Heaven, or Hell?

People from The Family Radio have been going around New York City saying that Judgement Day, as in the day that God judges whether you are worthy of being redeemed when the Messiah comes will be on May 21, 2011. Even if I actually believed that that was true I would still not repent for my sins and be subservient to Jesus. I would first like to know where they got that date from. I have  also decided to use my own logic into defining what Heaven and Hell would be like according to how it is portrayed by religion. Heaven is a place where all the people who follow God's way go. Despite the fact that many argue what the right way is to follow God there, I have come to conclusion that, if there is a God only one way that is the correct way to follow him. Heaven can be a place where only Catholics, Jews, Orthodox Christians, etc only have access to. If only one way is right then Heaven is not a diverse place and if one was to go to Heaven then they would be bored out of their minds, because it would be a place where there would be no intelligent thought, everyone would not question God's judgement and everything would be provided for them so there would be nothing for them to do. To conclude this thought, I have decided that Hell would be a place where there is diversity, intelligent thought and, hard work. From here I have decided that Heaven is actually Hell, and Hell is actually Heaven.

My View of 9/11 and Osama bin Laden's Death Through the Harry Potter Series

   I was in fourth grade when the World Trade Center on September 11th (a.k.a. 9/11) was hit by two jumbo jets. It was a normal day I got on the bus to go to school in Brooklyn from my Manhattan home. During recess I heard whispers about a bomb in the World Trade Center, but I just could not comprehend what was going on, seeing as that I was somewhat in my own world. I was then asked by a classmate whether I lived near the World Trade Center. I responded to the question by saying that it was quite a walk. After recess the Hebrew principal  called for an assembly and told us about the WTC being hit by airplanes and to say Tehilim (Psalms). I am not one to believe that Psalms actually have power, but I sometimes feel like saying them when it is a last resort. However, the tool that helped me most was the Harry Potter series, since the attacks occurred around the same time as I started reading the series.

  I was told that the city was shut down and had no idea how I would get home. I went to someone's house until my father was able to pick me up. I was somewhat scared of traveling on the trains because, I was scared that the trains might be shut down when I was still on one. I could not comprehend what was going on, despite the fact that I was told. I kept asking questions and drawing airplanes going into the Twin Towers. Soon after a video by Osama bin Laden came out saying that he only thought that the top part of the World Trade Center would be destroyed. For the next few months or possibly a year all I spoke about was Osama bin Laden. I was quite affected seeing as that I was breathing in the smoke from the collapsed buildings  for months and, that I could not see the towers when I looked where they would have normally been.

  Osama bin Laden, to me was not a real person. To me he was simply a fictional character such as Lord Voldemort was, except that to me Lord Voldemort was more tangible, because aside from trying to comprehend the recent occurrence I was also obsessed with Harry Potter. The thing that made bin Laden less tangible than Lord Voldemort was the fact that, although we did see videos of him, Harry Potter, the protagonist of the series had encounters with him that were direct encounters throughout the series. Also the first Harry Potter movie came out about two months after the attacks. I did not quite understand the implications of terrorism and the philosophy of Al Qaeda. Bin Laden the leader of Al Qaeda declared war on the Western world, also known as fatawa, so according to bin Laden, non-Muslims (infidels) and Muslims who do not do Jihad are susceptible to attack, just like those in the Harry Potter series who were Muggleborns, Muggles and those who opposed his ideology. When I heard that bin Laden was killed I was somewhat shocked. Seeing that I viewed bin Laden as Voldemort I thought that he was in a way a powerful wizard who would never be caught and was impervious to death, just as Voldemort was until his Horcruxes were destroyed in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

