Tribal Report (17 April, 2019, 12 Nisan, 5778)
Contents:
1. In Praise of Sweden
2. Why did Finnish people traditionally worship bears?
3. Germans.
Is there something cultural which makes German people "very efficient"?
4. Which son of Jacob (Israel) has the most descendants?
5. What unicorns mean to Scottish identity By Mike MacEacheran
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Notes:
Information and Opinions DO NOT necessarily reflect our own opinions and understanding of the sources.
They are however quoted since something said within them be of interest and value.
Notes on Germany may also be included even though Germany on the whole is not representative of an Israelite Tribe(s) but rather a potential adversary.
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1. In Praise of Sweden
In what ways is Germany more efficient and less efficient than Scandinavian countries?
https://www.quora.com/In-what-ways-is-Germany-different-to-Scandinavian-countries
Chris Ebbert, lives in Sweden
I'm a German, living in Sweden, and when it comes to efficiency, I have to say the Swedes blow the doors off Germany.
It boggles the mind how little staff the Swedes need for everything. Whatever you do, there will be nobody there to ask, and nothing to pick up or deliver. Instead, you leave your social security number, and a whole bunch of folks suddenly know who you are and what you want and when you need it, and it will be there, on time, with a little piece of chocolate and a personalised greeting.
Totally unbelievable, and downright spooky.
In Germany, it's still 1976. Anywhere you go, there will be at least two people manning the station, and they want to see your ID, and one of them won't believe it's actually you, and the air conditioning is broken, and no, we cannot check when the train is coming, and we only take cash.
Sweden is so far ahead of Germany these days, I can't believe they are considered comparable.
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2. Why did Finnish people traditionally worship bears?
Susanna Viljanen
https://www.quora.com/Why-did-Finnish-people-traditionally-worship-bears
We still do!
No, not really worship, but we do love and respect bears.
Bear is the largest and most awesome apex predator at the taiga, and also most humanlike. While other apex predators, like eagle and lynx, have been considered as competitors, and wolf and wolverine outright hated (the very name of wolf, susi, means also 'a thing gone wrong', and the other name, hukka, means 'a catastrophe'), bear has always been respected and worshipped.
Bear walks on two legs, like humans. It is omnivore, and eats fish, berries and mushrooms like humans. It goes asleep like humans do Its paws are like human hands. It is solitary. It is considered as the King (or Queen) of the Forest.
According to mythology, the bear was lowered down to earth on a golden basket off the Ursa Major constellation. It was the pet dog of Tapio, the deity of Forest, and seeing a bear when going to hunt was a bad omen, but seeing one returning to home was a good omen.
Name magic was an important thing. A bear should never be called as what it was in the original Baltic Stem Finnish, otso, but as euphemisms: nalle, kontio, kouvo, karjansurma ('death of cattle'), Tapion hurtta ('hound of Tapio'), mesikommen ('honeypaw'), and as the most lovely, mets�n kultaomena ('the golden apple of forest'). The current name for bear karhu, has originally been an euphemism, meaning 'furry'. Otso survives in Estonian, though. It is today used as Finnish male first name; I remember Otso Kautto from my swimming years. He is today a well known theatre leader.
Killing a bear was allowed only as self-defence or if it had become a cattle raider, and when killing a bear, a party was to be arranged - to apologize the bear he had to be killed. The meat was to be eaten with utmost respect, and the pelt was to be used - nothing of the bear ought to be wasted or thrown away. The skull of the bear was to be put upon a pole, facing North - so that the spirit of the bear could return safely back to Ursa Major.
We still do respect and love bears. They are considered rather our hunting companions rather than enemies or rivals.
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3. Germans.
Is there something cultural which makes German people "very efficient"?
https://www.quora.com/Is-there-something-cultural-which-makes-German-people-very-efficient
Roland Bartetzko
The German society is very result oriented. You don't get any points just for participation or making an effort. No one cares whether you spend a whole week to get a specific job done or just an hour.
This already starts in school. I remember from my own high-school days that there was absolutely no problem when a pupil finished an exam that was scheduled to go for five hours in under thirty minutes. Nobody was supposed to write papers that were many pages long. What counted was the content, the quality of your work.
