Existentialism

The other night, I was watching a documentary about American Jihadists, and  I saw a comment which resonated with me. The person basically said that at least the jihadist in question was standing up for a principle, something to live for while the average American youth is preoccupied with McDonalds, drugs, and porn. The person does have a point in that our country does seem to bow to the altar of money. The unfettered corporatism that dominates the western world has become the opiate of the masses. The west has been bought off with Apple Products, Starbucks, and football. With the subtraction of God and other traditional values, there was a vacuum created in the world. Something had to fill the vacuum and the corporate world was quick to fill the void. I am not a bible thumper, but I do have to raise the question as to what are we living for? Are we simply living to accumulate this useless junk which is being pushed on us by endless amounts of advertising by the corporate world, or is there something more? I am trying to find the answers to this question myself, and so far I would say that a good place to start to find the answer is the relationships you have with people in life such as family, friends, and significant others. In these you can start to find a deeper meaning to life. In the west there is a bankruptcy of meaning, and as a civilization we need to find something soon or we will implode.
-Kole Elyon Olam

Institution of Marriage

Now, what I am about to write maybe somewhat radical, or it may not, but I definitely believe it to be true. What I want to write about is the institution of marriage. For one, many people hold the institution of marriage up as a sacred sacrament or covenant instituted by God Himself, while others say it is utterly meaningless, while I hold somewhat of an opinion in between. Firstly, I don't think that marriage in and of itself is sacred. Let me explain. Marriage, the act of people coming together to recognize an existing relationship, is only a ritual and a contract. The ceremony is quite nice and created invaluable memories, but that is where it ends. Now, the contractual part of the marriage is simply an agreement between two people, or more is some places, to hold property, children, and other elements of a persons' livelihood in common. In the end, it is a legal agreement. The saying that marriage is only a piece of paper holds some truth, however; there is a place where that becomes false. To put in brief, the element of marriage, an existing relationship, is sacred. It is the relationship which leads to a marriage and exists afterwards which is sacred and needs to be kindled and kept alive burning brightly. It is in a relationship, a bond between two individuals, that we put faith, hope, love, trust, and our souls into. This is somewhat reminiscent of religious language, but I deem it proper to use in the context of a relationship, and thus there is definitely a degree of sanctity involved here. I have seen many "marriages" in my life which I would not have deemed them as such. In these there was always a troubled relationship between people. The "marriage" problems began before the act of being married was carried out. In our society there is a myth that once two people get married that they will happily ever after, but happily ever after begins before, way before the walk down the aisle. If people do not build a healthy relationship before marriage, then things will end up in disaster. I do not wish to attack marriage, but rather to make note of what really counts, that is the relationship between people that builds a marriage. In an ending word, we should stop talking about the sanctity of marriage and rather discuss the sanctity of relationships.
-Kole Elyon Olam

Sodom and Gomorrah

²⁰ Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous ²¹ that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.”
-Genesis 18 20:21 

In this weeks Torah portion, God sends angels to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah when he later destroys them for their sins. Now, most people think that these cities were destroyed for sins relating to sex, but the Talmud paints a different picture. In the Talmud, the main complaint God had against the cities were that they were heartless people who neglected the poor, making it punishable by death to help the poor, and treated travelers with complete disregard by charging them an outrageous toll to get into the city. In other words, God destroyed the cities because of the way they were merciless to people. To make this story relate to our situation today, I want to talk about the disregard for the needy we have and the type of degenerate sexuality that has come to fruit. First, America the richest country on earth has a great deal of people who lack the basic needs such as food, clothing, and shelter which is a sin to the Most High, and there is no excuse for the poverty we have in this country. Secondly, there is an alarming sexualization of our children. An example of this can be found right on television where one night I saw a group of preteen girls twerking on stage in tight skimpy outfits, just disgusting. This type of degeneracy has not been seen in the west since ancient Europeans were running around naked with blue powdered butts! This, and toddler "pageants", are nothing but blatant forms of pedantry. We need to change or otherwise we may face an unpleasant future. As a libertarian it is hard to admit, but there has been a sliding slope of degeneracy that has been going on for the past few decades, and we are only starting to see the effects.
-Kole Elyon Olam