 In the first book of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone, everybody everybody lost all their common sense and nearly exposed themselves to the Muggle (non-wizard) population, all because Lord Voldemort suffered defeat, after trying to kill Harry Potter as baby. They dropped every responsibility they had so they could celebrate. One wizard even said to Vernon Dursley ,Harry Potter's  Muggle uncle that even Muggles like him should be celebrating "this happy, happy day." This wizard did little to maintain his secrecy he was even donning a cloak, which is a wizard garment. I can compare the circumstances with the celebrations that happened right after the  announcement of Osama bin Laden's death. People were dancing and celebrating by Ground Zero. However like in the Harry Potter series, I believe that the enemy has not actually been eliminated, and that celebrating by screaming U.S.A. was idiotic and irrational.Voldemort had not actually been killed. At the end of the fourth Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Voldemort comes back to power and has his minions, the Death Eaters kill many more people and target Harry Potter. Although I do assume that Osama bin Laden is literally dead, I do not believe that Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations have died along with him

   In the Harry Potter series the Ministry of Magic kept the population in the dark about Voldemort's second rise to power. Today President Barack Obama decided to keep a post-mortem picture of Osama bin Laden  from being seen by the masses. What we have to realize is that there is a threat of attack just from the U.S. Government for announcing that Navy SEALS shot bin Laden down. It might quell conspiracy theorists and also discourage terrorist from attacking the U.S. Cornelius Fudge decided not to make up a conspiracy theory that Harry Potter was simply fame hungry and that Dumbledore was either senile, or wanted to take his position as Minister of Magic. When the truth was revealed, Cornelius Fudge was sacked from his position. I feel that we as U.S. citizens should be told the truth and we should have access to such proof.

   Osama bin Laden and Voldemort were similar in that if they wanted the right to live then they should have respected other people's right to live, although I do not view Osama bin Laden's death as justice, I simply view it with awe in a way that I do not know exactly how to feel besides that although everyone is celebrating.  Osama bin Laden was the poster boy for Islamic terrorism, just as Voldemort is the poster boy for evil in the Harry Potter series. What I do not like about the depiction of both their deaths is that everybody whether in real life or the Harry Potter series acted as if both Islamic terrorism and Voldemort's ideology were gone with their deaths. I feel that the celebration is irrational and that bin Laden's death will not bring back the lives that he has taken. I also find that Harry Potter was a tool that was useful in analyzing my surroundings, despite the fact that it is fictitious.

The Fake Osama bin Laden Picture (My Version)

   There has been much hype over seeing pictures of Osama in Laden after the raid on his mansion. He was shot in the left eye and chest, but was supposedly recognizable. The CIA is supposedly going to eventually release a picture of him after the fateful gunshot. However there is much controversy over a release of that picture because it might be too gory for the public and, it might anger terrorist organizations. I do think that such a picture should be released, to satisfy the skeptic out there.  Meanwhile there is fake picture circulating around the Internet, it was confirmed that that picture was photo-shopped . I thought that I would make one of my own, so I decided to make one on www.morphster.com. I used the "Zombie Me" version. Realize that this is a fake and that I did this for fun.

Osama bin Laden is Dead; Now What?

   I was watching a YouTube video until my my mother came into the room and told me the news. I was ecstatic, I had to Google search it to confirm that that it was true I even turned on the the news channels to confirm that it was not a tabloid news piece, since there were previous theories that bin Laden was dead, apparently which were not true since he was just killed. Osama bin Laden was killed in Pakistan. Right now as I type people are out celebrating. Although this is a major breakthrough the question I have is, "Why are they celebrating, Al Qaeda still exists and if bin Laden was not killed the CIA might have been able to get information out of him that might have eradicated the threat of Al Qaeda altogether?"

    The patriotic celebrations that are occurring remind me of the vigils and the "God Bless America" paraphernalia of Post-911 New York City and the rest of the nation. Don't get me wrong, bin Laden's death is a good thing. Al Qaeda will never be as much of a threat as it used to be, but it is still a threat. The casualties in the Iraqi war were unnecessary. What makes this good news is the fact that the poster boy of terrorism is dead. We still have others to hunt down such as Anwar al-Awlaki and many others.

