Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in chabadnik's LiveJournal:

Thursday, August 23rd, 2007
7:07 am	A job, and an attitude. Since it is now summer in the US and school is out I have had to find a new job. Luckily I have a few friends and several reasonable job skills. Of course, working behind the counter and answering phones in a restaurant is not the job of a lifetime, but it does take care of the rent. This job is not as easy as it sounds and I have gained a lot of respect for certain types of people. There are a lot of things that can go slightly wrong with food orders and being the one to interact with the customers, I often get personally blamed. Some folks are nice and others, are just jerks. Every day I have people who complain and take issue with the restaurant, or with me personally. What I wait for however, is the happy friendly and forgiving people. The people who smile in honesty and ask how your day has been. I try to be one of those people. The guy who is really cool to you, and makes your day just a little bit brighter. I sound like deluded hippie, but I know what I'm saying. I experience it . I can see it when I manage to make someone feel worthwhile. A goal worth reaching for. Changing the world, one kind word at a time. p.s. I am late posting this and I won't be working there much longer. Better late then never though. Current Mood: lethargic (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Friday, July 13th, 2007
3:36 pm	Gay Rams and the Bible Recently I read an article in Time Magazine that had me wondering, what the hell? The title of the article was "Yep, They're Gay". The article stated that "roughly 8% of rams turn out to have sex exclusively with other rams." Evidently "PETA claims that researchers in Oregon are killing gay sheep and cutting open their brains in order to learn how to turn gay rams straight." Since I could be considered a bible thumper, I think now is a good time for a little thumping. Most people have heard what it says in the Torah (bible): "You shall not lie with a man as one lies with a woman, it is an abomination". So what about the rams? In the section of Noah there is a verse: "And G-d saw the earth and behold it was corrupted, for all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth." The meaning of the verse is explained by the medieval commentary Rashi who says: "Even domestic animals, beasts, and birds, had relations with those which were not of their species." Some people might take a look a gay rams and think this is nature. Rams are animals and act naturally, so it must be somehow natural. The truth is not so simple. The truth is, humans are the example for the rest of the world, not the other way around. We are the world's source of inspiration and innovation. The reason why we now have gay rams is the same reason the animals corrupted themselves in the time of Noah. Bad example! Realize that you are a living example for every aspect of the world, and act accordingly. The results may surprise you. p.s. PETA is not so innocent http://www.canadafreepress.com/2007/consumer-freedom012807.htm Current Mood: hot (Comment on this)
Monday, April 16th, 2007
9:02 am	Absurdity I recently found this video on youtube. Evil arrogant self righteous liberal pricks. If you watch the video and don't know what I mean, then I apologize for wasting your time. Current Mood: blah (Comment on this)
Sunday, April 1st, 2007
5:17 pm	What Linux can do for you. When people think of Linux, they often think of geeks using a command line interface. Typing obscure commands with no visible results and spending hours compiling code (whatever that means). However, this is no longer the truth. Linux has advanced by leaps and bounds in the past few years and certain distributions are nearing OSX in simplicity and Windows XP in compatibility. It is now quite possible to use Linux without ever seeing the command line. Additionally, there are a huge number of programs on Linux for every purpose. Image editing (GIMP, Inkscape), publishing (OpenOffice, Scribus), communication (Gaim, Thunderbird), and so on and so forth. Everything a home user needs. Then there is Beryl, which you can view on YouTube, and all the eye candy you ever wanted. Hundreds of icon sets, thousands of themes, and near infinite room to customize. It can be amazingly beautiful. Windows has many known security flaws and there are thousands of viruses that can infect you computer. Linux has had less then twenty viruses, and none of them have ever spread. This is even more secure then Mac. Another advantage is the speed. Linux boots up much more quickly then Windows and runs significantly faster. It also handles multitasking in a much more efficient manner and doesn't slow down and stutter when working. The final benefit from using Linux, is that you are not beholden to a corporation and forced to obey their rules. And if you read Vista's End User License Agreement (EULA), you will see how great a benefit that really is. All things considered, Linux is most definitely something to try. Don't let the fact that it costs nothing put you off, because I know from experience, that the best things in life really are free. Current Mood: blank (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Sunday, March 11th, 2007
