Four Juicy Questions -

(1) How does biology and evolution account for the human sense of possessing a soul? Can we say that the sense that we have a soul benefit us in some biological way, i.e., that it helps us to function or even survive?

(2) Even if the soul was a biological trait, not literally existing, how would something like an unconscious evolution have the capacity to create the internal impression that we have a soul that connects us to something larger, even though that thing does not exist? In other words, evolution would be responsible for creating a whole spiritual paradigm that exists in our head, and not only that, it would have created the illusion that we have a love for and an interaction with an "object" external to us, with which we can relate by means of our illusory soul. We can ask, since we have this "soul," how is evolution able to orchestrate such a thing? If it is, then we must conclude that evolution itself possesses outlandish intelligence and even desire to create. If so, evolution itself becomes something not very different from the theistic notion of G-d.

(3) On top of this, this paradigm in our head creates a network of our mind, emotions, and body, with our soul an element of ourselves composed of, but higher than, these three elements. Even if we don't believe we have a soul, we still sense ourselves in a very unique and intimate way; this is virtually impossible to explain biologically. The very value of life is ideologically and emotionally diminished if we try to explain humanity as a series of highly complex and sophisticated biological organisms.

(4) This is also reflected in our laws, which recognize a concept known as "morality." Approaching it from the biological angle, morality can have the effect of moderating society and therefore contributing to the perpetuation of the organism. However, morality reaches a point where it ceases to be convenient and actually places strain on the organism, to the point where it would actually be easier for a society, or societies, to "break down" and detach itself from concepts of morality. Nevertheless, humanity continues to, almost obsessively, cleave to the notion of morality, which transcends the physical and biological realities of being a human being (we want to feed every human on the planet even though it could be numerically valuable for a portion of the human race to die out each year). It is a nagging call to truth that keeps a person from stealing something when nobody is around; the affect on society is minimal, and even children, whom do not understand what society is, feel that resistance, perhaps more strongly. It is things like this, which spark the conscious, which is located in the "soul" and alerts a resistance within us against engaging in such behaviors. This mechanism causes us to perceive that we are not alone at the moment of the event

The fascinating question is how biology and evolution attest to these things.

Muslim Intellectual From Bahrain -

What are your opinions on what Dhiyya al-Musawi is saying?

28% of Israeli Arabs Deny the Holocaust -

According to a March 18, 2007 article by the Associated Press, 28% of Israeli Arabs deny the Holocaust. That’s somewhere in between one quarter and one third. Can you imagine if 28% of America’s white population denied that American blacks were oppressed and mistreated in the United States’ own history?

Based on the findings of Sami Smoocha, “a prominent sociologist at the University of Haifa,” “radicals in the Arab world believe the Holocaust to be a political event, and many feel that by denying it they are expressing opposition to Israel.”

I am a strong advocate that today’s generation of Jews should have already, and if not, then it needs to, shed some of the persistent anxieties about the Holocaust (which is different than forgetting it). But the issue remains; denying a confirmed event, which was a product of World War II and Hitler’s attempt to take over the world, has no place in the lexicon of Palestinian resistance to the State of Israel’s existence. How deep is the abyss between historical truths and reality among radical hatred in the Palestinian towns that the veracity of the entire Holocaust will be downplayed just to stick it to the Jewish State? Can the “radicals” involved really have free reign to smudge history as they please in order to recreate a new picture that they find more suitable? What about the countless other tens of millions of people, non-Jews, whom were murdered in the Holocaust; do the radicals also deny that? That Hitler also targeted Poles, Russians, Czechs, Gypsies, homosexuals, and others was as well part of the Zionist plot to take land from the Palestinians? We must grasp the mythical importance to the Palestinian story of underplaying the veracity of the Holocaust, but we also must understand how it factors into reality.

