Yet, glass bottles of 1.5 liters are not included.
But currently, it all doesn’t matter anyway. Why? Because there is no recycling going on. My small grocery store didn’t take back glass bottles before Purim, it said. Then it wouldn’t do it before Pesach. And now, it can’t do it during corona (a more-modern festival): they’re not collected.
Piles and piles of bottles arose in my store and … next to my front door.
Can someone tell someone that bottle collectors are essential workers?
Thank you.
***
Don’t blame the messenger
I find the following Reuters’ headline unforgivable: “New Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire jeopardised by shelling reports.” The Jerusalem Post copied it verbatim (but changed the spelling) as if it’s the greatest wisdom.
Ceasefires are not torpedoed by reporting on them.
***
Decency Comes Before Obeying the Law
A penny thief has recently apologized while robbing a small grocery store. (It doesn’t go like that. First you steal, then you regret, and then you pay back with extra.) If you’re really starving, just ask for a hand-out.
If the largest electoral block in the US are seniors, Biden should say: “Listen, the Sages of the Talmud said it already: ‘Decency Comes Before Obeying the Law.’ Why should we ever have put our trust in someone who is vulgar, hateful, and dishonest all the time?”
This quote will not only get him even more of the senior vote. It will also ‘help’ rile up and expose QAnon loonies’ anti-Semitism. Trump will then not condemn it and that should give Biden even more of the Jewish vote.
Over a dozen articles in the news about the hospitalization in Israel of a ranking PA member. Some Palestinians are upset at the ‘betrayal.’ Some Jewish Israelis say that a mass murderer’s life should not be saved, or, at least, treatment should have been made conditional on the release of kidnapped Israelis. Some say that he’s beyond the pale. Others argue that for us Jews, he’s our fellow human (really?). But, Ecclesiastes tells us: hakol havel (It’s all idle talk). As I pointed out before, medical professionals should not be and are not interested in political arguments from any side.
Sadly, “the important” or those with more cash will get better treatment. In healthcare, protectionism of the wealthy is a bit neutralized (in Israel, everyone is helped) but some still are just more equal than others.
***
The Very Shameful Coming out of Bennett
De facto opposition leader Bennett has clarified: gays deserve to marry and adopt but they will get those rights over his politically dead body.
Reminds me of this working-class dialogue: How much money do you make? About a million a week but I won’t get it.
Seems I was right predicting that after his loss, Trump will leave the USA. Mr. Loose Lips can never keep a thought in. Those who wonder to where he would flee (“Not Europe; he owns the banks a lot of money there. Not to Africa, which he insulted. Not to Mexico, because the border wall will stop him.”), read my vlog. He will come to Israel.
***
Solution
Tired of keeping up with the news?
Just read my blog post every day and all your problems are solved!
You’ll get what’s really important, some links for reference, plus some out-of-the-box thoughts as a bonus. The best things in life are for free.
The only problem may still be that I can only post one blog post per day. Sometimes, I need a full blog post to comment on one subject. And if that happens a lot, my comments may come 2 weeks after the news broke. Like now. I have 12 blog posts ready for publication. But they will come.
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. 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
