Monday, November 19, 2007

UNMAGNIFICENT OBSESSION

One of my commenters seems to have a bee in his bonnet. And I am not at all sure how to deal with it. He's posted a disturbing request under two previous posts.

Lawrence Cuttleworth wrote:

Dear Mr. BOTH,

You continue to obstinately ignore my comment. Why?

I wrote:

Dear Mr. BOTH,

There has been a terrible misconception among Orthodox Jews. They understand the verse "ve hagisa bo yomam va laila", And thou shalt delve in in by day and by night, to refer to the Torah. And therefore, they study Torah all day, every day. But in fact, it refers to the Sexual Fantasies of the Nazis. It is davka the Sexual Fantasies of the Nazis that one is supposed to study all day.
I expect a post from you on this topic, forthwith.

Sincerely,


Lawrence Cuttleworth

--------------------------------

Gracious me.

Need I confess that this has me flummoxed? The idea that one should delve into the sexual fantasies of Nazis is new to me......

I imagine that their dreams probably involved very big blonde women wearing horned helmets and Marlene Dietrich fishnets and little else, and further that there may have been a sado-masochistic element also. People who are truly curious about these matters should go to Castro Street and look in some of the store windows, or buy erotica that features bulky men in skimpy leather stormtrooper outfits with bare-ass chaps.

And please do NOT report back on what you find. Respect my youthfull innocence, and that of my tender readers. Thank you.

This blog, for one, will certainly not dwell on these matters 'yomam va laila'. I'm already pretty close to tearing out my mental eyeballs over the concept.

[Mental eyeballs regenerate infinitely - the imagination is a many-eyed bug-thing.]


Might I suggest, my dear Mr. Cuttleworth, that you could be misreading that verse? And that rather than being 'a misconception of orthodox Jews' it is actually an issue for you alone? Possible an abnormal fetiche? An unhealthy fascination?

If you really NEED a horned helmet and fishnets, I'm sure you can find them on e-Bay.
The moist concrete floor, crotchless leather pants, and riding crop can all be found locally anywhere in the civilized world. And you should probably have a good hardware store, locksmith, and the emergency room on speed dial.

If you do decide to go whole hog (tied or otherwise), and create your own blog devoted to your interpretation of day-and-night obsessing, I shall NOT post a link to that blog, I shall NOT mention it in any context whatsoever in any of my postings, and I shall NOT suggest to my readers in any way where it can be found.


But I shall probably visit it. And encourage you with eccentric anonymous comments.
Depending on the details, your progress into the dark dungeon of the mind could fascinate me no end. Nearly as much as it will disturb me.
But like a slow motion train wreck that takes out the orphanage with all the perky Catholic schoolgirls, I will likely not be able to pull my sticky eyes away.

[Pleated green-blue-black plaid skirts. Crisp white cotton blouses. White socks. Pony tails. The backs of shapely knees. Oh my.]


I did mention that I like freak-shows, didn't I?

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Blogmaster, I'm sorry for this long comment.
Readers who cannot stand memories about the war, please don't read further.


Anonymous,

This is not a usual comment. I thought about it this whole day long. Would I comment or not. I decided to write.

I wrote in a previous comment that there is a minimun daily study of Torah.(see Rabbi Halevy Donin: To pray as a Jew, p.189-190). I have a busy job, and often come home late at night. So I often pray only this minimum. I don't feel convenient. That's why I supported your question about studying Torah daily. Another reason is that I think that, as at the seder table, we do ask questions.

But, as I already noted, studying Torah has nothing to do with Nazis. Rabbi El'azar stated in name of Rabbi Chanina that those who study Torah bring more peace into the world (see the sidur).

The reference to the Nazis turned my world upside down these days. I'll try to explain why.

Usually old people don't talk about the war. I however do know people who tell about the war. A year ago an old lady of our congragation died. She still had the tattoo with the campnumber on her arm. An old man who always hugs me when we meet lost his father and sister. On the wall in the library of the synagog there are about 10 pictures of laughing teenagers. They were teenagers during the war, and as it is used to say, they didn't come back. A lot of the old men and women were persons in hiding. Every synagog, every congregation has its victims.

I use to sleep in synagog after kol nidrei. Three years ago I could not sleep, and went to the library. I took a book about the war. Read, and looked at pictures. Then, I almost stopped breathing. I had heard a lot of stories, read a lot, but I didn't know this. Pictures of well-fed Jewish men, murdered by the Nazis, some already cut open. Those bastards experienced in making soap from human fat.

I was born after the war. Only heard some stories, only read. But the impact of your words is great.
Stop the idea of linking the Nazis to studying Torah. HaShem gave Torah. HaShem Himself demanded us to study Torah. You do pray the 3 Torah b'rachot, don't you. We don't have to study Amalek. Show more respect for orthodox people, even if you don't understand them, and even if not everything they do is regarded as fine.

Anonymous said...

Too funny

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