Not in the Heavens: agosto 2015

31 de agosto de 2015

30 de agosto de 2015

Maurice Sendak

"How do you know such secrets?" they asked him. He tapped his head and shrugged and said "I just know" (1968)

"Mayn Yiddishe Mame"

Cantors Naftali Herstik, Alberto Mizrachi, Benzion Miller with the Neimah Singers
Sinagoga Portuguesa de Amsterdão (2003)

Grécia

"Statue of a Seated Boxer", bronze with copper inlays (3rd century BCE)

Emmanuel Todd

"Moi ce qui me motive c'est plus la question de l'antisémitisme, que de l'islam "

A antiga casa de família de Aristides de Sousa Mendes em Cabanas de Viriato, a 30 quilómetros de Viseu, já não está em risco de ruir. A primeira fase das obras de recuperação da futura casa-museu está prestes a ser concluída e consistiu na “reconstrução do exterior e estabilização das paredes interiores da Casa do Passal”, explicou ao Observador a Direção Regional de Cultura do Centro (DRCC). A casa de três pisos onde viveu o diplomata que salvou milhares de pessoas durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial esteve vários anos em avançado estado de degradação. Cerca de 400 mil euros de investimento depois (85% provenientes de financiamento comunitário e 15% de contrapartida nacional por parte da DRCC), já se pode ver o telhado e a fachada reconstruídos. Barreto Xavier estima que só em 2018 o público poderá visitar o lugar onde viveu Aristides de Sousa Mendes, e por onde passaram muitos refugiados durante a guerra, salvos pelo cônsul que o Yad Vashem (Memorial do Holocausto de Jerusalém) distinguiu com o título de “Justo entre as Nações”.

29 de agosto de 2015

Vida

Great Blue Heron

Rabbi Daniel Sperber

R&B Ecology: Richard Schwartz interviews Rabbi Prof. Daniel Sperber of Bar-Ilan University

613 Mitzvot

T'rumah, Tithes and Taxes

That an uncircumcised person shall not eat of the t'rumah (heave offering), and the same applies to other holy things. This rule is inferred from the law of the Paschal offering, by similarity of phrase (Ex. 12:44-45 and Lev. 22:10) but it is not explicitly set forth in the Torah. Traditionally, it has been learnt that the rule that the uncircumcised must not eat holy things is an essential principle of the Torah and not an enactment of the Scribes (negative).
Not to alter the order of separating the t'rumah and the tithes; the separation be in the order first-fruits at the beginning, then the t'rumah, then the first tithe, and last the second tithe (Ex. 22:28) (negative)
To give half a shekel every year (to the Sanctuary for provision of the public sacrifices) (Ex. 30:13) (affirmative).
That a cohen who is unclean shall not eat of the t'rumah (Lev. 22:3-4) (negative)
That a person who is not a cohen or the wife or unmarried daughter of a cohen shall not eat of the t'rumah (Lev. 22:10) (negative)
That a sojourner with a cohen or his hired servant shall not eat of the t'rumah (Lev. 22:10) (negative)
Not to eat tevel (something from which the t'rumah and tithe have not yet been separated) (Lev. 22:15) (negative)
To set apart the tithe of the produce (one tenth of the produce after taking out t'rumah) for the Levites (Lev. 27:30; Num. 18:24) (affirmative)
To tithe cattle (Lev. 27:32) (affirmative).
Not to sell the tithe of the herd (Lev. 27:32-33) (negative).
That the Levites shall set apart a tenth of the tithes, which they had received from the Israelites, and give it to the cohanim (called the t'rumah of the tithe) (Num. 18:26) (affirmative)
Not to eat the second tithe of cereals outside Jerusalem (Deut. 12:17) (negative).
Not to consume the second tithe of the vintage outside of Jerusalem (Deut. 12:17) (negative).
Not to consume the second tithe of the oil outside of Jerusalem (Deut. 12:17) (negative).
Not to forsake the Levites (Deut. 12:19); but their gifts (dues) should be given to them, so that they might rejoice therewith on each and every festival (negative)
To set apart the second tithe in the first, second, fourth and fifth years of the sabbatical cycle to be eaten by its owner in Jerusalem (Deut. 14:22) (affirmative) (today, it is set aside but not eaten in Jerusalem).
To set apart the second tithe in the third and sixth year of the sabbatical cycle for the poor (Deut. 14:28-29) (affirmative) (today, it must be separated out but need not be given to the poor).
To give the cohen the due portions of the carcass of cattle (Deut. 18:3) (according to the Talmud, this is not mandatory in the present outside of Israel, but it is permissible, and some observant people do so)
To give the first of the fleece to the cohen (Deut. 18:4) (according to the Talmud, this is not mandatory in the present outside of Israel, but it is permissible, and some observant people do so)
To set apart t'rumah g'dolah (the great heave-offering, that is, a small portion of the grain, wine and oil) for the cohen (Deut. 18:4) (affirmative)
Not to expend the proceeds of the second tithe on anything but food and drink (Deut. 26:14). Anything outside of things necessary for sustenance comes within the class in the phrase "Given for the dead" (negative).
Not to eat the Second Tithe, even in Jerusalem, in a state of uncleanness, until the tithe had been redeemed (Deut. 26:14) (negative).
Not to eat the Second Tithe, when mourning (Deut. 26:14) (negative).
To make the declaration, when bringing the second tithe to the Sanctuary (Deut. 26:13) (affirmative)

