Friday, January 24, 2020
The Sotah Ritual in Ancient Israel Essay -- Book of Numbers Religion I
The Sotah Ritual in Ancient Israel Introduction      The ritual of the sotah from the book of Numbers is a fascinating passage to read in the Hebrew Bible. For one thing, this ritual deals with the idea of a man being able to bring his wife to trial, even if he has no evidence against her. While such an instance might be seen as negative treatment of women, others might explain it as the Israelites’ constant concern over the idea of impurity. Another interesting aspect of the sotah rite is that it is the only example of an ordeal similar to those practiced in other cultures of the Ancient Near East. While other ordeals are told mostly in story form, Num. 5:11-31 is the only instance in which the actual process of an ordeal is laid out point by point. Finally, the ritual merits attention due to its continued practice even after the Temple was destroyed, as is depicted in the Talmud. These reasons and more are evidence as to why this small 20 verse passage has been subject to such scrutiny and study over the co urse of the years. Adultery in the Hebrew Bible The ritual for the â€Å"errant woman†in Numbers 5:11-31 is only one of many instances in the Old Testament that deals with the crime of adultery. The crime is described throughout the books in the Hebrew Bible, such as Genesis 20:6, Lev. 18:20, Ezek. 18:6, Ps. 51:6, and Mal. 3:5. A variety of texts discuss the evil of adultery. The Israelites held the act in such harsh light, that a commandment against committing adultery is found in the Decalogue. This certainly indicates that extra-martial affairs were viewed in a severe manner. In the Hebrew Bible, adultery is considered a capital crime, punishable by the population stoning the adulterous wife and her lover to death. Deut. 22:20 commands this communal punishment in order to â€Å"sweep away evil from Israel.†The question remains as to why this crime was considered to be such a transgression. Several explanations exist to account for the seriousness of the crime. A significant aspect of life in the Ancient Near East was the importance of the family line. One of the most frightening ideas in the Bible is the punishment of karet, an Israelite’s being cut off from the community. This is understood as early death and childlessness, or the death of one’s descendants . Such an event could result from an unfaithful wife conceiving a son with the adulterer. I... ...der: Westview Press,     1998. McKane, William. â€Å"Poison, Trial by Ordeal, and the Cup of Wrath.†Vetus     Testamentum. Vol. XXX (1980). McKeating, Henry. â€Å"Sanctions Against Adultery in Ancient Israelite Society with Some Reflection on Methodology in the Study of Old Testament Ethics.†Journal for the Study     of the OldTestament. Vol. XVII (Mar. 1979). Milgrom, Jacob. â€Å"A Husband’s Pride, A Man’s Prejudice: The Public Ordeal†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Bible     Review. Vol. XII. (Aug. 1996). Morgenstern, Julian. â€Å"Trial By Ordeal Among the Semites and in Ancient Israel.†     Hebrew Union College Annual. Vol. II, (1925). Neusner, Jacob. The Talmud of the Land of Israel: An Academic Commentary to 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Divisions, Atlanta: Scholar’s Press, 1998. -----------------. The Talmud of the Land of Israel: A Complete Outline of the 2nd, 3rd, and     4th Divisions, Atlanta: Scholar’s Press, 1998. Pardee, Dennis. â€Å"Marim in Num. 5.†Vetus Testamentum. Vol. XXXI (1985). Phillips, Andrew. â€Å"Another Look at Adultery.†Journal for the Study of the Old      Testament. Vol. XX (July, 1981). Sasson, Jack M. â€Å"Num. 5 and the Waters of Judgment.†Biblische Zeifschrift. Vol. XIV     (1972).
Thursday, January 16, 2020
Facebook Making Us Lonely?
