@@@@@ @ @ @@@@@ @ @ @@@@@@@ @ @ @@@@@ @@@@@ @@@ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @@@@@ @@@@ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @@@@@ @ @ @ @ @@@@@ @@@@@ @@@Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society 06/19/26 -- Vol. 44, No. 51, Whole Number 2437
Table of Contents
In the 05/15/26 issue of the MT VOID, I typed part of John Hertz's letter of comment as:
"Brother Wolansky's point of view is often valuable. He goes too far in saying Orwell's NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR is 'about' Stalin. As Nabakov said, to call a story a true story is an insult to both art and truth." [-jh]
That should have been "Nabokov"--my typo, not John's/ [-ecl]
"Fiddler on the Moon" (film review by Evelyn C. Leeper):
There used to be a fairly common panel at science fiction conventions (at least the ones I went to): "Jews in Space". There were two versions: science fiction about Jews in space, and how Jewish laws and customs would be followed in space. Well, now there's a short film about the latter version: "Fiddler on the Moon". An example of this panel follows this review.
(Actually, "now" is not accurate. The film was made in 2005, but when it ran on PBS in New York this June, it was the first I had heard of it.)
Some of the topics had been discussed at length on the panels--mostly things like how to determine when sunrise and sunset were, particularly for the Sabbath. But the film had some topics we missed--for example, matzoh. Jews are supposed to eat matzoh for Passover, but the amount of crumbs matzoh produces is a big non-no in zero gravity. Also, dreidels don't fall over in zero gravity.
And while Jews on Mars will have sunrises and sunsets that are probably usable (though the Sabbath would be out of sync with Terra very quickly), but with the day being 40 minutes longer, or about 3%, the Jewish calendar would gradually get out of sync, by 11 or 12 days a year, and soon there would be no commonality to when a holiday was observed on Terra with when it was observed on Mars. (The proposed solution is to add a day to each Jewish month on Mars.)
[-ecl]
Jewish Time-Based Mitzvoth in a Lunar Colony (report on panel discussion at Noreascon 4, Worldcon 2004, by Evelyn C. Leeper):
Jewish Time-Based Mitzvoth in a Lunar Colony
Sun 4:00PM, H101
Nomi Burstein (m), Solomon Davidoff, Janice Gelb
Description: "Jews have found ways to adapt ancient laws to modern and future ideas, from time travel (across the International Dateline, at least) to vampirism (yes, you are permitted to swallow some blood). So, nu? How does someone observe a time-based commandment when "day" and "night" are artificial concepts. Where will a naturally-flowing spring come from for a mikvah on Mars? Our panel of mavens will engage in pilpul on halachic and non-halachic issues."
Estimated attendance: 60 people
Daidoff said that one of his hobbies was collecting science-fictional kippot (yarmulkes, skullcaps). Burstein, talking about the need for translating terms, "I was trying to find an English word for 'minyan'." "Minyan," several audience members responded.
Gelb talked about the difficulties of working on a convention while observing Shabbos. "I've trained the staff to answer the phone," she said.
Regarding the question of time-based mitzvoth. Davidoff said that there are two possibilities: use Jerusalem time, or calculate equivalent times locally. (I would think that using Jerusalem time would fail at great enough distances that the question of simultaneity would arise.)
Burstein said that in general there are three standard answers when you ask a rabbi a question:
Gelb also recommended a web site for this, then later
apologized--she had forgotten that it was in Hebrew! (For those
who can read Hebrew, it was
Burstein said that a further complication was that for mitzvoth
which refer to "an hour", this is not a sixty-minute hour, but
one-twelfth of the daylight hours at that time. So what if there
is no sunrise or sunset? Burstein said that this problem occurs
north of the Arctic Circle (and near the South Pole), and people
there go by their home town time if they are there sort-term,
while for longer periods, they draw a vertical line to the first
Jewish community directly south (north) of them and use their
time. (This seems to be the majority opinion).
Gelb suggested that the new halachic day starts when the sun is
lowest (or rather, closest to the horizon).
Burstein said that there are a lot of questions about traveling
across time zones even on earth. The firs answer is that if you
are planning at traveling at such a time that you will be
affecting your perception of fast days or holidays, don't do it if
you can avoid it. But after that there are many opinions (go by
your watch, use Jerusalem time, etc.). As Burstein summarized, "We
can be practical, we can be goofy, and we can be goofily
practical." The basic rule seems to be, "If you can avoid doing
it, don't do it."
(As an example of the goofy part, she said that one is allowed to
filter water on Shabbos only if you would drink it unfiltered!
That is because if you would drink only filtered water, you
consider the filtering as separating things, which is prohibited,
but if you would drink unfiltered water you don't consider it as
separating.)
She raised another question. Because one is not allowed to board a
vessel on Shabbos, if you land on the moon on Shabbos, can you get
off the LEM and then get back on?
Burstein asked about Mars--does one use a Martian day or a 24-hour
day? (Based on her earlier statement about the definition of hour,
I would assume one would use a Martian day.) Davidoff said that in
general one should use the local day. However, since one is
forbidden from fasting so as to injure oneself, if the day were
too long, the fasting problem would be self-correcting.
