 |
|
February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
|
| |
Jewish World Review
Nov. 17, 2008
/ 19 Mar-Cheshvan 5769
The End of the Age of Reason
By Rabbi Yonason Goldson
Given how bleak our world now seems, the most likely psychological response would be at least confusion, perhaps panic, and understandably despair. But a review of the course of human history predicted over 1500 years ago suggests an entirely different reaction
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
What does it mean when the unwavering predictability of life and nature begins to falter? What are we to think when the expected no longer cooperates with expectations, when events seem to chart their own headings without regard for logic or history, when the laws of nature seem to redefine themselves without regard for the constancy of nature, when human beings increasingly demonstrate a disregard for rationalism and self-preservation?
Thirty years ago, scientists predicted that we were headed into the next ice age, until they began telling us that life on earth is threatened by global warming. For a decade the oceans calmed and lulled us into forgetfulness of the storms that once ravaged our coasts, returning with a vengeance to strike not only the Gulf Coast and the Caribbean but also such unlikely targets as San Diego and Nova Scotia. Wildfires sweep again and again through California (the wealthiest state in the country, and possibly the world), even in mid-November.
All of this is old news, even as it continues to dominate the headlines. So is the global economy, so recently thought robust and secure, which has suddenly collapsed amidst a series of easily predictable blunders that were predicted by virtually no one. Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, AIG, and others — the most secure financial institutions in the business, touted by the venerable finance magazine Baron's only a year ago as the most secure investments on the market — collapsed almost overnight. Billions of dollars disappeared; the wealthy became impoverished. Even the big-three American automakers, the backbone of national industry, are tottering on the edge of insolvency.
STRANGER THAN FICTION
Perhaps most astonishing has been economic guru Alan Greenspan's confession that he has been forced to reconsider axioms he has held sacrosanct for the last 40 years — namely, that businesses can be relied upon to act in their own self-interest. Hardly a radical philosophy, one might have thought. But the recent disastrous decisions of so many executives and so many institutions have prodded even the unshakable Mr. Greenspan to the brink of economic heresy.
Politically, the rebirth of a broken and bankrupt Russian to join the ranks of the world's great economic powers in less than a decade and revive the cold war echoes the rebirth of Germany under the National Socialists in the 1930s. Similarly, the rise of a politician utterly unknown only four years ago and lacking any substantive experience or credentials to become the first African-American president of the United States would defy human imagination had it not already come to pass.
The most likely psychological response would be at least confusion, perhaps panic, and understandably despair. But a review of the course of human history anticipated by the Talmud over 1500 years ago suggests an entirely different reaction:
Confidence.
THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME
Here is a partial list of what the sages of the Talmud predicted the future would bring. A generation in which troubles flow like a river, growing stronger without interruption, clearly descriptive of a time when news headlines would report greater catastrophes from day to day and week to week. A generation when the halls of divine wisdom become houses of immorality, describing an age when depravity would become acceptable under the new religions of political correctness and nonjudgmentalism. A time of both feast and famine, suggesting an era characterized by unimaginable disparity between the wealthy and the poor, rapidly shifting fortunes from rags to riches, and new records as stock markets spike and tumble from one day to the next.
The sages tell us to look forward to a time when children will have no respect for their parents, when heresy will become widespread and none will give rebuke, when the last penny will disappear from the purse, when those who trust in truth will wander like sheep. More cryptically, they tell us to look forward to a time when the generation has the face of a dog.
Whereas dogs are best known for their loyalty, the sages foresaw a time when an entire generation would have only the face of a dog — maintaining the appearance of valuing loyalty while essentially forsaking the quality in favor of personal advantage and self-interest.
Moreover, a dog walks out in front of its master, appearing as if it were the leader. The time would come, predicted the sages, when leaders would, dog-like, constantly look back for approval from the court of public opinion, standing out in front but asserting none of the qualities of leadership.
THE IRRATIONAL IMPERATIVE
Perhaps most significantly, the sages tell us that the messianic era will arrive b'hesik haDa'as — when no one expects it. In an age when human resilience is strained beyond all natural limits by the tribulations of a world gone mad, when no one has attention for anything other than survival, when hopelessness has descended upon every corner of civilization, at that moment the ultimate redemption will turn the tables on the pundits who prophesy imminent disaster and total devastation.
Indeed, this interpretation becomes even more compelling given a more literal translation of hesik haDa'as: the failure of reason.
The great philosopher Rabbi Elyahu Dessler observed that, when we fail to recognize the hand of the Almighty in the blessings He bestows upon us, we may compel Him to force our recognition through the travails to which He subjects us. As he witnessed the specter of Nazi Germany from his home in northern England, Rabbi Dessler recognized the shadow of divine retribution sweeping over Europe during the Holocaust. To his discerning eye, the meteoric rise of a failed painter who, in six short years, resurrected a broken German nation and built the continent's greatest military power revealed the hand of Providence as clearly as any open miracle.
Reason had failed European Jews, who had themselves failed to see the Almighty's presence in their midst during the many years of prosperity they had enjoyed before Hitler came to power. In a supernatural reversal of fortunes, the unreasonable suffering of millions forced them — and us — to look at the world through entirely different eyes. History demands that we learn its lessons; and history has little patience with us when we don't.
Whether the era of ultimate redemption will arrive heralded by divine emissaries descending from the heavens or humbly, as the prophet says, riding on a donkey — either way, the inexplicable seismic shifts in climate, economics, politics, and human psychology warn us to expect the unexpected, to trust in neither our intellect nor the might of our hands, but only in the merit of our good deeds, our concern for our fellow men, and our commitment to the sanctity of Divine Law. By following this prescription, we can be confident — not of an easy passage, but of a secure and safe harbor at our journey's end.
JewishWorldReview.com regularly publishes uplifting articles. Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
Comment by clicking here.JWR contributor Rabbi Yonason Goldson teaches at Block Yeshiva High School in St. Louis, MO, where he also writes and lectures. Visit him at http://torahideals.wordpress.com .
© 2008, Rabbi Yonason Goldson
|
