Wednesday, February 3, 2021

Character Being a Different Thing from Beauty, Describe the Difference by Carl Phillips

 

Character Being a Different Thing from Beauty, Describe the Difference


Carl Phillips

                 And sometimes, yes, I’d beg for it—
           he’d make me beg: Shy moon, 
                      why shy tonight? 

I heard the geese before I saw them again this morning—
this time, flying north. Above them, thunderheads like doomed 
zeppelins, like whales when sounding, though they brought 
no rain. That’s how I used to write, insisting on ordinary things 
being somehow more than that, that they had to mean something, 
the way disruption can punctuate with meaning an established 

pattern, or as when finding out one’s silence has been mistaken 
for arrogance or, worse, indifference, when all you meant 
was to be kind—retreat, not exile; less the monsters, than 
how we lived beside them, our lives not leaves not trash on an 
updraft that at random carries them then refuses them, can a wind 
refuse. And yet… 

                        Shy moon --

As if doing what we’d always done were enough to be grateful for, 
as if to keep doing it were itself to be grateful. You just forgot, 
that’s all. It’s harder not to forget. How the yard gave way 
like a ragged imperative to a forest of scrub-pines and oak, mostly, 

how a stand of ferns there almost looked, from above, like a boat 
of shadows, coming at last unmoored, and the forest a sea—that 
endless-seeming, that steeped in night-dark, beg for it, why shy
tonight?

Copyright © 2021 by Carl Phillips. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on February 1, 2021, by the Academy of American Poets.

Dear MoveOn member,

 Dear MoveOn member,

We'll get straight to the point. U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) supports the QAnon cult, has called deadly school shootings "false flag" operations by gun reform advocacy groups,1 and thinks Jewish space lasers are responsible for a wildfire in California.2 Yet somehow Representative Greene has secured a position on the House Committee on Education and Labor. This cannot stand.

Sign now: Tell Republican leaders to remove Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene from the House Committee on Education and Labor!

Hundreds of posts, likes, and comments showing Rep. Greene inciting violence by spewing baseless conspiracy theories that have endangered the lives of many are resurfacing all over the internet. Rep. Greene is seen in one of these posts supporting the execution of prominent Democratic politicians.3 She is even seen on Capitol Hill, harassing Parkland student and activist David Hogg and other survivors of gun violence.4

Rep. Greene was recently assigned to the House Committee on Education and Labor by Republican leadership. This is unacceptable. In 2019, Republicans removed Representative Steve King of Iowa from the Judiciary and Agriculture Committees in response to his support for white nationalists.5 The same must be done to Rep. Greene.

Based on this precedent, her incitement of violence, and her egregious attacks on our democracy, Republican House leaders can and must remove Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene from her committee appointment.

Throughout history, we've seen white supremacy and far-right groups go unchecked for the violence and terror they have caused.  Most recently, Donald Trump was enabled and supported by Republicans for four years as he attacked our democracy over and over.

It's long overdue for the GOP to grow a spine. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's support for QAnon and her attacks against survivors of gun violence have no place in Congress. Her dangerous ideas have no place in Congress.

Add your name to this petition to demand that Republican leaders remove Rep. Greene from the House Committee on Education and Labor.

Thanks!

–Matthew Hildreth, Rural Organizing

Sources: 

1. "Marjorie Taylor Greene on Facebook in 2018: Parkland school shooting was a false flag planned event," Media Matters for America, January 19, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/149790?t=10&akid=289060%2E38938583%2E5JgEhJ

2. "Marjorie Taylor Greene's 'Jewish Space Lasers' Conspiracy Theory Met With Derision, Jokes," Newsweek, January 29, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/149792?t=12&akid=289060%2E38938583%2E5JgEhJ

3. "Marjorie Taylor Greene indicated support for executing prominent Democrats in 2018 and 2019 before running for Congress," CNN, January 26, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/149744?t=14&akid=289060%2E38938583%2E5JgEhJ

4. Tweet by David HoggJanuary 27, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/149791?t=16&akid=289060%2E38938583%2E5JgEhJ

5. "Steve King Removed From Committee Assignments Over White Supremacy Remark," The New York Times, January 14, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/62092?t=18&akid=289060%2E38938583%2E5JgEhJ

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📢 Campaign

 


Dear timothy,

I am writing because Sefaria needs to raise $70,000 before Purim.

