Responses to some commentary I have offered online....

I am a physician and thus I view my job as one who fixes problems as well as one to challenge others.  When I entered medical school, our slogan was "accept the challange".  This is a very imporant slogan and one must accept challenges and thus become one who presents challenges.
I find that my commentaries are very challenging for many of my readers, especially those of a practicum of beliefs that are unswayable or built on the dogma or practicality of previous thinking or other experiences.  Thus, I found myself today at the end of a bitter finger from a fellow Jewish writer on a forum.

To his commentary which accused me of the following:
Hi. Reb Basket.
I'll phrase a response the only effective way I see.
If I were a baal tshuva (I really wish I were, I have A LOT to do t'shuva for), I'd put away my great mind, dump it's secular influence and knowledge in the nearest dump, and go to learn by a Rabbi. Of course a Rabbi you're choosing has to have recommendations, but after that one must follow him BLINDLY. We are commanded in the Torah לא תסור מן הדבר אשר יגידו לך, to follow our Torah leaders even if our arrogant selves see otherwise. That is the ONLY WAY to know a little of Torah, or to know what must / must not be done. To decide by yourself & act upon it, is foolishness. Nothing Jewish at all. Just because one 'feels pleased with himself' does not at all make it a fulfillment of the word of G-d.
A lot of things you wrote here are pure foolishness to one who knows a bit of Torah. Why am I pointing it out? To show you - one cannot do it alone. See where it got you.
I should really make a macha'a, a condemnation (if that's the right translation) for disparaging our holy Rabbis etc. Iv'e read your site too. You do that there too. Actually more so. You equate yourself to Tanaim (Shamai, Hillel), judicially deciding one's wrong here, right there... Rabbis rulings make problems, don't make sense etc. You solve your problems yourself with 'Jewish principles'. So to date you're the biggest expert in true knowledge of the word of G-d. Which one of our holy Tanaim (Malachim - angles of G-d) are right..
Seriously you must quickly find a competent qualified Orthodox Jewish Rabbi, willing to guide you at this stage, if you really want to be a Ba'al Tschuvah
I generally do not write so strongly or pointedly, your comment necessitates it. (If not for you, then for others)

To the above I have written the following entries on the discussion forum.
I am adding this to discuss the relevance of whether a Jew of little station in the Jewish community can offer intelligent and insightful ideas and thoughts regarding Torah and our Learning. I suggest that we can.


Thanks xxxx. I am curious what site you mention as I do have a few blogs, but I have not offered them here. But that said, I am confident that if HASHEM wanted me to be with a rabbi on a usual basis, he would have put me in a place where that is possible. I have not been confident in some of the rabbis I have met or know about to date, but that said, I am an avid reader of some of the rabbinic writings from art scroll and feldheim. That said, no one has offered me a response to my inquiry about why a woman might wish to cut all of her hair off and what significance i may or may not have. That said, I am a medical doctor and I do not feel that I can blindly follow any rabbi until I personally know that person and he personallly knows and works liberally with me on a matter. I do welcome such a relationship, but I will tell you that at the present time, that is a very unlikely relationship due to logistics and other matters. But that said, your points are with your clear leannings and I appreciate though do not agree wholehearted with a pure "the rabbi is the only way to God" approach. So thanks but I will keep letting my soul and workings be guided by A True Guide as I believe it is possible. If you take 2 steps towards HASHEM, he will take 5 or more towards you. So for a ba'al tschuvah, perhaps we have a slight advantage over the religious since birth since we had to really make a big decision and it is not always what one might think he would do given his current circumstances, family relations, occupational lifestyle and other things. Hashem is our Guide and I am quite sure that when it may become time for a special rabbi to be my partner and aide, that this relationship will exist. But until then, I must rely on my own intropection, intelligence, insight and hard work to get me to be a Jew who has merit, worth, diligence and hopefully if it be the will of my friends and our Creator, honor as well. Thanks.


