by BZ · Monday, April 30th, 2007
(Introduction.)
Today: No defects.
331. “Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and feet from it.” (Exodus 30:19) = employees must wash hands (and feet) before returning to work (in the Temple service)
332. “He shall not enter behind the curtain or come near the altar, for he has a defect.” (Leviticus 21:23) = someone with a defect may not enter the Temple or the altar
333. “Speak to Aaron and say: no one of your offspring throughout the ages who has a defect shall be qualified to offer the food of his God.” (Leviticus 21:17) = someone with a defect may not serve in the Temple
334. “No one who has a defect shall approach.” (Leviticus 21:18) = someone with even a temporary defect may not serve
335. “No outsider shall intrude upon you.” (Numbers 18:4) = a non-kohein may not serve
336. “When a person offers a sacrifice of well-being to God, for an explicit vow or as a freewill offering, from the herd or the flock, it must be without blemish.” (Leviticus 22:21) = all sacrifices must be without blemish
337. “You shall not offer anything that has a defect, for it will not be accepted in your favor.” (Leviticus 22:20) = don’t sanctify an animal with a defect for the altar
338. “Anything blind, or injured, or maimed, or with a wen, boil-scar, or scurvy — such you shall not offer to God.” (Leviticus 22:22) = don’t slaughter an animal with a defect
339. “You shall not offer to God anything bruised or crushed or torn or cut.” (Leviticus 22:24) = don’t throw the blood of an animal with a defect on the altar
340. “You shall not put any of them on the altar as offerings by fire to God.” (Leviticus 22:22) = don’t offer the fat of an animal with a defect on the altar
341. “You shall not sacrifice to Adonai your God an ox or a sheep that has any defect of any bad thing, for that is abhorrent to Adonai your God.” (Deuteronomy 17:1) = don’t offer an animal with a temporary defect
342. “You shall not offer such from a foreigner as food for your God, for they are mutilated; they have a defect.” (Leviticus 22:25) = don’t offer an animal with a defect even if it comes from non-Jews
343. “There must be no defect in it.” (Leviticus 22:21) = don’t create a defect in a sanctified animal
344. “When you desire, you may slaughter and eat meat in any of your settlements, according to the blessing that Adonai your God has granted you.” (Deuteronomy 12:15) = if an animal becomes invalidated for sacrifice, it should be redeemed, and it can be eaten normally while another animal is purchased in its place
345. “When an ox or a sheep or a goat is born, it shall stay 7 days with its mother, and from the 8th day on it shall be acceptable as an offering by fire to God.” (Leviticus 22:27) = only offer animals that are at least 8 days old
by Mordy · Monday, April 30th, 2007
Ever notice that Jews love spinning their music festival names off Lollapalooza. Slightly ironic, cause Lollapalooza was supposed to be the bastion for Alternative music, and Jewish festivals tend to be, well, musically conservative. Anyway, Lag*B*Omer*Palooza is being organized by Chabad of Yeshiva University and features an all-star (well, for Jewish music) group of bands: Raya Mehemna, Piamenta, and new-comers Ta-Shma. The date is, obviously, Lag B’Omer. Flyer after the jump.
More »
by BZ · Monday, April 30th, 2007
By now you’ve probably heard all about the Winograd Commission report, released today, which found that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s decisions regarding the 2006 Lebanon War were a “severe failure”. There’s one piece of this story that gives me hope about Israeli democracy, relative to American democracy: all the news articles are reporting that Olmert’s approval rating sits between 2% and 3%.
In the United States, even when a president spends 6 years accomplishing one severe failure after another, such that no one’s definition of success has been achieved except for multibillionaires and Al Qaeda recruiters, his approval rating will still never fall below 25%. For the “base”, loyalty is just that strong that it outweighs all empirical reality.
Israelis, on the other hand, whether they’re on the left or on the right, appear to be part of the reality-based community. When their government enters a disastrous war, they recognize this and hold their leaders accountable. Americans have much to learn.
by EV · Monday, April 30th, 2007
Choose your thugs: The people who perpetrated this brutality, or the French government for being too cowardly (or too nostalgic for Vichy) to call it what it is.
Days before the presidential elections in France, authorities are reluctant to label as anti-Semitic an incident in which 22-year-old Audrey Brachelle was brutally attacked last Thursday in Marseilles.
…According to Brachelle, her attackers began striking her in the head. Then, one of them pulled a knife, cut a tuft of her hair and slashed her shirt. The two men then drew a swastika on her bare chest and fled the scene.
One thing is clear: In light of this latest atrocity, activists across the world will stage demonstrations against racist, fundamentalist butchers.
