In my religious and academic lives I have an affinity for tracking down the original sources of ideas. Not surprisingly, this trait extends to other areas of geekdom including music. While there are no shortage of cover songs - with more coming every day - there are times when the cover version so completely overshadows the original that only few know whence it came.

In the interests of promoting music education, I've collected some of my favorite lost originals.

Gloria Jones - Tainted Love

The Four Lads - Istanbul

Otis Redding - Hard to Handle

Neil Diamond - Red Red Wine

Louis Prima - Just a Gigolo

J.J. Cale - Cocaine

The Slade - Cum On Feel the Noize

Merrilee Rush - Angel of Morning

Cat Stevens - The First Cut Is The Deepest (forgot this one myself)

1. I've always loved the irony that many educated Jews are familiar with this quote but do not know to whom it is attributed. To my knowledge the only instance where this citation is itself attributed is B. Megillah 15a which records this statement in the name of R. Elazar citing R. Hanina. Cue up Redemption Song.

As part of a New Year's intellectual cleaning, I came across this post which I had intended to post on my birthday. This was actually the first year I didn't post anything since I started YUTOPIA nearly 6 years ago. As for many people, past year has not been the easiest for me on multiple personal levels. While I will not elaborate on most here, the year is ending with me coming out of a long relationship and reentering the tumultuous waters of Jewish dating. This recent emotional adjustment, though unpleasant, has been a motivating factor for reevaluating and revising the thrust of the overdue post below.

R. Shimon B. Gamliel said: there never were in Israel greater days of joy than the 15th of Av and the Day of Atonement. On these days the daughters of Jerusalem used to walk out in white garments which they borrowed in order not to put to shame any one who had none. All these garments required ritual dipping. The daughters of Jerusalem came out and danced in the vineyards exclaiming at the same time, "Young man, lift up your eyes and see what you choose for yourself. Do not set thine eyes on beauty but set thine eyes on [good] family. grace is deceitful, and beauty is vain; but a woman that fears the lord, she shall be praised (Mishlei 31:30). And it further says, give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her works praise her in the gates (31:31)"²

At first glance R. Shimon B. Gamliel is describing an ancient shidduch scene of women going out to find husbands. To this day the tradition continues with numerous Shabbat Nachamu Singles Shabbatons. But to what extent is this Mishna an accurate historical account, or more to the point, is the historical understand of this Mishna really "peshat" in terms of its true intent? I ask this question not as an academic, but as a longtime single who has given a great deal of thought to dating. Imagine for a moment the account in this Mishna actually taking place. Throngs of women dressed in white may seem physically attractive, but also consider being nagged and badgered repeatedly by all of them to get your religious priorities straight. It would seem to me that this strategy would turn off even the most desperate of men.³ Furthermore, if this method was so effective as a shidduch system, why would it occur on the 15th of Av followed by Yom Kippur - only two months later?

One of my favorite interpretations of this Mishna is the one offered by Mircea Eliade, primarily for the comedic value of sloppy scholarship. In his classic The Myth of The Eternal Return Eliade writes:

It was customary at the time of the Yom Ha-Kippurim⁴, for the girls to go outside the boundaries of the village or town to dance and amuse themselves, and it was on this occasion that marriages were arranged. But it was also on this day that freedom was allowed to a number of excesses, sometimes even orgiastic, which remind us both of the final phase of the akitu (also celebrated outside the town) and of the various forms of license that were the rule almost everywhere in the frame of New Year ceremonials(p. 61)

My sense is that Eliade likely never read this source - and probably little if any of Rabbinic literature - in the original giving his footnote on this paragraph: "See the references of the Talmud to orgiastic excesses in Raffaele Pettazzoni La confessione dei peccati, II (Bologna, 1935)." In fairness, Eliade was looking for certain patterns in comparative religion⁵ and from this perspective found in our Mishna a parallel example of an fertility renewal ritual common in agrarian societies.

My own read of the Mishna differs from Eliade for obvious reasons, but I do not believe Eliade is completely incorrect. I suggest that this Mishna does indeed address a theme of renewal, ut instead of reading the Mishna as a sexual or reproductive renewal with agrarian implications, I submit that R. Shimon Ben Gamliel's account is a metaphor for spiritual renewal, the consummation of which being redemption.⁶

The first indication comes from the Talmud's explanation for Yom Kippur and Tu B'Av being the designated days for the ritual (Ta'anit 30b-31a). The Talmud assumes the appropriateness of Yom Kippur because, "it is a day of forgiveness and pardon, and on it the second tablets were given." Recall that the second tablets were needed after Moshe broke the first set by the sin of the Golden Calf Sh'mot 32. The giving of the second tablets indicated that God not only forgave the Jewish people⁷ but that he was willing to renew the shattered covenant. It signified the conclusion of a dark moment in our history and provided the closure needed to move forward to become a stronger nation.

