1/ I had three mini-classes on #Beshalach over Shabbat (I'm not trapped in the house with my kids... they're trapped with me, heh) and before it's too far in the rear-view mirror, I'll try to get the ideas down here.
2/ First is on the word "chamushim" in Ex. 13:8. Generally it's defined as "armed" (and there's a famous Midrash that I won't bother to deal with) and this article by the phun philologist Mitchell First discusses the major possibilities
jewishlink.news/features/41900…
3/ He prefers a definition that makes the word a cognate from Arabic specifically meaning an army in five parts. The sources for this are the BDB, Cassuto, Daat Mikra, and E. Klein. Please see inside for details. It's suggested that this was an 'ancient army form.'
4/ In contemplating this, I realized that there's a better proof for an army marching in five sections than a supposed uncited outside historical source: the Bible itself. Because the Camp of Israel was arrayed in five parts!
tanach.org/bamidbar/bamid… The camp of Israel in the desert had 4 divisions of 3 tribes
5/ The camp of Israel in the desert had 4 divisions of 3 tribes each, with the Tabernacle in the center, itself ringed by 4 groups (the 3 families of Levi & the Cohanim).

I believe this actually p'shat. There's many implications of this fact which BE"H I can explore later.
6/ I will add the next 2 discussions soon, either to the end of this thread or I will write them separately and link them below. One is on Parshat HaMan and the other on cybernetics on Shabbat.

@threadreaderapp please unroll.

@threader_app please compile.
7/ The second class, about midrash & halakha & manna & cybernetics on Shabbat is here

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More from @JoshuaCypess

3 Feb
1/ Were the Trump (ym'sh) supporters I know always cruel/evil/crazy? IMO, no, and I'd even say to suggest they were has shades of essentialism, an almost biological view of character. Or even physics: that there's potential evil and when it's expressed, it's kinetic evil.
2/ As expected, I see things behaviorally and culturally: they weren't this bad beforehand because:

(a) society kept them in check; Trump (ym'sh) as head of the nation & culture gave permission for previously taboo acts and with the guardrails removed, their impulses went wild.
3/ And (b) as their permission structure/cultural model became threatened, the subconscious recognition that social stigma was about to come crashing down made them more desperate and crazed.

They act and acted like addicts about to lose their fix.
Read 6 tweets
31 Jan
29.01/ Week twenty-nine thread, for Jan. 30-Feb. 5, 2021, begins here. Last week's thread (28.01) linked below.

29.02/ Every once in a while, I let the depraved fatalism of the phrase "boys will be boys" just wash over me...
29.03/ Snow still following here in Central NJ, with some swirling wind, allowing me to use the word "snow squalls" at the breakfast table. My 14yo suggested that if the wind is strong enough to dislodge squirrels, it'd be "squirralls of snow." Yup.
Read 13 tweets
29 Jan
1/ Rabbi Ruttenberg is correct that Purim was the transition point when we all felt we were soon/already under siege (how [un] ironic!).

For me though it's parshat Beshalach, this week, that I constantly go back to in my mindscape of "The Before Times"
2/ It's personal, of course.

Last year, this parsha was the Bat Mitzvah for my niece. My family spent Shabbat in White Plains and the whole experience was special and also super-strange (it was in a Conservative temple so I had to juggle going to early minyan etc)
3/ For the past year of pandemic, whenever my mind travels back to "what was normal" I go to that Shabbat. It was with my in-laws, it was a new community, the temple rabbis and I are friends so that made it even more fun/memorable.
templeisraelcenter.org
Read 8 tweets
24 Jan
28.01/ Week twenty-eight, January 23-29, starts here. Week 27 (Jan. 16-22) is below.
28.02/ One of my largest lists "News2016," started early in the #TrumpCrisis, has this tagline: "Started for the 2016 election, persists until Trump (ym'sh) is gone"

I don't want to delete the valuable list but I'll change the name/tag to honor my promise
twitter.com/i/lists/757955…
28.03/ My 14yo son's idea for fixing the "worst rule in sports" aka the #NFL #FumbleTouchbackRule: it's a touchback but retained by the offense. So the ball is placed on the opponent 20, but the down is retained.
Read 40 tweets
22 Jan
1/ This thread is an attempt to capture some of the week's discussions about Q*non and how to handle the cult followers and the danger they embody

(Side note, I plan to ask the Trumpites I know who're still clinging to their hate, "How's Q?" so they can confront the association)
2/ First, a snarky reaction. Here is a functional strategy: basically harness the bubbling loonies and turn them to anodyne ends.

3/ Anyway, this is a thread with some valuable social science analysis:

Read 10 tweets

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