On the moon, one also certainly has the question how one would
determine the new moon or the full moon. On Mars, which moon would
one use? I asked this, and Burstein said this was a question from
someone who "was really ingrained in halachah or had too much time
on their hands." The answer would be to use Deimos--Phobos goes
too fast.
Burstein said that they have a rabbi "who is sympathetic to
questions like these," so her husband Michael can get informed
opinions for his fiction. For example, one could build a mikveh
(ritual bath) on Mars by melting the polar ice, and could use a
twenty-five-hour day.
Burstein pointed out that a colony (or even a longtime temporary
settlement) on Mars that did this would get out of sync with Earth
fairly quickly.
Someone asked about a seder in space--should you open the door for
Elijah? Davidoff immediately said, "I've got an answer." First,
you are forbidden to do anything endangering your health. But you
could certainly open the outer hatch, wait, then close that and
open the inner hatch.
Someone asked about "gravity-based mitzvoth". Burstein thought
that shaking the lulav might be a problem in space. Davidoff said
that you could build a sukkah, but Burstein pointed out that you
are not allowed to fasten the top down, and it would end up
drifting off.
Gelb said that it is amazing that the answers to a lot of these
questions are "This has actually been dealt with." For example,
there are rulings regarding androgynous creatures (since that
occurs here), and there is a six-hundred-year-old book that says
that space creatures cannot be converted.
Other bits and pieces:
If you are on a spaceship, you don't have to light Chanukah
candles because you are alone and no one outside would see them.
(Someone in the audience asked, "How do you know you're alone?")
You must hear "Amen" directly for it to count, so you cannot
assemble a minyan over the radio. (What about ten Jewish men
standing in a circle on the moon, but in spacesuits so that they
can only hear each other through radios?)
Regarding whether one is allowed to teleport using a stable
wormhole on Shabbos or whether that violates the prohibition on
traveling more than a certain distance, someone said their rabbi
told them it was alright because, "You're not traveling; you're
just going."
Someone in the audience suggested tat since women don not need to
observe time-based mitzvoth, the solution is to have only women as
astronauts. (This is not quite true--they must fast on fast days,
and observe Shabbos, for example.)
Gelb closed by saying, "The coolest thing is that people are
actually thinking about this stuff."
[-ecl]
Notes on MAGNIFICA HUMANITAS by Pope Leo XIV (comments by Paul S. R. Chisholm):
MAGNIFICA HUMANITAS (Magnificent Humanity): ON SAFEGUARDING THE
HUMAN PERSON IN THE TIME OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE is a statement
of values. Extreme concentration of wealth is bad. Massive
unemployment is very bad, and guaranteed income is no substitute
for meaningful work. People should be treated as human beings with
inherent dignity, not resources to be managed with maximum
efficiency. "Just war" rarely is. War waged by human beings is bad
enough, but at least in theory humans are capable of morality; war
waged by machines is worse.
Pope Leo constantly references the "Social Doctrine of the
Church." This is surprisingly liberal (when sex isn't involved):
Labor unions are good. Unrestrained capitalism is bad. Wealth and
income should be distributed justly. Private property is not an
absolute right. These doctrines constantly inform the values
supported here.
The encyclical makes no specific policy recommendations. Some
people are sad about that.
"We can embrace the technological progress that alleviates
suffering and unlocks new possibilities, provided that we do not
abandon the very essence of our humanity, namely the capacity for
relationship and love." A YouGov poll found 22% of respondents
disagreed with that; presumably they're pessimistic about AI in
general. 61% of respondents agreed with Pope Leo that AI can be
used for good. The question remains: Will it? [-psrc]
Martial Arts Robot Kicks Child (comments by Evelyn C. Leeper):
Yahoo!News reports:
"This Clown-Wigged Martial Arts Robot Was Supposed to Entertain--
Then It Brutally Kicked a Child, Video Goes Viral"
"When you talk about robots being trained in combat and martial
arts, people instantly think about the worst possible scenarios,
such as a robot takeover of the world and a war of the machines.
"While many believe that such scenarios are too extreme to come
true, spectators who watched a clown-wigged robot kick a child in
the chest have already been filled with fear in China, likely
changing the way they perceive the two-legged mechanical device."
...
[Bobbie Sellers noted that "brutally" implies some emotion on the
part of the robot. Others have observed that having a barrier
between a martial arts robot and a group of children might have
been a good idea.]
Full story at
https://www.yahoo.com/news/world/articles/clown-wigged-martial-arts-robot-103002092.html.
[-ecl]
Astronaut Mark Kelly's Top Three Space Movies:
See
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1291344886316267 for his full
comments, and responses from others.
THE SILVER STALLION (letter of comment by John Hertz):
In an addition to his comments on THE SILVER STALLION in the
05/08/26 issue of the MT VOID, John Hertz writes:
I cited Goodreads as a courtesy to those in Electronicland.
It isn't Mr. Cabell's fault that for many of us 'the Silver
Stallion' brings to mind the Lone Ranger." [-jh]
Evelyn adds:
Perhaps, but not nearly for as many of us as the finale of
Gioachino Rossini's "William Tell Overture".