Egipto

The unbroken seal on Tutankhamun’s tomb (1922)

George Gershwin

"Rhapsody in Blue"(1924)

28 de agosto de 2015

Enrico Macias

"Non je n'ai pas oublié" (1966)

Novo Testamento

A Codex Sinaiticus manuscript, right, the earliest complete New Testament, Egypt or Judea (4th century)

Israel Finkelstein

"The Truth About Solomon's Temple"

Drancy

View of the accommodation block at Drancy with French gendarme on guard

Vida

A micro-sensor is glued onto the back of a honey bee to monitor its movements.
Australian scientists have revealed they are using micro-sensors attached to honey bees as part of a global push to understand the key factors driving a worldwide population decline of the pollinators.

27 de agosto de 2015

Instructions for Crossing the Border

Imaginary man, go. Here is your passport.
You are not allowed to remember.
You have to match the description:
your eyes are already blue.
Don’t escape with the sparks
inside the smokestack:
you are a man, you sit in the train.
Sit comfortably.
You’ve got a decent coat now,
a repaired body, a new name
ready in your throat.
Go. You are not allowed to forget.

Dan Pagis

Sefarditas

"Sephardic History", Part 5

Part 5: The riots and conversions of 1391-1392

Egipto

Throne of Princess Satamun

Embellished with gold and silver foil, this wooden throne comes from the tomb of Yuya and Tuyu, great-grandparents of King Tutankhamun

Paul Berman

Apocalyptic movements

Roma

Invasions of the Roman Empire

26 de agosto de 2015

Barbra Streisand

"Woman in Love"

Surf

Nahum Shifren – Rabbi, author and former Malibu lifeguard, known as ‘the surfing rabbi’ (1998)

Teshuvah

"The Two Voices: A New Perspective on the Meaning of Teshuvah", Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

Vida

Otters sleep peacefully in the Shetland Islands, Scotland

Egipto

Ceiling of tomb of Ramses VI, Valley of the Kings, Egypt

25 de agosto de 2015

Testimony

No no: they definitely were
human beings: uniforms, boots.
How to explain? They were created
in the image.

I was a shade.
A different creator made me.

And he in his mercy left nothing of me that would die.
And I fled to him, rose weightless, blue,
forgiving – I would even say: apologizing –
smoke to omnipotent smoke
without image or likeness.

Dan Pagis

Grécia

Minoan Bull's Head Rhyton, Little Palace of Knossos, Crete (ca. 1450 BCE)

Israel Finkelstein

"Patriarchs, Exodus, Conquest: Fact or Fiction?"

Bruno Bettelheim

Enrico Macias

"l'Oriental"

24 de agosto de 2015

Maimónides

A page from "The Guide of the Perplexed" by Maimonides, Barcelona (1348)

William Dever

"The Exodus and the Bible: What Was Known, What Was Remembered, What Was Forgotten"

Vida

Horned Guan

"Hevenu Shalom Aleichem"

Cantors Naftali Herstik, Alberto Mizrachi, Benzion Miller with the Neimah Singers
Sinagoga Portuguesa de Amsterdão (2003)

Egipto

Treasury of Tutankhamun, small room off the burial chamber in the tomb of Tutankhamun (1926)

23 de agosto de 2015

Marc Chagall

"Two Pigeons" (1925)

Sefarditas

"Sephardic History", Part 4

The Reconquista: Sephardic Jewish culture and society are transformed

Natureza

"Environmental Responsibility (Shoftim)", Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

Maimónides

Spanish stamp of Maimonides (ca. 1967)

Síria

A wounded girl at a makeshift hospital east of Damascus, following shelling and air raids, Douma, Syria

22 de agosto de 2015

Vida

Deer tolerates jackdaws searching for ticks on its head in Bushy Park, Richmond, London

