The Buddhist Psalm

This term I'm taking a seminar-ish class on theological issues in the Hebrew Bible. The past few weeks we've been dealing with what is one of the central theological issues in any religion (but more so a monotheistic religion: theodicy. For those that don't know, theodicy deals with reconciling the image of a good and righteous God with the existence of evil in the world and why the righteous sometimes suffer and the unrighteous sometimes prosper (The term theodicy comes from the Greek θεοζ (god) + δικη (justice) and means literally "the justice of god").

As one can imagine this issue comes up many times in the text of the Tanakh and is delt with in several different ways. One of the texts we examined was Psalm 73. This psalm is a little unusual as it pretty much dismisses the problem all together. The psalmist describes how he had been righteous and faithful to God, but still had to endure suffering as though he was being punished for some sin. But instead of the expected explanation of how this suffering was not an injustice on God's part, the author dismisses it altogether in an almost Buddhist fashion:

כִּי יִתְחַמֵּץ לְבָבִי
וְכִלְיֹותַי אֶשְׁתֹּונָן׃
וַאֲנִי־בַעַר וְלֹא אֵדָע
בְּהֵמֹות הָיִיתִי עִמָּךְ׃

וַאֲנִי תָמִיד עִמָּךְ
אָחַזְתָּ בְּיַד־יְמִינִי׃
בַּעֲצָתְךָ תַנְחֵנִי
וְאַחַר כָּבֹוד תִּקָּחֵנִי׃
מִי־לִי בַשָּׁמָיִם
וְעִמְּךָ לֹא־חָפַצְתִּי בָאָרֶץ׃
כָּלָה שְׁאֵרִי וּלְבָבִי
צוּר־לְבָבִי וְחֶלְקִי אֱלֹהִים לְעֹולָם׃
כִּי־הִנֵּה רְחֵקֶיךָ יֹאבֵדוּ
הִצְמַתָּה כָּל־זֹונֶה מִמֶּךָּ׃
וַאֲנִי קִרֲבַת אֱלֹהִים לִי־טֹוב
שַׁתִּי בַּאדֹנָי יְהֹוִה מַחְסִי
לְסַפֵּר כָּל־מַלְאֲכֹותֶיךָ׃

תהלים עג פסוקים כא־כח

or as the English of the NJPS has it:

My mind was stripped of its reason,
my feelings were numbed.
I was a dolt without knowledge;
I was brutish toward You.

Yet I was always with You,
You held my right hand;
You guided me by Your counsel
and led me toward honor.
Whom else do I have in heaven?
And having You, I want no one on earth.
My body and mind fail;
but God is the [rock] of my mind, my portion forever.

Those who keep far from You perish;
You annihilate all who are untrue to You.
As for me, nearness to God is good;
I have made The Lord God my refuge,
that I may recount all your works.

- Psalm 73.21-28

Where others try to show what the reward for being faithful to God is, this psalmist says that being faithful to God is its own reward. That when one is near to God nothing else matters. Much in the same way Buddhism dismisses the issue of theodicy by teaching that suffering is neither just or unjust, but merely a byproduct of desire for and attachment to an illusory world, this psalm seems to say that suffering is irrelevant, because being close to God is its own reward regardless of what suffering one must endure in life.

Note: This post contains the Name of God. If you print it out, please treat it with the proper respect.

Reality

There is more to reality than meets the eye.
The everyday world is an illusion.
It is real only in the way a dream is real.
We see it and we hear it and indeed we live in it.
We stake our lives on it.
And in an instant it is gone.

- Rabbi Lawrence Kushner, from Honey from the Rock

Thanksgiving Countdown

Caught this in a blanket tag from Jewbavitcher:

Ten movies you'd watch over and over:

1. The Natural

2. Citizen Kane

3. Superman

4. The Hustler

5. Almost Famous

6. The Muppet Movie

7. Monty Python's The Life of Brian

8. The Dark Crystal

9. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

10. Help!

Nine people you enjoy the company of (aside from family):

1. Sharon

2. Will

3. Tony

4. Angel

5. Jericho

6. Dr. Schneider

7. Gina

8. Rabbi Wasser

9. Matthew

Eight things you're wearing:

1. tan cardigan sweater

2. White gold class ring from USF

3. grey and black flannel shirt

4. Kippa with NY Yankees logo on it

5. blue jeans

6. Mogen David necklace Sharon gave me

7. glasses

8. white converse sneakers

Seven things on your mind:

1. Hebrew homework

2. God

3. Sharon (she's always on my mind)

4. The pain in my right knee

5. That new uke I want to buy

6.The fact that there are only 2.5 weeks of classes left this term!

