First of all, for those who need motivation for it, these are good reasons:
- Saving water saves money. Not a lot but crumbs are bread too.
- Israel has a water shortage so being a good Zionist means saving water. That saves the State a lot of money.
- Jordanians need water too and if we waste it here, they’ll have a harder time and war with them comes closer again. Even egocentric selfish people must take the needs of others into account, even if they are enemies who hate us.
- Wasting it means we don’t appreciate it. And taking our fortunes for granted is an ugly character trait that you don’t want to live by, show on your face or teach to the next generation.
How to Save Water?
The average citizen in the West uses unbelievable amounts of water. Estimates about domestic water consumption in Israel vary from 137 liters per person per day on average, about half of indoor water use in the United States, until 247 liters per day. There is no need for that at all.
Shower
- The cold run-off water that comes out before the warm water emerges you can put in a bucket. This is excellent pure water for washing floors, flushing toilets and watering plants.
- Could you shower over a large bucket? You can get wet, close the tab, soap yourself and rinse it off. That doesn’t need to take a lot of time or water. If you love the water streaming over your skin and find it hard to stop, give yourself a hug instead. With the shower water, no matter how dirty, with soap in it, you can safely flush toilets and water plants.
Toilet
- Above, we discussed water to flush. But there is more. On close inspection, many toilets keep running slowly. When the rubbery ring inside the tank is old, it will start passing water at a few drops per ten seconds which adds up to 1000 liter per month! Because it flows into the pot, this often goes undetected. This you can identify when you haven’t pulled the chain for some time. Put a dry piece of toilet paper against the back of the inside of the pot above the water level in it. If it quickly soaks up water, the ring is leaking. Repair it, have it repaired and until that time, close the tap. This is possibly the greatest water saver.
- You may also follow Ed Koch’s advice: If it’s yellow, let it mellow; if it’s brown, flush it down. If you don’t do that and use the tank, you must have (or buy and install) a special button for a small flush. Unless you always want to use small flushing. Then you tighten the screw that stops the tank from filling up or place a rock or brick in the tank.
Close That Tab
- Don’t brush your teeth, wash the dishes, floors or car with the tab running. Use a cup, bowl, tub or bucket. Some Israelis forgot the broom but a garden hose is not for sweeping around the house. Don’t “clean” outside if it’s clean. (The old saying “When it’s wet, it’s clean” is untrue.)
Washing Machines
- Do you really need to use a dishwasher? Washing dishes together has saved many a marriage. Only use the washing machine when it’s full. Don’t put in fabrics that are clean, like after spilling water on them.
Like this, you could never reach 137 liters of water consumption per person in one day even once! Even if you’d shower twice a day, scrub the floor daily, wash your car twice a week and eat soup every day.
Others
- You must reproach others whom you see waste water. You first need to have shaped up yourself but once you did, others must follow. Try to be pleasant about it, don’t let it sound like you hate them, but say it.
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
