IRIS Blog on Hiatus Until Wednesday Evening

IRIS Blog

Monday, October 17. 2005

IRIS Blog on Hiatus Until Wednesday Evening

IRIS will be shutting down until Wednesday night in celebration of the holiday of Sukkot. For anyone curious about the holiday, here is a short must-read from Rabbi David Aaron:

Making Every Moment Momentous

On Sukkos we celebrate transience. We embrace transience when we embrace our perishable four species and we immerse ourselves in transience when we leave our permanent home and dwell in a temporary hut covered by perishables. Sukkos teaches us that happiness is not based on what you have nor what you can hold on to but who you are by virtue of your relationship to G-d.

Here's a long must-read from Eitan Dor-Shav on a widespread misunderstanding of the central word in the Biblical book of Ecclesiastes, which is read on Sukkot and is its theme. The author presents the thesis as novel, but it was actually first presented by the Medieval rabbinic scholar Nachmanides.

Ecclesiastes, Fleeting and Timeless

Everything but wisdom is transient, teaches the king, and history has proven him right. Neither Solomon?s riches, nor his power, nor even his monumental temple in Jerusalem survived under the sun. What has indeed lasted, however, is the legacy of his wisdom, embodied in the book of Ecclesiastes. This belief in knowledge as the highest form of spirituality has served as the Jewish torch throughout the ages. And no small measure of that light is reflected in the understanding that only ideas can defy time, transforming the world.

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Posted by Barak at 23:24 | Comments (2) | Trackbacks (0)

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We work like a horse.
We eat like a pig.
We like to play chicken.
You can get someone's goat.
We can be as slippery as a snake.
We get dog tired.
We can be as quiet as a mouse.
We can be as quick as a cat.
Some of us are as strong as an ox.
People try to buffalo others.
Some are as ugly as a toad.
We can be as gentle as a lamb.
Sometimes we are as happy as a lark.
Some of us drink like a fish.
We can be as proud as a peacock.
A few of us are as hairy as a gorilla.
You can get a frog in your throat.
We can be a lone wolf.
But I'm having a whale of a time!

You have a riveting web log
and undoubtedly must have
atypical & quiescent potential
for your intended readership.
May I suggest that you do
everything in your power to
honor your encyclopedic/omniscient
Designer/Architect as well
as your revering audience.
As soon as we acknowledge
this Supreme Designer/Architect,
Who has erected the beauteous
fabric of the universe, our minds
must necessarily be ravished with
wonder at this infinate goodness,
wisdom and power.

Please remember to never
restrict anyone's opportunities
for ascertaining uninterrupted
existence for their quintessence.

There is a time for everything,
a season for every activity
under heaven. A time to be
born and a time to die. A
time to plant and a time to
harvest. A time to kill and
a time to heal. A time to
tear down and a time to
rebuild. A time to cry and
a time to laugh. A time to
grieve and a time to dance.
A time to scatter stones
and a time to gather stones.
A time to embrace and a
time to turn away. A time to
search and a time to lose.
A time to keep and a time to
throw away. A time to tear
and a time to mend. A time
to be quiet and a time to
speak up. A time to love
and a time to hate. A time
for war and a time for peace.

Best wishes for continued ascendancy,
Dr. Howdy
'Thought & Humor'

P.S. One thing of which I am sure is
that the common culture of my youth
is gone for good. It was hollowed out
by the rise of ethnic "identity politics,"
then splintered beyond hope of repair
by the emergence of the web-based
technologies that so maximized and
facilitated cultural choice as to make
the broad-based offerings of the old
mass media look bland and unchallenging
by comparison."

#1 howdy (Link) on 2005-10-18 19:17 (Reply)

Hi! I was honored to see that you have referenced my essay in Azure. Now, I have decided to dive into the (for me) uncharted waters of writing a blog about Jewish thought, especially understanding key biblical concepts. It?s called ?The Hebrew-Zen Dictionary? (perhaps temporarily?) and appears in http://dorshav.typepad.com. Since this is both very new to me, and rather demanding, I would greatly appreciate both your input (content, style, length, etc.) and encouragement in making this real?

All the best -- Ethan Dor-Shav.

#2 Ethan Dor-Shav on 2007-07-13 13:13 (Reply)

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