Authenticity!

CSJ is having personal issues, that I will not mention. I will say however that I am beginning to see a little light, a little crack in the impenetrable wall of darkness that has overtaken me. If I would be alone in my wanderings, I would feel pretty bad. I see, however, that there are a very large amount of young orthodox jewish people with extreme issues with religion. They feel dissatisfied with the way their lives have turned out, and they are searching for something special, something that will take their pain away and clear away the cobwebs of doubt and distrust. I recently found some great open minded people to just talk to. I feel so much better. I find that if you know someone has a very hard life yet manages to keep the religion, family and job together, especially if that person is unusually upbeat and refined, his/her opinion is worth a MILLION times more than any rabbi's or for that matter anyone else who styles themselves as counselors. There are some things which can only be expressed by people who have survived the crucible and come out smiling. Note that most people seem to think that they have had a super hard life, so objectivity is very important when looking for someone. I generally head to people who have incredibly hard lives by anyone's estimation and still wake up every day smiling. There is truth and knowledge in the world, but very often we look for it in the wrong places. Rabbis and parents as well as friends like to think of themselves as all knowing but the fact is that they are not. I believe that true knowledge of god and of ourselves is hidden, and is only revealed to those who choose to seek it from hell and back. This is why the rebbe (I forgot which one) told his chasidim to seek blessings after his death from "Any jew with the tattooed numbers (of Auschwitz) on his arm and also the marks from tefilin". How many chassidim do you think actually listened to him or seek blessings from these jews now? That is the only true judaism that can be passed down from the heart. Rav J.B. Soloveitchick mentions many times that he is frustrated by his inability to pass on the true essence and as he calls it "the experience of judaism". That is coming from a man who arguably affected more orthodox jews with his warmth and wisdom than any other in recent times.

Subliminal messages

Many times when I converse with other homo sapiens I get this itchy feeling that they are not realy listening to what I am saying as much as using the conversation as a forum for their own brilliant opinions. For my part I view conversation as a vehicle to get to know others better/blow off some steam, and sometimes even learn something. The best shmoozers are the ones that kind of relax and let the conversation flow. Unfortunately, I have found that sheeplike religous people are (in general) very boring to talk to. They espouse their own ideology and allow it to overly color their daily communications. One of my favorite jewish blogs, On the Mainline, posted a very amusing olumeinu cartoon illustrating subliminal messaging. His article also led me to this jem, created by a fundamentalist christian: http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0014/0014_01.asp

OMG, I laughed so frikkin' hard. This type of thing begs the question: What sane religion uses these techniques to propogate itself? Unlike this Christian, Jews are not supposed to prostelize those outside their own faith, but what about those already jewish? It seems that this sort of thing is given the green light. It creates a culture of religous ignorance rather than rational, senseible devotion.

Only in NY...

these kids are such ballers.....http://gawker.com/346248/bronx-science-kids-organize-for-something-other-than-mit-college-fair I wish that my schools would have had such a hard ass student body....

Scream

weird. this. chick. is.
a performance artist of sorts. she walks in the middle of a quasi road and just starts shrieking. 3 things.
A. she has a great shrieking form
B. she has the guts to actually do it
C. its just 2 funny!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtiMpyROj74

Shocking!

Two Cnn stories caught my eye. One was about some 8th graders who had sex in class. No, not in a classroom; this was done in CLASS. Teacher steps out, kids feel a little rowdy, and hey wahddaya know? Two of them start porkin' each other in front of the rest of the class. Extreme Sex Ed? Da Vinci Codesque Orgy? Anal Arithmetic? Or just sex being actively glorified to a pageant-like state. The next was some idiot hick priest whose empty church (not an infrequent phenomena) needed filling. He decided to send out fliers advocating "red hot sex" (as a topic in the church. )Apparently this ruse worked but people got upset at the lurid way he depicted the lawrds message. Whoopee. More sex selling. Sex in church, sex during class, sex for suppertime! I got nothing against getting some, but this stuff is jest nasty and overboard. If intimacy is a staple of good relationships, and it becomes non-intimate, what happens to relationships? Here's some links:
http://www.click2houston.com/news/14284329/detail.html
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2007/10/06/tn.sexy.pamphlets.wate

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Shakin' It

Five types of lulav shakers there be:
1. The Obnoxious Poker- This shaker is in his shaking groove and doesn't care if his sharp palm branch pokes you in the arse (repeatedly). Seen legally, this should be a Federal offence with 5-10 years of a different type of poking going on in maximum security.
2. The Blind Shaker- Old/Kiddy/Crazy/Visually impaired people should get SMALL lulavs as they tend to have a rough time with lulav manuevering. In legal terms, he who provides LARGE lulavs to these types should face a misdemeanor with a stiff fine. (jail time for repeat offenders)
3. The Prophetic Shakers-I have been religous my entire life with no pleasant teenage interludes, yet I cannot understand the look of pain on these intense shakers' faces. A deeply religous experience is NOT supposed to look like a baby delivery. Also, look for wild gyrations of body and lulav. sheesh! cool the holiness!
4. The Mainstream Shaker- Shows some interest in what he is doing . The most normal of shakers. Generally dads who have not been kept up all night, older teens,and younger adults fall into this most normal of shaker categories.
5. The Bored Shaker-I must admit that I fell into this category this succos. Look for listless shaking accompanied by a zoned out look. Included in this category are dads who have been kept up all night, Younger "cool" teens, and people who are in general depressed numbnuts. (My shul has like a HUGE percentage of the listless shaker.) My excuse? LSAT nerves. I'm taking the damn thing tomorrow, Monday October 1st, at 8:30 AM. And yes, I would consider myself a depressed numbnut right about now.