Category Archives: The Rest of Life

A Matter of Balance

A few weeks ago we took a hike to Bobbitt Hole on the Eno River (Durham, NC) and then enjoyed a swim at the water hole (which included sliding down a small water chute onto a snake). I also took the time to practice my hobby of balancing rocks. The results of my efforts were captured by a professional photographer who was also hiking that day. Lisa Buffington kindly sent me a copy of the photo after she put it in her online portfolio.

balancing rocks at Bobbitt Hole

Here’s one I did in Maine with larger rocks.
maine_rocks.jpg
Some of my other rock balancing can be found here.

The source of inspiration for my rock balancing mania is Bill Dan. Check his website Rock On to be truly amazed.

Observe the Ant

Prov 6:6 Hebrew

Go to the ant… observe its ways and be wise Prov. 6.6

This photo is just amazing. Taken by 24-year-old amateur photographer, Bolucevschi Vitali, who captured the title of CIWEM‘s Environmental Photographer of the Year 2009 with this picture, Talking About Stars.

Talking about Stars

On a sunny day I took a camera and set out to photograph something of the life of ants. At first I was no good as the ants moved very quickly and I was easily distracted. But gradually I was drawn to a group which was climbing up a nearby dandelion. They would each pull out one seed and then parachute to the ground.

Oy Vey! Roundup of Hebrew Tshirts

Whether you are a Hebrew student looking for a way to impress your prof or an attendee at the annual SBL conference looking to stand out in the crowd, you need to check out our list of “must-have” t-shirt links.

We’ll start with the ol’ basic aleph-bet.

Aleph Bet tshirt

Want to go paleo?

Paleo Aleph Bet tshirt

For those of you in Chicago:

Hebrew Chicago tshirt

California?

Hebrew California tshirt

Love caffeine?

Hebrew Starbucks tshirt

Not a coffee drinker? How about a beer?

Hebrew He'Brew tshirt

… even better than a t-shirt, a bike jersey!
Hebrew He'Brew Bike Jersey

This is not strictly Hebrew… but close enough. T-shirt from real-life Shmaltz Brewing Company, the makers of HE’BREW gourmet Kosher beer, including Messiah Stout and Genesis Ale.

Can’t afford gourmet?

Hebrew Budweiser tshirt

From the “I can’t make this up” category:

Hebrew Older-than-dirt tshirt

From the designer: What better way to tell the world that you (or a forgiving female friend) are Older Than Dirt than in the language of divine revelation? Uses feminine grammatical forms. Biblical Hebrew and English.

I am not endorsing this, merely passing it on:

Hebrew What-the-hey tshirt

If you aren’t one of these, you know someone who is:
Hebrew Geek tshirt

Got any you want to add to the list?

(It’s time again) Abbott & Costello Teach Hebrew

It’s about that time in the semester for new Hebrew students to begin to encounter pronouns. So, we’ll post this oft-repeated (but worthy) tribute to confused Hebrew students everywhere.