This money will go toward the Sefaria Innovation Fund, which fuels special projects like the Powered by Sefaria Contest, our work with interns, and R&D to support out-of-the-box tech features.

SUPPORT THE INNOVATION FUND
Investing in this fund ensures that we can deliver more Torah technology and support the next generation of Torah innovators. 

To kick off another year of creative learning and exploration with Sefaria, we’ve secured matching gifts for all donations to the Sefaria Innovation Fund. 

That means every innovation dollar raised will be matched 1:1 — getting us to $70,000 twice as fast.

Make a donation today to expand the reach, use, and access of Jewish texts in new and unprecedented ways!

After all, the possibilities for innovation are endless.

Sincerely, 

Annie Lumerman
Annie Lumerman
Chief Operating Officer

P.S. Dov Katz, the Grand Prize Winner of the 2020 Powered by Sefaria Contest, generously donated his winnings back to Sefaria to seed future innovation. Will you join Dov by making a tax-deductible gift today?

P.P.S. Stay tuned for special updates from our team and spotlights on innovators in our community!

McCarthy seeks shift from party's civil war

 

 
 
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McCarthy seeks shift from party's civil war
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is desperately looking to change the subject from his own party’s civil war to a common opponent: President Biden.

McCarthy and other GOP lawmakers will travel to Houston on Tuesday to rail against what they call Biden’s “job-killing” energy policies. The GOP leader previously spent several days accusing Biden of dragging his feet in reopening schools and knocking his administration’s plan to give COVID-19 vaccinations to Guantánamo Bay prisoners.

The efforts are a reprieve for McCarthy, who is otherwise the touchstone of an internecine battle ripping apart his party as it charts a path forward after former President Trump’s defeat and departure from Washington.

When I asked Rabbi Lerner how he wanted to celebrate his 78th birthday

 

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Dear Tumothy,

When I asked Rabbi Lerner how he wanted to celebrate his 78th birthday, he said: with prayer and Torah study. While the actual date is February 7th, we decided that it would make most sense to celebrate with anyone who wants to honor him on Shabbat—the day of spiritual nourishment. The nearest one to his birthday is February 6th, this Saturday, when we read the Torah reading (Yitro) in which the newly freed Hebrew slaves experience the revelation at Sinai of the Ten Speech Acts (known by some as “the Ten Commandments”).

Zoom link - https://zoom.us/j/233133667? pwd= MzhuUzZvS1pQYWR5ZzNLaFQ5K3RoZz 09

The biggest gift you could give him on this occasion would be to video tape or just audio tape a message to the Rabbi Michael about some way in which his presence in your life or his teachings in books or through Tikkun magazine contributed in some important way to your spiritual, psychological, or political life…or in any other aspect of your life or your understanding of your life. Record that for him either on video or audio or even write it out. Please be sure to include your name and a sentence or two about you in case he doesn’t remember connecting with you (as he’s been having issues with memory loss recently). Then email it to me at cat@spiritualprogressives.org. Hearing your stories is the best gift he could get!

Here is the schedule for the morning - you are welcome to join us for any or all of it.

9:30am PT (12:30pm ET) - Prayer and Celebration of the Universe with Rabbi Lerner, Cat Zavis, and Ami Goodman

10:30am - 12:00am PT (1:30-3:00pm ET) - Torah study:  Exodus 18:1 – 20:23
You can read it here.

12:00pm - 12:30pm PT (3:00-3:30pm ET) - Shabbat celebration with songs and honoring of Rabbi Lerner. We’d love for you to share a story, or your recording during this time if possible. Of course, you can send these anytime (even after Shabbat!).

Check your timezone here.

If you have any questions, please contact Alden at alden@tikkun.org or 510-644-1200 before 1:00pm PT Friday, February 5, 2021. We look forward to seeing you soon.

Many blessings,
Rabbi Michael Lerner and Cat Zavis

 

Bring It On Home

 

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ten commandments


 

  1. You shall have no other Gods but me.
  2. You shall not make for yourself any idol, nor bow down to it or worship it.
  3. You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.
  4. You shall remember and keep the Sabbath day holy.
  5. Respect your father and mother.
  6. You must not commit murder.
  7. You must not commit adultery.
  8. You must not steal.
  9. You must not give false evidence against your neighbour.
  10. You must not be envious of your neighbour's goods. You shall not be envious of his house nor his wife, nor anything that belongs to your neighbour.

