by shamirpower · Friday, June 13th, 2008
I just received this from the JTS Bible department listerv from my former Bible M.A. adviser:
Are you tired of doing the NY Times crossword puzzles or sudoku puzzles (at the evil level) during the summer? Here is a puzzle you might want to consider working on while on the beach or in Vermont. It comes from someone who has just visited Russia. She wants to know what the accompanying text is (part of her letter to me is underneath). If anyone has some success in solving the text, let me know. There is no prize, but the “winner” will be acknowledged with great acclaim at the next Bible Dept Lunch.
Good luck!
- DM
[email from person who found the book]
Recently while visiting on of the countries of the former USSR I was approached by someone with a question: the family was in possession of what they believe is an ancient Jewish religious book/scripture and they were interested in finding out exactly what this book meant. Several experts from Russia attest that the language is neither Arameic, nor Hebrew, and that the red frame around the words is uncharacteristical of ancient Jewish religious writings. And this is as far as anyone got… The cover of this book is wooden and the pages appear to be made out of pergament.
*Since 3 people on the listerv already figured it out, I wanted to see if any Jewschooler wants to try an solve it. The winner will have the option of writing a guest post related to archeology and modern relevance. (Here are some leads for you). The contest will end by Shabbat of next week. Go for it!
by Kol Ra'ash Gadol · Thursday, May 29th, 2008
A new internet startup called G.ho.st (pronounced like the spook, and an acronym for “Global Hosted Operating System”) offering “free web-based virtual computing for every human being” wants to give users a free,way to access their desktop and files from any computer with an Internet connection. To do so, g.ho.st uses services like Google Docs, Zoho and Flickr.
It has a Palestinian office in Ramallah, with about 35 software developers, and a smaller Israeli team in the Israeli town of Modiin. The CEO, Dr. Zvi Schreiber, said “he wanted to create G.ho.st after seeing the power of software running on the Web. He said he thought it was time to merge his technological and commercial ambitions with his social ones and create a business with Palestinians.”
G.ho.st also has a philanthropic component: a foundation that aims to establish community computer centers in Ramallah and in mixed Jewish-Arab towns in Israel. The foundation is headed by Noa Rothman, the granddaughter of Yitzhak Rabin, the Israeli prime minister slain in 1995.
“It’s the first time I met Palestinians of my generation face to face,†said Ms. Rothman, 31, of her work with G.ho.st. She said she was moved by how easily everyone got along. “It shows how on the people-to-people level you can really get things done.â€
Investors have put $2.5 million into the company so far, a modest amount. Employing Palestinians means the money goes farther; salaries for Palestinian programmers are about a third of what they are in Israel.
But Dr. Schreiber, who initially teamed up with Tareq Maayah, a Palestinian businessman, to start the Ramallah office, insists this is not just another example of outsourcing.
“We are one team, employed by the same company, and everyone has shares in the company,†he said.
NYT article
by Kol Ra'ash Gadol · Tuesday, April 29th, 2008
Week two, Day three
Tiferet of Gevurah
PETA is offering a 1 million Dollar reward to the first scientist to to produce and bring to market in vitro meat.
I give them full points for consistency. Of course, it doesn’t solve the problems of the use of resources to produce meat. It also raises all kinds of questions (and to be honest, although I’ve occasionally had a burger, the idea of meat produced by humans creeps me out especially knowing all the really awful stuff behind and alongside Genetically modified food- which currently is mostly herbiferous).
But of course, the really great questions have already been asked by Jewish Star Trek fans, who pondered the matter via the replicator: Could one eat a kosher cheeseburger? Who would be qualified to supervise the meat, since in theory there might still be animals around that people schechted? Would it be kosher to eat pork produced this way? How about human flesh? The questions are endless.
If it was liver, do you still have to broil it within an inch of destruction?
PETA: You have challenged us; now we challenge you to answer these question for us!
by Kol Ra'ash Gadol · Thursday, April 24th, 2008
Hod of Chesed
We’re all (by now) familiar with the story of the Orange on the seder plate. Not only the famous midrash (note I am not calling it fact) of Susannah Heschel and the man who claimed women should not be Jewish leaders, but also the misty origins of said story in the a woman telling lesbians that female homosexuality is a minor sin, like putting bread on the seder plate. Nevermind why the relentless deconstruction of this midrash is an example of why modern midrash sucks (I’ll talk about that some other time).
