I apologize greatly for the total lack of new content here at The Four Questions recently. Life has been full to overflowing, and my sporadic blogging has become even more so. We took a trip to see family last week and I hope to be able to post some info and pictures of that soon. I also plan to do some much needed picture organizing here and actually put up some new pics of the kids.

Now, on to the subject of today's post. My good friend Israel and I have decided to begin studying the Talmud with thousands of other students around the world. There is a cycle called Daf Yomi that involves reading one page of the Talmud (front and back) every day. Due to the sheer size of the Talmud, these reading cycles last 7 1/2 years. We are getting in on the current cycle about half-way through, but that's okay, since we plan to continue after the next cycle starts.

I found a few very good web pages that talk about the Talmud and how to study it, and I thought I would pass them along. First, a website called For Every Jew has a great introduction to the Talmud, with some historical information and other background info. Second, My Jewish Learning has a good description of how the Talmud has been studied for centuries. Last, I'll leave you with some thoughts from OHR Somayach on the Talmudic method, a glimpse of what the study of Talmud involves and the type of questioning I hope to become much better at.

Confronted with a statement on any subject, the Talmudic student will proceed to raise a series of questions before he satisfies himself of having understood its full meaning. If the statement is not clear enough, he will ask, 'What does the author intend to say here?' If it is too obvious, he will again ask, 'It is too plain, why then expressly say it?' If it is a statement of fact or of a concrete instance, he will then ask, 'What underlying principle does it involve?' If it is broad generalization, he will want to know exactly how much it is to include; and if it is an exception to a general rule, he will want to know how much it is to exclude. He will furthermore want to know all the circumstances under which a certain statement is true, and what qualifications are permissible.

By the way, if you live in Austin and would like to join us in our study, just let me know. Having more people is always great. Also, feel free to just drop in and join us periodically if you like.

Labels: Judaism, Personal

I have become more involved in our local neighborhood association, the North Austin Civic Association (NACA), in the last year, my biggest contribution being a presentation I gave to the City Council opposing a zoning change to a piece of property around the corner from the duplex we lived in before buying our house. The zoning change would have impacted the whole area negatively, and was in complete contradiction to our Neighborhood Plan. Thankfully, we were successful in our attempts to have it blocked, with a 7-0 vote from the Council in our favor.

Well, I have now been asked to represent NACA at the Austin Neighborhoods Council (ANC), a position I happily accepted. I'm really looking forward to filling this role, and I'm hopeful that it will give me an opportunity to have a bigger positive impact on Austin's future development.

Labels: Personal

We are pleased to announce the latest addition to the Tallent household: Kefirah!

Kefirah (ke·fi·RAH) means “little lioness” in Hebrew. We thought that was a fitting name considering her extremely playful attitude. Everything is a toy: hands, feet, tzitzit, babies...

Many thanks to our friends Jonathan and Jessica for rescuing her from the dark, cold streets, nursing her back to health, and allowing us to give her a good home!

You can see some more cute pics of Kefirah in her photo album.

Labels: Family

I have been meaning to pass along two very good audio teachings that I think you will all enjoy. The first is one that Gil Student at Hirhurim blogged about last November. I think this one has been in an open tab in my Firefox window since then. It is a short teaching from Rabbi Hershel Schachter at Yeshiva University on "Being Normal". If I get a chance some time I will transcribe it.

The second teaching is from OU Radio; it's called Mission Not Impossible: The Kosher Jew in a Non-Kosher Milieu. It explores keeping kosher in the everyday world.

Enjoy!

Labels: Judaism, Kashrut

Finally, after a month of waiting, my Kindle is set to ship next week. I've been anxious to get it for a while now, especially since I am doing so many more Kindle books through KindleFormatting.com. Now I can actually look at the books I do on the device instead of on the Preview only.

Labels: e-books, Technology, Work

I read this great Popular Science article last week about an ingenious way of disposing of garbage. A guy has developed, over the course of many years, a process called plasma gasification, which turns anything, and I mean anything except nuclear waste, into two things: a gas called syngas (mostly hydrogen and carbon monoxide), and a black glass-like material that is used in bathroom tiles and asphalt. The coolest thing is that once the process starts it can produce enough energy with the syngas to run itself and still put electricity back onto the grid. It can also consume up to 2,000 tons of waste every day. I've always said that we should ship our trash to the sun; it looks like this is much more economical.

Labels: Technology

Here is another reason we don't need Obama in the Oval Office.

Please go out and vote today, regardless of who you are voting for. A republic only really works when the people make a choice. Here is the League of Women Voters Voter's Guide.

Labels: Politics

"Nations crumble from within when the citizenry asks of government those things which the citizenry might better provide for itself... [I] hope we have once again reminded people that man is not free unless government is limited. There's a clear cause and effect here that is as neat and predictable as a law of physics: As government expands, liberty contracts."—Ronald Reagan (link)

Labels: Politics

Here is a nice little Anti-Semitic thread on the Ron Paul Forums, complete with quotes from Revelation saying that the Jews are not really the Jews. Note that the 9/11 Truthers come out of the woodwork and try to pin the blame for that event on the Jews, too. So much for a LOVE rEVOLution. This is one guy we really don't need in office...

