Open Letter

Apology - This American Life This podcast ranges from hilarious to bone-crushingly sad...one of the best pieces of journalism and writing i have ever experienced. Sedaris, adultery, public confession, and the fact that doctors get sued less when they ACKNOWLEDGE AND APOLOGIZE FOR THEIR MISTAKES. (We already knew that). 1. Coppo di Marcovaldo, Detail of Hell  2. Judas Iscariot, Sascha Schneider  3. Judas' Remorse, Almeida Junior  4. Judas Hanging Himself and his Soul Taken to Hell by a Demon, Notre Dame des Fontaines 

"The symbol of the heart of the world is a complicated one; it may be said at once to represent the shekinah , the true zaddik (who is the heart of his generation), and the soul of every individual who longs for God. No matter which of these levels of meaning is emphasized, however, the passage reveals the emotional content of faith as Nahman sees it. An overwhelming sense of wounded passion, expressed in undying yearnings for an intimacy that cannot come to be, lies at the core of his religious life. Here Nahman again reminds us of his Western contemporaries, the Romantic poets; love's desires overflow in him as in them, but the object of those longings will ever elude him. In this vision of the heart of the world we see the emotional side of Nahman's penchant for paradoxical thinking. The path of simple faith seems so clear: if your heart yearns for God as does this heart for the spring, what keeps you from Him? The call of simple love-faith tells you to draw ever neare...

Excerpt from "Tormented Master, The Life and Spiritual Quest of Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav"  By Arthur Green  pp. 118- 119  "The Kabbalistic authors, building upon these rabbinic speculations, went much further in elaborating the figure of Moses as the prototypical unique leader of a generation. According to the rabbis, all souls ever to be born into the world were already present in the soul of Adam. This notion, shared by the Aggadic authors and the early church, became central to Christianity in connection with the idea of original sin. Although little emphasis was placed upon it in early Judaism, the idea was rediscovered by the Kabbalists, who gave it a place of preëminence. Particularly in the Lurianic system, where the myth of the Fall is so central, the rootedness of all souls in Adam is strongly emphasized.  But equally crucial to the Kabbalistic myth is the belief that all the souls of Israel were to be found in the soul of  Moses . Just...

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 𝐌a𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐚𝐜𝐡, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐉𝐞𝐰𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭ᴏ 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌a𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐚c𝐡 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/Masʜɪᴀᴄʜ/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 #Ren...

Shaul Magid