Instead, take a look at a post by Mel of Stirrup Queens and Sperm Count Jesters. Normally her blog is about infertility and its side issues from the perspective of an observant Jew. In this post, she writes about Thomas Beatie, the pregnant man and how putting an apple on the seder plate, for her, revived the original facts of the orange midrash…
representing reproductive rights for all people because truthfully, just as the changed story of Heschel’s speech has a man shouting about women belonging on the bimah as much as an orange belongs on the seder plate, empty symbolic gestures do not have a space at my table. It is apples and oranges; I am taking back the fruit. If I believe in reproductive rights for myself–and believe me, I want my reproductive rights well-covered–I need to believe in reproductive rights for all who act out of love or my shouting for myself becomes merely symbolic, self-serving, meaningless.
Mother Jones, in August 2006, ran a survey of fertility clinic directors. Only 59% believed everyone has a right to a child. 48% said they would likely turn away a gay couple seeking a surrogate. 20% would turn away a single woman. 17% would turn away a lesbian couple. If you want reproductive rights for yourself–and I’m fairly certain that no fertility clinic director would wish to be told that they cannot or must have a child–we should be concerned about others. Because I’m not just talking about those experiencing infertility who need to utilize assisted conception when I speak about reproductive rights–every single person on this earth should be in control of whether or not they reproduce or parent. Put an apple on the seder plate for that.
by feygele · Tuesday, January 29th, 2008
It’s been reported that Shimon Peres has met with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. It seems that Peres is now considering starting a Facebook profile of his own. Why? This is what he told a group representing more than 60 countries, who gathered at Yad Vashem for an international youth conference about the Holocaust:
“Anti-Semitism is a disease of everyone. Persecuting minorities, discrimination, xenophobia and violence exist in many countries in the world.
“You have the opportunity to teach your friends about the memory of the Holocaust so that these horrors will never be forgotten and will never be repeated.
“You can fight anti-Semitism using social networks, like Facebook.”
I know that Facebook has the causes application, and that messages can be sent to members of groups and events en masse, but as these are voluntary initiatives - you don’t have to join a group, cause, event that you disagree with, I don’t think that Facebook will be the most effective tool for countering anti-Semitism. Besides, would you want to be Peres’ friend?
Read more.
by Aliza · Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008
In a move heard loudly around the environmental world, the Israeli government has reached a deal with Project Better Place and Renault-Nissan for the three partners to create an electric car infrastructure throughout the holy land by 2011. Israel is cited as the perfect site for such a project due to its small size and the fact that electric cars currently can not go long distances without being recharged. The tax incentives and system are expected to make the electric car cheaper than using fuel for most drivers, given the increasing cost of fuel.
Using the pre-paid cellphone system as model, Renault-Nissan will build battery recharging stations around the country, and the government will provide tax incentives to purchasers. One of the impetuses behind the project, Idan Ofer, of Project Better Place, hopes this can be a model that will eventually go international. “If Israel will ever produce a Nokia, it will be this,†he told the NYTimes.
by sarah · Monday, November 19th, 2007
Thanks to MAKE for the tip about this open source LED menorah kit from EvilMadScientist.com. This looks easy and reasonably impressive, although I’m not sure whether the current would flow perceptibly in either a Shammai (oldest to newest “candle”) OR a Hillel (newest to oldest) direction. Engineers, you check it out and let us know. I’ll get my soldering kit ready to go.
by Kung Fu Jew · Wednesday, May 2nd, 2007
Of interest to those of us who love the intersection of Jewish text and the web:
A special class given by Pardes Faculty Member and Director of Special Programs
Rabbi David Levin-Kruss
on
Tuesday, May 8th at 7:30 pm
at Congregation Ramath Orah
550 West 110th Street
New York, NYÂ 10025
Wicked-pedia
Because of the internet, more information is available to us than in any previous generations. But is this a blessing or are there problems with the democratizations of knowledge? Using a biblical and a Talmudic model we will examine what is means to learn and to teach in the modern world.
