The Evolving Jew

There was a discussion on one of the posts on Frum Satire about the meaning of “out of town” when it comes to the frum community. I ended up writing a few Jeff Foxworthy “rednceck” style lines, and decided to put them up as a post on my blog: If you have no kosher pizza store… you just might live out of town. If the Orthodox and Conservative get along and mingle… you just might live out of town. If your hand shmura has to be ordered several weeks in advance… you just might live out of town. If black hats, kippot srugot, and Chabad daven in the same shul, and even eat shabbat meals at each others’ houses… you just might live out of town. If you refer to “the” kosher market (or if it’s part of the supermarket)… you just might live out of town. If about 30% – 40% of the congregants drive to your shul on shabbat, and no one gives them a hard time… you just might live out of town. If appeals for the local federation are part of your Orthodox shul life… you just might live o

Ever wish you could read the Iliad in the original ancient Greek that Homer wrote in? What about Beowulf? Can you read the old English? Hwæt! We Gardena in geardagum, þeodcyninga, þrym gefrunon, hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon. Oft Scyld Scefing sceaþena þreatum, Do you wish you could? There’s a well known Assyriologist in my neighborhood that I’ve gotten to know. He & I both attend a Shabbat afternoon study group, where he can be depended upon to mention obscure ancient texts that are relevant to the chumash we’re discussing. And he’s read these texts in their original languages. Last week I was thinking how cool that would be. If only I could read Akkadian too. It’s a remarkable thing to be able to comprehend an ancient text as it was written, without the veil of translation standing in the way. Then I realized that I  do  have that skill. Tanach, roughly contemporanous with Homer, is an ancient document and I can read it in the original biblical Hebrew. I can (and do