Enrico Macias

"Adieu mon pays"

613 Mitzvot

Kohanim and Levites

That the Cohanim shall put on priestly vestments for the service (Ex. 28:2) (affirmative)
Not to tear the High Cohen's robe (Ex. 28:32) (negative)
That the Cohen shall not enter the Sanctuary at all times (i.e., at times when he is not performing service) (Lev. 16:2) (negative)
That the ordinary Cohen shall not defile himself by contact with any dead, other than immediate relatives (Lev. 21:1-3)
That the Cohanim defile themselves for their deceased relatives (by attending their burial), and mourn for them like other Israelites, who are commanded to mourn for their relatives (Lev. 21:3)
That a Cohen who had an immersion during the day (to cleanse him from his uncleanness) shall not serve in the Sanctuary until after sunset (Lev. 21:6) (negative)
That a Cohen shall not marry a divorced woman (Lev. 21:7)
That a Cohen shall not marry a harlot (Lev. 21:7)
That a Cohen shall not marry a profaned woman (Lev. 21:7)
To show honor to a Cohen, and to give him precedence in all things that are holy (Lev. 21:8)
That a High Cohen shall not defile himself with any dead, even if they are relatives (Lev. 21:11) (negative)
That a High Cohen shall not go (under the same roof) with a dead body (Lev. 21:11) It has been learnt by tradition that a Cohen, who does so, violates the prohibition, "Neither shall he go in ", and also the prohibition "He shall not defile himself" (negative)
That the High Cohen shall marry a virgin (Lev. 21:13) (affirmative)
That the High Cohen shall not marry a widow (Lev. 21:14) (negative)
That the High Cohen shall not cohabit with a widow, even without marriage, because he profanes her (Lev. 21:15) (negative)
That a person with a physical blemish shall not serve (in the Sanctuary) (Lev. 21:17) (negative).
That a Cohen with a temporary blemish shall not serve there (Lev. 21:21) (negative)
That a person with a physical blemish shall not enter the Sanctuary further than the altar (Lev. 21:23) (negative).
That a Cohen who is unclean shall not serve (in the Sanctuary) (Lev. 22:2-3) (negative)
To send the unclean out of the Camp of the Shechinah, that is, out of the Sanctuary (Num. 5:2) (affirmative).
That a Cohen who is unclean shall not enter the courtyard (Num. 5:2-3) This refers to the Camp of the Shechinah (negative)
That the Cohanim shall bless Israel (Num. 6:23)
To set apart a portion of the dough for the Cohen (Num. 15:20)
That the Levites shall not occupy themselves with the service that belongs to the Cohanim, nor the Cohanim with that belonging to the Levites (Num. 18:3) (negative)
That one not a descendant of Aaron in the male line shall not serve (in the Sanctuary) (Num. 18:4-7) (negative).
That the Levite shall serve in the Sanctuary (Num. 18:23) (affirmative)
To give the Levites cities to dwell in, these to serve also as cities of refuge (Num. 35:2) (affirmative)
That none of the tribe of Levi shall take any portion of territory in the land (of Israel) (Deut. 18:1) (negative)
That none of the tribe of Levi shall take any share of the spoil (at the conquest of the Promised Land) (Deut. 18:1) (negative)
That the Cohanim shall serve in the Sanctuary in divisions, but on festivals, they all serve together (Deut. 18:6-8) (affirmative)

Serge Gainsbourg

Benjamin Zuskin

20 de agosto de 2015

Saul Friedländer

On what caused him to write an integrated history of the extermination of the Jews of Europe

Sefarditas

"Sephardic History", Part 3

Disintegration of the Muslim polity: The rise of Christians: Whither Sephardic Jewry?

Florença

Great Synagogue of Florence

Serge Gainsbourg

"Initials BB"

Vida

Sand Cat

19 de agosto de 2015

Êxodo

"What was the Exodus?", William Propp

Jerusalém

Jewish soldiers of the British army celebrating Passover in Jerusalem (1918)

Jacques Derrida

"D'ailleurs Derrida", Safaa Fathy (1999)

Leo Frank

Arqueologia

"Dig This": William Dever (2000)

18 de agosto de 2015

Moshe Idel

"On Abraham Abulafia"

613 Mitzvot

The Firstborn

To redeem the firstborn human male (Ex. 13:13; Ex. 34:20; Num. 18:15)
To redeem the firstling of an ass (Ex. 13:13; Ex. 34:20)
To break the neck of the firstling of an ass if it is not redeemed (Ex. 13:13; Ex. 34:20)
Not to redeem the firstling of a clean beast (Num. 18:17)

Richard Feynman

"The Character of Physical Law: 1. The Law of Gravitation"

Vida

A very rare Ili pika has been photographed in the Tianshan Mountains in China

Oran

Vues d'Oran (1961)

17 de agosto de 2015

Sefarditas

"Sephardic History", Part 2

The Muslims triumph; Andalusian Jewish community grows and Sephardic Jewry emerges.

