For those interested, the 9/11 commission report is found online in full.  There is also a short summary of 35 pages at that link, which I would recommend one read if they don't want to go through almost 600 pages about the events leading to 9/11 and the aftermath.  Imagine if we had computers back when they did the inquiry on Pearl Harbor or for the assassination of JFK.  Ah, the contemporary world, where everything can be read by anyone. 

Well, after about a month, we finally put a few pictures up from the wedding.

60th anniversary of the failed plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler is commemorated in Germany:

GERMANY: HITLER PLOTTERS HAILED Chancellor Gerhard Schröder honored Germany's Nazi resistance on the 60th anniversary of the most famous plot to kill Hitler, saying the army officers, civic leaders and citizens who sacrificed their lives for the movement were heroes. On July 20, 1944, Col. Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg tried to kill Hitler with a briefcase bomb placed under a conference table. Hitler escaped serious injury, and Colonel Stauffenberg and several other conspirators were killed by a firing squad that night. Mr. Schröder spoke at the Blenderblock, the former Nazi war headquarters where the men were executed. President Horst Köhler laid a wreath before a plaque honoring the plotters. (AP)

 

In the newest issue of the Jewish action, there is a discussion (under the title, the Generation After) of the children of Baalei Teshuvah and how many don't stay religious.  The purpose of the two articles at first glance is to present why this happens.  Unfortunately, in my opinion, neither author truly gauges the problem and instead relies upon generalizations to make their claims.  Yes, we can blame it on materialism or on the lack of tradition within the family or even that lack of modern Orthodox "kiruv" professionals.  "Dropouts" occur for more reasons than one can fathom.  In order to determine the reason for this phenomenon, one would have to look at each individual case of why someone became religious in the first place.  Every baal teshuvah has a different story leading to the path of becoming more interested in living a Jewish life. 
 
In terms of how to combat the "problem," there is also not one answer.  I think the intellectual side of becoming Orthodox needs to be revamped to include the latest academic rhetoric.  No longer can we rely on the so-called proofs for G-d's existence and Revelation at Sinai.  It is not enough to have a basic background in philosophy.  We need to expand our vision to include the latest in thinking. 
 
We also need to support sensitive and well trained people who are knowledgable in the trials and tribulations faced by the baal teshuvah.  Perhaps, we need to encourage those who have already gone down the path to be the one's to help those looking to travel along similar roads. Of course, knowing many baalei teshuvah, they want to be part of the mainstream so much that they would never want to share experiences with others.  However, if one so chooses, then the guide must remember that it is not the same path that he/she took.  The key is recognizing that each individual is different and different things work for each. 

It seems Orthodox Jewry might want to take advice from the following small article in today's NY Times.  It seems that we aren't the only ones with problems of people not getting married and being single.  It appears evangelical Christians "suffer" from the same.  Now, as one recently married, it might not be fair for me to say this, but while I grant there is the command to procreate, there should also be a promotion among the Jewish clergy to provide single people with the encouragement that not being married isn't the end of the world.  Why is it people feel it is their place to make sure that everyone is married?  If a person desires to be single for a few years, why is there a push to "correct" the person's way?  Clearly, people have choice, and one can say all they want about בן שמונה עשרה לחופה (a person of 18 should marry) and so on, but this isn't the reality we live in.  Longer life expectancy would allow for later marriage if the person so chooses.  Anyway, it is an interesting article that I believe one should read. 

In yesterday's NY Times, there was an Op-Ed about the Harry Potter series being an example of, in the author's words, "neoliberal capitalism."  Not sure where the author was going with this, because all that happens is that there is a description of the book using economic jargon in order for the author to say "You can imagine as many fictional worlds, parallel universes or educational systems as you want, they will still all be regulated by the laws of the market."

I am back online after a long hiatus without internet.  We are slowly emptying boxes and making our apartment a living space.  I hope to be back to blogging more regularly now that I am back online.

On a more personal note, Shira and I are currently swamped with boxes realizing that we have too much to fit into such a small space. All I can say is I wonder if it has to do with my countless amount of books all over the place ;-).

I don't usually like to venture into the world of politics, but after reading an article, The New Pamphleteers, by Alan Wolfe, in the New York Times Sunday book review, I felt I had to say something. Whether one is politically conservative or liberal, there is clearly a major problem, namely the lack of informed thinking. Wolfe claims that most of the works contain, at best, shoddy research, and that information is twisted. OK, so that would be obvious, for truth is the hardest thing to come by. However, what scares me is that we sit here arguing over information, but the reality is none of us truly know what is real and what is fabrication because of the agendas of each side.

There is a second article in the NY Times magazine that attempts to portray this. In, How to make a Guerrilla Documentary, Robert Boynton describes the making of a film about the Fox news network, whose primary goal is to reveal that Fox doesn't provide "fair and balanced" news and maintains a conservative agenda. All I can say is that this would be fairly obvious, but one need remember that the liberal press most likely uses similar tactics.