Brittany Barnier Composition 2 January 29, 2013 Keeping in Touch or an Unhealthy Addiction? In this article â€Å"Is Facebook Making Us Lonely? †the author, Stephen Marche starts off with an intention grabbing story that made headlines about a lady named Yvette Vickers. She was a former playboy playmate and a b-list movie star. She also was known for being found dead in what he described as in a mummified state, lying next to her heater, but her heater was not the only thing near her that was still running.Even after not being found over a year after her death, which was not the only thing that caught the attention of Mr. Marche. When Vickers’ neighbor found her dead her computer was still on and glowing and lighting up the dark and empty room. After searching her phone records, it was proven that even months before her death there were no phone calls to family or relatives, but shockingly only to distant fans that had only knew her from fan conventions or some interne t sites that she was registered to.Even though she did not have any children, or any close circle of any kind, only a couple of weeks within her what they believe was a â€Å"lonesome†death there were already 16,057 Facebook posts and over 884 tweets on Twitter. Mr. Marche used this story bring up the question if Social media such as Facebook and Twitter could be the cause of lonely. Even with all of the connectivity these are supposed to bring us, research shows that we have never been lonelier. Marche expressed, â€Å"Loneliness is certainly not something that Facebook or twitter or any of the lesser forms of social media is doing to us.We are doing it to ourselves. †An example that he used in the article was going to self-checkout versus a normal check stand at a grocery store. He even admitted himself to going to the self-checkout, only to avoid wait time and because it is more efficient. Marche isn’t trying to bring loneliness upon himself, he is only try ing to â€Å"Bypass the whole circus and just ring up the groceries myself†. Is lonely a bad thing? The social network is supposed to be used for people to be connected to each other, but it relies on them to use it like it is supposed to be used and use it to improve themselves instead of becoming lonely.The author stated that one shouldn’t cast the blame of loneliness on the technology itself, because at some point, the technology does help in improving the lifestyle in this current modernize world. According to a study, 35 percent of adults older than 45 are chronically lonely, as opposed to 20 percent of a similar group only a decade earlier. Everyone experiences loneliness after a certain amount of time with or without social networking; it just comes naturally with life. Instead of relying on talking to friends or hanging out with them to catch up, people rely on Facebook and are constantly checking and it and are also on it.What people don’t realize is th at Facebook can be very addictive for some people. No one ever realizes that too much of a good thing could be bad such as Facebook has led to having no sense of time and even not being aware of time passing. Facebook mostly appeals to human needs and mostly users that like interactions with playing online games, it makes people lose their reality of the real world and focusing on the fantasy world on Facebook and especially focusing mostly with facing life problems and issues online, rather than living life outside of the internet.It is really a bad influence, because it attracts a lot of users’ attention to it and that leads to losing sense of time which is spending many countless of hours online and on many other social networks. Being lonely is not always a bad thing but never having that face to face contact, or even decrease in confidence is a horrible way to spend your life.By everyone having a Facebook there are constantly people bloating about how happy they are with their lives or how good they are doing and by doing so everyone who is reading that is now thinking how they aren’t that happy so therefore their life must suck. This is what is causing people to be depressed and very unhappy with their life. We need that physical contact with other human beings, it may not be Facebook as the direct link to us being lonely or unhappy but it definitely only helps us isolate ourselves from everyone.
Wednesday, January 8, 2020
Lessons about Writing in the Works of Various Artists
Most recently, I have read several powerful essays in Exploring Language, by Gary Goshgarian, which give straightforward advice about becoming a better writer. One such essay is ?Writing for an Audience,? by Linda Flower. She believes that a good piece of writing closes the gap between the reader and the writer. Another essay that I will be looking at is Getting Started,? by Anne Lamott. She believes that good writing is about telling the truth. Patricia T. O?Conner wrote an interesting essay titled ?Saying is Believing.? In it, she tells us that a good writer is one that you can read without breaking a sweat. Which leads me to the final essay that has helped influence my writing style, ?How to Write with Style,? by Kurt†¦show more content†¦A couple of the steps stood out to me in particular. These were areas where I needed the most work. For example, a difficult habit for me to break is acknowledging that it?s alright to repeat a word if it fits. I am always tyi ng myself in knots trying to avoid repeating a word. As a result, I sometimes have a sentence that looks like the one Ms. O?Conner gives as an excellent example, ?Freddie was offered an apple and a banana, and he chose the slender yellow fruit? (182). Step 4 allows for repeating a word if it fits. My assumption was that it was okay to use the letter I when needed, regardless of how many times. However, Ms. O?Conner showed me different light, it is okay to use, but it shouldn?t be over-used. Learning to start a new sentence without using it is going to be a challenge when I?m describing something that happened to me or stating an opinion. ?Letter writers, who are fast becoming an endangered species, are often guilty of this? says Patricia O?Conner, (182). Ms. O?Conner is referring to the over-use of the letter I. This quote stood out to me because I am a letter writer. 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