parsha bit: Acharei Mot - K'doshim

[cellio]

This week's parsha commands us "be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy". What does it mean to be holy? Nachmanides says it is not just keeping the commandments. A man can fulfill the law but still not be a nice person. Because one can always find loopholes in the law, he says, people will do so. To "be holy", according to Nachmanides, is to not use those loopholes, nor to over-indulge in things permitted by the torah. (Commentary on Lev 19:2)

Comments

[grouchyoldcoot.livejournal.com]

But doesn't this lead to constantly expanding the space of actions to be avoided? And doesn't that in turn lead to disengagement from important and good actions that are outside the realm addressed by the torah?

[cellio]

I think he's arguing for moderation -- yes, the torah permits you to enjoy life; do but don't overdo. But I'm not sure I understand your point, so please feel free to clarify.

Not taking advantage of loopholes says to me, basically, "don't be a rules lawyer at the expense of doing what's right". I read it as the opposite of "disengagement from important and good actions"; he's saying do them even if you don't have to. Or that's my read, anyway.

[grouchyoldcoot.livejournal.com]

Hm; maybe I read the quote too aggressively. I have a problem with "building a wall around the Torah", as Char calls it- the practice of repeatedly generalizing behavior rules until the body of behavior rules gets very very large. My concern was that some of those loopholes being avoided were loopholes in behavior rules, and that the avoidance amounts to expanding the rules.

another idea

[chaos-wrangler.livejournal.com]

I don't recall which commentary this came from, but it's stuck with me since grade school so perhaps it's worth something. "kadosh" can be translated as separate/special, i.e. god is different/special/separate, so is shabbat, so is the "holy land", and so we are to remember to be and act. This works well with the understanding of tahor vs tamei as not meaning clean vs unclean or pure vs unpure but as 2 distinct ritual states, one of which is more appropriate for things/places/actions which are separate in the sense of "kadosh".

Re: another idea

[cellio]

Good point. I think of "kadosh" as both "separate" and "for a special purpose"; to the extent that the latter is holiness that works. But I think of my challah plate as small-scale kadosh even though I wouldn't call it "holy"; it's dedicated to Shabbat/Yom Tov use, but that's different. So "holy" probably isn't the best translation.

Re: another idea

[starmalachite.livejournal.com]

I can't look it up right now, but one of my favorite Torah/OT verses is from one of the prophets (Malachi?): "Do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your G-d>." To me, if that's not holiness, it's at least a good start.

Not to come across as a creepy stalker, but....

[skjaere.livejournal.com]

I was browsing around your SCA webpage and I have a question for you. I'm trying to design my wedding dress, and I was wondering if you have a larger version of the image you've posted for the viking apron dress. I can't read any of the text on the image, and I want to be sure and get the measurements right. Thank you!

Re: Not to come across as a creepy stalker, but....

[cellio]

Hi, and welcome to my journal.

I assume you're talking about the cutting diagram on the site at U Waterloo? That image was done for me by someone else; I should really at least hand-draw a clearer one and scan it in. (I'm not so great with the right tools for the job.) (Must also retrieve or reset the FTP password for that account...) But here, let me describe what you're trying to do:

Your goal is to make a tube that is your chest size from armpit to weist, and then flares out comfortably. Think of this as three "panels" (plus gores). So for each panel, the width at the top is 1/3 max chest plus seam allowance, the height (of the rectangular part) is top of armpit to waist plus generous seam allowance (give yourself some wiggle room to play with), and the flare is done evenly to use the fabric. This creates three triangles, which become your gores. (Obviously you have to do some trimming/rounding of the bottom bits.) Now the only thing special in this is that the one panel is made of of two half-panels (and the gore of two half-gores); that means you have to account for an extra seam allowance. I generally blow that off, let that panel be a half-inch narrower (or whatever it works out to be), and put it in back. Half an inch is a relatively small proportion of my circumference; if you're skinny your mileage may vary.

The business with the half-panels assumes cloth that's (for all practical purposes) reversible. That's true for plain wools and linens; it might not be true for whatever you're planning to use for your wedding.

Finally: there are other reconstructions out there that might be easier. I recommend starting with Thora Sharptooth's resource page.

I hope this helps.

Re: Not to come across as a creepy stalker, but....

[skjaere.livejournal.com]

Thank you for taking the time to write this out. I really appreciate it! I'm thinking of going with the pattern on this page (http://www.silverdor.org/viking/vikingad.html), since it's really handy (for me at least) to have some sort of visual to work from. I've bookmarked the resource page. It looks really helpful. Thank you!

Re: Not to come across as a creepy stalker, but....

[cellio]

That looks like a good pattern, and it avoids one of the problems in mine. Thanks for the link!