Posts

Why to Teach about Lynching and the Like

Gruesome, atrocious, heart-wrenching are just a few of the many adjectives that come to mind when seeing and hearing about the history of mass murders on the case of race in America. From the beginning, the United States has struggled and failed in their dealings with African Americans. Whether it be slavery, Jim Crow laws, or even police brutality today, equality has been an ideal far more than a reality. However, despite our despicable past, confronting the essence of these atrocities head on and talking about our troubled history is as important as ever as we move further and further away from when it did, unfortunately, occur. One of the vilest and wicked practices that screamed racism across communities all over the south was lynching. A practice that not only took the lives of innocent humans because of the color of their skin, but publicly shamed them as the entire community would march and mob and cheer and celebrate as these people were demeaned, and horrifically and shamef...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Importance of Getting History Right

            History tends to repeat itself. It has been and continues to be a fact of life. The patterns of society inevitably come around again, and our only source to guide us is our history. Essentially, the history of society and civilization has been comprised of patterns on patterns, rarely something truly unique or out of the ordinary. That being said, one would think by the year 2018 we would have mastered the art of society solving any and all problems at hand, ranging from world hunger to global peace. Yet, for many, many reasons we have not done so. While there are, on occasion, new challenges, we as a global society tend to make the same mistake over and over again: failing to learn from history. Furthermore, this repeated failure tends to stem from the same fault: the failure to accurately teach and present history.             All it takes is one Google search o...
Post a Comment
Read more

Controversy: Drinking on Purim

The Jewish holiday of Purim, the day marking the anniversary of when Queen Esther saved the entire Jewish population in Persia, is, arguably, the most anticipated and celebrated holiday among Orthodox Jews. Celebrated in this case, however, does not mean simply recognized with a vain and boring trip to Synagogue. On the contrary, Purim is a day to truly rejoice and party till night fall with true happiness as we appreciate and recognize G-d for our well-being and continued safety. Ironically, it is on Purim that so many put themselves in an ever-so-dangerous situation drinking excessive amounts of alcohol. Moreover, the over indulgence and heavy intoxication consumes far more than just ultra-Orthodox Jews or fathers and rabbis. In fact, for far too many, drinking on Purim is a normal activity regardless of age or responsibility. Drinking not only poses as a risk to safety on so many levels, but it encourages bad decisions of other sorts that could see teenagers engagi...
2 comments
Read more