But the statistics of the poll are not pure theory; according to the study, “Among Israeli Jews, 63 percent said they avoid entering Arab towns and cities, and 68 percent fear the possibility of civil unrest among Israeli Arabs.” These are Arab towns and cities in Israel, not the dreary images of West Bank municipalities, but areas into which an unseasoned visitor to Jerusalem, Haifa, Akko, or Tel-Aviv, cities in “Israel Proper,” might accidentally stroll. These aren’t Arabs who thrust their rifles into the air, they are the people who drive Israeli buses, maintain Israeli roads, guard Israeli post-office entrances, and shop in Israeli malls and stores.

Regarding “the Lebanon incursion,” Smoocha found that “While 89 percent said they viewed the IDF's bombing of Lebanon as a war crime, only 44 percent said they saw Hizbullah's attacks on Israel as such.” It is important to understand that large populations of Israeli Arabs live in northern Israel, which is where the some 4,000 Lebanese rockets landed. Smoocha “expressed surprise” with his findings, explaining that, “One would have expected more pro-Israeli results among Israeli Arabs due to the uniqueness of the most recent war: a war with no involvement of the Palestinians, a war in which the lives and belongings of Israelis were endangered, a war against an Islamic fundamentalist group that most of them don't support.”

Israeli-Arab Member of Knesset Ahmed Tibi said that he could not explain the numbers indicating support of Hizbullah, but said that, “usually there is no empathy for the aggressor,” referring to Israel, not Lebanon. That would explain the 89%.

He also said that the Holocaust was “the worst crime ever against humanity,” against humanity, not against the Jews. Humanity didn’t need a Zionist state.

Also according to Tibi, “some of the sentiments [of Holocaust denial] might stem from ‘reservations about the way the Holocaust is used as a political tool.’”

At the end of the day, I can’t blame the Israeli Arabs; Israel is the foolish one. It is a misnomer to suggest that Israel should allow Arab Members of Knesset the freedom to say such inflammatory things against the State in which they live. It is really Israel’s fault, which should have long become aware that the Arab population tends to feel that Israel doesn’t have many rights, yet they are still afforded the practical freedom to say and do much of what they please.

Ah, but one could say, “Yaniv, Israel is a democracy.” True, but the Israeli democracy has not done or said anything to show that it is unacceptable to support policies that reject the veracity of Israel’s existence, while pressure is put on Jewish Members of Knesset to conform to particular viewpoints. If such thing curbing applies to Jews in the Knesset as part of its competitive nature, which can said to be sometimes unfair, why does it maneuver around the Arab Knesset party “United Arab List?”

In a March 20, 2007 article by the Jerusalem Post, Member of Knesset Taleb a-Sanaa, also in the United Arab List party, is quoted as saying, “The international community should positively consider boycotting Israel, which is endangering the stability of the region.” His statement refers to a group of yeshiva students who “moved into a Hebron home formerly owned by a Palestinian who claimed not to have sold them the house.” Would it be acceptable if a Jewish Member of Knesset said the same thing with regards to the same incident?

“According to Hebron Jewish community spokesman David Wilder, representatives of the community purchased the building through an office in Jordan for the sum of $700,000.”

Purim Post!

I'm very, very slightly not able to tell the difference between Haman and Morchai right now, and I broke my glasses while dancing yesternight, so this post must be a bit off the wall, but it's abut my Purim and don't care to be logical, because it's hafuch hafchei (flipped arouind).

I woke up today after a nap a bit late to the Rabbi's house, where all my bachur freinds were, and I['m talking about an hour and a half. I got, fought my yexter harah for the punk that it is, got dressed, and went out the door. The Rabbi told me on the phone how to get to his house, which was only a twenty or so minute drive on a bus from where I lived. I only took oral directions, which usually ensures that I{m going to get lsot, but it was Hashgacha Pratit (Divine Supervision) the whole way and I found exactly how to get there. I went ins ide and it was a gerat night.

After a few hours there, I thini, I went out to go back to the yeshiva, and realized that since I didn't make it to my friends' house, Dan and Arielle, friends form Tucson who married each other, I decided to find theri house (which I've been to) based on teh street names they told me. I asked a coupel of people ehere the streets where and kinda of walked my around the Jerusalem "Nachlaot" neighborhood until I found something familiar. At that point, for the third time, I asked G-d if He could just show me teh way if He wanted to, and I thought about the street name I was looking for, Givon, and immediately after that, and I"m taling about like 2 seconds, literally, someone shouted, "This is Givon street?" At thast point my friend Arielle shouted "Yaniv!" and I knew I foudn the house.

