Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations: All Knowing

All Knowing

I don't think I've ever written directly about my religious beliefs, one way or the other. In all the verbiage I spout, I challenge anyone to find any clear endorsement of a position on a transcendent deity. Mostly, this is because it's my business, not of interest to the world; but there's something very Jewish (I think) in discussing the issues I focus on without dragging divinity into it.

This post will be no different. The point I'm about to make is about logic, not belief.

The earliest computers were invented in the 1930s, I think. As a child in the early 1960s I heard the grownups talk about machines that were learning to think, though I doubt I'd ever met anyone who had actually seen such a machine (and they still haven't figured out how to think). If you can believe it, I completed my undergraduate studies on a portable typewriter, and never considered acquiring a PC until I was doing an MA. When in 1994 I stood in front of an audience of hundreds of researchers and said that the goal of the Yad Vashem archives was to put everything we had on the Internet, the startled audience erupted in applause. (Only later did I begin to think about the practicalities. Ouch).

70-some years after the first invention, The Economist has a special report on the super-abundance of data we're creating. (The report begins here; a single-page introduction is here). The thesis: Everything is being recorded, and the world is dramatically changing. The Onion spoofs the reality here.

If we allow our thoughts to run forward a few decades, to, say, the first centenary of the invention of the earliest computer, it's reasonable to expect there will be digital images of every inch of the globe viewable from any direction; there will be mountains of data on every human and much of their activities; every human thought which has ever been put into writing and survived until the late 1990s will be available somewhere in digital form; any and every human interaction which takes place in any format other than face-to-face talk will be recorded... and probably much more.

Whether you like it or not.

Now, assume a deity which has been around for longer than the first century of human digital recording. Is there any logical reason to assume that this deity doesn't have the abilities Man has so recently acquired? What's so implausible about a deity knowing everything about us all, always? We're well on our way there on our own, and just starting...

Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations: All Knowing

A Complicated Jew on Complicated Jews

A Complicated Jew on Complicated Jews

Imagine a Catholic orphaned from murdered Jewish parents who thought they were Catholic, who narrowly survives and becomes a priest, spends a long career on the fault-line where Christians and Jews gingerly investigate the historical basis of their differences of opinions, then becomes a Jew and writes about it all in a calm, intelligent and balanced manner. Ah, and his subject matter is the single most important archeological finding of the 20th century, which itself shed some light, but not enough, on one of the strangest groups of Jews ever, if Jews they were; perhaps they were proto-Christians, or outcasts who served as an inspiration for someone, or perhaps they weren't at all. You might be likely to read his book, wouldn't you?

Geza Vermes, The Story of the Scrolls. The Miraculous Discovery and True Significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Not on sale in America, it seems, but you can buy it on Amazon.uk. If you need more prodding, here's a review that should do the job.

Originally posted by Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations

On Human Imperfection

On Human Imperfection

A few weeks ago the Economist reported on some research which had peered into the mechanisms of powerful men who feel themselves above the law.

Everyone expects this of American senators or junior British ministers. In Israel it used to be career officers, though it seems the army may be well into getting its act together; Haim Ramon was convicted of sexual harassment a few years ago... and of course, we've got a former President on trial for serial rape.

None of which prepared anyone for the case of Rabbi Mordechai Elon, who abruptly disappeared a few years ago amid vague rumors of ill health, and who suddenly this week was unveiled as having harassed at least one or two of his students. Moreover, the unveiling was not done by a police investigation (for whatever reason, there have been no complaints with which to involve the police). Rather, the story was broken by a group of highly respected volunteers who have taken the job of protecting youth from abuses by educators; they call themselves Takana, Correction.

I cannot overemphasize the impact of this story on the Modern Orthodox community in Israel. Everyone I know is reeling. (Here's a story from a former student of Elon that will give you a vague inkling, no more than a shadow). You can't even use the normal platitudes of "maybe it will turn out to be wrong", since then the accusers will have destroyed themselves, which would be an even greater shock.

I know many of the figures in this story, some of them since childhood. There is nothing important that I could say about the case itself, but there are social implications in various directions. I'm posting on this out of a feeling of integrity: I can't lambaste all sorts of worthy targets all the time, but remain silent when the problem is next door (almost literally next door). Once I've had time to work through the social implications, maybe I'll revisit the story.

