"naomi's question of the day" offers a question and sub-questions for you to ponder, extend and/or respond to through your comments.
*****
July 26, 2011
Are humans truly the pivotal point of this chaos and this beauty?
Does it only appear to be chaos because we meant to be confused? Does it only seem to be beauty because we are profound and gifted in our perceptions or because we are painfully mis-led?
Showing posts with label naomi's question of the day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label naomi's question of the day. Show all posts
Tuesday, 26 July 2011
Thursday, 21 July 2011
naomi's question of the day - #26
"naomi's question of the day" offers a question and sub-questions for you to ponder, extend
and/or respond to through your comments.
*****
July 21, 2011
Why were animals created? At the start, they were not even intended as human sustenance.
How did Kayin and Hevel come to the idea of sacrifice?
There are, still animals who are not edible and not sacrificial -- they begin as babies, they grow, choose mates, pro-create -- are they only here for us to observe with our high consciousness -- or do they have a significant reality of their own?
I ask because God surely has a purpose for every effect of His -- and are we allowed assurance and awareness of it? Why are animals here?
*****
July 21, 2011
Why were animals created? At the start, they were not even intended as human sustenance.
How did Kayin and Hevel come to the idea of sacrifice?
There are, still animals who are not edible and not sacrificial -- they begin as babies, they grow, choose mates, pro-create -- are they only here for us to observe with our high consciousness -- or do they have a significant reality of their own?
I ask because God surely has a purpose for every effect of His -- and are we allowed assurance and awareness of it? Why are animals here?
Monday, 27 June 2011
naomi's question of the day - #25
"naomi's question of the day" is a new feature of
the Nishmablog featuring a question for you to ponder, extend
and/or respond to through your comments.
*****
June 27, 2011
Do you think this life is designed to humble us? Are we born into arrogance and left for the rest of our time to come to know that being is not as great and accomplishment as the realization of what has come before it, time or defeat? Is there a pride that is pointed -- is there a lowliness that elevates us?
*****
June 27, 2011
Do you think this life is designed to humble us? Are we born into arrogance and left for the rest of our time to come to know that being is not as great and accomplishment as the realization of what has come before it, time or defeat? Is there a pride that is pointed -- is there a lowliness that elevates us?
Sunday, 26 June 2011
naomi's question of the day - #24
"naomi's question of the day" is a new feature of
the Nishmablog featuring a question for you to ponder, extend
and/or respond to through your comments.
*****
June 26, 2011
If God is the Rofeh Kol Basar -- and yet He is the cause and determination of all suffering and loss -- how am I to view Him with gratitude when He gives to me after He has deprived me?
*****
June 26, 2011
If God is the Rofeh Kol Basar -- and yet He is the cause and determination of all suffering and loss -- how am I to view Him with gratitude when He gives to me after He has deprived me?
Thursday, 23 June 2011
naomi's question of the day - #23
"naomi's question of the day" is a new feature of
the Nishmablog featuring a question for you to ponder, extend
and/or respond to through your comments.
*****
June 23, 2011
We see often that the great ones -- 10 of the meraglim, Nadav and Avihu, Miriam, Korach -- fail and are punished (albeit to different extents and consequences). If they, though, are so mighty and fall -- what are we to expect of ourselves? And how are we to achieve it?
*****
June 23, 2011
We see often that the great ones -- 10 of the meraglim, Nadav and Avihu, Miriam, Korach -- fail and are punished (albeit to different extents and consequences). If they, though, are so mighty and fall -- what are we to expect of ourselves? And how are we to achieve it?
Sunday, 19 June 2011
naomi's question of the day - #22
"naomi's question of the day" is a new feature of
the Nishmablog featuring a question for you to ponder, extend
and/or respond to through your comments.
*****
June 19, 2011
It is one thing to fight your enemy but are we now actually fighting our brothers more? What does this signify, what's its effect and aren't we irrevocably weakening our core with this devisiveness? How, though, is it possible to be tolerant concerning the violence against ideals that you hold to be true and the weight and shape of hope?
