![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
Shabbat
I led services again on Friday night. Overall it went very well. There were a couple of glitches (what else is new?), including one where the rabbi said "we will now chant Magen Avot" and I'd never heard it before. So I didn't lead that one, but I did a credible job of following. Ok, he has to teach me that one before next time; we've never done it while I was there before. Oops.
And while I know, intellectually, that non-professional lay people praising my voice is kind of akin to my mother thinking I'm a math wizard because I can do simple arithmetic in my head, it's still the case that these folks are permitted to stroke my ego any time they like. :-) Every time I lead services there at least one person mistakes me for a professional cantor, which is kind of cool -- though I always hasten to set the record straight.
Saturday morning the turnout for services was much higher than usual (don't know why), and a lot of people stayed for Torah study afterwards. I guess we now have an answer for those who worried about Leviticus scaring people off from the study group.
Dani had people over to play Twilight Imperium in the afternoon (I didn't play). I let myself get talked into a train game (1830) that was described as "not too long" in the evening, but it ended up taking 7 hours. The person who owns the game implied a higher degree of familiarity with the rules than was warranted; instead of him teaching us the game quickly, we all ended up sort of figuring it out together. I'd probably play the game again, but not under the same circumstances. Yawn.
And while I know, intellectually, that non-professional lay people praising my voice is kind of akin to my mother thinking I'm a math wizard because I can do simple arithmetic in my head, it's still the case that these folks are permitted to stroke my ego any time they like. :-) Every time I lead services there at least one person mistakes me for a professional cantor, which is kind of cool -- though I always hasten to set the record straight.
Saturday morning the turnout for services was much higher than usual (don't know why), and a lot of people stayed for Torah study afterwards. I guess we now have an answer for those who worried about Leviticus scaring people off from the study group.
Dani had people over to play Twilight Imperium in the afternoon (I didn't play). I let myself get talked into a train game (1830) that was described as "not too long" in the evening, but it ended up taking 7 hours. The person who owns the game implied a higher degree of familiarity with the rules than was warranted; instead of him teaching us the game quickly, we all ended up sort of figuring it out together. I'd probably play the game again, but not under the same circumstances. Yawn.
Re: Shabbat
We're not told exactly what crime Nadav and Avihu committed with their unauthorized sacrifice.
Well, you could argue that you said it all: unauthorized sacrifice. It's also a story about how Gd is really scary and unpredictable. Some rabbis say they zotted because they were drunk (because it talks right afterwards about not taking strong drink). But it's a difficult passage, and the drunk thing sounds too much like blaming the victim to me.
As further support for my original interpretation, I offer the observation that there are rules about which animals you can sacrifice, and broader rules about what you can eat.
This is a good point. I'm not sure what the answer is. One might be that the rules go into things like grasshoppers, which you can eat without sacrifice. But I'm not sure.
Re: Shabbat
Re: Shabbat