{"id":1589,"date":"2017-06-02T10:48:31","date_gmt":"2017-06-02T10:48:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/?p=1589"},"modified":"2019-08-15T03:59:27","modified_gmt":"2019-08-15T03:59:27","slug":"a-letter-to-the-ultra-orthodox","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/2017\/06\/02\/a-letter-to-the-ultra-orthodox\/","title":{"rendered":"A Letter to the Ultra-Orthodox"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">From me,<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Not really the same colour as you.<\/p>\n<hr width=\"50%\" \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"\" style=\"display:block;clear:both;height: 0px;padding-top: 10px;border-top-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;\"><\/span>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">There is a potent danger which I mostly leave unstated &#8211; due to seeming irrelevance to most &#8211; but which I hope I can articulate by imagining you as my audience.<\/p>\n<hr width=\"50%\" \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"\" style=\"display:block;clear:both;height: 0px;padding-top: 10px;border-top-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;\"><\/span>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Bullet points thinking:<\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li>Moshe unites oil into menorah that is tended by Aaron&#8217;s offspring<\/li>\n<li><em>Teruma<\/em> and <em>ma&#8217;aser<\/em> etc (?) allow\u00a0<em>am<\/em>\u00a0<em>ha&#8217;aretz<\/em> to unite with <em>cohanim<\/em> etc<\/li>\n<li>This transaction is determined by aptness (e.g. <em>kedusha<\/em> vs <em>tuma<\/em>)<\/li>\n<li>Which is seen e.g. in <em>netilat yadaim<\/em> (even today when the bread is no longer expected to be tithed, and thus not really-the-same danger, but <em>d&#8217;rabanan<\/em> jic)<\/li>\n<li>Or like menstrual checking after the marriage, even though always loves his wife<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr width=\"50%\" \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"\" style=\"display:block;clear:both;height: 0px;padding-top: 10px;border-top-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;\"><\/span>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">First, let us start on a false foot:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">If I were like you, it would be hard (for many) to hear what I said.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">And a less false foot:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I think that you&#8217;re doing it right (i.e. and I&#8217;m not, except by saying that I&#8217;m not), nonetheless<br \/>\n(i.e. not because of being right)<br \/>\nI think I have imaginings that can inspire your <em>kavanot<\/em>.<\/p>\n<hr width=\"50%\" \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"\" style=\"display:block;clear:both;height: 0px;padding-top: 10px;border-top-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;\"><\/span>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Isn&#8217;t it amazing that such different worlds and experiences can unite around a single belief in the divine reception of the <em>Torah<\/em>?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I and you are alike only by filtering the plurality of our daily minutia and panorama into a strawman who speaks <em>Hebrew<\/em> and announces <em>Shema<\/em>. I think our similarity should be a spur for admiring what is grander: our differences.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">But what if our differences threaten the integrity of our common heritage? &#8211; namely the inviolable nature of infinitely traditional truths &#8211;<br \/>\nthen how will either one of us detect any dangerous poison (when infatuated by each other&#8217;s perfume)?<\/p>\n<hr width=\"50%\" \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"\" style=\"display:block;clear:both;height: 0px;padding-top: 10px;border-top-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;\"><\/span>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">These are discussions which would keep us awake all night, delighting in theoretical machinations and logical derivations and counter-refutations.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">However, in a shorter time, allow me<br \/>\nthis assumption<br \/>\n(and if you don&#8217;t, I acknowledge the [possible] invalidity of\u00a0 consequent proofs):<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>Israel is one nation, and their unity is defined by having\/receiving one Torah.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">If so, then<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Apriori, any pathway which iterates urgently (aka primary ethos)<br \/>\ntowards <em>chasidut <\/em>and <em>avoda<\/em> etc (<em>Torah<\/em>), is a valid pathway<br \/>\n(insofar as <em>being one nation<\/em>,<br \/>\nbut it can be invalid insofar as it pretends to lead to <em>Torah<\/em> but actually leads to something dis-unified<br \/>\ncf. <em>shabbatai<\/em> <em>tzvi<\/em> encouraging <em>Torah<\/em> learning &#8230;)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">If so, then<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">How do you know whether my pathways are honest?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">My answer:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">(1) If <em>ish<\/em> <em>ploni<\/em> doesn&#8217;t know the difference between two pathways, and is only using them as ladders to become more competent at ascending the mountain of <em>Torah<\/em>, then either viable pathway is eligibly good<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">(2) If <em>ploni<\/em> is seeking an understanding of their relationship with the <em>Torah<\/em>, then another&#8217;s pathways are not presumed innocent without presuming them to be <em>tzaddik<\/em> <em>gamur<\/em> (<em>maspik<\/em>) (i.e. that is an invalid defence)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">[What if one suspects prophetic intervention? If then, one should still think for themselves, like in the Talmud when the <em>bat kol<\/em> says, &#8220;My children have beaten me&#8221; (by over-ruling God, according to their own majority opinions in the face of miracles)]\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">But if so<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Does this discussion mean to chase-away those with honed intentions? (You)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">No, rather I see it as an acknowledgement that<br \/>\nthere is no One True Path to Torah (et al), except each person&#8217;s own path<br \/>\nand an acknowledgement that<br \/>\nI seek to inspire you, not inform you.<\/p>\n<hr width=\"50%\" \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"\" style=\"display:block;clear:both;height: 0px;padding-top: 10px;border-top-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;\"><\/span>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">How could I presume to inspire you, for example?<br \/>\nBlood on sheets:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Since you have wondered whether I am fruitful, therefore you are acknowledging that I proceed through various creative states, and that some of these states are indicative of &#8220;resetting\/wasting potential&#8221; and that this is not a simple thing always, since it can be by fractions.