Why did you set Footnote in the Talmud department of Hebrew University?

The Talmud department is an extreme version of other departments. I like the tension that exists there. No one compromises anything for anything. I spent a few months meeting a Talmud professor regularly once a week, going over different issues that exist in the department, generational conflicts, the history of the department, and in the field of Talmud study. One of the questions that interests me is whether the Talmud was edited after it was a written text or on oral deliverance? In other words, when was it first written down, before or after it was edited? The written word is inflexible, while oral tradition allows for a lot of flexibility. When we lost the flexibility is a question that is important to me in my life. I feel closer to the oral world than the written world.

Halakhah Halftime Sources

Q. What made you want to explore this particular world of Talmudic scholarship?

A. In the beginning I was working with a story about a father and son and the confusion that occurs because of an award. I was looking for a field for them to be in and came across the Talmud department. It changed the whole direction of the story and gave the film its shape and content. It’s a great department and I spent time gossiping with people from the inside. It’s a place that has no limits because of the nature of the people, whose stubbornness is extremely dramatic. Or tragic. I don’t know. But I was attracted to these people.

One of the most important groups in the history of Israeli music is החלונות הגבוהים (“The High Windows“).  The group consisted of Arik Einstein, Shmulik Krauss, and Josie Katz.  Their one and only album, which was released in 1967, had a lasting affect on Israeli music.

Maariv April 26, 1967

Since the traditional Torah reading cycle is finishing up Sefer Bereishit this week, I thought that their song איפה הם כל אבותינו (“Where are all of our ancestors”) might be  appropriate.  The song was written by Ḥayyim Ḥefer and the music is from Shmulik Krauss.  My guess is that it probably got some people upset when it was released.

Maariv Feb. 28, 1967

איפה הם כל אבותינו
מילים: חיים חפר
לחן: שמוליק קראוס

?איפה אברהם אבינו
?איפה איפה אברהם
?איפה אברהם אבינו
ירחם על בנו יצחק

?איפה הוא יוסף אחינו
?איפה בן פורת יוסף
?איפה הוא יוסף אחינו
שיחלום לי חלומות

?איפה היא רחל אמנו
?איפה איפה היא רחל
?איפה היא רחל אמנו
שתזיל הרבה דמעות

?איפה הוא משה רבנו
?איפה איפה הוא משה
?איפה הוא משה רבנו
שיתן את הלוחות

אליהו נביאינו
אליהו הנביא
אליהו נביאינו
לנו השלום יביא

?איפה הם כל אבותינו
?איפה הם כולם
?מי יתן ויברכנו
בזכותם ריבון עולם

Where is Abraham our father?

Where, where is Abraham?

Where is Abraham our father

That he should have mercy on his son Isaac.

Where is Joseph our brother?

Where is Ben Porat Yosef?

Where is Joseph our brother

That he should dream dreams for me.

Where is Rachel our mother?

Where, where is Rachel?

Where is Rachel our mother

That she should shed many tears.

Where is Moshe Rabbeinu?

Where, where is Moshe Rabbeinu?

Where is Moshe Rabbeinu

That he should give the tablets (לוחות).

Elijah our prophet.

Elijah the prophet.

Elijah our prophet

That he should bring us peace.

Where are all of our forefathers?

Where are they all?

Who will give and bless us-

Through their merit, master of the universe.

My wife recently saw an episode of the HGTV program Property Brothers that featured a couple and their kosher kitchen. The religious couple was having their kitchen remodeled, and the show explained all of the ins and outs of a kosher kitchen. She said that it was a very well done program, and that they treated the kosher angle well. The show will be rebroadcast a number of other times. Information about times of the rebroadcasts can be found here.

She even asked that some words from the song would be on her tombstone

I thought about this song this morning because I saw an advertisement for a book called עטור מצחך. It presents many different variations of ways that a woman can cover her head.

If you would like to order the book and are in Israel, you can buy it here during the next few days at a discount.

The second season of the Israeli version of the American reality show the Amazing Race, המירוץ למליון, recently began broadcasting. An aspect of the show that has gotten a bit of media attention is the couple, Shira and Firas. They have gotten a bit of attention because Firas is an Arab Muslim and Shira is Jewish. They aren’t married, and have been dating for over two years. Articles about the them can be found here and here.

They can even be found here on Facebook. A short interview with them can be found here. From the video, it seems that even though the families have known each other for many years, since they began dating, Shira’s family hasn’t been so welcoming. Firas’s mother seems to fine with the two of them. Below is another video from before the season started.

This story is also interesting against the backdrop of internet posts like this. At the recent GA in Denver Israel was a hot topic, a good exercise might be for them to see all of the couples who are participating in this season to get a sense of who is living in Israel these days.

Another Israeli TV show, Asfur, has been picked up by an American production company. (hat tip) Here’s a description of the show from Wikipedia:

Motti Amoyal lives on a bus farm in Jerusalem with his three best friends, Itzik, Newton and Katzar. Their lives are about to change drastically as they discover that the land, on which Motti built the farm, holds an enormous debt to city hall because of his late grandfather’s past disputes over garbage dumping. The city threatens to repossess the land because of the future profit from zoning plans. Amit Peled, an insurance agent who works for his overly demanding father, accidentally discovers the zoning plans and visits the farm in order to buy it. He arrives there with his girlfriend Shir, who sees Motti and they both recall that they were romantically involved during a trip to India.

Upon learning of the zoning plans, the four friends realize that keeping the farm is their chance of redeeming their lives. From that moment on, it becomes a race against time for them. They try every possible scheme, be it working on a taxicab they “borrow” from the repair shop where Itzik works, laundering the lottery Grand Prize through the black market, stealing from houses, gambling online, selling drugs or even committing armed robbery for a criminal lord. The season’s plot mainly revolves around their adventures, as well as the intricately woven relationship between Shir and Motti, along with other romantic complications.

In this past Friday’s Maariv, Rubik Rosenthal wrote about the Hebrew that is used in Asfur. Rosenthal wrote that the “Asfur Dialect” is defined as “Jerusalem Dialect,” often influenced by different Arabic dialects. Here are a few of them.

עספור-Arabic for bird, the meaning in slang is someone who is a wanderer or beggar

פדיחה בצבע-mistake or failure

יוגורט-someone who is Ashkenazi

זקנבות-that someone should choke

וואי דה מי-”Why the me?”, i.e. “Why me?”

פפוקה-from Kurdish, someone who is eccentric

דולה וזורנה-drums and horns from a wedding, Turkish-Kurdish origin

טעבן-Arabic for being tired

בארד-Arabic slang for someone who is overweight and non-essential

Full episodes of Asfur can be viewed here.