What I want is to run and hope it falls away

[sovay]

The majority of my day so far has been emotionally and physically excruciating, but I want to appreciate spatch for listening to me speculate this morning on the subject of whether Voyager's Doctor is Jewish. Obviously the question itself presumes some biographical facts on the part of his creator-template, but I feel the odds are better than not in the case of an AI designer named Lewis Zimmerman who does most of his communicating via sarcasm: "Congratulations. The first trans-galactic phone call." So how does patrilineal descent work when it's photons? Fortunately, since I do not have the space in my life to explore the argument seriously, I am confident the answer is covered by either golem minhag or the same kind of fannishness that runs with the halachah of descent from Magneto. I did check rabbinical opinions on the Jewishness of robots and was entertained that professional-type people also think of Star Trek and whether a golem counts in a minyan. Personally I think that in the era of Zoom shivas and services, a sentient hologram would at least know how to dial in on time. Did this train of thought cross my mind in time to exploit it for Purimgifts? Nope. But it's one of the few things I did with my brain today that didn't make me miserable. And a package from minoanmiss arrived for my niece, who I will be seeing tomorrow. And that's really nice.

Comments

[nodrog]

… I like you.

[nodrog]

I am reminded of an SF story written some time in the 1950s, where a snowbird Jewish retiree couple in Southern California encounter a malevolent experimental robot that had killed its creator and was just getting started, and somehow the older couple manage to bash it out of commission - but the man has a thought, and puts it back together but not all the way, and writes a magic word on its forehead…  The story ends with the couple sitting on their porch talking family while their new golem cuts the grass.

[sara]

He's totally a Jew. Like, it has absolutely never occurred to me that he was anything else?

[selkie]

We decided at work some years ago that zombies did not count in a minyan because they were no longer b'tzelem elohim, but that golems do count because they are fashioned for/to life.
Look, there are reasons I don't quit my job and run screaming into a cornfield (chiefest being I don't run and I hate cornfields).

*sends hot sheep and hopefully some sort of fiction*

We talked about the Purim exchange and now... uh... Purim is almost here. TIME.

[minoanmiss]

You think such magnificent thoughts. *delights*

I very much hope she likes the package contents!

[kathmandu]

...I had never previously considered that Magneto might ever have had children. He doesn't seem like good husband material or good father material.

(I have followed the link and read the essay, so I understand now that's not quite the idea, but it was my first reaction when I read your commentary.)

[pameladean]

I love this so much. And of course you are right. It seems so evident now that you mention it.

I hope a larger percentage of your day is pleasant and sweet tomorrow, but I am glad you did have this. And thank you for sharing it.

P.

[naraht]

That collection of rabbinical opinions on the Jewishness of robots is fantastic. I feel there's a need for a pamphlet of opinions on Jewish issues in SF, if such a thing doesn't exist already.

And this is interestingly timely because I've been pondering a situation in my own novel-in-progress. The premise is that two people are paired via a neural link – meaning that they develop a semi-shared consciousness and need to stay fairly close together, although they retain their individual outlook and personalities. One of my protagonists is Jewish and the other isn't. The question is whether both of them can be counted for a minyan, or only the Jewish one.

The obvious answer is "a neural link doesn't make you Jewish" but I am hoping I can at least make it a point of debate – and the residents of this far-off space colony do want the answer to be yes! I wonder whether it could be counted as a kind of ibbur? And there is maybe an aspect of Ruth and Naomi, "whither thou goest, I will go."

[julian]

*hug*, I say minimalistically.

[tree_and_leaf]

Personally I think that in the era of Zoom shivas and services, a sentient hologram would at least know how to dial in on time.

Ah ha ha ha. *sobs*

[choco_frosh]

I did check rabbinical opinions on the Jewishness of robots and was entertained that professional-type people also think of Star Trek and whether a golem counts in a minyan.
I'm more blown away (although maybe I should have expected it?) by the fact that people were speculating about whether robots could be Jewish in the 17th freakin' century.

[ashlyme]

I like your brain.

[dhampyresa]

Sorry you day sucked *hugs*

[asakiyume]

So how does patrilineal descent work when it's photons?

Photonic beings and their rights are a thing later on in the series, but they never go into it as fully as they could.

[skygiants]

I think he's a Jew, but I don't know whether he thinks he is, and I'd love to see an episode that digs into that.