Mendele Mokher Seforim

Sefer Torah

Rescuing a Torah from Congregation Beth Israel after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans (2005)

Anti-semitismo

"Modern Myths of Muslim Anti-Semitism", Mark Cohen

Benjamin Zuskin

Benjamin Zuskin as the Fool in King Lear

16 de agosto de 2015

Israel

"What’s Next for Israel?"

Ari Shavit, Peter Beinart, Abe Foxman and Dan Senor

Vida

Humpback whale

Emily Ratajkowski

São Paulo

14 de agosto de 2015

613 Mitzvot

Clothing

That a man shall not wear women's clothing (Deut. 22:5)
That a woman should not wear men's clothing (Deut. 22:5)
Not to wear garments made of wool and linen mixed together (Deut. 22:11)

Stanley Kubrick

Interview (1966)

Polónia

Old sketch of the Gabin (Gombin) Synagogue (1893)

Sefarditas

When the Jews Arrived in the Iberian Peninsula (1a)

When the Jews Arrived in the Iberian Peninsula (1b)

A 6 part introduction to Medieval Jewish History with JTS Professor Benjamin Gampel

Vida

Corduroy is the new 'oldest living cat' according to Guinness World Records.

The cat from Oregon is 26 years and 13 days old (equivalent to 124 human years) and has a fondness for sharp cheddar and catching mice.

13 de agosto de 2015

Job

There was a man in the land of Uz named Job. That man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. Seven sons and three daughters were born to him; his possessions were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred of she-asses, and a very large household. That man was wealthier than anyone in the East.

Job 1, 1-3

JPS

Robert Oppenheimer

Interview (1955)

Modigliani

"Portrait of Jean Cocteau" (1917)

Reinette l'Oranaise

"Nechkar el Karim"

Santa Teresa de Ávila

Provavelmente o retrato mais fiel de Santa Teresa.
Trata-se de uma cópia de uma pintura original dela feita em 1576, quando tinha 61 anos.

12 de agosto de 2015

Leo Strauss

"Plato's Political Philosophy: Symposium"

The Soul and Its Maker

Bow down before God, my precious thinking soul,
and make haste to worship Him with reverence.
Night and day think only of your everlasting world.
Why should you chase after vanity and emptiness?
As long as you live, you are akin to the living God:
just as He is invisible, so are you.
Since your Creator is pure and flawless,
know that you too are pure and perfect.
The Mighty One upholds the heavens on His arm,
as you uphold the mute body.
My soul, let your songs come before your Rock,
who does not lay your form in the dust.
My innermost heart, bless your Rock always,
whose name is praised by everything that has breath.

Solomon Ibn Gabirol

Espinosa

"Spinoza in Kant's Critique", Yirmiyahu Yovel

Shoah

Tereszka, a child in a residence for disturbed children.

She drew a picture of “home” on the blackboard (Poland, 1948)

Terra

"This Land is Mine", Andy Williams

11 de agosto de 2015

Vida

Avigdor Shinan

"The Story About Abraham And Sarah In Egypt"

Argélia

"Qui veut des Tapis", "Arrouah J'T'Y Cire", Aissa Pederzoli

Cabala

Cabbalistic amulet for safe pregnancy (18th century)

10 de agosto de 2015

נָחָשׁ

"Anaconda gives birth underwater" (BBC)

Miguel de Cervantes

Portrait of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra commonly said to be that which, according to the prologue to Cervantes' "Exemplary Novels", was painted by Juan de Jáuregui.

Modern scholarship does not accept this, or any other graphic representation of Cervantes, to be authentic.

613 Mitzvot

Agriculture and Animal Husbandry

Not to cross-breed cattle of different species (Lev. 19:19) (according to the Talmud, this also applies to birds)
Not to sow different kinds of seed together in one field (Lev. 19:19)
Not to eat the fruit of a tree for three years from the time it was planted (Lev. 19:23)
That the fruit of fruit-bearing trees in the fourth year of their planting shall be sacred like the second tithe and eaten in Jerusalem (Lev. 19:24) (affirmative)
Not to sow grain or herbs in a vineyard (Deut. 22:9) (negative).
Not to eat the produce of diverse seeds sown in a vineyard (Deut. 22:9) (negative).
Not to work with beasts of different species, yoked together (Deut. 22:10)