On a Roll

Numbers

This was, as expected, tedious in parts, but there were also some interesting insights. I find it interesting that the key conflicts of the book center on the idea of "holiness". Korah, Dathan and Abiram claim that , "the whole congregation are every one of them holy," and are promptly swallowed up by the Earth. Moses and Aaron are banished from the promised land because of failing to 'show [God's] holiness before the people." So what is this holiness? If so important, why is it not explained in detail? As a teacher, I want to see a rubric for holiness; what are the criteria?

I have always equated holiness in my mind to the idea of being set apart for a special purpose. But this must not be what JEHOVAH had in mind when he punished, since the Israelities could not have been more set apart than they were. What was their sin? Why were they repeatedly decimated with plague, war and poisonous serpents? Is it because they were whiny? If so, holiness as meant in Numbers must mean humble, passive and yielding. this does not fit with any definition I can think of.

But the real question is, "Why were Moses and Aaron punished?" As far as I can tell, JEHOVAH told them to strike water from the rock, they did, and he got mad. There must be some hole in the narrative. Last item of interest: The father of Moses, Aaron and Miriam appears, in the geneologies, to be their great uncle as well. Their mother married her uncle. Why is this never mentioned, or is it a trick of translation?

Richard Byrd: Alone

This memoir, while engaging and erudite, smells of pretense. Richard Byrd seals a place for himself as a typical Bourgeois hero: a man of advantage and education who goes through a dark night of the soul, and waxes philosophically about it. Occasionally he drops a nice turn of phrase, such as, "The stars were so bright, I wanted to reach out and scoop up a handful of the sparkling pebbles," which, for some reason, I found quite poetic. But for the most part, he simply tries too hard. His goal is to maintain civility, not to let emotion overwhelm him, and to prove his manhood, none of which are particularly inspiring goals.

Steven D. Levitt,Stephen J. Dubner : Freakonomics

This is the first book in a while that I have been unable to put down at night, and have foregone sleep to finish. Yet, in retrospect, I cannot put my finger on what it is that was so engrossing. The book was poorly constructed, not illiterate, but illiterary. The subjects were of interest, but not enough to quell my ADD as it did. Maybe there is an economical explanation for it. But I'm bored now. BTD: 10 Goodbye.