RabbiO

Not meaning to appear dense, but have you ever tried to teach, let alone discuss, the finer points of theology, philosophy, art, music, psychology, physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, history etc. with the family dog. I suspect that if you have you probably lost Rover somewhere before you finished the first sentence. Yes, we are far more intelligent than the family dog. Yes, we know more, understand more and we learn and understand more each and every day. But the truth remains, assuming that the G-d I serve exists, that we remain in the same position vis-a-vis G-d in trying to understand, as Rover stands with us. As I have noted before, a quintisential statement regarding G-d is the quote from Isaiah - כִּי לֹא מַחְשְׁבוֹתַי מַחְשְׁבוֹתֵיכֶם, וְלֹא דַרְכֵיכֶם דְּרָכָי--נְאֻם, יְהוָה "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, my ways are not your ways," says Adonai.

Not this time - not enough colors in the ice cream to compete with the rainbow - but I do love the avatar, although I'm still partial to Sylvester!

I presume you mean my friend the llama and my friend the multicolored one because as we all know I am always serious without any sense of humor. I know just how scary those Ravens t-shirts are!

You're gonna keep scaring people if you insist on wearing that Ravens t-shirt!

For all those who celebrate Christmas, I wish you all the joy of the holiday season. May you and all whom you hold dear experience only hope, togetherness and peace at this time and all times. As they say in Hebrew חג מולד שמח

The way the Steelers and the Ravens play when they line up against each other, a fan of either team has reason to tremble.

1) Lost - No you're in Baltimore. 2) Sinful - G-d will forgive you for being a Ravens fan. 3) Wretch - Easily solved. I shall wave my miraculous cloth, in vibrant black and gold, and bring the light of the Three Rivers to your benighted soul.

Light One Candle by Peter Yarrow Light one candle for the Maccabee children With thanks that their light didn't die Light one candle for the pain they endured When their right to exist was denied Light one candle for the terrible sacrifice Justice and freedom demand But light one candle for the wisdom to know When the peacemakers time is at hand Chorus: Don't let the light go out! It's lasted for so many years! Don't let the light go out! Let it shine through our love and our tears. Light one candle for the strength that we need To never become our own foe And light one candle for those who are suffering Pain we learned so long ago Light one candle for all we believe in That anger not tear us apart And light one candle to find us together With peace as the song in our hearts (chorus) What is the memory that's valued so highly That we keep it alive in that flame? What's the commitment to those who have died That we cry out they've not died in vain? We have come this far always believing That justice would somehow prevail This is the burden, this is the promise This is why we will not fail! (chorus) Don't let the light go out! Don't let the light go out! Don't let the light go out!

חג הנרות חנוכה חג שמח The Festival of Lights Hanukkah A Joyous Holiday May we each rededicate ourselves to be open to the light of knowledge, the light of truth, the light of love and the light of peace.

May we be thankful for all we have. May we gather in joy. May we gather in love. May we gather in peace.

The students of the Rebbe wanted to see if they could stump him one day, and so the boldest student came to him and asked the Rebbe if he could answer a question. The Rebbe of course agreed, and so the bold student asked, "Rebbe, there is a ladder, there are 613 rungs on this ladder corresponding to the 613 commandments. There is someone near the top and someone near the bottom (meaning that the one near the top does almost all of the commandments, while the one near the bottom does few of the commandments). The question, Rebbe, is who in the eyes of God is higher?" The Rebbe said nothing. You see, if the Rebbe said the one at the top, the obvious answer, it would have denied the heights, however low, achieved by the one at the bottom, but if the Rebbe had said the one at the bottom, it would have denied the heights reached by the one at the top. And so the students thought they had him! So the boldest student pressed him, and asked, "What is wrong Rebbe, have you an answer?" The Rebbe replied, "I am waiting for the rest of the details of the problem." The student said, "But we have left out nothing! There is a ladder, with 613 rungs, someone is near the top, someone is near the bottom, who in the eyes of God is Higher?" To which the Rebbe replied, "But you have not told me which of the two on the ladder is moving upward."

