What's Shmarya Reading?

Two very good books.

The first is simply amazing: James L. Kugel's How To Read The Bible.

We tend to view Tanakh narrowly. When we study Humash, the Pentateuch, we tend to understand it through Rashi's commentary.

Kugel's book shows us how the text was viewed before Rashi's time. It also explains how modern secular scholars view the text.

The result is often two profound and competing views of its meaning.

Even those who believe secular scholarship wins out will come away with a new appreciation for ancient religious interpretations of the text. 

The second book is one I've been meaning to recommend for quite some time: Frances Dinkelspiel's Towers of Gold: How One Jewish Immigrant Named Isaias Hellman Created California.

I was jarred out of my forgetfulness when I noticed Tablet Magazine's review of Dinkelspiel's lucid and immensely enjoyable work.

Isaias Hellman's response to bank runs (he, in effect, owned Wells Fargo), panics and natural disasters of epic proportions reveal a deeply ethical man whose character in many ways allowed California to survive these disasters.

Dinkelspiel's book is both history and memoir – she's Hellman's great-great granddaughter.

Comments

[a reader]

yoilish kraus placed under house arrest:
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3795654,00.html

[critical_minyan]

vos is neiz is also recommending books.
only none above 3rd grade reading level.

[tt]

did you buy those books with your welfare check?

[Nachum]

Rashi didn't exactly make up his commentary. He's usually quoting midrashim that precede him by centuries or more.

(Kugel, of course, would be the first to admit this.)

[harold]

did you buy those books with your welfare check?

Who said he bought them. He probably took it from the library. Got to save money for the Sioux Falls vacation.

I am looking forward to the next installment - "What's Shmarya eating?" followed by "What's Shmarya wearing?"

[sage]

Hi Harold,

Shmarya has been kind enough, to share with us, two books that we might consider investigating.

So what does what he eats or wears have to do with it?

You seem to have something very fundamental against him and/or his view of things.

If it's not too much trouble, would you consider sharing these with us readers?

[ML]

Sage, that would require him to stop being such a dick.

[sage]

Hi ML,

You're exactly correct.

Maybe he will reconsider his current attitudes and become a productive member of this blog.

This means, most of all, being respectful to others, even if there are honest disagreements.

Shmarya and I, for example, have had many disagreements over the past 5 years, but we do treat each other with respect.

Harold can, too.

[tt]

Oh I forgot he has money from the S.D. trip..

[Shmarya]

It turns out "tt" leaves comments using several different aliases.

All read much like the comment above, except one on the post raising money for the South Dakota trip.

There, this bastion of honesty using the name "former minnesotan visiting the Twin cities" offers me a new laptop from Best Buy if I'll meet him for lunch in a local kosher restaurant.

I asked him to email me and I sent an email to the email address he used with his comment but never got a reply.

The point was to make it seem like I did not need a laptop to make the trip. It was also to make drive across town and perhaps get ambushed by several of this person's friends.

Anyway, the point is, when you read comments like tt's understand that they accurately represent today's haredi world, where lying, stealing and cheating is perfectly okay as long as you lie, cheat and steal from outsiders.

And, yes, tt is banned.

[Asa]

I KNEW that Best Buy laptop post sounded fishy.

[Yochanan Lavie]

I'm reading the Kugel book. It's good.

[Yerachmiel Lopin www.frumfollies.wordpress.com]

A COMMENT ABOUT THE GUY WHO KEEPS TRASHING SHMARYA FROM MORE DIFFERENT IDs THAN A PROFESSIONAL CREDIT CARD SCAMMER

You are insulting all the readers of the comments section by spewing your hostility, wasting our time, littering the space, and interrupting a thoughtful discussion.

Shmarya is too kind. I am guessing that he resents the censorship in the chareidi world and has made up his mind not to censor things himself. I completely agree with that position. However, crude hostility and spamming is not dissent. It is harassment and Internet bullying. When people treat their friends this way they get thrown out on their tuchis. Even when I truly loathe someone, I content myself with just one dart on their blog. I usually try to root it in facts that can be evaluated by others. When I don’t have facts that I can prove from another source, or fully share, I make my point and stop.

Even when I loathe a blogger, and I don't feel he is entitled to any respect, I still feel obliged to respect the other readers of the comments section. If I am trying to persuade them I know they want arguments, not a torrent of abuse.

Shmarya, As a favor to those of us who appreciate your work, even if we have disagreements with you, I wish you would stop giving this character a free run of the yard. He is pooping all over the place and abusing your hospitality. While I believe in tshuvah, I don’t think this guy can be housebroken.

PS- I came to the comments section to react to the Kugel book. I love it., but I have run out of time to say more.

[Office of the Chief Rabbi]

Thank you, Yerachmiel.

[Isa]

Shmarya
You need to ban the jerk that calls Zionists nazi.
While we may have issues with the Israeli government calling them nazis should be beyond the pale. At least AB never did that
Isa

[yudel]

right to the point yerachmiel...yashar koach