[1751] in Humor
HUMOR: The Web...as told by a Rabbi
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Andrew Bennett)
Tue Dec 10 15:56:30 1996
Date: Fri, 6 Dec 1996 15:20:31 -0500
To: humor@MIT.EDU
From: abennett@MIT.EDU (Andrew Bennett)
Date: Fri, 06 Dec 1996 12:32:31 EST
From: Sharon Belville <belville@MIT.EDU>
From: "Brian D. Kling" <BRIAN_KLING@novell.com>
I dare you to read the whole thing word for word.
Enjoy...
Subject: The Web System... as told by a Rabbi
---------------------------------------------------------------------
From Tractate Kombutra of the Talmud Rabbi Tarfon of Bet She'an said of
Rabbi Shlomo ben Yechezkel of Tiverya: It is said that in those days
Rabbi Shlomo ben Yechezkel of Tiverya designed a web site for the mother
of his father, Sarah, the daughter of Pinchas, who begat Yechezkel, who
begat Rabbi Shlomo ben Yechezkel of Tiverya. Thus Rabbi Shlomo ben
Yechezkel of Tiverya performed the mitzvah of web site design. Rabbi
Michal ben Elkanah, who only had one eye, said: But is it not also said
that in those days there was no web, only gopher? Rabbi Shmaryahu of
Hevron said: It is true, but as it is written: "A web browser may also
use the gopher protocol, in addition to the HTTP protocol." Rabbi
Eliezer asked: Why does it specifically mention that the web browser may
also use the gopher protocol when it is written elsewhere that a web
browser may use any protocol? Because the gopher protocol is especially
meritorious, since it enables support of legacy systems. One time a
poor man came into the home of Rabbi Shmaryahu of Hevron and asked for
two megabytes of disk space on the web site of Rabbi Shmaryahu of
Hevron. Rabbi Shmaryahu of Hevron refused the man, but instead gave him
a personal web server for his own use. At this point Rabbi Yehudah ben
Yerachmiel asked Rabbi Shmaryahu of Hevron: Why did you refuse this
man's request, but instead give him a personal web server for his own
use? Rabbi Shmaryahu of Hevron replied: It [the Mishnah] teaches: "When
a poor man comes into your home and asks for disk space on your web
sites first ascertain whether he is going to use it for his own purpose
or for the purpose of idol worship. If he is going to use it for his
own purpose, grant him the space he asks, unless it exceeds twenty
ephraot [one ephrah ~ 213 kilobytes], in which case you may refer him to
a local Internet service provider, for as it is written: It is not upon
you to complete the task, but neither are you free to desist from it If
he is going to use it for the purpose of idol worship, then do not give
him the space, but instead rebuke him, that he might see the error of
his ways and refrain from idol worship." Rabbi Gideon of Sh'chem
disagreed saying: It [the Mishnah] also teaches: "When a poor man
requests space on an FTP server, you must grant it without asking why he
is going to use it." Why would the Mishnah impose requirements on a web
server but not an FTP server? Rabbi Shmaryahu of Hevron said: Rabbi
Eliezer said: Why does it specifically mention that the web browser may
also use the gopher protocol, when it is written elsewhere that a web
browser may use any protocol? Because the gopher protocol is especially
meritorious, since it enables support of legacy systems. Similarly, the
FTP protocol is especially meritorious Therefore, it is unfair to deny a
poor man access to FTP, whereas it is sometimes permitted to refrain
from giving a poor man access to HTTP7 because without HTTP he can still
serve files using FTP, but without FTP he will be unable to put his
files on the server, since the means for saving files over HTTP are
unreliable.
=======================================================================
Andrew Bennett MIT Department Ocean Engineering
MIT Room 5-424 77 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02139 <Standard Disclaimers Apply> Phone: (617) 253-7950
===== Area 51 ============== Bureau 13 =============== Network 18 =====
