bungle

@bungle@babka.social

Jew - raised secular, recently observant.
Brit - Essex boy living up North.
Ex-Immigrant - Spent 5 years in China.
Dad - of the stay-at-home variety.

Not usually much of a social media guy.

Here's some hashtags for things I do talk about, want to talk about, or forget to talk about.

#Jewish #Mazeldon
#Philosophy #Psychoanalysis
#Wrestling #Geopolitics
#Techno #House #UKGarage
#Parenting

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bungle, to random

Shavua Tov!

I've had a lot of moments where I've felt like crying out.
I mean, I've had moments where I have.
I'm sure you have too.

Music like this perfectly captures the confluence of agony and hope in those moments.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Njl3nywgs30&ab_channel=ShleppingNachas

bungle, to Jewish

Alright, here's my idea for a hashtag where we ask, share, and argue Jewish standards:

First up:
What’s your favourite Jewish joke?

bungle, to Jewish

Stumbled across this on YouTube last night whilst going down the nusach rabbit hole. It's made me write out something metaphysical and hopefully motivational.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EAGvxRTCLLg

1/4

bungle,

This is a motivating force like little else, and yet I see parallels from the football terraces to the nightclub. It's all the same energy, it just often gets tangled up in the idolatry of players or teams or DJs or whoever.

To contradict Maxi Jazz and paraphrase Tzvi Freeman, God is not a man in the clouds either playing with toys or spinning decks - God is not a DJ.

2/4

bungle,

God is what is. Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh! Rashi says this means God is with us in these bad times just as God is with us in any bad times, which is a powerful message. But what resonates with me the most is Ramban - "As you are with me, so I am with you". What we receive - what all that is gives us - can only be a reflection of what we give.

God gave us the world, and we moulded it into the way it is today. But just as we made it this way, we can make it another way.

If God fixes the world for us, then it is as if we were never here at all. The unrepaired world is our shame. Tikkun Olam is our burden and our brilliance.

3/4

bungle,

What is it that drives our ability to change things? The moments that we connect, to each other and to God. That supercharge us, in gatherings and in crowds and in stadiums - in minyans. Moments like this beautiful sight and sound that I've linked to.

A charity can be a minyan. A trade union can be a minyan. I might lose some of you here, but a state can be a minyan.

Maybe I'll only be one tenth, one hundredth, or one thousandth of each one, but that's exactly why we come together.

I want to repair the world.
I can repair the world.
I will repair the world.

4/4

bungle, to random

What are your favourite niggunim? I have a personal fondness for this version of the Baal Shem Tov’s niggun by Shlomo Katz:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjJyyP8rNMc

bungle, to random

I made a wrong turn earlier and ended up driving through a residential street in the middle of town. In amidst this row of classically Northern England terraced housing was a giant flagpole, at least 20 feet high, with a Palestinian flag flying.

This made me uncomfortable. Is that unfair? There's no clear way to symbolise a two-state solution beyond flying both flags, and that's even less likely to happen. So what am I expecting them to do if they feel that way and nothing more extreme? I'm assuming they have no connection to Palestine, but for all I know it's Yasser Arafat's nephew who lives there.

I think the issue is timing. Israel was attacked, and responded. To fly a Palestinian flag today feels in opposition to that - but it's not a Hamas flag. But Hamas supporters wave this flag too. But you can support Israel's existence, and hope they defeat Hamas, while still wanting a Palestinian state. So am I expecting all anti-Hamas Palestinians to put their flags down forever? I don't know.

bungle, to Judaism

There are lots of ways in which Jewish texts can seem incredibly unrelatable, difficult to match with modernity, your mindset, or even simply your vocabulary.

On the other hand, there are plenty of instances in which Jewish texts, from hundreds or thousands of years ago, can be timelessly understandable.

The notion of somebody carrying a beam of wood and stopping to adjust it on their shoulder is one of the latter for me. Yes, maybe somebody carrying a barrel walks into him, and hey, maybe the beam-carryer should've warned them, but that's besides the point:

I cannot picture more vividly, nor relate to more on a human level, than that beam-carrying adjuster. You awkwardly shift your shoulder and grunt in the exact same manner that man always has and always will. My heart goes out to you, brother.

It's the little things that make the past seem very recent.

bungle, to Jewish

I'm not much of a foodie, and I'm certainly not much of a cook. I do have an addictive personality though. Yet I can confidently say, with absolute certainty...

