83.03/ For #PurimKatan I've introduced a new custom: I give out mini ("fun size") candy bars for half-mishloach manot. This year I tested it out with my kids and wouldn't you know it, they approved. Next year, the world!
83.04/ #ShushanPurimKatan is also, IMO, Tu B'shvat Sheni. The two month countdown starts today for... um... OK, I won't mention it. But you know what I mean.
83.05/ I have an AB in anthropology from Princeton - the department that Geertz built - and his shameful & brutal history never came up in my classes. His reputation as a teacher was poor, yet I regret not knowing these facts when I was a student.
83.06/ The libertarian "lone wolf" mythology is not only nonsense - it can't be done, humans are social animals - a proper heroic goal is to be a leader. Leaders unite, coordinate, communicate; care about each individual & the group. scientificamerican.com/article/how-a-…
83.07/ This is an incredibly valuable thread by Dr. Kay detailing the how-to and why-for about recording harassment & abuse.
83.08/ My kids said they have a school trip to the Poconos & the commercial from Mt. Airy Lodge immediately jumped into my head. My 1970s #LGM game watching kid brain thanks Adpocalypse on YouTube for this 1977-1979 WOR ad! youtube.com/channel/UC64rV…
83.09/ Just finished this online survey from Nishma about dating in the Jewish community. As a social scientist, I feel a duty to help others with their data sets. This survey will close Sunday, March 13, at 10:00 pm Eastern Time. bit.ly/Nishma-Ortho-C…
83.10/ There's a meraglim joke somewhere to be found with this news #WorldRecordStrawberry
83.11/ These threads, @BeijingPalmer & his link to @owillis, corroborate what I've seen as well. And it's an old US phenomenon. Prohibition was fueled by an anti-urban animus (which itself is a mask for anti-immigrant/ethnic/Black hatred)
83.12a/ The @USFL is coming back & my kids were asking who we root for. My family moved a lot when I was a kid so I have haphazard sports allegiances. I'm a Steelers fan b/c I was born in Pittsburgh. But I spent many years in NY, so all other teams are NY: Mets, Rangers, Knicks.
83.12b/ My fan formula is: support a NY team even over Pitt (except NFL). If neither, then another place I lived. So @XFL2023 had NY & @TheAAF it's Memphis (where I went to HS) [NB: My youth USFL Generals died when Trump (ym'sh) killed the whole league in an early #ETTD instance]
83.15/ Just reminded of this great thread by @Stonekettle and this crucial point: the fascists think of themselves as victims and thus their actions are "justified self-defense."
83.17/ I had a generally positive view of Tafoya as a woman who succeeded in the toxic male world so I'm dumbstruck at her setting her reputation on fire like this. Seriously: who looks at Aaron Rogers' face-heel-turn and says "I should do that too!"
83.18/ I endorse this thread and especially this point about cryptomoola. Basing a worldview on unfalsifiable myth that allows you to destroy the world & hurt others is pretty wicked. The cryptoids are that and also buffoonish.
83.24/ I learned a lot from this thread about the way the 5th Amendment works out in civil vs. criminal trials (re: the Trump (ym'sh) NY case). Especially these 2 points:
83.25/ Wait a minute. The leader of the brownshirt truck brigade in Canada is named "Lich"? As in "evil undead wizard-cleric boss bad-guy" Lich? Come. On.
83.26/ This is a great thread about the history of a popular art - pulp fiction covers - and I especially love this cover. The artist specialized in "wild animals attack a dude" and the Rabid Turtle Swarm just pings my brain the right way.
83.29/ I was just going over the menu for our Shabbas meals and - as recited aloud by my wife - made for one of the best extemporaneous poems I've ever heard. The exact text doesn't matter, I recommend reciting your own menu and I promise it will achieve the level of art.
83.30/ As an Orthodox rabbi I'm adding my voice to agree with @PosenIzzy & condemn this abusive practice. It's making children living orphans! The Torah describes the cries of orphans as especially evocative of Divine compassion. And justice.
83.31/ Recognizing that the anti-mask & anti-vax people are running after the modern day Eigel ha-Zahav - and what I can learn about them, then & now - I will say #ShabbatShalom everyone. Stay safe. Be good.
217.02/ Due to a combination of having a maddening schedule over the past few weeks and having Twitter owned and run horribly by the Divorced Incel King, it's been very hard to write anything.
217.03/ #ChochmatNashim for #KiTetze 5783 (last year)
@ChochmatNashim.
Downloadable PDF with Divrei Torah from Orthodox women scholars on the weekly parsha and other topics of the day. 15 Pages. No time to do a new one this year before Shabbas. drive.google.com/file/d/1NucT9p…
212.02/ #ChochmatNashim for #Devarim and #TishaBeAv 5783 (LAST YEAR). @ChochmatNashim
Downloadable pdf with working links of Divrei Torah by Orthodox women scholars on the parsha and other topics of the week. 22 pages. drive.google.com/file/d/1TH6ApN…
212.03/ This is an excellent, spot-on, thread. I've said a lot of this stuff for years.
[I'm a life-long Democrat born in Pittsburgh & raised in small towns (Binghamton), rural areas (Ithaca), and the South (Memphis). Walz is a familiar archetype to me.]
211.02/ It would behoove this law prof. to learn about the Jewish law concept of "chazakah" - the legal presumption for what a person means/intends. So, um, Trump (ym'sh) fomented an armed insurrection. He wants to end Democracy.
210.03/ I had too many sleepless nights over the last three weeks because of the drumbeat against Biden b/c there was too much smoke for there not to be fire. What kept me steady was my trust of his judgement. So if he thinks this is wise, then I logically have to support it.
209.02/ Following the assassination attempt on TFG yesterday - an act I condemn; ballots not bullets - the reaction by news agencies has been unhinged. But I'm singling out The Daily Beast and Politico who are lionizing TFG using very disturbing rhetoric. I've had to unfollow.
209.03/ I'm furious that so many in Congress are playing this dangerous game but I'm reminding myself that (1) the MSM has been fabricating stories & amplifying mythological pro-GOP nonsense for a while now & (2) I trust Biden's abilities to handle this like he did NATO.