The Cholent: Deep State, Go Broke Buying Jewish Books, and Desensitization to God
The good, the bad, and the ???
It’s been a while since there has been a true Cholent, by which I mean short thoughts on multiple subjects in one post. But as life goes on I jot things down and then sometimes I get lucky and get a seat with a table on the train (twice, well really three times but then I was sitting backward - nauseating - and I had already finished this post) and I capitalize on all of it to cook you up a Cholent. One of the things I have written down is “shredder” but I have no idea why so I’ll leave it for another time.
Deep State
Do I believe in a deep state? Let’s first define the term. To me, deep state means that there is at least one layer which exists above the general layer of government which we all read about in the news. Essentially, it means that there are the deals we read about, but then there are also the deals we don’t read about (moving of weapons, promises of other exchanges, fake wars, etc.). I am optimistic that most of the deep state is used for the greater good, as often times opposing parties can’t be convinced to act in a certain way without guarantees that don’t get publicized to the general public.
The second layer which I am afraid also possibly exists even more than the first one is a darker deep state. This is governmental involvement in criminal activity in order to profit those in charge or in order to exact retribution against enemies of those in power. Think James Spader in the TV series The Blacklist (I need to finish this series) and in all of the spy and action books that constantly make the best-seller lists. If it wasn’t real, then there wouldn’t be books about it.
Does it matter if there is one or not? I think at this point it is basically an open secret that such a thing exists and it is merely a question of how involved any given politician is in its operation. Cleaning up one swamp just creates another as conservation of mass applies in the deep state as well (can’t escape physics!). It is even possible that in some cases the existence of a deep state is beneficial, as without it would be impossible to interact with rogue states and parties (whether this should be done at all is a completely different discussion and is probably best assessed on a case-by-case basis).
Will We See the First Bankruptcy-by-Seforim Case?
For readers who don’t know, Artscroll is one of the largest, if not the largest Jewish religious book publishers in the world. They are known for their modern English translations of classic books such as the Siddur (daily prayer book), Chumash (bible), and Talmud. Publications such as the Talmud come in multi-volume sets that can retail at $50 per volume, and since they are the market leader in translations, there is understandably high demand for their products.
Nevertheless, I was quite surprised when I received an email the other day that Artscroll is now offering 0% interest financing on purchases over a certain amount. The 0% is not surprising as there is a Torah/biblical prohibition to charge other Jews interest, and their marketing makes a big deal about how this arrangement is halachically acceptable.
But is it halachically acceptable to saddle Jews who are struggling with paying their bills (otherwise why would you finance) with more debt in order to achieve their goals in learning? To enable reckless spending that can rip families apart? There are enough financial burdens on the Orthodox Jewish community today that we don’t need Jewish companies enticing us to take on more debt. Performing mitzvot such as Torah study does not need to be something for which we need to sacrifice beyond our means. In fact, it is well known that one is only required to expend 1/5 of their possessions in order to fulfill a mitzvah, and I would say if you have to take on debt in order to do it then you probably are already beyond the 1/5 requirement. Is it worth the debt in order to be able to boast at kiddush that you have fully stocked beis midrash in your home but that every time you open one of the seforim you are going to have this bad taste in your mouth that you are going to be paying off this purchase for years to come? Of course, there are necessities for which taking on debt may be no choice, but I don’t think buying seforim is one of them, especially when these volumes are widely available in any shul or yeshiva, and a comparable translation is available on Sefaria for free.
I also hope that this isn’t the beginning of a trend within the Jewish community. Third-party debt is a huge industry right now, one which anyone who listens to clips of Dave Ramsey will know is something millions of people are struggling with. Are we going to see financing for your Lulav and Etrog now? Or how about sifrei Torah? I often don’t like slippery slope arguments but Artscroll may have opened a Pandora’s box here that will cause unquantifiable harm to the Jewish community in the future. Rabbanim should speak out against this.
A better idea, although one with much more logistics for Artscroll is to provide subscriptions. This is what Koren did when they released their set of translated Talmuds. Obviously, Artscroll doesn’t want to break up products that they sell as sets, but wouldn’t that be better than breaking people with unnecessary debts?
Does technology make you desensitized to God?
A few weeks ago I listened to a shiur/podcast that tangentially brought up a fascinating thought. In essence, the question is: As science and technology reveal more about how our world works and allow us to accomplish more as humans, do we lose our awe of God or fear Him less because we are “one step closer” to becoming Him?
On one level, I had never thought about this question, especially in a historical framework, that possibly one reason why there is so much liturgy about God and the heavens is that for the longest time, it was something that we couldn’t explain. We made up myths and legends that involved the celestial bodies because it was the only way that we could make those things make sense.
But then there is also the argument that the more we know we realize two things:
How much we don’t know
The amazement that all of this happened by the hand of God until we did know how it occurred.
On the flip side, knowing too much can result in a Tower-of-Babel-like hubris and haughtiness that everyone can agree is detrimental to one’s belief in God.
As such, I think a good perspective to have on this is like any technology, it needs to be used as a tool and not as a solution or false God. Readers of the blog know that I am quite interested in the developments of AI, and I myself use AI just about every day at my job and it is an immense help. But I am very careful to check what it provides and to also know exactly what it is doing so that my faith is in myself and my abilities (that God gave me) and not wholly on the AI. Use the gifts God has allowed us to discover as a result of our research in order to serve Him better and by doing this the risks involved with new technologies can be greatly reduced.
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