וְהָלַ֗ךְ מִדֵּ֤י שָׁנָה֙ בְּשָׁנָ֔ה וְסָבַב֙ בֵּֽית־אֵ֔ל וְהַגִּלְגָּ֖ל וְהַמִּצְפָּ֑ה וְשָׁפַט֙ אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל אֵ֥ת כָּל־הַמְּקוֹמ֖וֹת הָאֵֽלֶּה׃

Each year he made the rounds (savav) of Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah, and acted as judge over Israel at all those places.
(I Samuel 7:16)

I took the name of this project from a description of my biblical namesake, the prophet Samuel. I have a habit of judging things as I encounter them (though not usually in the biblical sense), so it seemed like a good fit. A סִיבוּב (sivuv) is a circuit or a short tour of something; on this blog, it’s one round of thinking about a topic.

My name is Sam Pollak, and I live in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with my husband, Ari.

Thank you to my parents for sponsoring this project.

(The views I express on this blog are my own and are not intended to represent those of any organization with which I am affiliated.)