Daily Archives: January 3, 2022

Its out with the old and in with the new new year, that is.

And with just hours before the clock strikes midnight and the world ushers in 2022, locals have been scrambling to grocery stores around town making sure they have the traditional Southern fare that is thought to bring good luck for the coming year. For locals, that includes black-eyed peas, cabbage and hog jowls.

They use the hog jowls to put in their cabbage, Sullivans Grocery manager Larry Ferguson said.

Ferguson, along with Morgans Supermarket owner Cynthia Morgan, said he knows there will be a run on these three food items. In an effort to have enough supply for the demand, both businesses order extras this time of year.

We have to order a lot more, Morgan said, of black-eyed peas, cabbage and hog jowls. And we still run out every year.

This year, Morgan said, she ordered an extra bin of cabbage a bin like the pumpkins come on, and an extra pallet of dried black-eyed peas.

I ordered two more bins of cabbage than I did last year, Ferguson said. And 10 more cases of black-eyed peas.

While the tradition of eating black-eyed peas for luck is thought to have begun in the South black-eyed peas are what saved families from starving after Union Troops had left them behind, thinking they were animal fodder the tradition of eating the legume on New Years Day actually dates back much further.

According to organicauthority.com, the black-eyed peas are mentioned in the Talmud, an ancient Babylonian text, circa 500 CE.

The website states, Black-eyed peas were eaten on Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year.

Hopefully, those who want to follow tradition and cook some black-eyed peas for the New Year, hopefully they have secured their stash from either store shelves or in the frozen food section.

For those interested in recipes that incorporate black-eyed peas in a dish, here are a couple to choose from out of local cookbooks.

Black-Eyed Pea Cornbread (Ambrosia Cookbook)

1 (15.5-ounce) can black-eyed peas seasoned with bacon and jalapeno pepper, do not drain

1 cup cornmeal

cup flour

1 teaspoon soda

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 cup buttermilk

cup oil

pound cheddar cheese, grated

1 onion, chopped

cup cream-style corn

1 pound ground beef, browned and drained

Picante sauce

Mix all ingredients except Picante sauce. Pour into a greased 9x13x2 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Let cool about 15 minutes before cutting. Cut into squares to serve. Top each square with Picante sauce if desired.

Texas Caviar (The Trinity Cookbook)

1 can (16 ounces) black-eyed peas, drained

1/3 medium red bell pepper, diced

cup minced red onion

cup finely chopped tomatoes

2 teaspoons tomato juice

2 teaspoons finely chopped jalapeno pepper (2 medium peppers)

1 teaspoon chopped fresh basil

1 clove of garlic, minced

2 tablespoons olive oil 1 tablespoon lemon juice

1.2 teaspoon ground cumin

1.2 teaspoon chili powder

teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Tortilla chips

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes. Serve with tortilla chips.

8-10 servings

May substitute cup picante sauce for the tomatoes and juice.

Terri Frazier was born in Cleveland. Shortly afterward, the family moved to Vicksburg. She is a part-time reporter at The Vicksburg Post and is the editor of the Vicksburg Living Magazine, which has been awarded First Place by the Mississippi Press Association. She has also been the recipient of a First Place award in the MPAs Better Newspaper Contests editorial division for the Best Feature Story.

Terri graduated from Warren Central High School and Mississippi State University where she received a bachelors degree in communications with an emphasis in public relations.

Prior to coming to work at The Post a little more than 10 years ago, she did some freelancing at the Jackson Free Press. But for most of her life, she enjoyed being a full-time stay at home mom.

Terri is a member of the Crawford Street United Methodist Church. She is a lifetime member of the Vicksburg Junior Auxiliary and is a past member of the Sampler Antique Club and Town and Country Garden Club. She is married to Dr. Walter Frazier.

From staying informed with local governmental issues to hearing the stories of its people, a hometown newspaper is vital to a community. I have felt privileged to be part of a dedicated team at The Post throughout my tenure and hope that with theirs and with local support, I will be able to continue to grow and hone in on my skills as I help share the stories in Vicksburg. When asked what I like most about my job, my answer is always the people.

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OUTLOOK: How to enjoy Black-Eyed Peas in the New Year - The Vicksburg Post - Vicksburg Post

WAYNE, N.J. (CBSNewYork) A North Jersey rabbi who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. throughout the Civil Rights Movement is praying to see the year 2022.

