Mind-Body: The impact of intestinal bacteria on our minds

Wired /Wall Street Journal by Jonah Lehrer

One of the deepest mysteries of the human mind is that it doesn't feel like part of the body. Our consciousness seems to exist in an immaterial realm, distinct from the meat on our bones. We feel like the ghost, not like the machine.

This ancient paradox—it's known as the mind-body problem—has long perplexed philosophers. It has also interested neuroscientists, who have traditionally argued that the three pounds of our brain are a sufficient explanation for the so-called soul. There is no mystery, just anatomy.

In recent years, however, a spate of research has put an interesting twist on this old conundrum. The problem is even more bewildering than we thought, for it's not just the coiled cortex that gives rise to the mind—it's the entire body. As the neuroscientist Antonio Damasio writes, "The mind is embodied, not just embrained."

The latest evidence comes from a new study of probiotic bacteria, the microorganisms typically found in yogurt and dairy products. While most investigations of probiotics have focused on their gastrointestinal benefits—the bacteria reduce the symptoms of diarrhea and irritable bowel syndrome—this new research explored the effect of probiotics on the brain. 

Iris prime minister denounces Church & asserts that child protection is paramount

NYTimes

His remarks were a ringing declaration of the supremacy of state over church, in words of outrage and indignation that had never before been used publicly by an Irish leader.

“For the first time in Ireland, a report into child sexual abuse exposed an attempt by the Holy See to frustrate an inquiry into a sovereign, democratic republic as little as three years ago, not three decades ago,” Mr. Kenny said, referring to the Cloyne Report, which detailed abuse and cover-ups by church officials in southern Ireland through 2009.

Reiterating the report’s claim that the church had encouraged bishops to ignore child-protection guidelines the bishops themselves had adopted, the prime minister attacked “the dysfunction, the disconnection, the elitism” that he said “dominate the culture of the Vatican.”

He continued: “The rape and torture of children were downplayed, or ‘managed,’ to uphold instead the primacy of the institution — its power, its standing and its reputation.” Instead of listening with humility to the heartbreaking evidence of “humiliation and betrayal,” he said, “the Vatican’s response was to parse and analyze it with the gimlet eye of a canon lawyer.” [...]

“You can talk about the finesse of diplomatic ties and maneuverings, but what Kenny was actually saying was that you have to prioritize the victims of abuse, and you have to assert very loudly that this is a republic and civil law has to take precedence over canon law,” said Diarmaid Ferriter, professor of modern Irish history at University College Dublin.

How to protect your children against abusers that the police & rabbis won't deal with

I recently received a request for how to deal with a person who abuses children by inappropriate touch - but there is not sufficient proof for the police to arrest him. The person thus is a danger - but falls through the cracks of the system. Neither the police or the rabbis want to deal with it. What is needed is a way for communities to be able to share information about such people both for protection and possibly building sufficient evidence for arrest. It is also helpful if such people could be pressured to go to therapy.

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 Concerned Parent wrote:

What does one do when a parent (or a number of parents) know of an abuser but do not have sufficient evidence for the rabbanim or police to pursue the issue?  On one hand, there is clearly a need for the community to awaken to this issue and be much more proactive.  On the other hand, a "wild west" type of justice is also not going to work.  We are dealing with this situation now, having already been declined by both the police and area rabbinic leaders. We have notified certain parents with young children to be wary of the suspect.  Is there anything else that can be done?  He is not a teacher or hold another position that allows him access to children.  He is something of wanderer nebach type that naturally engenders rachmanus which gets him invited into people's homes.

Thanks for any feedback

Backlash in Chareidi community against extremely modest "Taliban women"

Ynet

An internal haredi battle is taking place these days against "Taliban women", a radical sect of women wearing cloaks and observing strict modesty rules.

Ads posted in ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods in Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh are announcing the establishment of a special committee against the sect's members. [...]

Five men arrested for sexually abusing minors in J'lem

Jerusalem Post

Police arrested five men in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Nahlaot over the past six weeks for sexually abusing dozens of minors in the neighborhood starting as early as 2006, though the abuse got significantly worse in the past two years.

The men, all in their 40s and 50s, knew each other through the neighborhood but were not acting in an organized fashion to abuse the children.