Next entry:


Xxxx, while you may suggest that one of my low esteem and dare I say in your eyes it appears little merit would have no right to offer insight and thought of my own voice regarding the jewish thought and opinions of esteemed rabbis or others from the past, I argue that our place as Jews is indeed to think through issues and in fact, if we can make a logical and rational argument, present a case for or against a particular philosophy of previous interest and learning. That means if I wish to give my thoughs on the Hillel Shammai argument I am well in my rights to do so. Then one can either agree with me or disagree. To say that I have no right to discuss the orthodox views becuase I am either not a rabbi or because I am a simple Jew who was not orthodox from birth robs the universe of the contributions of any other person who does not meet your most stringent and "holy" criteria for being a Jew with an opinion. I may not be your rabbi and I can assure you that is not likely my life aspiration, but I am a Jew who is endowed with intellect and truly if you believe the Shemoni Esrai that you pray daily, we are given intellect to gain insight. Do you suggest that a simple jew can have no insight or have no position to discuss the issues that really are relevant to his or her life? I suggest that this is a fallacy of modern ultra orthodox thinking and that those who we are putting our trust in to make decisions as well as guide us are not always the true Guides of our Creator.
Just a thought. I expect you to vehemently disagree.

But that said, we pray for G-ds guidance. Baruch Hashem.

So I hope that being a physician, I am allowed some leeway in my thoughts and introspective dialogues and interests in my own religion.  I realize and anticipated that many of the more religiously based persons will take great objection with many of my comments here on this blog.  I personally hope that this blog will be of help to those who are not religious and wish to find their way to Jewish learning and observance.  I think I am a start.
But that said, I must say that much of our faith has been with much controversy over the years and thus I am certain that I will be no more or less what those of any Jewish leaning might be in terms of how we interface with the rest of our communities.

Be it the will of our Creator to guide all of us in our daily lives and help that we improve our own minds, souls and being. 

The Biblical Death of a Spider

I was working on my computer tonight and lo and behold a spider came out and found himself crawling on my large Artscroll Tanakh.  So I tried to decide what to do.  He was not somewhere that I could easily dispose of him and he really did not pose a major annoyance and I really did not want to rearrange my desk items to get "him".  So I just went on with my activities. 
But then it occurred to me that he might crawl into my gum stash or annoy me further so I went to look for the little tan spider. 
I noticed at the top of my Bible that the spider was twitching and partially sandwiched between a few of the bible pages.
The bible ate the spider.  It was a clean kill. I think I found him somewhere between Leviticus and Samuel.
So long spider.   You lived a biblical life and had a biblical death in my eyes.

How to be a baseball fan.

I say this... 
I am a Cleveland native since 1978 and I have also found that I am a Red Sox Fan as that is where I lived prior to moving to Ohio that year.  That said, I must say this.
Being that the Sox are playing the Indians tonight in Cleveland, I must defer to the home team and root for the Cleveland Indians against my own Boston Red Sox. 
I just feel like an invader of I am rooting for my own team against the home team.
But that said, if Cleveland plays in Boston, I will have to be rooting for the Red Sox.
This could pose a problem if Cleveland and Boston play one another for the pennant.  Maybe I will go back and forth in who I root for by where they are playing.  That remains to be seen.

What is Pluralism and what is Radical Pluralism

Pluralism is defined as a theory that there is more than one basic substance or principle.  In ecclesiastical considerations it refers to the holding by one person of two of more offices at the same time. 

This is a good thing in that it allows our society to constrict our establishment by allowing a more shared system of government. 

It is the theory that reality consists of two or more independent elements.

This is good and fine.    But too much today, this concept has been taken to extreme measures. 
I hereby coin the term "Radical Pluralism" and suggest that this invokes a setting by which a measure is counted multiple times and one might wish to conjure up a society whereby the entire office system is shared with the few and given to only those with privilege and what the radical pluralists honor.

This translates in the following manner.
If you have ever watched Fox News, there is a group of many Americans who call themselves conservatives.  They argue that conservative values are what is missing in America and that our people should press for more independence from "liberal destructive forces".  This is actually not conservatism at all and it really is radical pluralism.  Conservatism dictates that our needs can be trusted to a careful steward.   This is a good thing.  But the difference in what you see on Fox news today is that the argument is that our needs need to have a higher earning and more official steward.  This is not exactly conservatism.

To say that our needs can only be met by keeping our hands off the citizens activities (limited government) or to say that our needs can only be met by removing certain spending activities that are humanitarian in basis is to argue that our future must be conscripted to dignify only the more materially relevant element of our society.   This is not orthodoxy.  This is actually paganism and heresy. 