The 92-year-old, known as the most arrested rabbi, recently learned he has stage four colon cancer. In what he believes are his final days, he spoke with CBS2s Lisa Rozner.

He may be too weak to stand, but the spirit of Rabbi Israel Dresner is strong. His Wayne, New Jersey, home is surrounded with memories of King.

Ive always been very optimistic. I try to follow Dr. Kings course. He always felt that were making progress and we have to continue to make progress, Dresner said. Dr. King appeared in my pulpit in Springfield, January in 1963 for the first time.

King visited Dresners synagogue twice.

The friendship started in 1962 when Dresner visited King in an Albany, Georgia, jail cell. Months later, King, who called the rabbi Sy, wrote, We are counting on you to discern some methods of action which contribute to our national problem in race relations.

Dresner had already been arrested as part of the Tallahassee Ten, interfaith freedom riders who challenged segregated buses and sat together at a segregated airport restaurant.

In 1964, he was arrested again, organizing the largest mass arrest of rabbis in history outside a segregated hotel in St. Augustine, Florida.

Were you afraid when you showed up there? Rozner asked.

Well, I always had some fear Every person has an obligation to try to make a contribution to making the world a little better place, Dresner said.

The following year, Dresner delivered the prayer on Turnaround Tuesday in Selma, Alabama, at Kings behest. It was one of several marches for voting rights.

Dr. Ralph David Abernathy, best friend and mentor of King, prayed to his right.

Abernathys daughter, Donzaleigh Abernathy, remembers Dresner speaking at her church.

Honestly, I believe that he is one of the unsung heroes of the Civil Rights Movement, she said. It ended up helping to shape my life so that now I live today in an Orthodox Jewish community But I feel at home because this was the world that we grew up in.

Bishop Mitchell Taylor, of Queens, reflects on how Dresners presence shaped social justice movements today.

One voice can speak, but it can easily be ignored, but when united voices speak, it can never be ignored, he said.

Dresners daughter and son are producing The Rabbi and the Reverend, a documentary they call a mile marker on the never-ending march towards equality.

We want to use the film to help re-forge the Black-Jewish alliance that he was such a critical part of You know, were blessed to be able to, you know, to do this for him and do it with him while, while we still can, Dresners son, Avi Dresner, said.

Rabbi Dresner says throughout the pandemic, hes been able to draw strength from services that have been broadcast on television.

Those services were from Central Synagogue in Midtown East, so he made one last in-person Torah blessing there in December. His children also took him for a final pastrami sandwich at Katzs Deli and one last Broadway show.

How do you want to be remembered? Rozner asked.

Well, I want to be remembered as somebody who not only tried to keep the Jewish faith But also to invoke the Jewish doctrine from the Talmud, which is called tikkun olam, repairing the world, and I hope that I made a little bit of a contribution to making the world a little better place, Dresner said.

Dresner says his family was murdered in the Holocaust, which made him painfully aware of what racism could lead to and inspired his activism. Hes a lifelong member of the NAACP and former president Barack Obama honored him at the White House in 2013.

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Most Arrested Rabbi Israel Dresner Reflects On Life Of Activism After Being Diagnosed With Stage 4 Colon Cancer - CBS New York

If a person was to make up those stories, you would stage it to be authenticated by reliable witnesses. But in the Bible, both of these events were first witnessed by people who did not have credibility in their culture.

His birth was first witnessed by the shepherds, who were not respected in that day, and His resurrection by a woman, Mary, whose testimony was not valid in court.

J. Warner Wallace, in his book Cold Case Christianity, points out that this makes it more believable. The way the gospels are written, with all the weaknesses and failures of Christs followers, gives it an authenticity that you dont find in fiction.

They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherds story were astonished (Luke 2:16-18).

She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didnt recognize him. Dear woman, why are you crying? Jesus asked her. Who are you looking for? She thought he was the gardener. Sir, she said, if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him. Mary, Jesus said. She turned to him and cried out, Rabboni! (which is Hebrew for Teacher) (John 20:14-16).

Anyone writing a story to be accepted would not use witnesses with no credibility. So, witnesses for Jesus birth and resurrection are evidence that the gospels are accurate eyewitness accounts. The gospels tell it like it is, even if it might not make the best story.

