| In the midst of writing a Bible paper, so this is quick--found the following quote in footnote of article by Tykva Frymer-Kensky called "Pollution, Purification and Purgation in Biblical Israel" Footnote 9 reads:
"It may be particularly relevant that women do not have fixed purification rituals. Although both men and women are to bathe after intercourse, women become pure after their set period of impurity for menstruation and childbirth: there is no mention of bathing. Inlight of the feminine conception of the land, one would expect that the land too would have to wait out its impure period, and that time alone would make it pure."
The point of the note is that since the land can become impurified/polluted in various ways that do not have ceremonies/cannot sacrifice to fix (ie murder), the only way to solve is through exile and letting the land rest.
My question is on the first two lines. I'm pretty sure the newest mikvah/niddah papers discuss mikvah as a mitzvah d'oraita. How does that jive with what Frymer-Kensky is writing here? | comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment   |
| <table style="color: black;" align=center border=1 bordercolor=black cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2><tr><td bgcolor="#A8FFB3" align=center><font style='color:black; font-size: 14pt;'><strong>Your Linguistic Profile:</strong></font></td></tr><tr><t d bgcolor="#D9FFD8">55% General American English</td></tr><tr><td bgcolor="#A8FFB3">20% Dixie</td></tr><tr><td bgcolor="#D9FFD8">20% Yankee</td></tr><tr><td bgcolor="#A8FFB3">0% Midwestern</td></tr><tr><td bgcolor="#D9FFD8">0% Upper Midwestern</td></tr></table><div align="center"><a href="http://www.blogthings.com/whatkind ofamericanenglishdoyouspeakquiz/">What Kind of American English Do You Speak?</a></d So these things are ridiculous, but it is amusing. | | comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
| I hope this year will be great for all. A wee bit stressed at the moment am I, but I'm sure in the end, I'll pull through. So far I have every time. No back to cooking and leyning practice. I pray that this year will be much more healthy than last for my friends and family. I do not want to see any hospitals for a LONG time (or at least until my friends and family start having babies).
Kol tuv,
Philip | | comments: Leave a comment |
| | Now the question is how many Hebrew courses do i want to take? Especially if one is grammar with Rabbi Roth? | | comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment |
| | Funny enouugh, the Hebrew class I HAVE to take and the hebrew class I am encouraged to take occur simultaneously. Fun. Also, simultaneously with the fun class I wanted to take and another class of a professor that I love. Phooey. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| Lots of fun stuff going on. Basically continually exhausted. Most of my classes are great. Puberty is really scary. Remind me to send my children to kibbutz when they get to be 13--and then take them back a couple years later. (Note, I would never send my theoretical or real children away.) Anyway, my goal has been accomplished. I've worked up swimming from 500m, to 1000m, to 1250m, to 1300m, and today I did 1600m (A MILE!!!!). I think my next goal will be 1875m (which is 75 lengths/laps of the pool). Then on to 2000m, if there is any time left at camp.
Have a wonderful week!!!! | | comments: Leave a comment |
| Hi world (or at least my friends).
Mostly having a blast at camp (and immensely enjoying days off in LA--so much more kosher stuff in one place than in Boston or NY). While overall NY may have much more kosher food available, it is not so locationally convenient as Pico/Robertson. Teaching five different classes a day is quite a challenge, but a rewarding one at that. I just wish I could get more of them to pay attention simultaneously. I guess that is one of the challenges of teaching--just when you get most of them all on the same figurative page--something happens (or someone happens) to distract them. I hope that everyone else's summer plans are going well. I miss all of my friends, but have discovered some really lovely people here. In some ways I wish this camp was a little more liberal (nothing so specific--other than certain attitudes) and others I wish it was more traditional (I forgot how much people like to dress immodestly (both men and women) when they are out in the sun quite frequently--ok all the time!) Thank goodness my table is under a tree--or else I would be so burned! Anyway, things are good.
Maybe I'll post again soon. No guarantees. Internet is spotty but less spotty than cell coverage. basically I check messages and return calls on Monday night/Tuesday (my day off). Hopefully, I'll figure out wireless soon, so I can use my computer instead of these ancient machines.
Goodnight! | | comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment |
| <table width=350 align=center border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2><tr><td bgcolor="#DDDDDD" align=center><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" style='color:black; font-size: 14pt;'><b>Your Scholastic Strength Is Deep Thinking</b></font></td></tr><tr><td bgcolor="#EEEEEE"><center><img src="http://images.blogthings.com/whatshouldyoumajorinquiz/deep-thinking.jpg" height="100" width="100"></center><font color="#000000">
You aren't afraid to delve head first into a difficult subject, with mastery as your goal.
You are talented at adapting, motivating others, managing resources, and analyzing risk.
You should major in:
Philosophy
Music
Theology
Art
History
Foreign language</font></td></tr></table><div align="center"><a href="http://www.blogthings.com/whatshouldyoumajorinquiz/">What Should You Major In?</a></div>
funny, what am i doing now?
oh yeah--rabbinics | | comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
| You guys are all wonderful. I post with lousy news. (Sorry didn't feel like sharing with the world, just my friends.) Within hours, I get several concerned phone calls, which I have not entirely been able to return--Shabbat got in the way. If I fail at romantic relationships, it is good to know I haven't failed at friendly ones.