Originally posted by Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations

Songs of Prayer

Songs of Prayer

Someone recently brought to my attention a beautiful new record of Israeli songs. It's called The Sound of the Soul
קול הנשמה, שירי תקווה וגעגוע
The producer is the son of Moshe Hovav (1930-1987). Hovav was the younger brother of Reuma Eldar, one of the most famous radio announcers in Israel's history, whose articulation of Hebrew (with a recognizable Mideastern accent) was widely regarded as near perfect. Moshe's was even better. Until the 1980s there was only one radio news channel, and since Israelis listened to the news hourly and obsessively, Reuma Eldar and Moshe Hovav were recognized by literally everyone. Moshe announced many historic events, the single most important being the liberation of the Kotel (Western Wall) in June 1967. You can still hear him every morning at 6am, more than 20 years after his death: a recording of him reading the Shema Yisrael prayer opens the daily program.

His son has now collected 35 songs in his honor. They are all songs of prayer, from varying sources. Some are straight from the Bible, others are traditional prayers written over the centuries, yet others are contemporary and don't belong to the liturgy at all. They are in many musical styles: traditional east and west, hassidic, almost-rock, and others. There's a prayer from the culmination of Ne'ila, at the end of Yom Kippur, which must surely be familiar to anyone who ever participated in that service, but in a version which sounds like pure Arabic music (and exceedingly moving). There's a chant by a young man hoping to be granted to do the utmost with his time in this world - this may be a traditional text but I don't recollect having come across it, and may well be his own heartfelt prayer. It's a gripping record.

It's also a snapshot into a part of Israeli society many foreign observers will never see: the conflation of popular music and prayer, preformed by a broad gamut of musicians. Predictably there are recordings by religious men whose entire career is made of singing religious songs - many of which however are consumed (also) by people who don't share any religious life-style with them. There are popular singers who have become religious and their music has evolved accordingly, while their popularity has never flagged. Yet there are also deeply moving prayers by singers, especially women, who cannot be identified as religious in any standard meaning of the term, by any measure: Ilanit, say, or Achinoam Nini (better known in Europe as Noa).

My favorite is the second track on the second disk. It's sung by Rivka Zohar. Back in the 1970s, when I spent lots of time following such matters, Zohar easily had the best voice on offer, like a crystal-clear bell. Then her life spun out of control, and she spent years roaming drug-scenes in many countries; most of us forgot her, though someone once told me he'd heard her in some club in Amsterdam, if that's where it was, and her ruined shell was pitiful to observe. Then she came back, pulled herself together, and lives on a hilltop in the Galilee. Only rarely will she record a single song - there have been but a handful since she came back. Her voice now contains all that she's gone through, and it's the most powerful voice you can imagine. The track is a simple expression of thanks to her creator.

Originally posted by Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations

Queen Victoria's Granddaughter Complicates Jerusalem

Queen Victoria's Granddaughter Complicates Jerusalem

Rule of thumb number one when dealing with Jerusalem: There will always be significant parts of its story you've never heard of. First Corollary to the First Rule of Thumb: These previously unnoticed things will have weighty contemporary implications. First Golden Rule stemming from the First Corollary to the First Rule of Thumb: Things will always be more complicated than you expected.

I've been living here, mostly on and occasionally off, for more than 40 years, watching closely and always fascinated the whole time. I don't regard myself as more than a modestly knowledgeable observer, however. Here's a story - from the Economist, of all places - the general outlines of which I've known for a long time, but never in so much detail. It's about a granddaughter of Queen Victoria (remember her? She died in 1901, aged 82) who was murdered in the Russian Revolution and serves as an anchor for Vladimir Putin's very considerable interest in Jerusalem.

Originally posted by Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations

Zachor

Zachor

Menachem Mendel alerts me to this notice about the death of Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi. Yerushalmi was an important historian of the Jews, but he will be remembered by most people as the author of Zakhor: Jewish History and Jewish Memory (The Samuel and Althea Stroum Lectures in Jewish Studies). This short and readable book is easily the single most important book about how Jews remember, and how modernity has changed things; since remembering is one of the most important elements of being Jewish, it's a very important book. I'd rank it well up in the top ten books you'll want to read to understand the Jews; it's that good.

Available also in Hebrew, German, and perhaps other languages as well.

Originally posted by Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations

Israel Matzav: A religious conflict?

A religious conflict?