We broke into dance and song for a few mintues and then walked down to some place near the neighborhood where we heard (I cidn't see becaue my glasses were off) Dag Nachash, a famous Israeli band, play. The first song they sang was "Baruch Ata Hashem" by ALpha Blondie, which I happen to know, and then we walked a little asnd I took a cab back to teh yeshiva, where I am writing this.

ANyway, Happy Purim, Yaniv...

G-d of Space -

According to an article from Yahoo News written by Irene Klotz, "A small spacecraft en route to Pluto flew past Jupiter early on Wednesday" stopping at the home of the Giant Red Spot's moon (out of several), Europa.

Like something out of the book/movie "Contact," the religious fundamentalists, and even the secular humanists, and yes, the left-wingers, should be angry, for while the world's governments spend tons of money (I haven't done the research on how much) on space exploration, our own planet spins on with its own issues. Now, other than tickling our astronomical fancies, what good will it do humanity to find out if one of Jupiter's moons, Europa, has "strong evidence of a subterranean, salty ocean?" We have a huge yetzer harah (tempting, or evil, inclination) to see what's "in our own backyard," while we haven't dealt yet with the issues in our own home.

Ah, yes, it is the philosophical interests of the elitist few, driven by their misled atheistic evolutionist views, that pushes on this trillion-dollar sojourn into space.

Can it be their desperate hopes to find signs of life on other planets just to demonstrate an inkling of a conclusion that humans are not alone in the universe, or at least in the solar system? Were that shown to be true, such as if a mere worm colony, long frozen, was found under the surface of Mars, they could find evidence that we too evolved from squashable things.

Can it be the arrogant, terrified, egotism of the 21st century's clean-cut intergalactic mis-philanthropists that sends metal to Mars just to prove their fairy-tale logic that we are apes, at the expense of the less-endowed?

"'I'm hopeful that we will get some real clues about the surface of that ocean,' Bill McKinnon, a planetary scientist with Washington University in St. Louis said before the encounter." Of course he is, then we can see if aquatic humans are living there and ask them who their god is. And please don't tell me that we have to go to Jupiter's "European" moon to find out more about our own weather patterns - that's why we had the movie "Twister."

I say this tongue-in-cheek; it's only a short while before the Jew-haters start saying that this is part of a Zionist plot to occupy land! And then, instead of giving extra-terrestial landmarks Roman names, we can call them "Jerusalem" and "Hevron."

But there is something sinister here, to demonstrate the G-dlessness of the universe. In other words, if G-d's grave can't be found on Earth, where He is needed and desired, perhaps they can bury Him on Mars, Jupiter, Europa, Pluto. The sad and true fact is that those exotic burial spots go for a lot these days, and the MIR, sorry, mere, transportation to tug the proverbial casket through the black ocean of the skies would be outlandishly expensive, especially with an apparently unnecessary American-led war going on in Iraq. The "black gold" is blamed as the perpetrator of crime, but what about all the black space between us and the frigid and rigid rocks floating within it? Missions are cast to these planets and moons, which we essentially shape into huge interstellar idols bearing the names of Greek and Roman deities. And what we are constantly finding is that they, like those idols, are equally lifeless. What will happen to us when the extent of our hysterical chimpish paganism reaches its fingers and dollar bills into the distant barren black deserts when our own world is fertile with strife? This isn't a fanatical shout of distopia; nothing more that isn't already happening will not. It's almost funny; acting like apes just to show that we are. Isn't the evidence driven by the assumptions? If so, this is a very expensive and devastating fallacy.

Speaking of the starry-eyed, Bob Marley, to whom I used to listen to a lot, wrote a stellar objection in his song, "So Much Trouble (In the World)." It goes like this:

"Now, they're sailing on their ego trip
Blast off on their spaceship.
Million miles from reality
No care for you, no care for me."

