Obecalp

During one of his lectures on psychiatric disorders, our professor Dr. Z told us that every once in a while a patient would come to him and he could not pinpoint what was exactly the matter with the person. In such a situation he would prescribe a wonder-drug called Obecalp. Obecalp was an effective agent against depression, pain, and a host of other common conditions. Although this drug is no longer available for clinical use (nowadays it is solely used in research), when Dr. Z was practicing as a young doctor many decades ago, he was friendly with a nearby pharmacist and this pharmacist would privately formulate Obecalp. Nowadays the drug name has changed (they spell it backwards), but even today, before any new drug is approved the drug manufacturer must prove that his drug is more effective than Obecalp. Recently, researchers are finding the Obecalp is becoming even more effective, yet no one knows how Obecalp works. One leading theory raised by proponents of Lubavitcher Hassidism is that Obecalp works via the "tracht gut vet zein gut" mind-body pathway. However the scientific community is wary of possible side effects that may result via the "tracht shlecht vet zein shlecht" mind-body pathway and are still waiting for more conclusive results before making Obecalp available for widespread use.

"Alternative" Medicine

It usually goes something like this- "Yes, you probably have type II hypothyroidism (my research shows that 90% of the world has it), you just don't know it, all the conventional tests to see if you have it are unreliable. Yes, even though you are not fatigued or depressed, don't have a goiter, muscle cramps, weight gain, or any of the other classic symptoms of hypothyroidism, you have type II hypothyroidism. At least buy my book so I can prove to you the truth of my words. What? Why didn't my work get published in Clinical Endocrinology? Well because its just too revolutionary. They're just jealous. If you don't buy my book your hypothyroidism will cause diabetes, heart attack, stroke, and fatigue. Then you will lose all your hair and then you will die a horrible death. So buy my book. Oh and by the way, I am also the only one that can cure it."

I've noticed that in my circle of acquaintances, observant Jews often believe in non-conventional medicine. Together with their blind faith in herbal, homeopathic, or unscientific remedies comes a distrust of the way main-stream doctors look at and treat disease. Countless times have I been told by a friend that their homeopath or natural healer is a miracle worker. Countless times have I been told by friend that I should by a book written by Dr. ________ MD, where he explains the root of all illness. These same friends look at scientific knowledge as if its a made up conspiracy. Perhaps this distrust comes from the conflicts of science and religion; perhaps they feel if science can get the age of the universe wrong by billions of years, it should certainly not be trusted with my healthcare. Maybe the belief in unproven remedies stems from their belief in an Unknowable G-d; maybe their constant emuna gives them some heightened sense of gullibility. Maybe they just never took a science class. Maybe they think anyone with an MD should be immediately trusted.
Anyways, I don't see any sense in this- there's no need to be a believer in anything but Judaism. Torah doesn't need to be proven, it is Truth. Other stuff needs to be proven, needs to be shown to be true.
Take a type 1 diabetic, give him all the homeopathic medications in the world but no insulin- he dies. Give him insulin and no homeopathic remedies, wallah- he lives. No other medicine works only insulin.
Take two people one carries the tay-sachs gene the other is free of the tay-sachs gene and none of their children will have tay-sachs, not one. All of them will carry the tay-sachs gene, all of them.
If a doctor writes a book claiming something or another, ask yourself- why did he have to publish a book about this? Why couldn't he get his findings published in a medical journal? There should be plenty of medical journals that would love to publish his revolutionary findings. These doctors typically claim that their research is so revolutionary that the medical establishment cannot accept the paradigm shift in their thinking or that somehow their findings will cure the disease and put doctors out of business. That's ridiculous, because actually the opposite is true; medical journals would love to publish sensational newsmaking research, as long as there's some evidence to support it. As long as they have some reason to believe that its not just a figment of your imagination.

