short takes

[cellio]

And now for something completely different...
The husband of a member of the Debatable Choir posted video from our Pennsic performance:

Click to view

I didn't know enough chemistry to fully parse this geeky comic by ohiblather, but I still laughed out loud when I saw it.
xiphias reports research that seems to be begging for an IgNobel award. As he points out, it's

Comments

[miz_hatbox]

re Pirates: Yaaarrr, so what be yer answers?

[cellio]

If you have a hook instead of a hand, which arm do you put teffillin on?

You place t'fillin on the weaker arm. The stronger arm is considered to be the one you write with. Unless the pirate has learned to write with a hook, this means the t'fillin go on the arm with the hook. I am not sure what the law is in the case of one who is illiterate.

Does your treasure map show how far the eruv extends?

I don't know; do you usually make an eiruv around buried treasure? I wouldn't; you have to wait until after Shabbat to carry it out anyway...

How long do you wait till after capturing a ship to put up a mezzuzah in the cabin?

Do you intend to occupy the ship? If it is your residence, you must do so immediately. If it is merely a vehicle or a temporary dwelling, you don't need one at all. We recommend having a non-Jewish crew member sail the ship home if you do not intend to keep it.

If Kalhua doesnt have a hashgacha, what rum do you make kiddush on?(Kalhua isn't a rum. ?) You make kiddush on a good drink, one suitable for

[mabfan]

I like these. :-)

[zevabe]

If the captured pirate ship will be a temporary dwelling for more than 30 days, a mezuza should be affixed

[cellio]

Mezuzah: good point; it could well take that long to get back to harbor.

Sephardim keep Pesach the same amount of time as Ashkanazim, that being 7 days in Israel & 8 days elsewhere.

I was taking an unwarranted shortcut: if you use Ashkenazi pronunciation then the odds are very good that you are not living in Israel. Sephardim of course could be anywhere, including Israel. I should have filled it in. (I was trying not to go over the character count for comments, but that was not a good place to conserve.)

Plank + hole: I didn't know that. Thank you for educating me.

Animals and small children are assumed to carry themselves, but rabbinicaly one is enjoined from carrying them without need

I thought there was a prohibition on baby slings because of carrying. Of course, that suggests a degree of premeditation that might not apply in your playground example. It's one thing to pick up the resistant kid, and perhaps another to leave your house carrying the kid in the first place.

[geekosaur]

Wouldn't the fact that it has a hook automatically make it the weaker arm for the purpose of halakhah? Also, "write with" would include "sign with" (writing was not a common skill), and in any case I'm pretty sure the whole handedness thing is modern; back then, using the left hand was an insult (an attitude you still see in some Orthodox communities; the left hand was the one you, er, cleaned yourself with.).

[cellio]

I was assuming the questions were being asked about pirates who were alive to talk on Saturday, so I accepted a modern interpretation on this. I doubt this is talmudic, when, as you say, norms were different. (I didn't know that left-handedness was an issue today in Jewish communities.)

pre-emptive defense

[cellio]

Perhaps this would be a good time to share a favorite quote:

"You know you're among Jewish geeks when...
[...]
3. someone is denounced for diverting a Halakhic discussion to the implications of event X where P(X) < P(sun going nova)"
- Omri Schwarz