Emor: Defection
Emor: Defection
What is this blasphemer who appears at the end of the parsha? We are immediately told that he is the son of an Egyptian father and Israelite mother.. There is an argument with a ( pure?) Israelite and he violates (Nokav) the holy name , a capital offense with the stoning carried out by those who have heard the offense. Here is a capital imperfection in a chapter filled with the limitations of the defective.
All of the descendants of Joseph come from an Egyptian mother. The mother of Pinchas, heir to the high priesthood, is a Midianite. The mixed origin of this blasphemer is not a genetic problem. It is a problem of reversion, a problem of return to the enslaving values, the actions that are negated when the Torah repeats that the Mitzvoth come from the Gd who took us out of Egypt.
The blasphemer is confused about his allegiance. He is a subversive. He recognizes his alienation, an alienation that might be understood as a defect. He lashes out. He defects.
Last night, I went to a small conference on lymphoma. The discussion was dominated by people from the Fred Hutchinson. I blatantly pointed out inconsistencies in some of the reasoning.
An example: Lymphoma in the brain is treated with high doses a drug, Methotrexate. This drug is used because it is one of the few that penetrates the "blood brain barrier". When given intravenously, enough of the medicine enters the brain and the special fluids that surround the brain ( Cerebrospinal fluid) so that it reaches a theoretically effective dose. No one would consider trying to cure a lymphoma outside the brain with this medicine. Studies have shown that relapse is inevitable when this medicine is used alone. Does the fact that a lymphoma is in the brain make methotrexate more effective? Now that we have medicines that can cure lymphomas elsewhere in the body in a form that can penetrate the blood brain barrier, shouldn't we be trying them as well?
This was heresy!
I escaped before I was stoned.
All of the descendants of Joseph come from an Egyptian mother. The mother of Pinchas, heir to the high priesthood, is a Midianite. The mixed origin of this blasphemer is not a genetic problem. It is a problem of reversion, a problem of return to the enslaving values, the actions that are negated when the Torah repeats that the Mitzvoth come from the Gd who took us out of Egypt.
The blasphemer is confused about his allegiance. He is a subversive. He recognizes his alienation, an alienation that might be understood as a defect. He lashes out. He defects.
Last night, I went to a small conference on lymphoma. The discussion was dominated by people from the Fred Hutchinson. I blatantly pointed out inconsistencies in some of the reasoning.
An example: Lymphoma in the brain is treated with high doses a drug, Methotrexate. This drug is used because it is one of the few that penetrates the "blood brain barrier". When given intravenously, enough of the medicine enters the brain and the special fluids that surround the brain ( Cerebrospinal fluid) so that it reaches a theoretically effective dose. No one would consider trying to cure a lymphoma outside the brain with this medicine. Studies have shown that relapse is inevitable when this medicine is used alone. Does the fact that a lymphoma is in the brain make methotrexate more effective? Now that we have medicines that can cure lymphomas elsewhere in the body in a form that can penetrate the blood brain barrier, shouldn't we be trying them as well?
This was heresy!
I escaped before I was stoned.
posted by Sheldon Goldberg at 9:10 AM
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