To RSVP, click here.
More »
by BZ · Friday, March 2nd, 2007
This year’s cosmic confluences march on! We’ve had the autumnal equinox on Rosh Hashanah, the winter solstice on Rosh Chodesh Tevet (during Chanukah), and Ice Cream for Breakfast Day on Tu Bishvat, and we’re still going to have the vernal equinox on Rosh Chodesh Nisan (in more westerly time zones), and Cheese Weasel Day on the first day of Pesach.
Tomorrow night, Purim will feature a total lunar eclipse!!!! (Both events always occur on the full moon, but obviously don’t happen every month.) Unlike a solar eclipse (where your view of the eclipse depends on your terrestrial vantage point, because the moon either casts a shadow on your part of Earth or it doesn’t), a lunar eclipse involves the Earth casting a shadow on the moon, so everyone on Earth sees the same thing at the same time (as long as they can see the moon).
The eclipse begins at 4:30 PM EST and ends at 8:11 PM EST. The maximum eclipse will be at 6:21 PM EST. (Add or subtract the appropriate number of hours for your own time zone.) Of course, you can only see the eclipse at the times when the moon is visible in the sky. Moonrise in NYC will be at 5:43 PM. You can look up moonrise for your location at this link. At this time of the month, moonrise should be close to sunset (since the full moon, by definition, is the time of the month when the sun and moon are on opposite sides of Earth). The moon (like everything else) rises in the east, so if you’re in the Americas (where the eclipse is happening in the early evening), you can look for it in the low eastern sky.
It is appropriate that this eclipse is happening on the night of Purim, while Jews in many parts of the world are reading the megillah. The Talmud (Sukkah 29a) says that a lunar eclipse is a bad omen for the Jews (who use a lunar calendar), and a solar eclipse is a bad omen for the nations of the world (who use solar calendars). (I’m not endorsing this scientifically!)
So what happens during a lunar eclipse? The moon gets covered up (bad for the Jews), and then becomes visible again (good for the Jews!). This exactly parallels the structure of the book of Esther: during the first half, it appears as though the Jews are going to be annihilated. In the end, this ominous darkness is chased away, and everything works out ok: LaYehudim hayetah orah vesimchah! The Jews had light and joy!
Happy Purim!
by David Kelsey · Wednesday, July 19th, 2006
Rejecting the scope of the ban of Rabbi Eliyashiv and many haredi leaders against Natan Slifkin and his book The Science of Torah, Slifkin launched his “revised edition,†The Challenge of Creation, which seeks to explain why an old earth and evolution is not a contradiction to Orthodox Judaism.Â
But this is clearly not meant to appease the haredim, as is demonstrated by the cover, which is graced by the lovely profile of a skeletal Tyrannosaurs Rex. Rather, Challenge of Creation delves into greater explanation of classic sources useful for allowing reconciliation of an old earth and evolution (not Intelligent Design, which Slifkin rejects) and Orthodox Judaism, including those that will allow a “license for non-literal interpretation (p. 21)†of Torah verses when needed.
At the book launch at the Young Israel of Kew Garden Hills tonight, Rabbi Dr. Weinreb, who also wrote the foreword for the book, offered three sectors of Orthodox Jews harmed by the ban and contempt for grappling with science: Baalei Tshuvahs (newly Orthodox Jews), alienated youth, and “those educated to the wonders of sciences.â€
Rabbi Gil Student offered three reasons (see his site) why he assesses that the ban against Slifkin is not appropriate for Jews with a different ideological orientation than the haredim, and insisted that, “There are communities for which the books are dangerous, and there are communities for which the ban is dangerous.â€
Rabbi Slifkin asserted that his biggest complaint about the ban was that the signers and their supporters “didn’t give an alternate explanation†for the “objective physical reality.â€
“Dinosaurs were really there!â€
What is critical here is that with all the talk of Modern Orthodoxy moving to the right – on the core area of disagreement between Modern Orthodox and Haredim – the value of secular education, including science, and scientific method – has not changed, and the Modern Orthodox have not budged one iota.
