Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Watch with Me! 2nd Installment


I finally sat down this morning to watch the second installment of Dr. Michael Chighel's video series, called "What Torah thinks of Torah". I think it was about 15 minutes long.

Whoa. Either my brain in completely fried, or there was a lot of information packed into those few minutes.  It could really be both. I hadn't had my coffee yet when I watched the video. The upshot is, that I think I have to watch it again.

The first few minutes I thought were excellent. Dr. Chighel tried to illustrate the question of how an Infinite Being (G-d) could get across information to a finite being (us). His clarity of exploring that question made sense and I could really feel the divide... if a finite being (person) has trouble explaining 1+1=2 to another finite being (dog), than how much more so does an Infinite Being have giving over deeper sociological/ethical/spiritual issues to finite beings. Chighel does a great job on this.

After that, I think my brain wandered... so I will have to watch again and update this post.

I hope you are watching with me - feel free to set me straight!

Tuesday, November 7, 2017

Get those brain cells moving!


With four kids under the age of 6.5, it's hard to get back into learning... anything. I'm sleep deprived, and generally running around (mostly back and forth from school) doing stuff for other people. I not even quite sure if my brain hasn't atrophied into nothingness. I have no problem with any of that, though I'd love some more sleep please... but it's also important to realize that everyone needs a spiritual "checkup".

I thought about this last week and happened upon a series of videos that looks doable. Interesting, thoughtful and I think I may actually learn something.

Dr. Michael Chighel, a PhD in Philosophy, brings an introduction to Torah and Torah ideas to us. My goal is to watch a video a day (or every other day). His introductory video, is about 18 minutes long - so after I dropped two kids at school, went to a doctor appointment with the third, took him to school, then sent the baby to his bed for a nap, it was time for breakfast and a very much needed coffee, a perfect time to watch a video. And anyone who knows me, that's impressive, I have no patience for videos of any sort. The videos following this introductory one look shorter, about 10 minutes apiece.

Here's the link.
Jewish Introduction: 101 Authors Who Didn't Write the Torah

I'm going to try and watch each of his videos and write up my impression here. If you'd like to join me in attempting to get my brain cells running again and have a discussion in the comment section... please do! Grab a coffee, tea or even water (yes, it's healthy!) - watch the video and leave your comments here on the blog.

Looking forward! Have a great week!