I have never wanted anything as much as Rav Anan bar Tachalifa wanted Mar Shmuel's mushrooms.

#DafAWeek #talmud #ketubot #mazeldon #Jewish

ixi, to random
@ixi@mastodon.online avatar

From his recent book "Trouble in Paradise":

"In a strictly homologous way, the Zionist defenders of the Israeli policy want us to know that they control the media (TV and press), preventing too much critique of Israel to appear in them; however, while we are allowed to know this
(in order to fear the Zionists’ power), we are not allowed to talk about it publicly
—the moment we do it, we are accused of anti-Semitism."

bungle,

@ixi @dukepaaron

I feel he presents things in an approachable and thought-provoking way. I think of him like a good dinner party guest, a gadfly, or one of the Talmud's quirkier characters: Not exactly a North Star of sense, morality, or decency, but good to stir the pot and get debate flowing in unusual ways.

That being said, although I've avoided the hero worship he receives from others, I'm still thoroughly disappointed to read this quote. Although he's always been oddly obsessed with mentioning Jews, I always felt it was in an affectionate or at least empathetic way (in his own unique manner). Particularly there's a recent conversation with Yuval Noah Harari where he mentions the factuality of antisemitic propoganda is a poor battle to choose, or even irrelevant - antisemitism is simply fundamentally wrong, and it's falling into a trap to argue the specifics. I liked his certainty in that.

Alas, it seems he has fallen into that very trap himself then. Antisemitic statements, no doubt.

theautisticcoach, to random

A synagogue was bombed today in Berlin.

Another plot foiled in Rome.

Kosher restaurants ransacked in NYC.

Don’t you dare tell me that Jews aren’t being targeted and having revenge taken against us due to what’s happening in Israel-Palestine.

Stop holding us collectively responsible.

bungle,

@Piousunyn

I feel this is a poor comparison. Zionism today essentially means believing a country should exist, the Maga crowd is a bit more narrow in terms of political opinions.

Besides that - even if all Jews were Zionist, so what? Would that justify violence?

And beyond that, even if every Jew was exactly what antisemites believed we were, fire-breathing murderers and all, surely it's not the synagogues or restaurants you go after. I'm not sure the best way to fight Mussolini would've been burning down churches and pizzerias.

@theautisticcoach

HeavenlyPossum, to random
@HeavenlyPossum@kolektiva.social avatar

For the and of fediverse, is there a threshold of violence and abuse by the police beyond which you’d admit that the police are themselves a violent criminal organization?

bungle,

@HeavenlyPossum

I am neither a liberal nor a centrist, but do you mean specific police forces are criminal? Or that the conception of law enforcement with a monopoly on violence, as a whole, is inherently flawed?

bungle,

@HeavenlyPossum

Fair enough! I just read your recent toot on this, and I really want to avoid sounding like someone picking an internet fight, as on the contrary, I'm quite naive and curious.

What do you think of the idea of anyone having a monopoly on violence? Or is it that you believe that there are ways to enforce laws that never require violence? Or that violence should be in the form of self-defence and seen as justified or unjustified on a case-by-case basis?

Sorry, I know those are some enormous questions, and I'm not asking you to design a society for me. I've really enjoyed and learnt from some of your recent posts and am just interested in hearing more.

bungle,

@HeavenlyPossum

Thank you, I think I understand your reasoning. You can put me in the classic box of Anarchism skepticism (I see state as a tool of redistribution), but I definitely haven't read enough on the subject and love hearing direct from the source.

Would it be too pithy to say that the difference between Libertarians and Anarchists is that Anarchists see people as inherently good, with more freedom meaning more opportunities to help each other, and that Libertarians see people as inherently bad, with more freedom meaning more opportunities to avoid each other?

bungle,

@HeavenlyPossum

Thank you so much for going through this point by point - I'm sure a lot of what I'm asking and saying gets covered on day one of Anarchism camp, but it's really useful for someone like me (who struggles parsing the heavy-duty ideological texts) to get it explained by someone as lucid and clear as yourself.

I guess in my personal fantasy, there's a big, strong state that ensures a decent quality of life through ownership and provision of anything important, with a heavily regulated market allowed to exist for anything frivolous and/or versions of essentials with superfluous features. Of course, all of those are fairly nebulous concepts that are easily redefined by anyone ill-intentioned, and designing a society relies on structures that work despite, instead of because of, the people who run them. Clearly I need to read more, learn more, think more.

