Saturday, December 17, 2005

Eat My Tricky Kugel, RenReb!

So those of you who are fans of the ever-exciting Renegade Rebbetzin may remember how in November she was informed by a commenter named Holly that her
...blog, by the way, is being read by a graduate class at Trinity College in CT as part of this week's assignment on religious blogs...

Now, however, I would like to inform the honorable Rebbetzin that she is not the only one whose blog is being used for academic purposes. Cris, a university student taking an Anthropology of Religion class, contacted me about a week ago to see if it'd be okay to use my Tricksterism post as a resource for a paper she was writing on the Trickster archetype, and the way various cultures around the world make use of it! So I said sure, go ahead, and gave a little explanation about the quote she wanted to use in her paper, and what I meant by describing Hashem as a Trickster.

She also asked about the loose Goblin King theme I've got going here, and when I explained that it comes from a Live Action Role Playing Game I helped run in college, she responded:
...after reading your webpage, now knowing that you are a RPGer the personality that comes out in your words makes a lot of sense.
Now, I'm not sure what it means to have a gamer/RPGer personality, but hey, if the Kuribo's Shoe fits... ;-)

Anyway, I just wanted to inform the Renegade Rebbetzin that, with all due respect, bppthpbptþptþphtbt!!!

Oh, and Cris got an A on her paper, and her instructor wants to talk to her about revising it and getting it published! Yay for Cris! Yay for blogs! Yay for Anthropology of Religion! Yay for the Supreme Trickster-Artist, yitbarakh shemo!

In case anyone is thinking of objecting to my description of The One And Only God — who begets not, nor is begotten, and who is completely non-corporeal — as a "Trickster" or an "Artist", I invite you to first open up the liturgical poem anthropomorphism-fest An‘im Zemirot (which I led for the first time ever this Shabbos) and count the number of differing 'modes' in which God interacts with the world. Just as God's will is expressed in the world in such a way that leads us to describe God as Warrior, Judge, and Parent, so too do I see expressions of God acting as Trickster and as Artist.

13 Comments:

Blogger Mar Gavriel said...

1] First of all, אנעים זמירות came out of the circle of the Hasizei Ashkenaz, so it should be properly transliterated as "anŋim zemiraus", or "anŋem zemires", or something like that.

2] God as an Artist? Cool! Sort of like God as a playwright.

12/18/2005 12:43 PM  
Blogger Jack Steiner said...

I'll have you know that millions of students have not yet been corrupted by being forced to read my blog but I am working on it. ;)

12/18/2005 11:39 PM  
Blogger Lab Rab said...

What about God as a blogger?

12/19/2005 2:24 AM  
Blogger Jameel @ The Muqata said...

Steg: Its even cooler when you find out that famous people are reading your blog, and they tell you aren't allowed to let anyone know!

I've got a bunch of those ;-)

NB: That's famous - as in cool famous people the jblogosphere admires. Not stupid famous people.

12/19/2005 3:50 AM  
Blogger Steg (dos iz nit der šteg) said...

Jack:

When that comes through, be sure to let the rest of us know ;-)

LabRab:

How would that metaphor work?

Jameel:

Due to the fractous nature of the judeoblogosphere, somehow i expect that one person's "cool famous people" is another person's "stupid famous people" :-P

12/19/2005 10:30 AM  
Blogger Lab Rab said...

Steg:

Flashes of revelation amidst long periods of silence.

12/19/2005 1:35 PM  
Blogger Jameel @ The Muqata said...

Steg: I'd still bet you dollars to donuts that 99% of your blogroll would be impressed ;-)

Lab Rab: Flashes of revelation amidst long periods of silence. Just think how many comments would be in that blog...it would definitly be a JIB nomination.

I wonder who the paid ads would be from?

12/20/2005 8:54 AM  
Blogger Steg (dos iz nit der šteg) said...

LR:

Wow, perfect!

ZSTA:

Are you impugning the appropriateness of describing God as i did? What's your objection?

J@TM:

Okay, i will attempt to cease doubting ;-)

12/20/2005 9:36 AM  
Blogger Mar Gavriel said...

I wonder who the paid ads would be from?

Nahshon ben `Amminadav, Netan'el ben Tzu`ar, Gamli'el ben Pedahtzur, Shelumi'el ben Tzurishaddai...

You know, each of those guys bought a paragraph-long advertisement, which we are about to read next week.

12/20/2005 9:54 AM  
Blogger Renegade Rebbetzin said...

Oh YEAH?!?!?!?! Well... um....

12/20/2005 11:35 PM  
Blogger Steg (dos iz nit der šteg) said...

:-P ;-)

12/21/2005 9:06 AM  
Blogger Steg (dos iz nit der šteg) said...

ZSTA:

i'm not sure what you're trying to say. do you see the trickster archetype as something negative?

12/22/2005 7:29 AM  
Blogger MC Aryeh said...

You forgot Yay Steg! Would love for God to start a blog with Lab Rab's title...just saying...

12/26/2005 12:48 AM  

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