So with this blog entry, I wish to convey to my future readers that what we need to fight is this radical pluralism.  Conservative is good and fine.  The fact is that the radical pluralists hide behind the cloak of conservative values and workings. 
In truth conservative and liberal thought processes can indeed co-exist and Should co-exist.
The problem today is that the radical pluralists suggest that our American Ideal of American and Human liberalism is a heresy and that it needs to be squelched out and disrupted in all of its ways.
This is actually a crime and our people should fight to avoid it being the actual future of our nation.

Shammai vs Hillel- Who was On the Derech?

I have been looking into the arguments between Hillel and Shammai. 
I may not be a Torah Expert per se by the notations of the Religious Leaders of Today, but that said, I will offer the following insights.
Here is the Wiki entry on Hillel and Shammai. It details 5 of the main arguments of this debate:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillel_and_Shammai
I must say that the 18 measures of Shammai are not an article I have been able to pull up on the internet.  Perhaps I will another time.
But for now, lets stick to the main 5-6 items in the wiki article.

Admission to Torah study. The House of Shammai believed only worthy students should be admitted to study Torah. The House of Hillel believed that Torah may be taught to anyone, in the expectation that they will repent and become worthy.
Shammai is correct in the sense that Torah really does need a true strong student to believe its Truths and Writings.  But that said Hillel is also correct in that anyone who can learn and study may indeed come to realize the importance and relevance of G-ds word. 
But that said, I side with Shammai in this argument becuase if Hillel is correct, one might just consider that anyone with any background is going to read and learn our Values.  This might seem right from an outward position, but consider that those who are not dedicated Beleivers of Torah are going to also try to use Torah to stifle and arrogantly dispute Torah law.  It is better that they do not know Torah law. This is actually the case with Christians and many of the non-Jewish learners today.


White lies. Whether one should tell an ugly bride that she is beautiful. Shammai said it was wrong to lie, and Hillel said that all brides are beautiful on their wedding day.

Actually ones perceived "beauty" should be ones soul. Not ones physical or material appearance. So both of these guys got it wrong on this matter.  Shammai is wrong becuase his decision to say that the bride is not beautiful is an acnowledgement of the fact that there is physical and material beauty that we must attend to.
I say this, tell the bride that she is a beautiful Soul.  That is going to be true in many ways.  Even if she is unorthodox or unsophisticated, she still has the capacity to be beautiful and clearly going to the chuppah is a beautiful experience.  Hillel was on the money in the sense you should make the bride feel healthy and good, but to make it a show of material and physical beauty they are both in error.

Divorce. The House of Shammai held that a man may only divorce his wife for a serious transgression, but the House of Hillel allowed divorce for even trivial offenses, such as burning a meal.[7]



Hillel is really not on the derech here.  To say that you can just flippantly divorce your law given bride is to say that our laws are so silly that we can just do whatever we want to make ourselves happier.  Laws are exact and we need to obey our Laws.  To say that we just have the priviledge to divorce for whatever trite matter there may be is just to spit on the exactedness of a Torah law.  This is becuase to divorce for a silly matter, we are saying that we really do not see that our Marriage Arrangements are that strong that we must endure all the humiliating and troublesome feelings that we may have in the case of a not so saavy arrangement that we just don't feel complements the way we wish to be regarded by others or by our self or the way that we just really want to feel when we are at home.  True feelings are extremely important, but lets really think twice before we write a New Law (A Gett or divorce decree) when we just dont have it as good as we really wanted it to be.  So in this regard, a little more forebearance and a little less "moxie".  This is just an orthodox situation that really needs to be done in an orthodox style.  So to just flake out and leave your marriage just becuase its not to your suiting is really an embarrassing violation of Torah Law.

Hannukah: The House of Shammai held that on the first night eight lights should be lit, and then they should decrease on each successive night, ending with one on the last night; while the House of Hillel held that one should start with one light and increase the number on each night, ending with eight

I am going to say that Shammai knows the right choice here.  But that said, I always had been taught Hillel's method.  The reason I side with Shammai (and I am yet to do it right and even then my mother does the menorah and she is the one who is really calling the shots even though I hope maybe we can talk about this one) is that Shammai sees that the light is stronger in the beginning of the Hannukah holiday.  Makes sense to me.  The beginning they had more oil.  They could burn brighter.   The end of the holiday is going to leave us sad that the holiday is over. (well we are all still exuberant but really a holiday is over). So that said, I say that it would seem more orthodox to have the candles diminish in number rather than increase in number during the observance.  I say start with a hannukah explosion of light and get less as the holiday goes.  But that said, it still is very fun to see more and more light as we go through the eight days.  So guess what guys,  Hillel is right too.  On this one, I say that there is really no right way to do this.  So these guys just have a different mood and that is all it is.  Its not Torah Law and its not a matter of priority either.  

