You may say that I’m a dreamer / But I’m not the only one
Keep on dreaming!
Reb Shlomo Carlebach says, there are two kinds of sleep. There is the sleep of Adam, during which Eve was created, the sleep of [creating] life. And then there is the sleep of death. I could meditate for hours only on those two sentences.
I want to talk about the dreams of life. Of not just a better life. Of perfect life. Back to the Garden of Eden. Those day and/or night dreams of hope are important. Not only do they help us to await Redemption and help Redemption coming about. We need to have a live image of what that should look like.
We need to be able to imagine that one day, no one will ever again commit evil. What is evil? Deep question, simple answer. Evil is the infliction of unnecessary hurt. Maybe remember that. Sounds simple but took some work to get it down.
Why do we need to envision the disappearance of evil? Because without a notion of what that will look like, we could neither strive for its abolition nor recognize when Redemption has arrived. We would not believe it even. Impossible!
And from where should our belief in a return to Paradise come? Scripture is a nice source. Or John Lennon. But there is one more source of optimism. Providence or Evolution (or both) have built this conviction biologically into our brains. Listen.
When we were really really tiny, at a certain moment, a small cluster of our cells, neurons, already developed memory. They could register events and later return to them. Early memories. What’s so special about them? I will tell you right now.
Our first memories registered everything our present memory provides. Details of details. What we see, what we feel, what we sense, and what we think. But one thing was missing, absent, from our first memories: pain. Our earliest brain could not register pain yet. All our earliest memories are painless, pain-free, care-free.
That was many months before we were born. Most people don’t remember that. But still, those memories keep most people going, emotionally, for decades. No matter how much pain we feel and see, we will stay optimistic, even if our trust became just a secret buried deep inside in our brain. Especially young people. After a fresh hurt and deep cry, they’re good to go again. No power talks needed.
Pain is important. Feeling it (or seeing it coming) can help us prevent it, cope with it, heal it, and plot to abolish it. Don’t ignore pain. It’s (can be) our best friend!
But some older people develop a habit of complaining. “I can’t go on like this any longer.“ Paradoxically, they can talk like that for decades, because deep down, they have enough hope to go on. They know that a world without evil is possible because they remember once being there. So, they can imagine returning there.
Most people who want to end their lives—and please don’t kill yourself but remember that it will get better!—only seek to end their pain. They’re just not aware that they want to return to Paradise. Tell them that it will be here, soon.
And we can all do our individual part to bring about earthly Paradise sooner. We can learn to recognize evil, even when it’s called good or normal. We can muster the vision to stop, prevent, and end its grip on humanity. And we can gain enough friends to enable us to make our dream of dreams slowly come true (again).
Meanwhile, even when we forgot where we came from (Paradise) and where we are going to (the Garden of Eden), it will be realistic to be in good spirits. Are we angry at the home trainer for giving us so much resistance? Of course not. That’s the whole reason why we mounted it. Its very resistance will get us in shape.
Be happy with what you have, with the little you have, for being alive at all, for nothing in particular. Be happy because you see happiness as your natural state. All the time being angry, moody, scared, sad, unsatisfied is just a habit to kick.
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
