Humble Opinions

I would like to bring to your attention a man I greatly look up to. Among many other things, I find him extremely knowledgeable, realistic, well researched, and insightful. He has written 19 books, produced 13 movies, given thousands of lectures on History and Jewish topics, and writes weekly for one of the most prestigious media outlets in Israel, the Jerusalem Post. He has also served as the executive vice president and Chief Rabbi for the most recognized Kosher certification on earth, the OU. Lastly, he has also founded and run a high school, has served as the rabbi for multiple Jewish synagogues, and has traveled the world extensively. I introduce world renown author, historian, and educator Rabbi Berel Wein (buy his products, they’re sick).

Among his many accomplishments is a 116 hour audio lecture series on Jewish history that spans from the creation of the world until 1984. I have listened to all of it, and can attest to its magnificence. I would very much like to share the concluding 9 minutes of the entire series. Press play to begin playing:

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It is not very often that we get an opportunity to break from our busy lives, and reflect on the world and its trends. A topic I believe to be vastly under appreciated is mankind’s ongoing development of technology, and its impact on the lives of the civilized world.

Realizing the unbelievable advancements made in the past few centuries, and even decades, should give a person pause, and leave them in wonderment. The inventions of the printing press, railroad, automobile, automatic weapons, airplanes, video cameras, the industrial revolution, and the birth of computers / the Internet have all irrevocably changed the face of the world and life forever.

There are a few areas of change I would like to highlight:

(1). Information

We are currently living in an era that has been named the Information Age. It denotes the global economy’s focus shifting away from the production of physical goods to the manipulation of information. To consider the amount of information that has been made available through the Internet, and the speed with which that information can be disseminated could give a person a headache.

As I have mentioned previously, Europe during the dark ages (which was sparked by the fall of Rome) had an almost 100% rate of illiteracy. The rest of the middle ages was not much better. Up until the last few centuries, it was practically unheard of to own a book. Aside from the fact that few could actually afford a book, most people were not particularly interested in books. Let’s compare that with our time: The Internet offers pretty much anyone access to more information in a single day than their grandparents probably came across their entire lives. I read a statistic that more information will be added to the Internet in 2009 than all of the information known in all of human history before 2009 combined.

In the Babylonian Talmud, it is recorded that during the 3rd and 4th centuries, questions regarding Jewish law were sent by messenger from the land of Israel to Babylonia (modern day Iraq), and the messenger would then return with the answers to the questions. This process took 2 years. Meaning for a piece of information to travel from modern day Israel to modern day Iraq, and back, took 24 months. Compare that to today, where pages of information, as well as photographs and videos can be transmitted across the globe via email in a matter of seconds.

If one were to approach a person from the 1300s, and tell them that on a tiny portable screen, they could see and speak with a person hundreds or even thousands of miles away, I believe they would classify it as a miracle on the scale of the splitting of the red sea. Today, we’re upset waiting more than 10 seconds for a song to download and start playing. Namely, a song that was composed and created primarily without the use of real instruments.

(2). Time

Thanks to modern technology, we all save incredible amounts of time, leaving us with enormous spans of what we call “leisure” time. Instead of heating food up in an oven (let alone a man-made fire), we can make food steaming hot in seconds by using a microwave. Instead of washing dishes and clothes by hand, we now have dish washers, laundry machines, and driers that do it for us. Instead of traveling by boat for several months in horrendous conditions, we can now travel the same distance in hours via airplane, while watching a movie, and eating hot food with dessert.

All of these inventions create the opportunities for a person to accomplish more with their life than those in previous generations could ever have imagined. In this void, the modern day entertainment industry has blossomed into the #1 most profitable industry by filling (ahem, wasting, ahem) people’s time with movies, celebrities, amusement parks, and all the other activities vital to a healthy existence.

(3). Accomplishment

Like I have already said, using technology, people are able to accomplish many times more than those of previous generations, and still be left with far more leisure time than they had. This blog is a perfect example. I can create a piece of literature (by literally pressing buttons), and it can instantly be accessed by millions or even billions of people (don’t worry, almost there). That creates amazing opportunity for accomplishment. I could write a one page article in 20 minutes, and spend the remaining 23 hours and 40 minutes of my day playing video games and drinking slurpees, and I’d still have wider publication than my grandfather probably could have gotten in 200 hours of work in his time.

(4). Quality

In addition to being able to accomplish far more nowadays compared to earlier points in time, we also have the ability to produce at far higher qualities. Thanks to computers, and the slick geniuses that write computer programs (that’s right!), we are able to create amazing slideshows that incorporate all kinds of charts, graphs, video clips, audio recordings, and animations, rendering the presentation of information far more home-hitting. We can also do incredible calculations far beyond the ability of any human that further the study and prediction of things like medicine, weather, DNA, and more.

A great example application, I think, has to do with the tractate of the Mishna (see my post on Jewish literature) called Yevamot. The tractate spends much of its time discussing the relationship scenarios that are acceptable and forbidden to a Jew. At a certain point, these scenarios begin to grow enormously complex, involving cousins of cousins, cousins of half-siblings, descendants of brothers of cousins of half-siblings with questionable conversion to Judaism… you get the point.  Today, amazing companies such as Artscroll have produced great charts that make it far easier to understand each of these scenarios. Thanks to these, many more people can now learn that tractate of the Mishna with far greater clarity and understanding. And that’s just one example.

