Those of you who aren’t regular readers of Mah Rabu should definitely go check it out these days. BZ’s got some great stuff going on with his hilchot pluralism series–lots of interesting and yummy food for thought.
I was sitting in the Philly train station waiting for my train to central PA to give my lecture when I, as I do, took off my glasses. Most of them came with me, but not all of it. One of the (oh, what’s it called) side-ear-holder-thingys–the thing that keeps the glasses ON my face–did not.
So I’ve been walking around for the last week with the frames taped together with the bright blue tape I usually reserve for marking dishes “dairy” in my kitchen. It’s the sturdiest thing that was in the apartment, even if the glasses still barely manage not to slip off and I look like a dork.
So today I went to the optical people and discovered that glasses aren’t actually cheaper in Israel, despite the popular mythology. At least not for me–I’m both nearsided and farsighted, so my glasses need some fancy lenses to do all that (yes, bifocals–but fancy, modern bifocals.) I was interested to note that despite recent years of squinting at Rashi script and badly xeroxed teeny tiny print of the Rishonim that get crammed into the back and side commentaries, only my distance vision has gotten worse. I wonder what that’s about.
Anyway, I don’t like glasses. I don’t like feeling like there’s a filter between me and the rest of the world, and I’m especially conscious of them when I’m talking to other people. I’ve contemplated contacts, and I may ever go that route, but for some reason it feels like a very drastic measure that I’d want to contemplate more (not to mention the fact that I’d still need [to buy] reading glasses anyway–and in any case, I’d need the glasses I just bought for when I’m not wearing contacts). I’ve thought about that laser surgery thing as well, but it kind of scares me and besides, my eyes aren’t that bad, it feels hard to rationalize going in for a still-imperfect medical procedure if I don’t really need it.
So for now, it’s still four eyes, and just two when I can get away with it. I’m still grieving the loss of my frames–the perfect mix of classy and cat’s-eye groovy, the kind that make me feel like I ought to wear beaded vintage sweaters from the 50s every day. The new ones are OK, but missing the same pizzaz. Between America and Israel, America definitely wins in the “cool frames for people who don’t want bright purple chunky plastic face accessories” department.
Nothing says haredi Judaism like thousands of men packed in a room talking about what women need to do, does it?
A huge, married-men-only conference on modesty was held a week-plus ago to discuss the necessity of buckling down on dress codes for women and girls. As far as the article indicates, male modesty and/or a more broadly defined modesty as humility and care for the other (see Rambam’s Hilchot Deot Ch. 5) were not discussed.
Ynet reports that one of the speakers said, for example,
“One of our generations biggest obstacles is tight clothing… each and every one of us must stand guard and make sure his wife and daughters’ clothing are modest, both in how much they cover the body and how they are worn.”…
The details of what that might mean were, not surprisingly, enumerated. (Note the injunction against too-long wigs.) This list, below, makes me want to remind everybody that we were all (”male and female”) created b’tzelem Elokim, and that our female tzelemim in their naked state were pretty OK for God in Eden. Which is not to say that I think that we should walk around nekkid now, and I do believe that there are more and less appropriate ways of dressing in various contexts, but I do take exception to the implication that the shape in which I was created is a source of shame and that I should walk around making sure that the “form of my body” is hidden at all times.
Shirts, skirts, sweaters and the like should be loose enough that the form of the body is not seen….
Shirts should be at least 10 centimeters longer than the edge of the waistline on the skirt, in such a way that they would cover the skin in any movement. The collar should be appropriately closed. Sleeves should cover the elbows at any movement. Any fabrics that cling to the body such as spandex, tricot, and the like are prohibited.
Skirts should began at the waist and end at the middle of the leg, and as mentioned, should be loose and not of clinging fabric. Wigs must not be too long or in models that have been prohibited.
The one woman that they quoted used the tagline of the recent modesty handbook Oz Hadar Velevusha (which is replete with debates about the permissibility of patterned tights and the like) –“Just as the Torah is most important to men, so is modesty for women.”
I have never understood this. Torah isn’t important for women? Even if this was intended to mean “Torah study,” it still sounds awful. Men get God’s 613 commandments and a book describing the covenant between God and Israel, and women get implored to make sure shirts are at least 10 centimeteres longer than their waistlines?
(Rabbi Yehudah Henkin observes, “This ideology prohibits a woman from standing out—and from being outstanding. She must not act in a play, paint a mural, play an instrument or otherwise demonstrate special skills in front of men, lest she attract attention and her movements excite them.”)
Interestingly, Tamar, the woman quoted, also used some incorrect history when implying that feminism, in its way, has caused some of this problem:
“That is to say, there was a time when there were less influences. The haredi world was much less opened. Today the world has evolved; many women are educated and work outside the home, and study in places they didn’t used to, like computers or interior design”.
She’s probably right that women’s education and increased work opportunities have created somewhat of a crisis, as more women today encounter more of non-haredi culture. However: Jewish women have worked outside of the home for centuries, in many different cultures. The question of what to do about the cultural meetings that resulted have been addressed in many different places in many different ways. One of them is here and now, I suppose.
