A4 It's not really surprise, but God may have been deciding on the next step after the outcome of the current step. In other words, God may not have had vegetation in mind on day 1, but only after God saw the dry land. #ParshaChat
A3 The text doesn't seem to give hints about how the humans were feeling, perhaps because in Genesis 1 they aren't really actors in the story. #ParshaChat
A3 It seems like there's a boundary being drawn between Moses witnessing all the goodness and compassion of God and Moses being able to view the heart of whatever God is. #ParshaChat
A1 God tells Moses to carve a second set of tablets just like the first but the two sets are uniquely hand-carved so I'm wondering what the differences are in the second set. #ParshaChat
A0 Hi all - it's good weather too here in Northern California; on Wednesday we got the first sprinkles of the new water year.
I'm ready to move over to bluesky for #ParshaChat at any point.
A1 One emotion present is highlighting moral contrast: the perfection of the Rock of God versus the crookedness and baseness of the people. #ParshaChat
@doctorscience Not at all, but I've been learning how to use imaging to get through the light pollution. (Amateur astronomers call this electronically-assisted astronomy). #ParshaChat
A1 It's the longest extended passage of poetry in the Torah, so I'm wondering what it was like for the Israelites to listen to Moses saying it all. It's very different than his other speeches. #ParshaChat
A3 For the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow this might feel like the one time in the calendar that their needs are being acknowledged by the rest of the community. #ParshaChat
A1 There are emotions here of showing reverence and gratitude. The first act that is commanded is to give the first fruits of the harvest, which would put one in a giving frame of mind. #ParshaChat
A2 A verse about an ox is oddly placed between discussion about lashings and deceased husband's brothers, but maybe the placement is to elevate the importance of animal welfare. #ParshaChat
A1 The text is expressing outrage at the situation where a deceased husband's brother would not take the husband's wife as a new spouse. But it seems more outrageous that a wife would get her hand cut off trying to lead her husband away from a fight. #ParshaChat