Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Tisha B'Av Blogging
Last night I learned that on the Hebrew Calendar, WWI began on Tisha B'Av (or something like that), which is a sign of its catastrophic nature for us Jews (and note -- the calamaties of Tisha B'Av all are "man-made").
Many have pointed out the similarities between the neo-manoralists of our modern "conservative" movement and the Prussian Junkers (although, for various reasons, the Junkers tended to be more progressive in terms of government involvement in the economy and even in certain social values). But were there the equivalent of neo-cons in WWI era Germany? If so (and pardon the casuistry here along the lines of "if you had a brother, would he like spaghetti?"*), considering the aftermath of WWI (and the legend of the Dochschloss) -- if such neo-cons existed and were Jewish, would they have been wrong to push ardently for war in the 1910s?
So what of the neo-cons, a minority amongst people of our faith, albeit a very powerful one in terms of the larger body politic of our nation, who pushed so hard for our war in Iraq? Especially considering the re-emergence of the dochschloss as an explanation for why we are loosing in Iraq ...
Meanwhile, I've been thinking about a conversation with a friend about the state of American democracy, and worked it into a too long comment here.
On a lighter note (or maybe not depending on how you feel about such things -- and yes, pun intended) -- I have the "Ode to Joy"-esque part of Brahms' 1st Symphony stuck in my head. Not very appropriate for Tisha B'Av ... but given that the Moshiach is to be born on Erev Tisha B'Av, maybe it is appropriate?
* Do I really need to tell y'all the joke to which, followed by "that was philosophy", this is the punch-line?
Many have pointed out the similarities between the neo-manoralists of our modern "conservative" movement and the Prussian Junkers (although, for various reasons, the Junkers tended to be more progressive in terms of government involvement in the economy and even in certain social values). But were there the equivalent of neo-cons in WWI era Germany? If so (and pardon the casuistry here along the lines of "if you had a brother, would he like spaghetti?"*), considering the aftermath of WWI (and the legend of the Dochschloss) -- if such neo-cons existed and were Jewish, would they have been wrong to push ardently for war in the 1910s?
So what of the neo-cons, a minority amongst people of our faith, albeit a very powerful one in terms of the larger body politic of our nation, who pushed so hard for our war in Iraq? Especially considering the re-emergence of the dochschloss as an explanation for why we are loosing in Iraq ...
Meanwhile, I've been thinking about a conversation with a friend about the state of American democracy, and worked it into a too long comment here.
On a lighter note (or maybe not depending on how you feel about such things -- and yes, pun intended) -- I have the "Ode to Joy"-esque part of Brahms' 1st Symphony stuck in my head. Not very appropriate for Tisha B'Av ... but given that the Moshiach is to be born on Erev Tisha B'Av, maybe it is appropriate?
* Do I really need to tell y'all the joke to which, followed by "that was philosophy", this is the punch-line?
# posted by alberich @ 10:25 AM 