    What I am waiting for are the conspiracy theories that will result from his death. I already have a few ideas such as what someone told me, which is that the Pakistani Government was harboring him the whole time. The circumstances for his death were slightly suspicious. for example he was killed in the proximity of a mansion right outside of Islamabad, the Pakistani capital. What is curious about this is that one would suspect a terrorist to be hiding in a cave or a tribal area. Well I will not consider it so far fetched since the CNN anchors brought that up. I am waiting until more information is leaked. My motto is that, "only time will tell."

 What would make a really interesting conspiracy theory is, that Obama, the U.S. Army and the Pakistani government lied about bin Laden's death and, that bin Laden is still alive. The reason for that would be that President Barack Hussein Osama oops! I meant Obama is a Muslim, as many people I know would call and  I do not believe that, and joined Pakistan's alliance with the Taliban.This move was to take suspicion away from Obama and Pakistan. Also Obama decided that it would help him get reelected so it would be killing two birds with one stone. Yes I am just playing the part of a conspiracy theorist, I am not actually that idiotic.

Struggles with Writing

The Blindman's Meal, Pablo Picasso,1903
Oil on canvas

My sketch

  My art history class was given a writing assignment which involved, going to to a museum, sketching the artwork (hope you guys like my sketch I went a little crazy with the shading) that I want to write on and finding at least one scholarly source. I found "The Blindman's Meal", by Pablo Picasso to be a very striking work of art. One reason being is the coloring which is very dark on the most part with little contrast. Seeing as this is from Picasso's "Blue Period" the dominant color of the painting is obviously, blue.

Another reason that this painting grabbed my attentions is how different it was from most of the other works of art.The other painting were abstract and not realistic as this one however, this painting was dark yet, easy to.relate to. It provokes strong emotions. The question is, which emotions does it provoke? The "Blue Period was inspired by his trip through Spain and the suicide of a friend and, his journey through Spain. In my opinion it provokes the emotions of the imperfect person who struggles with daily life, which is pretty much every person on the planet. I guess that is what the "Blue Period" was about. Another thing about the "Blue Period is that Picasso focused a lot on the blind during that particular period. I guess that although most of us are not blind we in a way are blinded by our emotions.

  Now the reason why this post is called "Struggles with Writing" is because, 1-I have problem with making citations, 2-because I am having problems finding a scholarly art history source that covers this particular artwork. I have always had my share of difficulties with writing and this assignment is no different. I have always had a problem with writing down my thoughts and the fact that I am having a problem finding a single scholarly source does not help. Luckily this assignment is not due until May 4th hopefully I will have enough time after Passover and spring break, which end at the same time, to find something on this artwork before then.

Passover Cleaning

   Ah, no! That time of the year has come again and no, I am not talking about Easter. I am talking about Passover. The holiday where we Jews work like slaves to rid our houses, stores and, offices of products made from leaven grains. Passover cleaning for Orthodox Jews is not a joke in any manner. We cannot even use our ovens unless they are self cleaning, have the broil cycle turned on for over an hour, or we use a blow torch on it. We have to either blowtorch our utensils and cookware, or replace them with Passover cookware and utensils. We have to replace the dishes because they are not made of metal and cannot be koshered.We have to remove all leavened products from our house or ownership by selling them. Passover can be quite a burden without all the extra cleaning that many people incorporate into their Passover cleaning. What makes this holiday even worse is that the Passover food is twice the calories and not even as nutritious or tasty.

  What I always found ironic about Passover is that the Jewish people celebrate their exodus from Egypt yet, we work like slaves in order to celebrate Passover. The Jews were slaves in Egypt and were forced to work like slaves. That was until God sent Moses to be an intermediary between him and Pharoh. Moses with the help of God unleashed Ten Plagues on Egypt. At the seder we talk about how we were slaves and now we are free, but if you looked at what it takes for one to prepare for Passover would you say that we are free?