There Is other evidence for Jesus life that shows the gospels are accurate eyewitness accounts. The fifth century Jewish Talmud (writings and discussions from first and second century rabbis) has the following: Jesus practiced magic and led Israel astray.

The good news is this: There is evidence for Jesus' birth, resurrection and life that shows the gospels are accurate eyewitness accounts. The bad news is that if these accounts are true and you reject Jesus, there will be eternal consequences to that choice.

The Bible is God's warning to us and shows us His provision for salvation and eternal life with Him. The historical and other evidence that give the Word authenticity are just more reasons to believe it.

This article was drafted by Craig Clark and adapted by Pastor Paul McKibben of Grace Community Church of Osage.

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DEVOTIONAL GUIDE: Is the Bible reliable? Ask the eyewitnesses - Park Rapids Enterprise

In 1971, the famed Mr. Snuffleupagus made his first appearance on Sesame Street. Snuffy and Big Bird quickly became good friends. Their friendship was tender and charming, but for 14 years, no one believed that Big Birds friend was real. Adults on the show would be told about Snuffy, but every time Big Bird was ready to introduce them, Snuffy, coincidentally, disappeared. The ambiguous nature of Mr. Snuffleupaguss existence likely meant different things to different children, as did many of the shows running storylines. To some, he was similar to, and so normalized their imaginary playmates. To others, as Martin Robinson, who performed Snuffy since 1980 put it, He was shy, he had bad timing, and the joke was, hes big, you cant miss him, but adults being the way they are preoccupied, going to work, you know they miss those little details. And Snuffleupagus just happened to be one of those little details that they kept missing year after year.

Snuffys persona was an invaluable part of the classic show, and yet in the early 1980s, producers slowly began building up to the Snuffy reveal, in which Snuffy was finally accepted by those around him as real, and not imagined. The decision came as a reaction to the growing focus, and number of exposes on child abuse. As Executive Producer Carol-Lynn Parente said, The fear was that if we represented adults not believing what kids said, they might not be motivated to tell the truth. That caused us to rethink the storyline: Is something weve been doing for 14 years that seemed innocent enough now something thats become harmful? The reveal was slow, and psychologically strategic, and in Sesame Streets 17th season, cast member Bob McGrath tells Big Bird From now on, well believe you whenever you tell us something. It was not the first, nor would it be the last time the producers of Sesame Street reflected on the gravity of their role in childrens lives and reconsidered the messaging their plotlines were conveying. The producers of Sesame Street understood that education goes way beyond the ABCs.

* * *

Imagine the scene. A young, fresh, idealistic teacher walks into the classroom and tells her students to open their Bibles up to the second book of Samuel, chapter 11. They are going to pick up where they left off the week before, with King Davids impressive defeat of local enemy militias, and ascent to the throne in Jerusalem. Chapter 11 recalls the infamous story of Davids sighting of Batsheva on the roof, and his sleeping with her, even though she was a married woman. Batsheva becomes pregnant with Davids child, and after less violent attempts to cover up the affair fail, David has his chief military officer send Uriah, Batshevas unsuspecting husband, to the front lines. The memorandum David sends to his officer is explicit Uriah is not to come back alive.

It is not an easy chapter to get through, and many of her students, as anticipated, have questions. But this teacher has come prepared. After they finish reading the texts, she guides the students to the handouts on their desks and calls on the boy that waves his hand eagerly wanting to read aloud for the class. Anyone who says that David sinned [with Batsheba] is nothing other than mistaken. The quote the student reads is excerpted from the Babylonian Talmud (Shabbos 56a) and is at home with a string of texts that prove why those biblical personalities whom we may assume to be sinners are, in fact, anything but.

The Talmud employs creative prooftexts, and in the case of David, ingenious legal argumentation, which the teacher delves into during the 40-minute class. One girl, pipes in with a tradition she remembers that blames Batsheva for her lack of tzniut, modesty. Her bathing on the roof, the girl offers, echoing what she had learned in camp the previous summer, enticed David to do what he did. Its almost like she did it on purpose because she wanted to be queen. Some of the students are convinced, others voice their skepticism. The teacher creates a space for all the questions and comments, but makes sure to leave time for her closing argument on the matter. The people we read about in the Bible were on a different level than we are, she says, inculcating the dogma she had absorbed as a student, into her own teaching. If they were chosen by God, that means they were righteous. God knows more than we do, and its not for us to judge the actions of tzadikim, righteous people. The bell rings, the students rush off to their next lesson. Most dont give another thought to what had been discussed. Except for one.

