Rabbi Taragin on YouTube

Yes - one can now experience Rabbi Taragin's inspirational hashkafa from afar. His videos may be found at http://www.youtube.com/user/moshetaragin.

Laughing With Myself, Not At Myself

Due to an old post of mine, the phrase "IDF headgear" on Google image search returns some rather unlikely results. Namely, the sombreros and the black hats are my doing. Bwahahahahahahahaha!

Empty Case

I just helped install this bakery case. It is now empty (or, alternatively, contains hole-based cakes and whatnot). However, it will soon be filled with all sorts of delicious things that come out of an oven. Optimally, this will make a trip to Zelda's even more delicious than before. On a related note, Zelda's now has a facebook page, which will occasionally give out online discounts to those in the know (i.e. everyone on Facebook).

Hadran Alach

... Masechet Chagiga! This is my first siyum in quite a while, and I wanted to share the joy. I am having the siyum here at my parents' house, which is very appropriate, in that the korban chagiga was eaten on the holiday with friends and family. There are going to be a few friends coming whom I haven't seen in variously long periods of time. I am really looking forward to this!

Sacrifices

The korbanot discussed in the parshiyot we are now reading consist of two paradigms: That of the olah and that of the shelamim. The olah is completely burnt on the Altar, and represents God as a "consuming fire." Man cannot approach Him without being destroyed by the light of His magnificence and power. The shelamim, on the other hand, represents the viability of a relationship between God and man, as it is consumed partially by the Altar and partially by man. The chatat is brought by a sinner, and represents his inability to maintain a relationship with God due to (and through) his sins.

A World

How can you know that others experience reality in the same way that you do? We usually assume that there is an objective reality that everyone lives in, but is this actually the case? Perhaps my understanding of reality differs wildly from yours. This could range from nonessential differences such as the color of the sky (and the meaning of the word "blue") to more important ones, such as the existence of the state of Israel. Of course, as I noted about the color "blue", any difference would entail numerous subsidiary changes as well, especially to the meaning of language, but also to the meaning of sights, sounds and other sensory input which would by necessity mean one thing to me, and another to you. Taken to extremes, this could in theory mean that you are in fact locked up in a nuthouse while "experiencing" the world in the solitude of your own mind. However, we will make the assumption that this is not the case.

In fact, reality, i.e. the world we live in, is malleable, in specific ways. While there are certain objective facts such as "2+2=4", and "Barack Obama flubbed the presidential oath," there are numerous little details that shape the flavor of experiential reality which are open to interpretation. This includes statements like "the world is bright and sunny today" as opposed to "the glaring sun is beating down upon the earth." These two statements describe an identical reality, but the experience of the people who make these statements (which are framed as objective facts) is strikingly different.

A given situation can be framed in different ways because of a technicality in the way we receive input about the world - the brain filters out "irrelevant" stimuli. In a given situation, we do not perceive all that is available to our senses. For instance, what is the brand of your computer monitor? You definitely have seen it - it is only a few inches from your point of focus - but it just didn't register in your mind. In a similar way, everyone experiences different aspects of a given situation. For example, in a social situation some people might tend to focus more on people's facial expressions, while others might pay more attention to body language or perhaps the arrangement of people's positions in a room. There is a whole spectrum of perception, though, because we perceive details at varying levels of consciousness. This ranges from what we are actively thinking about at a given moment to those things that affect us in minute ways without our knowledge. Each of these various dimensions of perception makes a given person's experience of the world unique.

According to the Talmud, each person represents an entire world. Given the above, we can see how true this is. Each person defines a world through their own perception and individuality. The miracle of our mutual existence in the same world means that we can be influenced by others' worldviews and that we can influence others. The worlds in which each of us live can, and do, change day by day. Make your world a good one.

I'm Back

Greetings, denizens of the internet! I, the great Yeti of ancient lore, return to you, and will presently bestow upon you all great pearls of wisdom and humour as was my wont in times past.

God's Hidden Immanence, Part 1

Why teleological (design-based) arguments for or against the existence of God have no significance.

It is well-accepted that God does not make himself manifestly knowable to humans. This decision on His part does make some sense. For example, if He had left the message "God was here" in the shape of several islands in the South Pacific, or better yet, in a constellation, we would have little excuse not to believe in Him, and to strive to follow His will.

To expect to find that message elsewhere, such as in our DNA or the behavior of a certain animal, is equally ridiculous.

This means that an argument for the existence of God by natural design cannot be a convincing one. There will never be an argument that can absolutely prove God's existence from nature, because we know from experience that God does not provide us with absolute demonstrations of His existence in nature.

On the flip side, an apparent lack of Godly oversight in evolution should not come as a surprise. If the processes of evolution bespoke an intelligent oversight, this suspicious coincidence would constitute a proof of God's existence, which, as we said, He doesn't give us.

A note: Belief in God leads us to believe that the process of evolution is, in fact, governed by His intelligence. However, saying that the purpose of each trait is not obvious to us does not mean it isn't there. In fact, the same is true of all natural processes and events, which are ordained by God for His own purposes. The infinite nature of God's intelligence means that we cannot expect to know the purpose(s) behind every event, though we can try to.

In truth, though, the message of God's existence is everywhere in nature. There isn't just one constellation or cluster of islands telling us He did it - there are millions. Every aspect of nature says "God was here" - but we need first to learn to read the language it's written in.