7. George Harrison (his yahrzeit is today)

Six objects you touch every day:

1. Mezuza

2. Tallit

3. Tanakh

4. ukulele

5. door knob

6. kippa

Five things you do every day:

1. Sleep

2. Study

3. Daven

4. Check email

5. drink way too much tea!

Four bands or musical artists that you couldn't live without:

1. Bob Dylan

2. George Harrison

3. Pete Townshend

4. Johnny Cash

Three of your favorite songs of the moment:

1. Here Comes the Sun - The Beatles

2. The Sea Refuses No River - Pete Townshend

3. If I Were A Carpenter - Johnny Cash and June Carter

Two people who have influenced your life the most:

1. Sharon

2. Abraham Avinu

One person who has been nice to you today:

1. Angel

George Harrison, 1943-2001

Today, Tuesday 29 November 2005, marks the fourth anniversary of the death of George Harrison.

George Harrison
1943-2001

"While the years they come and go
Now, your love must surely show me
That beyond all time and space
We're together face to face, my Apple Scruffs

Apple Scruffs, Apple Scruffs
How I love you, how I love you"
- George Harrison, Apple Scruffs (1970)


"I'm just blessed by God to have known him.
He had so much love in him. I realized it more with him gone that
he was just pure love. My daughter Adria used to visit him a lot in
England when she was over there. She would go and stay at Friar
Park. She was telling me the other night that one night they were
out walking in the garden and he goes, 'Oh, Adria, sometimes I just
wish I could turn into a light beam and go away.'
...
I would assure all his fans that George was just really as
beautiful as they pictured him. And maybe more."
- Charlie T. Wilbury, Jr. (2001)

Those looking for a way to honor George should think about making a donation to either George's Material World Foundation or the George Harrison Fund for UNICEF

Ukulele Shopping

Recently I've been shopping around for a new ukulele. The one I have is a very cheap soprano uke & as I play more (and play with other musicians) I find myself wanting to upgrade a bit. I think I've settled on this model. Its an Oscar Schmidt OU2E with an active pick-up system. I'll just need to get a small amp (and probably a case) to go with it. Now I just need to save up all my pennies so I can actually afford the damn thing!

Only One Hymie

Pete Townshend has posted the eleventh installment of his novella The Boy Who Heard Music.

UPDATE: All the chapters and many of the comments from Pete Townshend's The Boy Who Heard Music blog have been removed from the blogspot site and archived at his main website:

The Boy Who Heard Music

UkeSchool.com

I just ran across this site on-line. I've been playing around with my cheap little uke for sometime & have already learned a few new things from the interactive lessons on UkeSchool. They have stuff for beginners and more advanced players. Highly recommended!

http://www.ukeschool.com/

Etrog Jam

I just spent the morning turning my etrog into jam. This is my second year doing this and I think it came out much better than the last time. I ended up with more jam and fewer solid bits left in it! I used a recipe I found on-line at CyberKitchen.com:

Posted by : Yitzy

Here is a recipe for making a jam from your Esrogim (citrons). It comes
from "The Heimishe Kitchen" cookbook.

Soak the Esrog for 1 week in water, changing the water daily.
Slice unpeeled Esrog very thinly, and remove seeds.
Boil in water, change water, and repeat twice more.

Add:
4 cups quince apples peeled and cut up
1 lemon thinly sliced
2 lbs sugar
water just enough to cover fruit
optionally add 5 or 6 whole cloves

Cook for about 2 hours until it becomes a clear syrup.
Store in a covered jar for a few weeks.
As an added bonus, you can let it "jellify" (or age) until Tu B'shvat,
where it becomes an unusual fruit marmalade to celebrate with.

