Book of Mercy #11-15
He used the word goyim because he was speaking about the exclusivity that he found in what was being taught in the tradition in which he was raised which he said that he found totally unacceptable. He was clearly speaking about Judism and the word was certainly not used inadvertently. I am sure that everyone in this forumn is intelligent enough to assume that if he were speaking about other traditions he might notice much of the same thing to be critical with but he was speaking about the tradition that he was raised in.BoHo wrote:In other words, it is not simply Judaism that has failed the "goyim" and, in naming "the other" as "goyim," IMO, LC inadvertently creates a kind of dichotomy I don't think he even wanted to express.
The conservative observant Jew you quote above has one opinion about how Jews in general are. Leonard seems to have another. I don't know what point you are trying to make or why you included that quote.Contrary to popular belief, Judaism does not maintain that Jews are better than other people. Although we refer to ourselves as G-d's chosen people, we do not believe that G-d chose the Jews because of any inherent superiority.
I sincerely hope that this little exchange I am having doesn't cause anyone to think that I am trying to make the case that the Jewish tradition is worthy of scorn. The case that I was trying to make was that I think that Leonard in his book and elsewhere reflected that the tradition has moved far from where he thinks it should be. Other Jews have expressed much the same opinion and certainly not everyone agrees with them. Prophets are not always listened to.
Like you I was raised a Catholic and we both know that the Catholic church certainly also have it's faults. A long time ago I went around trying to find a quote to express something that I felt about this and failed so I made my own. It goes "Don't refuse the bread because of the basket"
I like to affirm what I feel is good in all traditions but I also like to affirm those who have the courage to take a stand concerning where the traditions might be failing. I don't think that the courage Leonard demonstrates in this area should be overlooked.
lazariuk wrote:He used the word goyim because he was speaking about the exclusivity that he found in what was being taught in the tradition in which he was raised which he said that he found totally unacceptable. He was clearly speaking about Judism and the word was certainly not used inadvertently. I am sure that everyone in this forumn is intelligent enough to assume that if he were speaking about other traditions he might notice much of the same thing to be critical with but he was speaking about the tradition that he was raised in.BoHo wrote:In other words, it is not simply Judaism that has failed the "goyim" and, in naming "the other" as "goyim," IMO, LC inadvertently creates a kind of dichotomy I don't think he even wanted to express.The conservative observant Jew you quote above has one opinion about how Jews in general are. Leonard clearly spoke of a scorn for others that he saw was present in how the tradition was being taught. I don't know what point you are trying to make or why you included that quote. Certainly the man you quoted would probably disagree with what Leonard said. One of them might be more accurate than the other. One was writing about the way things should be and the other was writing about the way things are.Contrary to popular belief, Judaism does not maintain that Jews are better than other people. Although we refer to ourselves as G-d's chosen people, we do not believe that G-d chose the Jews because of any inherent superiority.
I sincerely hope that this little exchange I am having doesn't cause anyone to think that I am trying to make the case that the Jewish tradition is worthy of scorn. The case that I was trying to make was that I think that Leonard in his book and elsewhere reflected that the tradition has moved far from where he thinks it should be. Other Jews have expressed much the same opinion and certainly not everyone agrees with them. Prophets are not always listened to.
Like you I was raised a Catholic and we both know that the Catholic church certainly also have it's faults. A long time ago I went around trying to find a quote to express something that I felt about this and failed so I made my own. It goes "Don't refuse the bread because of the basket"
I like to affirm what I feel is good in all traditions but I also like to affirm those who have the courage to take a stand concerning where the traditions might be failing. I don't think that the courage Leonard demonstrates in this area should be overlooked.
You are right, I need both mercy and Book of Mercy. Sorry if I've issued a blow. Just thought I'd say that I'm silently in the background - not so silently. But I wonder, do you mean that I need to accept mercy or give it? Either way would benefit both me and those in my vicinity.BoHo wrote:"[H]alf-following, Manna? Très droll, LOL!Manna wrote:I have been half-following this thread - more entertained than interested in participating.