And in another song, "One Love," he wrote:

"Let them all pass all their dirty remarks.
There is one question I'd really love to ask.
Is there a place for the hopeless sinner,
Who has hurt all mankind just to save his own beliefs?"

The Logical Conclusion of My Zionism -

In the near future, most likely, a certain question will come up with my cousins, whom I have seen this and last week for the first time in around six years. My two cousins, on my mother's side, have been like brothers to me and my sister since we were born, some of the first people our age we knew before leaving Israel for the States in 1986. Since I and my sister became observant around five years ago, realizing that our family in Israel was not sure of what to think about the change, the time has come for me to finally see our family in Israel after the change. Part of the reason for this post, like many, is to flush out all my ideas, many of which bubble in my mind during times when I am walking or on the bus.

My cousin always knew that I was a Zionist, years before I even fathomed a reality of myself living as an Orthodox Jew. I say with full comfort that nobody in my family knew that I would one day make such a decision, not even myself. My mom told me recently that she realized that I would become observant when I began to speak about Christianity with a degree of anger; why would a young man, around eighteen years old, speak with such fervor about the issues Christianity poses to Judaism. For several reasons the seeds of observance were planted in me, and I thank my mother, father, and my birth in the Land of Israel for basically being the reasons why I could not stay away from that path.

The main point of this post is for me to give written form for how my love of Israel and Zionism found their fullest expression in Judaism. There were several emotional factors in my choice of becoming an observant Jew, but Zionism's relation to this choice is perhaps one of the only factors that was totally tied to a faculty of logic - I saw no real way to continue holding Zionist views if I was not able to back them up with something more than the "run-of-the-mill" secular-backed explanations of Zionism's validity. For years during college I was an avid supporter of the pro-Zionist argument, and I still am, although I've developed my understanding of what it is a bit. Speaking to scores and scores of anti-Israel detractors, I was exposed to piles of ridiculous argumentation about the evils of the State of Israel. I had to strengthen my argument in order to efficiently cut through the falsities of their arguments and the result was that I learned a lot about the nature of the conflict, what was defensible, and what was not. Mind you, I am not using the word "defensible" regarding moral matters - I was and am convinced that Israel has the moral upper-hand; what I am referring to is what the world was ready to hear as valid defenses of the State of Israel, the Land of the Jews. Looking at it from my secular perspectives, which were also relatively Leftist, there were certain dead-ends in the defense of the State of Israel that I could not logically pass without contradicting my own views, the things that I demanded for myself. For example, and perhaps this is the singularly most important realization I eventually had, the nature of our claim to the Land of Israel, as strongly as surely I knew it to be true, was on equal footing with the publicized Palestinian claim to the Land, and the crazy Liberal anarchists with whom I argued knew it and exploited it. Despite that most of their arguments were emotional in nature and gave little attention to ideology that wasn't pseudo-Marxist, I began to realize that my arguments for the fundamental democratic nature of the State of Israel did nothing to provide it with any solid defense. If I was arguing for a democratic state, then I too should have been angered by Israel's declaration as being a Jewish state, for what would be the logical nature of a stance that there is a Jewish right of return, the hallmark of Zionist ideology, simultaneously "flaunting" how well Arabs had it in Israel. It was a crock, and it took me a while to see that. Democracy my elbow - Arabs on campus metaphorically gritted their teeth at me that I had the audacity to stand up there sporting a big Israeli flag telling people that Israel was a democracy when Arabs were unhappy in Israel. What kind of flaky democracy can I claim Israel to be when Arabs have limited opportunity and rights here? The answer? A democracy for Jews, not for Arabs. Israel was dancing around the middle ground of trying to appease its Arab citizens and grasp tightly on to the Zionist ideology, but this was a walking contradiction, and the supporters of Palestinians, who favored the democratic argument, exploited that strange and impossible attempt to please everybody. Even though their motives were driven by dislike, resentment, and evil, from a secular democratic paradigm, I would be forced to support a secular democratic Palestine. I knew in my heart of hearts that that was wrong, and so I had to contemplate my refurbish my understanding of the situation. What line of argumentation could I find, one which I believed to be true, for I had always been a horrible salesman of things in which I did not believe, that I could present to people?

