[Dean's World] Naftali: Two as One Stronger than One Alone

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Posted by Naftali:
Two as One Stronger than One Alone 
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1199940994.shtml


   Just finished audio-booking Orson Scott Cardâs [1]âEnderâs Gameâ. It
   is basically the story of how child prodigy, Ender Wiggin, is
   specially groomed into the savior of mankind; high commander of the
   international space fleet, charged with conducting a last do or die
   invasion of the âBuggerâ home planet. If Ender does not succeed,
   against almost impossible odds, mankind will be utterly destroyed by
   the militarily superior bug-like race. Ender--about ten years old at
   the time, and directing the battle from a console located five yearâs
   of space travel from the actual scene of the fight--manages,
   impossibly, to destroy the entire Bugger home world, wiping out,
   thereby, the entire bugger race.

   The twist is that Ender is lead to believe, until after the fact, that
   the battle is only a game, a final do or die exam, as it were, to
   determine whether or not Ender has what it takes to do what he has
   sacrificed his childhood preparing to do. Knowing that such
   âimmoralityâ is cheating, Ender only destroys the enemyâs home planet
   as a way to lash out at his cynical âteachersâ, who, after taking his
   life away from him, have set him up to fail with a final exam that
   cannot be passed. It turns out, though, that Ender did exactly the
   right thing; it was all that stood before the extinction of the human
   race. That is why the fleet tricked Ender; he could not have done what
   he did otherwise.

   It turns out, the book tells us, that had Ender the hardheartedness to
   annihilate the enemy race for ârealâ he would not have had the right
   mental composition to have succeeded in getting that far to begin
   with. And had he not been fooled into thinking it was only a game, he
   would not have done the critical deed that only he himself was capable
   of doing. So by tricking Ender, the impossible was accomplished.

   A Husband and Wife couple reflecting, even imperfectly, [2]the Torah
   paradigm can do that type of thing, among other types of things,
   consistently:

   âSarahâ, a young girl in my community, is paying a drug related debt
   in a semi-local prison. After I visit her a couple of times in prison,
   my wife sets it up so that Sarah calls the house everyday of the week
   for a 15 minute session of discussion and Torah study. Itâs wonderful.
   But since, for whatever reason in the world, the inmates here cannot
   use phone cards nor call 800 numbers, it is very expensive. It also
   takes a lot out of my wife. The pace is not sustainable; itâs not an
   expense we can manage for the whole term of her incarceration, and at
   some point it will prove overwhelming to even my wife. So I ask my
   wife to schedule the sessions twice a week. My wife is set against
   it--she has empathy for the young girl that is unimaginable to me--but
   she obeys my will.

   So in the end, our family is able to sustainably provide Sarah--which
   is our whole reason for being here--a mentor who in empathy will
   sacrifice far more for her than is prudent. Sarah feels no less loved
   by my wife; Sarah knows my wife would continue with her as before but
   cannot. And itâs really the truth. My wifeâs empathy and my distance
   accomplish what neither of us could alone.

References

   1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ender's_Game
   2. http://naftali.wordpress.com/2007/12/19/sage-presciptions-for-a-strong-torah-marriage-a-translation-of-rambam-1519-20/