Exodus 18:1-20:23

 Exodus 18:1-20:23

Jethro Visits Moses

18 Now Jethro, the priest of Midian and father-in-law of Moses, heard of everything God had done for Moses and for his people Israel, and how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt.

After Moses had sent away his wife Zipporah, his father-in-law Jethro received her and her two sons. One son was named Gershom,[a] for Moses said, “I have become a foreigner in a foreign land”; and the other was named Eliezer,[b] for he said, “My father’s God was my helper; he saved me from the sword of Pharaoh.”

Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, together with Moses’ sons and wife, came to him in the wilderness, where he was camped near the mountain of God. Jethro had sent word to him, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons.”

So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. They greeted each other and then went into the tent. Moses told his father-in-law about everything the Lord had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel’s sake and about all the hardships they had met along the way and how the Lord had saved them.

Jethro was delighted to hear about all the good things the Lord had done for Israel in rescuing them from the hand of the Egyptians. 10 He said, “Praise be to the Lord, who rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and of Pharaoh, and who rescued the people from the hand of the Egyptians. 11 Now I know that the Lord is greater than all other gods, for he did this to those who had treated Israel arrogantly.” 12 Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and other sacrifices to God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat a meal with Moses’ father-in-law in the presence of God.

13 The next day Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people, and they stood around him from morning till evening. 14 When his father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he said, “What is this you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge, while all these people stand around you from morning till evening?”

15 Moses answered him, “Because the people come to me to seek God’s will. 16 Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me, and I decide between the parties and inform them of God’s decrees and instructions.”

17 Moses’ father-in-law replied, “What you are doing is not good. 18 You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. 19 Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their disputes to him. 20 Teach them his decrees and instructions, and show them the way they are to live and how they are to behave. 21 But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 22 Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. 23 If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.”

24 Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said. 25 He chose capable men from all Israel and made them leaders of the people, officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 26 They served as judges for the people at all times. The difficult cases they brought to Moses, but the simple ones they decided themselves.

27 Then Moses sent his father-in-law on his way, and Jethro returned to his own country.

At Mount Sinai

19 On the first day of the third month after the Israelites left Egypt—on that very day—they came to the Desert of Sinai. After they set out from Rephidim, they entered the Desert of Sinai, and Israel camped there in the desert in front of the mountain.

Then Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to say to the descendants of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you[c] will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”

So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the Lord had commanded him to speak. The people all responded together, “We will do everything the Lord has said.” So Moses brought their answer back to the Lord.

The Lord said to Moses, “I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you.” Then Moses told the Lord what the people had said.

10 And the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes 11 and be ready by the third day, because on that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. 12 Put limits for the people around the mountain and tell them, ‘Be careful that you do not approach the mountain or touch the foot of it. Whoever touches the mountain is to be put to death. 13 They are to be stoned or shot with arrows; not a hand is to be laid on them. No person or animal shall be permitted to live.’ Only when the ram’s horn sounds a long blast may they approach the mountain.”

14 After Moses had gone down the mountain to the people, he consecrated them, and they washed their clothes. 15 Then he said to the people, “Prepare yourselves for the third day. Abstain from sexual relations.”

16 On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. 17 Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 18 Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain[d] trembled violently. 19 As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.[e]

20 The Lord descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses went up 21 and the Lord said to him, “Go down and warn the people so they do not force their way through to see the Lord and many of them perish. 22 Even the priests, who approach the Lord, must consecrate themselves, or the Lord will break out against them.”

23 Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up Mount Sinai, because you yourself warned us, ‘Put limits around the mountain and set it apart as holy.’”

24 The Lord replied, “Go down and bring Aaron up with you. But the priests and the people must not force their way through to come up to the Lord, or he will break out against them.”

25 So Moses went down to the people and told them.

The Ten Commandments

20 And God spoke all these words:

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

“You shall have no other gods before[f] me.

“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

“You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

13 “You shall not murder.

14 “You shall not commit adultery.

15 “You shall not steal.

16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

18 When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance 19 and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.”

20 Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.”

21 The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.

Idols and Altars

22 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites this: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven: 23 Do not make any gods to be alongside me; do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold.

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 18:3 Gershom sounds like the Hebrew for a foreigner there.
  2. Exodus 18:4 Eliezer means my God is helper.
  3. Exodus 19:6 Or possession, for the whole earth is mine. You
  4. Exodus 19:18 Most Hebrew manuscripts; a few Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint and all the people
  5. Exodus 19:19 Or and God answered him with thunder
  6. Exodus 20:3 Or besides

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