I don’t understand such people. I not only encourage but force students to use Google Translate and AI tools. I teach them how to use AI, what works, what doesn’t. AI is phenomenal to help people improve their writing.
Are such teachers also upset that students drive cars instead of using a horse and a buggy?
All that I see behind these complaints is a lazy teacher who wants to spend her entire professional life riding on what she learned in school 30 years ago. She’s upset that learning new skills is required of her.
It takes in the vicinity of 30 minutes to discover how to use AI to improve students’ writing. That’s definitely shorter than it takes to hunt after plagiarism in poorly thought out assignments.
Clarissa's Blog 
“force students to use Google Translate”
I was at a lecture by a British French to English translator (and university lecturer) who said that all professional translators now use google translate and similar tools as in they feed the whole text into them and then, consulting the original text edit the results.
This is primarily a labor saving device (saving time on typing) though the amount of editing required means it doesn’t really save that much time.
I used to have an exercise where students had to do a back translation from a google translated text. That worked very well in highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of translation tools.
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Absolutely. Everybody uses machine translation tools. I give students a Google-translate text, and they have to edit it and show what changes they introduced. This allows us to pay very close attention to vocabulary and style. Google back translation is also great.
I don’t understand people who want to pretend that technology doesn’t exist.
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Experiencing the 10 days of t’shuva.
What Torah negative commandment functions as a precedent which interprets the intent of the 2nd Sinai commandment: do not worship other gods?
A טיפש פשט: The Torah negative commandment that functions as a precedent for interpreting the intent of the second commandment—”You shall not make for yourself a graven image” (Exodus 20:4)—is found in Deuteronomy 13:2-5. This commandment emphasizes the prohibition against worshiping other gods and reinforces the idea that any form of idolatry, including the creation and veneration of images, strictly forbidden.
These texts collectively underscore the importance of monotheism in Judaism and the rejection of any form of idolatrous practices, thus clarifying the broader implications of the second commandment regarding the worship of other deities.
Another טיפש פשט: This commandment emphasizes the absolute prohibition against the worship of other deities, reinforcing the idea that any form of idolatry or worship directed toward images or other gods is strictly forbidden. Together, these commandments highlight the foundational principle of monotheism in Judaism and underscore the importance of exclusive devotion to the one God.
Absolutely not. Monotheism violates the 2nd Sinai commandment. Impossible to worship other Gods if only ONE God lives as Muhammad’s absolute monotheism declares.
The second commandment, which states, “You shall not make for yourself a graven image” (Exodus 20:4), indeed emphasizes the prohibition of creating idols or images for worship. No. The Xtian bible translation “You shall not make for yourself a graven image” absolutely treif. לא יהיה לך אלהים אחרים על פני. The interpretation of “graven image”, a טיפש פשט.
The phrase “לא יהיה לך אלהים אחרים על פני” (“You shall not have other gods before Me”) emphasizes that the primary focus is on the exclusive worship of the one God. Absolutely not accurate. Goyim never accepted the revelation of the Torah at Sinai. Both the Xtian bible abomination, and the Muslim koran abomination, duplicate the sin of the Golden Calf and translate the רוח הקודש שם השם to other word translations. Lord or Allah…absolutely no different than אלו אלהים of the Golden Calf.
Torah common law stands upon precedents, meaning בנין אב. Consider the בנין אב of the Siddur Shemone Esrei; according to the Yerushalmi Talmud, over 247 prophets occupied themselves in writing this kabbalah which defines the Torah mitzva of tefillah toldah commandment expressed through the written Torah Av commandment of קריא שמע. The Shemone Esrei a rabbinic offspring commandment of the Torah parent commandment: kre’a shma. This kabbalah of the mitzva of tefillah opens with:
אדני, שפתי תפתח ופי יגיד תהלתך. אחר כך בברכה שני כתוב: אתה גבור לעולם אדני
What differentiates the word אדני from the Sin of the Golden Calf: אלו אלהים? Both אדני and אלהים words which the lips of man can pronounce. The רוח הקודש שם השם by stark and absolute contrast Spirit and not a word. A man speaks words, but only as long as the spirit of life breaths within his soul.
The invocation of אדני in prayer reflects an approach to engage with the divine while maintaining the reverence that comes from understanding the limitations of human language in capturing the essence of the Living Spirit of God.
These discussions often lead to broader philosophical and theological considerations about the nature of God and the practice of worship, emphasizing the importance of intention and understanding in the relationship between humanity and the divine? No another טיפש פשט.
No absolutely not. Torah common law shares no common ground with Greek nor Roman “broader philosophical and theological considerations about the nature of the Gods! Man can pronounce and frame words, using his lips and tongue. The Divine Spirit of Life, stands totally apart from the power of Man to speak.
In Torah masoret kabbalah, the Divine – fundamentally transcendent and beyond human comprehension, highlighting a profound separation between the Creator and creation. This perspective asserts that while humans can articulate concepts and names, they cannot fully encapsulate or define the Divine Spirit essence of Life.