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Therefore<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I hope to inspire you to use your own wisdom to test<br \/>\nmy own claims at wisdom<br \/>\nviz. a wisdom for seeing your wisdom.<\/p>\n<hr width=\"50%\" \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span class=\"\" style=\"display:block;clear:both;height: 0px;padding-top: 10px;border-top-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;\"><\/span>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I think the south side is like the conservative side<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.chabad.org\/kabbalah\/article_cdo\/aid\/2603059\/jewish\/Light-and-Unity.htm\">http:\/\/www.chabad.org\/kabbalah\/article_cdo\/aid\/2603059\/jewish\/Light-and-Unity.htm<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From me, Not really the same colour as you. There is a potent danger which I mostly leave unstated &#8211; due to seeming irrelevance to most &#8211; but which I hope I can articulate by imagining you as my audience. Bullet points thinking: Moshe unites oil into menorah that is tended by Aaron&#8217;s offspring Teruma [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[159,103,164,167,77,293],"tags":[],"metadata":[],"class_list":["post-1589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all-posts","category-essay","category-gmail-drafts","category-judaism","category-perspective","category-talmud"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1263,"url":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/2017\/01\/18\/a-prolegomena-to-a-prolegomena-to-a-study\/","url_meta":{"origin":1589,"position":0},"title":"A Prolegomena to a Prolegomena to a Study","author":"Pala","date":"January 18, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"{24\/10\/2016} Even approaching the approaching of this thing requires consideration. {24\/10\/2016} The goal is a proper study. The means is to know how to study. The precursor is to wonder how to know how to study. More premises: The subject of the goal is an Aleph. (#Borges) A premise of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;All Posts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"All Posts","link":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/all-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/kisspng-black-and-white-monochrome-grey-divider-5ab8b367372326.6136383115220539912259-300x15.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1401,"url":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/2016\/10\/31\/noach\/","url_meta":{"origin":1589,"position":1},"title":"Noach","author":"Pala","date":"October 31, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Editorial notes: This draft exposition is significant as it is the first documented evidence to Shai's deep study of Kabbalistic concepts. Alongside his Kabbalistic writings, Shai also uses (sometimes extensively) a special notation for depicting combinations Hebrew letters. So, 1I refers to the Hebrew letter Aleph, 8I to the Hebrew\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;All Posts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"All Posts","link":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/all-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/kisspng-black-and-white-monochrome-grey-divider-5ab8b367372326.6136383115220539912259-300x15.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2875,"url":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/2014\/08\/25\/the-study-of-language-4th-edition-by-george-yule\/","url_meta":{"origin":1589,"position":2},"title":"The Study of Language (4th Edition) by George Yule","author":"Pala","date":"August 25, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Editorial notes: The content below is Shai's summary of \"The Study of Language\" (4th Edition) by George Yule[I]. Ch.3 THE SOUNDS OF LANGUAGE Phonetics = characteristics of speech sounds Articulatory phonetics = how speech sounds are made Vocal folds Voiceless = e.g. [s], [f], when they are open and air\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;All Posts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"All Posts","link":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/all-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1709,"url":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/2010\/11\/06\/biotinylation\/","url_meta":{"origin":1589,"position":3},"title":"Biotinylation","author":"Pala","date":"November 6, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Editorial notes: In November 2010, Shai begins the second phase of his intellectual journey with an\u00a0essay\u00a0dedicated to scientific summation. Throughout 2010 Shai\u2019s writings are focused primarily on book reviews with the occasional venture into reviews of science. This focus shifts in 2013 when Shai produces 24 science-related compilations. Between November\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;All Posts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"All Posts","link":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/all-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1307,"url":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/2017\/02\/20\/can-we-escape\/","url_meta":{"origin":1589,"position":4},"title":"Can We Escape?","author":"Pala","date":"February 20, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"{Part 1 - 22\/10\/2016} Escape would require some flexibility of intuition and concept (nb. pedigree of terms is arbitrary). I would imagine strengthening a substrate of awareness that acknowledges its own ignorance. I would call this substance metaphorical, and the premises of its construction metaphorical idealism (replacing \u201cconditions of experiencing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;All Posts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"All Posts","link":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/all-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/kisspng-black-and-white-monochrome-grey-divider-5ab8b367372326.6136383115220539912259-300x15.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1297,"url":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/2017\/05\/19\/behar-bechukotai\/","url_meta":{"origin":1589,"position":5},"title":"Behar-Bechukotai","author":"Pala","date":"May 19, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"{Part 1 - 14\/05\/2017} I wonder at the sequence of the holidays overlaying the parashiot, moving from Shemot to Purim to Pesach to Vayikra to the omer and Behar, approaching Shavuot, having past the point of 33 (lamed gimmel which burn like a fire). How does one enter a spiral\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;All Posts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"All Posts","link":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/all-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/kisspng-black-and-white-monochrome-grey-divider-5ab8b367372326.6136383115220539912259-300x15.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/padotI-pD","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1589\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1589"},{"taxonomy":"metadata","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/metadata?post=1589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}