short takes (pretty random)

[cellio]

Erik (the orange cat) bites his nails, but he won't let me clip them without a fight. That can't be efficient; consider the cross-section of a cat's tooth and the shape of a nail, versus the parameters of a tool designed for the job. Silly cat. He looks so industrious when he decides to shorten his nails, and I could solve that problem for him in just a few seconds.

When you save a web page in Mozilla, by default it creates a directory and collects in it all the associated graphics and stuff, rather than just dumping the HTML for the page. Handy!

The provider of my shell account and web space will host (and register) a vanity domain name for very small amounts of extra money. Just small enough that I'd go for it, if I could come up with something interesting. But I lack creativity. I've occasionally considered grabbing "cellio.org" (we're an Italian family; of course it's .org :-) ), but it doesn't really excite me. I don't want to use something so hobby-centric that I'd be embarrassed to use it professionally, but since I'm not currently planning to use it for business, I don't really want to build a business domain into it. I assume that all singleton English words are taken by either real people or squatters by now.

The morning minyan started using a new siddur a couple weeks ago (new daily version of Sim Shalom). I noticed that it uses a very handy typesetting convention that the Reform siddur (Gates of Prayer) adopted a few years back: writing a certain vowel (qametz) differently when its pronunciation changes. I approve.

(Hebrew is mostly a regular language when it comes to pronunciation, but there is one vowel that is sometimes "ah" and sometimes "oh", depending on rules that are only partially articulated. You just have to know, in some cases. So now there are two siddurim that are using the same minor variation in typesetting to signal this. I find it extremely helpful, and I'll be very disappointed if the new Reform siddur (due out in 2005) doesn't continue it.)

Comments

Re: kametz katon!

[sanpaku.livejournal.com]

Minor aside: why do they start wtih shacharit and not ma'ariv? Did the previous edition?

Most siddurs I have seen start with shacharit. Indeed, the complete (1984) Sim Shalom starts with it. It seems intuitive to me that you start with the start of a normal day (not nec. a "calendar" day, at dusk). Also that's where the vast majority of the liturgy is. Shabbat-only and holiday-only siddurs/machzors start in the evening because that is when you start the shabbat/holiday-specific prayers. (And, sadly, I think that many non-minyangoers would be unable to find the shabbat/holiday prayers otherwise!)

They have an alternate version of Avot with the matriarchs included.

This issue has been roiling Conservatism for some time and the fact that they included the Imahot is a big step. Many chazans just did the Imahot without telling the congregation, or, like mine, slapped an Imahot version of the bracha on the inside back cover of the siddur. The Conservative siddur is often like that -- there are "alternative versions" and "some congregations omit..." directions that the authorities of the movement would never countenance as official practice, but that are in there because in practice many congregations do that anyway. The Imahot would fall into that category.

The old Sim Shalom is a very good book and it is what I prefer, all else equal. The new versions (daily and Shabbat) are revisions, and they are nicely laid out -- convenient for daveners in Hebrew. However, there is one drawback I don't like about them: the English translations are often tremendously bowdlerized, especially with gender issues -- they bend over backward to not refer to God as King but as Ruler, etc. I understand the commitment to equality, but past a certain point the Hebrew is no longer faithfully represented. So the older Sim Shalom is more my speed in that respect. It's worth a look.