fandomhigh | Hubris from Revelation: the Social Engineering of Ultimate Truths [Monday, Period 2]

"Last week, we covered Eid ul-Fitr," Ghanima began as people began taking their seats today. "However, this isn't only a holy time of year for Islam. Today is Yom Kippur, also known as the Day of Atonement, which is one of the holiest days of the year for the Hebrew people. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with an approximately 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue services. Yom Kippur completes the annual period known in Judaism as the High Holy Days."

"Yom Kippur is the tenth day of the month of Tishrei. According to Jewish tradition, God inscribes each person's fate for the coming year into a "book" on Rosh Hashanah and waits until Yom Kippur to "seal" the verdict. During the Days of Awe, a Jew tries to amend his or her behavior and seek forgiveness for wrongs done against God, known as bein adam leMakom, and against other human beings, or bein adam lechavero," she continued, pronunciation perfect. "The evening and day of Yom Kippur are set aside for public and private petitions and confessions of guilt. At the end of Yom Kippur, one considers one's self absolved by God."

"Now, Leviticus 23:27 decrees that Yom Kippur is a strict day of rest and of fasting," Ghanima said, moving to write on the board. "Five additional prohibitions are traditionally observed, as detailed in the Jewish oral tradition; Mishnah tractate Yoma 8:1."

1. No eating and drinking
2. No wearing of leather shoes
3. No bathing or washing
4. No anointing oneself with perfumes or lotions
5. No marital -- or non-marital sexual -- relations

"Total abstention from food and drink usually begins 30 minutes before sundown," she noted as she turned back to the class, "and ends after nightfall the following day. Although the fast is required of all healthy adults, it is waived in the case of certain medical conditions. Now, virtually all Jewish holidays involve a ritual feast, but since Yom Kippur involves fasting, Jewish law requires one to eat a large and festive meal on the afternoon before Yom Kippur, after the Mincha afternoon prayer. Wearing white clothing, and for men a Kittel, is traditional to symbolize one’s purity on this day."

"Today I'd like us to discuss the concepts of atonement and repentance as a group, and once class is over, I ask that you use the rest of the day for self-reflection. Last week was about joy and goodwill towards your fellow man; today is about being a better person."

[the ocd is in the house!]

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"But this holiday for atonement only lasts for a day, right?" Ben said quietly. "Not an entire lifetime?"

"As far as I know."

To his credit, Ender said nothing about not being Jewish, or some sins taking a lot more time.

"Which means that at some point, everyone should let go of the past?" Ben replied.

"If you take God out of the equation, that's the gist of it," Ender said, watching him with a neutral expression. "But you still have to atone, first."

Ben's eyes were fixed on Ender's face. "But for how long? As you said, there aren't exactly scales to balance. Do you keep flogging yourself for past mistakes until you're three thousand years old?"

"Depends on the atoner, I guess," Ender replied, lightly. "I don't know enough about religion to know the timetables."

Blatant misdirection in class? Why, I never.

Ben decided that giving Ender a tiny little Force-whack to the back of the head probably wasn't worth it.

"A conversion chart would be helpful," he said, letting the sarcasm leech into his voice. "How many days you need to atone for shoplifting, and so on."

"And that's assuming the religion you're labouring under puts specific limits to specific crimes," he said, "Back in the days of Judaism, I think it was considered a sin to wear garments made of two types of fabric."

Watch this argument steer far and away from where Ender didn't want it to be.

Watch Ben give Ender an "I see what you're doing there" look. "Really?" he replied. "That seems unnecessarily arbitrary."

Ender would've returned that with a look that implied that Ben had managed to be as subtle as a falling boulder all class, but unlike Ben, he had no particular wish to catch Ghanima's attention about any of this. He shrugged a shoulder. "You still had to pay," he said, easily. "The same as if you'd slept with someone of the wrong gender. So a 'conversion table' would be oversimplifying across many religions."

Ben blinked. "They weren't on the same level of punishment, were they?"

Marvel as the point whizzes completely past Ben's head!

"I think they were both classified as being abominations," he said, "But like I said, I'm not completely up in my scripture."

"Why would a god care about people's sex lives?" Ben asked. "Or what they were wearing?"

Hubris from Revelation: the Social Engineering of Ultimate Truths [Monday, Period 2]

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