Holidays between Pesaḥ and Shavu‘oth

 Jewish date: 15 Siwan 5771 (Parashath Shelaḥ Lekha).

Today’s holidays:  Friday of the Eleventh Week of Ordinary Time (Roman Catholicism), Feast of Marvel “Jack” Parsons (Thelema), Feast Day of St. Zontar of Venus (Church of the SubGenius).

Greetings.

To get completely caught up, I should put in a few words on Jewish/Israeli holidays which occur between Pesaḥ (Passover) and Shavu‘oth (Pentecost).  I am sorry I did not get around to writing about them earlier; my memory of them seems to have faded further than I should have allowed it.

Yom hashSho’ah (Israeli Holocaust Day) and Yom hazZikkaron (Israeli Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism Remembrance Day):  These are naturally solemn days.  The first does not seem to be taken off from work, while the second everyone left early from.  Both I remember being marked by the lighting of memorial candles, such as this one:

I also remember a national minute of silence on both days.

Yom ha‘Aṣma’uth (Israeli Independence Day):  This holiday celebrates the founding of the State of Israel in 1948.  My activities on that day on the Temple Mount have already received the attention of an entire blog post.  Yom ha‘Aṣma’uth is celebrated as a national holiday, with everyone getting off of work, and here in Giv‘ath Shemu’el we celebrated it as a religious holiday, too.  Our synagogue had an evening assembly with prayer services, speakers, and music to celebrate, and in the morning the synagogue I prayed out said Hallel (celebratory psalms) with blessings—something done in recognition of the arguably miraculous nature of Israel’s surviving the attack of the surrounding Arab countries intent on preventing there being a non-Muslim state in the region.  This was not only a day off from work, but the country really meant it.  As I walked from the Jerusalem Central Bus Station to the Old City, I saw barely any store of any kind open.  People also tend to have barbecues, and there were a lot of blue and white decorations around.  (Actually, a lot of them are still up, come to think of it.)

Day 33 of the ‘Omer/Lagh ba‘Omer:  I have already posted a link to commentary on the questionable origins of this holiday.  This holiday is infamous for people making bonfires.  Unfortunately, I somehow managed to avoid seeing any.

Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day):  This holiday celebrates the reunion of Jerusalem in 1967 when the Arabs attacked again, intent on wiping Israel off the map again, and not only lost the war, but territory as well.  This was not a day off, but we had another assembly, and Hallel with blessings was said in the morning.  I assumed that there was no way that the Waqf was going to let an observant Jew visit the Temple Mount this day, so I did not arrange my schedule for such a visit.  To my surprise, I afterward learned that Rav ’Ari’el of the Temple Institute did ascend on Yom Yerushalayim, lectured up there, and even laid a stone towards the rebuilding of the Temple.

OK, that is it for the moment.  I have other writing projects in the works.  I have learned of another passage in the Talmudh on Jesus (found in two places) and translated both versions; I now need to get around to writing commentary on it.  There is also a Jesus movie on Hulu which I ought to comment on.  Furthermore, Barry has alerted me to Ayn Rand becoming popular among the Republican Party lately.  Ayn Rand’s quasi-religion, Objectivism (a misnomer if there ever was one), is openly pro-selfishness—something rare in moral systems—leading to an obvious contradiction with Christianity.  I have started reading Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, and it definitely merits moral commentary.  This may also lead me to reread material on LaVeyan Satanism, another pro-selfishness quasi-religion.  (Now somebody remind me to get back to reading The Golden Bough, which I am stuck in the middle of and need to get around to finishing.  Come to think of it, I am still in the middle of the Mahabharata, too.  So much material, so little time to review it…)

I would like to end with a bit of religious humor before it eats my brain.  I have finished unpacking all the books I had shipped to me here in Israel.  The last box contained the entire Scientology public canon.  The cover of one of the books struck me as shocking:

I realize that the Church of Scientology loves to recruit celebrities and have them promote Scientology, but HOW COULD THING (OF THE ADDAMS FAMILY) EVER BECOME A SCIENTOLOGIST?  SAY IT ISN'T SO!  SAY IT ISN'T SO!

Peace and Shabbath shalom.

’Aharon/Aaron

FlashForward and Muslim anti-Semitism

Greetings.

Jewish date:  5 ’Iyyar 5770 (Parashath ’Aḥare Moth-Qedhoshim).

Today’s holidays:  Day 20 of the ‘Omer (Judaism), Israeli Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism Remembrance Day (Judaism), Monday of the Third Week of Easter (Roman Catholicism), Feast St. David Koresh (Church of the SubGenius; I have no idea what they are thinking).

Worthy cause of the day:  “Continue Progress on the Human Rights Council - The Petition Site”.  (And I am fully aware that expecting most parts of the United Nations bureaucracy to do the right thing is like expecting to win the lottery.  But we still have to prod them anyway.)

Topic 1:  Several of the more recent episodes of FlashForward:  “Revelation Zero, Part 1”, “Revelation Zero, Part 2”, “Better Angels”, and “Let No Man Put Asunder”.  While FlashForward is a lot less religious show than one would have thought for a show in which people see the future (and try to avoid undesirable fates), lately the topic of religion in various forms has crept into the plot-lines.  There is a window-washer who survived the Blackout by a lucky accident who, based on his FlashForward, became a preacher and founded a religious organization, Sanctuary.  He promotes love and, violating a common cliché, claims that fate and free will are compatible.  This is not as crazy as one might think.  E.g., every human alive must sooner or later die.  Yet if we have free will, it is within our power to influence how and when we reach this ultimate fate.  One could choose to live a healthy lifestyle and thus have a good chance of living to a ripe old age, or one could choose to abuse one’s body and have a much higher probability of dying early from a drug overdose or a disease.

A different religious type is Nicole’s mother, who has gone crazy.  She is seen wearing fake angel wings, citing Genesis 2:17, and burning a Bible.  She also covers a wall with pennies minted in 1989, the year Nicole was born.

A third religious type is the Somalian warlord Abdi.  In his FlashForward he sees himself as a great leader.  He decides that it is God’s plan for this to happen, and he makes the illogical conclusion that the ends justify the means.  He thus becomes a warlord and works towards conquering all of Somalia.

Finally, almost as comic relief, one of the characters is revealed to have become a minister over the Internet.

Topic 2:  Relevant to Israeli Remembrance Day:  “A mother’s reflection on Remembrance Day” and “Continuing Herzl’s dream”.  The first article reminds us that there are innocent Jewish victims of Islamic terrorism, despite the Muslim propaganda trying to gloss over that fact.  The second gives some historical perspective on the current set of anti-Semitic attacks by Muslims has gone on and the tactics they have used.  Arguably the article does not go back far enough, since Arabs trying to grab Israel for themselves goes back to at least the 1920s.

Topic 3:  For today’s religious humor:  “Basement Cat”:



Peace.

Aaron