I suggest that we find similar themes in the six opinions the Talmud records for the significance of Tu B'Av:

1. R. Yehuda in the name of Shmuel - Tu B'Av was the day the twelve tribes were allowed to intermarry with each other
2. R. Yosef in the name of R. Nachman - The tribe of Binyamin was permitted to enter the congregation of Jews, specifically to intermarry with the other tribes (See Shofetim 21)
3. Rabba bar bar Hana in the name of R. Yohanan - The generation of the desert died out on the 15th of Av
4. Ulla - King Hoshea removed the guards that rebel King Yoravam ben Nevat had placed to prevent Jews from going to Jerusalem for festivals ('oleh regel) (B. Gittin 88a)
5. R. Matneh - Those killed at Beitar were permitted to be buried.
6. Rabbah and R. Yosef - The end of the season for chopping down trees for the alter (after the 15th of Av the wood does not dry properly)

The opinions listed above may be categorized into three pairs, each a variant on the motif of renewal. The first two positions, the only ones with any reference to marriage, celebrate national unity - the first allowed the Jewish nation to prosper the second repaired a fractured relationship within the nation, both through the institution of marriage and subsequent reproduction. In contrast the second pair of opinions, number three and five, commemorate the closure provided by death and burials. The generation of the desert needed to die out before the Jewish people could fulfil its destiny (See Bamidbar 13), and the nation needed to bury the bodies at Beitar as symbol of closure in the face of the impending exile. The final pair of #4 and #6 both describe a personal reconnecting with God through the removal of outside interferance, be it from a sinner's restriction or even the noble religious occupation of Temple service.

Now let us turn to the Talmud's description of the "mating ritual's" details. B. Ta'anit 31a specifically recounts that the women would borrow clothing so as not to embarrass each other:

THE DAUGHTERS OF ISRAEL CAME OUT AND DANCED IN THE VINEYARDS. A Tanna taught: Whoever was unmarried repaired thither.

THOSE OF THEM WHO CAME OF NOBLE FAMILIES EXCLAIMED, 'YOUNG MAN etc.' Our Rabbis have taught: The beautiful amongst them called out, Set your eyes on beauty for the quality most to be prized in woman is beauty; those of them who came of noble families called out, Look for [a good] family for woman has been created to bring up a family; the ugly ones amongst them called out, Carry off your purchase in the name of Heaven, only on one condition that you adorn us with jewels of gold.

Ulla Bira'ah said in the name of R. Eleazar: In the days to come the Holy One, blessed be He, will hold a chorus for the righteous and He will sit in their midst in the Garden of Eden and every one of them will point with his finger towards Him, as it is said, And it shall be said in that day: Lo, this is our God, for whom we waited, that He might save us; this is the Lord for whom we waited, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.

I suggest that these two paragraphs which conclude the trachtate Ta'anit compliment the theme of renewal. The calls of the women were understandably tailored to emphasize the women's individual attractive traits, be it wealth, nobility, or simply the opportunity to create a holy union. And just as one waits to find their mate with which to begin a new life, the righteous similarly wait for the days of redemption.

The Torah is replete with comparing the relationship between God and the Jewish people that of a husband and wife,⁸ both of which require the opening of one's heart. It is only through this process of relationship that we too can feel renewed, and ultamately find our personal redemptions.

Personally, I'm well aware of the myriad uncertainties in my own future. But at this point in my life I will try to live the year as one of lev, with the fulness of my heart.

1. Sure it's off by a day, but it's not like it hasn't stopped anyone before.
2. Translation modified from Soncino thanks to its copy-paste functionality.
3. Unless of course we view this ritual as preparation for married life.
4. I have no patience to transcribe his diacritics and/or code them in HTML.
5. As usual, pun intended.
6. Warning: The following should be taken as midrash.
7. Most of them anyway.
8. See Yirmiyahu 3:14 for one of many examples.

Technically speaking I'm not sure I'm "supposed" to write about the call. The intent of the call was less informative on Obama's position, but more for the Rabbis to explore how to address the health care controversy in their upcoming High Holiday sermons. (In a nice move by Obama's handler's he began his health care discussion by referencing unetaneh tokef). Nevertheless there were point which I took away from the call that I feel are worth sharing with the public at large.

