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A comment on These problems were designed to prevent Jewish people from passing (2011). Parent comment

Re:These problems were designed to prevent Jewish people fro... by cdoxsey on Saturday October 07, 2017 @12:38PM (#15424446)
An example of such a test, taken from the Old Testament, is a shibboleth. From the book of Judges:

Jephthah captured the shallow crossings of the Jordan River, and whenever a fugitive from Ephraim tried to go back across, the men of Gilead would challenge him. “Are you a member of the tribe of Ephraim?” they would ask. If the man said, “No, I’m not,” they would tell him to say “Shibboleth.” If he was from Ephraim, he would say “Sibboleth,” because people from Ephraim cannot pronounce the word correctly. Then they would take him and kill him at the shallow crossings of the Jordan. In all, 42,000 Ephraimites were killed at that time.

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Re:These problems were designed to prevent Jewish people fro... by knodi123 on Saturday October 07, 2017 @01:03PM (#15424577)
"In all, 42,000 Ephraimites were killed at that time."

Reminds me of the old joke which I can't remember enough details of to preserve the humor, where a dumb FBI agent is given the task of hunting communists, and his boss gives him a test which he humorously misunderstands, and at the end of the week he proudly reports "I've already killed several thousand communists sir. And you sent me here just in time, the communists were really entrenched, I haven't found a single loyal american." Sorry I botched it.

But anyway, this is a fascinating archaeological record of a classic bias, where you assume your test was 100% accurate because the opposite would be horrifying...

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Re:These problems were designed to prevent Jewish people fro... by seanmcdirmid on Saturday October 07, 2017 @01:22PM (#15424660)
Like why the death penalty in the USA has never been applied to someone who didn't deserve it: because the alternative would be horrifying.
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Re:These problems were designed to prevent Jewish people fro... by derefr on Saturday October 07, 2017 @02:39PM (#15425015)
An addendum to the tale, from a historical linguist: http://sinesalvatorem.tumblr.com/post/140842586896/ilzolende...
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Re:These problems were designed to prevent Jewish people fro... by mikebenfield on Saturday October 07, 2017 @12:57PM (#15424541)
Everyone involved was Jewish though (or, at least, they were all Israelites).
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