This 'n' That

Miscellaneous thoughts and questions

I. My previous post, “What Charedim Need To Understand About Religious Zionists,” was surprisingly well received, even by some people who are not normally so receptive to what I have to say (of course, as always there were also the haters and the myopic narcissists). Here’s an interesting response that was emailed to me:

“Although I don't agree with all that you've written in this blog, nevertheless thank you for bringing it to my attention the possible insensitive comments I've been saying to relatives who have children in the army. THANK YOU.”

Another reader asked for permission to edit it to make it more yeshivish-friendly and to forward it to relatives without including my name, which would make them automatically disqualify it. I readily agreed.

I would like to translate it into Hebrew. If anyone has the time and ability to volunteer to do that, please let me know.

II. We are re-doing the model of the Biblical ark at the Biblical Museum of Natural History. For technical reasons to do with scaling the model to the human and animal figures, we need the measurement of the ammah/cubit to be as short as possible. If you are aware of either rabbinic or academic scholarship (beyond the standard stuff) that provides reason to accept a shorter measurement, at least in the context of the ark (there were different cubits for different purposes), please share! Also, if you know anyone (preferably in Israel) that works with miniatures and dioramas, please let me know.

III. I am looking to travel for a scholar-in-residence engagement before the end of 2023, to either the US, Canada, or the UK. It has to be a very short trip because I cannot leave my family for long at this time. If you are interested in bringing me out for a Shabbos or even a weekday lecture, please be in touch.