tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9074503.post110717264023893970..comments2009-07-16T05:49:14.611-07:00Yoel Natanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09651298804727615452noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9074503.post-1107495549551116822005-02-03T21:39:00.000-08:002005-02-03T21:39:00.000-08:00Very interesting. I've got a challenge/question for you. What do you think of the generally held view point that we once lived in a world of gedolim, but that now all the gedolim are lost. The viewpoint that every generation since Sinai has somehow been diminished. Sometimes I think that this viewpoint is just more stuff to make us feel bad for not being good enough. But it is a point that makes sense too if you consider other factors (none of which I can articulate right now.) But you speak of us as being in a stage of adolescence. Do you really think we'll grow that much more?<br /><br />I predict a more dramatic shift, a moshiach shift, rather than a gradual growth in our ability to have more mature relationships with our "rebbes". Maybe that's pessimism rather than hope. Not sure.<br /><br />On the other hand, isn't this the age when we finally are challenging our doctors rather than depending on their knowledge as sacred. Historically, the more people have access to "enlightenment", the less they want to do with G-d. In this age of the internet, a different enlightment, are people distancing themselves from G-d, thinking themselves big enough without G-d, or are they turning to their new access to knowledge as another way, too, of accessing an appropriate relationship with G-d.<br /><br />Read "Somebodies and Nobodies: Overcoming the Abuse of Rank" by Robert W. Fuller (fomer Oberlin College president). Tell me where our rabbis fit in.<br /><br />(You can borrow my copy, oh Mishkaneer/neighbor.)Evenewrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08414118418564198912noreply@blogger.com