h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Thanks, Robbie. Some of this info is going to show up in Parts 2 and 3, too.

I think some of our most informative convos start at the bottom of entries in the EG and .

Check out this one by Willem, which started because I was ranting about world politics: F22114266?thread=8281940

If you've ever wanted a crash course in the history of South Africa, h2g2ers, here's a place to start.

Yes, thanks, Robbie! I feel quite honoured.
And I do enjoy a lot of the conversations here. They can go from enllightening to insane in the blink of a post.


Dmitri, regarding your teacher, that's a very good question that I don't really have an answer for. I can think of a few options:
Perhaps the specific brand of Orthodox Judaism she followed had stopped this custom, and she just didn't count any of the others that hadn't.
Or perhaps it has been stopped in places like Brooklyn - like for hygene reasons, or because of animal cruelty (oh, I did forget to mention the part where they swing the chicken over the recipient's head in circles, didn't I? ing cruel) but has been preserved in Israel.
Or perhaps it even has completely stopped for a while, around the time you were learning about it from her, but has returned as part of the backlash agaist modernity. Did you know that within the ultra-orthodox community, there is a pretty strong anti-wig movement? They're not modest enough, apparently, because they're cheating by looking like actual hair. And I'm not even talking about sub-sects like the 'shawl women', that are even considered crazy by many mainstream rabbis.

But without more background, which I am loath to dig up because I am kinda lazy like that, I don't know if any of these options is the right one, or if I'm even close.
All I can tell you is that in oresent-day Israel, it definitely happens. You can see it advertised in the orthodox neighbourhoods every year around Yom Kippur, and sometimes you can even see the temporary stands they set up to perform it.

Gracious. You're probably right, Lady P. Sometimes you think something like that - chicken sacrifices, or religious snake-handling (yes, it happens)- has gone away. And then it comes back.

I hadn't heard of anti-wig movements, either.

Ugh. I'm not going to go into that, because I'm kinda short on time and generally don't feel like ranting at the moment, but it's another backlash thing. Society - even ultra-orthodox society - is growing more liberal, so the extremists find ways to surround themselves with bigger walls. The issue of (perceived) 'modesty' tends to be a popular one, from male-female segregation, to clothing, to wigs. You can look it up.

I will. I've got a Hebrew film about the ultra-orthodox in Israel, lined up in my Netflix queue.

It's just a world trend. When I was a kid, evangelical Christianity was mostly tolerant and open to various viewpoints. I've met lots of Muslims who grew up that way, too.