Unless, of course, they ignore it.
Full story.
Hat tip to DK.
by Mobius · Monday, April 30th, 2007
Haaretz reports,
A vast majority of Israeli Arabs would support a constitution that maintained Israel’s status as a Jewish and democratic state while guaranteeing equal rights for minorities, according to a poll whose results were published on Sunday.
Among the 507 people who participated in the poll, some 75 percent said they would agree with such a definition while 23 percent said they would oppose it.
The Israel Democracy Institute (IDI), a non-partisan research institute who commissioned the poll, said the results were proof that a constitution that maintained Israel’s status as a Jewish and democratic state could win the support of the Israeli Arab public.
Full story.
(c/o Bill)
by BZ · Sunday, April 29th, 2007
(Introduction.)
Today: For priests only
316. “Sanctify him, for he offers the food of your God.” (Leviticus 21:8) = sanctify the priests for service
317. “If a Levite would go, from any of the settlements throughout Israel where s/he has been residing, to the place that God has chosen … they shall receive equal shares of the dues.” (Deuteronomy 18:6-8) = the different groups of priests (which serve one at a time throughout the year, in one-week shifts) all serve at the same time during the pilgrimage festivals and split things up evenly
318. “Make sacral vestments for your brother Aaron, for dignity and adornment.” (Exodus 28:2) = the priests should wear their uniforms when they’re on duty
319. “The opening [of the robe of the ephod] shall have a binding of woven work round about — it shall be like the opening of a coat of mail — so that it does not tear.” (Exodus 28:32) = don’t tear the robe of the ephod, one of the high priest’s garments
320. “The breastplate shall not come loose from the ephod.” (Exodus 28:28)
321. “Drink no wine or other intoxicant, you or your sons, when you enter the Tent of Meeting.” (Leviticus 10:9) = a drunk person can’t enter the Temple
322. “Do not let your hair grow.” (Leviticus 10:6) = a person with long hair may not enter the Temple
323. “Do not tear your clothes.” (Leviticus 10:6) = a person with torn clothes may not enter the Temple
324. “He may not come at any time into the sacred, behind the curtain.” (Leviticus 16:2) = a priest can’t enter the Temple at any old time; they need a reason to be there
325. “Do not go outside the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.” (Leviticus 10:7) = a priest may not leave the Temple while doing the service
326. “They shall remove from the camp anyone with an eruption or a discharge and anyone defiled by a corpse.” (Numbers 5:2) = send anyone who is tamei (ritually unclean) out of the Temple
327. “They shall not defile the camp of those in whose midst I dwell.” (Numbers 5:3) = someone who is tamei may not enter the Temple
328. “If anyone among you has been rendered unclean by a nocturnal emission, he must leave the camp, and he must not reenter the camp.” (Deuteronomy 23:11) = someone who is tamei may not enter the Temple Mount either
329. “They shall separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel.” (Leviticus 22:2) = someone who is tamei may not serve in the Temple
330. “They shall not profane the name of their God.” (Leviticus 21:6) = a tevul yom (someone who was tamei, and then immersed so that s/he will become tahor at sunset, but the sun hasn’t set yet) may not serve in the Temple
by BZ · Sunday, April 29th, 2007
(Introduction.)
Today: The Temple. Halfway there!
301. “They shall build me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them.” (Exodus 25:8) = build the Temple
302. “If you make for me an altar of stones, do not build it of hewn stones, for by wielding your tool upon them you have profaned them.” (Exodus 20:22)
303. “Do not ascend my altar by steps, that your nakedness may not be exposed upon it.” (Exodus 20:23)
304. “Fear my sanctuary.” (Leviticus 19:30) = and respect it, etc.
305. “[The Levites] shall keep my watch, and the watch of the whole Tent.” (Numbers 18:3) = keep a guard around the Temple
306. “You shall keep watch over the sanctuary and over the altar.” (Numbers 18:5) = the Levites on guard shouldn’t cease
307. “This shall be an anointing oil sacred to me throughout the ages.” (Exodus 30:31) = make the anointing oil (to anoint priests and Temple equipment)
308. “Do not make anything like it in the same proportions.” (Exodus 30:32) = don’t make the recipe of the anointing oil for non-Temple purposes
309. “It must not be rubbed on any person’s body.” (Exodus 30:32) = the anointing oil
310. “When you make this incense, you must not make any in the same proportions for yourselves.” (Exodus 30:37)
311. “Do not offer alien incense on [the incense altar].” (Exodus 30:9)
312. “[The clan of Kehat] had the service of the sacred objects; they carried on their shoulders.” (Numbers 7:9) = when the ark is transported, it should be transported on shoulders (not on vehicles)
313. “The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be removed from it.” (Exodus 25:15)
314. “The Levites shall perform the services of the Tent of Meeting.” (Numbers 18:23)
315. “[The Levites] must not have any contact with the sacred implements or with the altar.” (Numbers 18:3) = the Levites shouldn’t do the priests’ jobs, and vice versa
by Mobius · Sunday, April 29th, 2007
The LA Daily News reports,
A song played inside a West Los Angeles fire station whose lyrics were altered in an alleged anti-Semitic way sparked the most recent discrimination probe within the Los Angeles Fire Department, an official said Wednesday.
