James Cameron is Impressed with the Universe

rabbifink — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 18:16:50 +0000

This week, James Cameron went boldly where no one had gone before, alone. Fifty years ago a pair of scientists plunged to the deepest part of the ocean. They went together. They had each other. But Cameron went alone. That is a completely different experience.

When one is alone, there is no noise, no distractions, just oneness with whatever one is experiencing. Cameron’s experience in the depths is different than the previous mission half a century ago. He did it alone. The voices inside his head spoke to him and there was no one there to distract him.

Alone, Cameron saw and experienced things that almost no one has ever seen. He saw wonders of the universe that have been hidden out of sight virtually forever. The voyage must have been magical.

As expected, Cameron was asked about the journey that took him nearly 7 miles below the surface. His response:

“There had to be a moment where I just stopped and just took it in and said ‘This is where I am, I’m at the bottom of the ocean, the deepest place in the world and what does that mean?

I just sat there looking out the window, looking out at this kind of barren, desolate, lunar plain and appreciate it.”

Appreciation. That is the true and stark emotion that Cameron felt during his expedition. The world is so intricate and complex. Many parts of it are so distant and unreachable. By going where he went, Cameron unlocked a bit of the mystery of our world. Experiencing that alone gave him time and space to digest those awesome moments and truly appreciate them.

Cameron also asks an important question about his time in the abyss: “What does that mean?”

For an atheist it might mean nothing. Or it might mean something. Who knows?

But for us, it means something very important. Our world and its glorious detail is part of a creation that humbles us with its impressiveness. What are we do to do when we are inspired by our universe? What is the universe telling us?

Maimonides writes that the way for one to come to love God is to appreciate our incredible universe. The fingerprints of God are all over nature. The beauty of our world is inspiring. The problem is that most of us are too distracted to notice it. Sometimes it takes a long journey to the most remote place without any distractions to turn our minds on to our world.

James Cameron is an atheist. His experience did not bring him to love God because he doesn’t believe that God exists. But we can all learn from his reaction to what he saw and felt down there. For us believers, the more we turn ourselves on to our world, the greater our appreciation must be for God. Learning about the cosmos or marine life or chemistry or biology or physics are key elements to developing an appreciation for and love for God.

Sometimes we need to be reminded to lose the distractions. When we do, perhaps we will be lucky enough to hear the music of God’s universe singing to us its glorious song.

Link: CBS News

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The Good Wife: Unorthodox, From a Rabbi / Law Student Perspective

rabbifink — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:33:59 +0000

The Good Wife is a new legal drama on CBS. The show is great. Usually the legal issues are portrayed correctly (at least from a law student’s perspective) and the character development of the main character has been superb.

This week’s episode revolved around a chasidic couple living in Chicago who were responsible to fix a fallen eruv wire, but since it fell on Shabbos they had to wait until Shabbos had ended and in the meantime a woman claims she fell over the wire and is suing for 1.2 million dollars in punitive damages. The title of the episode does not refer to the couple, rather it refers to their lawyer with an unorthodox approach to law.

Read on for my comments, critiques and a HUGE PLOT HOLE.

The defense is based on the 1st Amendment, freedom of speech, and claims that the couple has the right to practice their religion and a jury should decide if they are liable when they believe it would be wrong for them to fix the eruv wire. That defense fails when the wife (a recent baalas tshuva / one who returns to Orthodox Judaism later in life) is found to have been making phone calls to her father on Shabbos. If she calls her father on Shabbos she should also be able to fix the fallen wire. Ultimately, the defense shows that the entire slip and fall was concocted and the jury finds for the defense.

You can read a full synopsis of the episode here or, even better, you can watch the show (at least for the time being) on CBS.com.

The portrayal of the chasidic community, the laws of eruv and the relationship between the chasidic couple were pretty good. BUt there were a few things that they got wrong. It is so funny to me that any orthodox Jew would notice the nuances that are incorrect but the entire staff of the show does not see the mistakes. Ironically, last week’s episode of The Good Wife revolved around a witness who could not tell the difference between 2 black men. It seems that people from other ethnicities have a hard time seeing the nuances of other ethnicities. It is no different when Hollywood tries to portrays Jews. They simply don’t have the sensitivities to the finer details of orthodox Judaism, especially chasidic Judaism.

Things They Got Mostly Correct

The chasidic garb. She was wearing typical women’s dress. Subdued colors and very modest. He was in black and white with his hat nearby at all times.

Strollers. Everyone had strollers in the chasidic neighborhood.

Kosher markets. There was a kosher market within walking distance.

The shomrim guy. He looked like every non-chasidic Hatzalah (Jewish volunteer ambulance core) guy I know.

The intimacy between the couple. Most couples on the show celebrate victory with public hugs and kisses. The chasidic couple did not embrace in public, but their connection was displayed by touching each other’s hands secretly.

Mistakes

The chasidic guy never smiles. That is just not nice.

The chasidic guy has a “tchup”(coiffed hair), chasidic men have hair that is cut very short.

The chasidic guy has a trimmed beard, that is not common at all.

The chasidic guy has a RING! (I mean, come on, that’s an easy one!)

They say an eruv “creates a symbolic courtyard“, that’s not quite true, an eruv joins many domains into one common domain by surround the entire community with a wall. (But that is a hard one.)

A young chasidic boy has a leather kipa perched awkwardly on the back of his head.

Something That Bothered Me

The wife was a twice rehabbed drug loving party girl who found chasidic Judaism while incarcerated. Showing her revival as a chasidic Jewish woman bothered me slightly. It was if to say, one has to be so crazy to find chasidic Judaism attractive. Maybe I am nitpicking, but it bothered me just a little.

HUGE PLOT HOLE

When the plaintiff got injured it was Shabbos. She was asked why she was walking through this neighborhood and she said she was going to the market. She was asked why this market if there are four markets closer to her home and she said because this market is the kosher market where they sell gluten free products.

Do you see the problem? (answer below)

This is an inexcusable error. CBS, next time you want to do a show with chasidic or Orthodox Jewish characters and plot elements you can hire me. I will be your rabbinical consultant and make sure you get it right.

The Good Wife is a great show. One of the reasons it is great is not the attention to detail. A twitter buddy of mine also noticed a legal problem a few weeks ago. I guess when you are law student and a Rabbi you are going to notice the mistakes of Jewish culture and law.

(Plot hole answer: The kosher market is closed on Shabbos. She could never be walking to a kosher market on Shabbos!)