So the POTUS was on the Daily Show the other day. Yeah that's right, President Barack Obama became the first standing President to go on to the Daily Show. And I must say it was a good interview. There was no pandering yet it was light hearted too. He asked some good thought provoking questions of Obama.
And some of the things that Obama answered almost made me feel better about the whole shabang. One of the points that he made was that the promises he made in 2008 were not promises to fix all the problems over night. He made it clear that he was also upset by some of the ridiculous things that go one in Congress, like the 60 vote rule or the filibuster.
It definitely made me feel that he is doing a pretty decent job of trying to balance the ideals that he has with the reality that he faces. And that is about all I can ask from my President. (but a law banning fur or circuses wouldn't hurt either) :)
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Friday, October 1, 2010
quick little vegan thought
Just a quick little vegan thought before Shabbat settles in here in J-lem.
Did you know Matisyahu was a vegan???
Cause he totally is! At least as of April 2010.
Reading about why he became vegan made me think of a few of my own reasons. (Not to mention freak out cause I freakin' love Matisyahu!!)
One of the main reasons is actually connected to this week's parsha. It is about living about to the ideals of Hashem. You see throughout Tanach (The whole of the Jewish Bible: Torah, Prophets, and Writings) Israel constantly lets Hashem down. Start off with the species as a whole:
Adam & Eve sin, get butts kicked outta paradise.
Noach: People sin, Hashem destroys His own creation. (mostly)
Israelite nation: let me count the ways.....
It seems as though throughout the whole holy scroll we let God down. And that is okay.
He accepts that we as humans have faults and may not be able to live up to the ideals He wants us to live up to. But because he allows for our faults does not mean we should fall back on them.
We should try to rise above them and meet God where He wants us to meet Him.
In the Beginning (as it were) we are veggies. We share the exact same diet as our fellow animal creatures. But we can't live up to that high ideal and our bloodlust consumes us leading to the Flood. So God allows us to eat meat.
But we should still try to live up to the ideal. The ideal world was veganism. A world where we live in peace and side by side with all living creatures.
Matisyahu saw that. I saw that. And many other people around the world see it too. We aren't sinners for eating meat. But we aren't living up to our full potential, our full capacity as God's creatures, and most importantly, His ideals.
Did you know Matisyahu was a vegan???
Cause he totally is! At least as of April 2010.
Reading about why he became vegan made me think of a few of my own reasons. (Not to mention freak out cause I freakin' love Matisyahu!!)
One of the main reasons is actually connected to this week's parsha. It is about living about to the ideals of Hashem. You see throughout Tanach (The whole of the Jewish Bible: Torah, Prophets, and Writings) Israel constantly lets Hashem down. Start off with the species as a whole:
Adam & Eve sin, get butts kicked outta paradise.
Noach: People sin, Hashem destroys His own creation. (mostly)
Israelite nation: let me count the ways.....
It seems as though throughout the whole holy scroll we let God down. And that is okay.
He accepts that we as humans have faults and may not be able to live up to the ideals He wants us to live up to. But because he allows for our faults does not mean we should fall back on them.
We should try to rise above them and meet God where He wants us to meet Him.
In the Beginning (as it were) we are veggies. We share the exact same diet as our fellow animal creatures. But we can't live up to that high ideal and our bloodlust consumes us leading to the Flood. So God allows us to eat meat.
But we should still try to live up to the ideal. The ideal world was veganism. A world where we live in peace and side by side with all living creatures.
Matisyahu saw that. I saw that. And many other people around the world see it too. We aren't sinners for eating meat. But we aren't living up to our full potential, our full capacity as God's creatures, and most importantly, His ideals.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
blind faith
Ok folks, this article actually scares me quite a bit. You see in Judaism we learn that to truly follow our faith we must study it intensely and learn as much as we can about it. In my brain, living in our multi-faith world also means learning, at least some basics, about the other religions around us. As a wannabe-Rabbi I want to learn all that I can about those other religions but that is neither here nor there. A typical "religious" (whatever we want to define that as) person should have knowledge about their religion and some basic knowledge about others'.
Enter: Atheists, agnostics most knowledgeable about religion, survey says - latimes.com
Really people?? This article makes me cry a little bit inside. Aaaand it also highlights the need for a religious studies discipline in secular schools. Just as I can major in Religious Studies or take Religious Studies classes at college to educate myself on the topic, so should students at the high school level also have the opportunity. Now, I would love to have that be mandatory but again, neither here nor there. It should be an option. Every child at a public school should have the opportunity to take a basic class of religious studies. Just some nice broad lessons on the religions of the world or at least the religions of the area (as in USA or Europe, etc.). 9 months of school year could translate to a different religion every month. Or if you wanted a more detailed class, 6 religions every 6 weeks. Either way it needs to happen people and here is the proof! Now let's get legislatin' shall we? :)
Enter: Atheists, agnostics most knowledgeable about religion, survey says - latimes.com
Really people?? This article makes me cry a little bit inside. Aaaand it also highlights the need for a religious studies discipline in secular schools. Just as I can major in Religious Studies or take Religious Studies classes at college to educate myself on the topic, so should students at the high school level also have the opportunity. Now, I would love to have that be mandatory but again, neither here nor there. It should be an option. Every child at a public school should have the opportunity to take a basic class of religious studies. Just some nice broad lessons on the religions of the world or at least the religions of the area (as in USA or Europe, etc.). 9 months of school year could translate to a different religion every month. Or if you wanted a more detailed class, 6 religions every 6 weeks. Either way it needs to happen people and here is the proof! Now let's get legislatin' shall we? :)
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Veganism and Sukkot/Simchat Torah
So I know what you're thinking. Here comes the vegan preaching. Not true, exactly. If you thought you had a medicine that helps you, wouldn't you want to share it with the world. Well I happen to think that veganism is the right way to go, so indulge me for a few if you will.