My father was an engineer and his favorite stories were always about people who invented something that helped you to save time doing a job or during a production process. Germans pride themselves in working less than other nations, but at the same time, being more efficient.
People who are working overtime are more or less frowned upon. In many jobs, the overtime pay is ridiculously low or you are compensated with free hours. Additionally, the German work force has embraced flexible working hours where everyone can more or less decide for themselves how many hours they want (or need) to spend on their workplace.
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4. Which son of Jacob (Israel) has the most descendants?
https://www.quora.com/Which-son-of-Jacob-Israel-has-the-most-descendants
Dan Galilee
Judah.
The Tribes of Israel today are the Jewish people. The great majority of Jews today, some 80% or so, are descended from the tribe of Judah (plus converts and descendants of converts). The remaining 20% include Levites (from the tribe of Levi), Cohanim (also a part of the Levites), the entire Tribe of Benjamin, and a small percentage from every one of the remaining tribes. (When the Ten Tribes were carried off into Assyria and didn't return, some of them had already mixed into the tribe of Judah before that, through marriage and through large-scale migration [e.g. 2 Chronicles 15:9]. Also, the Talmud relates [Megillah 14b] that, one century after the Ten Tribes were exiled [and their location was still known], Jeremiah journeyed to where they were and brought some of them back to Judea. Thus, today's Jewry includes a small percentage of every one of the Lost Tribes. [See for example the Talmud, Pesachim 4a.])
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5. What unicorns mean to Scottish identity
By Mike MacEacheran
http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20190408-what-unicorns-mean-to-scottish-identity
Extracts:
... It is a unicorn. And, believe the hype or not, it is Scotland's national animal.
"It's long been a symbol of purity and power, but also of virginity and subtlety," said Hanley, who works as a Blue Badge guide for the Scottish Tourist Guides Association. "And those values still stand up when thinking about Scotland today. These are characteristics embedded in the Scottish psyche."
In most countries, the national animal is little more than a consequence of natural history or geography. Australia's is the red kangaroo and South Africa's is the springbok. Spain has the bull, while India venerates the Royal Bengal tiger. Canada celebrates the North American beaver, Russia the Eurasian brown bear. Indonesia? The Komodo dragon. Afghanistan? The snow leopard. Scotland? Well, theirs is more in keeping with a once-upon-a-time world.
... today there are dozens of places to see the pure-white, mythical horse of fairy tales at large in Edinburgh, ... and across all of Scotland. Blurring the boundaries between fantasy and reality, you can see reminders of its influence on heraldic crests, engravings, gold coins, royal seals, wall panels, coats of arms, tombs and tapestries.
By the 12th Century, the unicorn had made its first appearance in Scotland, placed on the royal coat of arms by William I (also known as William the Lion).
... James II wholeheartedly embraced the legend, and the unicorn became the symbol of purity and power that Scottish kings and nobility identified with in the 15th Century. Over time, this led to the unicorn becoming officially recognised as Scotland's national animal.
What started with James II flourished through a succession of his ancestors - notably James III, James IV and his grandson James V, who ensured its appearance on coins, royal seals and coats of arms. Indeed, the Royal Coat of Arms of Scotland, used prior to 1603 before the Union of the Crowns (the accession of James VI of Scotland to the thrones of England and Ireland), was supported by not one, but two unicorns.
Liam Devlin is Scotland's official Unicorn Pursuivant, a badge of office for the Court of the Lord Lyon, which helps bring order to matters of Scottish heraldry. Devlin, now in his fourth year in the role, believes the unicorn's true meaning is getting lost in metaphor.
"Its significance is being damaged by politicians [around the world, particularly when it comes to Brexit] who use it as an image of uncertainty and fanciful thinking," said Devlin, who is also a Knight of Malta and a member of The Heraldry Society of Scotland. "Some Scottish nationalists also think the unicorn's chains symbolise our subjugation from England. But that's nonsense. The chains predate the Acts of Union in 1707 [that led to the creation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain] and show the savage nature of the beast, it is not My Little Pony with a horn. So it would be good to administer a history lesson to these unpatriotic politicians."
Scotland celebrates National Unicorn day every year on 9 April (Credit: Visit Scotland)