You see, what the well-meaning teacher doesnt know is that the girl in the yellow turtleneck, who sits towards the back of the classroom on the left, wrestles with a dark reality that her smiling friends know nothing about. She wrestles with shame, and self-disgust, and terror every time the man who makes her feel that way walks into the room. Shes terrified of where he might be, or when he might show up. And yet somehow, he always does. And he always finds a way to get her alone. Shes thought, in her angriest moments, of getting up the nerve to tell someone about what he does to her. But she doesnt know how anyone would believe her. He is, after all, as her father often mentions in passing, a real tzadik.

* * *

Biblical interpretation is as old as the Bible itself. The library of interpretive literature is rich, and it is valuable. It adds color to otherwise bland stories, fills narrative gaps that left the reader wondering, and adds unforgettable detail to characters, allowing readers to connect to the text in thrilling ways. But it goes beyond that. Interpreters use the text of the Bible as a springboard for all sorts of didactic purposes. Being a people of the book implies the notion that our beliefs, our legal code, and more broadly speaking, our worldview, derive from an ancient text that has been preserved. For traditional Jews, the text itself is believed to have been written with varying degrees of Divine Revelation, and, as a result, all the truths humans are to discover, can be found embedded in the texts holy, multidimensional words.

Most of the interpretations, if approached with intellectual honesty, are thought-provoking. Many are deeply beautiful. Some are humorous; others outrageous. All have a context.

And context is so much more than provenance. Context implies the conscious and unconscious beliefs that feed into an interpreters reading of the text. It implies political considerations, views on race and gender, and it implies motivation. And thats important. Because when we understand context, we dont make the mistake of confusing interpretation, for the text itself. We understand that there is a difference between the Bible, and the way people, in ensuing centuries read the Bible. That there is a difference between the original text, and the way that text was analyzed, expanded upon, and adapted for various ideological and theological purposes. That type of understanding allows people to incorporate simultaneous truths. Like the truth that the Bible doesnt comprise a single perfect person. And the truth that later interpreters needed to create models of perfection to make the values they were espousing come alive. The truth that, in contrast to its neighbors, Biblical Israel did not see its king as any sort of demi-god, but as a person, who will inevitably make mistakes, and be punished for them. And also the truth that years after the Davidic dynasty was no more, its earliest kings morphed into larger than life figures in the collective imagination of those that so badly craved renewed independence under a Jewish monarch. The truth that a prophet of God told David that he sinned, and in the biblical text, David confessed to that sin. And the truth that biblical interpreters firmly believed that a community that respects the heroes of its past will have a future to look forward to.

Being able to hold on to partial, simultaneous truths is not simple, but it can be learned. It requires subtlety and nuance in a world where both seem scarce. But flattening biblical characters in the hopes of garnering reverence for them, whether we realize it or not, has the potential to communicate a very dangerous message, specifically by undermining one of the Bibles most important morals.

Imagine, if that teacher, had presented the same quote from the Talmud, but contextualized it for her students. Imagine if she had said, The Bible holds David accountable. David thought he could sin in secret and get away with it, but the Bible is clear about the fact that no one, not even Gods anointed, should ever get away with abusing power and preying on the vulnerable. Nothing replaces the biblical text. But now, lets move on and see how the story of what happened is used as a starting point for discussions about piety, and about divorce rites in the ancient world.

Imagine how differently things might have felt for the girl in the yellow turtleneck.

*Source: A Brief History of Sesame Streets Snuffleupagus Identity Crisis, by Marissa Fessenden. Smithsonian Magazine, November 20, 2015.

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Big Bird, Chaim Walder, and the power of nuance - The Times of Israel

Earlier this month, Golden State Warriors superstar Steph Curry set a new NBA record for most made 3-point baskets when he drained number 2,974 in a game against the New York Knicks. On Dec. 28, he hit number 3,000 in front of his home crowd at San Franciscos Chase Center. That night, he also tied his own record of 157 consecutive games with at least one made 3.

