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Hi again!  
 
Hi again!  
  
Happy birthday to my sister! It's her ... well, I won't tell, exactly.  I'm three years older than herHer current age divided by nine is exactly one tenth what my age will be in two yearsThere, I let out the secret!
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This ''shabbat'' is also [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/jewfaq/holiday7.htm ''chanukkah''], the celebration of the victory of a small group of Jews who remained true to Torah, over the much larger group of Hellenized Jews and the Greeks themselves. It also happens to be Sarah's birthday; but since it falls on ''shabbat'', her real celebration will be Saturday nightLast week I told you how old my sister isBut as for Sarah: one fifteenth her aunt's age is the difference between her and her sister's age.  In thirty-four years, her sister will be as old as her aunt is nowNow she's lording it over her sister that she will be "legal" before her.
  
Before I go on, here's a gift for all my left-wing friends: [https://www.chiaobama.com/flare/next an Obama Chia-pet]No, really, it's not a parody.  Apparently it's supposed to be an honor to be made into a chia-pet.  What will they think of next?  I suppose after the Nobel Peace Prize, anything would look a little silly.
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Esther has mostly recovered from her bout with whatever it was; I've been fighting it on and offDaniela is definitely coming home for ''pesach'', which makes us very (!) happy.
  
Esther caught a cold (maybe the flu), so she's out of commission. This makes Sarah and I the primary ''shabbat'' chefs ... oy! I made a simple menu, heavy on the soupsBut we forgot dessert; we'll have to rough it without one this week.  Unfortunately, we also had to cancel our guests this week.
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Important news:
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* In case you were worried that ''sufganiyot'' are too healthy, now you can get [http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3812668,00.html vodka-filled sufganiyot]
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* Israel was rated ''most expensive'' on the [http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601068&sid=a.K4T4ypP9ko IKEA Billy Index]But not to worry, we're cheapest on the [http://www.jerusalem.com/discover/item_422/Melech-Hafalafel Melech Hafalafel Index]
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* A man was arrested for [http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091208/od_afp/nzealandgermanyanimalsoffbeat_20091208021922 smuggling lizards in his pants]He could have come here, I'd have given him some for free.
  
Work was a bear this week. Too many bosses, issuing conflicting requestsHowever, my nominal boss was really happy with something I did to make his life easier, so that's one good thing. We also got an additional office, and they re-carpeted and re-painted the office (new and old), making it difficult to breathe.
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Not nice news:
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* Those arbiters of peace, the [http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/eu-mulls-proposal-on-231637.html fun-loving Swedes] are at it again! What ''will'' they think of next? Perhaps we should partition Stockholm -- but who would want it?
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* Our Quisling leaders [http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/134891 arrest a bride for moving her lips]
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* Anti-semitic [http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1260447411794&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull British legal decision].  I'd suggest we retaliate and boycott British products, but… who buys any to begin with?
  
We found one of these [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Green_Toad green toads] outside in our yard yesterdaySarah wants to make it her pet ... I told her that it stays outside and she can visit it whenever she wantsWe wonder where it gets enough moisture to live from, though ... this ''is'' the desert, after all.
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This week I came across a [http://www.seforimonline.org/seforimdb/pdf/211.pdf very interesting book] (originally published in the 1930s), which shows a number of connections between Biblical Hebrew and ancient EgyptianIt makes an excellent case for Joseph's story (yes, from this week's Torah portion) being true based on the strong correlation between the descriptions of Egyptian court life in the Torah and those from various archaeological sources. Essentially, his thesis is that only someone who knew the royal Egyptian court intimately could have written the stories in the Torah ''and gotten the details correct''.   
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That is fascinating to me, because our tradition says that there are many layers of meaning embedded in the Torah, and that not all that meaning is readily apparent to readers in each generation. This is a case in point: the generation which left Egypt may have been familiar with the details of court life in Egypt, but surely later generations would have ''no'' idea of the literal accuracy of the text!  So we find later Biblical commentators coming up with interesting but often forced reconciliations of various statements… and only now, thousands of years later, can we view the text and understand that the odd phraseology and descriptions are meant as a subtle hint that the Author knew what was going on in Egypt!  As I was thinking all that, I read another article about [http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?apage=3&cid=1259831450363&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull coincidences in Torah]. Very interesting stuff.  
  
Sorry I don't really have much of interest to tell you this week; I'm very tired and looking forward to a quiet ''shabbat'' with my ladies.
 
  
 
Until next week,<br>
 
Until next week,<br>
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Latest revision as of 13:02, 18 December 2009

Dec 11th (See this week's devar torah)
Send Ron feedback on this blog

Hi again!

This shabbat is also chanukkah, the celebration of the victory of a small group of Jews who remained true to Torah, over the much larger group of Hellenized Jews and the Greeks themselves. It also happens to be Sarah's birthday; but since it falls on shabbat, her real celebration will be Saturday night. Last week I told you how old my sister is. But as for Sarah: one fifteenth her aunt's age is the difference between her and her sister's age. In thirty-four years, her sister will be as old as her aunt is now. Now she's lording it over her sister that she will be "legal" before her.

Esther has mostly recovered from her bout with whatever it was; I've been fighting it on and off. Daniela is definitely coming home for pesach, which makes us very (!) happy.

Important news:

Not nice news:

This week I came across a very interesting book (originally published in the 1930s), which shows a number of connections between Biblical Hebrew and ancient Egyptian. It makes an excellent case for Joseph's story (yes, from this week's Torah portion) being true based on the strong correlation between the descriptions of Egyptian court life in the Torah and those from various archaeological sources. Essentially, his thesis is that only someone who knew the royal Egyptian court intimately could have written the stories in the Torah and gotten the details correct.

That is fascinating to me, because our tradition says that there are many layers of meaning embedded in the Torah, and that not all that meaning is readily apparent to readers in each generation. This is a case in point: the generation which left Egypt may have been familiar with the details of court life in Egypt, but surely later generations would have no idea of the literal accuracy of the text! So we find later Biblical commentators coming up with interesting but often forced reconciliations of various statements… and only now, thousands of years later, can we view the text and understand that the odd phraseology and descriptions are meant as a subtle hint that the Author knew what was going on in Egypt! As I was thinking all that, I read another article about coincidences in Torah. Very interesting stuff.


Until next week,
Shabbat shalom!




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