The reply to the above three statements are correspondingly ordered below:Have you all read LC's letter to the Asian Reader regarding BL? I wonder what he would say these days about Book of Mercy. I don't have it, so perhaps I should get it.
The express route, if a person hasn't read the "Asian Reader," would be to read or, better, hear LC reading (on the DVD, IYM, e.g.) his "Preface" to BL in the Chinese translation of it. A poem in itself.
Think he'd say the same thing he always says. Cf. the above-cited "Preface."
You don't have what, Manna? Mercy or BoM <*BEG*>? Man-oh-manna, where *does* one *get* it? Or, does one count the horseshoes on one's ass they finally did? Rhetoricoolin' my heels, laughin' all the way to the brink, takin' care of business.
BodaciousHowler
And I've been wondering just how seriously the old gaffer takes his older work. Do you think he takes it as seriously as you do? Or is it just part of his past, like learning to dance or losing his virginity?
btw, what is it that he "always says?"
BoHo,
Thank you for all the interesting quotations and enlightening remarks. Great work, and much appreciated.
Jack,
I don’t wish to continue our current exchange any longer. We’ve been through this before, and we agreed not to agree (or so I believe). Let’s go back to discussing BoM if you please. Thank you.
Thank you for all the interesting quotations and enlightening remarks. Great work, and much appreciated.
Jack,
I don’t wish to continue our current exchange any longer. We’ve been through this before, and we agreed not to agree (or so I believe). Let’s go back to discussing BoM if you please. Thank you.
I’m going to introduce I.14 now, and as I’ve said earlier, I guess it will keep us busy for a long while, and in a fruitful discussion, I hope (although I sometimes fear otherwise).
Blessed be Ishmael – The story of Ishmael (his name means “God will hear”) is mainly in Genesis 16-17 and 21 (he buries his father Abraham with his brother Isaac in 25:9; his descendents are specified in 25:12-18; he is also mentioned in 28:9 and 36:3). Why is he associated with covering? This does not seem to come from the biblical story, and perhaps is some private imagery that occurred to LC.
Who made a fence of changing stars around your wisdom – We are once again in the world of Kabbalistic symbolism. “Wisdom” is the second Sefirah, known also as the “supernal father” (see the first part of the thread, Book of Mercy #1-5, page 9). Now, about the fence that keeps appearing in the book; I failed to mention it earlier, but there is a famous saying in the Mishnah (Avot 1:1): “make a fence for the Torah”. I kept being reminded of it all along, but haven’t mentioned it yet. It probably means that the Torah must be protected, but also that in order to protect it, it must be interpreted and applied to changing daily life; otherwise it will lose its meaning and value.
Blessed be the teacher of my heart, on his throne of patience – We’ve already discussed the possible identity of the teacher to whom the book is dedicated – A. M. Klein, or Roshi, or both. The picture drawn in this sentence seems to suggest Roshi, somehow, but perhaps not exclusively. And it brings to mind, naturally, once again, the song “Teachers”, with lines such as “Are you the teachers of my heart? / We teach old hearts to rest”. It may also allude to God himself; in one of the Jewish prayers on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (New Year and the Day of Atonement), the congregation beseeches God to “raise from your throne of judgment and sit on your throne of mercy” (this too should have been mentioned earlier, when we discussed the king and throne in the first prayers).
Blessed are you who circled desire with a blade - This can have many meanings, including another allusion to the circumcision (see I.11).
and the garden with fiery swords - The garden once again; see Genesis 3:24.
and heaven and earth with a word – This alludes, naturally, to Genesis 1, in which God creates the universe with his words, and perhaps also to John 1:1-5.
