Presence

Check out Maven Yavin, a new group blog aimed at filling the "void" left by GH. I'd say it's more like Protocols, but for intellectuals (no offense meant to SIW; Protocols was awesome in it's own right...for a while). Then again, most of the folks blogging nowweren't around for Protocols. Gosh, I feel so old.

Anyway, I've got nothing right now, other than this mind-blowing thought that I stumbled across on Bloghd:

* On Rosh Hashanah, we read of the two sons of Abraham, one of whom is exiled into the desert, and the other of whom is taken for sacrifice Har haMoriah (= the Bet Hamikdash).
* On Yom Hakippurim, we read of the two goats, one of whom is exiled into the desert, and the other of whom is taken for sacrifice in the Bet Hamikdash (= Har haMoriah).

Besides being so amazingly spot on, this made me think that, really, we as a culture have no clue what Chumash is really talking about. Our educational system just barely enables us to make these kinds of observations, let alone put them into some sort of context that makes any sense. Despite what they'll tell you, our current incarnation of Judaism puts very little value in Scripture. I'd make some comment here about written/oral traditions, but that would just belie my true feelings about The Nature of Things, and I've done enough tree-chopping lately as it is. But I digress.

This also points to something I've been saying for a while (not here, though). Parochial Jewish secular education tends to view Math and Science as more beneficial to the modern boy of faith, probably in the hopes that he become a doctor, or contemplate the universe in the style of Maimonides (ironically, or not, Bais Yaakov girls do not seem to suffer the same prejudices). I would argue that a thorough background in literature and liberal arts would provide the greatest benefit to the religious person, in terms of providing a framework of textual interpretation and artistic expression. Not only for Chumash, but for Gemara as well (for example, you can read Maseches Sotah like a novel).

And for the record, I have an unpublished post from Rosh HaShannah time that examines the language used in The Expulsion of Ishmael, essentially equating it to The Sacrifice Of Issac; it's still in production, till I can figure out what I'm trying to say with it.