I want to tell you about the value of truthfulness and what’s connected to that. But first some words about how this sits with me.
Through no virtue of my own, I turned out an honest person. My father happened to be of impeccable integrity and I just followed in his footsteps. I don’t remember him ever saying anything about that you should not lie or should stick to the truth. It was all over him – not as a stern demand but rather as a natural way of being.
I never stole a cent from my mother’s purse – as I heard so many people did, growing up – I didn’t even see that option. Luckily, Dutch culture champions honesty as nothing else – though that is not to say that the Dutch don’t cheat on their taxes, that politics in the Netherlands are done without trickery or that there is no lying in the courtrooms. But as one public prosecutor once told a friend of mine: we don’t ask defendants to promise or swear to tell the truth anymore because that is for too many the sign that from now on they’ve got to start lying.
I raised one son for three years and he has the same natural honesty ever since. He once reported a terrible mistake by him to a superior, ready to face the consequences. That’s how we do it, no, daddy, he asked me. He got off lightly, with a short rebuke. How great to have someone working for you whom you can trust!
When he was three years old, he got confused by someone lying to him. I needed to tell him that he did not need to worry about what he was told since it was not true. He looked at me incomprehensible. How could one say something that contradicts what is? At that moment someone next to us told a small girl something that was not true to get her to obey. I told my son, you see? Some people do that. It was like telling him that death exists or murder. You saw his brain zoom with activity.
Most probably, this tradition goes all the way back to our illustrious impressive forefather, Rabbi Salomon Rosenbach, my father’s grandfather’s grandfather, of Austrian nobility that reportedly was bestowed on one of his ancestors by the Emperor – I would imagine for services to the Court. Honesty can be found all throughout the Talmud. No, not sermons on honesty, but rather dealing with life’s challenges candidly. That’s a very important part of Judaism. The Austrian Emperor must have been delighted to deal with someone like that. Lies create distance between people, and rulers can be very lonely with everyone faking it around them.
How tragic that, with such an honest Tradition, the Jewish State lies in a neighborhood where lying and cheating are the default modes; where, if you’re honest, you’re considered a fool.
My mother also understood honesty deeply. She called a best friend someone “you could commit a murder with,” murder being about the worst thing you could do. But a true friend would still not betray or abandon you if you’d have. Loyalty and integrity are very close relatives.
It is clear to me that all babies are born honest. Any playing fast and loose with the truth as we may see in many people, is learned behavior and thinking, either by osmosis or by training, especially the character trait of chronic dishonesty but also an easy willingness to get away with a “white lie.” We do not need to teach children truthfulness. We only need to not ruin their inborn strong connection to reality.
You will not hear me boast about my truthfulness because I did nothing to acquire it. I didn’t work hard nor slow for it. I got it for free and no one took it from me. That doesn’t mean that I’m never tempted, that never a dishonest answer crosses my mind. However, I immediately understand that such an approach is way below me, unbefitting, not compatible with who I am, in almost all cases deprives one of more than it will ever give you. When you can’t say the truth, at least shut up – instead of making up stories.
This is very different from someone who learned and practiced dishonesty and even thievery and came clean to the deepest level. Someone who was a thief and whom you can now trust with your eyes closed. What a great accomplishment! Such a person could rightfully brag about his reclaimed virtue for all to hear!
I want to tell you, this can be yours too. Even if you had very little role models for honesty and little practice with it until now. Today is a new day. This hour is a new hour. This moment is a new moment. And if you ruined this one, a new one just arrived.
Unfortunately, this path to better one’s life is practically closed to chronic liars. Words have lost all meaning for them and then it’s hard to see that truth and falsehood actually differ. Also, being totally untrustworthy, they cannot trust anyone else anymore, so they cannot confide in a friend. They’re often utterly alone and morally stuck.
As a naturally honest person, I can tell you, uprightness is the most important character trait and habit that you could try to regain. Lacking any integrity is the worst lot one can have. Regaining integrity is the greatest acquisition that could befall you. If you want to improve your character, your track record, your morality and those of your friends and offspring, pick or take back love for and commitment to truth.
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
