The glory of reading the Bible in Hebrew (explicitly inspired by @arilamm 🧵's)

On Biblical kissing, "make" vs "make out", and re-enacting past trauma.

When Jacob first meets Rachel, he suddenly and publicly *kisses* her (Gen 29:10).

One key Biblical Hebrew word explains why. Note --

This is *first* time that the Bible records a kiss between a man and woman. Indeed, it is the *only* kiss between two romantic partners seen anywhere in the Five Books of the Torah.

Why record *this* kiss? And what is its place in the Torah’s overall story?

On this July 4th, I remember that it IS TOTALLY POSSIBLE to celebrate:

-A nation with gorgeous Founding Principles, even if they are rarely fulfilled
-A history full of astounding achievements, even if it also contains major ethical failures

Because I'm Jewish and... That's literally how all our nation-celebrating holidays and history-commemorating celebrations work.

One reason we fasted on 10th Tevet is to mark the tragic translation of the Torah into Greek.

Jews recognize it as a cataclysmic event, that led to radical misinterpretation of the Torah, altering the face of the world's spiritual trajectory.

In fact, the late Pope agreed(!): Describing what the Pope saw as a radically important moment -- positively -- he identifies the Septuagint as the founding moment of Christianity!

"Today we know that the Greek translation of the Old Testament - the Septuagint - is more than a translation of the Hebrew text ..."

Every Jewish holiday has customs of preparation.

Passover has "Erev Pesach", with the cleaning and burning of all leaven.
Yom Kippur has 10 Days of Repentance to get in the zone.

Every holiday, except one:

**We don't prepare for Hannukah**

It's intentional. Here's why. Sure, *you* might prepare by sending out party invites, or hoarding TJ's frozen latkes,

but

there are no Halakhot (laws) or Minhagim (customs) that the Jewish people, as a whole, perform in advance of the holiday.

There's nothing we're actually *supposed* to do.

There's a super popular idea in Jewish thought (its all over Aish / Chabad/ Artscroll content) that bothers me:

Abraham = Chesed (kindness)
Isaac = Gevurah (strength)
Jacob = Emet (truth)

It bothers me, because its *WRONG*.

I did some research & thinking. I found a bombshell. I say it's *WRONG*

Because the Jacob stories are bursting with LIES & DISHONESTY.

Because the Isaac stories are all about WEAKNESS & PASSIVITY. (His most famous narrative is the *binding* of Isaac.)

Even Abraham: there is some excellent kindness, but what about ....

Why did our Sages put Aveilut -- the Jewish practices of mourning and grief -- in their section on *holidays*?

I put a ton of soul this question, for the last three years, and I’m thrilled to share that the answer just won the Ateret Zvi Prize.🏆😊

Here's why the Sages did it🧵 They put Aveilut (mourning practices)

in Seder Moed (the order of the Mishna devoted to holidays)

Specifically, in Masechet Moed Katan (the book dedicated to the laws of Chol HaMoed, the intermediate days of Sukkot and Pesach).

Weird!!

RTing to share what I've learned and I've been chewing on, from the *excellent folks* who commented on this thread:

1. Moses or Aaron yell at the people?
2. A random echo of the Miriam death / Rock connection, in Rabbinic text
3. But *why* is Moshe punished for this?

https://twitter.com/benzgreenfield/status/1545102203232321538

1a. @DanRithz pointed out that it's actually not clear from the Torah, who says the phrase, "listen O rebels!"

ויקהלו משה ואהרן את־הקהל אל־פני הסלע ויאמר להם שמעו־נא המרים
"Moses and Aaron assembled the congregation in front of the rock; and **he** said to them"

Who is the he??

The glory of reading the Bible in Hebrew (explicitly inspired by @AriLamm 🧵's)
On Miriam, Marinara Sauce & *Muted Rage*

God ordered Moshe to speak to the rock. So why did Moses *hit* it instead? (Num 20)

Why fail such an easy order??

A key Hebrew word explains it all. Vital background:
This story of rock and water is preceded by the death (!) of Moses' sister, Miriam.

But her death is presented as a side point, barely whispered between two other stories, not even worthy of its own verse.

2/n

I started receiving mail at my Shul from Jewish anti-Vaxx groups, sending us their pamphlets and literature. Uchhhh.

But here’s the thing: they do not present as anti-science, in any simple meaning of the term

The whole pamphlet is MDs, scientists, journal citations, etc.

1/n They present as “we’re all for science, our problem is with the *popular* concept of ‘The Science Says’ and who you trust to tell you what in fact ‘The Science Says’.”

And this is actually a fairly understandable claim.

2/n