The historical argument seemed especially strong to me; Israel rightfully belonged to the Jews because it was our cultural stronghold, defining who we were, and this transcended our long exiles and total loss of sovereignty in the Land, remaining transfixed even though as the Land lay nearly empty of Jews for long periods of time. This seems interestingly parallel to the religious argument, although I was making basically the same argument without buying into the religious ideologies. What this really shows is that the history and religion of Judaism are inseparable, but my mind was not yet ready to grab on to such an idea. That I couldn't make that particular case from a Jewish cultural standpoint points out the inherent limitations of culture in the acquisition and maintenance of land, for not only had we developed culture in other parts of the world, the culture of Israel had neutered itself of anyway to make a truth-backed defense of its own right to exist, for culture was ever-changing. The Arabs were on to this, being a deeply religious people (as the majority of Jews used to be), and this reason, along with the reason that the Jews in Israel had no genuine way to regain the justice of truth with culture as their only weapon, Israel would be forced to make concession upon concession of its Land to them. In the end, religion is stronger than culture, for religion is a moderator of values while culture just allows for values to seep out and to be replaced by new ones. There is no eternality with culture, for what rights does the Jewish cultural argument have to Israel? We can have a Jewish culture in Tucson, Arizona or New York, New York, or any other coastal city to which Jews have traditionally been drawn like moths to a lamp - why do we need Israel for that? The Israeli culture itself is deeply disconnected from its inherent right to be there, with many Israeli's not being entirely convinced or especially resolute about the Jewishness of the Land. On the other hand, the Arabs are convinced of their religious right to live in and have sovereignty over the Land - is this even a fair competition? Even if secular Israeli's do care, they are not in the right for making any solid argument if they are not prepared to a) stand up for what is theirs, or b) sacrifice some levels of personal comfort and peace of mind in order to achieve a measure of lasting happiness and security.

My mother told me a story when I was little kid. It went like this: during the year, a colony of ants had stored up large amounts of food through consistent work. When they saw the grasshopper, who was lazy, they asked him why he was not also storing food while he was able. His answer was that he would begin storing during the winter, which is when he would really need the food. As long as it was abundant, there was no reason to worry about having it. Come winter and the grasshopper began to starve. Remembering that the ants had a stockpile of food stored up from their work during the year, he asked them if he could stay with them and eat. The ants knew something and were willing to sacrifice a certain level of comfort and untroubled ease of mind in order to live in comfort at a later date. The grasshopper on the other hand, chose immediate satisfaction and the easy path, and the result is that when the hard times came, he had nothing (and his life was at risk). Many Jews are not willing to put forth the energy and to take up the cause of the future of their own country of residence and well-being, choosing immediate satisfaction over future guarantee. In this scenario, the Israeli's are the grasshopper, but the sad thing is that the Palestinians have not merited to be the ants, consistently saving up, for the lazy grasshopper is not a threat to anybody. Israeli's have withered and long since become ensconced in the attempt to have all the things that are currently being promoted as valuable all over the world, primarily the luster of American culture. But American culture will not promise Israel a future and then we will have no place to implant any culture, except for one that we will have to communicate in the Arabic tongue. Further, we are scared, and the more we ponder our situation, the more scared we become yet run around like caged "shtetl Jews," to borrow a friend's term. We act pathetically and the Palestinians smell our fear and yearn for it.

