4,000 Years of Jerusalem in 5 Minutes

Very well done, showing the history of Jerusalem using artwork, archeology, and written history.

Values

"Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow.
Don't walk behind me, I may not lead.
Walk beside me and be my friend."
~ Maimonodies (Rambam)

"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather is one of those things that give value to survival."
~ C. S. Lewis

On a slightly different note, these two videos were fantastic. The first is Evelyn Glennie on How to listen to music with your body, which is obviously about a lot more than that; not only is she a fascinating speaker and a great percussionist, she's deaf, which likely has helped her be able to understand and explain the ideas so well. The second is Keith Barry, and is just cool.

The J-Blogosphere Arts Exhibition

Bas-Melech hosted it, and there are some really nice works by some talented artists. Check them out.

Where's Your Creativity?

I stumbled across this post and challenge by Bas~Melech, and I think it's absolutely wonderful, so here goes:

The J-Blogosphere Arts Exhibition!

Show off your own talents while viewing masterpieces created by your blogfriends!

Not an artist? There's no better time to start! Try your hand at expressive doodling and display the results for our admiration.

There is no competition involved, just a fun game in which bloggers try to identify who created each piece. You will receive no criticism unless you request it.

Rules for entry:
1. Scan or photograph one or two of your favorite pieces. May include any art forms, including photos of 3-D works.
2. Remove your real name from signed pieces.
3. Upload your image to a hosting service such as imageshack.us, resizing the image if necessary.
4. Email a link to think613 at yahoo dot com. Specify whether you would like your piece to be critiqued or just admired, and sign the email with your blog ID.
5. Deadline for submissions is Shabbos Chanukah.

I know that there are plenty of wonderful and talented artists and other creative minds out there; a number of them are listed as contributors on this blog. It's a great way to showcase some of your work.

On a similar note, for all the writers out there, the National Jewish Outreach Program is running a contest through WebAds that could win you a trip for two to Israel. They're asking that you send in a picture or video of a piece of Judaica, and write a short essay or speak briefly about the piece and what it means to you and/or your family. See all the details here; it's really quite simple and it's always nice to reminisce a bit.

Ezzie's Blog Roundup: Young, Wise, & Trying

As many people have pointed out, I really do need to update my blogroll. Good thing I'm lazy.

There are a number of excellent blogs penned by young men and women out there in the J-blogosphere, and lately I've been discovering even more - whether because they've come to visit us, they plan to come to visit us, whether people have pointed them out to me, or because I've stumbled across them. Over the last 12 hours or so, I've been wowed, impressed, inspired, or made to think by a number of their posts, so here we go: (again, hit expand for excerpts)

• 8) Badforshidduchim - via SaraK and others, I just spent some time perusing the archives. Switching between hilarious and serious discussions about the difficulties and stupidities within the shidduch "system".
• 7) The MaddHatter on the idea of "double-dipping" with dates.

  This well-meaning mother had a thing or two to say in favor of double-dating. Her casual "It's either raining or a draught when it comes to shidduchim" along with "I find it's better to catch hold of what you can during the rainy season because, let's face it, it's not exactly easy to get dates" really hit home in an uncomfortable way. I don't have an easy time getting dates. And this boy sounds really great. Then again, so does the one who's supposed to call me. I know what I'm going to do. That's not the issue. The issue is how easily this woman was able to shake my faith.

• 6) Chana on the historical prejudices in commentaries.

  That's probably not what the author of the text intended and one is biased, one is injecting their own historical point of view into the characters of the Bible. It feels somehow human to me, very limited, almost problematic. I brought the question up to Rabbi Kanarfogel, but you see, he has such reverence for the commentaries that the way he answered was to say, "You think that they are unmasking the supermen? But that's the thing, when the masks are pulled off, they're still supermen!" He explained that if these commentaries couldn't stand up to the criticism, as it were; if they simply fell apart after one took out the historical remarks, then sure, that would be problematic. It would be someone writing a polemical diatribe and couching it within the text of a commentary to the Torah. But in these cases, brilliant analysis is still involved; it is only that it is sometimes reflective of historical time periods.

• 5) Erachet on heroism.

  I am a regular girl from a regular town and a regular family and I don't possess any special talents or abilities or strengths.
  
  So how can I be a hero? A real hero? Who has adventures and saves the whole world?
  
  Because I really believe that I can. I really believe that I will, one day. But some little voice inside of me is trying to make me see, the world is not that simple. It's not that black and white. And you are not that special.
  
  But I want to be.

• 4) SJ on throwing herself into her writing.

  Until now, that is. Almost entirely inadvertently, I’ve found out what it feels like to lose myself in my writing, to be consumed by it. Last night, I decided to try something new. I was inspired to attempt a writing style that is extremely ambitious and different than my norm. For once, instead of waiting ‘til the urge passed, as I usually do (because I am lazy or decide that I should be focusing on dull school essays instead), I went with the instinct and started to write. And wrote and wrote. I had to come up for air occasionally, pacing around my room (or rather, taking the two steps between my desk and the door repeatedly—my room isn’t exactly spacious) and reminding myself of the world I’m really in. But then I’d submerge myself again, back into my writing.

• 3) The Apple on building confidence.

  The key is to (a) realize that you're not unusual in your struggles and (b) equip yourself with the tools to bring yourself to a correct mindset. I think (b) is something that needs to come from within more than without - having others around to be the ones to reassure you that you're not as bad as you think you are is great, but in the possible absence of having others to build you back up from those insecure moments, you need to be able to achieve it on your own.
  