Labels: Anti-Semitism, Politics

Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, is an anti-Semite. I do not say that lightly, and I am not ashamed to make such a declaration.

I heard Arun speak a few years ago and went away from that talk sickened by the one-sided, ignorant approach he has on the Arab-Israeli conflict. He had recently visited Israel and "Palestine," where he told the Arabs who blow up school buses and shoot rockets at innocent civilians that their actions "could be construed as terrorism." What else could they possibly be? Then he chided Israel's leaders, saying that if the Jewish state had spent as much money providing for the social needs of its Arab neighbors as it has on its army then it would not be in this situation now. No, if Israel had done that it would no longer exist.

Skip forward to last week. Arun posted a short article at the Washington Post and Newsweek about Jews and Israel. Just so you can see what I mean, here is the article in its entirety:

Jewish identity in the past has been locked into the holocaust experience -- a German burden that the Jews have not been able to shed. It is a very good example of a community can overplay a historic experience to the point that it begins to repulse friends. The holocaust was the result of the warped mind of an individual who was able to influence his followers into doing something dreadful. But, it seems to me the Jews today not only want the Germans to feel guilty but the whole world must regret what happened to the Jews. The world did feel sorry for the episode but when an individual or a nation refuses to forgive and move on the regret turns into anger.

The Jewish identity in the future appears bleak. Any nation that remains anchored to the past is unable to move ahead and, especially a nation that believes its survival can only be ensured by weapons and bombs. In Tel Aviv in 2004 I had the opportunity to speak to some Members of Parliament and Peace activists all of whom argued that the wall and the military build-up was necessary to protect the nation and the people. In other words, I asked, you believe that you can create a snake pit -- with many deadly snakes in it -- and expect to live in the pit secure and alive? What do you mean? they countered. Well, with your superior weapons and armaments and your attitude towards your neighbors would it not be right to say that you are creating a snake pit? How can anyone live peacefully in such an atmosphere? Would it not be better to befriend those who hate you? Can you not reach out and share your technological advancement with your neighbors and build a relationship?

Apparently, in the modern world, so determined to live by the bomb, this is an alien concept. You don't befriend anyone, you dominate them. We have created a culture of violence (Israel and the Jews are the biggest players) and that Culture of Violence is eventually going to destroy humanity.

Not only does he accuse Jews as a group of overplaying the systematic murder of more than 6 million Jews in the Holocaust, he then goes on to proclaim Israel as a nation and Jews as a people "the biggest players" in the "culture of violence."

Thankfully, enough decent people have stood up and decried these horrific comments that Arun has tendered his resignation as the president of the M. K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence at the University of Rochester in New York. I only hope that the university actually accepts the invitation and does not try to smooth things over with a nice press conference. From where I sit, Arun Gandhi's words were not a slip of the pen, an unintentional oversight. They indicate his view of Jews as a people group—views that led to the Holocaust and to the myriad other attacks on Jews over the millennia.

Labels: Anti-Semitism, Judaism

Rick Moran at American Thinker wrote a great article about Fred Thompson last week. While the news media and many voters are looking for a candidate that will give them soundbites, Fred actually answers questions thoughtfully and with intention. ABC said that "he's actually treating voters like adults." That's one of the reasons I like Fred so much. He is a real guy who wants to make a difference, and he has taken the time, unlike other candidates in the field, to look at the issues and figure out the best approach to handling them. I know he does not poll well, and people are disenchanted with a guy who "just doesn't seem to want it," but I actually appreciate that about Fred, too. He is not some slick politician who set out to become president and changed his tune on policies to make that possible. He is a statesman who sees the need and humbly thinks that he might be the best person to fill that need.

I know I am in the minority here, but I highly encourage all of you to look at Fred's website, read his white papers, and follow his answers in the debates. He is spot on about the problems we are going to face in our next president's term, and his plans to address those problems are the best ones out there.

Labels: Politics

Someone who uses StumbleUpon tagged my Kindle Formatting website today, and I got 282 visitors in one day! WOW! What is also great is that almost 45% of my visitors stick around for more than 30 seconds.

Labels: Work

Well, it appears that another Canadian Journalist, Mark Steyn, is being dragged before at least two human rights councils in Canada (yes, they have more than one). His offense is this article, an excerpt from his book America Alone, which is, by the way, on my wish list. This is what happens when political correctness and willful ignorance about the threats of Islamic fundamentalism are combined with bureaucratic systems that have as much power as a real court.

Labels: Islam, Politics

Yes, you heard me right: an Apple Newton, the great-granddaddy of modern PDAs, serving as a website server. That's pretty cool. I doubt I could get my Palm m500 to do that.

Labels: Technology

If only I had known about CSS Reboot, I might have put off my redesign for a few more months. Then again, I probably would have never actually done it...

In the months leading to a Reboot, people who want to participate in the CSS Reboot sign up and upload information about their website. During the signup process you can visit cssreboot.com to see who is planning on rebooting.

Then on Reboot Day at 18:00 GMT, all participants launch their new website redesigns. Thousands of visitors swarm to cssreboot.com to view, comment and visit their favorite new redesigns. This in turn creates a lot of buzz, many blogs write about the event and feature top redesigns in their galleries. This brings even more recognition for the participants.

Labels: Personal, Technology