I have made the point many times that I believe that our conflict with our neighbors is a religious conflict - that the Muslim world will not stand for the Jewish 'interlopers' on what they regard as 'Muslim land.' On the other hand, Michael Totten points out - correctly - that Israel has and had relations with some Muslim countries (Hat Tip: DannyA). (It should probably be pointed out that relations with Turkey aren't what they used to be).

While it's true that Israel has relations with some Muslim countries who do not share borders with us, there are other non-Arab Muslim countries that do not share borders with us that still hate us. For example, while Indonesia was happy to accept aid from Israel when the tsunami hit there in December 2004, it does not maintain diplomatic relations with us, it condemns us regularly in all kinds of world forums, and it never deviates from the Muslim block party line. Indonesia also tried hard to keep it secret that it had accepted aid from Israel, and Israelis have not been allowed to travel to Indonesia since then.

Curiously, I have several regular readers of this blog from Malaysia (in case you thought I didn't notice...), another country which at least officially hates Israel. I recall in the early '90's having a client that was selling equipment to Malaysia that needed to do so secretly because the government would not deviate from the OIC (Organization of Islamic Countries) party line. Officially, Malaysia, a non-Arab Muslim country that does not share a border with us, hates us.

Totten quotes a lengthy passage from Amir Taheri's The Persian Night in which Taheri discusses how the Khomeni regime in Iran and his successors have 'Arabized' Persia to bring it into conflict with Israel. I urge you to read it. While Taheri's characterization of what the Islamists have done as 'Arabizing' the conflict is correct, I also believe it's an oversimplification. What distinguishes Iran from Indonesia, Malaysia and other non-Arab Muslim countries is that Iran before Khomeni had warm relations with Israel and had a secular culture that did not hate Israel or Jews. Totten alludes to this:

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Israel Matzav: A religious conflict?

A POPE AT YAD VASHEM

A Pope at Yad Vashem

On March 23rd 2000 Pope John Paul II visited Yad Vashem. At the time I was the head of archives there, and thus managed to be at the ceremony.

From what I've heard, the visit of the present Pope this week was not particulalary memorable. John Paul's, was. It was also historic, of course.

Just this evening, totally by coincidence, I stumbled across something I wrote the evening after that first visit. So here it is:

John Paul II at Yad Vashem

The security measures were severe even by the paranoid standards of our goons. The roads leading to Yad Vashem had been cleared of all parked vehicles the evening before. The entire mountain had been ringed off, and for the first time anyone could remember, Yad Vashem was closed to the public on a workday. Not that it was empty, mind you, what with the throngs of press, VIPs, and multitudes of security types. Visits of Heads of State are routine at Yad Vashem, and often call forth no more than a mildly curious glance, but the Pope, contrary to Stalin's derisory scepticism, is no mere Head of State.

The few hundred of us who were allowed into the Hall of Memory, Ohel Yizkor, had to be inside 45 minutes before the ceremony started. There were a handful of government ministers, a gaggle of ambassadors, a pride of high-ranking officers and civil servants, the inevitable donors, not to mention the journalists, technicians, participants, and sycophants. The cardinals, 15 of them or so, were allowed to come late, merely ten minutes before the Pope himself.

So it was an unusual situation, with so much power - perceived, imagined or real - cooped up in a closed, dark and cold hall, waiting. At one point, one of our chief religious figures, so high-ranking that he was positioned down on the floor of the Ohel itself, sauntered across to exchange some pleasantries with a lesser luminary sitting in the front row of the gallery.
To my great astonishment, his path took him over the names of three concentration camps, engraved into the floor, his indifference to them total. Pleasantries completed, he sauntered back, this time trodding on two other camps. Looking closer, it became clear that others were disregarding the essence of the venue just as blithely.

John Paul II, when he arrived, did not allow himself to be led over the names.

Frail, bent, concentrating on each step and move, he eclipsed everyone present. Wearing plain white robes, his hair and skullcap white and his complexion pale, he seemed almost to glow in the dark surroundings. The structure of the ceremony had been outlined with representatives of the Vatican over months of discussions, so the fact that he was to walk back and forth from his chair to the eternal flame, to the laying of the wreath, to the survivors, to the podium, back to the survivors of his hometown of Wadovice, so unlike papal audiences where he sits and everyone else comes to him, must have been his own decision. And all in painful, mincing steps, bowed over his cane, deferential to the site, to the survivors, to the memory - and never stepping on the names of the camps, even when it would have been easier. It was that humble sign of respect, of acknowledgement of holiness, that made the greatest impression on me. A holiness not defined by canon, nor by halacha, but by the truest essence of holiness itself, of deference towards something that is greater than the mundane and ephemeral.