The 2000 hit “Who Let the Dogs Out?” was changed to say “Who let the Jews out?” and was played inside Fire Station58 sometime this month, according to several sources and confirmed by Los Angeles Fire Commissioner Genethia Hudley-Hayes.
The station is in the Pico/Robertson neighborhood, which has a large Jewish population.
It was not known who lodged a complaint or whether any firefighters are under investigation.
Amusingly, the song in question is actually from a Flash animation created to promote the novel Schlepping Through the Alps — which was awarded Best Book of 2005 by Jewschool. It is not, in itself, at all antisemitic, though perhaps, depending on the context in which it played, it may have been interpreted as such. Nonetheless, sheesh… I bet creator Dan Meth never saw that coming.
Full story.
by Mobius · Sunday, April 29th, 2007
Rupert Murdoch’s Sky News unexpectedly reports,
A survivor of the Virginia Tech massacre has been describing how a colleague died to protect others.
Although badly injured, graduate student Waleed Shalaan distracted gunman Cho Seung-Hui to save another person from his bullets.
The surviving student, who wishes to remain anonymous, told of Waleed’s heroics through an email to his supervisor.
He describes how he was left uninjured after Cho’s initial round of shots.
Meanwhile, Waleed had been wounded but was still alive.
However, when Cho later returned to the classroom to inspect for signs of life among his victims, the surviving student struggled to remain calm.
He believes he would have been shot dead were it not for Waleed’s “protective movement” that distracted the gunman.
Full story.
by Mobius · Sunday, April 29th, 2007
- “Four large U.S. Jewish groups have lent support to Turkey’s position in opposing the passage of two resolutions pending in Congress that call for official recognition of World War I-era killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as genocide.” When Jews deny other people’s holocausts for the sake of Israel’s foreign relations, something is truly awry.
- Psychology Today: “We tend to believe our political views have evolved by a process of rational thought, as we consider arguments, weigh evidence, and draw conclusions. But the truth is more complicated. Our political preferences are equally the result of factors we’re not aware of—such as how educated we are, how scary the world seems at a given moment, and personality traits that are first apparent in early childhood. Among the most potent motivators, it turns out, is fear.”
- “Hadassah national president June Walker said this week that her recent appointment to head the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations marks a new era for the status of women within Jewish organizations. ‘Women have finally arrived in the Jewish world where their intelligence and activities are regarded in the same light as men,’ she said. ‘Equality [within Jewish organizations] is now based on capability and not sex.’”
- “A Jewish caucus has been set up within Germany’s centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), the first Jewish organization within a major German party since the Nazi takeover in 1933, a report Thursday said.”
- “Tel Aviv hopes to set up a ‘walk of fame’ similar to that in Hollywood on one of the city’s main streets in time for its 100th anniversary in 2009, the Ma’ariv daily reported Thursday.”
- So hareidim aren’t the only ones: “A protest by two opposing groups of Cambodian Buddhist monks has ended in a fist fight on the streets of the Cambodian capital, leaving at least one monk hurt.”
- “With threats to the Jewish people emanating from so many directions – a nuclear Iran, the demographic challenges of American Jewry, the rise in anti-Semitic attacks around the world – a succession of leaders has warned that Jews face as much peril today as on the eve of the Holocaust. But when the Center for Jewish Studies at Queens College in New York City convened a conference this week on the state of world Jewry – ominously titled ‘Is it 1938 again?’ – the consensus was a resounding ‘No.’”
by Ben Baruch · Saturday, April 28th, 2007
by LastTrumpet · Friday, April 27th, 2007
Via Treehugger:
Hear ye, hear ye, hear ye — everyone in the Middle East. Saddle your camels – Israel is announcing that it is to open the largest health food store in the region and among one of the largest in the world, reports Israel Today…
Eden Teva Market, a $6 million project invested by businessman Guy Provisor is expected to open this June in Netanya. On its shelves will be stocked more than 14,000 products in 20 different departments, which will include a bakery, a deli, an organic hummus stand, and an ice cream parlor – to name a few. Organic will be a focus but also specialized products manufactured by small companies will be kept in stock.
