More reflections on the news

More My Take on the News from the New York Times

1. A NYT story this week about hotel alarm wake up calls problems-calls don't come, alarm clocks too complicated. Causes big problems for business travelers. Hotels are changing their method.

Rabbi Reflects: The SHOFAR Ram's Horn is our wake up call (as Maimonides/Rambam states) Miss it and big problems

2.A NYT piece by Retired economic prof. Rich op ed piece arguing to keep teaching economics simple. "Just as a few simple sentence patterns enable small children to express an amazing variety of thoughts, a few basic principles do much of the heavy lifting. If someone focuses on only these principles, and applies them repeatedly drawn from familiar contexts, they can be mastered easily in a single semester." Great Talmudic story about Hillel tbeing asked to teach judaism standing on one foot. Guiness world record of balancing on one foot Sri lanka set in 1997 is 76 hours and 40 minmutes. Can teach alot of torah but we still talk of a few principles: For Shoftim portion we focus on
TZEDEK TZEDEK TIRDOF -Justice Justice shall you pirsue

3.News stories a. Google Maps now can show your house and backyard. b. New satellites can see underground to find tunnels and bunkers etc. privacy?
Rabbi reflects: God can see anywhere-even into our hearts

4. Tiger Woods blew a few shots at Major this week. "I just did some serious yelling at myself, just to get back into what i do.Put it where I need to put it and bear down."
Rabbi Reflects: High Holidays we do some serious yelling at ourselves to bear down next year

5.Oxford philosopher Nck Bostrom in NYT this week interview believes 20% chance we are inside some computer simulation and aren't real. Computers mid century we create will be able to do that. Still have choice in that simulation. Why then behave? You can still desire to live as long in thius virtual world.
Maybe that means following traditional moral principles, if you think the posthuman designers share those morals, and would reward you for being a good person.
Rabbi Reflects: On the High Holidays,the Mahzor sets upm,a drama of simulation game where we are being judged for our lives.

Rabbi Jonathan Ginsburg
www.ehnt.org synagogue
www.jonathanginsburg.net my site
www.rabbireflects.blogspot.com my blog
www.jewishconversionchicago.com conversion program
My videos www.youtube.com -search JewU
My Virtual synagogue www.esynagogue.org
My daily Torah- email me to register