אלו ואלו דברי אלוקים חיים : Absurdity

"These and these are both the words of the Living G-d".

Warning: My Editor tells me that this post is way too technical.  Maybe so, but I'm just a beginner, so please have patience with me.

Torah

In attempting to determine how to implement Torah in our daily lives, the Sages of the Talmud often had different opinions and perspectives. Many times, these views were incompatible.

My Artscroll Gemara Gittin

In the Gemora in Gittin (6B) we find the following:

"Rav Evyasar met up with Eliyahu Hanavi and asked him what Hashem is doing right now. Eliyahu answered that Hashem is learning the Sugya (Talmudic discussion) of Pilegesh Begiv'a (a section of the Book of Judges), and He is saying, 'Evyasar my son says like this, Yonasan my son says like this.' He asked, 'are there uncertainties in heaven'? Eliyahu replied, 'Eilu veEilu Divrei Elokim Chaim'."

(A little background: The Gemora at this point is trying to establish the credentials of Rav Evyasar in an halachic dispute about gittin (divorce documents).   Rav Evyasar comes across Eluyahu HaNavi (Hey, Eli!  Wha'sup?), who informs him that in Heaven, the Ruler of the Universe supports both his answer and Rav Yonasan's.  Thus, Rav Evyasar is established as one of HaShem's beloved.)

Our point is that even in Shamayim, both opinions are true.  How can that be?

Imagine that.  Asks Rav Evyasar: The Holy One, Blessed be He, is sitting on His throne, and can't make up His mind?

The answer: well, as the Gemora continues, they are indeed both right.

Here's another one, from Eruvin, involving one of the famous disputes between Hillel and Shammai:

Eruvin 13a – R. Abba stated in the name of Shmuel: For three years there was a dispute between Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel, the former asserting, ‘The halachah is in agreement with our views’ and the latter contending, ‘The halachah is in agreement with our views’. Then a bas kol [a Message from Heaven] issued forth, announcing, ‘These and these are [both] the words of the living G-d, but the halachah is in agreement with the rulings of Beit Hillel’.

In this instance, although both are correct, the decision we are to follow is that of Beit Hillel.  Is this to say that Shammai is wrong? No.  But given the current state of the human predicament, Hillel's is the opinion to follow.  

The Burning Bush

The existence of opposite and true things is inherent in these discussions.  As I stated in my first blog, it is my view that this situation - what I am calling absurdity - is inherently built into the structure of the universe.  On purpose.  By G-d.  To quote from someone named Yonasan Moshe ben Avraham (from Minneapolis.  I saw this on the web), "HaShem built a universe in which even mistakes can be true."

There are lots of other examples:  the burning bush - which burns but is not consumed; the plague of Hail - water (ice) that burned with fire; the prayer of Asher Yatzar (said on leaving the bathroom) which praises G-d for the absurd impossibility of placing a spiritual soul in a physical body; the song Lecha Dodi (sung on Friday night) which states that G-d said two words (Shomer - keep Shabbat, and Zachor - Remember Shabbat) in one utterance.

Science

As is often the case, the Torah and the wisdom of our Sages regularly reflects understandings that, although they predate Science - are independently reaffirmed by the scientific process.

To wit:  is light a particle or a wave?  The following is from Wikipedia:

"The idea of duality originated in a debate over the nature of light and matter that dates back to the 17th century, when Christiaan Huygens and Isaac Newton proposed competing theories of light.

Wave–particle duality is a theory that proposes that every elementary particle exhibits the properties of not only particles, but also waves. A central concept of quantum mechanics, this duality addresses the inability of the classical concepts "particle" or "wave" to fully describe the behavior of quantum-scale objects. As Einstein described: "It seems as though we must use sometimes the one theory and sometimes the other, while at times we may use either. We are faced with a new kind of difficulty. We have two contradictory pictures of reality; separately neither of them fully explains the phenomena of light, but together they do"."

Humor

Probably my favorite exposition of the concept of inherent absurdity can be found in an article entitled "Humor as a Spiritual Experience", by Morty Tennenbaum - a fellow "Baltimoron" - which appeared in the journal Introspection, Number 2, 5764 (2003-2004).

To Morty, "humor consists of a harmonious synthesis of misfits.  The unique humorous component of the fusion is that these two concepts don't fit together and yet for one momentous instant they do!"

peekaboo !

