We Need A Symbol. A Name. A Vision.
Note: My goal in writing this diary is to promote discussion if nothing else. Please comment if you agree. Comment if you disagree. Above all, comment if you have ideas! What I'm really after here, is...
View Article17.5 million awesome individuals, and counting.
Two things have happened over at the online group Avaaz this past month. First, they passed the 17 million member mark (now 17.5 million, which gives you an idea of their growth rate.) And secondly,...
View ArticleD'var Torah: Shabbat Parah
Torah Readings: Regular reading Exodus 30:11 to end of chapter 34. Second special Torah reading: Numbers 19: 1-22 (purification for Passover in Temple days) Special Haftarah: Ezekiel 36: 16-38This...
View ArticleBrothers and Sisters
First of all, welcome! I'm glad to be leading Brothers and Sisters this weekend.Welcome to Brothers and Sisters, the weekly meetup for prayer* and community at Daily Kos. We put an asterisk on pray*...
View ArticleThe Living Among the Dead
"The essential quality of life is living; the essential quality of living is change; change is evolution: and we are part of it. The static, the enemy of change, is the enemy of life." (John Wyndham,...
View ArticleD'var Torah: Shemini (Or, A New Look at Uzzah)
Torah reading: Leviticus chapters 9 through 11. Haftarah: 2nd Samuel 6:1 to 7:17.Today I'm going to focus on the Haftarah reading, which describes how the Ark of the Covenant was brought back to...
View ArticleD'var Torah: Bamidbar
Torah reading: Numbers 1:1 to 4:20 Haftarah: Hosea 2:1 to 22When I volunteered for this week's Torah reading, Navy Vet Terp (the amazing Kossack who organizes this series) joked that the Numbers...
View ArticleDear Racist Garage Sale Vendor: No, I'm Not Cool With That.
Well, it's garage sale season again, and yesterday was the Saturday when everyone in my eastern Canadian city descends upon a particular neighborhood that -- for a single glorious spring day -- turns...
View ArticleD'var Torah: Korach
Torah reading: Numbers 16-18 Second Torah reading: Numbers 28:9-15 Haftarah: Isaiah 66Today I'm going to focus on the Haftarah reading, and in particular the second half of Isaiah 66 (verses 12-24)....
View ArticleShow Them No Mercy (D'var Torah: Vaetchannan)
Torah reading: Deuteronomy 3:23 to 7:11. First Haftarah of Consolation: Isaiah 40:1-26.Given that I have a penchant for seeking out challenges, I’m going to focus in on an excerpt from Deuteronomy 7...
View Article"No one is told any story but their own" (D'var Torah: Lech Lecha)
Torah reading: Genesis 12-17 Haftorah: Isaiah 40:27 to 41:16One of the things that I think people find most difficult about Abraham's story (and, in general, the Judeo-Christian tradition) is the...
View ArticleD'var Torah: Vayeshev (Golden Child, Scapegoat, Rebel, Hero, and Mascot)
Torah reading: Genesis chapters 37 to 40. Haftarah reading: Amos 2:6 to 3:8.I’ve been doing a fair amount of research lately on family dynamics and conflict, and the Joseph story appears to follow many...
View ArticlePrelude (An Advent Canticle - repost)
In December 2012, I wrote a series of 25 poems in total (one for each day of December 1-24, plus a Prelude) and posted each one here on Daily Kos as I completed it. The poems dealt with common...
View Article"He came without clamor..." (An Advent Canticle, Dec. 1 - repost)
He came without clamor, He came without cash; He came without glamour Or making a splash; He came without earnings, He came without pensions, He came without stern Academic pretensions.No...
View Article"O in the fields the blossoms blow" (Advent Canticle, Dec. 2 - repost)
O in the fields the blossoms blow, Apple, myrtle, rose and rue: Yet is my flower weal or woe? Is my love false or is she true?O, I remember in the spring With flowers blooming o'er the land As all the...
View Article"It Started in November" (Advent Canticle, Dec. 3)
It started in November (As well I would remember) This aggravation of a forced assignment; My friends thought I'd just made it --I'd hoped I could evade it -- I guess the stars were just not in...
View Article"It was the usual tedious family gathering" (Advent Canticle, Dec. 4)
...It was the usual tedious family gathering, Descending on our house that census year. My grandma cooked the roast that we all hate, Aunt Deb made latkes; Saba called me dear And pinched my cheeks;...