Gentiles:  according to this article, Shammai wished that there be no contact with the Romans and Hillel did not agree and felt that the Jewish people could mix and intercirculate with some of the non-Jewish persons in their locale.

This is controversal, but in truth, I side with Hillel on this matter.  Hillel is not the enemy and he was not wrong all of the time.  Most would argue that he was right ALL of the time. I say Shammai has alot that we could really learn.  That said, I still hope to see the 18 articles and learn more.
So in this instance, I say that it is actually our priority to intermingle among those who are not orthodox Jews and among those who are not Jewish.  Our people need to remain strong and to mix with those who do not know our ways is a way to distinguish ourselves as a true Torah Orientated people.  I think that Shammai's idea that we not mix is good in a time when our intermingling will make our people sicker in that we might adopt the customs of the gentile or that the gentile will make our people hate our own Ways.  But that said, that means that our people are just not that strong.  Today, many of the ultra orthodox and ChaBaD orthodox Jews have their own enclaves and rarely have any contact with non orthodox Jews or the general public.  I suggest that this weakens our nation and our children will not have the special awareness of the Kingdom of our Creator by staying away from all of the people of our Kingdom and staying out of the intersts of things say like sports and electical advances and the like.  This is really not good for our people and in fact it sets up a situation of animosity among those who are more public orientated jews and those who really wish to just keep to themselves.   I suggest that the children in our homes should indeed have things like television and the computer and should even be considered for some public education.  I suggest that the children who have public education become stronger citizens and stronger advocates for national and public intersts.  True it is good that your children are not exposed to the unscrupulous ways of some of the rest of the public and they are not going to be deceived by false believers and other sad and unfortunate lay and 'moral' leaders of the day, but that said, I suggest that adversity makes us stronger.  I say that really it is crucial that perhaps it be considered that public and private Hebrew education both serve our nation Well.  I suggest that out entire Jewish nation should encourage our children in one or the other or even both and of course even consider a college education even if you were from a Hebrew School that does not seem to value the public non denominational educational system of colleges and universities.
The fact is this:  College educations with the resulting Degree are a way that our Creator can see that our people can accept instruction.  This is a matter of intelligent discourse and one who goes to college has academic challenges.  Sadly, I am seeing that many in the private ultra religous communities shun the college experience and seem to keep their children in only their own educational systems. This is all good and fine in the rabbinic training paradigm to an extent, but I suggest that anyone who goes to a true Affiliated University will indeed be stonger in their personal marketabilty as well as their desire for success.

Revising the Master Plan- I think.......

I have to say guys, I am a Cleveland fellow who loves the Cleveland Browns. I have seen the Cavs play many times and I have always been a favorite of the future of the basketball teams.  That said, I have to tell you that when I lived in Miami for a year, I became partial to the Miami Heat.  I never really got into the past several years suffice to say that Lebron James's years in Cleveland were inspiring in some ways and I was always hoping that the local team would do well.  It never won. 
That is ok with me today.
I must tell you that I have purchased 2 items in my lifetime of the Miami Heat.  A ball cap and a coffee mug that I must say I forgot I owned until a few weeks ago when I found it in the cupboard.
I have to say that going against the grain is not a bad thing if you do it with precision.
So I am going to say that I am flirting with keeping my head with a Heat Jersey in my future perhaps. 
They are in the play offs and hopefully perhaps they do in fact win.
As for Mr. James, I say he has paid his suicide note off from God.  This is ok with me.  Go to Miami and form a uber strong ball club.  I say that our Creator does not hate you at all.  But that said, you have to realize that when they call you a villian-hero, that is with good reason.
So I have not been angry at Lebron for the most part for a while, though I really do not really get into his game at the rate that I did in the past.
I do however think that tonight I am going to put my Heat Hat back on (actually its lost forever, but I'll get a new one if that is my true calling).  I liked Miami alot and I must say that I am not going to throw away a year of my life entirely.
I can be a Miami Heat fan and live in Ohio and still smile at the Cavs fans. 
Miami is on the roll right now.
I am not a complete basketball nut guys though. I just want to see a team that I like win a little bit.
Of course, if you are reading this and you are from say Cleveland, you are starking mad and want to egg my house or other malicious act. 
Please don't but if you really want to get "even", send me a Lebron number 23 Jersey that you don't want anymore and I think I might wear it.  I'll support Cleveland of course.
My vehicle has 2 Cavs stickers on its windows on the sides of the back windows.   I am not going to ever take them down.
I will not put any Miami Heat stickers on my vehicle while I live in this place that we call North Eastern Ohio.
I will however tell you that the secret tonight is that I posted the Miami Heat's image on my computers background.
I am not a treasonous adult!  I am a basketball fan and I want a winning season!
So Go HEAT!
Go Browns!
And I have to say my new favorite, Go Red Sox Too!!!!!!!!

