We begin not with the most important of the laws; nor with the most difficult to explain. But with a law which certainly resides on the convex hull of importance and difficulty.
⚙️ 凸包 (普通话 TU1BAO1) meaning "convex hull"
Cover thy head in public.
The interpretation of the law raises several important questions.
Whom does the law apply to? Does it apply to those who have accepted the call, or to the friend and the stranger in your midst? Surely it cannot apply to the cattle and the sheep that graze in your fields.
What covering does the law advise? In this year 2023 of the Common Era, the term "facemask" has acquired a common meaning: a mask that covers the nose and mouth. But do eyeglasses also "cover thy head"? What about the historically more common approach of hat-wearing?
Where is the public realm? Does it apply in the sanctity of one's own home? What about the home of your neighbor or brother?
⚙️ we use the term "Common Era" for two parallel reasons. For those who are followers of the Christian tradition, we reject "Anno Domini" because of the near-universal agreement that Jesus was born in 4 BC on that calendar. For those who are not followers of the Christian tradition, there is even less reason to include an appeal to Jesus in your calendar schema.
🔥 But, as the new calendar is not yet ready, we continue to follow the old numbering.