THANKS GUYS
The mood entry is totally from/for you! | | comments: Leave a comment |
| Apparently I don't use this lj very much, since the last update also had to do with harry potter, and much has happened since then.
ie the first few months of rabbinical school--but again i shall talk about harry potter
Thursday night myself and many other rabbinical students went and saw Harry Potter and GOF at midnight. It was a blast. While I still haven't decided if I liked the movie, the experience was a blast. vignette--Josh (aka superman) yells for a ma'ariv minyan AND people other than rab students came over and davened. Since I had already gone to ma'ariv that day, I took pictures. Since I don't have a fancy lj account, email me and I'll send you the link to ofoto/kodakgallery. Overall a fun and exciting evening. | | comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment |
| In the preparation for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (which apparently does not mean Prince of the Half-Bloods according to various Harry Potter websites' analysis of the foreign translations of the new book) I have decided (along with my brother and sister) to reread all of the other Harry Potter Books.
The current tally
Book 1: read
Book 2: read
Book 3: read
Book 4: read
Book 5: read 1 page
So plenty of time before the debut of the book :-)
Also, random question: does anyone know why my friends page has been basically deleted? Apparently my friends have only written 23 entries. Bizarro--since many of them have written way more than 23 entries a piece!
-P | | comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
| To put it short--they are lying liars who lie to quote Al Franken.
I don't appreciate lying managers accusing ME of lying. I also do not want to pay for the privelege of returning an opened item that THE STORE OPENED and I found that way. F**K Bestbuy. Shop amazon.com. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| For those of you not subscribed to the URJ's Ten Minutes of Torah, you are missing out. Thanks to them I discovered a rather interesting Jewish controversy--about the amount of controversy in the Jewish community and whether or not that was a good thing.
What began the hubbub was Jack Wertheimer at JTS writing the article at the link below. http://www.ajc.org/upload/pdf/Wertheimer_All_Quiet.pdf
In short, his argument was that the Jewish World needs to be shaken up a bit. We are fooling ourselves with all this trans/post-denominationalism and we need to think about where we are and debate among the major Jewish organizations, so that way we do not end up with different Judaisms. One of his major concerns was in the issues of personal status (conversion, marriage, divorce--where Orthodox, Conservative and various Liberal Jewish groups have different standards)
Eric H. Yoffie of the URJ gave the following response.
http://www.thejewishweek.com/top/editletcontent.php3?artid=4138
My understanding is that he believes dialogue is rather useless at this point on those issues, as all the groups are basically set in stone and debated out. Reform Jews are not going to return to matrilineal descent and Orthodox Jews will not accept patrilineal descent. In effect, Orthodox circles are already encouraging their members not to marry Reform or Conservative Jews for fear of mamzerut (illegitimate children--usually from the lack of a proper Jewish divorce) and non-Orthodox conversions.
Really, neither one of these guys--bigwigs at their respective instiutions make a whole lot of sense. Wertheimer definitely has some points about the importance of dialogue, but how much of the article is really original? I am also rather confused at how cooperation on educational institutions and federations is a bad thing. Yes, it is not good for the Conservative Movement that many of its offspring choose to work exclusively for Klal Yisrael and non-denominational or post-denominational programs, but in a way, those programs are Conservative in name only. As he wrote, how many people at Hebrew College were educated and associated with the Conservative Movement. In many ways, his article mentions the failures of the Movement to define a popular image, but it does not provide solutions. In my mind, he writes more of a lament of the Conservative Movement to establish itself in the popular mileau than worry for the entire Jewish Community. Yes, as Prof. Sarna has written, the center is integral to prevent extremism in the Reform and Orthodox world--but I do not know that the center is exclusively the domain of the Conservative Movement. At the same time, the Conservative Movement, whose earlier goals included becoming the authoritative Judaism for North America (as they were formerly the United Synagogue of America or the Jewish Theological Seminary of America--such universal labeling is not restricted to them--Union of American Hebrew Congregations and the Rabbinical Council of America) is not entirely unsuccessful if the normative Judaism of the US is a blend of the Conservative concept of a synthesis of tradition and change. I do not know that the "Conservative" label is so essential. If post-denominationalism=Conservative Judaism (with the transition of Schechter schools into non-denominational ones) it is a complicated time for the Movement.
Personally, it would be nice if Conservative Judaism could neatly define itself, but a true definition might so limit the movement as to be counter-productive. (Yes, I'm muddling my thoughts.) Grey is not always a bad thing. Intellectualism demands the analysis of concepts and synthesizing them into conclusions, but conclusions are often not neat or clear-cut. I think the challenge of Conservative Judaism is recognizing the daily act of synthesis. Conservative Judaism--to me--is the need to daily re-evaluate my traditional and non-traditional practices--to bring Gd into my life in ways that I can understand. It means not just to say the liturgy but to study it--to think about WHY a certain concept of GD is so important--or not. It also means that the conclusions might not be static. Is it better to follow the halakha to the letter--maybe--or maybe not--since the halakha is a changing entity. How does ethics intervene?