In the end, after a hefty amount of debating myself, I realized that the religious argument was the only one that held water that could not be spilled. The modern politics of democracy would ensure us nothing, not over the religion of Islam, and certainly not over the tactics of violence the Palestinians were enacting, which only served to sparkle the eyes of its victims - such is the nature of abuse, especially on a traumatized psyche; the abused always runs to the abuser. But for secular Jews to make the religious argument as a mere tactic for the defense of Israel would not only be dishonest and therefore a lie to everybody around, including the self, it would turn truth into an unbelievable mockery. Making the religious argument from a secular standpoint is like shooting deafening blanks; the Arabs would know it was a bluff and wouldn't even flinch. The key then is to believe the religious argument, but how could a Jew believe the religious argument without being sold on it, without really believing it? Therefore, we would be required to familiarize ourselves with the nature of the religious argument, in the same way we familiarized ourselves with the democratic one. Our religion holds the key to our survival, but should we become religious in order just to ensure our survival; would that not be dishonest foolishness? If religion holds the key to our survival, perhaps it deserves a measure of attention and analysis; what it is about religion that establishes one in eternality? Perhaps there is an element of truth in the religion of Judaism, and if so, independent yet related to the State of Israel, if it is truth, we should pursue it. But if we pursue it, we should pursue it for its own sake, and if survival of the State of Israel and its citizens will benefit from this truth, then it is only logical that we take steps in embracing it. Through Judaism we could have the real solidarity we Jews so desperately needed with each other, driven by love, for G-d and for ourselves, and so we would choose the religious path for its truth because truth can only yield good things. The Catch 22 however, would be that in order to make the only truly valid argument, after all arguments were exhausted and shown to be unworkable, we would have to cleave to our religion as solely a means for survival. That is, after all, the story of why we are still here. In other words, G-d has sent us a great test; only by cleaving to the truth can we survive, and this means a return to and revival of our religion, i.e.,dedication to G-d, our only support beam in the world. To lean on G-d for survival is the most honest thing a person can do.

Free Trip to Israel! -


Registration opens tomorrow morning, Thursday, February 15th at 9:00 AM EST at www.mayanotisrael.com.

What is Judaism? -

You can study the Torah and come to a score of conclusions; it's seemingly open enough and enough in certain points that you can get what you want from it. If you read the Torah for just half an hour you would understand that the connection between Judaism, Jews, the Torah, and Israel is crystal clear.

Let's start like this; Abraham is the father of the Jewish religion through his revelation by G-d. He settled in Israel vis-a-vis a commandment by G-d, upon leaving Egypt the Jews received the Torah and settled in Israel also upon a commandment from G-d. G-d commanded King David to build a permanent abode for His Presence and that was the Temple in Jerusalem, where Abraham went to bind and sacrifice Isaac. All of that is in the Torah.

Judah is one of the twelve tribes of Israel, whose original name was "Jacob." In English, from the name "Judah" we drive "Jew." As history has it, the ten northern tribes of Israel were driven from the land during the Assyrian invasion in 722 BCE and the rest during 586 BCE by the Babylonians. The tribe of Judah, the tribe from which King David is, remained intact and so the rest of the Israelites intermarried with them (which was already occuring) and gradually took on the name of Judah. This is how it came to be that the Israelites took on the name of Judah, "Jew." For example, my family traces its lineage to the tribe of Levi, but I am still a Jew; it's a nomenclature. Since we now use the word "Jew," we use it interchangably with "Israelite" and "Hebrew," and so we say that Moses and Abraham were Jews.

So who are the Jews?

The Jews are technically Israelites, but this is just a physical, biological understanding, which ultimately is irrelevant in defining a Jew, whose being is bound up in his soul. For example, is Jewish blood different than any other blood? Is there Jewish DNA? The first Jew was Abraham, a Hebrew, but that ethnicity is more-or-less lost to us today; does that matter? A Jew is charged with infusing the world with the unified knowledge of G-d through observing the commandments and teaching the world how to live G-dly lives as well. Ultimately, the genetic formation of his flesh is of no consequence - it is a physical paradigm that Judaism does not condone, nor is there any foundation for it in the Torah.

Many people have been given descriptions of Judaism that classify it as a pseudo-cultral-ethnic phenomenon; that's not what it is at all. There are Jews of all "races," and people can convert to Judaism, which would be impossible if it was not a religion. When a person converts to Judaism, it is said that his/her entire being goes through a change, including the body and the soul.

