90.02/ Was not a fan of "Is it COVID or is it allergies or is it a cold" season the first two times and I can honestly say the third time is definitely not the charm.
90.03/ This is a really great thread, esp. re: translating vernacular thoughts into corporate-speak.
90.04/ I had a great "I'm such a YU guy" moment the other night. Schmoozing with a fellow rabbi at an event & he said he just got Rav Chaim's Haggadah and I was confused by the vortlach until I realized he meant Rav Kanievsky z'l & not the Brisker Rav. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaim_Sol…
90.05/ Is there a term for "something they think is a flex but everyone else thinks is blinkered nonsense"? Like guys who brag about drinking until they pass out, or (what prompted this) some ascetic chumras for Pesach. Look, dude, the holiday is super hard as it is!
90.08/ I wish I could pull this off but I'm so obviously a non-camper that I don't think I have enough chutzpah in my soul to generate it. But a guy can dream
90.10/ While I don't go as far as this, I agree with the basic point that sanitizing violence makes it easier for people to choose violence, especially war.
My additional hot take is that movies teach people more than schools.
90.12/ Actual Torah directed theocracy has so much mutual-aid and wealth-sharing that the overt sin that led to the destruction of the First Temple was abrogating the sabbatical year (#shemitta) & yovel. They're very hard but very necessary laws.
90.17/ Just as I accept @MuppetRabbi despite being an Orthodox rabbi because what it satirizes are things I criticize as a knowledgeable insider, so too with @ass_deans, despite my wife now being an Asoc Dean. Both of us know the satire is accurate. E.g.:
90.19/ Zach Banner @ZBNFL is a total class act and I really wanted him to succeed. The criminally bad turf at MetLife cost him his #Steelers career and that really stinks. Best of luck to him, one of the good guys.
90.20/ My new litmus test for commenting on COVID (and possibly any serious social issue): I want to hear primarily from someone who has had to ration their medicine at one point in their life. It's hard to really understand health deprivation without that type of scar.
90.21/ Highly, highly recommend. And, yes, especially for the British shows.
90.24/ My father is a #UNC grad so we come by our school loyalty - and irrational hatred of Duke - the old fashioned way. And it was so much fun while it lasted. I will not talk about the final game and take no further questions.
90.26/ Nerd achievement unlocked: when browsing in Amazon (and the like) and the page displays "People interested in [this item] have also liked [these items]" and it's only and entirely things that I've looked at over the past year. My weird timeline of interests...
90.27/ Right knee. And yup.
(Bonus points if you get it from an all-metal jungle-gym with asphalt under it)
90.28/ This is a great question. He played so many villains but based on his heroic character in Galaxy Quest, I think he'd have made an interesting Magneto.
90.29/ Territorial compromise as a means to peace can only work with good faith partners who want to help their own people live & thrive. Too many people just want to stop seeing violence, even if that can only happen through sanitized oppression.
90.30/ Barukh Dayan ha-Emet! @EricBoehlert died in a tragic accident! This is such terrible news. I subscribe to his newsletter and read him avidly multiple times a week, what a huge loss!
90.34/ This is pretty much my realization back 20 years ago when wackos were blaming 9-11 on the Mossad. I interpreted the conspiracy theory as admitting that it was bad, so bad in fact that only the Joos coulda done it!
90.35/ Absolutely. I need a term for this ideology, found in every disempowered group, which boils down to "When will it be my turn to commit injustice?!"
90.36/ From the beginning DiSantis has acted like someone who doesn't worry about elections; he barely won - with a lot of hinky fraud - and he behaves like someone who knows he doesn't need "votes". A lot of the GOP wins in 2018 feel like that.
90.39/ A good description of a widespread phenomenon; and one thing that unites the ends of the horseshoe, what @TimothyDSnyder describes as wanting to eliminate a changing future.
It's because every accusation by revanchists is pure projection. And when they demand a "GA" with their MA- they are saying they hate the way America is now. And since that GA never existed, they basically hate our past and our future.
90.51/ My parents were actually at this Spring training game, which is a miracle in itself - the ability to travel safely after two plus years being isolated. Thank God.
90.54/ The Polychrome Haggadah is an underrated resource. People think it's just colors, or don't find utility with his historical-layers display, but the source footnotes are invaluable! I used it extensively when writing my own (which I still am). jewishlink.news/features/50464…
90.56/ I didn't have time this week to discuss one of my favorite mishnayot, Negaim 2:1, and what it means for "the color of Jews" but in short: pshat in the Mishna is that we're every color, every "race" #Metzora
227.02/ #ChochmatNashim for #ChayeiSara 5784 2023 (LAST YEAR) @ChochmatNashim.
Downloadable PDF with working links to Divrei Torah by Orthodox women scholars. 19 pages. #ChayaSara #ChayeiSarah
227.03/ The first time through the cruel & stupid Trump (ym'sh) circus I read the news with trepidation because I didn't know what terrible thing he'd do next. This time, I read the news with contempt & anger because the MSM helped elect him and wants him to succeed.
225.02/ Finally dropped off our ballots this morning & took a selfie. A fun thing then happened: a young dad carrying a baby arrived after us & he said that it was his first time voting after becoming a citizen! So I insisted on taking a photo of him (with his camera). USA! USA!
225.03/ Yes, I'm the one who waited all Shabbas for the poll, taught my kids how polls work (social science PhD, baby) & what I hoped would happen (GOP leading by only 5). And they got to see my stunned elation in real time when I read the news.
224.02/ There's sticker shock and then there's "standing on the bathroom scale after 3 three-day yuntifs and 2 major fasts over 3 weeks" sticker shock.
224.03/ BTW, Trump (ym"sh) abd the MAGA-GOP going completely mask-off with racist nativism was very much on my BINGO card.
223.02/ Downside of "October is the Best Sports Month" - mixed blessing really - is that at 8pm tonight 3 of my teams will be on at the same time. NYMets facing elimination, #LIGHTITUPNYL in the last game of the finals, and the Steelers on SNF.
223.03/ #ChochmatNashim for #Vezot #SimchatTorah #SheminiAtzeret 2023-5784 (LAST YEAR). @ChochmatNashim
Downloadable PDF with working links with Divrei Torah by Orthodox women scholars on the topics of the week. 23 Pages drive.google.com/file/d/1pQso-a…
222.02/ #ChochmatNashim for #Sukkot 5784 2023 (LAST YEAR) @ChochmatNashim.
Downloadable PDF with Divrei Torah by Orthodox women scholars on the holiday & other weekly topics. 15 pages. drive.google.com/file/d/154AH4_…
222.03/ Another October sports is awesome moment: Mets playoffs, Yankees playoffs, Monday night football plus the #NYR at home. Pretty much all at the same time.