leftyjew

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There's always the chance the general will say something new and interesting, with informational content to help us galutniks understand more facets of what's going on.

I think it's cool that the general will read the Haftara, too. How many generals out there can do that?

Of course, if his talk is anything like that guy from last week's, I'm gonna cry.

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(it's not kesher)

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Okay, point still stands I think

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are you talking about the dude who spoke at kesher on Sat morning? I was there :)

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Hah yeah. He's not your mom or anything right? :)

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you found me out!

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Sorry man, I didn't mean to offend. ;)

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do you go to kesher regularly? :)

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Nah, though it's a cool shul (current location earns it extra points). I'm usually there when I stay by Chachi here for Shabbos, unless we go to DC Minyan.

I'm getting closer though, I just moved last month from Rockville to downtown Silver Spring.

I graduated from U.Maryland a year ago, along with Ari the temporary Rabbi :) Are you a regular Kesher person?

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I just moved to DC, and last Saturday was actually the first time that I'd gone to services @ Kesher, but I plan to go there (& DC Minyan) regularly. Did I see you with Charles last Sat?

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Cool, welcome to the National Capital of Awesomeness! What brought you here?

It was probably me you saw. Charles and I arrived and left together, along with our friend Rebecca. I was sitting at the same table as Charles during davenning, with that guy [what's his name, nice person, roommate of Josh who writes for Express] and some older person I didn't know.

I'm supposed to be in DC again this Shabbos. We can do that whole "Nice to meet you, creepy internet person" thing. Did you know Chach before you got here?

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So I do think that there is sanctity in politics. However, whatever sanctity is in politics (especially the politics that I disagree with), the sanctity of doing doesn't belong on shabbat. I understand the whole "Jews fighting for their lives" argument, and you know what? If you want a general to give a speech to a group of Jews, he can do that just fine. Just don't be messin' with my peace of shabbas. It's something valuable - a chance to NOT think about the sanctity of work, and instead to think of the sanctity of rest. War is the antithesis of peace. I value living in a bubble for a few hours a week. On another note, no matter how great and important King David was to the Jewish people, he wasn't allowed to build the Temple because he had too much blood on his hands. That's similar to the issue I take to honoring a general with Haftarah.

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Maybe

kellev can ask you if you have a lab turtle :)

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ooo! ooo!

When you and Charles walked into the school, remember somebody yelling, "Charles!" and then walking up to you and saying, "hey, what's up?" and saying, "hi, I'm David," and shaking your hand and Rebecca's hand? Guess who that was!

I'm going to be at kesher tonight - prolly at the Carlebach minyan - and hopefully, I'm going to get set up with some kesher peeps for dinner. I'm also going to be at DC Minyan on Sat.

As for "Chach" (hee hee), I've only known him through LJ, but I met him in person on July 3 at a party, and when I asked him if he had a livejournal, he thought I'd asked him if had a "lab turtle..." I guess that's not the sort of question that one normally poses in polite company ;)

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your point about King David is super. I'd never thought about that.

But let me ask this: the Torah contains stories of bloodshed and righteous wrath, and those sort of things get discussed in shul on Shabbat, depending upon the weekly parsha. In fact, this is the 3 weeks, right? So it's not inappropriate to talk about the sorrows that have and continue to befall our nation... is it?

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LOL awesome. Nice to retroactively meet you! Lab turtles all around!

So *MY* Charles story is that after knowing Charles as Charles and only Charles for a while, I went to his birthday party during the winter up in Van Ness and met some friends of his from GW. They consistently referred to him as "CHACHI". I was like ROTFLcollegenicknameguffawchucklechuckle. So now I say it too, mostly online.

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Do you like hippies and pluralism? Charles and I will be davenning and eating tonight with some folks in this park. I'm sure you could join.

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one of my best friends is named Charles, but he goes by Chuck - so I tend to think of all Charleses as Chucks.

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I also like the King David point, and sympathize with the desire to keep Shabbos *rest*ful and un-political. On the other hand, Shabbos in shul is *the* place to find a collection of concerned Jews who might be interested in hearing what the general has to say, and reading Haftara isn't like building the Bet Hamikdash, because it's an every-week thing that all sorts of people are honored to do. Building the BH was a one-time extratypical thing, whose character for the next 400 years (it could be argued) was set by the manner of its construction.

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I think this Charles has expressed disinterest in being Chuck'ed. (Which is sad, because it's an awesome name) :)

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I very much appreciate the offer! If I don't hear anything from kesher, I would love to join you. I'm not a hippie, but I'm nice :)

Are you guys going to be sitting on blankets in the park, or are there benches? My lunch last week was at the park on 23 and S, and we were sitting on blankets when the sprinklers went off :)

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I heard about those sprinklers from an escapee. Apparently y'all took your time getting your stuff together and therefore got hit by the sprinklers. This one's at 23rd & P below street level (if you're facing west, make a slight left before the bridge and then make a down). we'll be there at 6:45 onward g-d and thor permitting.

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Heheh I'm not much of a hippy either, I'm a wannabe. Though I do get confused for a stoner a lot because I talk pretty slow and mild.

(I'm also not necesarily using the word "hippy" he same way it's usually used. I think I technically mean: young jewish people who like singing and pluralism and potluck shabboses and tend to be fairly socially conscious and chill)

I haven't ever been to this park, but I think it's grassy and bench-less. I almost hope there are sprinklers that go off. :)

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hey - could you remind me what the address of the school is?

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1. The perspective gained from mythologized history is much different than the perspective of current events.
2. We can use the lessons of history in the present, but then you're no longer talking of learning but of applying.

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And a shul on Yom Kippur is *the* place to find Jews who want to donate to the shul, but that doesn't mean it's a proper space for that (even though it's consistently done). In fact, the limits of shabbas are in order to create a place AWAY from that.
As for the hafatarah, i can accept your point, but i'm kinda just against giving honors to VIPs in general...

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