Percolating Thoughts

I figured I'd share some of the percolating thoughts in the popcorn machine that is my brain.

1. It occurred to me that people would have more success teaching tzniut if they taught it from a cheftza approach as opposed to a gavra approach. ("Those shoes, Batya, they want to be worn over your feet to prevent your scandalous toenails from showing...the shoes are crying out to you...they need to be worn over your feet. Come on, just do what the shoe wants already!") That had me laughing.

2. Did anyone see The Time-Traveler's Wife? If you did, weren't you reminded of Lemach and the death of Cain in that scene? Come on, you know that's totally what you were thinking...it's definitely what I was thinking...there's no movie without Torah.

3. I think it's ridiculous that people will not publish dissenting opinions from outside their camp because they are "subversive" to their own ideas. I mean, it's good that at least they will publish responses to the dissenting ideas penned by those within their camp, but what good is a response to the idea if you refuse to publish the idea itself? Subversive is such a ridiculous word, anyway...everyone is subversive by someone's standards. Heck, I'm sure I'm considered subversive by some people.

4. It's even more ridiculous when people refuse to teach you halakhot unless you blindly promise to adopt those halakhot. Now look, there are about a million interpretations of different halakhot, so to teach me your approach on condition that I automatically follow it is silly. I could remain within the halakhic realm and still follow a different point of view. And honestly, let's say it's honest-to-goodness binding halakha...you should teach it to me anyway, even if I don't follow it, just so I know what it is I am not following! Acquiring knowledge should never be a conditional process.