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.
199.02/ FYI - I did some research and evidently the real 2015 ad this skit is parodying was about a father sending his kid to the US Army (i.e. the army was presented in the same gauzy way as college).
IMO the 2 best are (1) PIT-BAL b/c both teams are always good, the games always close, violent & have playoff implications. (2) NYG-PHI b/c no matter how good/bad either are the game can go either way & the fanbases HATE each other.
198.02/ #ChochmatNashim for #AchareiMot & #Kedoshim 5783. @ChochmatNashim
It's going to be hard updating the 5784 edition before Shabbas, so please enjoy this "classic" version from last year. Divrei Torah from Orthodox women scholars on the parsha. drive.google.com/file/d/136A4pd…
@ChochmatNashim 198.03/ The jig is up, the news is out, they finally found her... Mazal Tov and congratulations to my wife, Dr. Rebecca Cypess, on her new position as Dean of Stern College and Yeshiva College! BE"H her new position will allow her to help heal academia. yu.edu/news/yu/yeshiv…
196.03/ #NachasAlert: My son has a big article (pages 4-6) in this week's Torah journal from his high school #Metzora-#HaGadol. Enjoy! drive.google.com/file/d/1uNKU5O…
195.02/ Happy #Eclipse2024 Day for all who celebrate. Here's an interesting article about the halakhic implications of an eclipse by Rabbi Dov Linzer: blogs.timesofisrael.com/solar-eclipse-…
195.03/ #Eclipse2024 My extended family went to a place of 100% totality and took this picture a few minutes ago. For me its 90% and can't be photographed (which is one reason I said shehechiyanu). Not paskening for anyone else, but for me this is a religious experience.
194.02/ #ChochmatNashim for #Shemini 5784.
@ChochmatNashim
Downloadable PDF with working links to Divrei Torah by Orthodox women scholars on the parsha and other topics of the week. #Shmini #HaChodesh drive.google.com/file/d/1bFHTfW…
193.03/ #NachasAlert: Final (so far) tally of times my son leyned Megillah seven times; 3 last night, four times today. Including once for a home-bound Shoah survivor. So proud.