Holidays and New Beginnings

A few weeks ago I celebrated the Jewish holiday of Shavuot in Jerusalem with several friends. To be in Jerusalem for Shavuot is special because not only are you in Jerusalem for one of the pilgrimage holidays, but after a traditional all night study marathon you can join thousands of people walking down to the Western Wall to pray as the sun rises. That's what we did. It was great. Almost equally exciting was the fact that Shavuot morning happened to be fairly cool. Last year it was excruciatingly hot. You can imagine that staying up all night, trying to focus while praying, and then having to walk home in oppressive heat can detract somewhat from the overall religious experience.

The holiday of Shavuot commemorates receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai. It is a new beginning of sorts, and as such, I will highlight the fact that I have recently begun searching for a new job. Yep, my time at ITS has come to a close and now I'm trying to figure out what to do with my life. I've considered most aspects of business, consulting, working for a non-profit or a think-tank, politics among other things but to be honest I'm still not sure exactly what I want to do. I want to contribute and have responsibility. I want to be able to think and problem solve. Making a boatload of money would be nice too. Anyone have any suggestions?

Rain-Check

I know I promised a post, but I'm tired. There will be a post tomorrow. It will deal with Shavuot and my search for new employment. I've been busy.

I Just Stuck Myself in the Palm with a Knife

OK, so the title isn't really related to the post at all, but it just happened and I thought you should know.

Anyways....

I tend not to get political in this blog space, but I'’m going to venture in that direction a little bit. I've been wondering about something and maybe somebody can figure it out for me. Basically, my question is: What happens when democracy goes wrong? What I mean by that is what happens a population democratically votes against peace and freedom? What if Iraq had elected a government whose platform included fighting off the American infidels and establishing an oppressive religious theocracy? They didn'’t. But what if they had? In the recent Palestinian elections, Hamas won a majority of the parliamentary seats. Hamas is recognized as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, and continues to deny Israel's right to exist. Is this a win for democracy and freedom? Recently, the more moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, threatened Hamas that he would hold a national referendum to determine if the Palestinian people want a Palestinian state along side Israel (using the 1967 borders). Who knows if Israel would even go for this, but there is a more troubling question: What if the people vote against it? What if the Palestinian people vote against a two state solution and for the destruction of Israel?

Let's all give a big hip-hip hooray for democracy.