His words, of sorrow, of the need for silence (so different from the silence of that predecessor), bore the tone of a deep sincerity, strengthened by the situation, enhanced by his body language. The Head of the Roman Catholic Church, the single most important living figure in Christendom, bowed, sorrowful and deferential at the central Jewish site of memory to the Shoah.

The single figure in the hall whose aura was not totally eclipsed by that of the Pope was Ehud Barak. Attentive to the frailty of his guest, courteous and appreciative, he nevertheless stood ramrod straight. Courteous, but not deferential, he also was careful not to step on the words; he seemed also to be aware of the holiness, and by talking of his murdered grandparents, to be claiming it.

It was a fascinating twist: John Paul II, evoking with his age and aura of power and charisma the ancient lineage of his institution and its ongoing vitality, stooping - nay, rising - to an act of human weakness: to sorrow, to regret, to mourning; Ehud Barak, in the name of the even older Jews, appearing as the young host, gravely accepting the sentiments of his guest.

After the ceremony, Edith Zirer summed up the occasion poignantly. As a 14-year-old survivor at liberation, she had been assisted back towards Cracow by a young Polish clergyman. When he became Pope, she had visited him, to thank him. Now, he was her guest, and, as she told a reporter, "there is also sadness. I don't expect us ever to meet again". A 55-year circle had been closed.

taken from:Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations (http://yaacovlozowick.blogspot.com/)

THIS I (DON'T REALLY)BELIEVE

"This I (don't really) believe"

Judith Warner has a reflection up at her NYT blog, titled "This I believe", in which she describes her hodge-podge of varying religious or hardly-religious inspirations, which include some residual Jewish fragments.

The result isn't malign, you've got to grant that; in a human history chock-full of religions people were willing to kill for, that's no small achievement. Yet along the way, whatever it is she's describing, it's not something she'd be likely to lay down her life to preserve, either. Actually, the theme of her post is that she has no idea how to pass on a significant religious inheritance to her daughter.

About six months ago, I asked Julia and Emilie if they’d consider trying out a Unitarian service one day with me.

“No way,” Emilie, then eight, declared, before I could even finish the sentence.

“I think that enough harm has been done in the name of religion,” said Julia, who had not long before studied the conquest of the Incas and had moved on to the colonization of Africa. “I don’t want to be a part of it.”

8-year-olds don't have original ideas, they reflect the adults around them (as do too many 18, 28, and 78-year-olds). Apparently none of the adults in Emilie's world have ever thought to explain to her that in the fundamentally flawed world we live in, religion, when done right, can be the richest source of human dignity, consolation, hope, and belonging she'll ever have. Sad.

taken from Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations: (http://yaacovlozowick.blogspot.com/)

BELIEF AND RESPONSABILITY

Belief and Responsibility

On Purim we read the Book of Esther. There's a program to kill all the Jews of the Persian Empire, backed by the emperor himself. Mordechai is trying to thwart the plan with a counter plan of his own, based on the position of his cousin and adopted daughter, Esther, the queen. Esther hesitates, given the mortal danger she'll need to put herself into. To which Mordechai responds (Chapter 4, 13-14):

13 And Mordecai told them to answer Esther: “Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews. 14 For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

It's an interesting statement. The world's greatest power has decided to murder the Jews, but Mordechai is supremely confident they won't be destroyed; this confidence, however, doesn't prevent him from taking any measure to thwart the program, no matter how high the personal danger.

taken from:Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations ( http://yaacovlozowick.blogspot.com/)

HYPOCRISY

HYPOCRISY

Wherever people subscribe to a religion or any doctrine of moral excellence, there may arise the sin of hypocrisy. The hypocrite wishes to enjoy the approval of his peers and even the perquisites of a religious office by appearing outwardly moral or religious, while inwardly he is not. Or, where religion makes serious demands upon people's lives, such as Islam's call to jihad or Buddhism's strict precepts of monastic discipline, the hypocrite tries to circumvent these demands while appearing outwardly righteous. The hypocrite does not pay the price of commitment to the religious life and hence does not reap its spiritual benefits; he remains at a low state. Furthermore, when hypocrites rise to high position, they set a bad example for ordinary believers and bring religion itself into disrepute.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

1. Christianity. Matthew 23.27-28

King Alexander Jannaeus said to his wife, "Fear not the [true] Pharisees nor the non-Pharisees, but those hypocrites who ape the Pharisees."

