101.06/ I take full responsibility for the #Mets loss today. Whenever my family goes to a game, we seem to lose. I have that effect on Flushing Meadows. #LGM
101.07/ This is a very useful thread by @Yair_Rosenberg about the (confusing) breaking news about the Israeli government:
101.08/ Last night the @SNYtv booth said that the last time the #Mets beat the Astros [insert trash can lid sound] in Houston was in 2011, when they were both in the National League! #LGM ultimatemets.com/oppteams.php?T…
101.10/ I have a sociological-theological answer for the disturbing proliferation of anti-social Joshes, but for now I'll acknowledge that The Council of Assorted Joshuas need to police our members better. Maybe adding another yud?
101.12/ It's clear that ignorance *is* bliss. But it's also (too often) deadly and it's the root of criminal negligence.
It's not moral to remain ignorant, and the fact that it feels good should signal to you how selfish it is to willingly stay that way.
101.12b/ This came up b/c - from a combo of nature/nurture - I'm determined to know the truth of things no matter how painful. And knowing what's going on (& why) doesn't actually make me feel good. It's incredibly frustrating! But I keep maintaining my gaze as a moral imperative
101.13/ Barukh Dayan ha-Emet. This is absolutely horrible news. A tragedy for human rights and American liberty
101.14/ The Roberts Court has gutted nearly every significant right American citizens had & now women are no longer first class citizens & the right to privacy has been destroyed. A literal curse on everyone who helped this happen through action or negligence.
101.15/ Re: our corrupt & cruel SCOTUS.
What I'm feeling is an emotion that's idiomatic of, but not unique to, Jewish culture: a mixture of rage & sorrow. My heart is heavy but my mind focused on who's guilty & who's being hurt. This emotion precedes a call for God's judgement.
101.17/ #NachasAlert (even in the face of tragedy, there's still nachas)
Despite it being his responsibility, I needed to allow my son to be absent when his "trunk" was picked up to go to sleepaway camp because he was teaching a self-created Gemara shiur at the time. He's 15.
101.18/ #NachasAlert (even in the face of tragedy, there's still nachas)
After many years of waiting I was able to finally register a new voter this week. How many years? Eighteen.
(Also registered for selective-service, jury-duty, & other citizenship duties. Thank God.)
101.19/ Parshat #Shelach has two immediate messages for us today
(1) what it feels like when 5/6th of men, seized with terror of their inadequacy, doom a nation to the wilderness
101.21/ You don't need to have a uterus to be horrified by this corrupt & cruel Court's uprooting of Roe. Legal precedent means nothing to them. Every right we have can disappear. They want us to live in 1850 but we can reverse it in November if we stay together & stay strong!
101.22/ A political party that lusts after controlling bodies by banning abortion has thus criminalized following Jewish law. Halakha demands abortion in many cases. It now may be assur to live in or visit those states because of pikuach nefesh. The GOP has banned a Torah law!
101.23/ Some important perspectives before I go for Shabbos:
101.26/ I'll be clear: when I said above I'm laying a curse on those who let this happen, that's not a metaphor. I'm calling God's judgment down. That goes for anyone who suppresses the vote right now. I'm serious.
101.27/ Be careful everyone, protest safely, help those in need, because we're surrounded by the callous, corrupt, and the cruel. We're all in this together.
230.02/ The Assad regime collapsing over Shabbas #Vayetze seems especially appropriate. I had long compared Lavan to Assad, the urbane facade hiding real cruelty and depravity. I celebrate the toppling of a murderous regime and the liberation of Saydnaya prison.
230.03/ Mets Twitter is having a party right now. This is fun. #LGM
229.03/ #ChochmatNashim for #Vayetze #Vayetzei #Vayeitzei 5784 2023 (LAST YEAR). @ChochmatNashim.
Downloadable PDF with working links to Divrei Torah from Orthodox women scholars on the parsha and other topics of the week. 20 pages. drive.google.com/file/d/1JqU6Lt…
228.02/ Fundamentally, a plurality want a minority to do all the work but get no reward while they do very little work & get all the reward. The only system that will get close to that - liberal Democracy - gives too much to people the plurality hates, so they vote for fantasies.
228.03/ #ChochmatNashim for #Toldot #Toledot 5784 2023 (LAST YEAR). @ChochmatNashim.
Downloadable PDF with working links to Divrei Torah by Orthodox women scholars on the parsha and other topics of the week. 20 Pages. drive.google.com/file/d/1dpJe7R…
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.