   The woman in the video, Rebbetzin Rivka Leah Zelwig, is a parody of how intensely one can overdo Passover cleaning. This woman dismantles her kitchen by using heavy power tools in order to make her kitchen free of leavened products. She even tells her daughter to remove the toilet. I find that funny because since when do people bring food into the bathroom? She even says to remove the sink, toilet, kitchen tiles and, every single feather from a down blanket. We even see her remove an electrical outlet from the wall and use power tools. One can make their sink kosher for Passover by pouring hot water over it so and we normally say a blessing after checking for leavened products that nullifies all the leavened products that were not found during the search, so that does not make sense. Also I found it funny when she told her daughter to remove to toilet, because we are not allowed to eat in the bathroom so why would the toilet have leavened products and, if so we could flush is or bleach, which is still over the top but not unusual to do, not remove the toilet.

Another example of how people overdo Passover cleaning is this article on Failed Messiah.This is something that many can relate to. I know someone who said that his stepmother's family was similar to the woman in the video. Instead of trying to clean every single electrical outlet we should be focusing on the basics to make this already strenuous holiday the simplest one can  possibly make it.Instead of treating it like spring cleaning we should focus on literally following the Jewish law. By simply doing that we are already doing backbreaking labor. I guess this goes to show that too many restrictions can lead to destroying children's toys, your property, your clothes, and many other things. This however does give everyone a good laugh about the lengths one goes to properly clean for Passover.

My Fake Rubashkin Purim Contest Entry

I found out on Failed Messiah that Sholom Rubashkin former CEO of Agriprocessors, a kosher slaughter house, who was found guilty of 86 counts of bank fraud and sentenced to 27 year in jail, was having a Purim essay contest for "the Yiddishe Kinderlach across the world" about what they learned from the Book of Esther. I am a bit too old to enter seeing, as I am 18 and have graduated high school.  However, I decided that I would write a satirical essay as a joke for my own amusement (and maybe even your amusement). 

Hadasah Chaya Schneebalg

     What I Learned from the Book of Esther

   I learned from the Book of Esther is that all goyim are evil. The goyim are our yetzer hara trying to turn us away from frumkeit. Haman is a symbol of what the goyim, even today, think about doing to us Yidden. 


   Mordecai HaTzadik is an example of what we should be. We should separate ourselves from goyim because the goyim are our enemies. Mordecai was the one who would not bow down to Haman, which caused the Jews to undergo the threat of extermination in the first place. Haman also is in the soul of every goy, because he is a descendent of Amalek. In order the Jews to defeat Amalek, we must steal from goyim whenever possible, claim anti-Semitism whenever possible, and disregard any goyish law whenever possible. The reason we must steal is because “Uni chashuv k’meis”, by stealing from Amalek, we are killing them thereby erasing their memory from the world, because we are making them poor. 


    Another way that we can overcome our yetzer hara, is to corrupt innocent Jewish children with the idea that boys should not work when they grow up, and spend the whole day learning, and that the girls should not go to a decent college and have many children. This social structure will lead to stealing from the goyishe government and more Jews on welfare which is an even greater mitzvah because of the kavanah to steal. From here we see that, since so many Jewish children are corrupting themselves with a college education that Chabad has not yet achieved its goal and needs to do more kiruv and spread its practices. You saved us from the triefe meat of Achasverosh.  It is Haman who went after you and we will do whatever we can to have you set free, because of this you are under threat like Mordecai HaTzadik. Another thing that I would like to add, is that you are obviously a reincarnation of Mordecai HaTzadik because, your middle name is Mordecai and, you are a tzadik  will save us from this golus. Another sign that you are here to redeem us is that, you had a multi-million dollar fraud going on and you showed no remorse, exactly how a true yid should react whenever he is caught. May Moshiach come soon and redeem you from prison since you are such a tzadik.