One of the men arrested recently was also arrested in February for similar sexual abuse of minors. Police requested he be imprisoned, but he was released to house arrest with an electronic bracelet to track his whereabouts.

Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben Ruby said that the man continued abusing children while on house arrest. [...]

Paradox: In order to retain moral sensitivity we must block out news of scandals - But to be a moral people we need to know about scandal and react with outrage.

 Excerpts from "Can our Homes stay Holy in the Age of Scandals." by Rabbi Aryeh Z. Ginzberg Mishpacha, Sept 7 2011 page 14-15.

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Today, in a world dominated by nonstop newsfeeds, instant messaging, social networking, and the immense overall power of the Internet, creating a healthy and moral environment for our children is that much more difficult. And lately there seems to be one scandal after another, each more shameful than the next, involving a long list of high-profile personalities, including, not so long ago, the president himself. Some may follow every tawdry detail of every story. Others try their best to ignore it. But not for one moment should anyone believe we are immune to the effects of these sordid scandals and the breaches they make in the very walls we’ve built to protect our pure Torah environment. Not matter where we live.

…Rav Mattisyahu Salomon, the venerated mashgiach of Lakewood, said, “All these types of public scandals have removed the bushah from Klal Yisrael. We are no longer a nation of baishanim. We may abhor these types of activities, we may even be troubled by them, but we are no longer simply embarrassed by them. The powerful force of the Internet has removed the bushah from us and from our homes, and as a result, our homes have allowed the immorality of the world to penetrate their walls and enter into our spiritual fortresses. We must bring bushah back into our homes.”[…] 

[Rav Mattisyahu Salomon said], … “Every day when I wake up, besides saying Modeh ani, I add a special tefillah to Hashem for allowing me to be born in an earlier generation. For if I had grown up in today’s Internet world, I would not be able to withstand the many nisyonos and challenges that come come along with being a Torah Jew and a G‑d fearing Jew.”

Former Correction Department rabbi charged in $200,000 housing fraud

NY Daily News

A former city Correction Department rabbi who landed in hot water for arranging a lavish Bar Mitzvah party for a Rikers Island inmate was charged Wednesday in a massive tenant-fraud scheme.

Leib Glanz, 53, faces 15 years in prison on charges of conspiracy and theft for pocketing $200,000 in federal housing grants, according to a criminal complaint in Manhattan Federal Court.

The alleged scheme involved Glanz using his United Talmudical Academy, a prominent Williamsburg yeshiva. His brother, Menashe Glanz, 49, was also charged for taking money for living in a low-income apartment in Brooklyn that he didn't live in, the complaint says.

"Leib and Menashe Glanz engaged in a years-long subterfuge to take criminal advantage of federal housing subsidies," U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said. "Especially in these trying economic times, we cannot tolerate stealing from the public."

Main goal of education - Competence or Character?

NYTimes

For the headmaster of an intensely competitive school, Randolph, who is 49, is surprisingly skeptical about many of the basic elements of a contemporary high-stakes American education. He did away with Advanced Placement classes in the high school soon after he arrived at Riverdale; he encourages his teachers to limit the homework they assign; and he says that the standardized tests that Riverdale and other private schools require for admission to kindergarten and to middle school are “a patently unfair system” because they evaluate students almost entirely by I.Q. “This push on tests,” he told me, “is missing out on some serious parts of what it means to be a successful human.”

The most critical missing piece, Randolph explained as we sat in his office last fall, is character — those essential traits of mind and habit that were drilled into him at boarding school in England and that also have deep roots in American history. “Whether it’s the pioneer in the Conestoga wagon or someone coming here in the 1920s from southern Italy, there was this idea in America that if you worked hard and you showed real grit, that you could be successful,” he said. “Strangely, we’ve now forgotten that. People who have an easy time of things, who get 800s on their SAT’s, I worry that those people get feedback that everything they’re doing is great. And I think as a result, we are actually setting them up for long-term failure. When that person suddenly has to face up to a difficult moment, then I think they’re screwed, to be honest. I don’t think they’ve grown the capacities to be able to handle that.”[....] 

