Mordechai Rosenbaum

With my continued reading of Elie Wiesel's All rivers run to the sea: Elie writes about his mentor "Shushani". His real name according to Wiesel is "Mordechai Rosenbaum". He is a mystery figure, nobody knows much about him, other than he looks like a tramp. Yet he is brilliant, a genuine polymath from science to mathematics but especially the Talmud; of the many Talmud texts he knows many of them off by heart. Elie believes that part of his brilliance was his ability to read and retain word for word what he read. (Interesting this is reminicent of the character Danny Saunders in Chaim Potock's "The Chosen") Yet Elie never seen Rosenbaum read a book!

Rosenbaum's influence was throughout the Jewish disporia after World War Two. Throughout professions scientists, authours, philosophers many professed to to have been touched in some way by him, according to Wiesel. Yet he never wrote or published anything!

He is an interesting character this Rosenbaum; I cannot help think there is an element of the messianic about him. He is undoubtedly 'mysterious', like I find in Jesus. He never spoke about himself, and actually shuned those who asked. He had a profound effect on those who he mentored, like Jesus and his disciples.

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The Number 42, the meaning for everything

I can remember reading the "hitchhikers guide to the galaxy", by Douglas Adams and been amazed at how a computer could after 7.5 million of year compute the "The Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything" with the answer "42".
I thought that this was hilariously funny. Lttle did I realise latter that Douglas was an atheist. So much so, that Richard Dawkins dedicated his book "The God Delusion" to Adams, using his quote::

"Isn’t it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?"

It seems to me that maybe Adams was having a bit of a go at people who believed with his number "42". I still think it is very funny.

A question which has rattled me this year has been. Is it possible for non-believers, athiest and agnostics to take small steps back into community of faith? Let me explain.
I started thinking about this with the reading of Chaim Potok's, "The Chosen". A question is asked by the main character Reuven Malter who is studying to become an Orthodox Rabbi to his father who is a Jewish academic on modern methods of studying the Talmud. I cannot remember the exact question but it is to do with an acquaintance Abraham Gordon, a well-known author who has been excommunicated by the very Orthodox for his books which question the very foundations of traditional Judaism. Abraham Gordon would be the Christian equivalent to Shelby Spong or Paul Tillich.
Reuven's father answers the question regarding Abraham Gorden saying that, and I paraphrase. Abraham Gordon's writing is important because it helps those who cannot believe, believe. (or it may have been: those who believe stay within their community)
I have many sincere atheist and agnostic friends, who have tried to believe. It is, and I believe them, something which is not just turned on like a tap.