Sacks Fifth Avenue

For years I've had an itch to write something about the phenomenon of rabbis whose egos were inflated by the prospect of global fame, turbocharged by the internet. But I always stopped short of doing so, apart from one post I did write on the self-promoting clown Shmuely Boteach. Even with that post I couldn't help writing a small addendum questioning if I'd been too harsh.

After all, with so much hostile fire against all Jews, why add your own friendly fire?

The problem is that, as prophetic writings warned us, the greatest Jewish enemies would come from within. But you don't have to be a Tomas de Torquemada or a Karl Marx to cause great damage to the Jewish people.

Which brings me onto the rabbi I have itched to write about for so long but, until now, have resisted: Jonathan Sacks. Going against someone with a big following is always off-putting; and in addition I feel weighed down by all the years of *not* writing about him. But, anyway, let's see if I can at least get some key points down "on paper", which will hopefully be helpful to me at least, therapeutically, and perhaps to anyone else who cares to look.

Yonah Vs Avram

On Rosh Hashana (the Jewish new year, coming soon) and Yom Kippur  (the day of atonement, shortly after) we read the stories of Yonah (Jonah) and the birth of Isaac. While swimming this morning I was thinking about Yonah and the other famous story about Avram (as he was then): "Lech L'cha", which is often translated as "Arise and go".

Through it, we learn about the necessity for every Jew to emulate the founding father in having the courage to "leave your land, your family and the house of your father" if that's what it takes to stand tall as a Jew, an ivri ("other").

As with all things Jewish, such iconoclasm is easier said than done and remains a lifelong challenge, even for those who have "made aliyah" and physically relocated to Israel. That's because lech l'cha can also be translated as "go into yourself", signalling that Judaism is a journey of spiritual growth as much or indeed more than it is a story of physical wanderings.

The time-traveller's rabbi

About a year before the pandemic I began seeing the number 613 everywhere. Usually it was when I looked at the time (occasionally "18:13") or at the stock market. But it would pop up all over the place, from websites to Kindle books to grocery receipts. Never in my life had I noticed those numbers in such an intense way, other than my awareness of them as pertaining to the 613 mitzvot (commandments) forming the foundations of Judaism since Mount Sinai, some 3333 years ago.

Sounds of silence

Sh'ma! Ear oh Israel. Listen to your body and understand. No, don't listen, there is no understanding. Don't hear that rage-ringing torrent deep inside your desecrated temple. Curse of Titus. Is God talking to you, like young Shmu'el. Yisrael. He who struggles with God at night and through the night. Is this a New Age therapy world or testament to old time religion. Altneuland. Let me brainstorm the rain storm in my brain stem. The bells, the belz, the beliefs. Invaded inner sanctum. Screeching siren voices. Unholy whisperings. No cause for alarm, no need to suffer unsilence. It's just tinnitus. Sh'ma Yisrael, emunai elokeinu, emunai achad.

Brazillionaires

Published last year. The American author, Alex Cuadros, arrived in Brazil just before me (in July 2010) and his impressions are very much in line with my own. Basically, he also saw through the hype about "booming Brazil" and he questions whether Brazil will ever escape from its deeply dysfunctional roots.

A quick-read version of the book is here and here is the author being interviewed.

Disorder and regress

It is almost five years since I wrote the first entry on this blog, titled "Order and Progress" in what became a very sceptical view of Brazil and it's supposedly booming economy. Going against the grain is always uncomfortable because, after all, why should one individual know more than a vast sea of individuals, all charging in the opposite direction?

A tomb of one's own

I was arrested the other night. Man and woman police officer came to my home, small element of surprise as they snuck into the building without pressing the intercom. No handcuffs, thankfully, after they decided I wasn't a flight risk. Allegations of assault. Domestic. Driven by two other officers to local station. Bureaucracy. Digital fingerprints, palm prints, mug shots, DNA swabs. Belt removed, shoelaces removed, phone removed.