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DVAR TORAH
The Talmud in Pesachim (68b) cites an argument between two great scholars, Rebbi Eliezer and Rebbi Yehoshua, regarding the proper way to celebrate Yomim Tovim, our holidays. According to Rebbi Yehoshua, we must divide the day chetzyo la'Hashem v'chetzyo lachem - half for Hashem and half for yourself. Rebbi Yehoshua felt thathalf the day should be devoted to spiritual pursuits such as davening and learning, and the rest of the day should be spent with physical pursuits such as eating, drinking, and napping. On the other hand, Rebbi Eliezer maintains that if one desires to divide the day the way Rebbi Yehoshua prescribed, he may; however, he does not need to follow this ratio, and may devote the entire day to either himself or Hashem.
The Gemara then adds the following caveat: "Everyone agrees that on Shavuot (even Rebbi Eliezer would say 'you need to have part of the day for you.' Why? Because that is the day that G-d gave us the Torah."
Rabbi Mayer Twersky points out an obvious question with this assertion of the Gemara. At its face value, the Talmud seems to be saying that because we received the Torah on Shavuot, there is a greater need for physical simcha. However, if anything, you would think the opposite to be true, and we should instead celebrate Shavuot with study and prayer. Why do we treat this day with merriment and physical pleasure? Rav Twersky cites theGemarain Kiddushin(30b) to answer this question. The Talmud states "And G-d said to them, to Israel, 'My children, I created the evil inclination, and I created the Torah to season it.'"
In this context, Rav Twersky defines the Yetzer Haraas the inclination for the physical. Based on this Gemara, he explains that this Yetzer Harais not something that should be suppressed; it should be seasoned with Tavlin, flavored, and then enhanced. The discipline and ability to redeem the physical and make it holy is an integral part of the Torah. On Shavuot, therefore, when we celebrate Hashem'sgift of the Torah, even Rebbi Eliezer would agree that this must be done with engaging in at least some physical indulgence.
On Shavuot we accepted the Torah as a collective nation. The purpose of the Torah is to be our guide and to serve as the lens through which we live our lives. At this moment we are reminded that it is not only important to study Torah, but to also live a life that partakes in the blessings that this world offers which is enhanced and experienced through the prism of the Torah.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Weinberg, Principal
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Wednesday 16th May 2018
It was all over the news this morning: if you listened to a robotic voice saying a word, what did you hear? Did the voice say "Yanny" or "Laurel"? They seem like very different sounding words - which is why it was so interesting that some people could plainly hear one word, while others plainly heard the other. Both camps found it impossible to understand how the other could hear the same thing so differently. Not wanting to bypass a current topic of debate, Hillel Happeningseditor Micki Myers decided to conduct a poll of Hillel Academy people young and old to test out a theory as why this strange phenomenon happens. Sure enough, people either heard one word of the other; yet some people also reported having heard it differently somewhere else earlier in the day.
So what explains it? It turns out that the words "Yanny" and "Laurel" have very similar wavelength patterns, even if the nature of their sound differs. But if you change the frequency of the sound it changes; so at higher frequencies you might hear "Yanny," while at lower frequencies you might hear "Laurel." The frequency level can depend on the device you're using to listen to the sound; some devices are set to different frequencies. This explains why some people heard different things earlier in the day on a different device (on a phone, or a laptop, or a TV, or the radio, or through headphones, for example). Another reason why people hear different words is due to the way your ears work, and what frequencies they can, or can't hear very well. Most children can hear higher frequencies, but gradually lose this ability as their ears age. Thus, people who are older generally hear the word "Laurel," while those who are younger tend to hear "Yanny."
Mrs. Myers used the same recording at the same volume on the same device - her phone - to conduct this poll. Here are the results:
As you can see, the poll proved the explanation true. What our brains "hear" is based on both the way that sound is broadcast, and the condition of our ears. Still, this experiment provides food for thought: can we trust that what we hear is what everyone else hears too? Well, in general, yes. We usually hear sounds in context, and our brains use logic and pattern recognition to decipher anomalies. This experiment isolated a single sound instead - and that sound was ambiguous to begin with, so the results were polarizing. Happily (for parents), the phrases "Wake up! It's time for school!" and "It's bedtime!" are pretty clear no matter how you say them.
The New York Times has made a slider to let people hear when "Laurel" changes to "Yanny." It's fun!
Many people have asked whether the word was supposed to be "Yanny" or "Laurel." The recording was originally taken from vocabulary.com, and the word was ... you'll find it hidden somewhere in this issue!
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
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When you
#StartWithaSmile
, Amazon donates 0.5% of the purchase price to Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh. Bookmark the link and support us every time you shop.
https://smile.amazon.com/ch/25-1067130
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At Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh, we educate young men and women with unlimited capacity who compete in a superior manner in all challenges undertaken. Our students are Torah observant models of exemplary character, who love G-d, the Jewish people, and the land of Israel. To say that our students possess a love of learning, confidence and the ability to think critically, merely highlights the value of a Hillel education. What we ultimately achieve each day, and have been achieving for 70 years, is the gift of instilling each student with the foundation for a life spent actively serving and leading the Jewish community and society.
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Micki Myers, Editor | Hillel Happenings | 412 521-8131 |
h[email protected] |www.
hillelpgh.org
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