1. Obama is using religious organizations to promote policy - The role of religion in advocating political policy is an area in which I am both interested and concerned. For example the religious Christian right condemns abortion and gay marriage, and effectively interject their religious beliefs into the political public square. On the other hand, Liberal religious groups use their own interpretation of their respective faiths to promote certain social agendas as well. As I understood the intent of the call, the point for Obama was to have community leaders sympathetic to his agenda correct "misinformation" about his health care plan or the larger need for health care reform, in particular for use in their High Holiday sermons. (One Rabbi even asked, "if the President were to address my congretation on the holiest day, what would he say?") To be sure, most of the Rabbis on the call probably would advocate for substantial health care reform anyway, and I do not know to what extent the President sought out religious leaders or the religious leaders proposed the audience with the President. In either case, I find the blurring of church and state to be disconcerting not only on political grounds (and legal/tax purposes), but also for competency. Rabbis have enough difficulty understanding the nuances and intricacies of their own religion to be promoting specific policies in areas for which they have no expertise.


2. The "public option" isn't dead - One of the misconceptions Obama sought to clear up was the idea that he was interested in a government takeover of health care, but providing a marketplace for health care. Though he did not explicitly endorse or push for a public option, he did include it as an option for increasing competition in the marketplace.


3. Obama's approach to insurance is fundamentally flawed - This requires some explanation. One of Obama's positions, stated repeatedly, is that he wants a system where people are not discriminated against for having pre-existing conditions. If he's truly advocating a marketplace for insurance, this is simply an untenable position. The point of insurance is risk management where one pays a certain amount of money to avoid incurring a financial disaster in the future. Insurance companies, responsible for paying out policies, profit through the pooling of risk i.e the individuals with limited risk pay premiums to cover those with higher risks of the company having to pay. If there is no discrimination for pre-existing conditions, the principle of calculating appropriate risks is eliminated since every participant would be treated as an equal. Worse, if there is no disadvantage to pre-existing conditions, then there is no incentive for the individual to purchase insurance until after the health problem materializes. At that point there is no risk from the purchaser because he knows he needs treatment, but the insurer is forced to burden the entirety of the costs. Based on Obama's position on pre-existing conditions, I'm forced to conclude that either he really is advocating a government controlled health care (or at least mandating individuals purchasing health care), or he simply doesn't understand how insurance works.


4. Stories trumping substance - Not so much of a hiddush here, but the strategy seems to be to use anecdotal evidence of people harmed (or not hepled) by the system to demonstrate its flaws. It's an effective rhetorical tool and an appeal to our emotions, but the reality is in any large scope system, some will inevitably be left behind.


5. Medicare is a "wild card" in the debate - By this I mean Medicare has been employed in the discussion as both a positive and negative, often in the same argument. One of my favorites - and here I fully empathize with Obama - are the seniors who protest government involvement in health care while adamantly insisting that their Medicare not be touched. On the other hand Obama used Medicare as an example of governement successfully running a health care initiative with lower costs. However, despite taking up nearly 13% of our Federal Budget, Obama claimed that Medicare will run out of money in 8 years.

Personally I found the entire experience to be enlightening in many ways - I don't even have time to discuss the "text study" which followed Obama (fascinating on many other levels but you're free to pursue them here). I'm not sure how or if I will include any of the above into a High Holiday sermon (though I did discuss my take before my prayer class), but I will state briefly that Obama is absolutely right that not only do we need an intelligent civil debate on the issues but that we need to remember that our ultimate concern must always be the overall well-being of our fellow Americans.

Clarification: I've received several comments asking what was the response of the listeners to some of Obama's statements. The call was "listen-only" and we were all on mute except for the select people who were honored with asking Obama the questions. There were only two questions asked, both of which were selected beforehand. There was no opportunity to speak to the president directly.

But in New York and working it's perpetually difficult to find time/space to work out. As a Rabbi my schedule is erratic and I can't afford the gyms. In Washington Heights I was better about jogging thanks to Ft. Tryon Park and I'm too scared to bike on the Lower East Side - try a bike land and you'll see what I mean. Still, all these excuses don't mean anything in the long term when faced with family medical histories.

My sister on the other hand is amazing, juggling a household with 4 kids, a job, active in the community, and still forces herself to do something be it jogging, learning to jump rope, or basic exercises with dumbbells.