The Orthodox Union may not be willing to officially attach its name to Rabbi Slifkin or his books, but they are quite willing to have a most senior staff member back him in a significant and public way.
This was a critical fight for the future of Modern Orthodoxy (Normative Judaism), and critical players rose to the occasion.  Carefully and thoughtfully, but valiantly.
by Y-Love · Tuesday, July 11th, 2006
So today the AP reported (as well as the Washington Post) on a study published Monday in the journal Psychopharmacology. Dr. Roland Griffiths of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine led a study into the effects of psilocybin — the active ingredient in psychedelic mushrooms — completing the first controlled study on the use of hallucinogens in almost 40 years. The researchers suggest the drug someday may help drug addicts kick their habit or aid terminally ill patients struggling with anxiety and depression.
The study found:
Of the 36 people, 22 had a “complete” mystical experience as judged by several question-based scales used for rating such experiences. Many reported feelings of joy and peace, and a sense of transcending time and space. Two-thirds judged it to be among their top-five life experiences, equal to the birth of a first child or death of a parent.
Two months after a session, the people who had taken psilocybin reported small but significant positive changes in behavior and attitudes compared to those who had taken Ritalin. Many participants said it had left them feeling kinder and happier than before — persistent changes that scientists corroborated through interviews with families, friends and co-workers.
One-third of the subjects, however, said they experienced “strong or extreme” fear at some point in the hours after they took the hallucinogen.
Four people said the entire session was dominated by anxiety or psychological struggle.
The average age of the test subjects was 46, with none of the subjects having taken hallucinogens recreationally before.
Like the Seattle Times said, this study comes after about 1000 years of use. While I can not deny the benefit of psychiatric research, and I am all for increasing the quality of life for terminally ill people, I can’t help but ask the question:
How much money (NIH or otherwise) went into this?
by David Kelsey · Sunday, July 9th, 2006
Is the Flat Earth Society just another way to say minyan?
Alexander Nussbaum writes in Skeptic Magazine that,
The sample of 176 Orthodox Jewish students surveyed showed almost complete denial of evolution and other central tenets of modern science (such as the age of the universe); the survey also revealed that these students received their scientific beliefs not from their college science courses, but from rabbinical authorities, or from Orthodox Jewish scientists, who in turn propagate the anti-science views of rabbinical authorities. Perhaps the most surprising result of the survey was that the Orthodox Jewish students who were science majors were even less accepting of mainstream science than those who were not science majors.
Read the startling stats here!
The good news? Well, only 22 of 173 answered that the Sun revolves around the Earth.
Nussbaum expects this paltry number to grow over the years.
Nussbaum writes, “According to a recent poll, our education system continues to fail our Orthodox students who go to college.â€
Or is instead it that the Orthodox educational system is succeeding?
Perhaps the leaders of Orthodox Judaism have assessed that there is no future for Orthodox Jewry nor (by their standards) for Judaism without all but a categorical denial of science in regards to both strict creationism and theories of human history.
Are they correct? Sure, they may lose some of their most precocious to the secular world, but won’t they retain more of the masses?
Orthodox Jews are fast earning a reputation as one of the most intellectually reactionary groups in the Western world. Perhaps it is well deserved.
Hat tip: Mis-nagid
by The Town Crier · Friday, June 30th, 2006
Israeli engineer Dr. Garrett E. Reisman, originally from New Jersey will become the Jewish State’s second astronaut, and will join a NASA space shuttle mission in 2007. Reisman trained together with his close friend, Col. Ilan Ramon, Israel’s first astronaut who was killed in the tragic Columbia disaster. Reisman plans to take Ramon mementos into space with him. Arutz 7 | JTA
by Mobius · Sunday, June 25th, 2006
Neuroscientists have proposed a simple explanation for the pleasure of grasping a new concept: The brain is getting its fix.
The “click” of comprehension triggers a biochemical cascade that rewards the brain with a shot of natural opium-like substances, said Irving Biederman of the University of Southern California. He presents his theory in an invited article in the latest issue of American Scientist.