In any case. Full story here. An article from JOFA on modesty issues, here.
(X-posted to JewSchool.)
Researchers Susan Fournier and Michael Guiry found that only 15% of the people they surveyed said that they’d be satisfied “living a comfortable life.” The other 85% of their survey claimed that they would only be happy when their income and lifestyle reflected that of the richest 18% of American households.
“Who is rich? The one who is happy with his portion.” Pirke Avot 4:1
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I have put Ch. 6 to bed (for the time being–that one especially is going to come back to haunt me in the revisions) and am now flailing about in my cluelessness about Ch. 7. Especially hard is that now I’ve gotten to the part where the linear narrative slows down a bunch–in terms of the personal stuff, the last three chapters cover more or less the same time period. Which means I have to be extra-super-duper more on top of making sure they stay on topic, because it’s easy enough to wander down one street for a long time before I realize that this bit doesn’t belong here at all. Holistic writing is fun like that. I’ve already got one of those (hey, that much less I have to do for Ch. 9, I guess) and now have to figure out if what I’ve been doing today even goes where I have it, or if I want to just hyperlink it to Ch. 5. Ack. And this is with the comprehensive Table of Contents that I wrote out for the proposal (which, oddly enough, seems to keep being useful and to which I am more or less staying true. I guess that’s my karmic payback for the sweat, tears, and million versions of the book’s structure that I went through when trying to write the proposal.)
Anyway. The word count to date. Lots more words to be gleefully added to the word counter in a month or so, I hope.
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44,358 / 80,000
(55.4%) |
In the wake of the death of a friend of his (who happens to be a friend of a friend of a friend of mine), Neil Gaiman writes in his blog about the importance of writers (and musicians, and artists, and anybody else who might create work that has rights and royalties and such attached) creating literary wills—that is, considering the fate of one’s intellectual property after one’s own life has run its course. If you don’t do it, decisions about what might happen to your books (or songs, or whatever) may well go to people who won’t treat them right.
Very very important, and worth passing on to anyone you know to whom this might be relevant. His post, including a link to a .pdf of a literary will template, here.
Oh, and here is a list of states that accept a holographic (ie in your own handwriting and not witnessed) will–check to make sure yours is on it before you go that route.
While we’re on the subject, here’s my every-periodic bid for everyone to get their durable power of attorney/advance directive ducks in a row. You never know what sorts of things can happen, and it’s your duty to your loved ones to make crystal clear what you’d like to have happen in the event that you can’t make your own medical decisions, and who you’d like to be in charge of that, God forbid that you should need it.
This form is an amazing template (if you have trouble with the link, go here and click on the .pdf download link for “Jewish Medical Directives for Health Care”). It does a lot of the work for you, giving you all sorts of detailed options about what to do in this or that situation, and you check a box next to your preferred decision–thus creating a very detailed list of your wishes, including lots of stuff you probably wouldn’t have thought of on your own. (All the choices they offer–quite a range–are considered acceptable according to halakha). It’s a great form even if you’re not Jewish.
For a more general DPA form crafted according to halakha, you can go here.
For an even more general (ie not Jewishly connected) DPA form, go here.
Happy Secular American Holiday to you all! I hope that wherever you are, you have safely avoided or survived Wednesday’s nightmareathon that is busy air travel under the TSA.
I keep forgetting that today is a holiday that I’ve celebrated probably every year of my life because here, I’m not bombarded with reminders–even though I was in the U.S. until 3 days ago. It’s weird. I blanked on the whole thing until I realized that I could talk to several family members at once, because my brother is home visiting my dad. I’d be there too if I were in the States, but only ’cause it’s a nice excuse to see family. Come to think about it, this is probably how a lot of not-so-religious Jews think about Rosh Hashonah and Pesach. (My friend and teacher R. Dan Shevitz observes that Thanksgiving is the one secular holiday with a Yom Tov Sheni.)
In any case, over here today feels like just another lull point between the hagim and Hanukah. I’m actually having chicken-style Tivol (veggie fake chicken breast thingys) for lunch, not out of any interest in marking the turkey-eating holiday, but because the pantry’s looking a little on the lean side. Grocery shopping tomorrow.
I hope everybody in all countries has a lovely day today, whether or not you have a day off.
There’s a great Rashi on some gemara, somewhere, that in my germ-addled state I can’t quite dig up from the recesses of my brain, and my searching skills (google and my CD ROM) are not helping today. It’s the one in which Rashi says, basically, “people who make a big fuss out of going to the humra when the kula is perfectly reasonable are silly.” Something in that general gist. I’m pretty sure it’s quite famous. Anybody know what I’m talking about? Where is it, and what’s the exact quote? (Actually, if you tell me where it is, I can probably find the quote myself….)
Grazie!
Well, I knew I was going to pay for the hubris of that itenerary somehow. Got back to Israel yesterday morning and have managed to be asleep for the vast bulk of the hours since then (It’s 3pm day two of my return, now). I have some sort of bug–the kind that prefers an insulated apartment and that the heat go on, I suspect, but oh well–and am hoping that the next few days of serious rest, soup, kleenex and OJ will get me back up to speed.
Oof.
