believe apart from Pantheism or Monism. Those two philosophies claim to be concrete, and yet they are abstractions. There is nothing more abstract than an abstraction that denies itself to be an abstraction. The need for a concrete reality leads me right back to the Fast of Esther, its concreteness, and the fact that it is not a fast of transcending the body as much as it is a joyous fast in anticipation of Purim Festivities.
So, during this Fast of Esther, I have taken off from work. I have decided to meditate upon a step-by-step walk with my Maker. One day at a time, just as the Jews of Persia had to rely on their Maker one day at a time, facing annihilation. And, so, making it to Purim after another years is a Gift enough on its own. That day-to-day walk is the real freedom from abstraction, the real transcendence from time. I need no metaphysical journey beyond that. And, it is on that point that I will wish all of you a happy Purim, and a day-to-day walk with your Maker. I pray that your humble walk be a joyous one.
All the best.
