Charles continues his attacks against anyone who doesn’t go with evolution. He now attacks students who believe in creationism.
Charles, let it go. There are differences of opinion, America isn’t LGF and we don’t have to follow what you believe. You can’t ban people in America, unlike in your cult.
I’m sure everyone is enjoying the Beijing Olympics and I wish I had more time to see some of the events but I keep thinking of the 1972 Munich Olympics and the way the Israelis had no security from Germany and therefore Black September slipped into the Olympic Village and butchered up eleven Israeli athletes.
I found the latest essay from Dan Simmons. A must read
This is from the same Dan Simmons who wrote about the time traveler
Today is Erev Shabbat once again and it is time for my weekly interpretation of our parsha. Last week, parsha Shelach, we saw the Jewish nation appearing to lose faith in Hashems promise. The slanderous report of the meraglim{spies} caused all the Israelites to weep inside.
Of course Hashem was very upset and he demonstrated this anger by promising that all the adults {over 20} would perish in the midbar{desert}. Moshe was very adept in his prayers and prevented the entire people from being instantly wiped out. This was the second time Moshe davened {prayed} for B’nai Yisroel’s wellbeing, the first being after the incident of the Chet HaEigel{sin of the golden calf} at Mount Sinai.
But even this was not enough for the Jewish people, the special nation which the Torah constantly portrays as an unfaithful wife, as another great leader of the people, a cousin of Moshe even, rose up to challenge Moshe and his stature in the Jewish nation.
The parsha begins:
1. Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi took [himself to one side] along with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, descendants of Reuben. 2. They confronted Moses together with two hundred and fifty men from the children of Israel, chieftains of the congregation, representatives of the assembly, men of repute. 3. They assembled against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You take too much upon yourselves, for the entire congregation are all holy, and the Lord is in their midst. So why do raise yourselves above the Lord’s assembly?”
Well, that pretty much lays it out on the table there. Korach was a grandson of Levi, the same tribe as Moshe, and he assembled several serial complainers against Moshe {Dathan and Abiram}, and various up-standing men of the entire congregation who numbered 250. This entire MOB came to Moshe and accused him of being so arrogant as to raise himself above the entire Jewish people. Their claim “You take too much upon yourselves, for the entire congregation are all holy, and the L-rd is in their midst. So why do you raise yourselves above the L-rds assembly?”. The basic premise is that every Jew is holy therefore why do they need to listen to Moshe? Isn’t this always the calling of anarchy and disarray? “We are all grownups here, who will tell me what to do?”.
I have been thinking about Judaisms view on the treatment of animals. For over 20 years I have been taking care of up to 6 cats. Currently there are only 3 cats who live inside and the oldest is 12 years old.
Judaism holds the principle of preventing tza’ar ba’alei chayim, or the suffering of living creatures. It is also important to remember that the way a man relates to the animals around him reflects on the way he relates to fellow humans.
It is very interesting that even animals must be given Shabbos rest. According to Exodus 20:10 we must allow our animals to rest on the Sabbath. Torah has many mitzvahs regarding how a person treats his domestic animals, for instance the prohibition of muzzling the ox while it works in the field.
There are also the mitzvahs regarding unloading the burden of an animal, even if we don’t like its owner {Exodus 23:5 & Deut 22:4}. And everyone knows that one must send away a mother bird if we are going to take its eggs. This mitzvah has the same reward as honoring your mother and father.
Talmud and Feeding Animals
The Talmud says that before people eat a meal, they have to feed the animals in their care. (Gitten 64) The Talmud also says that before people decide to take a work or companion animal into their home, they must first make sure they can feed the animal properly.
We are permitted to violate Shabbat to a limited extent to rescue an animal in pain or at risk of death. For example, we can move them if they are in pain, move objects that we would not otherwise be permitted to touch to relieve their pain, we may give them medicine, and we may ask non-Jews to do things that would violate Shabbat to help a suffering animal.
The following links contain more information about Judaism and treating animals.
The Diary of Daedalus
website design was Built By All of Us
