A boombox can change the world

Music. Everyone nowadays has been saying stupid things like “Music is my life” yeah? well try asking them to name some vintage bands that changed the history of rock music… yeah.. the only one they’ll ever be able to name is The Beetles.. ouch; those are the same people who think that Justin Beiber and Katy Perry are the greatest musical icons of all time; when in truth everyone knows its all about The Who, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix (another great question to stump the musically challenged with would be ‘what is Hendrix famous for?’) and all the other band who’ve shaped the history of our culture and helped our music transform.

But what does this have to do with Judaism?

Well. This is an “If Only”. My “If only” is: If only the jewish people had a boombox. Why?  because as we learned from The Lonely Islands; a boombox can change the world. The boombox is designed to carry around and play music at an irrational volume. So if the Jewish people could have written a song about how they weren’t totally wrong about their religion and that the Romans should just give them a chance. Also, a lot of what went on during those times was very gossipy and no one could really know for sure what the other had really said; so if they could have written a song then they could have portrayed their true message in a more clear way. Also who knows, it could have been a really catchy tune and the entire Roman army could have broken out into a flash mob dance; which would make history WAY more interesting!

So over all, boomboxs: it would have changed life (and dance) as we know it today; because a boombox can change the world, but you gotta know your limits with a boombox; this was a cautionary tail, a boombox is not a toy!

Barricades and beauty

The Palestine/ Israel wall. Dividing two countries from warfare and each other; as most people know, the people of Jewish faith and the people of Islam have a long standing distain for one another. Of course through out history people have tried and failed to get them to communicate; but what if we’re talking to them the wrong way? what if we shouldn’t be using words at all?

Well, if you ask street artist Banksy, all you really need is some spray paint and a stencil; oh yeah and having mad talent would be rather helpful.

British street artist, Banksy is famous for being this very occult person; no one really knows what he looks like or who he is, but we do know that his talent speaks for itself.

Banksy believes that everyone should express themselves through art and that we can use art to communicate messages with more meaning and less words.

But what does Banksy have to do with a barrier and a long standing religious dislike? Well… take a look:

Ever heard “The grass is always greener on the other side”? well. that was Banksy’s thoughts; he thought that since these people have never really had a chance to see the other side, how would they know it’s terrible? so he created images on both side showing paradise on the other side.

So, now you’ve seen what i meant when I said “barricades and beauty”, now you’ve gotten a chance to see how one form of media can express an opinion and can make people wonder about life with out the metaphorical (or in this case physical) barricades dividing communities.

Apologize.

Lets think back to freshman religion… we learned about the Jewish people asking God if they could have kings, and God tried to tell them that it wouldn’t end well; and just like he said, it didn’t.

So the Jews had like  four good kings, then they had really bad ones and in the words of Maeve Mcliam “they were horrible meanies!”

So what would this song have to do with Jewish kings? Well as you’ve probably seen  the song is called Apologize; which is exactly what the Jewish people needed to do.

When God tried to tell them that having kings wouldn’t work for them, the Jews didn’t listen and tried it anyways; but by the time they realized that God was right, it was a little to late to apologize and return to the harmonious life before the kings. Yet God, who is as always forgiving, took them back and helped them to get their lives back to how they were before.

So over all: when it seemed to late to turn around and apologize to God for their mistakes; God forgave them and helped to return them to their lives before the kings ruined their faith and their community.

Bullying: It’s not cool and it’s not okay

Throughout history there have been bullies…  But can you really bully a religion? Of course you can. The followers of Jewish faith have been bullied since the Babylonians still roamed around conquering the world.  Just like in our current lives, the bullies wanted one thing: Power; and they take it from the people who seemed the most confident with it.

But are bullies really so powerful? No. of course they aren’t; they’re just overly insecure and they look for people who are confident and try to make them feel inferior. Yet, why do we let them?It’s like Eleanor Roosevelt says: “No one can make you feel inferior with out your consent” So why would people, like the Jews, let the Babylonians make them feel inferior? Why would they lose their faith in God and just seem to give up? Well one explanation could be that they were out numbered and were pretty much powerless against them in military terms; they also were horrible abused jus for being different and believing in their own set of Gods. Imagine what it would be like to feel that alone, most people will feeling like this at least once in their lives; but the truth is: no one is ever truly alone. We always will have God, no matter which ones you believe in, and we will always have that one person who’s going through the same thing; it just might take a while to find out  and be able to reach out and help them.

So lets all take a step up and make our world a:

Weather it’s against a person, or a religious group.

Harold & Maude

Meet Harold, a young man of a rich family who gets his fun from faking his death and angering his mother.

Then meet Maude, she’ll be eighty on saturday, and she survived the Holocaust only to come out a more loving person who lives life to the fullest everyday.

But how on earth do this to have in common? Well Maude teaches Harold how to love, and how to live life and enjoy it even when terrible things happen to you; which relates to Jesus and the Judaism that he was brought up to believe in because they taught him all of these things. So in a way Maude is the representative of the Jewish people and how they struggle with others being cruel to them, but they still wake up every morning and can find something that they love.

So here’s a trailer for Harold and Maude, a movie that teaches us about life, love, and struggles; weather your the ever optimistic Maude, or the confused and silly Harold.

If jesus had a diary: Judaism

As most of us know, Jesus was born and raised as a Jew; but have you ever wondered what he though of being Jewish? Well… I have, which is what inspired this post:

Dear Bib-le,

Today while sitting with my mother in the kitchen, assisting  he in making the bread and helping to fatten up the lamb, I was think about how the lamb must feel. He’s born destine to be sacrificed in our pass over celebration, I wondered how it must feel to be destine to die so quickly after birth, how you never really get to live. Then I though about how, according to my mother, I’m like that lamb; I was born, but I won’t always get to live, to start a family and fall in love, I’m only thirty years of age and I’m doomed to die, just like the lamb in the passover feast. This got me to thinking, are we really born pure? or are we just doomed to die and leave in a horrible way, like that lamb?

Then I thought back to my childhood, sitting in the temple being taught the Torah and frustrating the Rabbi because my slight lisp made it hard for me to pronounce the words; what if we could read our holy books in the language we spoke everyday? would that make more people eager to learn of their past? If only I could answer this questions and help my fellow Jewish people; if only. Well, I guess I can help them, I guess I should  go and consult my father…

Hopefully he will help me.

Jesus 🙂

Everything is illuminated

So. Judaism… What can we learn about it….We all know that through out history Jewish people have been labeled as scapegoats for other’s mistakes. Such as the unfortunate mistakes of World War 2

But what about the people who wanted to help when everyone else turned against them? Well, fortunately the earth is full of good people who know what the right thing to do it. Just like in Everything is Illuminated.

So about this video, it’s a trailer for a movie called Everything is Illuminated; but why on earth did I choose this movie above all others?

Well, because of Jonathan (Elijah Wood). Jonathan, a young collector, represents the fear, the curiousity, and the loyalty to our past that we all strive for, but so few of us achieve the perfect balance. When Jonathan’s grandmother dies and leaves him a photograph showing his grandfather and a woman named Augustine, the woman who saved him during World War 2; Jonathan flies half way around the world to tracs his roots back to the War. But on his journey he learns about: respect, history, life, death and friendship.