Wow.  I had not ever seen this before and was utterly flabbergasted by this quote from Rabbi Batzri, head of the Shalom Yeshiva in Jerusalem:

“No one can study Torah unless he or she is converting to Judaism."

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/133184

"Honor your father and mother" is only for Jews?

"Love your neighbor as yourself" is only for Jews?

I am utterly without words on this.  What are your thoughts?

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 17th was trichologist.

a person who specializes in hair and scalp care; broadly : a person whose occupation is the dressing or cutting of hair

In the "Did you know?" section they provided this:

The Merriam-Webster word of the day for August 13th was ingratiate.

to gain favor or favorable acceptance for by deliberate effort — usually used with "with"

The Merriam-Webster Word of the Day for August 6th was demean.

Meaning : to conduct or behave (oneself) usually in a proper manner

Example Sentence Sylvia was proud of the polite way her young children demeaned themselves in front of the dinner guests.

The Merriam-Webster Word of the Day for August 25th was empyreal (em-pye-REE-ul).

1 : of or relating to the firmament : celestial 2 : sublime

The Merriam-Webster Word of the Day for August 4th was tantivity.  Their definition:

in a headlong dash : at a gallop

On August 3rd the Merriam-Webster Word of the Day was levigate.  They provided this definition:

1 : polish, smooth 2 a : to grind to a fine smooth powder while in moist condition  b : to separate (fine powder) from coarser material by suspending in a liquid

They also provided this background information on the word:

On August 20th, the Merriam-Webster Word of the Day was contemn.

to view or treat with contempt : scorn

I have posted a number of articles under the category of "Words for Thought". Part of the purpose in writing those articles is to share interesting insights into words that are often unusual. Today I would like to focus on words from a different perspective: words that are common in our society but that we often use without fully considering the meaning of what we are saying.  The first article of this type was posted last August.  I guess it's time for an update.  Next up: gangsta...

Gangsta/Gangster

I recently heard one of my professional colleagues describe herself (in a facetious manner) as "gangsta".  The quote: "I am so gangsta!"

I had not heard that expression so I looked it up and came across this description of "gangsta rap":