The recipe works pretty well, but I recommend slicing the etrog and lemon almost paper thin to ensure than as much of the peel dissolves as possible.

Trilby's Piano

Pete Townshend has posted the tenth installment of his novella The Boy Who Heard Music.

Update: Brian in Atlanta has posted his "Cliff-Notes" to Trilby's Piano. Make sure to check the comments on that post for a few comments by Pete the source of the name "Tribly" and how Arthur Miller fits into it all!

UPDATE: All the chapters and many of the comments from Pete Townshend's The Boy Who Heard Music blog have been removed from the blogspot site and archived at his main website:

The Boy Who Heard Music

Fives

I got this from Erica @ Jewbavitcher:

TEN YEARS AGO: I was still in the Army, stationed at Ft Sam Houston, TX (in San Antonio).

FIVE YEARS AGO: I was just starting my BA at USF in Tampa, FL and was involved in a very destructive unhealthy relationship.

ONE YEAR AGO: I was just starting my MA here at JTS.

FIVE SNACKS:
Reeces Peanut Butter Cups
Goldfish Crackers
Bagel and cream cheese
Cheesecake
Sour Patch Kids

FIVE SONGS I KNOW ALL THE WORDS TO
My Generation - The Who
Tangled Up In Blue - Bob Dylan
Folsom Prison Blues - Johnny Cash
My Sweet Lord - George Harrison
Won't Get Fooled Again - The Who

FIVE THINGS I WOULD DO WITH $100 MILLION
Buy a house
Pay off student loans
Donate to charity
Travel the world
Buy lots of cheesecake!

FIVE PLACES TO RUN AWAY TO
Albany, OR
Jerusalem
Scotland
Ups

FIVE THINGS I WOULD NEVER WEAR
A swastika
a wig
A dress
a cross
high heels

FIVE FAVORITE TV SHOWS
CSI
CSI: Miami
Battlestar Galactica (2005)
Criminal Minds
Navy: NCIS

FIVE BIGGEST JOYS
Sharon
Judaism
Music
My friends
Reading Tanakh in Hebrew

The Tennessee Three in NYC

Last night I had the pleasure of catching the Tennessee Three (Johnny Cash's old backing band) in concert at the Rodeo Bar here in Manhatten. Lisa Horngren--a friend from the JohnnyCash.com forums--made her debut as the T3's new bass player. The show was fantastic. There were two acts that went on before T3: Doc Wooten and Carly Goodwin, both of which were great. Johnny's brother Tommy Cash was in attendence and played a few songs during Doc's set. I was very happy to be able to have my picture taken with rockabilly legend WS "Fluke" Holland, who watched most of Doc and Carly's sets standing right next to me.

For those not up on thier music history, Fluke was Carl Perkins' drummer from 1954-1960, playing on many of his hits, including Blue Suede Shoes. He played with Johnny Cash from 1960 until Johnny's retirement from the stage in 1997. He played on many of Johnny's big hits, like Folsom Prison Blues, Ring of Fire and Walk the Line. He was also the first person to play a full drum kit in the Grand Ol' Oprey.

This was the capper to a wild couple of days, as I had spent the better part of Sunday night jammin with Lisa and a few others at my friend Tony III's home studio, which was a blast:

Lisa on guitar, myself on uke:

Lisa and Tony:

UPDATE:
Here's one of the many picture's Tony took at the show, a very cool shot of the whole band:

(Lisa Horngren, Scarlett Wootton, Bob Wootton, WS Holland; Vicky Wootton)

Oneness

"In Judaism... the truth of God's oneness encompasses not only the 'I shall be there' but also all of Moses's life; not only the 'Hear, O Israel' but also the death of the martyrs."

- Martin Buber, 1919

He Knows Who He Is

"I'm not Gabriel, I'm not Ray High, I'm not Tommy, I'm not Jimmy, I'm not Roger Daltrey, I'm not Irish Jack... I'm none of The Who's fans. I'm myself"

- Pete Townshend, 6 November 2005

At Least I'm Not a Dwarf!

