Fixation of A"Z and Beauty/ Tiferet

Interesting the pshat and drash in the seforim on the pasuk:

אל תפנו אל האלילים ואלהי מסכה לא תעשו לכם
The relation of A'"Z ( מסכה ) to gazing at beauty (אלהי סכייה, as the Zohar learns) -- both a form of fixation on the physical as a means of accessing something higher. Note that only by the Sun of Yaa'kov was there a fear of deification, not the other Avot.

(I think also by Moshe actually there was that fear, would be interesting to explore the Moshe-- A"Z-- Ba'al Pe'or -- Shma Yisrael connection as well)

Pretty-- Jasmine Flower

thought it interesting and pretty


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDP7etvX6MI

Various Good Questions

בענין י"ג מדות --
הנה ידוע מאמרם ז"ל על ה' ה' אני הוא קודם שיחטא אני הוא לאחר שיחטא וישוב
הנה מצינו בכמה מקומות בש"ס וספרים ששם ושרש 'הויה' מורה על קיום הדבר באופן תמידי מחוץ לגבולות הזמן והחיים
לכן לשון הויה מורה עיכוב ותמידות בלי השתנות בכמה פרשיות שונים עי' שם בסוגיית מנחות
ומה גם עצם המעלה של שם הויה על שאר שמות קדושים הוא בזה שהוא עצם ולא מדה . כן הבנתי בדל השגתי.
ואם ח"ו שגיתי ה' הטוב יכפר

ולכן קשה לי להבין כפילות השם פה ומאמרם ז"ל ומה גם ענין הפסיק שביניהם
ועי' בר' בחיי בפר' כי תשא ועדיין לא הבנתי


בענין דום ודומה--
לשון דומ הבנתי מכמה מקומות שהוא מורה ענין של ביטול ו"מיתת" האדם ורגשיו רצונו וחפצו

• וידום אהרן
• אמרו בלבבכם על משכבכם ודומו סלה ומאמרם ז"ל (and with this i understood why it's placed only as the final alternative. Withdrawal and "shutting down" is always a last option versus living and "overcoming")
• דומה ממונה על המתים . לא המתים יהללו י-ה ולא כל יורדי דומה

וא"כ קל"ל הענין אצל הפסוק "ישב בדד וידום כי נטל עליו" ומאמרם ז"ל שנדרש על הלומד תורה יחידי

Nartik, Dan, Persian Etymology

Just a quick language connection.

R' Davidi mentioned today the persian word for quiver is teerdan, the dan part meaning holder and the teer meaning arrow. If so it's beautiful with the gm' in Sanhedrin on the Pasuk "Lo Yadon Ruchi Ba'Adam l'Olam, B'Shagam Hu Basar". v'dok.


Also in persian, one of the terms for the sun is chorshi which is coming from the hebrew cheres חרס --
האומר לחרס לא תזרח (איוב) ט

The Thrill of the Challenge-- Tonight's Epiphany

Always knew it i guess but just crystallized for me tonight--

I like girls with strong self-confidence, it makes it that much more enjoyable when you break them and subordinate them under you :-)

Funny but also true, so i thought i'd post it on the blog for eternal posterity.

And i figure once we're talking about the "what are you looking for in a girl" paragraph (which i'd love to fill in now if Frumster hadn't already rejected my profile for mentioning i was bored and wanted to date) why not mention my other thoughts on the subject:

"A Girl with Good Heart and a Good Head. Forgiving a Must. Slight Psychological Instability a Plus."

I coined that a few years ago. I like it. It's succint, truthful, and has a nice rhyme to it.

Amen.

Swallowing A Swallow and Nevelat Of Tahor

came across this man's blog... interesting. I've got one comment --
נבלת עוף טהור מטמא בבית הבליעה

http://toshuo.com/2006/whats-the-airspeed-velocity-of-an-unladen-chinese-swallow/
What’s the Airspeed Velocity of an Unladen Chinese Swallow?September 1st, 2006 by Mark

Last night, while looking up some words I didn’t understand in a Chinese kids’ book, I found something really interesting, or at least really interesting if you’re a language geek. Unless there’s some reason to say something in a certain way, the Chinese way of saying it and the English way are often completely different. Here’s a case in which the similarity is so strong it seems like it couldn’t possibly be a coincidence.

In English, the word “swallow” can be a verb which means to gulp something down your throat. It can also be a noun which means a certain kind of bird.

The Chinese character 燕 means a swallow (the bird). Just by adding a mouth radical on the left side to make it 嚥[1], the meaning can be changed to swallow (i.e. gulp). In Mandarin at least, both words even have the same pronunciation - yàn.
Swallows swallow mosquitoes燕子嚥下蚊子

Greek Beauty -- יפיופיתו של יפת באהלי שם

The Gm' in Kiddushin has always been hard to understand. How to justify the "extra" 'yud' of וזרע אין לה because of מאן יבמי and מאן בלעם ... what does the shoresh of מאן having anything to do with the shoresh of אין??

Then i found this in wikipedia:
The word "meiosis" comes from the Greek verb meioun, meaning "to make small", since it results in a reduction in chromosome number in the gamete cell.

Doesn't necessarily answer all questions but what it does show is a direct connection between mi'un, ayin, reduction, and nothingness.... v'dok.

[ועיין במלבי"ם על וזרע אין לה]


ALSO, the greek word for woman (gyne) being related to garden/Gan. See Shir HaShirim Rabbah on "גן נעול אחותי כלה" and also on the pasuk "באתי לגני אחותי כלה"