THELOGICALINDIAN - Bitcoinist batten with Michael Caras who calls himself the Bitcoin Rabbi Caras explains how Bitcoin fits in with the Jewish adoration and how his new childrens book Bitcoin Money introduces kids to the abstraction of adamantine money
Bitcoin Rabbi: Limited Supply Is the Most Important Thing to Explain to People
Bitcoinist: Are you a absolute Rabbi?
Bitcoin Rabbi: I am an Orthodox Rabbi. I advised in Yeshiva Ohr Tmimim in Kfar Chabad, Israel and accustomed my Rabbincal ordination. I am not a belvedere clergyman with a community. I am a teacher; I advise Jewish capacity in a Jewish day school, I’m on the lath of a abbey and I adapt abounding of our association casework and events.
How and back did you get alien to Bitcoin?
I was consistently absorbed in Austrian economics and autonomous philosophy. In mid-2024 my brother told me that he had bought some bitcoin and that the amount was ascent quickly, so I started attractive into it. I watched several hours of Andreas Antonopoulos videos and did some added account online and bound became actual aflame about Bitcoin and absitively to buy some.
Is Bitcoin kosher?
Kosher agency “permissible” or “acceptable”. Bitcoin is a tool, and with all tools, it can be acclimated for acceptable or bad. It depends who is application it and what they are application it for.
Jewish law additionally requires that we chase the laws of the land, so to be kosher, a being should use Bitcoin in accordance with the laws of their accompaniment and country, including advantageous taxes.
How does Bitcoin fit in with the Jewish religion, ethics, and customs?
Judaism considers money to be acutely important, compared to one’s actual life. We are allowable to assure our money and do no abuse to anyone else’s. That actuality the case, accepting adamantine abiding money is a adorable thing. In Jewish history and tradition, money was consistently gold and silver. There are alike several rituals that we do to this day accurately with argent bill and gold.
There are abounding Jewish acknowledged questions about the action of Bitcoin transactions, mining, etc. rabbinic leaders will be acclamation added of these questions as agenda bill becomes added accustomed and widespread.
You’ve additionally fatigued parallels amid Judaism and Bitcoin adage “Judaism insists that all associates become abounding nodes” and that Rabbi’s are like ‘miners.’ Can you allocution a little bit added about this?
Judaism is based on the Torah as able-bodied as several books of annotation and Jewish law, such as the Talmud. In Judaism, anniversary being is appropriate not aloof to blindly chase the instructions of the leaders, but rather to acquirement their own copies of the books and abstraction them consistently to become knowledgable in all aspects of Jewish law and history. This allows a being to chase Jewish law in every bearings of their activity because they accept the ability themselves.
This is agnate to active a abounding node, which athenaeum the absolute history of the blockchain and verifies every transaction and block.
I analyze the abundant rabbis, the rabbinic leaders of anniversary bearing to miners because they are the greatest experts in all of antecedent Jewish history and law and they abode new situations and address new books which articulation the accomplished to the present and future.
Each bearing is a new block that is produced by the rabbis/miners and again accurate and accustomed by the absolute association as allotment of the aforementioned attitude and afterward the rules of Judaism activity aback to Moses.
Why did you adjudge to absolution a children’s book alleged Bitcoin Money? How did you get the idea?
I accept adolescent accouchement and I allocution to them a lot about Bitcoin. I try to explain both the abstruse and bread-and-butter account in simple terms. I additionally accept a presentation alleged “Bitcoin & Judaism” in which I analyze the history of money.
I took those account and abridged them bottomward and simplified them into a book which is not alone for children, but explains the simple bread-and-butter abstraction of Bitcoin as adamantine money to both accouchement and adults. The book and my account are heavily afflicted by The Bitcoin Standard, by Saifedean Ammous.
I appetite bodies to accord this book as a allowance to accompany as an addition explainer about “why Bitcoin?”
How does it explain Bitcoin to kids? Can you accommodate some examples from the book?
The adventure of “Bitcoin Money” is about a little boondocks alleged Bitville, area the accouchement alpha their own businesses alms appurtenances and casework to anniversary other. First, they alpha with barter, again analyze altered types of money, and eventually get ashore with authorization cardboard money and inflation.
One day a new boy confused to Bitville. He alleged himself Satoshi, but cipher knew abundant abroad about him. Satoshi noticed that the kids in Bitville were not blessed about added and added cardboard money actuality printed anniversary day.
Satoshi anticipation to himself, “What if we could accomplish a new affectionate of money that is bound in accumulation like metal money, but it isn’t abundant so anybody can backpack it about for themselves after accepting to assurance anybody to accumulate it in a safe for them?”
You additionally agenda that accouchement can accept the abstraction of adamantine agenda money bigger than adults who acclimated authorization their accomplished lives. Can you busy on this?
Older bodies who accept been application authorization money their absolute lives may acquisition it alarming to abundance their abundance in article that is alone agenda and not government backed. They appetite article that they are accustomed with and feels secure, abnormally in the United States area the bill is adequately abiding compared to the blow of the world.
Young people, in general, are acclimated to accomplishing their cyberbanking and spending in agenda architecture aloof because they are added adequate with the technology. Growing up with aggregate agenda and cyberbanking additionally makes it easier to await on agenda currency.
From an bread-and-butter perspective, back you explain to a kid that authorization money is aloof cardboard that can be printed infinitely, they apprehend that there isn’t article admired there.
The bread-and-butter concepts of Bitcoin of acceptable adamantine money are absolutely simple alike for a kid to understand: scarcity, supply, and demand.
What is your admired way to explain Bitcoin to new people? Have you had abounding ‘converts’?
I anticipate that the bound accumulation is the best important affair to explain to people. I additionally explain the abstraction that back you own Bitcoin, it is absolutely yours, as against to all added forms of agenda money. I allocution to everybody I apperceive about Bitcoin, best are still skeptics, but a few accept apparent interest. I haven’t gotten any of my accompany to run a abounding bulge admitting yet, so there’s a lot added assignment to do.
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