…in general, the quaint “retail” settings of Iowa diners and New Hampshire living rooms are treated mostly as media sound stages, places where reporters report on how many other reporters showed up (see above). As[…]
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Month: August 2014
“Those who lack faith in fixed order and stable places have a harder time building monuments that must…be monolithically stable and certain”
Those who lack faith in fixed order and stable places have a harder time building monuments that must, in their nature, be monolithically stable and certain. Happiness writes white, and pluralism builds poorly. An obelisk[…]
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“Immersive reporting is essential if news is to serve its purpose and help us construct any real sense of the world”
Such immersive reporting is essential if news is to serve its purpose and help us construct any real sense of the world. News systems are not designed for this. Reporters move like herds of sheep,[…]
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“Talking about the non-halakhic aspects of Taharat HaMishpacha should be another part of the healthy marriage toolkit”
No new bride should ever have to feel isolated and scared because of the laws of Taharat HaMishpacha. Our community needs to collectively strategize on ways to offer support to couples. … Our community needs[…]
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The Parable of the Samaritan “came to contrast the love of the political enemy preached by Christianity with that of Judaism”
Although Jesus himself was implacable with the political enemies of the Jews, referring to them as “dogs” (Matthew 15:36; Mark 7:27), the parable of the Samaritan (Luke 10:22-37), came to contrast the love of the[…]
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“Gaza is locked into a war of fruitless aggression, battling an enemy that only really exists in the Palestinian imagination”
But Hamas cannot relent. To surrender their anti-colonial campaign, to move from a strategy of violence that cannot possibly liberate Palestine to one of compromise that might liberate at least part of Palestine, Hamas must[…]
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“The masculinity of the ancient was measured by two criteria”
The masculinity of the ancient was measured by two criteria: (1) his prowess in battle, and (2) his ability to sire children. Because these two aspects of masculinity were frequently associated with each other in[…]
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“The Christian doctrine of loving the persecutor allows the victim’s self to be invaded by the oppressor and to be subverted into a mimetic relationship”
The Christian doctrine of loving the persecutor allows the victim’s self to be invaded by the oppressor and to be subverted into a mimetic relationship. Conversely, Jewish hatred compels the persecutor to review his position[…]
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“The attempt to locate menstruation in the mythical beginnings of humankind is…a peculiarly Babylonian development”
In contemporary English slang, menstruation is sometimes referred to as “The Curse.” Interestingly, the idea that Eve, and by extension womankind, began to menstruate as a punishment for eating of the Tree of Knowledge first[…]
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When Mathematical Innumeracy Affects Hamburger Choices
One of the most vivid arithmetic failings displayed by Americans occurred in the early 1980s, when the A&W restaurant chain released a new hamburger to rival the McDonald’s Quarter Pounder. With a third-pound of beef,[…]
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