Full story.
by Mobius · Friday, April 27th, 2007
JVoices was hacked yesterday and its entire database wiped out by a hacker posing, believe it or not, as Harley from Jewbiquitous, another Jewish weblog.
Unfortunately, restoring the site from our webhoster’s backup cost us $125, and I am scraping the bottom of the barrel for rent these days. Please consider making a donation to help us cover the cost of this procedure.
[Update] Great news! It actually looks to me like this was a software glitch and not a hack at all…
Call me silly, but I forgot that I’d moved over to a new database setup yesterday (a one-click modification via Media Temple’s control panel, and one so simple I’d forgot I’d even done it) and am guessing that the data didn’t properly migrate. According to Harley at Jewbiquitous, she visited JVoices and landed at the Wordpress installation screen (which is what you sometimes get when the database becomes corrupted) and put in her data, thus giving me the impression that someone had come in, wiped out the data, and put her information in instead.
In other words, there was no hack, there was no malicious anything, and I think I may be able to get Media Temple to cover the expense whereas it was technically a fault in their software.
If this proves to be the case, and they cover the cost of the restore procedure (which will otherwise set me back $125 I don’t have) I will refund everyone’s donations.
Otherwise, this is great news, frankly, because I was rather perplexed as to how someone would have gained access to JVoices database and wiped out its content. I was worried that someone had gained administrative access to my entire database server and was sweating when the next attack would come. Now I know that this is not the situation.
Thank G-d for small blessings.
If anyone wants their money back on principle, knowing that this unexpected glitch was not a result of malicious behavior, please let me know, and I will be happy to return your generous donation. And I would like to express my deep gratitude to everyone who contributed — it was really generous and honorable of you, and I thank you for your support.
by BZ · Thursday, April 26th, 2007
(Introduction.)
Today: The 7th year and the 50th year
286. “All creditors … shall not dun their fellow or their kin.” (Deuteronomy 15:2) = all debts are forgiven in the 7th year, so don’t make people pay up
287. “Beware lest you harbor the base thought, ‘The seventh year, the year of remission, is approaching,’ so that you are mean to your needy kin and give them nothing.” (Deuteronomy 15:9)
288. “You shall count off 7 weeks of years — 7 times 7 years — so that the period of 7 weeks of years gives you a total of 49 years.” (Leviticus 25:8)
289. “You shall hallow the 50th year.” (Leviticus 25:10)
290. “You shall sound the horn loud, in the 7th month, on the 10th day of the month — the Day of Atonement — you shall have the horn sounded throughout your land.” (Leviticus 25:9) = in the 50th (yovel) year, to announce the release of all slaves
291. “You shall not sow.” (Leviticus 25:11) = don’t work the land during the yovel year
292. “Do not reap the aftergrowth.” (Leviticus 25:11) = in the 50th year
293. “Do not harvest the untrimmed vines.” (Leviticus 25:11) = in the 50th year
294. “Throughout the land that you hold, you must provide for the redemption of the land.” (Leviticus 25:24) = in the 50th year, all land returns to its original owners
295. “The land must not be sold beyond reclaim, for the land is mine; you are but strangers resident with me.” (Leviticus 25:23) = no land sales are permanent
296. “If a man sells a dwelling house in a walled city, it may be redeemed until a year has elapsed since its sale.” (Leviticus 25:29) = and after that, the sale can be permanent
297. “[The Levites] shall have no portion among their fellow tribes.” (Deuteronomy 18:2) = they don’t get their own land allotment
298. “The levitical priests, the whole tribe of Levi, shall have no territorial portion with Israel.” (Deuteronomy 18:1) = they don’t get the spoils of conquest either
299. “[The Israelites] shall assign, out of the holdings apportioned to them, towns for the Levites to dwell in, and the pasture shall be for the cattle they own and all their other beasts.” (Numbers 35:2)
300. “The unenclosed land about [the Levites'] cities cannot be sold, for that is their holding for all time.” (Leviticus 25:34)
by Kol Ra'ash Gadol · Wednesday, April 25th, 2007
Jewish Women’s Archive is launching a new feature:This Day of American Jewish Heritage. The feature was created in honor of the 2nd annual celebration of Jewish American Heritage Month this May. This Day of American Jewish Heritage will connect every day in May to significant moments in American Jewish history, for example: the ordination of women rabbis, and the creation of a 21st century progressive mikveh (ritual bath).