Abbott & Costello Learn Hebrew
Aka “Who’s On First“…
© Rabbi Jack Moline

ABBOTT: I see you’re here for your Hebrew lesson.
COSTELLO: I’m ready to learn.
A: Now, the first thing you must understand is that Hebrew and English have many words which sound alike, but they do not mean the same thing.
C: Sure, I understand.
A: Now, don’t be too quick to say that.
C: How stupid do you think I am – don’t answer that. It’s simple – some words in Hebrew sound like words in English, but they don’t mean the same.
A: Precisely.
C: We have that word in English, too. What does it mean in Hebrew?
A: No, no. Precisely is an English word.
C: I didn’t come here to learn English, I came to learn Hebrew. So make with the Hebrew.
A: Fine. Let’s start with mee.
C: You.
A: No, mee.
C: Fine, we’ll start with you.
A: No, we’ll start with mee.
C: Okay, have it your way.
A: Now, mee is who.
C: You is Abbott.
A: No, no, no. Mee is who.
C: You is Abbott.
A: You don’t understand.
C: I don’t understand? Did you just say me is who?
A: Yes I did. Mee is who.
C: You is Abbott.
A: No, you misunderstand what I am saying. Tell me about mee.
C: Well, you’re a nice enough guy.
A: No, no. Tell me about mee!
C: Who?
A: Precisely.
C: Precisely what?
A: Precisely who.
C: It’s precisely whom!
A: No, mee is who.
C: Don’t start that again – go on to something else.
A: All right. Hu is he.
C: Who is he?
A: Yes.
C: I don’t know. Who is he?
A: Sure you do. You just said it.
C: I just said what?
A: Hu is he.
C: Who is he?
A: Precisely.
C: Again with the precisely! Precisely who?
A: No, precisely he.
C: Precisely he? Who is he?
A: Precisely!
C: And what about me?
A: Who.
C: me, me, me!
A: Who, who, who!
C: What are you, an owl? Me! Who is me?
A: No, hu is he!
C: I don’t know, maybe he is me!
A: No, hee is she!
C: (STARE AT ABBOTT) Do his parents know about this?
A: About what?
C: About her!
A: What about her?
C: That she is he!
A: No, you’ve got it wrong – hee is she!
C: Then who is he?
A: Precisely!
C: Who?
A: He!
C: Me?
A: Who!
C: He?
A: She!
C: Who is she?
A: No, hu is he.
C: I don’t care who is he, I want to know who is she?
A: No, that’s not right.
C: How can it not be right? I said it. I was standing here when I said it, and I know me.
A: Who.
C: Who?
A: Precisely!
C: Me! Me is that he you are talking about! He is me!
A: No, hee is she!
C: Wait a Minute, wait a minute! I’m trying to learn a little Hebrew, and now I can’t even speak English. Let me review.
A: Go ahead.
C: Now first You want to know me is who.
A: Correct.
C: And then you say who is he.
A: Absolutely.
C: And then you tell me he is she.
A & C: Precisely!
C: Now look at this logically. If me is who, and who is he, and he is she, don’t it stand to reason that me is she?
A: Who?
C: She!
A: That is he!
C: Who is he?
A & C: Precisely!
C: I have just about had it. You have me confused I want to go home. You know what I want? Ma!
A: What.
C: I said Ma.
A: What.
C: What are you, deaf? I want Ma!
A: What!
C: Not what, who!
A: He!
C: Not he! Ma is not he!
A: Of course not! Hu is he!
C: I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t care. I don’t care who is he, he is she, me is who, ma is what. I just want to go home now and play with my dog.
A: Fish.
C: Fish?
A: Dag is fish.
C: That’s all, I’m outa here.

Time Allocation for Reading, Writing, Work, Life, and Sleep?

The number of very productive and helpful blogs on the Biblioblogs list causes me to wonder: How do they do it?

First of all, it is nearly impossible for me to keep up with reading all the posts I want to (not to mention the rabbit trails they lead to). Many of them are well researched and notated, how do the authors find the time to be so productive online? What about teaching or other jobs? I look at my own set of circumstances and sometimes feel overwhelmed or frustrated at my attempts to work on various projects. I want to know how some of you manage your schedules and how you prioritize.

Here’s my situation:

  • I work 20 hours a week. Occasionally during that time I can be online, but mostly not.
  • I want to swim/bicycle/run several times a week. Exercise is a priority and I am trying very hard for it to not be crowded out (as has been easy to do in the past).
  • I am married and have extended family very nearby. This means that there are things we do together that add events into my schedule. I am very grateful for family time and even for the opportunity to teach several of my young grandchildren Hebrew starting in August.
  • We own a house. My deck is currently in pieces waiting for me to finish putting it back together. There is a garden to tend. My husband helps with household tasks, but the bulk of that responsibility is on my plate (for various reasons).
  • I have a dissertation to finish!
  • I have several other writing projects. These include some reviews I am writing, three papers for presentations in the fall, and research/analysis/writing for a section in a book.
  • Reading, reading, reading. This is not a chore, but finding the time to do it sometimes is.
  • I have a blog (obviously). My list of draft posts is rapidly growing, while my list of published posts grows slower than I desire.
  • Sleep and rest. I’m convinced that 8 hours of sleep is physiologically (and mentally) best, but how to fit it in seems to elude me.
  • Working on Hebrew.

