short takes

[cellio]

Puppy shoots man who was trying to kill him. Good job, Fido! Talk about the underdog winning the day. (Pity he wasn't able to save three of his litter-mates.)

I found this pleasantly surprising: Orthodox Union writes in favor of embryotic stem-cell research (a while ago, but I didn't know before). With precautions, of course, but I find nothing to disagree with in their letter.

Note to anyone who thinks the previous two paragraphs indicate I undervalue human life: make sure you're ready to drink from the fire hose before pushing that button.

innerbitch_rss reports a rumored team-up between NetFlix and TiVo, so that you don't even have to get off the couch to go to the mailbox any more. That'd work. :-)

lefkowitzga gave me a copy a Craig Taubman CD with lots of new music for the (Friday-night) Shabbat service. I have now identified the "Hashkiveinu" that I first heard this summer at HUC and fell in love with. Boy is it an earworm, though! For a song that's supposed to be a bedtime prayer, it hangs on a little too firmly. :-) I recognized some of the other melodies too; I just had not heard attribution for them previously. It's a good collection. Thanks, Gail!

HUC now requires two years of college-level Hebrew (or reasonable facsimile) as a condition of admission (up from one a year ago). Really, I was just looking for the catalog of distance-learning courses (not found, by the way), and the section on the rabbinic program attacked me and made me look. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. (Just to be perfectly clear: Hebrew proficiency would be the least of my challenges...)

Comments

[goljerp]

HUC now requires two years of college-level Hebrew (or reasonable facsimile) as a condition of admission (up from one a year ago).

I don't know about HUC, but I know that the JTS Rabbinic program has a "mechina" year as a possibility -- a year where students whose hebrew, Talmud, etc. isn't up to snuff can study as part of the program and get those subjects up to speed. I'd be surprised if HUC didn't have something similar -- perhaps a way to take Hebrew at HUC without yet being accepted to their Rabbinic program. (It looks like JTS also requires 4 semesters of college-level Hebrew.)

At least in '98, HUC Rabbinic students spent their first year in Jerusalem, so it makes sense to require Hebrew knowledge before starting, as opposed to letting students learn it as they go along.

Not that I'm suggesting you go to HUC in New York for Rabbinical school, or anything. JTS is much closer to my apartment; you and Dani could come over for Shabbat lunch. :-)

(p.s. The Acadamy for Jewish Religion, a Rabbinic school unafilliated with any of the movements (but open to people from all of them) has potentially more lenient requirements for Hebrew knowledge: you need to know enough to pass a test. Now, I don't know how tough the test is... but I do know several Rabbis who went there. Why, yes, they are located in New York also. Pattern? What pattern?)

Aminals

[anniemal.livejournal.com]

Goood puppy. You show potential. Put down the Luger. And don't talk about this to my beasties, okay?

[sdavido.livejournal.com]

A friend at Worldcon told me about this . . .

www.hods.org

Halachic Organ Donation!

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

In re being surprised about at least some Orthodox Jews being in favor of embryonic stem cell research--there are some Christian groups who've managed to give the impression that they're the default for serious religious belief. They aren't.

There was a similar pleasant not-quite-surprise when an Orthodox Jew was the only one to come out in favor of longevity research at a bioethics conference. (Sorry, I've lost the reference.)