Each entry in the daily feature includes dates and accompanying descriptions encompassing the range of achievements of American Jewish women historically and up through today, and also highlights significant developments in American Jewish life.
In addition to offering the content on their own website, www.jwa.org, JWA is also offering it as a feed that can be posted on any website. Sites will be able to offer daily headlines that would link back to JWA’s website for the full exposition of each entry, or to host the entire content for This Day of Jewish American Heritage. JWA is providing code (iFrame) for displaying this feature.
by BZ · Wednesday, April 25th, 2007
(Introduction.)
Today: feeding the priests, and the sabbatical year
271. “You may not partake in your settlements of … the contributions of your hands.” (Deuteronomy 12:17) = when the priest eats the first fruits that you bring to the Temple, he can’t eat them outside of Jerusalem
272. “You shall recite as follows before Adonai your God: ‘My father was a fugitive Aramean’, etc.” (Deuteronomy 26:5-10) = when you bring the first fruits to the Temple
273. “As the first yield of your baking, you shall set aside a loaf as a gift.” (Numbers 15:20) = when you bake bread, separate “challah” for the priests
274. “This shall be the priests’ due from the people: Everyone who offers a sacrifice, whether an ox or a sheep, must give the shoulder, the cheeks, and the stomach to the priest.” (Deuteronomy 18:3)
275. “The first shearing of your sheep you shall give to [the priest].” (Deuteronomy 18:4)
276. “The first issue of the womb of every being, human or beast, that is offered to God, shall be yours [the priests'], but you shall have the first-born of humans redeemed.” (Numbers 18:15) = pidyon haben
277. “Every firstling ass you shall redeem with a sheep…” (Exodus 23:13)
278. “…and if you do not redeem it, you must break its neck.” (Exodus 23:13)
279. “You shall rest from plowing and harvesting.” (Exodus 34:21) = this doesn’t refer to Shabbat (since we have the commandment to rest on Shabbat elsewhere); it means that every 7th year, the land shall rest
280. “In the seventh year the land shall have a sabbath of complete rest, a sabbath of God: you shall not sow your field…” (Leviticus 25:4)
281. “…and you shall not prune your vineyard.” (Leviticus 25:4) = in the 7th year
282. “You shall not reap the aftergrowth of your harvest.” (Leviticus 25:5) = in the 7th year
283. “You shall not gather the grapes of your untrimmed vines.” (Leviticus 25:5) = in the 7th year
284. “In the seventh year you shall let [the land] lie fallow.” (Exodus 23:11) = all produce becomes public property
285. “You must remit whatever is due you from your kin.” (Deuteronomy 15:3) = all debts are cancelled in the 7th year
by matthue · Wednesday, April 25th, 2007
Give it up for David Arfa, who’s pioneering the latest in do-it-yourself halacha l’maiseh. This is (or will be) the cover to MezuzaZine, which is going to be just what it sounds like — practical halachos, cool stories, trivia, and other mezuza-related writings and drawings. Although it should be as funky as can be, we’re planning to hold with a Traditional Halachic common denominator.
A brainstorm of topics:
- Basic Halacha of putting up a mezuza and which doorposts need them and which do not
- D.I.Y. mezuza case… just add a shin
- Where to find Kosher mezuza scrolls
- Something mystical or deeper meanings
- Interview with a Sofer
- Funny PSA style advertisements with pictures of homes, Jews, and their mezuza choices
feel free to share ideas! send submissions and questions to mezuzazine at gmail.com
by rokhl · Wednesday, April 25th, 2007
Did you miss Dan Kahn at Barbes? Did you miss Sarah Gordon and Michael Winograd at the pre-pesakh KaveHoyz singing powr ballads of the old country? Did you miss the last 25 years of the brilliance of Ms. Adrienne Cooper? Then here’s your chance to catch up.
Tonight at The Stone (2nd street and avenue C) at 10pm, see the best, brightest and some of the youngest (and middle-age-iest) stars of the Yiddish music scene!$10
10 pm
Adrienne Cooper, Friends and Relations
Adrienne Cooper (voice) Michael Winograd (clarinet, piano) Dan Blacksberg (trombone), Dan Kahn (vocals and squeezers)
Vocalist Adrienne Cooper is joined by clarinetist Michael Winograd, trombonist Dan Blacksberg, Yiddish Princess Sarah Gordon, Punk-Folk-Cabaret legend Dan Kahn and others for an intergenerational Yiddish intervention.
