העורך Editor

I love the comments you make on current events, movements and conventional wisdom, especially the short and simple articles, like the recent one pointing out that sometimes there IS an objective truth (viewed as uncouth to postmodern sensibilities), brief reminders about forgotten or misunderstood mitzvas, and the quips and jokes that are both funny and drive points home (like the litvaks learning Gemara instead of karbanos, LOL). Some of the links are helpful too, like the recent one to the simple halacha site.

Your site provides for me with the closest thing I have found to a Torah bouncing board (could I say a taste of modern prophesy?) for the social and political and halachic chaos I feel we live in, and helps me make sense of it, based on impressively thorough research. The Editor articles are obviously extremely well thought out and refreshingly real and uninhibited, without sounding arrogant or dogmatic, which allows for trust and credibility in the author.

The longer ones like the links in Hebrew I am embarrassed to say often push my attention span or intellectual level beyond what I am willing to invest, but I am sure they appeal to readers who have more time or understanding at that level.

השאלה אינה אמורה בספרי חשק וע”ז חלילה, אלא בספרים חיצונים המקוריים, כבן סירא.

עיין ריטב”א בבא בתרא דף קס”ח ב’ דמשמע שמותר מעיקר הדין לעיין בדרך עראי, בתנאי שלא יקרא כקורא בתורה, ע”ש.

עדכון: כן משמע גם במדרש קהלת רבה פרשה י”ב י”א, ויותר מהמה בני הזהר מהומה שכל המכניס בתוך ביתו יותר מכ”ד ספרים מהומה הוא מכניס בביתו כגון ספר בן סירא וספר בן תגלא ולהג הרבה יגיעת בשר להגות ניתנו ולא ליגיעת בשר ניתנו.

Speaking of always following the truth, as versus the idolatrous “following the Rabbanim”, see Rabbi Karelitz’s own example in his Chut Shani Niddah p. 143, sub voce Ulefi zeh, and idem p. 151 s.v. Vehineh Hevi.

Indeed, Rabbi Karelitz tries to claim in one of the above examples he doesn’t really mean it…

A man is no less a slave because he is allowed to choose a new master once in a term of years.

Far it for me to defend Ayn Rand, but…

An excerpt of Gore Vidal on Ayn Rand:

“She has a great attraction for simple people who are puzzled by organized society, who object to paying taxes, who dislike the ‘welfare’ state, who feel guilt at the thought of the suffering of others but who would like to harden their hearts.

“For them, she has an enticing prescription: altruism is the root of all evil, self-interest is the only good, and if you’re dumb or incompetent that’s your lookout.”

Come, let’s walk through this point by point.

“Simple people”? That’s statistically false no matter how you conduct the research… Unless you define “simple” as non-authoritarian? Ah, yes, that must be it!

All men are puzzled at complexity, but authoritarians encounter it more often.

“Organized society”? Au contraire! The state is anti-social, anti-organization; planned chaos. While the natural division of labor God created is awe-inspiring in its power and constant change, the state is the invisible hand wishing to congeal, make it all static and impermeable.

“Who feel guilt at the thought of the suffering of others but who would like to harden their hearts. For them, she has an enticing prescription: altruism is the root of all evil, self-interest is the only good…”

I would never defend the “system” of Rand in toto, and it would take great length to examine the matter itself, but GV is here guilt-mongering. Where is the guilt for helping the poor grow richer by denying the looters of us all, producing wealth, raising the standard of living, etc.? And yes, Ayn Rand – like others – misunderstands human nature with the false, shallow dichotomy of “individualism” vs. “altruism”.

Now, authoritarians need not harden their hearts directly; they just ignore reality and pretend to “help” while purposely causing harm, as Thomas Sowell explains in his books. GV has zero economic understanding of how traders serve customers, etc.

Note: Vidal hints at a link between government welfare redistribution and taxes, as though one pays for the other. This folly is easily refuted elsewhere a thousand times over.

As for “dumb or incompetent” Rand contradicts herself. At times she correctly says these traits are a question of degree; anyone can make money by “adding value”. When she depicts utopian society as “subhumans” worshiping a Nietzschean-superman John Galt at an apex, Rand is silly. And we do all have some control upon the intellect and competence of ourselves and our families, through habits, beliefs, and breeding. Needless to say, the state, endorsed by GV, helps make us “dumb or incompetent”, and the bigger the badder.