So much to say, so little time
A word of Torah
Prof. Jeffrey H. Tigay asks, "Why Are Laws for Priests Included in the Torah?" His answer is that this is "the Torah's program to democratize knowledge and create an educated laity." See here. I think he has a point. Even though ordinary Jews couldn't perform sacrifices, they could witness them. Just about the only restriction was that only the Kohen Gadol (High Priest) could enter the Kodesh Kodashim (Holy of Holies).
If you haven't yet discovered TheTorah.com, please do.
Senator Elizabeth Warren meets the Chief Rabbinate, so to speak
If my son were to choose to get married in Israel, he would first have to prove to the Rabbanut HaRashit of Israel that he's Jewish--the Chief Rabbinate is as obsessed with "fake Jews" as Trump is with "fake news," and they intend to ensure that no "fakes" get mixed in with the "real" ones. They've been known to reject even conversions performed by some Orthodox rabbis, and/or to declare conversions performed years ago invalid. (Start here and you can click your way all the way back to 2008.) My word, and that of my Jewish mother, my Jewish grandmother, and my Jewish great-grandmother would not be enough.
Senator Warren finds herself in a similar position--she's been asked to take a DNA test to prove her assertion that she has Native American ancestry, as if the word of her own relatives is not enough. It turns out that a DNA test might not prove any such thing.
For both her and me, it's an insult to our families.
From the frying pan into the fire
Since Rex Tillerson just about single-handedly decimated the State Department, I've never been a great fan of his. Even so, firing a person by Twitter is about as low as one can go. And now we get the combative Mike Pompeo, an interesting choice for the country's chief diplomat. If we don't end up at war with whatever country's leader ticks off the president the most, it'll be a miracle.
Misappropriation of public funds--our cabinet members rob the Feds to feed, well, themselves
See here.
Did I miss anything?
On the plus side:
Andrew McCabe may yet come out ahead . . .
. . . if some Democrats in Congress live up to their offers to hire him so that he can collect the pension that he would have earned if he hadn't been fired literally days before he was eligible.
Prof. Jeffrey H. Tigay asks, "Why Are Laws for Priests Included in the Torah?" His answer is that this is "the Torah's program to democratize knowledge and create an educated laity." See here. I think he has a point. Even though ordinary Jews couldn't perform sacrifices, they could witness them. Just about the only restriction was that only the Kohen Gadol (High Priest) could enter the Kodesh Kodashim (Holy of Holies).
If you haven't yet discovered TheTorah.com, please do.
Senator Elizabeth Warren meets the Chief Rabbinate, so to speak
If my son were to choose to get married in Israel, he would first have to prove to the Rabbanut HaRashit of Israel that he's Jewish--the Chief Rabbinate is as obsessed with "fake Jews" as Trump is with "fake news," and they intend to ensure that no "fakes" get mixed in with the "real" ones. They've been known to reject even conversions performed by some Orthodox rabbis, and/or to declare conversions performed years ago invalid. (Start here and you can click your way all the way back to 2008.) My word, and that of my Jewish mother, my Jewish grandmother, and my Jewish great-grandmother would not be enough.
Senator Warren finds herself in a similar position--she's been asked to take a DNA test to prove her assertion that she has Native American ancestry, as if the word of her own relatives is not enough. It turns out that a DNA test might not prove any such thing.
For both her and me, it's an insult to our families.
From the frying pan into the fire
Since Rex Tillerson just about single-handedly decimated the State Department, I've never been a great fan of his. Even so, firing a person by Twitter is about as low as one can go. And now we get the combative Mike Pompeo, an interesting choice for the country's chief diplomat. If we don't end up at war with whatever country's leader ticks off the president the most, it'll be a miracle.
Misappropriation of public funds--our cabinet members rob the Feds to feed, well, themselves
See here.
Did I miss anything?
On the plus side:
Andrew McCabe may yet come out ahead . . .
. . . if some Democrats in Congress live up to their offers to hire him so that he can collect the pension that he would have earned if he hadn't been fired literally days before he was eligible.
posted by Shira Salamone at 6:15 PM
2 Comments:
1) It's not insulting to suggest that Elizabeth Warren is lying about her supposed heritage that is based on nothing other than her grandmother or great grandmother had "high cheekbones like an Indian" when this blonde white person used it to pretend to be a minority in order to advance her career. She's playing identity politics and lying about it.
2) McCabe gets his pension. he just can't get it at age 50. He'll get it at age 57 or so. And the Inspector General and the Office of Professional Responsibility -- both non-partisan parts of the Justice Dep't, recommended firing him for lying to investigators. The current Inspector General was appointed by, wait for it, Obama. So don't get your knickers in a wad.
I, personally, am not aware of Warren having benefited from her assertion that she has Native American blood. I'm willing to take her word for it, but maybe there's something I don't know.
I find the timing of McCabe's firing suspicious. If his superiors thought that he'd been dishonest, why did they not bring charges before? As for his pension, a retired Federal employee of my acquaintance tells me that McCabe won't receive his pension until he's 65 unless he's rehired as a Federal employee.
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