prophets

[cellio]

This made me giggle: "You might think of a prophet as the kind of person you would not want as your next-door neighbor... always checking your trash for recyclables, reminding you when you're mowing the lawn that Leviticus commands you not to cut all the way to the corner of your field, kvetching about your driving on Shabbat, etc. " - Rabbi David Komerofsky in a course I'm taking on the prophets.

(Aside #1: consistent with that logic test that's going around, you don't get to reverse it and argue that because you dig through my trash you're a prophet. And if you do dig through my trash, please clean up the mess. It's bad enough when the raccoons or whatever get into it...)

(Aside #2: Actually, I don't think leaving the corners of your fields would apply to lawn-mowing; it's about harvesting. But I'll grant him the rhetorical device. :-) )

The course is part of the sh'liach k'hilah program, and is internet-based. They offered two courses this spring, one on five of the prophets and another on Zionism. I'm really astonishingly weak on the prophets (and I suspect I'm not alone among Reform Jews), and it's hard for me to muster much enthusiasm for the other course, so this seemed clear. We'll be focusing on Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Amos, and Micah, a good group for social-justice lessons. This week's mailing was largely introductory, but there should be more to discuss next week.

Apropos of nothing: tangerinpenguin, I was surprised to see your boss in my office today.

Comments

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

And on the Catholic side, G.K. Chesterton said something to the effect that people talk about the patience of a saint, but the people with real patience are the relatives of saints.

[cellio]

Definitely! And it can't be much fun living with a prophet, either -- or being one.

"Honey, what did you say to people today?"
"Just the usual -- we have to repent or we'll all die. Why?"
"Well, there's a mob surrounding our house and it looks like they're starting a fire."
"Damn, I hate having to move on short notice. Again."

[dvarin.livejournal.com]

Actually, I don't think leaving the corners of your fields would apply to lawn-mowing; it's about harvesting.

What if you compost your lawn clippings? Then you're effectively harvesting grass for use in fertilizer production.

Similarly, I guess if you cut down a wheat field but just left the stalks there, that's not really harvesting.

[cellio]

Well, you're also not allowed to pick up any harvest you drop, so I guess this means you can't rake the grass for the compost heap and mowers with bins are questionable unless you leave the corners. :-)

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

Is there any way that leaving the corners of a field applies to other sorts of business?

[cellio]

Thare are other commandments about fair business practices, and also about tithing and other forms of tzedakah (kind of like charity). I don't know if anyone has drawn inferences specifically from leaving the corners of the field.