Amazing Opportunities Within Schools

I had the most awesome feeling over last week. At my school, a new opportunity passed in the school board allowing students to bring their electronic devices with wi-fi capabilities to classes in school for educational use. I asked my English teacher if I could use my iPod Touch to take notes and she said, "Go right ahead!" I felt pompous that I was the only kid in the class with an electronic device taking NOTES! I think that it is an amazing opportunity for kids today to be able to take notes using their devices. It still gets the job done, but it gives kid the chance to be able to use their devices to their advantage. Not only can kids take notes, but also connect to the school's new wi-fi for Internet access. This works on all devices with wi-fi capabilities including iPod, iPad, Kindle, Laptop, etc

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There are a couple of downsides to all of this though, one especially being that kids may play games instead of take notes. The thing is, if kids are connected to the wi-fi, they are giving the permission to the school to allow them to track what you do, so if they see you goofing off, they can track it back to your device. To me, it is much easier for me to type notes than it is to write them out since it saves paper and saves my hand from hurting. Even though this is a strict policy, it is also very beneficial to the students.

So the question of the week is...

What are your thoughts on this opportunity?

Judaism

Many people have been commenting on my last post about the contest, "are you Jewish?" Let me tell you. Yes, I am. Just because I am however, doensn't mean you should judge me or anyone that follows my religion. You also mustn't think that I am VERY religious just because I am Jewish. I thought since that most others are not Jewish that it would be interesting for you to learn a little about it and a little about me and my Jewish life.

When you think of Judaism, you may think, Israel, Hebrew, or even "ponytails." All of that is true about Judaism (while others could debate about the "ponytails" part). Israel is the mecca of Judaism where most Jews in the world live. Hebrew is their native language, and most prayers are written in Hebrew. When I said ponytails, I was referring to Orthodox Jews who strictly follow the rules of Adonai our God. I've been a Jew ever since I was born, and I still don't know why Orthodox Jews have curly-cued sideburns. The reason I do not know is because I am actually a Reform Jew.

In Hebrew, you read right to left, which some may find extremely difficult. Either I find this easy, or it was inherited from my ancestors. For people that can speak fluent Hebrew, they do not need vowels when they write or read. For others like me, I need vowels to read as they help me pronounce the word. I'm not fluent in Hebrew, so don't think that I can speak a full two languages... For our services at my Temple/Synagogue, we use vowels always when reciting prayers or reading a section of Hebrew. The only case where we do not read with vowels is if someone knows the material really well or if we are reading from the Torah. Overall, Hebrew comes easy to me.

I am at the age where I am studying for my Bar Mitzvah which is coming up on March 24th (the day after my birthday!) and I am really excited. A Bar Mitzvah, or Son of the Commandment, is a Jewish ceremony welcoming children as young adults in to the Jewish community. The age that kids receive a Bar/Bat Mitzvah (B'nei Mitzvah for both genders) is usually on their 13th birthday. For me, there is a lot of responsibility when becoming a Bar Mitzvah. The main goal of a Bar Mitzvah is not just to receive gifts and party - it is to be able to lead a congregation in worship and be welcomed in to the Jewish community as an adult. I have to learn four Aliyot (plural of Aliyah) which is a paragraph from the Torah (or as Christians may call the Old Testament) written in Hebrew. I also need to know how to read them without vowels and look for little cues that help you remember the word. I also need to be able to conduct a whole worship service with lines of Hebrew, English readings, etc. all in front of a congregation of over 100 people that I may or may not know. I have a terrible issue with stage freight, and I hope by the time that my Bar Mitzvah comes, I will be ready.

Now, when you are arguing with someone, never argue about religion or politics. I'm just sharing more information. Most people in the world are of Christian descent or are a sect of Christianity. According to my History teacher, a little more than 0.02% of the world's population is Jewish. Our class had a lesson on religion and practices, and she showed us this pie chart:

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She showed us the chart and explained a bit of each of them. When she went to Judaism, she explained it as "a dieing religion" and "not as popular as it used to be." Coming from the only Jew in the class, that really offended me. It is NOT a dieing religion and it is GROWING! Let's take a look at what factor caused Judaism to decrease...

Wars. The holocaust was the worst war the Jews have faced. I do not want to argue all about the holocaust, but for people that are new to the subject, it was a drastic war that had killed over 6,000,000 Jews. If those Jews survived, Judaism would be as popular as any other religion. I do not want to summarize the holocaust for everyone, so if you would like to know more, Google it or do something in that nature.

The main difference between Judaism and Christianity is obviously that Christianity teaches that Jesus Christ is the messiah or the expected deliverer of Judaism. Christians are the ones who believe that Jesus is God's son, but also God himself, which I do not yet completely understand and hope to understand soon. To me, Judaism seems like the most neutral and practical religion. If you think about it, everyone has the opportunity to believe what they want. Whomever believes in a God, which most people should, then wouldn't Judaism be well suited for that? It's simple; we have a God, we have holy books, and we have holidays. Possibly, there was never a messiah, or never any God (I DO NOT BELIEVE THIS AT ALL I AM JUST SAYING TO PROVE A POINT)! What I'm trying to say is, if there was no religion at all, no anything, but you still needed something to believe in, Judaism would be the way to go since there isn't much complexity of rituals or whatsoever. I hope I got the point through here, but I am thinking 49% of people are going to respond to this as, "MY RELIGION IS BETTER THAN YOURS AND HERE'S WHY YADAYADAYADA..." and another 49% of people are going to say "I didn't quite understand that..." and the last 2% are going to think, "I got that, and that was interesting." Frankly, I don't even know what I was saying, and it is really hard to explain for me and would be much easier to explain verbally or just keep it in my head and don't share it at all. This was quite a long blog post and I am really happy that I got some fascinating information for you. My question for this week is...

