Moving!

Hey there everyone out in Tzviblog land. Sorry for the long gap in blogging, but big news. I am moving my entire cyber life over to my main site - moretorah.com - the restarted blog will be there, as well as all the great More Torah MP3s (all 56, now available as free downloads), all the classic Tzvi articles are there, and best of all - the new CD, Jewish Roots Music - can be sampled there, and will soon be for sale online. Please visit the newly revamped More Torah (still minor bits of construction to go).

Anyone care to comment?

Read this nonsense. Dan pointed out that the author seems to have forgotten all the Muslims who died in the tsunami and the earthquake in Iraq. It is easy to be selective when you are looking for "proofs" of how allah slaughters infidels. Moron.

What was I thinking?

I quit coffee back in February. It seemed like a good idea at the time and I was egged on by all the hippy health food types. I had already boosted my intake of antioxidants with increased consumption of fruit and I do feel like a million bucks - BUT - now it seems that the hippies lied (big surprise) - look at this: coffee is loaded with goodness. True, I feel much better on fast days and it is nice to have the monkey off my back - I am no longer irritable in the morning before my cup of black magic - but if coffee is really healthy, maybe I should bring it back. Thoughts?

The Gaza Pull-out

Whatever your opinion of the Gaza pull-out may be, you have to admit that the events as they unfold are an incredible testament to the greatness of the Jewish people. Think about it, the pull-out is unpopular and unprecedented, the people who live in Gaza believe they have a religious obligation to be there and are willing to die for their beliefs - and yet, there has been no bloodshed or violence. The soldiers even put away their weapons before entering the settlements. Many of the images I've seen are of soldiers crying as they hold hands with the settlers they are expelling. In any other part of the world, an expulsion of this kind would be bloody with scores dead, indiscriminate shootings, looting - you name it.

The Jewish people may have fervent disagreements but we are all one people and these scenes prove that.

Sharansky's Book

I just finished reading Natan Sharansky's new book, the Case for Democracy. This is the book that President Bush said outlines his global philosophy. Sharansky's book is a great read, filled with stories from his days fighting the U.S.S.R. Also, between the lines it is very easy to see that Sharansky is a great man, a person who bends over backwards to give others the benefit of the doubt, and a person who sincerely cares and feels the pain of people who are suffering.

In terms of Sharanksy's theory (and this is ultimately the reason he wrote this book), I think he is almost correct and his ideas could probably be applied in most areas of the world. The one exception, and this is where I take issue with his thesis, is in the world of Islam.

Sharansky's idea is that if the world were free - that dictators and other authoritarian scum were driven from power - then the world would be at peace and most conflict would disappear. What he fails to acknowledge is the power of Islam as a religious system. The reality is that religious Muslims really believe what the Koran says. Some are even willing to die and to kill for it.

But I think the main reason Sharansky's ideas simply won't work (at least in the Muslim world) is because Islam has never undergone a reformation similar to what Christianity underwent. Humanitarian and open societies are able to exist in the West because the ultimate authority of the church was successfully challenged. The result of the reformation led to a weakening of the Church and the rise of competing views of religion and ulimately the rise of secular humanism. Until Islam is similarly challenged, it's fundamentalist rigidity will stand supreme and thus an openness to negotiate and accept other viewpoints will remain impossible.

I should add, that as I was thinking about this, I saw this article where Salman Rushdie calls for an Islamic reformation. Maybe I am a psychic?

To be fair, I think Rushdie's ideas (at least as they are presented here) come from a complete lack of respect or understanding of what Islam as a religious system is or means (not that you can blame him - he has been in hiding for 20 years).

These are my two cents on Sharansky's book. All in all, it was a great read and I recommend it to everyone. My next book is the Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela.

Important Diet Additions

As Simon correctly noted, I forgot to mention my blender. My blender is the mother of all blenders. 500 watts (or volts) of pure smashing power. I load it up with bananas, strawberries and frozen blueberries and my morning is an anti-toxin high fiber all-over body fix. I shouldn't omit my juicer either. In the off, non-strawberry season, I grind up four or five apples and a chunk of ginger root and I am ready to rock the world. In my opinion, everyone should start their day with pulverized fruit (not that real fruit is bad - I eat that too), you'll feel great and it is a way to fight colds.

Someone also noted shwarma. Shwarma is an essential part of my spiritual life. It breaks almost every health rule - white flour, white potatoes, greasy meat - but if you can't eat shwarma from time to time then what's the point? A person needs to be healthy and eat well, but don't get so healthy that you forget the essentials. If the cult of health food is keeping you away from shwarma, then maybe it is time to reevaluate your eating priorities.

My Diet

People have been commenting on how thin and suave I look. So here is my diet. The Rambam (Maimonides - classic awesome Jew and great thinker from back in the day) says you need to be serious about your diet - this way you can be healthy and alert to learn, not to mention to enjoy this great big beautiful world.

So this is it. I eat fruit all morning and nothing else. Then the rest of the day I do my best to avoid anything with a high glycemic index. I stay away from anything white - I eat brown bread, brown rice, no sugar (or soda or any of that). The only downer is that beer has a high glycemic index - but oh well. On Shabbos it can be hard to avoid the yummy food - especially desert.

These are my diet secrets. Everyone should get into it. My next thing is to think about exercise - I am told it is good for you too.