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Chovevei Torah is a big pile of poo, because they have taken all the boys on a Spiritual Retreat
a) on a Sunday - hello?!
b) overnight, wives not invited
There is no reason for them to have him today. They could just as well have gone Monday and Tuesday, and then I wouldn't have been on my own all day*. And they've retreated so far they don't even have phone reception. POOS.
In other news, I read Torah at mincha yesterday (the long bit), and I usually get some manner of compliment afterwards (this is a minyan where not very many of the women know how, so being able to do it at all is worthy of congratulation), but this week a lady said it had been spiritually uplifing. Well, that's a new one! Me spiritually uplifing? Cor.
Elgar's The Apostles is raising questions. The usual let's-fit-the-bible-to-music style of oratorio composition is there in plenty, but there are some bits where I wonder - how on earth did he know that? Like, there's a line "The dawn reaches even unto Hebron" - which is the halachic definition of dawn, when Hebron becomes visible from Jerusalem, silhouetted on the skyline. It's a lovely image, but where did Elgar find it? I've never met it in Christianity; it's the subject of a really obscure mishnah, and I can't picture Elgar learning the mishnayot about sacrifices. And there's a bit which is obviously meant to be the shofar blowing - actually I only figured that out the other day whilst blowing shofar, but it really is obvious if you know how to blow a shofar - again, where was he getting that from? Did he do research?
* and by the time I realised I wanted company, it was too late to call MJNH decently.
a) on a Sunday - hello?!
b) overnight, wives not invited
There is no reason for them to have him today. They could just as well have gone Monday and Tuesday, and then I wouldn't have been on my own all day*. And they've retreated so far they don't even have phone reception. POOS.
In other news, I read Torah at mincha yesterday (the long bit), and I usually get some manner of compliment afterwards (this is a minyan where not very many of the women know how, so being able to do it at all is worthy of congratulation), but this week a lady said it had been spiritually uplifing. Well, that's a new one! Me spiritually uplifing? Cor.
Elgar's The Apostles is raising questions. The usual let's-fit-the-bible-to-music style of oratorio composition is there in plenty, but there are some bits where I wonder - how on earth did he know that? Like, there's a line "The dawn reaches even unto Hebron" - which is the halachic definition of dawn, when Hebron becomes visible from Jerusalem, silhouetted on the skyline. It's a lovely image, but where did Elgar find it? I've never met it in Christianity; it's the subject of a really obscure mishnah, and I can't picture Elgar learning the mishnayot about sacrifices. And there's a bit which is obviously meant to be the shofar blowing - actually I only figured that out the other day whilst blowing shofar, but it really is obvious if you know how to blow a shofar - again, where was he getting that from? Did he do research?
* and by the time I realised I wanted company, it was too late to call MJNH decently.