Morty is a comic genius.  To illustrate his point, he uses the example of the children's game Peekaboo.  We all know the game.  One moment you're here, the next moment you're not, and then you're back again.  Why is this so funny?  According to Morty, "Our game consists of two parts.  Part one: "Where did Mommy go?".  Part two: "Here's Mommy!".  Each one of these are equally valid states" and "independently self consistent".  "Peekaboo forms a construct which at once both exists and does not exist."  "Humor...consists of the concept of 'It isn't.  But it is!'."

Redemption

To me, the implication of Morty's article is that G-d has set up the world to be a cosmic game of peekaboo with Him.  He is here, but He is not here.  He will hide Himself from us, but if we search for Him hard enough, we will find Him.  "I will conceal My face from them..." (Devarim 31:18), yet "from there you will seek HaShem and you will find him, if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul" (Devarim 4:29).

The Beit HaMikdash - The Holy Temple

We find ourselves in the midst of the Three Weeks, and almost within the Nine Days leading up to Tisha B'Av, our national day of mourning.  

During this period, disasters befell us when HaShem hid His face from us.  Yet, the Maggid of Meziritch teaches us that this period is a time when HaShem is closest to us.  How can that be?  How can He be both Closest and Most Distant simultaneously?  According to the Maggid, during this period He comes to us.  Using a parable, the Maggid describes a King, who leaves his palace once a year to walk among the people.  During the year, the King is surrounded by guards and courtiers.  It's tough to get an appointment.  But at this time, any Tuvia, Dudu, or Chaim can just walk up to the King on the street and talk to him.  He comes to suffer with us in our exile.

I, for one, have a few choice thoughts to share with HaKodesh Baruch Hu on his annual tour.  I am looking forward to the end of our game of peekaboo.  The absurd may be a function of the nature of the universe, both spiritual and physical, as He created it.  It may even be the source of the humor that helps us to reconcile and get strength from the absurdity itself.  Despite all that, I'm a little tired, and I think I'm kind of old for this.  Especially when peekaboo becomes a game of Russian roulette using missiles.

Or is it just me?

Absurdity 101: An Introduction

Before we begin, it's time for introductions.

This blog is about absurdity.   Well, maybe it's about insanity.  Really, it's about paradox, contradiction, and the existence in the world of complete opposites that shouldn't exist, and be believed, simultaneously.  

It is my contention, based on anecdotal evidence, that absurdity is not a mistake.  In fact, it is a fundamental aspect of the universe.

Before I start to ramble, let me get back to introductions.

I am a former High School Football Player, motorcyclist, construction worker, SCUBA diver, Botanist, Ornithologist, waiter Captain,  and computer programmer.  I am still a practicing Massage Therapist.  

I have lived in metropolitan New York, St. Thomas (US Virgin Islands), Virginia, Massachusetts, and Maryland.  I was employed by the US Government, first at the Smithsonian Institution (Natural History), and later at the Social Security Administration. Now, I have retired, and fulfilled my dream to return home to Israel from exile.

I consider myself an Orthodox Jew - a neo-chasid of a dati leumi bent.  You'll see me in my streimel and bekishe on Shabbat.  The rest of the week, plain old American stuff, and a black yarmulka.

So, the first absurdity I would like to deal with is one which is currently popular in the media and much of the public at large.  It is the oft repeated mantra that Israel is an "Apartheid State".  

The great absurdity about this is that, any one who has ever walked down a street in Yerushalayim, sees that Arabs walk the same streets, ride the same public transportation, shop in the same stores, picnic in the same parks, are treated at the same hospitals.  Arabs
have nothing to fear in Jewish neighborhoods. Quite the opposite for a Jew who accidentally wanders into an Arab neighborhood.

The Palestinian Authority makes it immaculately clear that they will tolerate no Jews in their territory.  In addition, since the first intifada, the PA has systematically evicted most of the Christians from, of all places, Bethlehem.  

Isn't that Apartheid?

To illustrate:  Here is what one would see at the entrance to my village, Efrat, in Judea:

The sign reads: "Welcome to Efrat".

This is what one sees at the entrance to such PA cities as Bethelem:

Basically, "abandon hope all ye who enter here".  Now, you tell me, where does the "Apartheid" state begin?

So, in all its absurdity, Israel is branded with the perjorative term - while practicing quite the opposite - whereas the PA, which openly calls for Apartheid, is considered the land of the free.

How can it be?  How can the "Apartheid State" be the one where there is freedom of religion, where people of all races live together?  Is anyone awake out there?  

It is clear to me that it is in the nature of the human condition to believe what we want - or are told - despite any evidence to the contrary.  In other words, to willingly accept the absurd.

Or is it just me?