Comments for Chai Lites

Comment on A Song for the Omer by Morain

Morain — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 22:57:17 +0000

This is awesome! It’s already helped me remember the Omer! Chag Sameach.

Comment on A Song for the Omer by Laivi

Laivi — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 14:35:48 +0000

Cooooooooooooooooooool!!! You’re a Chassidshe Bob Dylan, or is Bob Dylan a Buddhist Chai??

Comment on Fixing God’s Mistakes…? by Morain

Morain — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 14:17:30 +0000

Your question, “Fixing God’s Mistakes…?” touches on a large philosophical question: If God Created Man, and God Knows All, then why did He create any systems or tests in the Torah that He Knew Man would fail? Like the forgiving of loans at shmitta or like the Flood. Why did God create these systems/tests? Are we to think that: 1. God was teaching us a lesson that we could only learn from experience or 2. Because God also created Free Will: Did Man fail to reach his potential? If the second is the answer, Tikun Olam can be more specifically translated into Fixing Man’s Mistakes…

Comment on Freedom vs. Free Will? by Schwartz

Schwartz — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 19:38:09 +0000

I’ve really enjoyed your video blogs so far and I look forward to your written blogs (and to more video blogs!). I hadn’t thought much about the difference between Free Will and Freedom before reading your blog. There is an important difference: one is constant while the other continuously fluctuates. We were created with Free Will. No matter what happens to us - like the first video clip on your blog emphasized - we have Free Will. On the other hand our Freedom is continuously challenged - by our own mindsets, by others mindsets, by external forces beyond our control, by external forces within our control to which we subjugate ourselves.
In the dictionary Freedom is defined as: “The power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.” According to this definition, we are certainly NOT free today. We have given our power, our rights, to various institutions: social, governmental, religious, etc. Maybe, we were given the Freedom to choose our masters? Maybe we were given the Freedom to use our Free Will to choose to give up our Freedom to God as our Master…a seemingly strange and paradoxical release from slavery only to become slaves again…
Which emphasizes your question in my head: What does it mean for us today to become Free again if we have already chosen God as our Master? Are we supposed to choose again?