Subj : Re: Extent of the Torah
To   : Frank Masingill
From : Joshua Lee
Date : Tue Oct 24 2000 10:03 am

-=> Frank Masingill wrote to Joshua Lee <=-

 JL> with Frank, Hal, Curtis, and Bob gone. (Among others) Now that

I see that Curtis is back; I'm trying to lure Hal back. (grin)

 JL> some measure of philosophicalness has returned to the echo I
 JL> will attempt to stick to the topic more often. (Tho don't
 JL> shoot me if I disgress. :-))

 FM>         Oh!  You hadn't heard??? (grin) The echo supreme court just
 FM> condemned Joshua Lee to be shot at sunrise for veering off topic!!!

ROFL.

 FM>         Do you remember the Topper stories?  How it happened that I

Unfortunately, no.

 FM> movies based on those stories.  The dialogue took certain words and
 FM> analyzed them ad infinitum.  One of these words was "veer."  It was
 FM> sort of like reading _Mad_ Magazine long before it was in existence.

Mad actually has been around a pretty long time; yer dating yourself!
Actually, I think Mad has been around before I was.

 FM>         I remember (grin) all of the "meandering"  we did with all
 FM> of those members, many now absent, in those halcyon days.  How about
 FM> "halcyon??"

This echo definitely has gone through many phases. I think it has been
all things to all people in a sense. When Aaron was moderator, even
though he was a positivistic philosopher, the echo was for new age
discussions. Then it changed, changed yet again, and yet again. Yet,
it manages to, most of the time, have a few interesting threads.

 JL> Judaism, as you know, doesn't think it's for "all men", but
 JL> let us get back to philosophy.

 FM>         Hey, I missed something.  Just as I was trying to puzzle out
 FM> Judaism as a thinking personality (smile)

You make a good point; it's too diverse for that. I recognize that
as being true of your unavowed religion as well.

 FM> I got stuck on the idenity
 FM> of the "for 'all men.' "  Refresh my memory. What IS it that is
 FM> banned for "all men."  If you tell me it is bagels, cream cheese and
 FM> jelly I'll shoot MYSELF!!!

It is seriously not for all people. In fact, there's even a statement
in the Talmud that a non-Jew who observes the Sabbath in full is
chayiv misa. (*Liable* for the death penalty; keeping in mind of
course, that Jewish courts have such strict rules for the death
penalties that it is effectively impossible to carry out according
to the laws concerning it, a court that executes one person in 70
years is "a bloody court"; and that Jewish courts never adjure
non-Jewish cases. A Jew, who *breaks* the Sabbath, for example,
is also chayiv misa; but that penalty has not been carried out
for millenia.)

                       JBL

.... What is mind? No matter! What is matter? Never mind! - Homer S.
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