daf bit: Nazir 5

The torah teaches that one may become a nazir (Nazirite) by taking a vow to do so, and during the time it applies he does not cut his hair, drink wine, or come in contact with that which defiles. Our most famous nazir was Shimshon (Samson), though in his case he didn't make that vow himself. We begin a new tractate this week that's all about the nazir.

The mishna teaches: if a man says "I vow to be like Shimshon" (with some additional language) he becomes a nazir like Shimshon. This is different from one who vows to become a lifetime nazir. How so? A life-nazir may thin his hair with a razor when it becomes burdensome (and then bring animal offerings), and if he becomes ritually impure he brings an offering. A nazir like Shimshon, however, may not thin his hair, and if he becomes ritually impure he brings no offering. The mishna then goes on to say that the default length of a nazir vow, if not specified, is 30 days. (4a, 5a)

Internet harassment in the modern age

When I was in college, some people thought it was a right fun prank to sign other people up for wildly-inappropriate catalogues and suchlike. These days they use the Internet for that. Any site that blithely accepts an email address without sending confirmation email to that address is contributing to the problem, big-time.

I know that already, but reading this article about a victim of the Ashley Madison breach -- spoiler alert: not an actual user -- reminded me how problematic this still is. Definitely worth five minutes of your time.

I want to ask you, Internet, to please stop taking all of this [supposed evidence] at face value. Please stop taking things like lists of names stolen from a company as a reason to abuse others — online or offline. When you see a story about someone doing something you think is either wrong or even just lame, it’s not a reason for you to abuse, stalk or attack someone you don’t know.

A friend whom I trust quite a bit not to be using their services is also on that list. So if you don't believe a random person on the Internet, there's that.