reviewed by the brilliant @abigailnussbaum.bsky.social in Locus Magazine this month and look, it's terribly wrong to say something like "oh *thank goodness*, this very experienced SF reviewer has understood what I was going for on the SF side of the story" but this is 100% what I was going for.
![בֶּן זוֹמָא אוֹמֵר, אֵיזֶהוּ חָכָם, הַלּוֹמֵד מִכָּל אָדָם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (תהלים קיט) מִכָּל מְלַמְּדַי הִשְׂכַּלְתִּי כִּי עֵדְוֹתֶיךָ שִׂיחָה לִּי. אֵיזֶהוּ גִבּוֹר, הַכּוֹבֵשׁ אֶת יִצְרוֹ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (משלי טז) טוֹב אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם מִגִּבּוֹר וּמשֵׁל בְּרוּחוֹ מִלֹּכֵד עִיר. אֵיזֶהוּ עָשִׁיר, הַשָּׂמֵחַ בְּחֶלְקוֹ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (תהלים קכח) יְגִיעַ כַּפֶּיךָ כִּי תֹאכֵל אַשְׁרֶיךָ וְטוֹב לָךְ. אַשְׁרֶיךָ, בָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה. וְטוֹב לָךְ, לָעוֹלָם הַבָּא. אֵיזֶהוּ מְכֻבָּד, הַמְכַבֵּד אֶת הַבְּרִיּוֹת, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שמואל א ב) כִּי מְכַבְּדַי אֲכַבֵּד וּבֹזַי יֵקָלּוּ:
Ben Zoma said: Who is wise? He who learns from every man, as it is said: “From all who taught me have I gained understanding” (Psalms 119:99). Who is mighty? He who subdues his [evil] inclination, as it is said: “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that rules his spirit than he that takes a city” (Proverbs 16:32). Who is rich? He who rejoices in his lot, as it is said: “You shall enjoy the fruit of your labors, you shall be happy and you shall prosper” (Psalms 128:2) “You shall be happy” in this world, “and you shall prosper” in the world to come. Who is he that is honored? He who honors his fellow human beings as it is said: “For I honor those that honor Me, but those who spurn Me shall be dishonored” (I Samuel 2:30).](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:w53ugkdy674dqmggiu6jjl65/bafkreibwnkudwdvb3w3op6v26jfs6rjiztgwjt2d7eupo3feoizsesagom)
![In December 1942, when the mass murder of European Jewry became known to the Allies, the British continued to refuse to change their policy of limited immigration, or to admit Jews from Nazi controlled Europe in numbers outside the quota imposed by the White Paper, and the Royal Navy prevented ships with Jewish refugees from reaching Palestine. Some ships carrying Jewish refugees were turned back towards Europe, although in one instance, about 2,000 Jews who were fleeing Europe by sea were detained in a camp in Mauritius and were given the option of emigrating to Palestine after the war.[18] The British also stopped all attempts by Palestinian Jews to bribe the Nazis into freeing European Jews. At the time that the Holocaust became known to the Allies, there were 34,000 Jewish immigration certificates for Palestine remaining. In 1943, about half the remaining certificates were distributed, and by the end of the war, 3,000 certificates remained.[19]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:w53ugkdy674dqmggiu6jjl65/bafkreifgxxodcubh7qdyguslftf2u7ls6crvoma36qrplxewdgy23i76t4)
![Holiness requires that individuals shall conform to the class to which they belong… Holiness means keeping distinct the categories of creation. It therefore involves correct definition, discrimination and order. Under this head all the rules of sexual morality exemplify the holy (1966, 54). Roman children, therefore, were extremely appropriate attendants (camilli, camillae) for the Flamen and Flaminica Dialis whose ritual purity would otherwise have been imperiled if they were served, instead, by adults who, ipso facto, were gendered, sexual beings. To guard against the children coming into contact with sexuality in any form, even ‘passively’ in the form of speech, their nonsexual status was signaled and protected by the toga praetexta. 27 Just as the praetexta on the clothing of priests and priestesses advised all beholders that, in the words of Seneca, they should refrain from things obscaena,28 so the praetexta on the child’s toga advised all beholders of the child’s inviolable state. The words of the emperor Julian, in his role as Pontifex Maximus, are as appropriate for the pueri praetextati as for the priests he was addressing: ...when we wear in public the sacred dress [we] make it a public property …for whenever this happens, many who are not purified come near us, and by this means the symbols of the gods are polluted.29 For children, who, like priests and Vestals, possessed a ritual purity, the praetexta signaled their holy status and, through warning others of that status, protected it from profanation. The praetexta bestowed honor (maiestas) on children and guarded their weakness.30 It was, in the words of one Roman, that sacred praetexta by which we make sacred and venerable the weakness of childhood](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:w53ugkdy674dqmggiu6jjl65/bafkreih6zwex6t26tudcmxlrqj36agibt64diam5prdpuhnxpesotwl544)
