Comments on: Bald Rebel Swallowed by the Earth

By: malkmus

malkmus — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 01:13:49 +0000

The bald community is a minority group.

By: frosh

frosh — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 10:37:23 +0000

I wonder if Larry David would have considered Korach “part of the bald community”

By: David Werdiger

David Werdiger — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 08:34:15 +0000

frosh: You’re the one who should be taking “credit” for the provocative title, not me!

By: frosh

frosh — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 07:51:12 +0000

Malkmus,

You raise an important issue concerning not encouraging hatred against the bald community.

As per this link, I’m sure Larry David would agree with you.

By: malkmus

malkmus — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 07:24:36 +0000

Glad to hear it!

By: David Werdiger

David Werdiger — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 07:22:21 +0000

Sorry if you got that impression … I’m all in favour of ultra-short or no hair (for men, anyway). The article was a teaser for the lecture at Limmud Oz, so deliberately left a lot out.

By: malkmus

malkmus — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 07:19:29 +0000

Hmm. Perhaps you should make that clearer in the article. It comes across as being a rather anti-baldite piece.

By: David Werdiger

David Werdiger — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 07:11:13 +0000

malkmus,

(guess you weren’t at the session *grin*, so briefly …)

Korach’s name has a common root with the word for baldness, which is used in Prophets to describe the “firmament”, which is the prototypical separation or machloket that God created on the 2nd day. In addition, it is similar to the expression used to the Torah to describe tearing out one’s hair (in grief), which is again symbolic of division.

You might consider Korach’s baldness a physical manifestation of his spiritual essence which is associated with division and the attribute of gevurah. No, this doesn’t mean that all bald people like picking fights!

By: malkmus

malkmus — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 07:01:52 +0000

David, perhaps you could explain exactly what is the relevance of Korach’s supposed baldness.

By: David Werdiger

David Werdiger — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 06:36:19 +0000

Thanks to all those who attended the sessions I participated in at this year’s Limmud Oz, and thanks to the organizers of the event and the sessions.

With hindsight, there may be a connection between the Korach vs Aaron / spiritual Left vs Right dynamic and the session discussion on how Jews are portrayed in media today (The Age vs The Australian), although with regard to media, there does not seem to be any equivalent to Moshe who can bring harmony to that conflict.