To add a little perspective to this rather cryptic note... Jews are celebrating the holiday of Purim yesterday and today (in Jerusalem and walled cities such as Hebron, Safed, Tiberias, etc.). The holiday is one of the few truly fun and happy holidays we have, with little seriousness at all. In some ways (if those in the know will forgive me), it is a combination of April Fool's Day, Halloween, and more.
It includes the retelling of a story that could easily have been one of great tragedy - a rather idiotic king controlled by his demonic advisor who convinces the king to sign an edict to kill all the Jews in the land. Meanwhile, the idiot king kills his first wife because she refused to dance naked before his advisors and then realizes he wants another wife. He picks a young, beautiful, Jewish woman who reveals the danger to her people. The king turns the edict around at the last minute, and the Jewish people are saved and the wicked Haman is killed. Each year, we read the story and boo and make noise when the evil Haman's name is spoken; we celebrate by giving gifts of food to friends and money to the poor and sharing in a festive meal (we had a BBQ). Kids dress up in costumes and we celebrate and get rather silly. In terms of history, I believe this story, which took place in Shushan, Persia hundreds of years ago, really happened. About 3 decades ago, Jews from Ethiopia, largely a forgotten and lost community, started arriving in Israel after some traveling Israelis stumbled across them and explained that Israel had been re-established after 2,000 years. When the Israeli government sent planes into Ethiopia (actually Sudan), to get them out, the rabbis here began comparing "their" religion and practices with mainstream Judaism and found matches in all the major holidays. They (and we), keep Yom Kippur, Passover, etc. etc. Well, when they got to the "holiday" of Purim, which we just celebrated, the Ethiopians said it as a fast day, a day of mourning. The Israeli rabbis asked - mourning? We celebrate - why do you mourn? And the Ethiopian rabbis explained that all the Jews of Shushan had been killed - same day as we celebrate - according to the edict of the king. It seems that the second edict, the one ordering people NOT to kill the Jews, never got to Ethiopia and so, for hundreds of years, this isolated community would mourn for the Jews of Shushan and fast in sorrow for their deaths! Now, they celebrate with us and part of that celebration is just being silly...which brings us back to Svi's post. As someone who is very active in the Israeli technical writing community, I can tell you we are just as normal as all the rest of you nuts...I mean technical writers! Cheers - and happy Purim! Paula Paula R. Stern WritePoint Ltd. www.writepoint.com -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Wade Courtney Sent: Monday, March 05, 2007 8:31 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [TCP] Are Technical Writers Losing Their Grip on Reality? I lost my grip loooooong ago. On 3/4/07, Svi Ben-Elya <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Elephant.org.il just reported on a recent study that found that many > Israeli technical writers have begun losing their grip on reality. > Although most technical writers don't take the study seriously many of > you may enjoy reading it. > > - Svi Ben-Elya - > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > ______________________________________________ > > Author Help files and create printed documentation with Doc-To-Help. > New release adds Team Authoring Support, enhanced Web-based help > technology and PDF output. Learn more at www.doctohelp.com/tcp. > > > DOCUMENTATION & TRAINING WEST 07: THE USER EXPERIENCE > > April 18-21, 2007 ~ Vancouver BC ~ Marriott Pinnacle ~ free city tour > 40+ sessions * free workshops * free iPod offer * www.doctrain.com > _______________________________________________ > > Technical Communication Professionals > > Post a message to the list: email [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: > http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com > Subscribe (email): send a blank message to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe (email): send a blank > message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Need help? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com > -- Wade Courtney North San Diego County Yahoo: wcourtne http://blog.stinkingbadges.org http://www.frappr.com/elpicoso http://www.myspace.com/elpicoso http://www.linkedin.com/in/wadecourtney I just found out that the brain is like a computer. If that's true, then there really aren't any stupid people. Just people running DOS. Unknown ______________________________________________ Author Help files and create printed documentation with Doc-To-Help. New release adds Team Authoring Support, enhanced Web-based help technology and PDF output. Learn more at www.doctohelp.com/tcp. DOCUMENTATION & TRAINING WEST 07: THE USER EXPERIENCE April 18-21, 2007 ~ Vancouver BC ~ Marriott Pinnacle ~ free city tour 40+ sessions * free workshops * free iPod offer * www.doctrain.com _______________________________________________ Technical Communication Professionals Post a message to the list: email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com Subscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Need help? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.446 / Virus Database: 268.18.6/709 - Release Date: 3/3/2007 8:12 AM ______________________________________________ Author Help files and create printed documentation with Doc-To-Help. New release adds Team Authoring Support, enhanced Web-based help technology and PDF output. Learn more at www.doctohelp.com/tcp. DOCUMENTATION & TRAINING WEST 07: THE USER EXPERIENCE April 18-21, 2007 ~ Vancouver BC ~ Marriott Pinnacle ~ free city tour 40+ sessions * free workshops * free iPod offer * www.doctrain.com _______________________________________________ Technical Communication Professionals Post a message to the list: email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com Subscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Need help? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com