Obama's Israeli problem

Commentary by Jonathan Rosenblum

The Zionist Organization of America issued a press release last week noting some curious omissions from the Obama administration’s communications. Candidate Obama omitted any Israeli city from an enumeration of cities victimized by terrorism in his much touted Berlin speech as a candidate in 2008. (Amman did make it so it cannot be that candidate Obama had placed an embargo on mention of the Middle East.) Perhaps he shrewdly estimated that his European audience would likely be more sympathetic to the perpetrators than the victims of terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians.

And recently, the administration’s talking points on the upcoming tenth anniversary of 9/11 did not recall any Israeli city when praising the resilience of “individuals, families and communities… whether in New York or Nairobi, Bali or Belfast, Mumbai or Manila, or Lahore or London.” I guess they could not think of another city whose name begins with the same first letter as Sderot or Jerusalem. [...]

Rav Moshe Feinstein vs.Satmar Rebbe regarding artificial insemination

YU

First 40 minutes is about Chanukah. Discussion of Satmer starts at 40 minutes. Main discussion is at 60 minutes.

Rav Moshe Feinstein's view of Daas Torah

I would appreciate information as to the source of the following quote from the Artscroll biography (revised edition) that was recently published.  I have found nothing comparable to it in his published writings. I cite below a discussion I had with Rav Dovid Feinstein as well as the Introduction to the Igros Moshe and a teshuva which says there is no such thing as a gadol today that one can not disagree with. I added  a comment from the introductory essay from the 8th volume of the Igros which seems to directly contradict the Artscroll statement

 Igros Moshe (Reb Moshe - Artscroll biography 2^nd edition 2011): There are people who maintain that talmidei chachom are not qualified to decide political matters that gedolei Yisroel should limit themselves to Torah and Halacha. Such people cannot be considered within the Torah camp. One might well say disregarding the advice of a talmid chachom is far worse than violating a commandment. One who violates a commandment because he is too weak to resist temptation at least knows that his action is wrong. By contrast, one who ignores the advice of a talmid chachom denies that a Torah scholar’s wisdom is superior. This is a far more serious breach (page 224).

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Rav Dovid Feinstein (personal communication): In response to the question of whether his father ever justified his halachic decisions Rav Feinstein told me the following, “I never heard my father claim that his authority was from Daas Torah. He always insisted that the authority of his rulings was because they involved correct reasoning.”

Igros Moshe(Introduction): And therefore I also found it appropriate to publish my teshuvos,  since I am merely clarifying the halacha and every talmid chachom and posek is able to examine my words and decide for himself whether to make halachic rulings in accord with my views. They can see that I did not blindly rely even on the writings of our great rabbis. I analyzed them with all my strength to understand their correctness - as we find stated by Rabbi Akiva Eiger. Similarly I request that all those who read my writings that they should carefully examine my words and only then [if they are acceptable] to make practical rulings in accord with them

Igros Moshe(O.C. 1:109): This that you apologize for disagreeing with me in a halachic issue – this is totally unnecessary. That is because this is the way of Torah that it is necessary to establish the truth. Chas v’shalom to silence one who disagrees with you – whether he is being more lenient or more strict. [While there is a discussion about disagreeing in a formal court session Sanhedrin 36 where the court is deciding on the guilt or innocence…] it is not a problem to disagree with the gadol (greatest scholar) when he is saying something in the course of teaching the material or even if he is making a practical halachic ruling but he is not part of a formal court. We see this in many places in the gemora where students question their teacher’s view. … It is obvious in these cases the rulings were not part of a formal court session. Furthermore it is apparent that there is no one today who has the status of gadol for this law that no one can disagree with him… Therefore even if you consider me to be a gadol – it is permitted to disagree with me and consequently it is required that you express your opinion and there is no need to apologize. Nevertheless regarding the halachic question that was raised, my view -that I wrote that it is prohibited - is the correct one.

Igros Moshe (Y.D.3:88): Is it permitted to argue with the words of our Sages in public – even in their communities? You are concerned about the permissibility of moving to Bnei Brak because there are times when you will be disagreeing with the Chazon Ish zt”l. I really don’t understand why you are concerned. In fact the opposite is true. [click link for rest of teshuva]

From 8th volume of Igros Moshe (hat tip to Yoni), "Active involvement of gedolei Torah in politics also in Israel aroused his opposition. He used to say that greatness in Torah is not combined with expertise in politics"

Rav Moshe Tendler describes how he met Rav Moshe Feinstein's daughter

End the madness symposium at 37th minute