The holiday of Sukkot is closing in on us quick, and I couldn't begin the holiday without a little vegan analytics as it were.
Veggie Sukkot
The above link is an article written by a very wise man named Dr. Richard Schwartz. He is one of the few modern advocates of vegetarianism AND its relation with Judaism. There are many connections that one can make between Sukkot and not eating animals. I am going to make the overall connection which kinda lumps them all together nicely but without any overload.
Notice this Sukkot what kind of decorations are in the Sukkah: fruit, veg, and grain. Night a trace of meat to be found.
Notice what other tools we use to celebrate this holiday: plant life.
Notice that the object of living in a temporary not-so-stable building is to remind us that God is the penultimate provider and guide; and His ideal as set out in the Garden of Eden is a vegetarian (some might say vegan) lifestyle.
As people we (and as an observant Jew me even more) tend to focus a lot on the tiny details instead of the larger picture when it comes to life. The beauty of Sukkot is that it forces you to think outside of yourself and what is best for the world. We live outside (in our Sukkot), in direct contact (to some extent) with our planet and the world around us. We look up and see the stars through our Sukkot coverings (schach) and our reminded of not only our long gone Israelite brethren, but of the larger picture. Our fellow living beings around us whose existence is all interconnected.
By refraining from eating meat (and being vegan altogether) we are helping to recreate/maintain that delicate and beautiful harmony that existed in the Garden of Eden...WHICH we will be reading about this Simchat Torah.
Even if you aren't vegan or veg, or have no desire to become either. Spend this Sukkot dwelling on a few ideas that will take you outside of yourself and into the larger picture. Into the picture as many believe Hashem wants us to see.
The holiday of Sukkot is closing in on us quick, and I couldn't begin the holiday without a little vegan analytics as it were.
Veggie Sukkot
The above link is an article written by a very wise man named Dr. Richard Schwartz. He is one of the few modern advocates of vegetarianism AND its relation with Judaism. There are many connections that one can make between Sukkot and not eating animals. I am going to make the overall connection which kinda lumps them all together nicely but without any overload.
Notice this Sukkot what kind of decorations are in the Sukkah: fruit, veg, and grain. Night a trace of meat to be found.
Notice what other tools we use to celebrate this holiday: plant life.
Notice that the object of living in a temporary not-so-stable building is to remind us that God is the penultimate provider and guide; and His ideal as set out in the Garden of Eden is a vegetarian (some might say vegan) lifestyle.
As people we (and as an observant Jew me even more) tend to focus a lot on the tiny details instead of the larger picture when it comes to life. The beauty of Sukkot is that it forces you to think outside of yourself and what is best for the world. We live outside (in our Sukkot), in direct contact (to some extent) with our planet and the world around us. We look up and see the stars through our Sukkot coverings (schach) and our reminded of not only our long gone Israelite brethren, but of the larger picture. Our fellow living beings around us whose existence is all interconnected.
By refraining from eating meat (and being vegan altogether) we are helping to recreate/maintain that delicate and beautiful harmony that existed in the Garden of Eden...WHICH we will be reading about this Simchat Torah.
Even if you aren't vegan or veg, or have no desire to become either. Spend this Sukkot dwelling on a few ideas that will take you outside of yourself and into the larger picture. Into the picture as many believe Hashem wants us to see.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
This is Not Kosher
I am not really sure how to preface this. This is one of the many reasons I became a vegan.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Why does Verizon Wireless suck so many balls??
Ok, so this will also be a very very short one. It has taken me about thiry minutes to figure out how to get pictures off of my dad's phone for his job. I cannot plug it in to the computer and use bitpim because the geniuses over there haven't updated their software to be compatible with the phone.
Can't take it right off the phone by plugging it in, because LG sucks!!
No, I have to send the pictures to his online album, which takes an additional 10 minutes to locate on verizon's oh-so-user-friendly website. Oh, and the greatest part? I can only do 4 at a time.
grumble....grumble......
Friday, March 20, 2009
Just a quick one!
So all of my friends know I am kind of a nut when comes to the environment. I am part of the Bettwe World Club (which is like AAA but not evil), I bought carbon offsets for my car, and I am trying to transform my parents' house into a greenitorium. Anyway, so RIM, makers of my beloved blackberry, have dedicated a mobile site to help support Earth Hour. If you have not heard Earth Hour is going to be on March 28th, a saturday. Everyone is encouraged to turn off all their lights and electronics that are plugged into the grid for one hour in order to conserve power worldwide. So everyone should totally do this!!! Anyway here is the mobile site to access on your mobile phone (or Blackberry for all your crackberry addicts out there!): http://www.blackberrycool.com/2009/03/help-support-earth-hour-with-their-new-mobile-site-launch/
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