A Series of Random Thoughts

[debka_notion]

1. One of the relevant books I found for a paper I'm working on is by Rabbi Al Axelrod, the former Brandeis Hillel rabbi, whom I know as a very sweet man who chants haftarah abnormally slowly (but with lovely trope and a lovely voice, and trope that I just found out another friend of mine shares- I like it quite a bit better than the more common haftarah trope that has never quite hit me right). My respect for the gentleman, of whom I've otherwise heard rather mixed things, has raised considerably: even mostly skimming parts of his book make me aware of how thoughtful he is. It's also interesting to read what he had to say about the Brandeis of quite a while ago.

2. Another book I read for this project went as far as to say that Christians have higher rates of marital infidelity, abuse and something else than Jewish ones, which is why you shouldn't marry a gentile. While I'm not in favor of intermarriage myself, it has nothing to do with non-Jews being bad people. redlily aschill and I snarked.

3. Yesterday there were three completely naked men running down Rabb steps as I was walking to my Yiddish final. Not something I needed to see.

4. There are two words on my Aramaic quiz that continue to stump me.

5. Shaws is definitely more expensive than Hannafords, nee Victory. But they challah. And more other kosher goods. And I found out why it's so hard to buy kosher Balsamic vinegar. What I don't understand is why if boiling wine makes it no-longer wine and thus no longer a worry for use in pagan religious ritual, why wine or grape based vinegar is still hard to get hechshered. I mean, vinegar is no longer wine or grape juice or anything one would consider religiously valid as far as I know...

Comments

[shirei-shibolim.livejournal.com]

Do Christians actually have statistically worse marital prospects than Jews, or is that just how the numbers are reported? Spousal abuse doesn't go away just because you refuse to talk about it. (I realize that this entirely misses the point vis-à-vis the intermarriage issue, but I felt like observing that it may not even be accurate in and of itself.)

I suppose aerobic fermentation doesn't "ruin" grape juice according to halakha. What really puzzles me is why balsamic vinegar is such an issue, since the first step in its manufacture after harvesting and pressing the grapes is to boil the juice! If someone were to decide to make a high quality kosher balsamic, it seems to me that observant Jews would only be needed for the first three steps. Any competent artisan could be left in charge of the ten year (or more) aging process.

[debka-notion.livejournal.com]

Well, that was the kicker- I don't know. Let me quote the passage: "Another bad point is the quality of the relationships. Non Jews, as a whole, have higher rates of infidelity, abuse and other negative relationship factors. This is not meant to say that non jews are bad people, nor is it meant to say that Jews don't experience these negative aspects of relationships. The only thing is that these things happen a lot less in Jewish relationships. I can't prove this by any scientific studies, but I have seen it extensively through life experience, and I am sure that you have also. The bolding is mine. But well- you can't talk about those sorts of facts from just what you've seen. It doesn't work that way.

Thanks- that is rather odd. But why does boiling something so it's still drinkable "ruin" wine/grape juice, but fermenting it into vinegar, which only Roman soldiers seem to have drunk doesn't? Weird.

[belu.livejournal.com]

2) That's rather a leap there, from saying that Christians are bad in marriage to saying that all gentiles are bad in marriage. And based on geographical distributions of the divorce rate in this country, I'd be willing to speculate that it might be more accurate to say "Protestants" rather than "Christians". That's a slightly smaller leap, imo.

3) Aw. It's all in good fun. (Besides which, I'd be a bit surprised if you were so sheltered you'd never seen a naked human male before. Your family seemed relatively normal.)

5) If bacon bits can get hechshered, then you should be able to get anything in some form that can get hechshered.

[debka-notion.livejournal.com]

2. This guy ignores all non-Jews besides Chrisitians for the whole book. From many of the other things he wrote (see my other comment), he's pretty clearly incompetent. Not sure why the library has his book- maybe someone donated it?

3. Err- generally my parents may walk around in underwear when it's hot, but usually Mom more than Dad, and there isn't really full nudity. Dad bathed us when we were little, but htat was an age when you could fit one adult and both small children in the tub at once.

5. Yes, as long as you're ok with food made from assorted chemicals. But yeah- this is available, but it's darn hard to find. And pricy.

[skyblue-dreamer.livejournal.com]

I have a mostly full bottle of balsamic vinegar that can be yours in only a few weeks, should you be interested.

[debka-notion.livejournal.com]

I just bought some, but I very much like vinegar, so if you're looking to be rid of it, I would cheerfully participate in getting it off your hands as long as you aren't charging me exorbitantly.

[skyblue-dreamer.livejournal.com]

Free of charge! I will be looking to get rid of various and sundry food items, since I don't want to bring them all home with me.

[debka-notion.livejournal.com]

Yay! Free food is almost always good.

[rymenhild.livejournal.com]

I don't know which friend you're talking about, but I have the same trope too... learned it at my shul when I was growing up.

[debka-notion.livejournal.com]

She's a frosh, from this general area (i.e. greater Boston)- her Dad's a rabbi. I'm not actually sure what part of the world you're from, in the sense of the place in which you did much if not all of your growing up, but I'm guessing it probably wasn't there. If it was, I will be quite weirded out.