Dumbbells! So simple, you can do plenty of stuff at home, a perfect solution! In fact there was a time I had some dumbbells. Years ago my great uncle Ben Yuter once randomly sent me two three pound dumbbells in the mail which should have made for a great conversation in the post office: "let's see how much that weighs..." "Trust me, it's 6 pounds."

Before I try new stuff I typically search online to get a sense of how much things cost and what would make the best deal.¹ Some sets looked intrusting, but I found something even more fascinating in the Body Solid Tools line. Sure looks like an ordinary a 7 pound dumbbell with purple coating, but the real bonus is further down the page. In the "Product Details" section I found this gem:

Shipping Weight: 6.4 pounds

Let one think this is an anomaly, the shipping weight for a 6 pound dumbbell is 5.6 pounds and the 8 pound ships at 7.6.

This is nothing short of revolutionary; Amazon has created a shipping system so advanced they can alter the weight of an object. I'm now thinking why bother with working out when I can just keep shipping myself via Amazon and lose .4-.6 pounds at a clip!

The best part is that after $25, I can even ship for free. Can't get a better deal than that.

1. The "typical Jew" economics are really important when you're paid like a rabbi.

Apparently this is not an uncommon problem with Thinkpads. One theory is that the problem is with the inverter but someone else had to replace the whole screen.

After doing some fiddling, I found that my problem was be solved - at least temporarily by dimming the screen down from full brightness. I have no idea exactly what the problem is or why this worked, but if you're having similar trouble you may want to try dimming your screen before shelling out hundreds for a new screen - or thousands on a new computer. So far it seems to work ok for me, but I have no idea how long it will last. Minimally it should make backing up easier while you go computer shopping.²

Please let me know if this was a helpful solution.

Update: Turns out this solution lasted one day - a valueable day for backups, mind you, but one day. If this works, do not close the screen.

. 1. Yep, that's right - an IBM Thinkpad - was one of the last runs before the change to Lenovo.
2. Thankfully, I actually ordered a new Thinkpad on sale earlier in the week before the screen went dark. I did notice some screen problems, but I was having more performance and HD issues typical of a computer several years old.

The period of counting the Omer is also a time of semi-mourning, during which the Halakha forbids haircuts, shaving, listening to live instrumental music, or conducting weddings, parties, and dinners with dancing.

But even in matters of custom there can be multple opinions. For example, every year I get several e-mails asking about what types of music are permitted during the 'Omer. Some distinguish between live and recorded music, others avoid music with instruments. While I personally find these distinctions inconsequential since the entire practice is a matter of custom, let it not be said that here at YUTOPIA we are completely intolerant of minhagim. And so in honor of Sefirat Ha'Omer, I've decided this year to compile my favorite a capella videos from YouTube.¹

UNC Achordants - Carry on My Wayward Son (Kansas)

Mile 21-a - The Chain (Fleetwood Mac)

University of Rochester Midnight Ramblers - Just What I Needed (The Cars)

Also see their good but disturbing Disturbia.

Oxford University's Out of the Blue - Fat Bottom Girls (Queen)

Casual Harmony - Karma Police (Raidiohead)

Straight No Chaser - Sitcom Theme Medley

Also see: Teen Sensation Medley

Scrubs - Don't Fear the Reaper (Blue Oyster Cult) (Brilliantly done)

Original Songs

Davinci's Notebook - Title of the Song

The Klein Four Group - Finite Simply Group of Order Two (Extremely Geeky)

Honorable Mentions

• UC Men's Octet - With or Without You (U2)
• CU Buffoons - Shambala/Take Me to the River (Three Dog Night / Al Green)
• Washington University' Mosaic Whispers: Suddenly I See (K.T. Tunstall)
• Red Hot Blue - Sweet Home Alabama (Lynyrd Skynyrd)

As always, suggestions welcome in the comments.

1. If you're wondering how I picked these particular vids, I have a few guidelines for what I was looking:

• Arrangements - the closer to the original, the better
• Full and Balanced Vocals - this typically includes a good bass, though not required. This excluded all-female groups.
• Song Choice - I looked for originality and stayed away from "Africa's", Don't Stop Believing, Cry Me a River, and anything involving video games - no matter how good they may be. This explains the classic rock bias.
• Video Quality - I'm sure there were some better performances out there from better groups, but if the sounds quality is sub-standard then there's not much of a point.
• Diversity - I wanted to limit selections to one per group. Feel free to seach around for more songs from your favorite groups!