*****
June 19, 2011
It is one thing to fight your enemy but are we now actually fighting our brothers more? What does this signify, what's its effect and aren't we irrevocably weakening our core with this devisiveness? How, though, is it possible to be tolerant concerning the violence against ideals that you hold to be true and the weight and shape of hope?
Thursday, 16 June 2011
naomi's question of the day - #21
"naomi's question of the day" is a new feature of
the Nishmablog featuring a question for you to ponder, extend
and/or respond to through your comments.
*****
June 16, 2011
The Torah Sages don't seem to complain about the human existential condition. Do you agree? Why don't they complain? Where is their existentialism?
How it is possible to love and revere and doubt God?
*****
June 16, 2011
The Torah Sages don't seem to complain about the human existential condition. Do you agree? Why don't they complain? Where is their existentialism?
How it is possible to love and revere and doubt God?
Tuesday, 14 June 2011
naomi's question of the day - #20
"naomi's question of the day" is a new feature of
the Nishmablog featuring a question for you to ponder, extend
and/or respond to through your comments.
*****
June 14, 2011
When Moshe says:
Ans who are 'the people of God'?
*****
June 14, 2011
When Moshe says:
O that all the people of God were prophets, that God would place His Spirit upon themit seems to suggest that there is a state of prophecy that exists before God involves Himself --what is this state, how is it achieved, how is it exemplified?
Ans who are 'the people of God'?
Monday, 13 June 2011
naomi's question of the day - #19
"naomi's question of the day" is a new feature of
the Nishmablog featuring a question for you to ponder, extend
and/or respond to through your comments.
*****
June 13, 2011
There would seem to be a strengthening in reasoned repetition yet many people crave the excitement of constantly distinguishable happenings. Why? What leads Torah Jews to pursue reasoned repetition?
*****
June 13, 2011
There would seem to be a strengthening in reasoned repetition yet many people crave the excitement of constantly distinguishable happenings. Why? What leads Torah Jews to pursue reasoned repetition?
Friday, 3 June 2011
naomi's question of the day - #18
"naomi's question of the day" is a new feature of the Nishmablog featuring a question for you to ponder, extend and/or respond to through your comments.
*****
June 3, 2011
Often I am faced with situations that demand a decision and I am unclear about the halachic determinations and unable to ask a Rabbi. For example: Walking, last Shabbos, I saw an objection the road that was muktza but that was surely a danger to on-coming traffic. Should I move it or not? -- I felt my own ignorance to be reprehensible but I am not a scholar, on a trying Jew: what is one to do in such a situation? Is there a clear and substantial route for the lay-person who cares to understand the hierarchy that is demanded by Halacha?
I remember I once read that the Rav ztz"l said that we are not nearly anxious enough about adhering to Halacha. Clearly, the anxiety is not enough, not without precision and encyclopediac availability of the structure and details of Halacha. What does an individual who is anxious about Halacha but limited in an apprehension of it to do? Not everyone can be a scholar.
*****
June 3, 2011
Often I am faced with situations that demand a decision and I am unclear about the halachic determinations and unable to ask a Rabbi. For example: Walking, last Shabbos, I saw an objection the road that was muktza but that was surely a danger to on-coming traffic. Should I move it or not? -- I felt my own ignorance to be reprehensible but I am not a scholar, on a trying Jew: what is one to do in such a situation? Is there a clear and substantial route for the lay-person who cares to understand the hierarchy that is demanded by Halacha?
I remember I once read that the Rav ztz"l said that we are not nearly anxious enough about adhering to Halacha. Clearly, the anxiety is not enough, not without precision and encyclopediac availability of the structure and details of Halacha. What does an individual who is anxious about Halacha but limited in an apprehension of it to do? Not everyone can be a scholar.
Thursday, 2 June 2011
naomi's question of the day - #17
"naomi's question of the day" is a new feature of the Nishmablog featuring a question for you to ponder, extend and/or respond to through your comments.
*****
June 2, 2011
I knew of a Torah-observant boy at the university who once ate 5 minutes before a (minor) fast was over. He told me he had a class in ten minutes, a lab -- that he wouldn't be able to eat for 2 hours if he didn't eat then. I asked a Rabbi I respected about this -- he said: if the astronauts are off the entry course by 5 inches, they will be lost. He said that Halacha is a precise science as well.