I Plead Gulity

What has happened to the notion of a man settling with one woman when he is young and being with her the rest of his life? I mean, where are the real guys out there who place a woman on a pedestal, respect her, and make her his forever. There was once a day that this type of thing happened, but now this is seen as something that is wrong and alien. Anyone who tries to say they want to settle down and have a family, at least anyone below 35, are mocked and bullied. People say that due to being such and such an age that you should just drink, do drugs, and sleep around with everything that has legs. It is such a completely ridiculous mentality that massive amounts of people have. I really do despise group think, because anyone who tries to live their life is put down by the group sharply. This is only the opinion of one man, but it is a man who has an observant eye and a sharp mind. What I have observed is that the type of mentality that my peers advocate leads to broken lives and homes. 20 years ago 'Pac said Brenda was throwing a baby in a trash can and told her to keep her head up, well, we still have Brenda throwing babies in the trash. All I can say is that they need to keep their head up and wait for these boys to step up into the shoes of a man. Maybe I am a romantic, but I plead guilty to the crime of loving one woman and wanting to be with her alone.
-Kole Elyon Olam

Impending Shutdown

I have taken a break from politics, but I have to throw my two cents on the circus of the government shutdown. First, the item up for contention, Obamacare, is a complete and utter disaster. It is 2,000 pages long, and has around the figure of 20,000 new regulations. Combine this monstrous amount of new regulations with a congress that half fasted the passing of it, and then you get architects of the bill saying that it was a huge mistake. No one really knows what this law will do. It is too late to try and go back to fix this, so we the people will either sink or swim when this law goes into effect. To go on to my next point, and that is the incredibly irresponsible behavior of the Republican Party, the party I voted for in the past couple of elections. They are using budget talks as a plank to try and sink Obamacare, which is impossible. This political meandering puts the jobs of countless numbers of people who work for the government on the line, and this is just as bad as when unions and private sector companies put jobs on the line. These government workers are just seen as a form of collateral damage, which is a viewpoint of the utmost evil. These people are hardworking 9-5'ers just like most of America, and they have bills to pay, so to cut and burn them like chaff is not right. Shame on these disgusting spineless creatures like John Boehner! Last, my prediction is that there will be a last minute resolution to fix this problem, however if there is not, then ALL INCUMBENTS need to be thrown out of office.
-Kole Elyon Olam

Loving v. Virginia,Israel, and Love

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loving_v._Virginia

The case of Loving v. Virginia is a case of the Supreme Court which allowed people of different races to be married. Two people, Mildred and Richard Loving, who were a married couple of a black woman and white man in Virginia at the time Jim Crow laws were still in standing went through a living hell to be together. After they got married, they had to hideout in various places to avoid being seen together, at times separating the family from each other. They both even spent time in jail, but all this was undone by a ruling by the Supreme Court which said this was illegal, so they were able to be married legally in the eyes of the law. Now, where does this go, and what importance does it have? Well, first I am with a black woman, and if we want to get married one day, this is possible because these two people braved it all. For this I must thank them. Secondly, I want to lambaste my people, the Jews, about the issue of intermarriage which is seen as a mortal sin amongst the Jewish people, it is even illegal in the state of Israel for a Jew to marry a non Jew! I just have to say as a Jew who is in love with a non-Jew, that the relationship between us and other Jew/non-Jews are completely kosher. In the Torah, Moshe Rabeinu, Moses, was married to a Midianite, a non Jew, and if it was ok for him then it is ok for other Jews to follow the utmost Holy example of the greatest of prophets. It is an atrocity to think that Jews are virtually excommunicated by the Synagogue for marrying someone who is not Jewish. This is something which is not something to fear but to embrace as long as the Jew can contribute some sort of Jewish legacy to their family. In all, love cannot be bottled nor contained, and it should be left to be free, left to flourish and grow.
-Kole Elyon Olam

Inkless Rebel

Do not cut your bodies for the dead, and do not mark your skin with tattoos. I am the LORD.-Leviticus 19

Now, this commandment was originally a prohibition against getting a tattoo as a means of honoring the dead, which was a common pagan custom then and now. It also has been an interpreted as a prohibition against any marks on the body including piercings and tattoos. I believe that it can remain an open question which can be left up to the individual reader giving it a special meaning for each person. For me, I see it an act against an increasingly pagan culture of the west which has an obsession with tattoos. I have been pondering about getting a tattoo for years, and now I am leaning in not getting one, because it leaves me the last of a dying breed, a person who has not marked up their body, it makes me unique. I dare to be different in this day and age by not having tattoos, wearing a beard, and dressing modestly. This type of behavior is seen as weird in a time where everything that was once considered weird is now normal. The world has been turned upside down where we are in wonderland. As a Jew living in a very goyish, non-Jewish, place, I will try to uphold my heritage and be a rebel against the grain. Now, I think Hashem will forgive you if you have a tattoo, plus this commandment only applies to Jews, so non-Jews need not worry. In all, I believe that it is an act of bravery to be different, an act I am willing to undertake, but are you?
-Kole Elyon Olam