Interesting Posts and Articles #313

1. At Mi Yodeya, an interesting observation of Jewish females pronouncing cholam as /o/ and males pronouncing it as /oy/. Has anyone else witnessed this phenomenon? Also there, a question about the missing nun in Ashrei. I sent them over to On the Main Line.
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2. At Rationalist Judaism, an update to Sacred Monsters, about two-headed people.
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3. The Bray of Fundie wonders if this segulah can be saved:

   I am speaking about the Segulah found in the Heiligeh Bnei Yissoskhor's אגרא דפרקא אות קע"ב instructing those confounded by a Torah topic to read פרשת המנורה. Full disclosure: This segulah was completely unknown to me until last Freitig tzu nakhts.

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4. From way back in 2009, A Mother In Israel presents the Official Chareidi guide to modest necklines.
   
   
5. Eruv Online notes the Daily Show's presentation of The Thin Jew Line, and reacts to it.
   
   
   
   In terms of his first point, I think that this was intended as humor, though perhaps not everyone in the audience would have gotten that. I agree with his second point.
   {Update: Oops! Link put back in. And see his comment below, where he clarifies that of course it was intended as humor, and that he was aware of that.}
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6. Blog In D Minor with an update on the Tzivos Hashem non-trovery.
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7. The Internet Kol Koreh to silence all voices.
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8. Shirat Devorah on Mind Games.

   When the truth finally hits, that they have actually been deceived, they are in a state of shock. It's hard to believe, how could this happen? Sometimes the victim will turn nasty and try to shoot the messenger, but ultimately they will realize that the "messenger" was the one they should be thanking for waking them up.
   
   It's no crime to be innocent and naive, in fact it's a virtue, but these days the world is a very dangerous place, and we need to be on the alert for anyone who's messing with our minds. 
   
   Geneivat da'at - Theft of the Mind - is the worst theft of all. 

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9. Perhaps related, do you know that it is my fault that Nir Ben Artzi, the cult-leader and charlatan or delusional psychic ex-tractoron driver, was shown to be a fraud? After he predicted a major earthquake which did not occur, here is what one person, who previously had promoted him as authentic, had to say:

   If you want my honest opinion, I think Rabbi [sic] Ben Artzi could have risen to the level of prophecy, but the test was whether we were ready for it and the pure hatred poured out on the man for daring to call Jews home to Eretz Yisrael with some urgency killed that initiative right at the root.
   
   What if Hashem was still making up His mind whether to save the Jews of chu"l or let them suffer the fate that they actually merit? What if He told the rabbi [sic] to say an earthquake is coming and then didn't give one so that the Jews of chu"l would NOT heed the message because in the end, He decided He doesn't want them to have the proof they want to do the right thing, the Torah thing, that every Jew already knows he should do in any case????
   
   Go ahead, pour it on. That's what Jews are best at---tearing each other apart. 
   
   You should have hoped the rabbi [sic] was right because what I read from the proven prophet Yechezekl HaNavi is that when Hashem gathers us to the Land at the end of days, ALL the Jews in chu"l will be forced out of the exile, but THEY WON'T ENTER ERETZ YISRAEL!

   If only I had not been so hard on Nir Ben Artzi, Hashem would not have decided to punish us by delegitimizing him. There is no way to persuade some people, who are committed to believing, no matter what.
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10. Perhaps related, Israel Rising considering that the Churva Synagogue -- originally likely a Sabbatean synagogue -- was rebuilt, and yet there was no redemption. The answer is that this is another step in the natural process of redemption. Thus, it is impossible to have a failed ketz.
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11. Also, alas, on parshablog, more Nir Ben Artzi blogging. My very own Torah code and what it means for the Nir Ben Artzi code; and whether Nir Ben Artzi's prediction of meltdown of evil nuclear reactors has come to fruition, yet.