The Torah And The TLS

Critique, English, Hebrew Testament, Ilana Mercer, Judaism & Jews, Literature

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Here’s a Letter-to-the-Editor of the British Times Literary Supplement. They wanted to publish it; I knew they would; Britons like a pedant. But they want private information about me, which I’m unwilling to disclose. What is it about so many private organizations these days that they act like government? On making a purchase, salesclerks will routinely ask for one’s address. Are they nuts? And most people comply. My husband takes cover whenever a salesperson dares to so pry.

Dear Editor,

In his review of Robert Alter’s The Five Books of Moses (TLS, June 24, 2005), John Barton praises the author’s translation of the Torah for “brilliantly imitating the Hebrew without sacrificing intelligibility.”
As someone who greatly admires the biblical narrator, I certainly agree that “welter and waste” does justice to “tohu vavohu” (Genesis 1:1), which Barton or the author transliterated to read “tohu wabohu.” Whence does that bowdlerization come? There’s no “wabohu” in Genesis 1:1—there’s no “wabohu” in the Hebrew language!
The first letter in vavohu is a “vav,” which is never a “w,” and here it’s pronounced “va.” The next Barton or Alter-bungled letter is an unpunctuated “Bet” (B), pronounced “v” too. Its enunciation here is “vo.” Hence, “vavohu.” I’m not sure how better to denote an unpunctuated “Bet” in English, but it’s certainly not a “b.”
So many scholarly writers, who profess to know Hebrew, habitually muck up the English transliteration of Hebrew words. Why?

Just Deserts For Judith Miller

Iraq, Neoconservatism, War, WMD

At least one good thing has come of Karl Rovegate: Judith Miller is in jail. Yes, the Gray Lady’s prized reporter has been incarcerated, albeit for the wrong offense. She’s being held in criminal contempt for failing to cooperate in “the investigation of who may have unlawfully leaked the name of undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame to the media.” But, as I said to talk-show host Robby Noel two weeks back, I’ll take justice when and where I can get it. Ahmad Chalabi and the White House fed the voracious birdbrain with misinformation and lies about WMD. And in response (presumably), Miller shilled for the Iraq war like there was no tomorrow. No tale was too tall for her and no fabrication too fantastic. Clearly, she’s in the business of cultivating sources—a conduit for government propaganda, not for the truth, whose reporting about the dangers Iraq posed to America had the veracity of Sheherazade’s Tales of the Arabian Nights. Maybe justice does, on occasion, work in mysterious ways. In any event, I’m not the least bit sorry that Miller, the sycophantic face of American journalism, is being punished… for something.

Remembering "Mad Dog" Sneddon's Mentor: Janet Reno

Criminal Injustice, Justice, Law, Media

(To get the real deal on the Michael Jackson case read “Mad Dog” Sneddon Vs. Michael Jackson. ) Without the defense his money afforded (Thomas Mesereau Jr.), Jackson would’ve probably been imprisoned for 18 years! In all likelihood, he’d have perished in the pokey. People with modest means could not have mustered the resources to win. Think back to the day care child sex abuse witch hunt that gripped the nation in the 1980s. Over 400 children, stoked by hysterical mothers and lethal therapists (most of whom have retained their professional credentials), accused day care workers, parents, and teachers of the kind of perversities that would’ve made the Marquis de Sade blush. The accusations (also the evidence in court) would’ve also befuddled the infamous sexual sadist, because they involved copulation with clowns, spaceships, robots, and mythical creatures. Still, children don’t lie, remember? In any event, victims were imprisoned absent corroborative evidence—no blood, semen or evidence of battery was ever produced. Kelly Michaels, Gerald Amirault, and the Breezy Point day school ought to be household names—helpless victims of libel. The name of Attorney General Scott Harshbarger, the “Mad Dog” of Massachusetts, ought to live on in infamy. Janet Reno’s already does: then the Dade County State Attorney, Reno used these cases as a professional stepping stone, going on to commit even greater crimes.

Remembering “Mad Dog” Sneddon’s Mentor: Janet Reno

Criminal Injustice, Justice, Law, Media

(To get the real deal on the Michael Jackson case read “Mad Dog” Sneddon Vs. Michael Jackson. ) Without the defense his money afforded (Thomas Mesereau Jr.), Jackson would’ve probably been imprisoned for 18 years! In all likelihood, he’d have perished in the pokey. People with modest means could not have mustered the resources to win. Think back to the day care child sex abuse witch hunt that gripped the nation in the 1980s. Over 400 children, stoked by hysterical mothers and lethal therapists (most of whom have retained their professional credentials), accused day care workers, parents, and teachers of the kind of perversities that would’ve made the Marquis de Sade blush. The accusations (also the evidence in court) would’ve also befuddled the infamous sexual sadist, because they involved copulation with clowns, spaceships, robots, and mythical creatures. Still, children don’t lie, remember? In any event, victims were imprisoned absent corroborative evidence—no blood, semen or evidence of battery was ever produced. Kelly Michaels, Gerald Amirault, and the Breezy Point day school ought to be household names—helpless victims of libel. The name of Attorney General Scott Harshbarger, the “Mad Dog” of Massachusetts, ought to live on in infamy. Janet Reno’s already does: then the Dade County State Attorney, Reno used these cases as a professional stepping stone, going on to commit even greater crimes.