Hacker News with Generative AI: Judaism

Chariot and Saucer (jewishreviewofbooks.com)
Sometime in the early Babylonian exile, a priest named Ezekiel had a vision on the banks of the Chebar Canal. Four winged creatures, each with four faces, emerged, borne on a fiery wind, drawing a bejeweled chariot (merkavah). In the air above them, God sat on a sapphire throne and said, “O Mortal, stand up on your feet that I may speak to you” (Ezek. 2:1).
Why Spinoza still matters (2016) (aeon.co)
In July 1656, the 23-year-old Bento de Spinoza was excommunicated from the Portuguese-Jewish congregation of Amsterdam. It was the harshest punishment of herem (ban) ever issued by that community.
When the Bar Mitzvah Boy Is 90 (nytimes.com)
In 1947, Ron Eliran’s 13th birthday in the British Mandate for Palestine was canceled when authorities called a curfew. Now, 77 years later, he has officially become a man.