Affable Gadfly Jew. Rabbinic surrealism. Piously goading youth into thinking. Are anyone's views their own? Read my substack: https://t.co/M7U4IJvqyc
Jan 12, 2025 • 43 tweets • 10 min read
#Ps119 unfolds in octets, 8-verse stanzas, each verse beginning with the same letter. The 1st octet's verses start with the 1st Hebrew letter א Alef, the 2nd's with the 2nd letter ב Beit, the 3rd's with the 3rd letter ג Gimmel, &c.
Why? What's the form to do with the content?...
Well, what is the content of #Ps119? As Malbim says in his introduction, it's a prayer to "walk in [the ways of] the Torah & keep His mitzvot."
In fact, Malbim continues,...
Mar 22, 2023 • 29 tweets • 5 min read
I was asked to give a talk based on the personal experience of my ex denying me a divorce (until she stopped) on the theme of "חופש לבחור" ("freedom to choose"). Here's what I want to say:
Paradoxically, the most profound experiences of בחירה "free choice" are when there's no חופש ("freedom, liberty, options"). 1/
Mar 22, 2023 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Tomorrow night I'm speaking at a Torah learning retreat. And I kinda want to just sit & talk with the other presenters.
על סרבנות גט - מאיר שמחה
על עליה לארץ - מת'יו
על גיור - תבל
על יציאה מהארון - אפרת
על רווקות - מאירי
I know they're expecting a personal story about liberation, but the story of how my ex refused for over a year to accept a gett (=document effecting Jewish divorce) isn't so interesting as a story of liberation. I think. 2/
Mar 21, 2023 • 13 tweets • 2 min read
Politics in Israel? Here's what I think. I could be wrong. Tell me how.
* * *
Judicial reform (in Israel) is needed. Also the particular proposal must be improved. (Some improvements have been proposed.) 1/
Judicial reform has been a core issue for decades for Israel's Religious Nationalist communities (which make up a significant part of Israel's "Right"). 2/
Jul 13, 2022 • 17 tweets • 3 min read
We mourn because our selves are entangled with finite people, things, ideas, &c.
"It didn't have to be this way" may be true in a limited way. But "it never had to be your way" is bedrock reality. Part of mourning is accepting that reality is what it is. Hence ברוך דיין האמת.
Re disorganized & unplanned, cf when the inevitable was accepted in advance. God sat shiva *before* Flood; Aharon & sons sat 7 days on the ground during dedication of the mishkan *before* the deaths of Nadav & Avihu; sometimes you can mourn w loved ones before they go.