In his essay, "War in the Hebrew Bible - An Overview" which was printed in War in the Bible and Terrorism in the Twenty-First Century; Bulletin for Biblical Research Supplements 2, Eisenbrauns, 2008, Professor Richard Hess, who has more degrees I think than I have fingers, including a Ph.D. from Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion wrote - "To what extent are the conquests described in Joshua genocidal wars of extermination that have no place in any reasonable ethic of warfare? In my view, a description of this sort would be inaccurate and distorted. References to the destruction of non-combatants in these wars, that is to “men and women,” are scare, referring to Jericho and Ai (Josh 6:21 and 8:25). However, there is reason to suspect that these references in Joshua are stereotypical phrases that emphasize the complete destruction of everyone. On the other hand, Jericho and Ai, the initial two sites of conquest, instead of being town or cities, may have been military forts guarding the routes from the Jordan Valley up to the population centers in the hill country such as Bethel and Jerusalem. Evidence for this conclusion includes (1) the complete absense of references to specific noncombatants such as women and children with the exception of Rehab and her family, who were not killed (2) the lack of settlement at Jericho and Ai during the time of Israel’s emergence in Canaan (3) the use of the term melek ‘king’ to mean a military leader at Canaan at this time (4) the lack of indication in the biblical text that these were large cities (unlike Gibeon and Hazor, which are thus described); and (5) the meaning of the word Ai ‘ruin’, which suggests the reuse of early fortifications to serve as a temporary fort instead of a more permanent site of habitation." He further notes, "The other two major battles, which were against the northern and southern coalitions, are represented as defensive wars (Joshua 10-11). In both cases, they begin as the coalitions assemble against Israel or its ally and therefore force the people of God into battle (Josh 10:3-5, 11:1-5). Note, furthermore, that the eight or more references to complete destruction of cities represented by these coalitions (in which nothing was left alive) could plausibly be stereotypical descriptions for the purpose of obedience to the command to drive out the Canaanites (Josh 10:28, 30 32 35, 37, 39, 11:1, 14). It is possible that, after the defeat of the army, the populations fled rather than remaining in a relatively defenseless city. Furthermore, we know that many of these “cities” were used primarily for Government buildings, and the common people lived in the surrounding countryside. Therefore, it is not certain that there was a population remaining in these cities to be destroyed. There is no indication in the text of any specific noncombatants who were put to death. In any case, there is clear evidence that there were Canaanites remaining in the areas where Israel settled (Judg 2:10-13)." The full essay is floating out there online by the way. My point in posting the above is not necessarily to endorse Dr. Hess's position in whole or in part. Rather it is to remind us all that simply reading a text in a vacuum, without sense of time and/or place or literary conventions may do a disservice to the text or may result in incorrect assumptions on the part of the reader.

Are sure you don't want to call a friend or use another lifelife? (I haven't watched Who Wants To Be A Millionaire in years, but it's still infecting my system!!)

Coelacanth. Sir William Osler. You figure it out.

Fawzo, מי ייתן ואלוהים להביא שלום לך, לכל מי להתאבל מאי את הנשמה של אבא שלך עכשיו יודע שלום May G-d bring peace to you, to all who mourn May your father's soul now know peace. The community that is this forum reaches out to you with all its love and support.

There is no word in Hebrew for Halloween. I think that answers your question, my friend, regarding it being incorporated into Jewish observance. That of course will not stop loads of little Jewish boys and girls from donning costumes and ringing door bells. Just don't hand them those little bags of pork rinds!

We walk our different paths, seeking a common goal - wholeness and harmony in our lives and our relationships, wholeness and harmony among peoples and nations, wholeness and harmony with all of creation, wholeness and harmony in our relationship with the divine. May we all be sealed for good in this Jewish year of 5771. גמר חתימה טובה

Someone call the paramedics. The multi-hued one is slipping into Disney mode! And a very merry unbirthday to you, as well, my friend.

Gee, it would be nice if there were Jews who were members of the forum. Then we could ask them.

Ah yes, a project of the Unification Church and Rev. Moon. B'shalom, Peter

With all due respect, I think this is where I hop off the bus on this thread - for awhile at least - I don't think I have anything to contribute on this. And so my friends, להתרות- I'll see you soon. (Feel free to regard that as either a promise or a threat.)

Fawzo, As I pointed out in some thread or other, maybe even this one, Jewish sages and philosophers have wrestled with the free will v. omniscience issue again and again. There is no consensus in Judaism, but I align myself with those sages - including Saadia Ben Joseph, the Gaon, who did not believe that G-d is omniscient in the sense of knowing with certainty what choices we will make.

Fawzo, Better late than never. The verse in Judges 11:31 in Hebrew reads: וְהָיָה, לַיהוָה, וְהַעֲלִיתִיהוּ, עֹלָה The problem is that "v'" in Hebrew, while it most often means "and" it can mean "or". It is therefore perfectly logical to read the text as was provided in the translation, but it can also indicate, in this case, an either or situation. Frankly, the main view of the sages was that indeed the young lady was sacrificed. And those sages postulated that her father suffered a most horrible death for his transgression which I will not go into here since it involves rotting flesh and body parts. However, there is a substantial minority view that reads the story as the daughter having been devoted to G-d's service. The important thing to remember, whichever view one takes, is that the inclusion of the story in the Tanakh is not an indication that the actions were approved or condoned.

Pete, I did not check the cites from Christian scripture. I do know the cites to Hebrew scripture do not necessarily stand for the proposition of omniscience as you mean the term.

I understand the comment, but if you look a little bit further down the page so to speak to verse 34 of Levitcus 19 - כְּאֶזְרָח מִכֶּם יִהְיֶה לָכֶם הַגֵּר הַגָּר אִתְּכֶם, וְאָהַבְתָּ לוֹ כָּמוֹךָ--כִּי-גֵרִים הֱיִיתֶם, בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם You will see that in actuality the commandment is more inclusive than it may appear at first blush.