Numenorean

To which race of Middle Earth do you belong?
brought to you by Quizilla

With thanks to Joe Cathey for feeding my on-line quiz addiction!

The 36 Dramatic Situations

Pete Townshend has posted the ninth installment of his novella The Boy Who Heard Music. Also, on the Diary page of his official site Pete responds to some of the comments on his singing voice in his "In the Ether" demo, which he posted three weeks ago.

UPDATE: Brian in Atlanta has posted his "Cliff-Notes" to this chapter.

UPDATE: All the chapters and many of the comments from Pete Townshend's The Boy Who Heard Music blog have been removed from the blogspot site and archived at his main website:

The Boy Who Heard Music

...בראשית ברא אלהים את השמים

The Hebrew is from Genesis 1.1: In the beginning God created the heavens...
(Click on the above image for the full sized version)

A Prayer

"See me, Feel me
Touch me, Heal me...

Listening to you I get the music.
Gazing at you I get the heat
Following you I climb the mountain
I get excitement at your feet!

Right behind you I see the millions
On you I see the glory.
From you I get the opinions
From you I get the story..."

- Pete Townshend, from Tommy (1969)

To Whom Should We Attend?

"The encounter with God does not come to man in order that he may henceforth attend to God but in order that he may prove its meaning in action in the world. All revelation is a calling and a mission. But again and again man shuns actualization and bends back toward the revealer: he would rather attend to God than to the world."

- Martin Buber, I and Thou (1922)

Martin Luther and the Jews

Since today is the anniversary of the birth of Martin Luther, I thought I'd post this excerpt from his writings about the Jews and how they should be treated by Christians (I've placed certain passages in boldface for emphasis):

What shall we Christians do with this rejected and condemned people, the Jews? Since they live among us, we dare not tolerate their conduct, now that we are aware of their lying and reviling and blaspheming. If we do, we become sharers in their lies, cursing and blasphemy. Thus we cannot extinguish the unquenchable fire of divine wrath, of which the prophets speak, nor can we convert the Jews. With prayer and the fear of God we must practice a sharp mercy to see whether we might save at least a few from the glowing flames. We dare not avenge ourselves. Vengeance a thousand times worse than we could wish them already has them by the throat. I shall give you my sincere advice:

First to set fire to their synagogues or schools and to bury and cover with dirt whatever will not burn, so that no man will ever again see a stone or cinder of them. This is to be done in honor of our Lord and of Christendom, so that God might see that we are Christians, and do not condone or knowingly tolerate such public lying, cursing, and blaspheming of his Son and of his Christians. For whatever we tolerated in the past unknowingly ­ and I myself was unaware of it ­ will be pardoned by God. But if we, now that we are informed, were to protect and shield such a house for the Jews, existing right before our very nose, in which they lie about, blaspheme, curse, vilify, and defame Christ and us (as was heard above), it would be the same as if we were doing all this and even worse ourselves, as we very well know.

Second, I advise that their houses also be razed and destroyed. For they pursue in them the same aims as in their synagogues. Instead they might be lodged under a roof or in a barn, like the gypsies. This will bring home to them that they are not masters in our country, as they boast, but that they are living in exile and in captivity, as they incessantly wail and lament about us before God.

Third, I advise that all their prayer books and Talmudic writings, in which such idolatry, lies, cursing and blasphemy are taught, be taken from them. (remainder omitted)

Fourth, I advise that their rabbis be forbidden to teach henceforth on pain of loss of life and limb. For they have justly forfeited the right to such an office by holding the poor Jews captive with the saying of Moses (Deuteronomy 17 [:10 ff.]) in which he commands them to obey their teachers on penalty of death, although Moses clearly adds: "what they teach you in accord with the law of the Lord." Those villains ignore that. They wantonly employ the poor people's obedience contrary to the law of the Lord and infuse them with this poison, cursing, and blasphemy. In the same way the pope also held us captive with the declaration in Matthew 16 {:18], "You are Peter," etc, inducing us to believe all the lies and deceptions that issued from his devilish mind. He did not teach in accord with the word of God, and therefore he forfeited the right to teach.

Fifth, I advise that safe­conduct on the highways be abolished completely for the Jews. For they have no business in the countryside, since they are not lords, officials, tradesmen, or the like. Let they stay at home. (...remainder omitted).