12:08 am	There's no place like home. I am heading home for Pesach. Yay! Pesach (otherwise known as Passover) is a Jewish holiday on which absolutely no leaven may be eaten or even owned. Meaning that any amount of any of the five species of grain (wheat barley spelt rye and oats) in any form mixed with water is prohibited. This involves many hours of cleaning and hard work due to the amount of leavened foodstuffs which spreads to every nook and cranny of your house during the course of the year. It must be found and removed from your property. Even the vessels used throughout the year contain leaven in their walls and must disowned. To make this possible the vessels and any other non disposable leaven products are tempararly sold to a non Jew. Care is taken regarding all possibly consumed products that they contain absolutely no trace of leaven. For example lipstick and toothpaste must be checked for any ingrediants from grain. If this seems to you like religious observance gone completely mad, you are right. Because Judaism is not about obeying a set of rules or performing a series of rituals. Its about doing more then the required basics. Its about having a meaningful relationship with G-d. (Well this post certainly ran on longer then intended.) Anyway, the practical point of it all, is that I'll be home and able to help out. Hope your spring will be as meaningful and wonderful as mine is shaping up to be. Time to go. Bye. Current Mood: awake (Comment on this)
Thursday, February 22nd, 2007
2:25 am	PlaysForSure and MTP – Argh! A few weeks ago I decided to make some videos for YouTube. Since I don't have a proper video camera I decided to use CrazyTalk. I would use my Creative Zen Vision:M to record the audio, then use CrazyTalk to link it to a picture and animate it. After recording a long and semi boring rant, I tried to transfer the file. No dice. None of my files would transfer. What went wrong? MTP! The work of corrupt corporate scheming combined with complete incompetence to create pure evil. Microsoft Transfer Protocol. Typing these hated words my fingers tremble and the sight of them burns my eyes. How dare they, how dare they! A little history is needed. Let us start with the success of the iPod, because thats really where this all begins. The original Napster was the start of an mp3 music revolution, but RIAA and others could not abide this loss of their monopolistic control. Skipping a few years. Enter the iPod and the advent of massive online music sales. Money is being made hand over fist, the music industry is sitting fat and happy once more, and all seems well with the world. But Micosoft would not be shut out, they would stick their greedy grubby hands in and grab a piece of the pie. What Microsoft needed was a way to consolidate all online music vendors and all portable media device manufacturers. The way to do this was to create a new music standard, ironically called PlaysForSure. Their ability to force its implementation came from the great clout wielded by a ninety percent desktop market share, which they used to subdue those opposed like a barbarian uses his club. Unfortunately Microsoft realized that the new DRM wouldn't be enough, they needed more control. At this point in our story enters the villain and bane of all good, MTP. By creating a proprietary transfer method and forcing its universal use in Windows, they were locking out the competition. Mac was the intended victim but Windows is the one that lost. Back to the present day. When I searched the Web, I found the source of my file transfer woes. MTP was buggy and unreliable. So I went in search of a way to fix my broken MTP, and found hundreds of problems and dozens which sounded the same as mine. None of the supposed solutions worked at all. Finally I used a program called Gnomad2 for Linux, which implements a hacked version of MTP. It works like a charm and all my files transfer perfectly. I never ended up making the video because CrazyTalk didn't worked out, but thats the topic of another rant. Just a note. I was so angry, I wrote even wrote the following complaint to the Federal Trade Commission: Microsoft PlaysForSure is a certification given by Microsoft to portable devices (portable media players, phones, etc...) and content services that meet certain requirements. Among other requirements, portable devices must implement Janus, and network-attached devices must implement an interface to Cardea. Janus and Cardea are two types of digital rights management, which ensure that protected media files cannot be played in an incompatible environment. For example, any song from a PlaysForSure certified music vendor will not work with an iPod, or with any other non PlaysForSure device. Meaning that PlaysForSure certified content is certified partly because it will not play for sure. blatant false advertising. Current Mood: aggravated (Comment on this)
