Open Letter

There is such a striking (seeming) disconnect between religious mystical expression, often in erotic terms, and law- based piety or kashrut. I would go as far as to say it represents a paradox. Perhaps this paradox is necessary. Piety taken to excess is darkness and sterilility and only leads away from Hashem. On the other hand, using sin as a means of closeness to Hashem (Mitzvah ha-ba'ah ba-Averah) is also extremely problematic. My argument against piety is that it leads to fruits which, on the whole, are more evil and insidious than the fruits of misguided over-indulence. Over-indulgence leads rather quickly directly to either repentance or physical death (in AA we say we have to "grow up or die"). When you eat too much ice cream you get a belly ache. Piety, however, often leads to spiritual death or paralysis. Piety is conducive to the worst sins of the religious: judgement of others, self-righteousness, unkindness, shunning,  hypocrisy, persecution, extremism, suprem...

#𝐌𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐉𝐞𝐰𝐬 (𝐉𝐞𝐰𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐘𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐮𝐚 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐚𝐜𝐡, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐉𝐞𝐰𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭ᴏ 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐚𝐡 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐰), 𝐚𝐧𝐝 #𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐙𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬, ᴄᴏɴsᴇʀᴠᴀᴛɪᴠᴇ "ᴄʜʀɪsᴛɪᴀɴs" (ᴘʜᴀʀɪsᴇᴇs),  𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐉𝐞𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐘𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐮𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 #𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐜𝐋𝐚𝐰 𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲/𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞, 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐈𝐍 𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒. Yᴇsʜᴜᴀ/Mᴏsʜɪᴀᴄʜ/ʜᴀsʜᴇᴍ ᴅᴇᴍᴀɴᴅs ᴛᴏᴛᴀʟ sᴜʀʀᴇɴᴅᴇʀ: ᴏғ ᴘɪᴇᴛʏ, ʟᴀᴡ, ᴘᴏʟɪᴛɪᴄs, ɴᴀᴛɪᴏɴᴀʟɪᴛʏ, ɪᴅᴇɴᴛɪᴛʏ, ʀᴀᴄᴇ, ᴀʟʟ ᴏʀ ɴᴏᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴛʜɪɴᴋɪɴɢ, ᴘᴀʀᴛɪsᴀɴsʜɪᴘ, ᴘʀɪᴅᴇ, ʀᴇʟɪɢɪᴏɴ, sᴇʟғ-ʀɪɢʜᴛᴇᴏᴜsɴᴇss, ᴅɪɢɴɪᴛʏ ᴀɴᴅ ᴊᴜᴅɢᴇᴍᴇɴᴛ. Iғ ʏᴏᴜ ᴄʟɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ɢᴇᴠᴜʀᴀʜ ᴡɪᴛʜᴏᴜᴛ ᴄʜᴇsᴇᴅ, ɪғ ʏᴏᴜ ᴘᴇʀsᴇᴄᴜᴛᴇ ᴠᴜʟɴᴇʀʙʟᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪᴛɪᴇs ʟɪᴋᴇ ʏᴇsʜᴜᴀ ᴡᴀs ᴘᴇʀsᴇᴄᴜᴛᴇᴅ, ʏᴏᴜ ᴅᴏ ɴᴏᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ɢᴏᴅ. ʏᴏᴜ ʀᴇᴍᴀɪɴ ɪɴ ᴅᴀʀᴋɴᴇss. #Fᴀsᴄɪsᴍ #AʟᴇxJᴇғғʀᴇʏPʀᴇᴛᴛɪ #Re...

Shaul Magid

The following quotes are taking from a collection of the journals and letters of Etty Hillesum, a Dutch Jewish mystic who recorded her life in depth, in the months leading up to her deportation to a transit camp, then to a death camp where she was murdered by the Nazis.  Her writings reveal how she viewed her fate; the fate of Jews collectively; her ideas of love and hate, and most importantly, how she prepared herself mentally and spiritually for the ordeal she knew was to come. I take her writings as a guide in today's parallel universe of global chaos, the rise of fascism, and extreme barbarity. Her body may have been killed, but her voice wasn't stilled; her spirit not defeated.  "More arrests, more terror, concentration camps, the arbitrary dragging off of fathers, sisters, brothers.  We seek the meaning of life, wondering whether any meaning can be left.  But that is something each one of us much settle with himself and with God.  And perhaps life has its ...

  Brief Interviews with Hideous Men David Foster Wallace.  B.I. #20 12-96  New Haven, CT  [story within a story: man picks up a "hippie chick" and when she shares with him a story of how she saved herself from dying at the hands of a psychotic killer through vulnerability and not defenses, he is transformed. 1. narrator's relationship to the hippie chick 2. hippie chick's relationship to her psychotic attacker. Many parallels and comparisons are drawn and made.] "...she was going to become just another grisly discovery for some amateur botanist a few day hence unless she could focus her way into the sort of profound soul connection that would make it difficult for the fellow to murder her...I just decided to presume that focus  was her obscure denomination's euphemism for prayer." "And that this was my first hint of sadness or melancholy, as I listened with increasing attention to the anecdote, that the qualities I found myself admiring in her narra...

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