View Article"It started with the news that Caspar brought..." (Advent Canticle, Dec. 5)
It started with the news that Caspar brought. One moonless night a wondrous glimpse he caught; And, showing us the bright unnamed star burning, Insisted that the newborn King be sought.A conference was...
View Article"Varus, old boy, it's been a dreadful year." (Advent Canticle, Dec. 6)
For Hamza Ali Al-Khateeb, And the children of Daraa, SyriaVarus, old boy, it's been a dreadful year, A dreadful decade; three sons all turned traitor (That bitch's kids and scheming Antipater)...
View Article"Lully, lullay, lullaby..." (Advent Canticle, Dec. 7)
Lully, lullay, thou little tiny Child, Bye, bye, lully, lullay.Herod, the king, in his raging, Charged he hath this day His men of might, in his own sight, All young children to slay....
View Article"And so at last diplomacy had failed..." (Advent Canticle, Dec. 8)
…And so at last diplomacy had failed. The armies bristled, eager to collide; A few collaborative traitors wailed For peace, but mostly, others did not heed. Peace, after all, was far less...
View ArticlePrelude II (Advent Canticle, Dec. 9)
Prelude: Part II Come. ...Open your eyes. Let the dream dissolve, remember who and where you are, and when; forgive this rather rude awakening from childhood tales and timeworn images...
View Article"And every year the weather gets more squirrely" (Advent Canticle, Dec. 10)
The malls are decked with plastic holly, Poor Santa (somehow) still looks jolly, And every year the season starts more early; The stores are jammed -- the usual crowd, The Christmas tunes are playing...
View Article"Fear Not!" (Advent Canticle, Dec. 11)
They say on that first Advent night As shepherds shuddered, felled by light, The choirs of angels through the sky In voices pure and sweet did cry:"Fear not!Fear not, O poor humanity; No -- cease to...
View Article"I quit!" (Advent Canticle, Dec. 12)
I quit. I've handed in my resignation -- This job is one continual aggravation; I'm feeling uninspired. It's time that I retired; I've given it, yes, due consideration.And on this all-too...
View ArticleMidwinter Nocturne (Advent Canticle, Dec 13)
...Now is the time of contrast and incision. Sleet hardens, and the smooth crust tolerates No imprint. Underfoot the fresh snow grates, Each flake wrought in sharp-faceted precision. The falls hang...
View ArticleFor the Families of Newtown (Advent Canticle, Dec. 14)
Down brightly shone the morning sun Upon a little girl and boy, And as the day was new begun They played and spoke of Christmas joy.And when the clock began to chime, In Mother came and heard them say:...
View Article"On Employees Who Take Too Much Initiative" (Advent Canticle, Dec. 15)
For Brigette DePapeThis memo's to apologize Regarding last week's hassle; On Stephen's Day, just past sunrise, I gazed out from my castle. It was a lovely day, in brief; I almost had to sing; How...
View Article"Some say, on that first morning..." (Advent Canticle, Dec. 16)
Some say, on that first morning of Christ's birth An unseen voice swept over land and sea Crying mournful, Pan is dead -- The Great God Pan is dead; And ever since, the ancient gods have dwindled;...
View Article"Sing a New Song..." (Advent Canticle, Dec. 17)
Sing a new song to the Lord;Alleluia. Trumpet forth the joyous chord!Alleluia. For the reign of hate is ended, God to humankind descended, Newborn helpless on the straw --Alleluia.Sing a new song to...
View Article"The Second Coming" (Advent Canticle, Dec. 18)
This time around there was no doubt; The stars were watched, signs read aright, And urgent messengers sent out To find the new babe born that night.Then, the precise location learned, All of the...
View Article"In the Green Midwinter" (Advent Canticle, Dec. 19)
In the bleak midwinter Frosty wind made moan, Earth stood hard as iron, Water like a stone. Snow had fallen, snow on snow, Snow on snow, In the bleak midwinter, Long ago.In the green midwinter We know...
View Article"A Lullaby for Solstice Evening" (Advent Canticle, Dec. 20)
Earth gently slipping Into its rest Sun slowly dipping From east to west South's day abiding, North's longest night, Sharply dividing Darkness and light: Waxing moon beaming, stars gently gleaming,...
View Article"On Solstice Morning" (Advent Canticle, Dec. 21)
I had imagined light this morn that in the pale east rose reborn at sun's return this first young day as through the mists a rift was tornand slowly woke the leaden grey of cloud to brilliant display,...
