parsha bit: Vayikra

The book of Vayikra describes in detail the various korbanot (sacrifices) to be brought under different conditions. After the destruction of the temple this was no longer possible, and the rabbis declared prayer to be a temporary replacement. The Rambam held that this was not meant to be temporary; it was part of the progression from animal sacrifice to prayer to intellectual contemplation. In modern times, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel said that prayer doesn't replace sacrifice; it is sacrifice. We sacrifice selfishness and greed in a quest for truth, mercy, and love. (Man's Quest for God: Studies in Prayer and Symbolism, as cited in another torah commentary not presently to hand.)

at least *something* is going right...

My employer restricts internet access, even on the alleged "guest network" that clients can use. Our parent company (real parent, not adoptive parent) has wireless in their part of the space, but it's locked down and I've heard conflicting things about getting access. Thus far I'd been unable to get the right people to make the right settings to get on, and I wasn't sure how hard to push. (I mean, it's not like they owe us or anything.) I brought my laptop in today, figuring I'd go to a public access point sometime during the day.

This morning I just happened to walk into the building with parent-company's top dog. I took the opportunity to ask, all casual-like, whether their wireless network was open to us. He said something like "it should be; you'll need to get access", and I mentioned that my DSL was out at home and I was hoping to get my iBook on their approved list, and he perked up at "iBook" (he's a Mac snob) and, well, one thing led to another and by the time we had reached the office entrance, I was explaining that I was new to the Mac and trying to find out what all the fuss was about, and he was enthusing about "oh you must try this, and let me show you this, and...", and by the way sure he'd call $IT_GUY and get me onto their network, which he did right then and there.

The signal doesn't reach my desk, but at least now I can go to (or near) their space and get network access, without having to leave the building. Yay!

Meanwhile, Telerama's customer-support number is now redirecting callers to the collections department of their provider. Essentially, they're trying to sic their customers on their source and get us in the middle of a "he said, she said" fight about a past-due payment. (Telerama claims they were cut off with one day's notice. I don't know if that's true, but this just makes them look even more incompetent. Among things, if they had any notice at all they should have notified their customers!) Even if they don't die as a result of this, I think we need to find service elsewhere, and quickly. I wish FiOS was available in my neighborhood.