Revising some names of some old "friends"

Here are a few new name suggestions for our dialect:
Hitler becomes "schiztzler".
Achmadinijad becomes "kookmadinijad"
Bin Laded becomes "PoopLaden"

My thoughts on the Torah Story about shooing away the mother bird from its nest before you take its eggs.

Here is another little C.J. Brenner's take on Torah and Jewish Values.
There is a verse in Torah that discusses Birds Eggs and how you may procure them from the nest.
Deuteronomy 22:6  If a bird's nest happens to be before you on the road, on any tree or on the ground- young birds or eggs- and the mother is roosting on the young birds or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young. 22:7 You shall surely send away the mother and take the young for yourself, so that it will be good for you and will prolong your days.

I must say that I was recently visited by a Robin who built its nest in my own front yard garden adjacent to our house's front.   I was amazed to watch the new hatchlings grow from hatched to leaving the nest just yesterday morning in about 10 days or so.  It was really an amazing experience.
True I would not wish to take them without shooing away the mother, but why is this such an important commandment that it needs to be in Torah.  There are no commandments regarding other animals sensitivities that I am aware of and I must say that all animals surely have a sensitive mind and being.
This is my take.
A lot of Torah has figurative meaning as well as a literal meaning.
I can not expect that there are too many situations where a Jew might want to take a bird from a birds nest save perhaps for the sacrifices (?) and the eggs of a nest are too small to make a meal, etc.
I attest to you that this verse has a double meaning.
I suggest that the idea that you must shoo away the mother bird has a figurative meaning in that if you are going to seek the spoils of nature, you must first make sure that the one who lays the eggs is not present to see the eggs that you take.
This to me refers to.. get this..  premarital relations.
This to me seems to indicate that if you are going to have relations of the sexual nature with another person, you must not be promiscuous.  This is a wild stretch of the imagination, but I assure you that it is accurate.
The mother bird represents your own promiscuous ways in that the mother bird is going to feel pain and suffering when you take the eggs.  So too will your soul feel pain and suffering if you "take the spoils of nature" or have intercourse without properly being in wed lock.  To be promiscuous is to steal the eggs with the mother in the proximity of the nest.
So thus, I suggest this verse has double meaning and one might wish to consider his actions in this regard more closely than many do today. 
Thanks.

My 2 cents on the Painting of Lambs Blood on the Doors during the Passover

OK.  Here we go.
This is my own take on why Our Creator had us decorate our doorposts with Lambs blood during the Passover event in Egypt.
I must say that Clearly Hashem knows who the Jews are and who the Egyptians are who have disregarded Gods warnings during the Exodus Story.
This is clear to me:  If God knew who the Jews were, did we really have to put lambs blood on our doors.   Clearly God knows who we are and doesn't need our people to designate ourselves for an angel of Death so that the angel does not also kill our first born.
Here is my take on this.
According to Derech Hashem (The Way of G-d), a book of chassidic thought that is available on most Jewish booksellers online, Evil propegates at night.  This is how God designed the world.   That evil propegates does not mean that is strengthens.  It means that it really finds no more people on the streets to corrupt in the daytime so that in the night time it looks for new minds to take over.  Well thats my thought anyhow.  But that said, The Passover story has our People putting lambs blood on the door posts.  I must tell you that if you have ever seen this or can at least imagine what it looks like, it looks more evil than evil itself. 
Basically what G-d wanted us to say is that "We dont give a shit about evil."  "We look more evil than evil itself and we dont care what Evil does.".  This is the message I get from this exodus example.
So thus the Jews walk away from Egypt and say to the world that we just don't care one way or another about what evil thinks.  It makes sense to me. 
This is why I think we were told to put lamb's blood on our doorposts.
But that said, perhaps it is also so that our people know that we are designated to live and not to succumb to the plague of the death of the first born. 
Either way, it makes an interesting conversation, right?

