Iran's Nuclear Power

     A large issue for Israel, and a lot of the world, is Iran's nuclear power and whether or not they should be allowed to have it. From my eyes, it seems quite risky to allow them to hold a nuclear weapon seeing as they have threatened to use it in the past. Nuclear power would not only give Iran power that is unnecessary, but it will also cause headache for other countries around the world, like the United States of America. Currently, Iran states that they will not use the nuclear weapon, but if that is true, then why do they need one? Some people might believe that prohibiting Iran's possession of a nuclear weapon is like taking away their freedom of speech, however others tend to disagree. Giving Iran nuclear power sends a message to the rest of the world that it's acceptable to threaten surrounding countries with nuclear weapons, on the other hand it looks as though we should not allow Iran to hold that power in any case. It seems quite foolish to think that Iran would ever use the nuclear weapon on Israel being that it would basically be comiting suicide.

Tels of Judaism

     Today we went to Jerusalem and explored the old city. We saw the tels of Jewish civilizations and how advanced their housing and war defense systems were, even without our modern day technology. For us to find the oldest civilizations, we have to destroy the layers at the top of the tel. In certain scenarios, major conflicts are raised, for example with the 2nd Temple (Bayt Hamigdash). It's questioned whether it's logical to destroy the 2nd temple to find the remains of the 1st Temple. Is it worth it to destroy for something to find something even cooler that may or may not be there? I think this relates to what it means to be jewish and to how religious you are.

     Some people may believe that being reformed is just better than nothing, but for me it's not a settle, it's a choice. In order to follow a commandment in our modern wall, sometimes we first have to break another that no longer makes sense to practice. Although some commandments are higher than others, that doesn't mean that some have less moral importance. I think it's important to recognize that they were there at some point for a specific purpose and that they all have a lesson to learn if not a rational rule to follow. From my eyes, orthodox believe that it's not worth the risk to destroy the first layer in order to get to the second layer that may or may not exist. It seems as though reformed Jews take that risk however, they're not always right and that can sometimes leave them further behind than where they started.

Iran Hosts Holocaust Cartoon Contest

    Iran recently hosted a holocaust cartoon contest. This brings up major conflict in questioning if this is an acceptable contest and if it's morally correct. So why is it such a big deal to some and not to those presenting it? It bothers me a lot to think that this is actually happening. People could always argue that it's the freedom of speech and that it should be allowed considering the other cartoons made representing Muhammad and other cartoons along those subjects. One major difference is that we don't strongly care if you mock our religious leaders or prophets, but mocking our dead family is incomparable.

    If it's considered racist to disagree with this contest then call me racist, but we're not going to burst into your office shooting you and your colleagues dead with AK47s or rocket propelled grenades. It's straight up murder! So at what point is it no longer morally and legally correct to promote murder (which I needn't mention, is also against the law)? At what point is it unacceptable to break one law and consider it another? At what point is it okay for there to be piles of dead Jews with Iran being a flamingo with its head stuck in the ground? That's the fundamental difference. 

The Story of Noah

     In the Tanakh, the story of Noah is told two different ways. This raises the question, what really happened and did it in fact happen at all? The answer could either be simple or complex depending on ones religious beliefs. Someone could simply say that they are two different stories that were fiction, written in a book along with a combination of other fiction and nonfiction stories. However, a more complex answer would state that the story of Noah was lost in translation when being recorded in the Tanakh. I personally, do consider myself to be a religious person in the sense that I believe in God and that the Tanakh, which is said to be written of Gods word, is exactly that. For the less religious, it may seem like a book of short stories pasted together with tales that have morals and nothing more. Thinking more on the topic, it seems ridiculous to assume that a very large group of people would just drop their lives and agree to study and devote their life to something that they have no idea is true. It would require a large enough group of people that say one thing to convince another group to trust in such a commuting religion.

     If you believe that the Tanakh is just a book of tales that can be tossed out the window and replaced with a history book, because it doesn't have the evidence and has gaps, then isn't that the same thing? In my eyes, if the Tanakh is just a book for the Jewish religion, then doesn't that rule also apply to a history book considering it's based on the birth and death of Jesus? If the Tanaka should not be read because of the evidential gaps, then why should history books be read if they're not 100% correct? According to history books, about 1/3 of the information is not substantially correct! Just as science continues to be proved as wrong and mostly guesses, why should we believe what's in those books? Because it's considered a fact, or because it's been believed for many many years? Isn't that enough reason to practice something? Tradition! Even then, without the substantial evidence, the Tanaka represents the world that Jews live in and the word of God. If that's what we have faith in and if you have faith in the same type of thing for a different religion, then why should the word of your /my God be questioned.