Friday, May 01, 2009

Random Thoughts


היום שנים ועשרים יומים שהם שלשה שבועות ויום אחד לעמר
Today is the twenty-second day of the omer - three weeks and one day

חסד שבנצך
A day of loving kindness in a week of endurance



Some random thoughts on a rainy day......

From Maggie Anton to Aviva Zornberg to a great kick-off session of a newly formed Torah study group--I am filled with inspiration and great teachings. May I continue to process these new thoughts and insights and use them to move forward.

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Although I realize that any translation will add it's own meaning to text, I'm finding that I prefer the Artscroll Tanach to the JPS versions. As I use it in study sessions, I find that it is closer to the Pshat (literal) level of study.

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More support for my "the 21st century starts now" theory, courtesy of the LA Times:
Last big VHS supplier abandons the business

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Reading Maggie Anton's Rashi's Daughters, Books 1 & 2, I'm learning that Talmud students of that time--11th/12th centuries--would memorize the text--Mishnah and Gemara--in order to be able to then discuss them. It makes sense, I'm sure written copies were few and not easily obtained. But in the jumble of my brain, this brought to mind Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, a novel set in a future time when books are being burned. A group of activists determined to save the words recruit people to memorize the books. Although I loved the theory of that solution, I never felt that mankind could pull it off, that we wouldn't be able to keep those writings alive. Little did I know, although with different motivation, in the Middle Ages there were people--dare I say "my people"-- who did just that.

Shabbat Shalom

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