Tuesday, February 6th, 2007
1:38 am	School Trip The kids at the boarding school where I work went on their ski trip a few days ago. I signed on as a helper and got a free trip for the small price of a bit of my sanity. Actually it was very cool. I have not been skiing in about four years, so it took a bit of relearning. After a few times down I was back into it, racing and jumping down the slopes. Later in the trip we went shooting. Being that I was watching over the whole group I only got to shoot once. I shot an AR-15 with a scope, which was very neat. We did a few other things as well but nothing too exciting. Overall I had a great time and so did the kids. (I was going to post an angry rant I wrote about gay rams, but I seem to have lost it somehow...) Current Mood: calm (Comment on this)
Sunday, January 28th, 2007
3:52 am	Life and Work Alright, it's been a while, but a lot has been happening. First, my sister got married. Second, I began to work more hours. And third, I am still studying full time. The upshot of it all, is that I have more money, less sleep, and a sister now living in NY. Now that that is out of the way, I want to take a moment to talk about my job. I work as a dorm counselor for about twenty high school boarding students who have slight learning or behavioral problems. I know this doesn't sound like an easy job, and I would like to make something clear; its not as easy as it sounds. There is no way to ensure that these kids will behave consistently. One day a kid will be in a crazy mood and the whole dorm will go nuts. My job is partially to be there and keep control in this situation. And partially to ensure that the rules are generally kept. The truth is I like the job, but some days you just want to... Well I'll leave it up to your imagination (and keep myself in the clear). Enough ranting, its time for me to go learn. Bye bye. Current Mood: tired (Comment on this)
Tuesday, January 16th, 2007
3:58 pm	Knowledge is Power A shocking movie about the power behind the facade. (Comment on this)
Friday, January 5th, 2007
12:53 pm	Tales of Testing Sunday was testing day, it was also a fast day. Six guys were to be tested together. The time and location were very vague. Around eleven o'clock in one of the rooms upstairs were the only instructions I had. Nobody else even showed up until after twelve and I only managed to find the testing room by skulking in the hall until the Rabbi arrived. I was less prepared then I had thought, but luckily so were most of the other guys. When compared against the whole I only appeared moderately ignorant. Since the test was either pass or fail, I passed. However the Rabbi made a note by my name. “Needs to do better next time.” Well hopefully I will. That concludes one third on my Rabbi training, and also this blog. Bye now. Current Mood: relaxed (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, December 28th, 2006
8:49 pm	Becoming a Rabbi Thought people might like to hear what it actually takes to become an Orthodox Jewish Rabbi. I have been I Crown Heights studying for the past three months, about six hours a day, five days a week. The required text covers only fifty five pages, but they contain a huge number of incredibly complex cases. You must know dozens of opinions in every case and understand their reasoning. There are hundreds of rules and exceptions which must all be memorized. Of course it is provably not like any book you have ever seen. This is a bad scan I managed to find on Google images: http://www.religions.gov.il/aron/ShulchanAruch.jpg This is not exactly the same book I am learning, but it is part of the same set, and looks the same format-wise. With the first of three tests coming up on Sunday I have begun to feel justifiably nervous, and I wanted to let others know to share the worry. Well, that's enough for now. I most likely won't post until after the test. Wish me luck. Current Mood: nervous Current Music: Isaac Bitton (6 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, December 26th, 2006
3:07 pm	Went to Kingston (no, not Jamaica) After a very long and unforeseen silence I am here with an entry. I will not bring you up to speed. Instead I will jump straight into what is happening right now. So this past Shabbos (Sabbath) I went upstate. A friend of mine called me and randomly invited me to go with him and his wife to Kingston. He was going to act as a substitute, while the usual Rabbi got a bit of a break. Of course having been in Crown Heights (Brooklyn) for months, I welcomed the opportunity. I have never been to upstate New York and I was pleasantly surprised. Other then the holiday traffic it was a brilliant adventure. We brought food up, slept in the Shul (Synagogue) building, and ate in the Shabbos meal in the Shul kitchen. The people were great and we had a lot of fun being the religious authority. All in all, it was exactly the vacation I needed. Now I am back and my first test for Smicha (Rabbinical Ordination) is coming up in a few days. Hopefully all will go well and I'll be on my way to being a Rabbi. Current Mood: calm Current Music: White & Nerdy (Comment on this)