The emphasis on the רוח הקודש (First Commandment Sinai Name revelation) as the most essential Spirit of God, that transcends human language underscores the revelation, that true understanding of the Divine Spirit comes not from mere words but from spiritual engagement and experience; such as the בנין אב blowing the Shofar on Rosh HaShanna prior to Yom Kippur when the Cohen HaGadol pronounces the רוח הקודש שם השם לשמה. This significant theme in Jewish spirituality, where the ineffable nature of the Spirit God, acknowledged through the הבדלה, of blowing the Spirit Name affixed to Av tohor time oriented commandments and toldoth positive and negative commandments. The focus on the reverence of the distinction between the Spirit Name blown and words pronounced with the lips. This worship of the Divine Presence Spirit, rather than the limitations of human languages.
This returns the question back upon its head. Since the 2nd Sinai commandment does not command, do not to worship graven images as the Xtian bible falsely declares. Which Torah negative commandment functions as the best בנין אב which interprets the k’vanna of the 2nd Sinai commandment?
The Torah negative commandment that best serves as a בנין אב (foundational principle) for interpreting the intent of the second Sinai commandment perhaps: Deuteronomy 12:30-31, which warns against inquiring about the practices of other nations and adopting their forms of worship.
Does this commandment best emphasize the prohibition against idolatry and the importance of maintaining a distinct form of worship that is exclusively directed to the one God? No another טיפש פשט. It highlights the dangers of mimicking the Goyim practices of avoda zarah. Reinforcing the core message of the second commandment about avoiding any form of avoda zarah or representation that could detract from the exclusive worship of the Spirit of God? No, another טיפש פשט.
This excellent precedent, it too requires a בנין אב Torah commandment. “You shall not pervert justice; you shall not show favoritism, and you shall not take a bribe.” (Deuteronomy 16:19) of the משנה תורה.
This verse underscores the importance of impartiality only in legal proceedings? No another טיפש פשט. Judges commanded not to recognize the faces of the litigants—meaning they should not show favoritism based on personal relationships, social status, or any other external factors. Instead, they must render judgments objectively and fairly. NO. The people themselves should not show fovoritism to the Judges themselves.
For example: Moses ben Maimon, commonly known as Maimonides. His Halachic codification duplicates and copies Greek and Roman statute laws. Both the T’NaCH and Talmud command – Common Law/משנה תורה. Two radically different legal systems. Rambam, an assimilated Jew, copied the manner and customs and practices of the Goyim! He based his learning upon Greek philosophy. Specifically upon the logic of Aristotle rather than the kabbalah of Oral Torah taught by Rabbi Akiva, known as פרדס logic.
The commandment from Deuteronomy 16:19—“You shall not pervert justice; you shall not show favoritism, and you shall not take a bribe”—does indeed emphasize the importance of impartiality and fairness in legal matters, establishing a principle that can be seen as foundational for ethical behavior in all aspects of life, including worship. However this commandment has depth. The Rambam halachic codification caused Jews to all together cease learning T’NaCH and Talmud as common law.
This approach highlights that the essence of the commandments goes beyond mere ritual observance; it encompasses moral and ethical dimensions that define the relationship between humanity and the Divine. The Talmud commands both halachic ritualism together with prophetic mussar. Like the warp weft of a loom.
Maimonides (Rambam) the influence of Greek philosophy utterly dominated and overshadowed his understanding of both T’NaCH, Talmud, and Midrashim! His works indeed reflect a synthesis of Jewish law overshadowed by ancient Greek philosophical reasoning. A fundamental day & night departure from the purely traditional or kabbalistic פרדס interpretations of Judaism.
The interplay between Jewish common law and external ancient Greek philosophical influences exploded into a Jewish Civil War; scholars for centuries fought one another, illustrating the disastrous nature of recognizing faces in din as the definition of the Sinai 2nd commandment avoda zarah.
Not showing favoritism in judgement applies to how a person chooses how to worship the Gods. A simple Jew could assume that the Rambam, being a great Rav, that he knows more than do simple Jews, not Torah scholars on par with the great rabbi, like the Rambam. Therefore the assumption: that this Great Rabbi knows more than I know myself, how to understand the Torah, activates the commandment: do not place a stumbling block before the blind! Another key בנין אב needed to interpret the intent of the 2nd Sinai commandment.
After publication of the Rambam’s statute law halachic codification, Jews abandoned learning the T’NaCH and Talmud as common law and pursued Torah studies as if they taught Greek and Roman statute law! Herein defines the k’vanna of the 2nd Sinai commandment not to worship other Gods.
This sh’itta/perspective: it defines and emphasizes the need for a personal and informed approach to worship, rooted in a direct engagement with the texts and traditions of Judaism.
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Can you expound on this a little? Thanks!
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My most successful activity so far has been to have students ask the AI to rewrite a short text in colloquial Chilean, then Mexican, then Argentinean. It’s excellent to build vocabulary.
Another one is to have them upload a paragraph from an essay they wrote and ask AI to say the same but using half the number of words. And then twice the number of words. This opens a conversation about precision versus wordiness.
Also, it’s great to talk about registers. AI can rewrite a short text to make it more colloquial. Or to make it more formal. Students place the original and the AI version next to each other and isolate words and expressions that make a text more academic, or more professional, or more jargony, etc.
There are also great activities to help students discover AI’s bias, so they can understand what types of activities AI gets wrong.
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These are great suggestions, thank you! I’m going to use these with my students.
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