As social media users and the news media celebrated and analyzed the future Hall of Famers 3-point prowess, one local Warriors fan had something else on his mind.

On Dec. 27, Graduate Theological Union assistant professor Sam Shonkoff shared a very Jewish fun fact about Curry on Twitter that attracted quite a bit of attention. In his tweet, he pointed out that the Hebrew word tattooed on Currys left wrist, (kuf-resh-yud), is both a transliteration of the players last name as well as a well-known Talmudic euphemism for accidental emission or ejaculation while sleeping.

fun fact about steph curry, the best shooter of all time: while the hebrew word on his left wrist (our right), , is a fair transliteration of his last name, it's also the technical rabbinic term for "accidental emission," aka "ejaculation while sleeping." you're welcome. pic.twitter.com/6vb4ER6pnf

Sam Shonkoff (@samshonkoff) December 27, 2021

The tweet has received over 300,000 impressions, or views, and dozens of responses ranging from to .

It clearly struck a chord, more than my work on Jewish mysticism, Shonkoff told J. in an interview. Im in a very specific niche where Im an avid Warriors fan and love Steph Curry, and Im a scholar of Jewish studies at the same time. Thats probably why I noticed this thing before most other people did.

Shonkoff, 37, explained that in rabbinic literature, the term baal keri (which literally means master of an accident) refers to someone who experienced what is commonly known as a wet dream and is therefore considered to be in a state of ritual impurity. Its this huge source of anxiety in rabbinic tradition, he said. This is connected to issues of niddah menstrual impurities and who you can come into contact with, where you can go.

He noted that the stakes were especially high for the high priest when the Temple was standing in Jerusalem. For example, in Pirkei Avot 5:5, the fact that no emission occurred to the high priest on the Day of Atonement is considered to be a kind of miracle because the priest was able to enter the Holy of Holies and perform his duties on behalf of the Jewish people.

Shonkoff, who specializes in German Jewish thought and Hasidic mysticism, said he made the connection between Currys transliterated name and keri a few years ago but that he only recently embraced Twitter as a place to share such stray thoughts. His favorite response to his tweet came from Kno, a rapper and producer from the group CunninLynguists. He can shoot in his sleep so this checks out, Kno tweeted. Others riffed on Splash Brothers, the nickname given to Curry and teammate Klay Thompson, another prolific 3-point shooter before he was sidelined by injuries. (Thompson, who is expected to return to the court later this season, owns one of the few 3-point records not held by Curry: the most 3-pointers made in one game, 14.)

He can shoot in his sleep so this checks out.

Kno (@Kno) December 27, 2021

Twitter being Twitter, not everyone appreciated the tweet. Yo, I really didnt need to know that, moaned one Curry fan. A native Hebrew speaker protested that the modern Hebrew term for wet dream is slightly different, -, kri-lilah. Knowing modern Hebrew isnt the same as knowing Talmud, Shonkoff shot back.

Yo, I really didnt need to know that

Soliman (@Curry3Oh) December 28, 2021

It is unclear if Curry or people close to him have seen the tweet or if they are aware of the tattoos euphemistic meaning. (Other members of his family have the same tattoo, including brother and fellow NBA player Seth Curry.) I almost feel a little guilty if Im embarrassing him, but the world knows now, said Shonkoff, who grew up in Berkeley rooting for the Warriors and now lives in El Cerrito. He is not too worried, though, because its widely recognized that Steph Curry is just a wonderful human being and a real mensch.

The tattoo is not the only Hebrew ink that Curry has on his body. On his inner right wrist, there is a line from the New Testament that translates to love never fails.

What is it about Hebrew script that Curry, a devout Christian, finds so compelling? He is very religious, which is part of why I think hes drawn to Hebrew, Shonkoff said. It goes to show that theres the sense that Hebrew is a holy language even for Christians.

Pointing out humorous double meanings of Hebrew transliterations is an old parlor game. Former Secretary of State and presidential candidate John Kerry was the butt of jokes in Israel because his last name is transliterated the same way as Currys. And in October, when Facebook rebranded itself, people gleefully pointed out that Meta means dead in Hebrew.

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'Fun fact' about Steph Curry's Hebrew tattoo makes a splash on Twitter J. - The Jewish News of Northern California