Who, in the terrible inferno, sheltered understanding, and keeps her still, beautiful and deeply concealed – Once again from the Kabbalah: “Understanding” is the third Sefirah, known also as the “supernal mother”. The concealment is also important: it reminds us once again that this text is also esoteric, and often conceals its true meaning. In the present context (although not taken directly from the Kabbalah, as far as I know, but here he may be making an original connection), the mother could also refer to Hagar, Ishmael’s mother, who was saved and sheltered in the terrible desert. And it could also refer simply to our understanding, our reason, which is so difficult to keep intact in this infernal world, facing all its atrocities.
Blessed are you who binds the arm to the heart - This is an allusion to the Teffilin (phylacteries) which orthodox Jews put on their forehead and arm during the morning prayer on weekdays, based on the verse in Deuteronomy 11:18: “Therefore impress these My words upon your very heart: bind them as a sign on your hand and let them serve as a symbol on your forehead”. The one for the hand is tied in the inside of the left arm, next to the heart (LC mentioned in the Kurzweil interview that he resumed this practice around the time BoM was written).
and the will to the will – Here comes the Will again. Would anyone like to pick up that old discussion, or did we have enough of it?
Who has written a name on a gate, that she might find it, and come into my room – This alludes to the next verse but one, Deuteronomy 11:18: “and inscribe them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates”, which is the origin of the custom of the Mezuzah, that Jews nail to the doorposts of their houses. In LC’s unique way, it leads to all kinds of other ideas; who is “she” in this sentence? Understanding, Mercy, Mother, Lover? Probably all these and more.
Who defends a heart with strangerhood – And with a word probably created by LC himself, for the concept that has been with him from the very beginning. It also brings to mind the “shield of loneliness” of I.9.
Well, that’s enough for one time, I believe. I dealt mostly with (some of) the details and not with the whole picture, but will come to that later on, I hope.
This is a very long prayer, full of mysterious allusions. It is also the only prayer that has a footnote; why did he choose to explain this point of all other obscure points in the book? I’m sure we’re going to hear some interesting ideas. I for one cannot exhaust all the ideas in this prayer at one go, and there are still things I do not understand, so I’ll relate to just a few points, and leave the rest for later consideration. Just in passing I’ll mention that once again we have the themes or symbols that occurred so often before: the curtain, the garden, the fence, and more.I.14
Blessed are you who, among the numberless swept away in terror, permitted a few to suffer carefully. Who put a curtain over a house so that a few could lower their eyes. Blessed be Ishmael, who taught us how to cover ourselves. Blessed are you who dressed the shivering spirit in a skin. Who made a fence of changing stars around your wisdom. Blessed be the teacher of my heart, on his throne of patience. Blessed are you who circled desire with a blade, and the garden with fiery swords, and heaven and earth with a word. Who, in the terrible inferno, sheltered understanding, and keeps her still, beautiful and deeply concealed. Blessed are you who sweetens the longing between us. Blessed are you who binds the arm to the heart, and the will to the will. Who has written a name on a gate, that she might find it, and come into my room. Who defends a heart with strangerhood. Blessed are you who sealed a house with weeping. Blessed be Ishmael for all time, who covered his face with the wilderness, and came to you in darkness. Blessed be the covenant of love between what is hidden and what is revealed. I was like one who had never been caressed, when you touched me from a place in your name, and dressed the wound of ignorance with mercy. Blessed is the covenant of love, the covenant of mercy, useless light behind the terror, deathless song in the house of night.
Ishmael, first son of Abraham and his hand-maiden Hagar, is traditionally considered the father of the Arab nation.
Blessed be Ishmael – The story of Ishmael (his name means “God will hear”) is mainly in Genesis 16-17 and 21 (he buries his father Abraham with his brother Isaac in 25:9; his descendents are specified in 25:12-18; he is also mentioned in 28:9 and 36:3). Why is he associated with covering? This does not seem to come from the biblical story, and perhaps is some private imagery that occurred to LC.