Sunday, June 11th, 2006
12:05 pm	I sound phsycotic I just read my last post. Was I a raving fanatic from some demented cult? What was I thinking? But the truth is: I am a raving fanatic! Wow, it was a relief to say that out loud. So, back to the promised topic. How do you fix up the crazy world? The answer can be given in a single word: Restraint. (I was going the write self-control, but even with the dash it's really two words). Controlling your animal desires is the first step to perfecting yourself and the whole world. Take control! Who is in charge here, the animal or the human? Want to get angry? Relax. Want to be depressed? Motivate. A person can command ever aspect of their speech and actions if they really try. Even your thoughts can be controlled. Don't believe me? I have it on the worlds greatest authority, Shneur Zalman of Liadi in his book the Tanya. I know what your thinking "he just brought me a proof from one of the cult books, that proves nothing!". Well, give it a try. Every time you get a negative thought, push it away. Jealousies, anger, greed, just push them all away. On a lighter note. I just spent Shabbos (Saturday, which was the day G-d relaxed on after finishing the world's creation in the previous six days (not that creation needed to take any time at all or that G-d needed to relax from anything. Rather this was all according to some hidden will of His.)) in Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) with my uncle and family. In short, there was good food and good company as always. (Now that I have already has this down, I see that three posts ago (December 18th, 2004!) I wrote something almost identical. Too late now.) A friend of mine from Hungary was also there (he wanted to meet my uncle) as well as one of my uncle's friends (who is a back surgeon) and his daughter. So the discussion was interesting. Alright, I've been typing long enough for one day. Till next time remember, self control is the key. Current Mood: cheerful Current Music: Now is quite time. (Comment on this)
Wednesday, June 7th, 2006
7:54 pm	And so, we begin once again. Life is funny sort of thing. I have not touched this page in more then a year. Yet here I am, sitting and thinking what to say. Trying to decide what I want to look back and see about myself in later years. A person shouldn't waste time. Every second a person lives is a gift from G-d. It is that person’s duty and responsibility to use this great gift to make the world a better place. To help create a beautiful garden from the seeming jungle of our world. Unfortunately I was wasting time quite vigorously before I started this update. Now I can only hope this small page will be worthier of being considered time well spent. With that in mind I purpose to use this journal to write about the laws and rules guiding all mankind in fixing and maintaining this world. Hopefully that is a topic worth consideration. Until next time. Life is too short not to do the right thing. Current Music: MBD, The English Collection (Comment on this)
Sunday, December 26th, 2004
7:42 pm	This Shabbos was cool. My whole yeshiva went to Yerusalem for Shabbos and davened by the Kotel (One of the outer walls of the Beis HaMikdash (This was the dwelling place of G-d in this world, where his presence was revealed)) but unfortunately I stayed in Kfar Chabad (a kfar is a village, and Chabad is a group of religious jews dedicated to taking over the world) where I learn. It was really odd having the whole dormitory building to myself. I kept feeling nervous because it was too quite and empty. The reason I stayed back in yeshiva in the kfar was because my sister came for shabbos from Yerusalem where she studies in a seminary (religious school for collage age girls). She stayed over at this really sweet family that I know in the kfar and we spent most of the shabbos arguing religious Philosophies and eating really good food. It rained almost the whole shabbos but I managed to avoid it every time except going to shul on shabbos day when I got soaking wet. All in all it was a nice time Current Mood: happy (Comment on this)
Saturday, December 18th, 2004