Sixth, I advise that usury be prohibited to them, and that all cash and treasure of silver and gold be taken from them and put aside for safekeeping. The reason for such a measure is that, as said above, they have no other means of earning a livelihood than usury, and by it they have stolen and robbed from us all they possess. Such money should now be used in no other way than the following: Whenever a Jew is sincerely converted, he should be handed one hundred, two hundred, or three hundred florins, as personal circumstances may suggest. With this he could set himself up in some occupation for the support of his poor wife and children, and the maintenance of the old or feeble. For such evil gains are cursed if they are not put to use with God's blessing in a good and worthy cause.

Seventh, I commend putting a flail, an ax, a hoe, a spade, a distaff, or a spindle into the hands of young, strong Jews and Jewesses and letting them earn their bread in the sweat of their brow, as was imposed on the children of Adam (Gen 3[:19]}. For it is not fitting that they should let us accursed Goyim toil in the sweat of our faces while they, the holy people, idle away their time behind the stove, feasting and farting, and on top of all, boasting blasphemously of their lordship over the Christians by means of our sweat. No, one should toss out these lazy rogues by the seat of their pants.

- From The Jews and Thier Lies by Martin Luther

I'll Have No Answer for THAT

From Jewish Quotes | Judaism:

Rabbi Zusha used to say: "When I die and come before the heavenly court, if they ask me, 'Zusha, why were you not Abraham?' I'll say that I didn't have Abraham's intellectual abilities. If they say, 'Why were you not Moses?' I'll say I didn't have Moses' leadership abilities. For every such question, I'll have an answer. But if they say, 'Zusha, why were you not Zusha?' for that, I'll have no answer."

Hebrew and Aramaic Philology

While browsing around Ed Cook's Blog I ran across a new blog written by a grad student in the Hebrew Language Dept of Tel Aviv University. The blog focuses on the field of Hebrew and Aramaic philology. Haven't had a chance to read the posts in any detail, but it looks well worth checking out to me.

Hebrew and Aramaic Philology

The Lord Was Not In The Fire

The initial inspiration for this one is the Heschel quote below.

The Lord was not in the Fire
by John W Leys

God is not always silent;
Man is not always blind - Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel

Even eyes wide open
Can’t always see
The branches not burning
Within the fire.

The deaf man feels the wind on his face
And the earth moving ‘neath his feet
As the mountain is torn asunder.
He sees the fire; feels it burn,
But the soft murmuring
Voice of the Lord
Is forever silent.

The Mirror Door

Pete Townshend has posted the eighth installment of his novella The Boy Who Heard Music. Rachel Fuller, Pete's girlfriend and musician/songwriter in her own right, has posted an MP3 of a song called "I Can Fly", which she says was inspired by Pete's story, in an entry on her blog. Some of the lyrics were used by Pete in "The Mirror Door."

Brian in Atlanta has posted his "Cliff Notes" to The Mirror Door


UPDATE: All the chapters and many of the comments from Pete Townshend's The Boy Who Heard Music blog have been removed from the blogspot site and archived at his main website:

The Boy Who Heard Music

Abram

A short piece based on the fairly well known midrash concerning Abram's break with his father's ways.

Abram
by John W. Leys

Splintered pieces of broken idols
And shattered gods litter the floor
At your feet.
The ax, its handle still damp
From your sweaty palms,
Rests in unliving hands.
Your father’s eyes look on
In confused horror and fear.
Your last question
Remains unanswered.

Anguished Roaring

This is one that I wote close to a decade ago. It remains a favorite of mine, largely because it is very raw.

Anguished Roaring
by John W. Leys

My God, my God,
why have You abandoned me;
why so far from delivering me
and from my anguished roaring?

-Psalm 22:2(NJPS Translation)

Why have you abandoned me
And made me live my life alone?
Why have you forgotten me
In this place where the sun has never shone?

Why have you forsaken me
When all I wanted was to please you?
Why do you deny me
When you know that I need you?

What is the real reason
Behind the misery I now feel?
What do I do when my pain
Is all that I have that is real?