Who made a fence of changing stars around your wisdom – We are once again in the world of Kabbalistic symbolism. “Wisdom” is the second Sefirah, known also as the “supernal father” (see the first part of the thread, Book of Mercy #1-5, page 9). Now, about the fence that keeps appearing in the book; I failed to mention it earlier, but there is a famous saying in the Mishnah (Avot 1:1): “make a fence for the Torah”. I kept being reminded of it all along, but haven’t mentioned it yet. It probably means that the Torah must be protected, but also that in order to protect it, it must be interpreted and applied to changing daily life; otherwise it will lose its meaning and value.
Blessed be the teacher of my heart, on his throne of patience – We’ve already discussed the possible identity of the teacher to whom the book is dedicated – A. M. Klein, or Roshi, or both. The picture drawn in this sentence seems to suggest Roshi, somehow, but perhaps not exclusively. And it brings to mind, naturally, once again, the song “Teachers”, with lines such as “Are you the teachers of my heart? / We teach old hearts to rest”. It may also allude to God himself; in one of the Jewish prayers on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (New Year and the Day of Atonement), the congregation beseeches God to “raise from your throne of judgment and sit on your throne of mercy” (this too should have been mentioned earlier, when we discussed the king and throne in the first prayers).
Blessed are you who circled desire with a blade - This can have many meanings, including another allusion to the circumcision (see I.11).
and the garden with fiery swords - The garden once again; see Genesis 3:24.
and heaven and earth with a word – This alludes, naturally, to Genesis 1, in which God creates the universe with his words, and perhaps also to John 1:1-5.
Who, in the terrible inferno, sheltered understanding, and keeps her still, beautiful and deeply concealed – Once again from the Kabbalah: “Understanding” is the third Sefirah, known also as the “supernal mother”. The concealment is also important: it reminds us once again that this text is also esoteric, and often conceals its true meaning. In the present context (although not taken directly from the Kabbalah, as far as I know, but here he may be making an original connection), the mother could also refer to Hagar, Ishmael’s mother, who was saved and sheltered in the terrible desert. And it could also refer simply to our understanding, our reason, which is so difficult to keep intact in this infernal world, facing all its atrocities.
Blessed are you who binds the arm to the heart - This is an allusion to the Teffilin (phylacteries) which orthodox Jews put on their forehead and arm during the morning prayer on weekdays, based on the verse in Deuteronomy 11:18: “Therefore impress these My words upon your very heart: bind them as a sign on your hand and let them serve as a symbol on your forehead”. The one for the hand is tied in the inside of the left arm, next to the heart (LC mentioned in the Kurzweil interview that he resumed this practice around the time BoM was written).
and the will to the will – Here comes the Will again. Would anyone like to pick up that old discussion, or did we have enough of it?
Who has written a name on a gate, that she might find it, and come into my room – This alludes to the next verse but one, Deuteronomy 11:18: “and inscribe them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates”, which is the origin of the custom of the Mezuzah, that Jews nail to the doorposts of their houses. In LC’s unique way, it leads to all kinds of other ideas; who is “she” in this sentence? Understanding, Mercy, Mother, Lover? Probably all these and more.
Who defends a heart with strangerhood – And with a word probably created by LC himself, for the concept that has been with him from the very beginning. It also brings to mind the “shield of loneliness” of I.9.
Well, that’s enough for one time, I believe. I dealt mostly with (some of) the details and not with the whole picture, but will come to that later on, I hope.
"Goyim" is in its original biblical usage not a disparaging word; it simply
means nations. Setting the Jewish people apart from the nations,
biblically, via hundreds of more proscriptions and prescriptions than
are mandated for the "goyim," was a recipe for admiration,
sometimes, but more often, scorn upon them for being perceived as the
Big Teacher's pet. But anyway, there is a dichotomy, with no shortage of
ego aggrandizement, historically, on both sides of the fence.
means nations. Setting the Jewish people apart from the nations,
biblically, via hundreds of more proscriptions and prescriptions than
are mandated for the "goyim," was a recipe for admiration,
sometimes, but more often, scorn upon them for being perceived as the
Big Teacher's pet. But anyway, there is a dichotomy, with no shortage of
ego aggrandizement, historically, on both sides of the fence.
