(~2011 Comments) This week, we continue and conclude the census and job descriptions of the Levite males who are between 30 and 50. The Kohathites are to carry the most sacred objects of the Tabernacle, while the Gershonites and Merarites do the less glamorous heavy lifting, so those two houses get oxen and carts, part of the chieftains’ offering, to help them when the Israelites were to decamp (7:1-9). The chieftains’ dedicatory offerings, presented in Chapter 7, are identical. Every single one of the 12 offerings is described explicitly, in detail, which is nice philosophically (each tribe counts as much as the others) and makes it easy, if a bit boring, for the Torah reader.
In between the census of the Levites in Chapter 4 and the dedication of the Tabernacle in Chapter 7, the text addresses several specific situations that involve concerning holiness and/or ritual purity. People who are ritually impure because of an emission or contact with a corpse are to be removed from the camp for the prescribed time. Wronging someone and then recognizing one’s guilt requires restitution plus a penalty and is regarded as breaking faith with the Lord. A married woman who commits adultery has defiled herself and broken faith with her husband. If he suspects her of adultery, he can bring his wife to the priest for the sotah ritual, a trial by ordeal involving drinking bitter water that probably worked by a psychosomatic mechanism.
Then there are the laws concerning the nazir (Nazirite), Samson and Samuel being the most famous examples. A nazir vowed to refrain from wine and other alcohol, other grape products, cutting hair, shaving, and contact with a corpse. The vow was for a defined period of time, say, 30 days. (Lifelong Nazirites like Samuel and Samson were rare.) At the end, there were prescribed sacrifices, including shaving and burning the hair (Any of you who’ve had run-ins with a too-hot curling iron knows how this stinks. Not at all a “sweet savor unto the Lord.”). That section concludes with what we refer to as the priestly benediction (24-26), now part of our liturgy.
Fittingly, this week’s haftarah (Judges 13:2 – 25) describes the beginning of the story of Samson, who was supposed to be a Nazirite for life. Maybe if he’d been the one to take the vow himself instead of his mother while he was in utero, the story might have ended differently.
Shabbat shalom and zei gezunt,
Irene
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My Hair History
Over the last several decades, I have gone from very short hair to hip-length and back again. As a start-of-summer ritual, my mother would take me to get my bobbed hair cut even shorter. I really wanted curly hair, and my mother assured me that, since the ends had started to perk up, cutting it shorter would make it curlier. I fell for that one for years.
As I got older, I let my hair grow during the year but kept the summer pixie cut until high school. There, I was a bit smug about my long, naturally straight hair that required no ironing. I liked playing with it, too, ponytails, braids, whatever, even though it made me look about 12. In college, I also loved playing with my boyfriend’s curls.
After a year of grad school, my hair was hip length, mainly out of neglect. It doubled as a sweater on cold days in New England. I missed Rich and playing with his curls (we were about 1200 miles apart), especially at services when we sang Anim Zemirot with its reference to taltalim sh’chorot, black curls.
I then got my hair cut to shoulder length, where it pretty much stayed until after I had kids. My toddler son regarded my hair as his blankie, so once I collected the clippings at the hairdresser, hoping to glue them to a cardboard backing. Didn’t work.
I gradually adopted a shorter style since that made me look closer to my age and was easier to neglect. When a haircut was noticeable, I indulged in one-liners:
- You got a haircut!
No, I got all of them cut. - You cut your hair!
No, I paid someone else to cut it. - Did you get a haircut?
No, it shrank in the wash. - You got a haircut!
(astonished) I did?!!
And this doesn’t even begin to get into color issues… IGP
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http://www.bangitout.com/parshas-nasso/
Parshas Nasso – On 1 Foot
12 Princes came to the Mishkan (Tabernacle) dedication party all bringing the same gifts.
Princes: “We all brought the same thing?!”
Torah: “Let me write this all down… Name please? Tribe? Gift? Next….”
Longest parsha ever.
THE END
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https://www.coronainsights.com/2012/11/unusual-questions-asked-in-the-u-s-census/
Unusual Questions Asked in the U.S. Census (excerpts)
11/9/12 / Kevin Raines
Kevin recently taught a class on how to use U.S. Census data, and …discovered a few questions asked in the past that may seem a little odd today, though they likely were quite relevant during their particular time period. They’re paraphrased below.
1. 1850 Census – How many slaves escaped from you in the last year that you did not recapture? And how many slaves did you free?
3. 1870 Census – Are you not allowed to vote for some reason other than “rebellion or other crime”? (Asked only of men.)
4. 1880 Census – Were you sick enough today that you couldn’t attend to your ordinary duties? And if so, what was your sickness?
5. 1910 Census – If you are a polygamist, are your wives sisters? (Asked only of Native Americans.)
6. 1940 Census – If your home doesn’t have running water, is there a source of water within 50 feet of your home?
8. 1970 Census – Do you enter your home through a front door, or do you enter your home through someone else’s living quarters? And do you have a battery-operated radio?
… It makes us wonder what questions we’re being asked in the current American Community Surveys that will seem antiquated or odd 50 years from now.
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https://thebesthilariousjokes.blogspot.com/2011/04/sometimes-women-are-overly-suspicious.html
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Sometimes women are overly suspicious of their husbands.
When Adam stayed out very late for a few nights, Eve became upset.
“You’re running around with other women,” she charged.
“You’re being unreasonable,” Adam responded. “You’re the only woman on earth.” The quarrel continued until Adam fell asleep, only to be awakened by someone poking him in the chest. It was Eve.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Adam demanded.
“Counting your ribs!”
Torah Portion Humor Weekly 