I love advocating truths that are often assaulted by popular opinion. So, this blog post was waiting to be written by me.
There was a time that it was not known that smoking cigarettes is dangerous for your health. Life is to elevate us and the world and also to enjoy — within limits. So, Jewish Law looked favorably at it. That has changed. It is now completely forbidden to smoke. Though the rabbis acknowledge that those addicted cannot give it up so easily and that makes them less deliberate smokers and less guilty.
Jewish Law prescribes to spread more happiness from the beginning of the Month of Adar. (Not just to be happy but to spread it.) Culminating at Purim.
There was a time that the Sages thought that drinking wine and eating meat would make a person happy. That must still be true at a spiritual level, but health-wise for the consumer and the planet, that’s passé.
Wine doesn’t gladden the heart — it destroys it.
(Alcohol licks the liver and bites our blood pump. It’s a poison that widens the fine blood vessels and so reduces a weak heart’s pain but it’s still poison for which there is better medication. It doesn’t cure social anxiety — it keeps people anxious so that they need to keep drinking. The “healthiness” of red while is also in unfermented red grape juice. People addicted to alcohol often claim that they need it to deal with life’s difficulties. But do they drink because they have problems or do they have problems because they drink? You guessed it.)
Truth is that happiness should not depend on anything external. We should choose to be happy unconditionally, for no good reason, freely (“bechinam“). Babies don’t need a reason to be happy — why should you? And being happy is not even an embellishment — that’s a minimum requirement for a Jewish religious life. And if you’d say “But that is difficult” — where is written that it’s comfortable and easy to be a Jew? It’s supposed to be deeply gratifying but not always simple.
Reb Shlomo (Carlebach): “If you’re not drunk with Shabbat, you’re not doing it.” With, not on.
And what about saintly people who don’t look happy? Well, apparently, they’re still human because if they’re not happy, they’re not doing it.
The Torah tells us that Jewish Law is to live (well) by, not to die from. It tells us to choose life. It tells us to guard our health very very much.
We are even allowed to break Shabbat to try to remove a possible threat to life, even if we are not sure there is such an immediate danger and if we are not sure we would be effective. This is not a violation of Shabbat. Rather, saving human life goes before keeping Shabbat (and almost any other Commandments), overtakes it.
What about the requirement to drink until you don’t know the difference between Mordechai and Haman — between good and evil? (It reads: until!) Well, a known solution is to take a nap. When you sleep and especially when you wake up groggy, sleep-drunk, you also can’t tell the difference.
There are sometimes elderly Jews who don’t want to eat on Yom Kippur although the doctor tells them that now they must. Jewish Law sides with the physician! (Only — the reverse — when a doc says that you could safely fast and you don’t think so, you win!) Then, nonetheless fasting is a sin, not a virtue. So, to hell with those who say “but we’re used to drinking alcohol on Purim.” Medical science says it’s bad — that’s the end of it.
(Elderly people may have to eat today because of the coronavirus danger.)
As far as I’m concerned, drinking alcohol is taking poison and is against Jewish Law. Also on Purim. And it’s so 2019. Happy Purim.
Full disclaimer: I grew up socialist. Real socialists don’t drink because they have rejected the idea that you don’t need to use your brain (or are stupid). Besides that, the Dutch on average drink alcohol like crazy and they think it’s fun. Dutch Jews, in contrast, often drink little or no alcohol. “Just because everyone jumps in the water doesn’t mean that you should too,” my mother used to teach us. I try to avoid people who drank even a little alcohol. Because they often hold that their speech is at the zenith of intelligence but I find that people after one sip of alcohol talk slow, stupid, repetitive, and boring. The above is just my opinion. Not joking.
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. Of the 15 (!) books he has in mind, the next two are about homosexuality in Judaism and new rabbinics. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2600 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 that also may contain updates to Times of Israel posts, to which one may subscribe, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. *
He's getting ready to publicize books on: "Free Will, "Judaism and Homosexuality, "His parents in the Holocaust, "Judaism, "A New Torah Translation and "A New Hebrew Grammar, "Co-Counseling, "Vegan Facts, "Immortality, and more. *
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 agrees that in a post-truth world, that's irrelevant, but then this is for the record. 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. His posts are spell, grammar, and style polished by AI, but all written by himself. *
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
