Monday, February 11, 2019

Lasted 15 Minutes

While not really wanting to burn the SERMO bridge, I do not want to become like Elazar ben Arach either.  For those unfamiliar with the tale, he was the rabbincal prodigy determined by the President of the Rabbinical Academy to be of the highest potential, at least what he said in private, though he promoted somebody else in public.  Those who study Talmud today, which is a lot people, rarely study Elazar ben Arach's insight.  This talented youth became a mediocre intellect in his prime years.  At the insistence of his wife, who was left behind in the rabbinical social whirl, he accepted a position as sage in a resort area away from the center of learning.  On arriving there he had a vision of elevating their residents and exposing them to state of the art Torah analysis.  Instead of them becoming more like him, he became more like them, hanging out in the warm springs that made the area attractive to the neglect of advancing himself professionally.  Eventually he attempted a second act at the central academy but it was clear to himself and others that he was no longer their intellectual peer.

Rather than hoist my Libtard banner against persistent sloganeering inciting reaction for the trivial, I opted to just ration my time.  Three days a month, the day ending in zero, which makes only two in February, I set my timer for 25 minutes, scroll through the comments that have appeared in previous ten days and respond to up to three, medical or not.  At 25 minutes I sign out, returning briefly the next day to see if anyone responded beyond my remarks to those threads.  To my chagrin, my interest lasted only 14 minutes and a single comment.  No risk of becoming like Elazar ben Arach.

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