Posted on Leave a comment

The Impact Of Aristotle Upon Christian, Islamic, and Jewish Cultures: A Compilation Of Notes And Quotes From A Variety Of Sources Plus Commentary

About 800 years ago, the premises of three cultures were set — with consequences today. Islamic culture (led by Al-Ghazali) rejected Aristotle. It remains mystical and collectivist. Christian culture (via Thomas Aquinas) took a middle ground on Aristotle. Today it seeks the middle ground of luxuries and Jesus’ Sermon On The Mount. Jewish culture accepted Aristotle (via Maimonides) on a much greater basis and flourished.

According to Wilhelm Windelband, Aristotle’s system of philosophy considered happiness “as the supreme end of all endeavour”.

Philosopher-novelist Ayn Rand said, “Aristotle’s philosophy was the intellect’s Declaration of Independence. Aristotle, the father of logic, should be given the title of the world’s first intellectual, in the purest and noblest sense of that word.”

Medieval thinkers such as Averroes (Islam), Aquinas (Christian), and Maimonides (Jewish) regarded him as “The Philosopher.”

Join us on this 2500-year philosophical and historical journey through three major cultures — Christian, Islamic, and Jewish — to understand Aristotle’s influence upon each.

We will see when a culture accepts to some significant degree, either explicitly or implicitly, Aristotle’s ideas of reason and happiness. The main examples are:

• Ancient Greece,

• Islamic culture from about 800 to 1200 AD,

• the Renaissance,

• the Enlightenment,

• the Haskalah (Jewish Enlightenment) of the 19th century,

• and hopefully the future.

And also discover the consequences when a culture rejects his philosophy of reason. There is a consistent philosophical and historical pattern of the anti-Aristotelians:

• the obliteration of Aristotle and thus reason (Al-Ghazali, Kant, Augustine),

• the adoption of the arbitrary – either Augustinian revelatory or Kantian skepticism/subjectivism (the Koran, The Critique of Pure Reason, the Sermon on the Mount),

• submission to some alleged greater consciousness (Allah, The Fuhrer, communist state, the Holy Trinity, the collective consciousness, the will of Nature, the will of the people or proletariat),

• the demand to follow rules or commands from the alleged greater consciousness (Allah’s rules, the Hitler’s National Socialist 25 rules, the Ten Commandments),

• a fantasy reward for submission and following the rules (eternal life in heaven with God or in paradise with Allah, the emergence of a master race to produce the 1000 year Reich/idealized humanity, the withering of the state and economic abundance in the future, proletariat violent overthrow of the productive in search of a “charmed” and stagnant Middle Ages subsistence living),

• and the initiation of force against who don’t play along with their anti-reason program (Jihad, the SA, the Gestapo, the KGB, the Inquisition, gulags and concentration camps. In particular, hatred and force against the rational – for example against productive Jews and bourgeoisie; against advocates of reason such as Boethius, Abelard, Galileo, Gersonides; Pol Pot’s murder of millions of intellectuals.)

It’s all covered here. This clear, concise compilation explains the ups and downs of the last 2500 years — and the headlines of today. Hope you enjoy it!

Posted on 2 Comments

Sacred Intentions: Morning Inspiration to Strengthen the Spirit Based on the Jewish Wisdom Tradition

A daily inspirational companion of comfort, reassurance and hope, grounded in the wisdom and strength of Judaism. To help you start each day of the year on a positive note, there is an inspiring quote from a Jewish source and a brief, striking reflection on it through which you can gain new understanding and perspective.

You’ll turn to Sacred Intentions again and again for optimism, hope and renewal. With a wealth of contributions by over 40 respected and inspiring spiritual leaders from all parts of the Jewish community, this lovely book will help you start the day with a powerful positive attitude.Sacred Intentions, as its subtitle explains, offers “daily inspiration to strengthen the spirit, based on Jewish wisdom.” Rabbis Kerry M. Olitzky and Lori Forman, both experts on Jewish spirituality, collaborated to create this pocket-size devotional companion. For each day of the year, Sacred Intentions provides a quotation from Scripture, Midrash, or other holy texts, or from contemporary writers such as Rabbi Lawrence Kushner (“The wilderness is not just a desert through which we wandered for forty years. It is a way of being. A place that demands being open to the flow of life around you.”) and Rabbi Judith Abrams (“You don’t want to change, yet at the same time you don’t want to stay the same. So how does Judaism suggest you begin changing without toppling the construct of your existence? Change one tiny thing at a time.”) Brief commentaries on each quotation will help readers bring to bear the wisdom of this devotional on every hour of their days. Sacred Intentions is well-designed, straightforward, and accessible. For many, spending time with this book will also be habit-forming. And what a habit–learning to see blessings everywhere we look.

Posted on 2 Comments

Saying No and Letting Go: Jewish Wisdom on Making Room for What Matters Most

An inspiring introduction to the most important lesson for today s busy world:
the take-away is to take away.

All we can hope to accomplish by paying attention is to learn to live with the mystery, become more comfortable with not knowing and try to enjoy life s uncertainty. Every day is a gift, but we often squander it by missing what matters most.
from the Introduction

Every day we are faced with choices that entail saying no and frankly we re not very good at it. Whether it s the desire to please, get ahead, accumulate or impress, our lives have become so full and so busy that it is hard to determine what we really need and what s really important to us.

The purpose of this book is to help you regain control of the things that matter most in your life. It taps timeless Jewish wisdom that teaches how to hold on tightly to the things that matter most while learning to let go lightly of the demands, worries, activities and conflicts that do not ultimately matter. Drawing insights from ancient and modern sources, it helps you identify your core values as well as the opportunities that do not reflect those values, and that you can learn to pass up. It also shows you how to establish a disciplined practice to help you adhere to your choices.

Whether it s letting go of resentment, learning to say no at work or to your loved ones, downsizing your diet or asking less of the earth, this book will help you distinguish between the trivial and the profound.