адэм > Recent Status Updates

"But Palestinian identity, much like Zionism, emerged in response to many stimuli, and at almost exactly the same time as did modern political Zionism. The threat of Zionism was only one of these stimuli, just as anti-Semitism was only one of the factors fueling Zionism. As newspapers like Filastin and al-Karmil reveal, this identity included love of country, a desire to improve society...

"...a large proportion of the Jews living in Palestine were still culturally quite similar to and lived reasonably comfortably alongside city-dwelling Muslims and Christians...In spite of marked religious distinctions between them and their neighbors, they were not foreigners, nor were they Europeans or settlers: they were, saw themselves, and were seen as Jews who were part of the indigenous Muslim-majority society"

Finally getting to this book after so long...let's get started.

Say, 'If the sea itself were ink to inscribe the words of my Lord's knowledge and wisdom; the sea would be long exhausted before the words of my Lord were spent'; Indeed, though We brought the like of it to increase it again.

Surah Al-Kahf 109

"How do rabbis justify such a mishandling of scripture? Again, it is by means of scriptural misinterpretation: the phrase "It [the Torah's commandments] is not in heaven" as found in Deuteronomy 30:12 is taken to mean that the Torah was given for human beings on earth, not angels in heaven, and therefore it is their interpretation, and theirs alone, that is authoritative."

See Baba Metzia 59a-59b Babylonian Talmud

"Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming," says the Lord of Heaven's Armies. [Malachi 3:1]

About halfway through and still prefer The Remains of the Day, though not a bad book by any means. Still similar in the reminiscence writing style where the narrator details their past experiences and provides their hindsight reflections.

Daniel 2 is underrated

Isaiah 42, Psalm 84

If approached correctly, combining Deuteronomy 18 + 33 could prove formidable. The main issue is the argumentation is ultimately speculative and assumes univocality/internal consistency throughout the Bible for certain points. Intertext seems most effective when taken wholistically. Regardless, extensive patience and effort is necessary to reach a reasonable verdict on this issue for both promoter & skeptic.

Interesting to see studies from the 2000s (ex. 2008 Kaiser study) regarding excessive screen usage by children/teens before today's dystopian brainrot doomscrolling infecting all platforms and devices.

Deuteronomy 18:18 seems like a good case for intertext after finishing chapter 2, will need to see more in chapter 3.

Desmond Tutu, "Why Is There War?" 2003:

Unfortunately it is also possible that a war can be started by completely false reasons. Imagine a scenario where a powerful president wishes to hide a scandal, which is threatening his power in his own country. So he picks a fight with a potential, but not very dangerous, enemy. This kind of fight can escalate into a war while the scandal at home is forgotten.

I now know why pudding is soft and stone is hard.