A moving picture is worth a million words

I’m not recommending watching the whole above clip. In fact, I didn’t see all of it. But it does make the point I want to make too, that video penetrates the brain much deeper than a picture or just words.

***

One of my rabbis is a gentle man. He’s neither an extremist nor someone susceptible to extremism from others. But one day, he comes with the concept that G^d can’t be held to the same ethical standards that apply to humans. That is strange as He tells us that He created us in His likeliness.

What made my rabbi suggest something like that? Well, he doesn’t own a TV, as we would expect. But he went to a conference and was housed in a hotel. And in his room was a TV. Being away from his daily newspaper, in all innocence, he switches on the small screen to watch the news.

But he’s not used to such deeply penetrating video. It’s like you had ear wax building up and then suddenly removed. All noises are so strong. He watches the news and gets deeply shocked. Pictures of an earthquake in China with hundreds of children dead. The quake happened under school time and many schools collapsed. How could a good G^d permit this?

He had to find an answer so he came up with the solution I quoted above.

Yet, many other less extreme answers are possible. So did it transpire the builders had cheated on the building codes. The schools did not collapse because of the earthquake but because the schools were not made earthquake-proof. When you do something careless, you can’t blame G^d.

So why did my rabbi not think of that? Firstly because the horror he saw alarmed him so that he had to react immediately, so he didn’t wait for the reports coming in about the shoddy constructions. Secondly, I guess that the sight of so many young victims was a deep test to his faith so he felt he had to find solutions. This especially because others were not so shocked (pardon the pun). They either had no TV and were spared the shock he had felt or they always watched TV and therefore were desensitized.

***

A very same thing we see with reports of police brutality against Black males in the US. It’s happening for generations. But now it’s caught on video. People see it and are shocked to their core. All over the world.

***

G^d and Joshua tell Moses (Exodus 32:7, 17-18) that the people threw off their yoke and were rebelling before he descends the mountain. But only when he actually sees them (ibid 32:19), he throws down the Stone Tables.

Seeing is more than believing. Seeing is becoming shocked.

***

I’m probably one of the very few who haven’t seen the pictures of the policeman kneeling on George Floyd until he was dead. I don’t need the violent pictures in my brain to be shocked, horrified, or come in action.

For me, hearing is shocking enough. I welcome this tool for awareness, the pictures and the video. But I’ve seen enough deeply disturbing stuff and don’t need any more of it. Nor do our children.

I’ve seen some heaps of emaciated corpses in concentration camps. I’ve stopped looking at them. I know enough and I’m not a masochist. I need my brain to be calm to confront evil. There is a time to be upset and there is a time to be calm. A Dutch saying goes: Calmness may save you.

https://youtu.be/kVVTyPG3WJk

About the Author

MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, previously a daily blog contributor to the TOI. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. He's proud that his analytical short comments are removed both from left-wing and right-wing news sites. None of his content is generated by the new bore on the block, AI. * As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. Or not at all because he doesn't claim G^d talks to him. He gives him good ideas—that's all. MM doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and educations contribute to his visions. * This year, he will prioritize getting his unpublished books published rather than just blog posts. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2000 archived ones, go to the right-top corner of a Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". One can find a second, wilder blog, to which one may subscribe too, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. * Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. However, if you think those are his absolute top priorities, you might end up disappointed. His first loyalty is to the truth. He will try to stay within the limits of democratic and Jewish law, but he won't lie to support opinions or people when don't deserve that. (Yet, we all make honest mistakes, which is just fine and does not justify losing support.) He admits that he sometimes exaggerates to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. * Sometimes he's misunderstood because his wide and diverse field of vision seldomly fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what some love about him. He has written a lot about Psychology (including Sexuality and Abuse), Medicine (including physical immortality), Science (including basic statistics), Politics (Israel, the US, and the Netherlands, Activism - more than leftwing or rightwing, he hopes to highlight reality), Oppression and Liberation (intersectionally, for young people, the elderly, non-Whites, women, workers, Jews, LGBTQIA+, foreigners and anyone else who's dehumanized or exploited), Integrity, Philosophy, Jews (Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust and Jewish Liberation), the Climate Crisis, Ecology and Veganism, Affairs from the news, or the Torah Portion of the Week, or new insights that suddenly befell him. * Chronologically, his most influential teachers are his parents, Nico (natan) van Zuiden and Betty (beisye) Nieweg, Wim Kan, Mozart, Harvey Jackins, Marshal Rosenberg, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and, lehavdil bein chayim lechayim, Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo, Rav Zev Leff, and Rav Meir Lubin. This short list doesn't mean to disrespect others who taught him a lot or a little. One of his rabbis calls him Mr. Innovation [Ish haChidushim]. Yet, his originalities seem to root deeply in traditional Judaism, though they may grow in unexpected directions. In fact, he claims he's modernizing nothing. Rather, mainly basing himself on the basic Hebrew Torah text, he tries to rediscover classical Jewish thought almost lost in thousands of years of stifling Gentile domination and Jewish assimilation. (He pleads for a close reading of the Torah instead of going by rough assumptions of what it would probably mean and before fleeing to Commentaries.) This, in all aspects of life, but prominently in the areas of Free Will, Activism, Homosexuality for men, and Redemption. * He hopes that his words will inspire and inform, and disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. He aims to bring a fresh perspective rather than harp on the obvious and familiar. When he can, he loves to write encyclopedic overviews. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds should be disputed. In short, his main political positions are among others: anti-Trumpism, for Zionism, Intersectionality, non-violence, anti those who abuse democratic liberties, anti the fake ME peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, pro-Science, pro-Free Will, anti-blaming-the-victim, and for down-to-earth, classical optimism, and happiness. Read his blog on how he attempts to bridge any tensions between those ideas or fields. * He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to his parents who were Dutch-Jewish Holocaust survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork. He grew up a humble listener. It took him decades to become a speaker too, and decades more to admit to being a genius. But his humility was his to keep. And so was his honesty. Bullies and con artists almost instantaneously envy and hate him. He hopes to bring new things and not just preach to the choir. * He holds a BA in medicine (University of Amsterdam) – is half a doctor. He practices Re-evaluation Co-counseling since 1977, is not an official teacher anymore, and became a friendly, powerful therapist. He became a social activist, became religious, made Aliyah, and raised three wonderful kids. Previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. For a couple of years, he was active in hasbara to the Dutch-speaking public. He wrote an unpublished tome about Jewish Free Will. He's a strict vegan since 2008. He's an Orthodox Jew but not a rabbi. * His writing has been made possible by an allowance for second-generation Holocaust survivors from the Netherlands. It has been his dream since he was 38 to try to make a difference by teaching through writing. He had three times 9-out-of-10 for Dutch at his high school finals but is spending his days communicating in English and Hebrew - how ironic. G-d must have a fine sense of humor. In case you wonder - yes, he is a bit dyslectic. If you're a native English speaker and wonder why you should read from people whose English is only their second language, consider the advantage of having an original peek outside of your cultural bubble. * To send any personal reaction to him, scroll to the top of the blog post and click Contact Me. * His newest books you may find here: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AMoshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&s=relevancerank&text=Moshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1