I also like to bake bread, make tofu, and cook. Add to that Church, visiting friends, hiking, and things like shopping at the Durham Farmers’ Market and you start to see that my list of “priorities” greatly exceeds the amount of daily time I have.

OK, so how do you use your time? How much do you sleep? When do you read (and how much)? I want to hear from people like John Hobbins, Mike Aubrey, Jim West, Ros Clarke, and Daniel & Tonya (to name just a few). Be practical. I need to learn from you!

Keeping the Brain Happy

I tell my students that studying Hebrew helps to keep their brain active which can stave off things like Alzheimers’ disease.

For example, here’s a lecture illustration I use. Which brain would you rather have?

Your brain on Hebrew

But even with all that language study, there are days when you need some supplemental grey matter exercise. So, here’s a suggestion. This is a nice little surface maze (a sample from Dover Publications’ The Ultimate Maze Book by Galen Wadzinskiby) for your brain to tackle when you need to take a break from research, reading, writing, or whatever.

Surface Maze (Dover Publications)

Dover Publications has lots of books with puzzles, mazes, and more to keep your brain cells active. I still have lots of stuff I want to coax out of my brain, so I’m going to do everything I can to keep exercising my brain cells.

Book Meme

Daniel and Tonya tagged me in the recent book meme that is making the rounds:

Name 5 books or scholars that had the most immediate and lasting influence on how you read the Bible.

In no particular order:
1. Mark Smith’s (peer-less) work on the Baal Cycle introduced me to the world of Ugaritic and all it has to offer (I would gratefully accept a gift of his latest book, since I cannot afford the $300+ pricetag) . His books (such as The Early History of God) piqued my appetite to understand the cultures surrounding ancient Israel and the text of Scripture.
2. Christo van der Merwe’s A Biblical Hebrew Reference Grammar. This book gave me a good foundation and also challenged me to think through the description of BH grammar by looking at the data myself.
3. The Art of Biblical Narrative (Robert Alter) and Narrative Art in the Bible (Shimon Bar-Efrat). I know, I’m cheating to list two here, but they both helped move me from an atomistic reading of Scripture and lifted my head up to see the discourse level and the art of Hebrew story-telling.
4. Sinai & Zion: An Entry into the Jewish Bible (Jon D. Levenson): “[M]yth does not mean ‘untruth’ or ‘falsehood,’ in spite of such usage in ordinary discourse. One should not allow this pejorative use of the word to prejudice oneself against the Aristotelian position that poetry is truer than history. One implication of this discussion will be that mythopoesis, ‘ the making of myth,’ is a means by which man discerns and conveys truths otherwise inexpressible. If this implication is correct, then the familiar interpretation of the religion of Israel as radically demythologized, besides being factually inaccurate, obscures great spiritual treasures” (104-105). That’s just one gem.
5. John Hobbins: his blog Ancient Hebrew Poetry continues to educate me, inspire me, challenge me, and give me cause to debate. He lives his life as husband, father, pastor, and scholar in a way that resonates with my own priorities.

I hereby tag: Art Boulet, Daniel Kirk, Ben Byerly, Brandon Withrow, and Ros Clark.

If you are interested

This is a semi-shameless plug about the interview that Daniel & Tonya (of the Hebrew & Greek Reader blog) conducted with me. It’s in a 20 Question format. I figured that since I agreed to the interview, I might as well let my readers know about it. You may even learn something new about me. But please, don’t go on a crusade to get me to like sweet potatoes. I assure you, you will utterly fail.