2. Judaism. Talmud, Sota 22b

And Jesus said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,
This people honors me with their lips,but their heart is far from me;in vain do they worship me,teaching as doctrines the precepts of men."

3. Christianity. Mark 7.6-7

Matthew 23.27-28: Cf. Matthew 7.15-16, p. 446; 12.34-37, p. 487; 23.2-3, p. 810; Hadith of Tirmidhi, p. 446. A good example of hypocrisy is the attitude of the priest and Levite to the mugging victim on the road in the Parable of the Good Samaritan, Luke 10.25-37, p. 971. Sota 22b: Although among Christians the term 'Pharisee' has come to mean people with a rigid, formalistic religion, the historical Pharisees were a party of sincere Jewish believers. The New Testament's condemnation of the Pharisees should be taken to refer to the hypocrites among them.

The man of superior "righteousness" takes action, and has an ulterior motive to do so.The man of superior "propriety" takes action,And when people do not respond to it, he will stretch his arms and force it on them.

4. Taoism. Tao Te Ching 38

What is the use of your matted hair, O witless man? What is the use of your antelope skin garment? Within, you are full of passions; without, you embellish yourself [with the paraphernalia of an ascetic].

5. Buddhism. Dhammapada 394

Some go to bathe at holy places--With hearts impure and faculties false.As one part of impurity they wash, twice more freshly stick to them.They washed themselves outside; inside they are full of deadly poison.The pure in soul are pure even without ritual bathing;The wicked will be wicked in all ritual performances.

6. Sikhism. Adi Granth, Var Suhi, M.1, p. 789

The brahmin's sacred thread binds not his passions and lust for woman.Each morning his face is covered with shame.By the thread his feet and hands are not restrained;Nor his slanderous tongue and lustful eyes...Listen, O world! to this marvel:This man, blind in soul, is called wise.

7. Sikhism. Adi Granth, Asa-ki-Var, M.1, p. 471

He who has the character of a sinner, though he lays great stress on the outward signs of his religious calling as a means of living, he who does not control himself though he pretends to do so, will come to grief for a long time.

As hemlock kills him who drinks it, as a weapon cuts him who awkwardly handles it, as a demon harms him who does not incant it, so the Law harms him who mixes it up with sensuality.

8. Jainism. Uttaradhyayana Sutra 20.43-44

Mark 7.6-7: Jesus is quoting Isaiah 29.13. Cf. Matthew 7.21, p. 811; James 3.13-18; Pearl of Great Price, Joseph Smith 2, pp. 598f. Tao Te Ching 38: Lao Tzu is criticizing action according to conventional ethical and social norms as leading to self-righteousness and legalism. Dhammapada 394: Cf. Tevigga Sutta, Digha Nikaya xiii.33-34, pp. 209f. Var Suhi, M.1: Cf. Var Mahj, M.1, p. 485, Udana 6, p. 858. Uttaradhyayana Sutra 20.43-44: Cf. Sutrakritanga 2.1.18-19, p. 446.

Many with a yellow robe on their necks are of evil disposition and uncontrolled. Evil-doers on account of their evil deeds are born in a woeful state.
Better to swallow a red-hot iron ball [which would consume one] like a flame of fire than to be an immoral and uncontrolled person feeding on the alms offered by the devout....

Any loose act, any corrupt practice, a life of dubious holiness--none of these is of much fruit.

9. Buddhism. Dhammapada 307-12

Whoever derives a profit for himself from the words of the Torah is helping on his own destruction.

10. Judaism. Mishnah, Abot 4.7

Not every one who says to me, "Lord, Lord," shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

11. Christianity. Matthew 7.21

God's Messenger is reported as saying, "When one commits fornication he is not a believer, when one steals he is not a believer, when one drinks wine he is not a believer, when one takes plunder on account of which men raise their eyes at him he is not a believer, and when one of you defrauds he is not a believer; so beware, beware!"

12. Islam. Hadith of Bukhari and Muslim

The opulent man who is liberal towards strangers, while his family lives in distress, has counterfeit virtue which will first make him taste the sweets [of fame], but afterwards make him swallow the poison [of punishment in hell].