“While you’re trying to understand a difficult theorem, it’s not fun,” said Biederman, professor of neuroscience in the USC College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.
“But once you get it, you just feel fabulous.”
The brain’s craving for a fix motivates humans to maximize the rate at which they absorb knowledge, he said.
Full story.
by David Kelsey · Thursday, June 15th, 2006
Oil dependency emerges as priority for organized Jewish community
One of the obstacles for many of us in the Jewish community concerned with our dependency on oil is that when we explain why this is a Jewish issue, we are greeted with disbelief that this is truly a specific concern to the Jewish community, or even if it is, not one that need be a priority. It isn’t that Jewish an issue.
But it is. Because of the disproportionate power oil rich Middle Eastern countries have on geopolitical considerations, and the lack of oil in the Jewish state, this is a Jewish issue which affects realpolitik considerations. Â
And now it is finally being recognized as such. Thanks to the Prime Minister of Israel.
The Forward reports,
A plug from Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has given new life to congressional legislation granting Israel $120 million over five years for energy research and development, Jewish organizational officials said.
The breakthrough on Capitol Hill is being credited to Olmert’s May 24 speech to a joint session of Congress, during which he mentioned American-Israeli cooperation in developing alternative energy sources[…]
Communal leaders say that the prime minister’s remarks have energized the efforts of Jewish organizations to push the legislation.
“Olmert’s speech really gave our efforts momentum both on Capitol Hill and within the Jewish community,” said Hadar Susskind, Washington director of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs[...]
Although Jewish groups have been deeply involved in attempts to shape America’s energy policy, they have not aggressively mobilized to support or oppose specific energy legislation in recent years. This bill, Jewish activists said, could provide a focus and a cause for the Jewish community on the issue.
“This bill is a small part of a larger effort to get more involved in energy policy,” said Neil Goldstein, executive director of the American Jewish Congress. […]
“We believe that what is needed is a project on the scale of a Manhattan Project or an Apollo Project,” Goldstein said. “We believe that this is of such grave consequence for the U.S. and the Western world that it really deserves that kind of attention. Our bill is a very small piece of that.”
This is the best news I have heard in a long time. It used to be that the Prime Minister of Israel would come to the U.S. merely to collect money.
Now it seems he also comes to give the Jewish community a much needed kick in the ass.
The Prime Minister hath spoken. And U.S. Jewish organizations concur.
Alternative energy is a Jewish issue. And must be a priority.
by John Brown · Thursday, June 1st, 2006
Jpost reports:
Eight species of invertebrate animals dating back millions of years that have been previously unknown to science have been discovered in Israel, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem announced Wednesday.
The species, which have a “a new and unique ecosystem,” were discovered in a cave that was uncovered as a result of excavations in a quarry in the vicinity of the central Israeli city of Ramle.
by The Town Crier · Tuesday, May 30th, 2006
Leave it to the Israelis. Live Science reports that scientists at Hebrew University have discovered the “sex drive” gene which may change the way scientists and psychologists view sexuality.
The researchers found that individual differences in human sexual desire can be attributed to genetic variations. The study is the first to provide data to show that common variations in the sequence of DNA impact on sexual desire, arousal and function, the researchers said.
The scientists, at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, examined the DNA of 148 healthy male and female university students and compared the results with questionnaires asking for the students’ self-descriptions of their sexual desire, arousal and sexual function. They found a correlation between variants in a gene called the D4 receptor and the students’ self-reports on sexuality.
The results suggest that low sexual desire might be a normal biological condition rather than a psychological problem, the researchers say. Further, it might be possible to develop drugs to alter sexual desire based on the new findings.
by The Town Crier · Monday, May 22nd, 2006
IsraelNN Reports:
Microsoft founder Bill Gates recently sent representatives to Bnei Brak to learn methods of the Gemora, the oral law which is studied at yeshivas, according to the Hebrew publication Day-to-Day. Microsoft officials visited the Achia yeshiva following Gates’s interest.
The yeshiva was offered the option of Microsoft’s investing in a computer program on Torah and the Talmud.