I haven't agreed not to agree and so be prepared to have me agree with a lot of things that you write and occasionally even try to get you to reconsider some of your positions and I warn you that I am also prepared to have you change my point of view.DBCohen wrote:BoHo,
Thank you for all the interesting quotations and enlightening remarks. Great work, and much appreciated.
Jack,
I don’t wish to continue our current exchange any longer. We’ve been through this before, and we agreed not to agree (or so I believe). Let’s go back to discussing BoM if you please. Thank you.
Hi JudithBoHo wrote: Now, it seems, I've failed both you and myself and, of course, this crushes me because I thought we had moved beyond that stage where ultra-consciousness was required and we could just engage in off-the-cough doffs surrounding the ons-and-offs of existing comfortably in this enterprise.
I can't comment on what you have or haven't failed because it is not very clear to me what you are trying to accomplish. I don't even know what "off the cough doffs" are. You know that you can go pretty far with me without me closing the door to you and so if you ever are interested in sorting out the bit of a complicated history that we have, I am prepared to do so but lets do it privately.
I am in Toronto for a few days and so if you would like to join me for a coffee PM me to set a time and place.[/quote]
So when Leonard says that he saw a scorn for the Goyim that he and other young Jews found totally acceptable we can assume that he was addressing other Jews, otherwise he would just use the expression non-jews. Which would mean the same thing.Steven wrote:"Goyim" is in its original biblical usage not a disparaging word; it simply
means nations. .
I think he makes a further point in that interview that hints to an example where the tradition has betrayed the tradition and it is in reference to the treatment of the non-jew.
He tells of learning to say the prayer that is to be said by all jews daily. He also makes the point of saying that it is an 18 part prayer. This caught my attention because I had come to learn that in the jewish tradition it had become a 19 part prayer. The added part was a prayer for God to crush their enemies.
Am I right about this prayer?
Maybe because he knew that when he wrote "now we can get down to a Jew's business" that it might be difficult for some people to accept that the business could have anything to do with the Jew's relationship with the people they share a piece of land with.DBCohen wrote: why did he choose to explain this point of all other obscure points in the book? I’m sure we’re going to hear some interesting ideas.
Lazariuk,
I wouldn't assume that he was solely addressing other Jews. The
word is known enough to both Jews and many non-Jews that it
wouldn't appear totally foreign, but would convey that Leonard
was appropriating it from within the cultural context that he
himself was/is no stranger from -- conveying an insider's
perspective.
Lots of traditions take on lives of their own, independent of or
contrary to the spirit that they were originally intended, in Jewish
and Christian culture.
I can't answer you, specifically, about the exact language of formal
daily prayer for victory over enemies, as I don't remember it
verbatim and haven't had an opportunity to read it again. But, whatever
the language, there would not be prayer to crush others simply
by virtue of their being different. I'm also sorry that I don't have
knowledge of the origin and development of the prayer.
I wouldn't assume that he was solely addressing other Jews. The
word is known enough to both Jews and many non-Jews that it
wouldn't appear totally foreign, but would convey that Leonard
was appropriating it from within the cultural context that he
himself was/is no stranger from -- conveying an insider's
perspective.
Lots of traditions take on lives of their own, independent of or
contrary to the spirit that they were originally intended, in Jewish
and Christian culture.
I can't answer you, specifically, about the exact language of formal
daily prayer for victory over enemies, as I don't remember it
verbatim and haven't had an opportunity to read it again. But, whatever
the language, there would not be prayer to crush others simply
by virtue of their being different. I'm also sorry that I don't have
knowledge of the origin and development of the prayer.