Rewind--back to these essays.
Yoffie tells me we already have different Judaisms, deal with it and move on. While this may be true, it does not mean it is not a lamentable situation. It would certainly be nice if all Jews could agree on how someone could be brought into the Covenant. It would also be wonderful if the influences of modern society could be more universally brought into the liturgy and practice of our religion--or at least into the laws of personal status. It is simply unethical for a woman to be an agunah today. A friend of mine claims that the best solution in the Orthodox world to men that refuse to give a get is the Maimonidean punishment of whipping. I think that is not enough--yes those men should suffer--perhaps castration is an option?--but as Blu Greenberg wrote more than 20 years ago--
when there was a rabbinic will, there was a halakhic way--this way must be found already. Jewish tradition has gradually increased women's rights over the last few millenia. Now is not the time to encourage a patriarchal society. The family is not threatened if both parents need to pray.
(Basically, Jews are wrong and right every where, whether by being too conservative (with a small c) or too liberal in their understanding of Jewish law.)
So, Wertheimer says bring it on and Yoffie says cooperate. Surprise surprise--I think we need a little of both! | | comments: 3 comments or Leave a comment |
| In my effort not to get trapped, I'm writing this standing up. Of course, that means I am also not sitting down to write what I should be writing--aka paper for class or working on thesis. It is amazing the revelations one has when sitting down to write. For example, I could easily have gained the knowledge from this class by simply going to it, without the need to take exams or write papers. WHy I didn't think of that before the add/drop period!? Who knows? Oh well. I probably wouldn't go as often as I would like had that been the case and other things wonderful and not might not have happened. (the butterfly effect)
In other news, my life is amazing. I am accepted into grad school (hopefully they will tell me soon that they would hate to take money from me--B"H); I have a wonderful, amazing, stupendous girlfriend and we are both head over heels (so much fun!); I have completed 63 pages of thesis (but still need to end all of my chapters and many sentences). Of course, the parentheses begin to explain that I have a lot of work to do, but I have faith in myself and Hashem, that I will somehow find the energy to finish it. For example, today my body knew that I was going to be stupid and avoid much sleep at night--thus it made me sleep through all of my morning classes and most of the afternoon--resulting in a 6 hr nap after volunteering for the Crown Center for 1.5 hours after 5 hours of sleep. How strange! It just teaches me that our bodies are wonderful and brilliant creations! Gd really knew what Gd was doing when GD made us!! We should all be so fortunate as to remember that every day--through our sniffles and allergies--we are ALL truly miraculous creations! | | comments: 4 comments or Leave a comment |
| The thesis countdown begins. I need to have another 50ish pages in the next 10 days. I guess I should start writing. :-) In other news, if you have noticed me lately I have been deliriously happy. I owe that mostly to a certain individual who has definitely improved my faith. Funny how that works? Davening works much better when you really do want to thank GD for the daily miracle of life! (Not to imply that I didn't before, but kal vachomer*, now I really do.) Formal was a blast, even if the music wasn't fantastic or remotely my taste. I'm a fan of neither bad 80s, hip-hop, nor 40s-style "music." I have to say the 2:30AM IHOP run was rather interesting. Why did we need to wait for a table at 2:30 in the morning? Don't people in Boston have better things to do?! Shabbat at BU/with my Dad was fun. I have to say it makes services much better when you have to walk between 1 and 2 miles to get there. The contemplative time really got me better in the mood to daven. The question is will 6-7 miles of walking be better or worse, aka, will I walk that far?
Now that I've truly studied the driving tshuva, what do I think about it? I don't know if it is halakha, per se. It is a takkanah that says in this stinky situation, how do we make people become more observant Jews, or at least not feel bad about what they are doing now. Is that something I can do in my life? If there is no overriding mitzvah to daven in a minyan and I am capable of davening by myself should I? However, Pesach is a festival, so how do you make a pre-existing flame in a car, since that would solve the problem? Does the spark plug count?
Ok, I'm going to go do something remotely productive, like write or study megillah.
*basically, all the more so. (According to Aish, learning a more obvious lesson from a less obvious lesson) | | comments: 4 comments or Leave a comment |
| If it wasn't real already, it is now! I got my acceptance letter from
JTS today. Woo-hoo! Now I just need to fill out the little line that
says what year I'm going. I'm leaning towards next year for a few
reasons:
1) I can't wait to be in NY.
2) My grandparents live in NY (as well as my entire extended family).
3) My parents will be happy with me.
4) Boston is not nearly as far (and is in the same time zone). I wonder why that's relevant :-P
5) I'm going to Israel in a couple years anyway.
6) I will probably be more sane in this country than another one.
| | comments: 5 comments or Leave a comment |
| | Absolutely crazy February break, saw all my grandparents, and one awesome aunt and uncle and cousins. Good news--better post later--I GOT INTO JTS! :-) Perhaps I can relax a little now? We shall see. | | comments: 5 comments or Leave a comment |
| | Perhaps it is just fun to annoy Tovah. Or I like to periodically practice German. What can I say? | | comments: 3 comments or Leave a comment |
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and tired