View Article"As I Walked Through the Cold Night..." (Advent Canticle, Dec. 22)
As I walked through the cold night of a dream Air crisp and wind-chilled, half moon almost set, The drops that seeped on stone shone icy wet, Mist in faint film beneath stars' paling gleam; And...
View Article"For every prophecy must be fulfilled" (Advent Canticle, Dec. 23)
He lived above the land in terraced tower A prince by birth where most were but a pawn He took his lessons at the school of power And roamed the winding maze of BabylonAnd they told him that the moon...
View Article"Silent Night! Holy Night!" (Advent Canticle, Dec. 24)
ISilent night! Holy night! All is calm, All is bright......They say that year that errant mice Had chewed the organ bellows through -- With Father Joseph in the lurch On Christmas Eve: the mass was...
View ArticleD'var Torah: Deborah, Jael, Miriam, and the problem with "Girl Power"
Torah reading: Exodus 13:17 to 17:16. Haftarah reading: Judges 4:4 to end of chapter 5.I volunteered for D'var Torah this week since I’ve always been quite a feminist -- or, as I prefer to put it, an...
View Article"Ring": A Sonnet Redouble on Hobbit/Lord of the Rings
I promised to post more poetry, so here's some inspired by a fellow Kossack. :)A while ago I was browsing around on Batya The Toon's awesome webpage(Corrected from earlier -- see update) and came...
View ArticleCreativity vs. Ritual in Art and Worship (D'var Torah: Tetsaveh)
D’var Torah: Tetsaveh Torah reading: Exodus 27:20 to 30:10. Haftarah: Ezekiel 43: 10-27.When I was a young child -- maybe 7 or 8 years old -- I set out to read the entire (Christian) Bible, from...
View ArticleD'var Torah: Metsora (The Outcasts Save the Day)
Torah reading: Leviticus chapters 14 and 15. Haftarah reading: Second Kings 7: 3-20.This week's Torah reading continues to lay out the Biblical laws regarding "leprosy": how it was diagnosed, how those...
View ArticleWater, Power, and Conflict: D'var Torah (Shabbat Chukat) Part 1
(Preliminary note: as I began writing this D'var Torah, I soon realized that it was ballooning into something much longer and in-depth than I'd intended. I've therefore decided to split it up into two...
View ArticleMoses and the Drama Triangle: D'var Torah (Shabbat Chukat) Part 2
So I'd meant to post this a few weeks ago, but... Ah, well. Just like the Israelites wandering in the wilderness for forty years, we've gotten here eventually! :DIn Part 1, we were looking at the...
View ArticlePlato, the Prophets, and Peace (D'var Torah: Devarim)
D'var Torah: DevarimTorah reading: Deuteronomy 1:1 to 3:22. Third Haftarah of Rebuke: Isaiah 1:1-27.Today's Torah reading comes from the beginning of Deuteronomy, which I've always found a very...
View ArticleCanto XXVII.1: Or, Where Would Dante Put Climate Change Deniers?
A while back, a friend and I were talking and (somehow or other) Dante's Inferno came up in the conversation. I've always had an admiration for Dante, who (exiled from his native Florence for his...
View ArticleD'var Torah: Re-eh (So Why All The Intolerance?)
Torah reading: Deuteronomy 11:26 to 16:17. Haftarah: Isaiah 54:11 to 55:5. (3rd Haftarah of Consolation).Today, I'm going to focus on the Deutoronomy passage. To a modern reader, this section --...
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Advent Begins: Hope
(As many of you may know, our Wee Mama is away for Advent, and she's asked me to do some editing/posting for Anglican Kossacks during her absence. And since Hope is the traditional theme for the Sunday...
View ArticleThe Silencing of Dinah (D'var Torah: Vayishlach)
Torah: Genesis 32:4 through chapter 36 Haftarah: Obadiah (full book).For today's D'var Torah, I've decided to focus in on the story of Dinah in Genesis 34. The setting is the land of Shechem in Canaan,...
View Article"And There Came All Manner of Flies" (D'var Torah: Va-era)
Torah reading: Exodus 6:2 to 9:35 Haftarah: Ezekiel 28:25 to 29:21First, some buzzing music from Handel to set the scene (we sang "Israel in Egypt" when I was in undergrad choir, and this is still my...
View ArticleD'var Torah: Ki Tisa
Torah reading: Exodus 30:11-34:35 Haftarah: 1 Kings 18:20-39.And so now we come to the story of the Golden Calf. The Israelites, impatient and worried that Moses has vanished forever on Mount Sinai,...
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