daf bit: Sanhedrin 90

The mishna teaches: all Israel has a portion in the world to come, except for the following: he who denies resurrection, he who says the torah was not divinely revealed, and an apikorus. Rabbi Akiva adds: one who reads uncanonical books (!). Also (this is unattributed) one who whispers a charm over a wound. Abba Shaul says: also one who pronounces the divine name as it is spelled. The g'mara for the rest of the daf (and more) talks about resurrection, starting with the practical observation that one who denies resurrection doesn't get to experience it. (90a-b)

This last point is similar to a view of atheism I heard once that resonated: if you don't believe in God, you don't get to experience God -- which satisfies everyone involved, yes?

I noticed something fun on tomorrow's daf, so there will be another daf bit tomorrow.

Marian of Edwinstowe

Marian of Edwinstowe, more recently known as Old Marian, died last night. Marian had long been a fixture in the SCA when I joined. I met her at my first Pennsic, where she and Johan ran the Sated Tyger Inn, which was selling tasty period food long before most people were trying to cook such. That inn closed, and some years later she (and Chiron and maybe others) founded the Battlefield Bakery, where she continued the tradition.

I didn't know her especially well but I visited her bakery every Pennsic and, during the years I travelled a lot in the East Kingdom, I encountered and spoke with her quite a bit. She was gracious and friendly and always had time to spare for me and countless other nobodies (as I was at the time). I always enjoyed talking with her.

I remember when she resigned all of her awards. She made a point of telling the orders a year in advance -- so, she said, that there could be no question of whether she had done this because of some snit or disliked royalty. This was typical of the care she showed for others' feelings.

I regret that I did not get to know her well. Even so I will miss her, and her friends and family will miss her a thousand times more. The society is a poorer place today.