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____________________________________ Bible without Bull: You’re invited! For close to a year, Marjory Hirsh and Alan Kane have been exploring, with a little help from me, Rabbi Mike, the first 5 books of the Hebrew Bible, commonly called “Torah”. They recently approached me with the idea opening up the class to others in the Sacred Schmooze and beyond-the-schmooze. I’m game, if you are. If you are interested in exploring the Bible, without the bull, call Rabbi Mike at 215.297.5747 or e-mail him at buckscountyfreesynagogue.com. In this class, we take a viewpoint which doesn’t have all the religious bigotry and obsessive-compulsive “guilt”---- that has given the Bible a bad name. We take a scientific, rationalist viewpoint. We also dig deep to find the real spiritual and mystical meaning behind the text (not necessarily the traditional viewpoint at all). Right now we are meeting during the week, usually at about 9:30 in the morning. We are happy to change that to an early Saturday morning, if there is interest. Yes, there is an intelligent alternative to understanding the bible, without all the religious extremism and fundamentalism. But it begins with something very, very fundamental: Truth! Remember Truth? Duh. It's time religions got real! ____________________________________ How do we know what we know? For those who are participating in the Bucks County Free Synagogue Sacred Schmooze there is a critical philosophical issue that keeps on surfacing, time after time. This issue is covered by a “branch” of philosophy which is called “epistemology” which is all about the nature of knowledge. Most of us take for granted that we know: We know the sky is blue. We generally don’t question that we know it until we reach a limit of our certainty, such as meeting a color blind person, who insists it is green. In speculating about the nature of God, Existence or any Purpose to life, this presumes that we can actually “know” these, let alone know any-thing and agree together upon it, or, there can be no "objectivity". So, in heavy discussions (like our Schmooze), we often throw up our hands in dismay or hopelessness. Can we know God, Existence or Purpose? Can we know anything? Indeed, is the sky actually blue? Is there certainty? On the other hand, one must also ask the question, “If we cannot know anything then how do we know something?” How do we know how to construct a computer? How do we know the laws of electricity and magnetism? Why are these laws dependable, seemingly fixed, i.e. “laws”? Obviously, there must actually be some kind of knowing, some kind of certainty. And some kind of “agreement” to that certainty. Science is based upon that. And science works! Why does it work? How can it work if we don’t really know what we know? Epistemology is very complex; too complex to fully explore here. But, I’d like to begin by making a distinction---- as rabbis are prone to do. The distinction is between “truth” and “validity”. If I say the sky is “blue”, then, I’m saying that within certain limits of human physiology, weather conditions, planetary characteristics etc., we can agree that the sky has a common color which we call “blue”. Thus, this statement, “the sky is blue” is true---- within these limits. But, it is equally valid (though not necessarily true) to say the "sky is green"---- within different limits, for a color-blind person's retina. Now, if I should take a different view of the sky, I can also say that the light from the sky has a certain measurable “frequency”. This frequency is a measured-fact that doesn’t depend on the visual-phenomenon called “color”. However, certain colors do have certain frequencies, and it is rather easy to determine that the sky has a frequency which would correspond to the color "blue". Therefore, the view that the sky is blue is valid and true! While the view that the sky is green is valid but not true! Something happens to the color-blind person which alters the frequency of the light and changes its perception, differently than its measured-frequency. So, although it may be hard to know anything totally---- we CAN examine what views are more true or less true, what views are valid or less valid or in-valid (such as the earth being flat). But we must always stay aware of the "limits" involved. This is important as we proceed to vault the heavens in search of God, Existence and Purpose! Is there something which is totally, absolutely, universally true, i.e. total-validity within any and all limits? Universally-valid, always, in all times and under all conditions, now and forever. That "something" would have to be Truth Itself. And therefore, the word "Truth" could be considered a synonym for for the word "GOD"! God=Truth? That's an idea that religions have all too often forgotten. And in so doing, they have ripped the world to shreds. Time for the Truth! ____________________________________ Rose Pogue’s Blintze Loaf Recipe For 5 years, I’ve been the chaplain for many Jewish and Christian residents at Neshaminy Manor in Doylestown. One of the residents, a feisty (indeed, sometimes incorrigible) warm-hearted, smart-as-a-whip octogenarian named Rose Pogue offers her most favorite recipe. It’s a snap. And it’s delicious! Here goes:
15 oz or 16 oz ricotta (don’t ask me
why the one ounce difference) Mix it all together, and put it in a greased meatloaf pan. Bake 375 for 40! Tastes just like blintzes. But it does not take ½ a day to make. Serve with sour cream. And a generous helping (under doctor’s order) of Lipitor! ____________________________________
Why the economy crashed.
Do you know where the word “economy” comes from? It comes from the Greek oikomene — meaning “household”. The same root word, by the way, for “ecumenism”, i.e. certain religions “being in the same household”. This little known origin of the word contains the simple spiritual insight necessary for understanding why our economy has become so sick. The economy’s purpose is the purpose of a household. A household does not contain digits and ciphers, blacks and whites on a ledger sheet, and appreciation in terms of percentages. A household contains people! Real live people! Living in a real live world! Appreciating — i.e. growing, and hopefully thriving, in increased happiness and joy and gratitude! For close to 2000 years, since the Roman invasion of Judea, when Roman Law became the foundation of our world economic system, the “economy” has been a machine for the purpose of conquest of territory, and later on, conquest of markets. But, that’s not its purpose!! The purpose of the economy is to simply make it easier for a household to SHARE; sharing IS a household! The economy is a marvelously inventive system to make it easier to collect and distribute the amazing abundance that has been placed on this planet for everyone. It is very efficient relative to the previous system, BARTERING, that used to exist before the invention of money and coins. The spiritual economic problem arises when the “tool” for distributing the tremendous abundance of our world becomes considered the actual SOURCE of our wealth. We think the capital we earn from farming our world IS the same as the gifts-of-life that we farm. When one does this, then, the capital from cutting down trees is considered the same as the VALUE of the trees themselves. Poof! Ecological devastation! When one does this, then, the labor of human beings is for the purpose of keeping the system going! Poof! The degradation of human labor and industrial-enslavement! When one does this, the economic system ceases to serve Life! And it has become false! When it becomes false — it crashes!! Because TRUTH is the foundation of our world! Falsities are not sustained for very long! Our economic system is not the source of our well-being! It is simply a tool which makes our well-being easier to share! When we consider it the source of wealth, then our view of the economy is, as the ancient prophets would say, IDOLATROUS! We mistake a human-made “god” for the REAL SOURCE! And as scripture makes plain: Idols tumble. The economy is not sick because it crashed. It crashed because it became sick. What is the correct spiritual foundation for a healthy, vibrant economy? One that serves our household: All life on the planet!!!! ____________________________________
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Don’t forget our next Sacred Schmooze: Friday, February 13th, at 7:00. At the Solebury Meetinghouse!
More information to come call
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