(another post coming up!)

bungle,

@HeavenlyPossum

Thank you for the etymological knowledge - it's always interesting how political terminology gets recycled and repurposed across the spectrum. Almost always to the opposite end!

I think your second reply especially was a really great summary of the core of Anarchism as I understand it. It also highlights the importance of preference in ideology - there is no perfect system, it's just a matter of how much you can prioritize certain things. Maybe that's just stating the obvious, but it feels profound to me!

bungle,

@HeavenlyPossum

Again, thank you so much for really engaging and directly responding to what I said in an educational and non-patronising way.

Perhaps it's based on negative life experiences, but I have an in-built mental resistance to the concept, even after reading your helpful link. I realise that's more psychological than ideological! It's not that I think people aren't capable of acting responsibly without consequence, or that power doesn't corrupt. I just suppose that I feel some people do give in to their worst impulses for internal rather than external reasons, and that things like physical strength (or health and disability, or access to weaponry) allow for inescapable power imbalances that need to be counterbalanced. How? I'm not sure.

I'm really trying to approach my recent digital interactions with an earnestness that I'm worried comes across as insincere or, well, stupid. Thank you for not talking down to me, or aggressively at me, for asking the cliché questions.

bungle,

@HeavenlyPossum

First of all, I apologise for being a few days late in replying. I hope you didn't feel like I left you hanging.

Secondly, you've done a stellar job of representing the Anarchist position, your ability to explain concepts in relatable ways that perfectly balance clarity and detail is fantastic. Seriously, you should be a teacher or an explainer of some kind.

You've given me much food for thought, and I really appreciate the challenge to my preconceptions. Although I can't say I'll be flying the black flag any time soon, I'll have a much greater understanding and respect for any Anarchist I meet. Whenever I do, I'll think of a possum that's heavenly.

bungle, to Jewish

Oh, and another thing - I'm taken aback by how many people opt to use their photo and/or real name on here. Am I old fashioned in this regard because I came up in the forum days where anonymity was the standard?

In addition, I've never been public about being online when I do use my real name, and perhaps being a parent has just heightened that fear. Am I just being paranoid?

Also, is it less personal if you feel like you're talking to a man in a bear suit rather than a man... not in a bear suit?

bungle, to philosophy

Help me find a study buddy!

I've loved having a to discuss Judaism with, so much so that I want to add another for philosophy as a whole.

I am dreadful at keeping to a schedule, and so I need the commitment of someone else tagging along. I propose we schedule a weekly Zoom (or..?), for an hour, discussing a chapter in one of the below .

I love one-to-one collaborative learning. In the unlikely event I'm inundated, I'd rather we all pair off instead of having a group call.

Why join me? Well, I'm a bumbling Englishman who didn't go to university, so I can't promise any intellectual profundity. But after spending most of my adult life as an ignorant contrarian, I'm enthusiastic to learn to think. Also, I'm a chatterbox, and yet spend most of my time with a baby. I'd like to try some heavier-duty conversation than inventing nursery rhymes and improvising stuffed animal monologues!

If this sounds like your cup of tea, hit me up.

design_law, to random
@design_law@mastodon.social avatar

Hey, fedi: What do you love about your instance?

bungle,

@design_law

When I went looking for an instance, it fit perfectly with what I had in mind. We've all got just enough in common and just enough to set us apart.

bungle, to Judaism

Something that came up in my chavruta session last week...

Does God have an internal monologue? Thoughts?

Does thought imply internal debate which implies imperfection? Or does it imply perfection through a truly total consideration and reason?

bungle,

@bp

In the sense that it's a bit too navel gazing / anthropomorphizing / redundant? Or..?

Is it a bit like asking what God's favourite breakfast cereal or J-Lo romcom is?

bungle, to Judaism

Not much of a social media guy. I have no idea what I'm doing.

Essex boy who somehow ended up in the North.

Spent most of my 20s in China.

Old enough to remember a time before the internet was anything like what it is now. Now feeling very out of touch.

Lucky enough to be a stay-at-home Dad.

Unaffiliated Jew. Raised basically as secular as can be, now grappling with Torah. Lacking in a local community, so trying to find it online.

Lapsed fan of , , , and everything else I used to spend time on before becoming a parent.

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