What is your religion (if you have one) and what do you think makes it so special to you?

Challenge Time! #2: It's Time For A CONTEST!!!

It's time for another challenge time! This challenge will consist of... that's right! A CONTEST!!! This is my first contest on my blog, so bear with me here.

The contest is an essay explaining your family's traditions during the year, during holidays, etc.! Essays can be sent to my e-mail in .pdf or .doc and I will judge for the best one!

Things I will be looking for:

• Interesting information
• 3 of your family's traditions
• Details about each tradition
• A little bit of commentary and your thoughts on each tradition

And now, the PRIZES!

There will be three winners. The top three winners will receive a signed autograph of me and their essay will be featured on my blog! If you win and would not like the prize, that is okay also.

The deadline for this contest ends on March 31st!

Good luck to all and I hope for a lot of people to enter!

There is an example of an essay I'd like to see that was actually one that I did for school which I had gotten a 78/80 on (and yes everyone, I am Jewish!!!)

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Hanukkah is a very unique holiday that Jews around the world choose to celebrate during the winter season. On Hanukkah, my family eats traditional food, enjoys the company of relatives and other Jews, and opens presents.

     Around the time that most other families are putting up their trees for Christmas, my family begins celebrating Hanukkah in the comfort of our house making and eating many holiday treats, snacks, and meals. One of the most traditional foods of this holiday is a latke, which is a deep-fat-fried potato pancake. These scrumptious treats may be enjoyed with sour cream or applesauce. I enjoy eating latkes with ketchup because it makes them taste like french fries. Another well-known treat of Hanukkah is gelt, which is a chocolate candy wrapped in gold foil and in the shape of a coin. These candies are frequently used during the holiday game of Dreidel as a source of “money” for gambling.  Gelt used to throw a party on my taste buds, but now they seem to be as tasteless as water. Latkes and gelt are the most commonly spoke of and consumed foods on Hanukkah.

     After everyone in the family is done eating, it is time to start the festivities that begin Hanukkah. Dreidel is a fun game that doesn’t require any skill – just luck – where players take turns trying to win gelt. One player at a time spins a dreidel, which is a four-sided top that has a different Hebrew letter on each side. Whichever Hebrew letter it lands on determines all players’ actions. Each action is as follows: ה means take half of the pot, ש means put an extra gelt into the pot, נ means do nothing, and ג means take all in the pot. As the game progresses and the dreidel gets passed to me, I love the feeling of seeing that ג facing towards the sky and taking all of the gelt in the pot. In addition, dancing is another activity enjoyed on Hanukkah by many families. People hold hands and karaoke in a circle to the tune of Hava Nagila, which is also known as the Hora theme song. My family does not do this at home; instead, we go to my temple, which is similar to a Christian’s version of a church. The congregants form a big circle in the social hall to dance the Hora. These are some of the many creative and unique ways to celebrate Hanukkah, including playing Dreidel and dancing the Hora.

     Throughout the eight days of Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights, children receive many presents. Each day, the presents increase in value, leaving the “best” gift for last. Traditionally, eight total presents are received, but extras may come as well from relatives. As many people find it to be disrespectful to buy me gift cards for Hanukkah, I love them because they allow me to buy what I desire. Games are incorporated when finding presents such as “Hot and Cold” which adds suspense. It has become a tradition in my family to seek for presents around the house. This game can get frustrating at times as my house has a lot of space for hiding presents and the game can take a long time. There is no doubt that a child will not be dissatisfied when opening their presents.

     In conclusion, Jews love rejoicing on Hanukkah around the world. The Festival of Lights can be a very meaningful holiday with delectable foods, wonderful family gatherings, and generous presents.

Smiley Face

Here Comes the Hype...

Well, here we are. A brand new year. I hope you guys made some New Year's resolutions!!! Anyways, to start off this new year, I'd like to talk about the worthless countdown to "The End of the World" that starts now. I do not believe in this junk. I can tell already that there is going to be a lot of hype this year about the world ending.

For all people who are not aware, the world supposedly "ending" came about when a man named Constantine Rafinesque discovered the Mayan calendar in 1832. He discovered that the calendar ended on December 21, 2012 which led people into thinking the world will end on that date. There are many ways people think the world will end on that day and people who believe that the world will indeed end.

There were many other occasions when people thought the world was going to end. Remeber in the December of 1999 everyone thought the world was going to end when it became the year 2000? People thought the computers were going to explode since they thought they could not go up to the number 2. How ridiculous was that?

Just imagine what the Mayans were thinking about during that time...

I beg of you all to please not believe all of this hullaballo as it will be the story-of-the-year and will be talked about a lot. There was also a joke I had heard about the world ending in 2012:

I'll bet you a million dollars that the world won't end in 2012 because if it does, I don't owe you at all.

 So my question for this week will be...

Do you believe in all this hype about the world ending?