Food For Thought

It’s always great to stop and realize all the wonderful things in our lives. What would we do if G-d “pulled the plug” on electricity? I think we’d all be in a bit of a bind. Unfortunately, some people (probably inclusive of myself) would be completely lost. If you are Jewish, the next time you make a blessing before biting into a slice of pizza, identifying G-d as the source that brought what you are about eat into existence, feel free to additionally identify G-d as the source of the unbelievable technology that helped refine and perfect every ingredient in that pizza.

Considering all the brilliant points I have made in this post, it is easy to see the immense opportunity for accomplishment in our day and age. As with all things in life, these advancements can be applied for the betterment or destruction of our world and species.

I implore everyone to be careful with their time. It’s so easy to waste away getting involved in things that essentially will be gone tomorrow, and have zero effect on anything. Glad will be the person that lay on his death bed atop a mountain of accomplishment. Sad will be the person that lay on their death bed with nothing but quotes from Adam Sandler movies, and the names of the drinks from Starbucks memorized.

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Today, my friends, is a great day. You might think I say so because today is Nov 4th, 2008, a US presidential election day. Today, American citizens will vote to select an individual to lead the most powerful country on planet earth for at least the next 4 years. It also marks the beginning of a massive change, and new direction for America from the last 8 years. Contrary to this, I do not speak of today in that spirit. Today is a great day because when I walked into the bagel store on my way to work, one of the workers saw me, and prepared my usual daily order before my ordering. I didn’t even have to wait on line.

It seems strange that I would ascribe greatness to such an historic day due to an order of bagels for breakfast. But the implications run far deeper. This bagel store is the busiest, in a town full of bagel eaters, and breakfast is a popular time for bagels. Why did this guy remember my order, and why did he prepare it before the people standing in front of me in line ordered?

I believe the answer is because of how careful I try to be when talking to people, especially those that provide me a service. In my daily orders, I never forget to greet everyone with a good morning. I never forget the words please, and thank you. I never forget to smile when paying the cashier, and I never talk down to anyone, or complain. I make sure to put money in the tip jar, and I always make sure I am not causing any problems for the other people waiting on line, whether that be taking unnecessarily long with my order, or any other of the potential nuances of behavior I am sure everyone is aware of.

So why do I do all this? The answer is not in hope of getting better pricing or service. If I had my ideal preference, I would have preferred to wait in line this morning, until it was my turn to order. Rather, my goal is to help set a good example, make a regular interaction more pleasant, and try to help the person that prepares my bagel like his job a little more (or hate it a little less depending on the person).

When dealing with another person, it’s important to put yourself in their shoes. They’re just trying to get through their day without crazy incidents or problems, the same way you are. Everyone has their own goals, likes, and dislikes in life. It’s important to be respectful of others, and their situations.

This touches upon two, much larger subjects: Ethical behavior, and what a person wants to accomplish in their lifetime. I am 24 years old. If I would G-d forbid die tomorrow, I must say, I’d be pretty upset. Not because I’d be missing coffee and guitar playing (though I surely would), but rather because I have nothing to show for my life. I’ve studied music, software development, read a few cool books, met a few cool people. I even used to lift weights. Great… so what? I have yet to give back to the world, to influence anyone or anything, to help improve any aspect of this world, etc.

Life is but a fleeting moment. It is not uncommon for people to wake up 50 years old, and wonder what they’ve done for the last 50 years. That’s not what I want to happen to me. When I’m gone, I want people to have fond memories of me. I want my children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren to have something I left behind that they can learn from. I want people to think differently because of something I said or did. That is what I believe ethical behavior is about.

Rabbi Yisrael Salanter started a movement in Eastern Europe in the late 19th century called the Mussar movement. He began it in response to the Haskalah movement (the Jewish enlightenment movement). In Czarist Russia, a group of Jews known as the Maskilim began the Jewish enlightenment movement in hope to ease Russian oppression and anti-semitism. Their hope was that if Jews broke their connections to traditional Jewish life, study, and thought, they could become more Russian, secular, and thus more likable by the Russian public.

Regardless of the fact that their movement actually caused an opposite effect, Rabbi Yisrael Salanter, an intellectual giant unmatched in today’s time, began the Mussar movement to help Jews improve their behavior, in hope of removing the claims of the Haskalah that traditional Jews were not ethical or enjoyable people to be around. His movement still has massive reverberations in today’s time, and has produced amazingly refined human beings.

The Mussar movement preached honesty, politeness, empathy, and being a generally nice person. It worked to produce individuals that would be able to leave a significant stamp on Jewish history, and world history. It produced people that would think before they spoke. People that would try to avoid sitting around, and aimlessly discussing others’ personal lives and deeds. People that might be inclined to more clearly define their goals and mission in life.

I highly recommend reading more on this subject, and doing some introspection on one’s life. What would people say about you behind closed doors? Would they bash you, or would they want to make your bagels for you before anyone else? Let us hope the latter.

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