My Year of Living Biblically

[KurtNYC]

A. J. Jacobs, who says he is Jewish in the same way that 'The Olive Garden' is Italian, talks about his one year experiment trying to live by 700+ laws from the Bible. He stoned an adulteror (sort of), avoided mixed fiber clothing, refused to sit in any seat where a menstruating woman had sat, gave thanks for all the small things. He talks about what he learned from the experience in this 16 minute TED Talk.

[Skittles]

1. ".....he is Jewish in the same way that 'The Olive Garden' is Italian"

[KurtNYC]

2. btw, A.J. if you are here on DU (as that quote suggests): Really enjoyed your TED Talk!

[Skittles]

11. I loved his talk

[cbayer]

3. That was great! Both hilarious and inspirational.

He describes himself as a reverent agnostic. Gotta love it.

Thanks for much for posting it here.

[KurtNYC]

4. I like have been doing a series of "Spurlocks" so this was interesting to me

A Spurlock is when you challenge yourself with a lifestyle change that you adopt for 30 days. I started doing them as a way to slow down the perceived passage of time -- in other words, make 30 days into a long time again. It works and I have learned a lot.

I'm with daVinci -- "the only way to truly know something is to experiment"

His story of the stoning reminded me of my friend's story. True story: He was working as the psych intake at St Vincents Hospital (NYC) on Easter. THREE guys showed up separately, all claiming to be Jesus. Two if them got in a fist fight over who was Jesus and who wasn't.

[cbayer]

5. What have you done?

I've seen a couple of great documentaries on these kinds of personal experiences. I am amazingly short on self discipline, so something like this might suit me.

Love the psych ED story. I would have voted for the one who showed up three days after Easter!

[KurtNYC]

6. this year I rented a farm plot and grew organic vegetables

even though I have no experience in farming. Didn't spray anything, just let it happen. I am buried in food now, mostly tomatoes.

I have worked for a food co-op, the Red Cross, a ski resort, raised 2 littermate Labs together (potty training was crazy), worked with sea turtle rescue, learned French (and then spent 10 days in Quebec for immersion) and wrote software for diabetes management.

I want to make a documentary next, possibly about finicky tomato plants and the people who love to grow them. Also want to do a pop-up restaurant.

[okasha]

8. Time to pick up a couple boxes

of canning jars for those tomatoes.

[cbayer]

9. Very, very cool!

I try to add new things to my life every year and have a very, very big year coming up, but it pales in comparison to what you are doing.

But what you are doing is really remarkable. Huge kudos to you.

There is a member here, NRaleighLiberal, who has become an expert in heirloom tomatoes. He has just completed his book and is a super great guy. You might want to contact him about your documentary. I bet he would be really interested.

[okasha]

7. I'm curious

How did he determine whether a menstruating woman had sat in a particular seat?

[cbayer]

10. His wife didn't like this one and sat on every seat in the house while menstruating, lol!

He ended up buying his own portable chair that he just took with him everywhere.

[trotsky]

12. Why are you ridiculing someone else's deeply-held religious beliefs?

Especially beliefs that don't harm you in any way?

Many Orthodox Jewish men carry around a piece of cloth that they use as a barrier when they sit on a public surface. Is that funny too?

[Heddi]

13. It does seem rather, um, unseemly to mock the deeply held religious beliefs of Ultra-Orthodox Jews

I happen to live in an area with a very large percentage of Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox Jews. They make up a large percentage of my patient population: women wear wigs and have shaved heads underneath, and I have seen men carry around the folding stools so that they can sit on a non-tainted seat surface...something like this


Or they'll just stand. For hours.

It's difficult when the patient is a Rabbi, since I (a female...and a nurse) can only touch him in certain situations, all of which have to be totally clinical in nature. No shaking hands, no comforting touch. I've even had family members that asked if there was any way I could start an IV without touching him...meaning, they'd put on the tourniquet, etc. It was an impossible compromise to make and I assured them I would touch him as little as possible during IV insertion. Makes bath-time for the RN's on the floor difficult if not impossible, especially if the patient is comatose, confused, or weak and needing assistance. Family can be helpful in many situations, and a hindrance in others.

But it leaves a bad taste in my mouth to see such a proponent of total-religious-tolerance make fun of deeply held beliefs of Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox Jews. What's next: ho-ho, what's life without bacon? or making fun of the tznius the Ultra-Orthodox women wear? "oh those sidelocks are so ridiculous rofl"

It's sickening, really.

[cleanhippie]

14. Just another example of total hypocrisy from that source.