When I told my friend this, he angrily said: The details don't matter. I might have become ill and I couldn't be late for class. I made a decision. Certainly, I don't wish to be righteous fool.
Is Halacha an exact science? How can we know what it is to be a righteous fool?
*****
June 2, 2011
I knew of a Torah-observant boy at the university who once ate 5 minutes before a (minor) fast was over. He told me he had a class in ten minutes, a lab -- that he wouldn't be able to eat for 2 hours if he didn't eat then. I asked a Rabbi I respected about this -- he said: if the astronauts are off the entry course by 5 inches, they will be lost. He said that Halacha is a precise science as well.
When I told my friend this, he angrily said: The details don't matter. I might have become ill and I couldn't be late for class. I made a decision. Certainly, I don't wish to be righteous fool.
Is Halacha an exact science? How can we know what it is to be a righteous fool?
Wednesday, 1 June 2011
naomi's question of the day - #16
"naomi's question of the day" is a new feature of the Nishmablog featuring a question for you to ponder, extend and/or respond to through your comments.
*****
June 1, 2011
I find it often un-nerving to listen to the mountainous politicking of religion -- sharing a meal with Orthodox Jews and Jews who once were Orthodox and are now non-observant (which happens more and more frequently), I do not know where to stand. Do I involve myself in the defense of Orthodox practices which I myself accept and adhere to and yet find difficult or confusing? Is there a halachic directive concerning this? (Is silence an option -- but if 'silence denotes acquiesence', both sides will assume my alliance.)
*****
June 1, 2011
I find it often un-nerving to listen to the mountainous politicking of religion -- sharing a meal with Orthodox Jews and Jews who once were Orthodox and are now non-observant (which happens more and more frequently), I do not know where to stand. Do I involve myself in the defense of Orthodox practices which I myself accept and adhere to and yet find difficult or confusing? Is there a halachic directive concerning this? (Is silence an option -- but if 'silence denotes acquiesence', both sides will assume my alliance.)
Sunday, 29 May 2011
naomi's question of the day - #15
"naomi's question of the day" is a new feature of the Nishmablog featuring a question for you to ponder, extend and/or respond to through your comments.
*****
May 29, 2011
Was the Tower of Babel the last united human act? Was there a noble and even sound aspect to the builder's intentions in that they lived with a sense of God's actual presence? Why was God's response to create dis-unity? It led to fragmentation -- and now we search for each other rather than God. Is human unity a negative force?
*****
May 29, 2011
Was the Tower of Babel the last united human act? Was there a noble and even sound aspect to the builder's intentions in that they lived with a sense of God's actual presence? Why was God's response to create dis-unity? It led to fragmentation -- and now we search for each other rather than God. Is human unity a negative force?
Friday, 27 May 2011
naomi's question of the day - #14
"naomi's question of the day" is a new feature of the Nishmablog featuring a question for you to ponder, extend and/or respond to through your comments.
*****
May 27, 2011
When I am afraid, I beg God to eliminate the object of my fear. Should I only pray not to be afraid -- for a more steadfast faith: that I am at all times in God's Hands and in God's Hands, I am safe? What prayer in our moment of pleading does He want and how is it to be found with absolute truth when the primary truth is a sense of rampant vulnerability?
*****
May 27, 2011
When I am afraid, I beg God to eliminate the object of my fear. Should I only pray not to be afraid -- for a more steadfast faith: that I am at all times in God's Hands and in God's Hands, I am safe? What prayer in our moment of pleading does He want and how is it to be found with absolute truth when the primary truth is a sense of rampant vulnerability?
Thursday, 26 May 2011
naomi's question of the day - #13
"naomi's question of the day" is a new feature of the Nishmablog featuring a question for you to ponder, extend and/or respond to through your comments.
*****
May 26, 2011
We are told (by Rambam, I think) that if we are conscious of God constantly, we will be safe.
*****
May 26, 2011
We are told (by Rambam, I think) that if we are conscious of God constantly, we will be safe.