Internal Observer

A couple of weeks ago I was at a wedding and my friend starts a conversation with someone at the table next to us. The guy looked a lot like Charlie Chaplin, just a bit more sophisticated and a lot more Persian. It turns out he's a physics professor that really loves Torah and science. So he explains to my Ohalei Torahnik friend how time is relative and if you look at the 13 billion years of history from the viewpoint of an "external observer" it is really only 6 days. He told us how he explained these calculation at a seminar of university professors and they agreed with his findings. He concluded that since G-d is an external observer, from His perspective, He created the world in 6 days.
I haven't learned too much of physics, but from a chassidic perspective it feels wrong to call G-d an external observer. G-d is as much an internal observer as an external observer; especially since the Torah speaks in the language of man, I would expect the Torah to speak from the perspective of an internal observer.

Super-rational Design

Medical school professors tend to think very rationally, so I wasn't surprised last week when one of the doctors in the middle of his lecture, stopped to point out the illogical position of a certain nerve (maybe it was a vein, I don't remember). "This is my problem with intelligent design" he said, "if there is a Creator, why would he put this over here? This is the worst possible place to put it".

Here's the problem with calling it intelligent design- G-d is not intelligent, He is not rational, He is not any of these adjectives humans use. He is above nature, above rationalization. It takes a certain degree of arrogance for someone that has walked this earth for 50 years, to provide G-d with a critique of his creation. And not only does he criticize, but he says there must be no G-d if the way the world exists doesn't make sense to him.

For everything G-d does He has His reasons, but they are not reasons you or I can understand. Perhaps this nerve is some reflection of Adam Haelyon, where it only corresponds if the nerve is in that specific location. And there are even deeper reasons; reasons that we cannot even begin to fathom.

Its a little like a child finding some sophisticated machine to have a flawed design. He cannot be made to understand that the designer put that feature in the design to serve a very important function and not only is it not a flaw, it is essential for the machine to run properly.

The Rebbe as Moshiach

Circus tent has a post regarding a psak din of Rav Menashe Klein in which he addresses beliefs of the Rebbe being alive and being Moshiach.
Every time this issue comes up it causes a firestorm of controversy. I just want to add my perspective on this controversy maybe some will see it my way.

1. The Rebbe as Moshiach- Can't everyone agree that the Rebbe can be Moshiach? In the psak din, Rabbi Klein quotes two different talmudic opinions and an Abarbanel that appear to entertain the idea of Moshiach being someone that already passed away.

"Rav said IF he is from the living he is Rabbeinu Hakadosh, IF he is from those that passed away he is Daniel Ish Chamudos" (Talmud Sanhedrin)

"Rav Nachman said IF he is from the living he is like me" (Talmud Sanhedrin)

"It shouldn't be hard for you to believe that Moshiach may be among those that are resurrected" (Abarbanel)

So even if you think the Rebbe was not great enough to be Moshiach, everyone should be able to agree that its not heresy to say that Moshiach can be someone that already died. Rav Nachman, Rav, and Abarbanel were not apikorsim for assuming that Moshiach may be from among those that died.

2. The Rebbe being alive- Here Rabbi Klein really gets hung up trying to explain that the Rebbe is not alive. He brings all the mishichist proofs and works at explaining that no these are not literally saying that a tzaddik is living breathing and walking.
My reaction to this is:

a) So what? If someone can't deal with the fact that his father died and still prefers to look at him as living, does that make him an apikores??

b) What makes you think that when people say the Rebbe is alive they means it literally. Perhaps he is being non-literal just like the sources that refer to certain tzaddikim as living eternally. Maybe they are saying "ma zaro bachayim af hoo bachayim", etc. When you hear someone singing "Dovid the King of Israel is alive and well", do you say "fool, Dovid Hamelech is dead!" or do you assume that the song is probably alluding to something non-literal?


Anyways I know its difficult to have any intelligent conversation about this topic, because everyone on both sides of the isle have an emotional gut reaction to this topic.
"What??? How can Moshiach be someone that died???"
"What??? Of course the Rebbe is Moshiach, end of discussion!"

Kavanah Pnimis

What is written- The wise one, what does he say? "What are the testimonies, the statutes and the laws which the L-rd, our G-d, has commanded you?"
What is meant- The wise one, what does he say? "How can these testimonies, statutes, and laws that deal with worldly matters reveal G-dliness?"

1. What is chassidus and 2. why you should learn it

1. Chassidus is the soul of the Torah.

2. Not learning chassidus is like getting married and only getting to know each other superficially, never bothering to connect on a deeper level.