If you wouldn't "What about the hostages?" or "What about Hamas?" to a post about Palestinians deserving safety, then don't do it about Jews, or Israelis.

And if you would "What about Hamas?" to a Palestinian person talking about their own safety, that's a shitty thing to do and you should stop.

A neat thing I came across while reading this past Torah portion

During the Second Temple Period, Jewish priests were tasked with maintaining the fire upon the altar of the temple as a way of honouring God even after an offering was made. A literal light unto the world. This practice was then written down by Jewish priests sometime during the Persian Period (538–332 BCE) and passed down in Vayikra (Leviticus) 6:5-7.

The fire on the altar shall be kept burning, not to go out: every morning the priest shall feed wood to it, lay out the burnt offering on it, and turn into smoke the fat parts of the offerings of well-being.

A perpetual fire shall be kept burning on the altar, not to go out.

And this is the ritual of the meal offering:
Aaron's sons shall present it before [God], in front of the altar.

Fast forward to today and one of the key elements of any synagogue is the the ner tamid (‘eternal light’). Traditionally, an oil lamp placed somewhere above the bima (front stage) in order to honour the flame that burned without end upon the altar of the Second Temple. Some synagogues opt for a flame fed by natural gas, while others opt for an ornate lightbulb that’s always kept on.

Note that synagogues incorporate design elements that nod to the original temple in Jerusalem. This is also why the terms “synagogue” and “temple” are synonymous in most contexts.

Relevance to me

When I visited a synagogue for the first time, the ner tamid was one of the first things I identified. The one used at the synagogue I visited was a lightbulb that flickered gold light through metal and glass. It hung above the podium atop the bima. I just found that pretty interesting.

To stumble across the passage that makes the ner tamid a thing was a pleasant surprise.

Bonus fact!

Among most textual critics, Leviticus 6:7 is understood to be a a colophon, which is a tagline added by the author to the end of a text to state its purpose.

#judaism #mazeldon #torahposting #cwreligion

Reminder: American Jews are 2.4% of all Americans and most of us are Democrats who disapprove of Israel's current far right government. Trump is playing on the ancient antisemitic dual-loyalty myth and creating an excuse for conservatives to ignore actual Jewish voices. The moment you say something like "Jews are the real antisemites," you're just a nazi saying nazi shit.

Gift link: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/18/us/politics/trump-israel-jewish-voters.html?unlocked_article_code=1.dk0.84wb.AIbp-r9cayXx&smid=url-share

Nine years today, I actually can't believe it's been so long already.

Thank you Terry Pratchett for your solidly, relatably flawed characters.

Thank you Terry Pratchett for making me laugh every single time no matter how many rereads.

Thank you Terry Pratchett for writing strong women.

Thank you Terry Pratchett for my inability to ever pronounce "pun" correctly.

Thank you Terry Pratchett for teaching me what sort of human I wanted to grow up to be.

Thank you Terry Pratchett for The Hedgehog Song.

Thank you Terry Pratchett for everything, you are very much missed.

"A man is not dead while his name is still spoken"

#GNUTerryPratchett #Discworld

The world's leading expert on European wasps walks into a record shop.

He asks the assistant “Do you have ‘European Vespidae Acoustics Volume 2? I believe it was released this week.”

“Certainly,” replies the assistant. “Would you like to listen before you buy it?”

"That would be wonderful," says the expert, and puts on a pair of headphones.

He listens for a few moments and says to the assistant, “I'm terribly sorry, but I am the world's leading expert on European wasps and this is not accurate at all. I don't recognize any of those sounds. Are you sure this is the correct recording?”

The assistant checks the turntable, and replies that it is indeed European Vespidae Acoustics Volume 2. The assistant apologizes and lifts the needle onto the next track.

Again the expert listens for a few moments and then says to the assistant, "No, this just can't be right! I've been an expert in this field for 43 years and I still don't recognize any of these sounds."

The assistant apologizes again and lifts the needle to the next track.

The expert throws off the headphones as soon as it starts playing and is fuming with rage.

"This is outrageous false advertising! I am the world's leading expert on European wasps and no European wasp has ever made a sound like the ones on this record!"

The manager of the shop overhears the commotion and walks over.

"What seems to be the problem, sir?"

"This is an outrage! I am the world's leading expert on European wasps. Nobody knows more about them than I do. There is no way in hell that the sounds on that record were made by European wasps!"

The manager glances down and notices the problem instantly.

"I'm terribly sorry, sir. It appears we've been playing you the bee side."