No, not because we have enough vision from television. But seriously …
The Sages explain that the cessation of fresh Prophecy 2000 years ago was an unintentional byproduct of them ending the craving to worship idols.
But I just had an additional idea on top of that.
So many idol worshipers were (and are) obsessed with ‘the world beyond.’ They busy themselves with imagining all good and bad that could come from Up High, the supernatural, instead of prioritizing to perfect the world in front of their eyes. This kind of hyper-attention to the Beyond takes away from a proper focus on life down-to-earth and its demands. They simply are oblivious of the significance of what we do, could do and should do. Christianity started at about the end of Prophecy. It developed into a worldview with an obsession with the Future World topping all idolatry. It teaches that ‘This world is not His world,’ calling life ‘this vale of tears.’
True, in our Main Prayer we ask G^d several times every weekday to give us a hand with a whole slew of problems. But that is not for us to grab and hoard. Rather, we should pour out our heart when we’re lacking anything to the One who provides it all. Thus, we acknowledge our dependence and debt. But these blessings close with a summary where we declare that the Source of all blessing is in control and supplying. (Maybe this is an example of what the Sages tell us, that we can start doing Commandments with ulterior motives, because in the end, we’ll do them for their own sake.)
G^d created the world unfinished. The Rabbis explain that what G^d calls ‘good’ during the Days of Creation is perfect but that his added word ‘very’ in very good (Genesis 1:21) stands for all kinds of things that we not so quickly would typify as good, among them: death. Let me suggest something else. This ‘very good,’ G^d pronounced after the creation of Adam. It was a human qualification: pretty good, not: ‘more than perfect.’
Unfinished creation is an invitation to us to work with G^d in perfecting it. A task hard to see if one just pays attention to the Heavens. As we say in our blessing at each new moon cycle, the Heavenly spheres are fine. We should take an example of their obedience. It’s us we need to perfect.
Rabbi Cardozo is saying for years that, before we can properly follow G^d’s stenographer (Moses), we should lay the foundation more properly by first following the earliest Jew (Abraham). Before we try to do Commandments, we should master the preferred Jewish character traits. I want to suggest something a bit different. We revisit Abraham to refine our understanding of (not just lay a basis to) our Torah. He knew what a Jew should feel, say, pray, do, and celebrate, without Moses’ Outline. It was crystal clear to him. So it should be to us. We should go implement our whole Torah like he did.
We don’t so much need more Divine Direction for that anymore. We had plenty of that. We more need to notice how to be the greatest us we can be. We need to learn from how we’ve brought unnecessary hurt (evil) into this world and stop doing so. Many an atheist shows how to be a Mensch. One doesn’t need to believe in the mystical or metaphysical to do so.
We also need to stop worrying so much about Hell and the Garden of Eden and Divine Reward and Retribution beyond the grave. Rather, we need to pay attention to how we’ve made Earth into Hell and could make This World into the Garden of Eden.
Christians, who borrowed the basis of their religion from us, have made fun of Jews for millennia on how we are so busy with what they considered petty earthly concerns. And Atheists, who learned from us to reject idol worship (and that’s all they reject), can’t identify with the way we talk to G^d all the time. Returned to our ancestral homeland, it’s time that we Jews overtake them both. Not ‘Paradise Now’ but ‘Paradise Here.’
Let’s stop the war on our feelings (stifling and drugging ourselves).
Let’s listen less to authorities and more to what our deepest Self tells us.
Let’s end hurting, oppressing, and killing of us, others and all life on Earth.
Let’s stop killing ourselves and each other (while blaming G^d for it).
Just imagine.
The Sages (Midrash Lamentations Rabbah on Jeremiah 16:11) explain that G^d opines: “I wish they would leave Me but keep My Torah” (הלואי אותי עזבו ותורתי שמרו). (The opposites of what Christians do.) It’s high time.
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