Basically what we were doing was STREAKING THE NIGHT WITH LAMBS BLOOD.

What the non aligned Jew must do in his or her lifetime

There is a movement as we all know called the reform and conservative Jewish movement.  What this really is is a non Torah Aligned group of Jews who have organized and made so that they can have their cake and eat it too.  This presents a difficult situation in many ways for our Jewish people because the non aligned do not teach or promote Torah Values and they have their own system.  They even have their own ways of "converting" people into our "Jewish" nation.  Unfortunately, the entire orthodox Torah Jewish world does not agree that a non aligned conversion is a true Jewish conversion. There are tons of people walking around today calling themselves Jewish and they really are not Jews.  This is a problem if you want to marry one or if you want to daven with one in your presence (They do not count as a minyan).  That said, there are I'm sure many other problems that I am yet to understand and know.  But the real issue is what you want to do as a Jew in your lifetime.  If you marry a non aligned Jewish convert, your marriage will never be considered Halachaic Valid under Torah Law.  This is a fact.   This basically means that no matter what your intentions are, you basically intermarried.  Be it what you may thing, it does indeed have its consequences.  The Laws of Moses are Described in Full and according to Torah, you will indeed endure a curse for violating any Jewish Law (Deuteronomy 28).  But that is not the whole of the problem.
The non aligned movements have created a rift of a schism in the Jewish world.  True, no Jew is obligated by his own mind if he so chooses to keep every Jewish Law.  Millions of Jews are inadequate in their adherence to all of our laws, many do not even know what Jewish Law is in fact.  But that said, the problem with the non-aligned movements is that they create a situation whereby they are ENABLERS for Jews to deviate from Jewish Law.   This is a real problem.

The non-aligned Jew must make a decision in his or her lifetime as to what they want to get out of their lives.  They may intermarry and even marry a person who goes through a non-aligned conversion.   There is no law saying that they must change or they will be penalized by our communities, per se.  Perhaps their marriage will not be recognized and in many cases, many of these non-aligned Jews will refuse to have anything to do with the Real Torah World.  But that said, it is up to the Torah Community to make certain that the non-aligned jew learns sometime in his or her life that their failure to obey Jewish Law in such a capacity does have its consequences.  Truly this must be done with the utmost tact and consideration, but if you are in a relationship with one who is non-aligned, you have an ethical responsibility to discuss and show that other person what their wrong thinking is at some length in your lifetime.  It really is a problem for all of us. 

So the non-aligned jew must sometime in their lifetime decide what they want to get out of their lives as a Jew.   True no one expects them to all want to Completely adhere to Torah and perhaps they adhere in ways that some of us do not even adhere in the Orthodox Jewish Communities. But that said, one must decided for example if they want their significant other to have a True Jewish Conversion if that was the challenge or if they wish to have a Redone Orthodox Marriage.  Believe it or not, this is common today among those who are Truly converted to Torah after going through a non-aligned Jewish conversion in the past.  With the True Jewish Conversion, they must indeed have a True Jewish marriage as they were not Truly married under Jewish law in their previous ceremonies.

Relearning the GOOD way to do "online" Dating

I have previously discussed my fondness for "online dating".  I am not fond of shopping for your mate online.  That said, if you don't see a photograph, you really are not shopping with a smile in mind.  So I am now going back to sign up for an online dating program in hopes that perhaps I meet someone I am compatable with or at the least, perhaps I make a few friends.  The catch?  This time I am only contacting people who DONT post their photograph.  And I am not posting mine either! 
So that works for me right?
This does not make me a part of the "see through" generation!