IT’S THE SCARINESS OF THE blank screen. It’s the focused attention. It’s the mental sensation of assembling Tinker-Toy pieces into a coherent structure. It’s the way the hours fly by. It’s the nothing-else-like-it buzz (thank you, Stephen King). It’s the feel and click of the keys beneath my tapping fingers. It’s the occasional brain-wracking pause. (It’s also the occasional chortle.)
The Seven Don’ts (bagel reprise)
THE AUTHOR OF THIS PIECE is a “born and bred New Yorker,” but even here in the sticks some things are sacrosanct when it comes to that most iconic of Jewish foods. I agree with much of what she says, am unfamiliar with part of it (again, we miss some things in the Valley) and was frankly astonished by one (see: “rainbow bagel“). Your culinary mileage may vary, but if you were raised eating bagels (or even came to them later in life), it’s worth your while to check out this article for — to paraphrase Frank Herbert — the forms that must be obeyed. Smacznego, b’tayavon and bon appetit!
Minute Mitzvah: Saying the Shema
Today: Say the Shema.
Explanation: The Shema (“Listen, Israel: יהוה our G?d! יהוה One!”), from Deuteronomy 6:4, is the statement of Jewish faith-commitment. It’s the first prayer we learn after birth and, if we time it right, the last prayer we say before death. Although it’s actually three paragraphs long (see http://www.jewfaq.org/shemaref.htm for the complete text in both Hebrew [original and transliteration] and English), halacha (Jewish law) says the first verse is the most important — so much so that it can be spoken in whatever language the speaker understands.
Raiders of the Lost Prayer
THE SCENE IS TENSE. RENE Belloq, a French archaeologist hired by the Nazi government (ptoo ptoo ptoo) to steal the Ark of the Covenant in the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark, is about to open the sacred artifact wherein lay the original tablets of the Ten Commandments. Dressed in the garb of the High Priest as detailed in the biblical book of Exodus (and standing before the Ark as described in the same book), he whispers a prayer before raising the lid — and thereby provoking the fiery Wrath of G?d to incinerate the infidels.
Art Imitates Science Imitates Art
WHO DOESN’T KNOW “THE UNIVERSE Song” from the Monty Python movie Meaning of Life? The one that starts out, “Just remember that you’re standing on a planet that’s evolving / And revolving at 900 miles an hour…”? For years, I’ve used it as a go-to reference when I need to pull a quick astronomical fact out of my yarmulke. Well, the attentive folks at Astronomy magazine have annotated that little ditty to help us sort truth-as-we-know-it-so-far from the poetic license of the 1980s. http://www.astronomy.com/news/2018/08/fact-checking-the-galaxy-song is a three page article that also features a clip of the song in question, so you can sing along (if you like). Enjoy!
What is “Experiential Holiness?”
SHORT ANSWER: IT’S PART OF the tagline for this blog. Longer answer: it’s a way of seeing and living that recognizes and hopefully honors the interconnectedness of all things, and That which makes them (it?) all possible.
“Holiness” is a tricky word. My trusty go-to 1972 Funk and Wagnalls defines “holy” as “regarded with or characterized by reverence because associated with God; having a divine origin; sacred” as well as “having spiritual and moral worth.” “Holiness” is “the state or quality of being holy.”
365 Names of God: The Beloved
THE BELOVED is most commonly a Sufi term, but not exclusively so. The idea of God as Lover may be outre to some, but the connotation of passion and all-involvement is a powerful one for many mystics (including the author of the Biblical Song of Songs). Some say the challenge of living with the mysterious mind of a spouse is perfect training for living with the mysterious Mind of God.