I'm back, and will soon renew blogging, at least for a while. My thanks to the folks who ran some very interesting comment threads in my absence - those of you who don't read the comments sections of this blog are missing out.
In the meantime, we're a few hours into Tisha BeAv, the Ninth Day of Av, on which we commemorate the destruction of two temples and diverse other catastrophes. For those of you who weren't around last year, here's what I ruminated a year ago: The End of Israel?
Tisha B'Av, the day when we are thankful that we are not Karaites, who fasted on both the 7th and 10th of Av. Welcome back.
ReplyDeleteIsrael will never discover her mission as long as the Temple is not rebuilt. We will have Tisha B'Av with us as long as the Jews refuse to heed the will of Heaven and restore it.
ReplyDeleteWe'll have to eliminate senseless hatred first. And it doesn't look like it's going to happen any time soon.
ReplyDeleteOne of the most fascinating and strange part of Moses Hess' Rome and Jerusalem was his impassioned defense of animal sacrifices and how they are compatible with humanitarianism. Hess tended towards mysticism so he was bound to fuzzy thoughts at times but its very weird to see an argument for resuming the animal sacrifices coming from a very passionate socialist.
ReplyDeleteLee
ReplyDeleteI've often wondered whether going back to the ancients' habits of pouring libations and keeping the slaughter of animals in a religious context (offer parts of them to the gods) might not help to curb the worst excesses of our current food "production".
I know nothing about Moses Hess but wonder why being a socialist and advocating for animals (and certainly slaughtering them with more decorum might be good) shouldn't go together. There is a livid with fury piece by George Orwell claiming that vegetarians like George Bernard Shaw give socialism a bad image.
or do you mean that socialists have to be atheists if they want to be true ones? it may be common amongst them but I don't think it was a pre-condition. Heinrich Böll comes to mind who certainly was of a very socialist mind-bend and very catholic at the same time.
Silke
Keeping in mind, perhaps, that "Those who kiss cows sacrifice children..."?
ReplyDelete(AKA Who knows what the world would be like if only Hitler enjoyed a nice juicy hamburger once in a while?....)