7:31 pm	Back in Israel After seventeen hours and five movies on an El Al plane, I'm finally back in the holy land. My sister flew with me, and when we arrived her freinds picked her up from the airport while I took a taxi back to kfar Chabad. Afterwords I basically slept until Friday. At four in the morning on Friday, jet lag woke me up and I wasn't able fall back asleep. Since I had an offer from my uncle in Har Nof (a neighborhood in Jerusalem) to take the first of a series of classes to become a rappelling instructor with his family that morning, I decided to had over there first this after talking with G-d. The class was very cool and we learned a number of knots and reasons why ropes get damaged etc. Since there was no why I could make it back to Kfar Chabad in time for Shabbos (the seventh day of the week and of creation, which was the the day when G-d, so to speak, had finished the act of creation and relaxed. Therefore there's a whole set of laws for connecting yourself to G-d, which I'm to lazy to explain) I stayed at my uncle's house. The food and company was great as always but now that Shabbos is over I feel a little down. I'm going back to Kfar Chabad tonight and hopefully, with the help of G-d, I'll step back into the swing things. Current Mood: blah (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, December 12th, 2004
10:16 pm	It's the in eight days of chanukah I'm still at my grandparents house and it's the sixth day of chanukah (a festival celebrating the fact that one day worth of oil lasted for eight days). Chanukah is an amazing festival and it is so much fun. Which leads me to think that I should perhaps be feeling bad because of my brother passing away. Then I think how my brother would want me to be feeling and that lifts me up again. My parents left yesterday for seattle, My fourteen year old brother just left for the airport to ge back to school in New York, and I'm going back to Israel tommorow with my sister. Things a starting to go back to normal. On a more painful note, the entire right side of my body is hurting due to a biking accident. My younger brother and I were hurrying to shul (a building designated for speaking to G-d with a minyin (a group of ten men needed for parts of the service)) when I crashed and skidded across the pavement, ouch. Thank G-d nothing worse happened. Next time I will be from back in the land of jewish inheritance, with the help of G-d. Current Mood: lethargic Current Music: niggunim - singing from the soul (Comment on this)
Thursday, December 2nd, 2004
7:20 am	My brother passed away I am no longer in Israel. I'm now in Los Angeles with my parents, grandparents and many of my other relatives. Less then two days ago I got the news that their had been a fire in my home but everyone had made it out... except my twelve year old brother. His was killed in his sleep by inhaling smoke. The funeral was yesterday and emotions still run very high. The past few days have been and absolute blear. A sleepless twenty hour of flight followed immediately by the funeral and now the have started to slow down. All of the immediate family are sitting shiva (the seven days of mourning required by jewish law). The first blessing in the private conversation with G-d, is for the revival of the dead during the time of the moshiach (redeemer of the world). Therefore I would like to end saying the the revival of the dead should be seen speedily in our days. Amen. Current Mood: distressed Current Music: None - It's Fobidden (Comment on this)
Thursday, November 25th, 2004
3:59 pm	Another day in my life After I went down to the library last night I discovered that someone else had already taken my plan and the only mattress was in use. So I could either walk fifteen minutes through the cold muddy fields back to my room, or sleep on a hard bench the whole night. Going back to my nice cozy room was a virtual guarantee that I would sleep through the seven o’clock walkup call so I opted for the bench. I woke up late at seven forty five and had to walk through the muddy field anyways to get my Teffilen (black leather boxes with black leather straps hanging from them and parchments written with verses of scripture inside of them, to be tied around a Jew’s left arm and head while he speaks with God [this is not a cult - all religious Jews do it!]), a least it wasn't so cold as last night. After I got back we spoke with God for an hour then went to eat breakfast (In Israel people eat "Israeli salad" and soft cheeses first thing in the morning, and weird as it may be you eventually get used it). Afterwards the day is just nonstop Torah (All of scripture as well as every form of expanding and expounding done by Rabbis (Ordained Jewish authorities) throughout the ages) until ten at night. Tomorrow is a special day of the week, but I'll save the details for their proper time. Current Mood: calm (Comment on this)
3:24 am	The first entry It's three thirty in the morning and I just finished creating this account so it's time to crash on a bench in the library. Tomorrow is a new day starting at seven thirty in the morning. I'll tell you all about it later but now I've got to zombie off before I fall asleep on the keyboard and short-circuit it with my drool. Current Mood: tired (Comment on this)