[MS: To begin, the daily count and recalling: We await the return of the hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza and the IDF soldiers doing the fighting against Hamas every day. Am Yisrael Chai.
"With the plight of the hostages and the rest of the country in mind, here, once again, is the Yisrael Hayom “dashboard.” From top right:
177 days of war
134 captives in Gaza
598 IDF soldiers killed (254 since the beginning of the ground war)
3,180 IDF soldiers wounded (1,544 since the beginning of the ground war)
Hostages in captivity for 176 days, 1 hour, 20 minutes …. (as of this morning)"
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Robert Alter
"Donald Trump is now selling Bibles .... Trump’s two most prominent roles have been huckster and showman, both combined in his highly effective performance, while president and during his latest campaign, as demagogue. The Bible he is touting is all about making money, which he now desperately needs, and wrapping himself in a mantle of piety for his evangelical supporters. ...
But what does the actual content of the Bible have to do with Trumpism? Virtually nothing."
So writes Robert Alter in a short piece about Trump and Trumpism. See Forwards March 30, 2024
[MS: Copyright article. Formatting, edits and emphasis supplied.]
For Alter's lifelong works on the Hebrew Bible, see the Robert Alter Collection of Sefaria Sheets. In particular, to explore Alter's encyclopedic knowledge and his unique explication of Biblical literary styles and its religious messages, listen to his lectures on this MS Robert Alter Sefaria Sheet.
[MS: Trump is marketing yet another knock off of the Hebrew Bible. Like Christianity with its New Testament or the King James Bible, there is a long history of "supersession," misusing The Hebrew Bible to negate Jews culturally, obliterating the original Hebrew Bible and burying the Jewish Civilization it represents.]
Alter:
"What there is is an abiding source of inspiration for millions of people, especially in English-speaking countries. ... One reason the Bible has retained that power, even as times change, is that it provides many different perspectives and moods, from exaltation to desperate hope, and many different viewpoints, from the comforting notions of reward and punishment in Psalms to the sharp questioning of their validity in Job.
It is fine to say that there should be a Bible in every home — but not as a bolster to a sense of self-righteousness and not as an assured blueprint to the virtuous life. ... Instead, the Bible should be, as it was in ancient times, a source for inquiring about reality, for pondering the unfathomable complexities of the human condition."
Alter: The Hebrew Bible is not a "rallying point for a poltical agenda."
"Seeing the Bible as it is meant to be seen — as a vehicle meant to prompt learning and introspection — makes it clear how shameful Trump’s exploitation of the Bible for monetary and political ends is. To wrap it in a flag — any flag — and
turn it into a rallying-point for a political agenda, is what some biblical writers would have called an abomination before the Lord."
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March 31, 2024