"...existential psychology recognizes that for man, the only 'norm' can be creativity, some form of self-transcendence." (C. Wilson)To transcend the self - is this to come in contact with Godliness? But to create is to feel God-like -- and it necessitates a powerful and focused self, a self that hears all of its own voice. How is it possible to clearly attend to that voice and, simultaneously, be conscious of God?
Wednesday, 25 May 2011
naomi's question of the day - #12
"naomi's question of the day" is a new feature of the Nishmablog featuring a question for you to ponder, extend and/or respond to through your comments.
*****
May 25, 2011
In the Amidah, it is written
*****
May 25, 2011
In the Amidah, it is written
"[He] resurrects the dead with great mercy"and also
"[He] fulfills His trust to those who sleep in the dust."What is the distinction? And if we sleep in the dust, how are we to understand the glory that is described as the World-To-Come?
Tuesday, 24 May 2011
naomi's question of the day - #11
"naomi's question of the day" is a new feature of the Nishmablog featuring a question for you to ponder, extend and/or respond to through your comments.
*****
May , 2011
If we are aware that learning Torah will make us better able to serve God, and we choose to be involved in professions and lives that create parameters that limit our ability to learn, how can we not feel deprived?
How can we be okay with our decision?
Furthermore, how are we supposed to fulfill our known obligation to be Torah-observant if we don't have adequate knowledge?
*****
May , 2011
If we are aware that learning Torah will make us better able to serve God, and we choose to be involved in professions and lives that create parameters that limit our ability to learn, how can we not feel deprived?
How can we be okay with our decision?
Furthermore, how are we supposed to fulfill our known obligation to be Torah-observant if we don't have adequate knowledge?
Wednesday, 18 May 2011
naomi's question of the day - #10
"naomi's question of the day" is a new feature of the Nishmablog featuring a question for you to ponder, extend and/or respond to through your comments.
*****
May 18, 2011
Am I able to forgive myself -- I am supposed to believe that with proper repentance I will be forgiven by God -- but I exist as a standing entity and I must face myself -- is this a fight between my self as all consciousness and the True Greater Consciousness that might be a comfort and a guide?
*****
May 18, 2011
Am I able to forgive myself -- I am supposed to believe that with proper repentance I will be forgiven by God -- but I exist as a standing entity and I must face myself -- is this a fight between my self as all consciousness and the True Greater Consciousness that might be a comfort and a guide?
Tuesday, 17 May 2011
naomi's question of the day - #9
"naomi's question of the day" is a new feature of the Nishmablog featuring a question for you to ponder, extend and/or respond to through your comments.
*****
May 17, 2011
It is written in the Shmona Esrah of Shacharit -- "We thankfully acknowledge that You are the Lord our God and God of our fathers forever."
What has happened has happened and cannot be changed (transformed) --
why isn't it written that you will be the God of our sons forever: something that is to come, that is unknown and hoped-for.
Because what has occurred is not an anticipated gift -- and what has happened cannot change.
Wouldn't it be a greater blessing -- and doesn't blessing refer to what is coming -- to say that God will be the God of our offspring?
*****
May 17, 2011
It is written in the Shmona Esrah of Shacharit -- "We thankfully acknowledge that You are the Lord our God and God of our fathers forever."
What has happened has happened and cannot be changed (transformed) --
why isn't it written that you will be the God of our sons forever: something that is to come, that is unknown and hoped-for.
Because what has occurred is not an anticipated gift -- and what has happened cannot change.
Wouldn't it be a greater blessing -- and doesn't blessing refer to what is coming -- to say that God will be the God of our offspring?
Monday, 16 May 2011
naomi's question of the day - #8
"naomi's question of the day" is a new feature of the Nishmablog featuring a question for you to ponder, extend and/or respond to through your comments.
*****
May 16, 2011
We are told to ivdu et Hashem b'simcha but also we are informed to remember daily the destruction of the Temple and that it is more advised to attend a shiva than a wedding -- is there a happiness that requires sadness to be the true happiness with which we are to serve God? How is it understood?
*****
May 16, 2011
We are told to ivdu et Hashem b'simcha but also we are informed to remember daily the destruction of the Temple and that it is more advised to attend a shiva than a wedding -- is there a happiness that requires sadness to be the true happiness with which we are to serve God? How is it understood?
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