Or for that matter Pyotr Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" brings to
mind Quaker Puffed Wheat and Puffed Rice, although this is less
well-known than Rossini's work, and may be a generational thing.
[-ecl]
THE LORD OF THE RINGS and THE HOBBIT Films (letter of comment by Gary McGath):
In respone to Evelyn's comments on THE LORD OF THE RINGS and THE
HOBBIT films in the 06/12/26 issue of the MT VOID, Gary McGath
writes:
[Evelyn wrote:] "... there is one really annoying flaw: they made
Gimli the comic relief. Perhaps my objection will be clearer if I
say that they made the dwarf the comic relief."
Agreed. I admit to laughing at the line "Nobody tosses a dwarf,"
but it was a severe anachronism (if that's the right word for a
work of fantasy fiction). [-gmg]
[Evelyn wrote:] "... And it's not just THE LORD OF THE RINGS; in
THE HOBBIT ..., Jackson also makes the dwarves comic figures. And
they are *not* comic figures in the books."
To some extent, some of them are. Certainly there's more humor in
THE HOBBIT than in THE LORD OF THE RINGS. [-gmg]
Evelyn responds:
If we want to talk about anachronisms, what about the potatoes,
the tobacco, the umbrellas, and the mantelpiece clocks?
In THE HOBBIT Bilbo is also a comic figure. I think THE HOBBIT,
aimed at a younger audience (so far as I can judge), is more prone
to humor, but at least spreads it around a bit. [-ecl]
This Week's Reading (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper):
An essay by Katy Waldman in the June 10, 2026, issue of The New
Yorker asks, "Did a Chatbot Write a Prize-Winning Story? Does It
Matter?" But read closely, the story actually has a different
complaint: the author doesn't like the stylistic techniques used
in the story, which she claims are very common in AI-written
stories. In other words, she is arguing with the judges of the
Commonwealth Foundation in their choice of this story as being the
best of its category.
Jamir Nazir was accused of AI-assisted cheating in his story "The
Serpent in the Grove" by people not involved in the judging
because of "his story's synthetic tics, glitchy metaphors, and
general unreadability."
The A.I.-detection program Pangram claimed it was one hundred per
cent A.I.-generated.
Yashvi Jain fed an excerpt from PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (written by
the very human Jane Austen in 1813) into three AI detectors.
ZeroGPT claimed it was 100% AI-generated. Gpt zero claimed it was
17% AI-generated. Only Copyleaks labeled it as a human text.
So much for trusting AI detectors.
As Waldman notes, "Epistemically, there is something a bit wobbly
about using chatbots to determine whether a piece of prose was
written by chatbots." And never mind that a Stanford study found
that "AI-detecting algorithms tend to be biased against non-native
English speakers." But one professor, Ethan Mollick, insisted,
"Come on, if you know you know." And Sam Kriss in the Times
magazine in 2025 claimed a list of "give-a-ways": anaphora,
epistrophe, zeugma, and negative parallelism, which is "all over
'The Serpent in the Grove'".
[I personally love zeugma. Noel Coward used it often (e.g., "She
broke his heart and his bank." in PRIVATE LIVES, and arguably, the
title "Mad Dogs and Englishmen"), and I doubt anyone would claim
his works were AI-written. Well, an AI detector might.]
Waldman goes on to say, "The story has its share of glaringly
nonsensical phrases that should have tipped off anyone paying an
iota of attention--for instance, when Vishnu spies a sexy visitor,
we learn that the woman 'had the kind of walking that made benches
become men.'" But most of its failures are subtler, more
insidious. Sita's survival is a fact 'that felt like a small warm
animal in her hands'; the problem isn't that a reader can't
picture a fact being cradled like an animal--it's that the image
and the thought behind it is maudlin." And she goes on to list
several more.
She then compares Nazir's story to "A House for Mr. Biswas" by V.
S. Naipaul, claiming the latter is much better written. (One
wonders if anyone has run *it* through an AI-detector.) But her
complaint is not that one is *AI*-written and one *human*-written;
it's that she doesn't think Nazir's story is *well*-written.
She does address this somewhat, saying that the "banalities" in
Nazir's story "are less offensive than the fact that a group of
cultural gatekeepers rubber-stamped the story." She writes that
some blame "the tendency of M.F.A. programs to promote a kind of
stylistic polish at the expense of substance." Others see a "DEI"
element in the selection of a story from the Global South.
And she closes with a variation on authorial intentionalism: "An
A.I. can't mean what it says, and indeed no human writer can mean
what an A.I. writes on her behalf--she can agree with it, she can
aspire to it, she can hide behind it, but she can't mean it. The
sloptimists are betting that writing devoid of an inner purpose
can rival the stuff ripped out of an author's chest with a claw
grapple. Any serious reader knows that it can't."
Apparently, she doesn't feel that the judges of the Commonwealth
Foundation prizes are serious readers, or more specifically, that
their tastes don't match hers. [-ecl]
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Evelyn C. Leeper
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Quote of the Week:
The irony for mankind is that a computer program is
asking humans to prove that they are not a robot.
--Russ Archer