Editorial notes: This is Shai’s first reference to the French philosopher of Lithuanian Jewish ancestry, Emmanuel Levinas. Levinas’ ideas appear to have made an impact on Shai’s outlook as he refers to him 11 more times in the following three and a half years, most notably in a post entitled “Perceptions of wisdom in the Talmud with Emmanuel Levinas“. Levinas[I] says that we come to be ourselves...
Editorial notes: On this day Shai publishes his first post dedicated specifically to Judaism. This is significant as it is the beginning of the fourth phase in Shai’s intellectual journey. After having first devoted a substantial body of writing to scientific inquiry and to the study of ancient and classical Western philosophers, and having recently commenced his study of Eastern Wisdom, Shai...
I meditate to transform my experiences. What does it mean to know transformation? I have become more familiar with the subtleties of the breath’s sensation – this is the most communicable transformation. It is easy to imagine an increase in awareness in nuances of sensation: the spectrum of a painting, the textures of a carpet, the timbre of a violin. The words point to the distinction: “green”...
Editorial notes: This post was found in ‘Draft’ mode in the original blog and may be incomplete. It is published here in its original state. It was last updated on 20/11/2015 This is a variation-on-a-theme. Where I previously wrote on reading Talmud with Levinas, here I revisit the issue, simplifying some aspects, and expanding on the concept and role of will. There is one idea I wish...
I am small and the world is great and beyond my comprehension right now. This at least I can say without doubt. But here is a dream. Once there was a fish in a fishbowl. There were pebbles on the ground, water all around, a toy castle, and a filtration system of some sort. Every so while food would fall from above the water, from where there was no water, a place of nothingness except pain of...
This is an expression of how I’ve been thinking about the first Mishna. It goes into more detail than my previous post. It does not propose to explain what the Mishna is about. Instead, I propose to explain what I have been thinking about. 1. From when are we to perform the Shema recital in the evening? 2. “From the hour that the Kohanim move to eat their Teruma; until the end of the...
Editorial notes: This essay appears in two versions, the first documented as a draft in Shai’s A BASHFUL HOPE blog (see For the Complexed (v1)) and another version found as a Google Document. The two versions have a similar structure but somewhat different content and the version showing here has been adapted to merge the two versions to form a more complete version of this document. It...
[Editor: This is already dated. And contains real problems, but those lie outside the scope of intent for readership so ok. The point is more how to guide an introduction to something which people are willing to understand, but can’t imagine doing so without condensation. [most people should rather admit to knowing as much about .., as about devas]] B/s: Explain how we need wisdom for seeing...
{Part 1 – 22/10/2016} A preamble on Eastern philosophy, religion, idol worship (nb. not referencing F. Bacon[I], but weakly alluding), and phenomenological incongruencies. Any reference to Indian (whether defining geographically, as did the Muslims, vis the river, or by cultural genealogies, via translocated Arayan, [aka] Brahman lineage, or Tantric resurgence [nb. meridian axis or at least...
{Part 1 – 26/10/2016} There are 22 Hebrew letters, plus 5 final variants. They are given numerical values. I don’t know if this is commonly thought by those who are better studied. This isn’t a proof, it’s a thought trail, followed by some demonstrations. Why are there only 4 letters in the 100’s order? There are 10 sefirot, but how would they fit? First thought: The...
