Truth cannot be told, but it can be pointed to.
(this is in contradiction to teachings that “Truth already has been spelled out once and for all, and we can only keep interpreting its obscure message” (Umberto Eco in describing the cult of tradition, the first feature of ur-fascism).

Pointed to, as in, go in this direction and you will find. This applies to an individual as well as to a society. The idea, the iqar, is that if you participate in certain actions, the consequence of them will be a Truth. So what do I mena by Truth?

Truth is something that cannot be revealed explicitly, because it must emerge on its own. To reveal it is thus a lie. It must be a consequence and is entirely hidden by the curtain, the parochet, of time and preparation.

So what then, can be taught? Actions and ideas that add up to a revelation, the catalyst of which is kindness and intelligence.

Actions must not stand on their own. They must be beautiful by themselves and as reflections of a beautiful worldview that treasures kindness and intelligence. Actions are preparations.

About Aharon N. Varady

Aharon's Omphalos is the hobbit hole of Aharon Varady, founding director of the Open Siddur Project. He is a community planner and environmental educator working to improve stewardship of the Public Domain, be it the physical and natural commons of urban park systems or the creative and cultural commons of libraries and museums. His advocacy for open-source strategies in the Jewish community has been written about in the Atlantic Magazine, the Yiddish Forverts, Tablet, and Haaretz. He is particularly interested in pedagogies for advancing ecological wisdom, developing creative and emotional intelligence, and realizing effective theurgical praxes. He welcomes your comments, personal messages, and kind words. If you find his work helpful to your own or you'd simply like to support him, please consider donating via his Patreon account.

• View all posts by Aharon N. Varady →
• website
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Google+

“On the Importance of Preparation” is shared by Aharon N. Varady with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.