  Basically, you need to believe in yourself. You have to have a strong sense of yourself so that you can bounce back from those moments of insecurity. You need to have confidence.

• 2) The Madd Hatter on how much you can learn from painting an orange.

  At the moment, the focus of my art is an orange. I have spent the last two weeks painting oranges and I'm not even close to finishing the second one. I've found it to be a lesson in observation, patience, and focus. Painting has actually taught me a lot so far besides which colors make the shadow and which the shine of an orange.
  
  1.It's okay to erase something I've worked hard on and start from scratch.
  
  2.It's okay to just stand and look for a while.
  
  3.It's the process and not the finished product that's important.
  
  4.I'm never really finished; it can always be improved.

• 1) And finally, I absolutely loved [and teared up at] this post by The Corner Point called Human Becomings.

  Maybe it's just because as unappreciated and bashed the teaching profession is, there is still something glorious about saying you teach 10th grade Chumash, or 12th grade Bio, or even 6th grade Tefilla. But when you tell people you teach Kindergarten, most look at you, almost struggle to conceal the sympathy in their eyes, and comment, "Oh really? Ah...do you enjoy it?"
  
  Are you kidding? Do I enjoy it?
  
  It's my inspiration. My air. My life right now. I may be an overly passionate soul in most aspects of my life, but when I talk about my job, I feel such a pride, such a wonder, such a privilege to be able to carry out this amazing responsibility.
  
  So many people consider early childhood education as a babysitting service. Parents drop their little ones off at school, run errands, go to work, take care of the real world while some Morahs keep an eye on the kids that "can't even read yet so how can they be learning...?" Our children are more than just learning--they're drinking up every word that's uttered within their earshot, putting words to things they're not even able to consciously understand yet, growing in self-awareness and self-worth, and building the foundations of love for learning that will be the cornerstone of every other lesson they'll ever learn for the rest of their lives.
  
  The thrill of watching a little girl finally realize that the little black characters on the pages of books really mean something is simply breathtaking...As is watching from afar as a child with behavioral difficulties finally works out her own problem without resorting to hitting...As is hearing the exclamation of delight from the little one who runs by in the playground, legs pumping, heart soaring, flying by with nothing to anchor her to the ground...As is the glow on the face of the child who proudly holds up her clay masterpiece, explaining, "Morah, I made this for you..."

Check them all out.

Naivety Seen

Attending a frum school from nursery through college has its benefits. Frum colleges are known to be easier and more of a joke, and you don't have to worry about taking off for yom tovim. Your classmates are all frum girls (or guys), and you don't have to worry about the environment being unsuitable for a bas yisroel (or ben torah) or getting yourself into a compromising situation. Sure, in high school you only get half a day of general studies, but I haven't found my general studies education to be lacking in most areas, and compared to most "in town" high schools I think I've actually received a better general studies education.

This summer, after 3 day schools, 1 frum high school, 1 seminary, 2 frum colleges and 117 credits I found myself in a secular school for the first time. The subjects? Art History I and Art History II, two courses required for my degree through a frum college, but not offered there for obvious reasons.

One of the main subjects of art, especially during the Renaissance is religion. The religion of choice being Christianity.

Of course, growing up in the frum school system we are not taught about dinosaurs or theories of evolution. Certain chapters in Psychology and Biology are skipped, and we don't learn about the "other religions". I do remember learning about Isalm, but not much about Christianity. You can imagine how confused I was sitting in class listening to the teacher's explanations about "Yushka", Mary, another Mary (?!), Madonna, and John the Baptist in about 100 different paintings. The Last Supper had something to do with.... Easter was it? Wasn't it before the crucification?? Why are there two babies and who is John? I had no clue what was flying, a basic background in Christianity is pretty much a necessity for most of the course. And oh yes, of course blaming Eve for eating the apple is sexist - that must be what the "author of the Bible" intended. (Don't get me started on the apple.)

While most yeshivos and seminaries probably don't approve of college, the reality is that most students looking for pursue a professional career will attend secular colleges. We don't believe that we came from Monkeys and we don't learn about Christianity in school, but maybe a brief "for Dummies" course should be given by a trusted Rav in a torahdik manner to prepare us before entering such an environment.

What about when we are approached by classmates, teachers, or even missionaries? We should have enough knowledge to be able to discuss Judaism vs. Christianity and disprove them with confidence.

My first course this summer was taught by a German Anti-Semite who gave me trouble the minute she figured out I was a Jew. She'd get into religious discussions during class, and ask provocative questions such as "When was the Bible put together?" (What do you mean put together? G-d wrote the bible....), or she would put down the "Hebrews" and occasionally mumble about "some custom or another of the Hebrews". In her class I actually felt like "the Jew" and not just another student.

Antisemitism is not something that I've been confronted with often, especially in a school setting. It's hard to sit and take the abuse quietly and not mouth off.

You can dis frum schools and their "fake degrees" all you want, but sometimes it's nice to fit in and not worry about controversial topics.

And hey, where else can you earn 60 credits in one semester?

Imagination

While the topic is education and whatnot....
chew on this.

spit art

Well, if everyone is posting cool videos....

Unbelievably Lucky

This video touched me, though I'm unsure what it has to do with cingular.