Shmu's Views - Politics/Governance/Spirituality

In Our Name: A Message from Jewish Students at Columbia University To the Columbia Community: Over the past six months, many have spoken in our name. Some are well-meaning alumni or non-affiliates who show up to wave the Israeli flag outside Columbia’s gates. Some are politicians looking to use our experiences to foment America’s culture war. Most notably, some are our Jewish peers who tokenize themselves by claiming to represent “real Jewish values,” and attempt to delegitimize our lived experiences of antisemitism. We are here, writing to you as Jewish students at Columbia University, who are connected to our community and deeply engaged with our culture and history. We would like to speak in our name. Many of us sit next to you in class. We are your lab partners, your study buddies, your peers, and your friends. We partake in the same student government, clubs, Greek life, volunteer organizations, and sports teams as you. Most of us did not choose to be political activists....

by: Shmuel ben Shlomi Everything has a beginning. Many times the older a thing, idea, concept, thought or practice is the more difficult it becomes to access its true origins. When it comes to the idea of G-d or a god this is especially true. The concept of a G-d has been around, at least as long as human civilization has existed. Humans, by nature, are a curious lot who come out of the womb asking that one important question — “Why?” It is a significant part of humanity’s genetic code and there is no getting around it. We want to know and that means asking questions, especially those with seemingly unknowable answers…. And, we don’t like that. Therefore when confronted with that ultimate question, “Where did all this, including myself, come from?” Well, the answers will be endless and will vary according to our time and place in the herald of time. Keeping that in mind here is a brief list of Godheads beginning with the first known post-Flood human civilization to our curren...