13. Hinduism. Laws of Manu 11.9

Woe to those who prayand are heedless of their prayers,to those who make displayand refuse charity.

14. Islam. Qur'an 107.4-7

Dhammapada 308: Cf. Lotus Sutra 2, p. 411; Var Sarang, M.1, p. 1013; Oracle of Hachiman, p. 728. Abot 4.7: Cf. 2 Thessalonians 3.8-12, p. 1013; James 3.13-18, p. 798; Var Sarang, M.1, p. 1013. Matthew 7.21: Cf. Abot 1.17, p. 811. Hadith of Bukhari and Muslim: Cf. Qur'an 6.151-53, p. 168; 25.63-76, p. 233; Jeremiah 7.1-15, p. 1088. Qur'an 107.4-7: Cf. Qur'an 2.177, p. 861; Shinto Uden Futsujosho, p. 830.

Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

Thus, when you give alms, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

15. Christianity. Matthew 6.1-4

O believers, void not your freewill offerings with reproach and injury, as one who expends of his substance to show off to men and believes not in God and the Last Day. The likeness of him is as the likeness of a smooth rock on which is soil, and a torrent smites it, and leaves it barren. They have no power over anything that they have earned. God guides not the people of the unbelievers.

16. Islam. Qur'an 2.264

When We show favor to a man, he withdraws and turns aside, but when ill touches him then he abounds in prayer.

17. Islam. Qur'an 41.51

I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, I will spew you out of my mouth.

18. Christianity. Revelation 3.15-16

And of mankind are some who say, "We believe in God and the Last Day," when they believe not. They think to beguile God and those who believe, and they beguile none save themselves; but they perceive not. In their hearts is a disease, and God increases their disease. A painful doom is theirs because they lie. And when it is said to them, "Make not mischief on the earth," they say, "We are only peacemakers." Behold they are indeed the mischief-makers but they perceive not.

19. Islam. Qur'an 2.8-12

Matthew 6.1-4: Cf. Matthew 6.5-8, p. 830; Mencius VII.B.11, p. 986. Qur'an 2.264: Cf. Qur'an 2.271, p. 873; Matthew 5.23-24, p. 993. Revelation 3.15-16: This was said to the wealthy church of Laodicea, whose comfortable and lukewarm Christianity was nauseating. Qur'an 2.8-12: 'We are only peacemakers': these were the lukewarm Muslims of Medinah who wanted to maintain their peaceful lives and a comfortable coexistence with the unbelievers, when Muhammad was calling the people to total commitment to the cause of Islam.

As for you, son of man, your people who talk together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, say to one another, each to his brother, "Come, and hear what the word is that comes forth from the Lord." And they come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear what you say but they will not do it; for with their lips they show much love, but their heart is set on their gain.

20. Judaism and Christianity. Ezekiel 33.30-31

The evildoers who pursue Devotion held sacred by thine initiate,Because they have no part in the Good Mind, O Lord,From them she shrinks back, with Righteousness,As far as the wild beasts of prey shrink back from us!

21. Zoroastrianism. Avesta, Yasna 34.9

Many are the gurus who are proficient to the utmost in Vedas and Shastras; but rare is the guru who has attained to the supreme Truth.

Many are the gurus on earth who give what is other than the Self; but rare is the guru who brings to light the Atman.

Many are the gurus who rob the disciple of his wealth; but rare is the guru who removes the disciple's afflictions.

Many are they who are given to the discipline and conduct according to caste, stage, and family; but he who is devoid of all volition is a guru rare to find.

He is the guru by whose very contact there flows the supreme bliss; the intelligent man shall choose such a one as the guru and no other.

22. Hinduism. Kularnava Tantra 13

Ezekiel 33.30-31: Cf. Micah 3.5, p. 446.

HUMAN STUPIDITY

Israelites Sue God For Breach Of Covenant

NEW YORK–Attorneys representing the Tribe of Abraham filed suit against God in New York's Southern District Court Monday, citing 117 specific instances of breach of covenant.

Lawyers for the Children of Israel, who are suing the Lord for $4.2 trillion.

The Israelites are seeking $4.2 trillion in punitive and compensatory damages.
"My client, the Children of Israel, entered into this covenant with the Defendant in good faith. They were assured, in writing, that in exchange for their exclusive worship of Him, they would be designated His chosen people and, as such, would enjoy His divine protection and guidance for eternity," said Marvin Sachs, the Manhattan attorney bringing the suit on behalf of the Israelites. "Yet, practically from the moment this covenant was signed, the Defendant has exhibited a blatant and willful disregard for its terms."
According to Sachs, the Israelites have not received the protection they were promised in the covenant.
"Despite the presence of numerous 'chosen people' clauses throughout this covenant, my client has suffered countless tragedies over the past 5,000 years, from the destruction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem to the Spanish Inquisition to the Holocaust," Sachs said. "Does that sound like protection to you? Clearly, the Creator had no intention of honoring His legal and binding agreement with us from the start."
Continued Sachs: "The covenant also states that the plaintiff is be entitled to all the lands of the Earth. This, too, has not occurred. Furthermore, it states that the plaintiff will become more numerous than the dust thereof. This has not occurred, either, assuming, of course, that the world contains more than 14 million particles of dust."
Sachs then produced a Torah scroll and said, "I was raised to believe that this is more than just a piece of paper. What about Him?"
Court officers visited the Defendant atop Mount Sinai early this morning, serving Him with papers and setting the legal machinery in motion. Though He has declined comment, lawyers in His employ have already cited multiple points of contention with the Israelite argument, questioning the authenticity of the thousand-year-old hand-inscribed documents and taking issue with the selection of New York, "a city of Israelites," as the trial site.

A disputed section of the covenant, which promises the plaintiff divine protection and providence.

Kevin Harrigan, chief legal counsel for the Lord, called a press conference Tuesday to read a personal statement from his Client.
"Where was Marvin Sachs when I created the Heavens and the Earth? Where was Marvin Sachs when I laid the cornerstone of creation, and all the morning stars sang together? Can Marvin Sachs bind the influences of the Pleiades and loose the bands of Orion? Can Marvin Sachs call forth the snow or the small rain or the great storm?" the statement read. "He should not be so quick to sit in judgment, he who knows not the ordinances of Heaven nor their dominion of the Earth."
Added Harrigan: "We'll agree to minor malfeasance. The Creator pays you a token $15,000 settlement, plus your filing fees, and we go easy on you."
Despite the Lord's confidence, the Israelites say they have a case.
"For 5,760 years, the plaintiff has honored their side of the contract, worshipping the Defendant with total devotion. But in return, they have gotten bupkes," Sachs said. "They trusted Him to protect them, and He threw them to everyone from the Egyptians to the Cossacks to the Nazis to the Palestinians. I'd have a hard time believing that anyone even remotely familiar with the plaintiff's history would argue that they're not victims of detrimental reliance."
Harrigan responded that God's case is clear under the provisions of New York's commercial code.
"We have yet to determine whether the Jews are arguing for the Covenant of Abraham, which covers homeland and birthright issues, the Davidic Covenant, under which they say they were guaranteed a Messiah, or some combination of the two," Harrigan said. "But one thing is clear: Standard assumptions for any legal contract in this district specifically state that the Defendant is not responsible for acts of God."
Continued Harrigan: "I must also point out that the plaintiff has been given a homeland and offered at least one viable Messiah. If the plaintiff chooses not to accept them for whatever reason, it demonstrates that no meeting of the minds was truly possible and that they acted in bad faith, and the covenant is therefore rendered null and void."
Harrigan went on to note that the Lord has not ruled out filing a breach-of-covenant countersuit against the Israelites, claiming that they "have failed to worship the Lord in an acceptably faithful manner." Among the evidence cited: a 70 percent rise in interfaith marriage among Jews since 1900 and last year's turnout of just 36 percent at worldwide Yom Kippur services.
As of press time, the Israelites were moving forward with their case, undaunted by the fact that the Supreme Deity has never lost a trial.
"My client has been searching for answers for a long time," Sachs said. "And they will continue to search for answers and seek the truth–no matter what the cost in legal fees."

Really at first I read the news with disbelief and re-readed it again and again. I just couldn't accept what was there to be seen by anyone, but it was true.

I don't use to make comments about each one beliefs. But I think this is different. This is human stupidity (at the least).

I found this words said by Jesus (they fit well to that kind of people):

"Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,
This people honors me with their lips,but their heart is far from me;in vain do they worship me,teaching as doctrines the precepts of men."