The Temple in Jerusalem, called the "Bet Hamikdash," destroyed the second time in the year 70 by the Romans, is where the animal sacrifices took place. The sacrifices were used to atone for sin. It is also the courtyard where the Jewish court took place in order to carry out legislation, such as dealing with disputes and carrying out sentences, i.e., the application of the Law. It was also the seat of the Torah-based Jewish monarchy and according to Torah belief, will be again when the Mashiach, Messiah, comes.

Judaism is a way of life totally surrounding the Will of G-d in every aspect of existence; if you want to call it a religion that would technically be accurate if you understand religion to mean a composite set of both practice and doctrine encompassing all of life, originating from G-d's Mind. Through observance of the 613 commandments, the Jews bring the world to the state that G-d desires; part of that desire is to inform the nations of the world, the Gentiles, that they too have obligations to G-d. These are encapsulated in the Seven Noachide Laws. All of these things are kept intact in Orthodox Judaism. That itself is a name (meaning "right" "thinking") that has been given to it, but that's fine, it does the job. In other words, Judaism is the Torah, which is the blueprint of existence. That is Judaism.

This is a very general and simplistic description of what Judaism is, you can find more intellectually probing perspectives in a series of good books, such as "If You Were G-d" by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, a personal favorite, "To Be a Jewish Woman" by Lisa Aiken, who lives not very far from me, "The Other Side of the Story," by Yehudis Samet, and a really fascinating read, "The Science of G-d," by Gerard Schroeder.

One particularly good book on Jewish philosophy is "Path of the Just" by Rabbi Moshe Chayim Luzzatto (the Ramchal). A very good work called "The Thirteen Principles of Faith" is a short compendium of Torah doctrine written by the Sage Rabbi Moshe Ben Maimon, also known as "Maimonides" or "the Rambam."

Enjoy and have good day, Yaniv...

A Third Intifada? -


JERUSALEM (AFP) - Stone-throwing youths have clashed with Israeli forces in Jerusalem and across the West Bank as protests flared again against Israeli building work near the holy city's most contentious site.

Muslim leaders have vowed to press on with demonstrations against the repair work near the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in the Old City of occupied east Jerusalem that has angered Muslims across the world.

Israel has mobilised more than 2,000 police to quash any further unrest after rioting in Jerusalem on Friday left 15 Israeli policemen and at least 20 Palestinians wounded.

Cracks have appeared within the Israeli government about whether to continue with the renovation work, which the Arab League condemned Saturday as a "criminal attack" on Islam's third-holiest site.

The prospect of further unrest loomed, with Muslim leaders warning that work near the site which Jews call the Temple Mount and is known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary could trigger a third intifada, or uprising.

"We have a full programme of protests for the coming weeks in order to stop the Israeli crimes against the Al-Aqsa mosque," said the head of the Islamic movement in Israel, Sheikh Raed Salah, on Saturday.

"Continuing the work will increase the tension and anger among Palestinians and in the Arab-Islamic world," he added.

Six protesters were arrested outside the Old City's Flower Gate on Saturday and police had to rescue Canadian tourists whose bus came under attack from Palestinian stone throwers, police said.

In the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Israeli troops arrested 30 Palestinians who were hurling rocks at Rachel's Tomb, an army spokesman said.

Clashes also erupted in the flashpoint city of Hebron and at the Qalandiya checkpoint separating Jerusalem from the West Bank, where two Palestinians were wounded, according to witnesses.

Leaders of Israel's left-leaning Labour party called for the work on a stone ramp leading to the compound near Dung Gate to halt but others insisted that Muslim leaders would not dictate policy with street violence.

"There is no reason to yield the country to a handful of extremists from the Islamic movement who want to escalate the violence," Public Security Minister Avi Dichter said.

"This ramp will be built, it is a done deal, and there will not be a third intifada as a result," said Dichter, the former chief of Israel's internal security agency, Shin Beth.

The United States, Israel's closest ally, urged the Jewish state to take the "sensitivities" of others into account over the work.

And Labour leaders called for the government to stop it altogether.

"We must reconsider this issue, even if we are right from a legal and archaeological point of view," Deputy Defence Minister Ephraim Sneh said.

"We will only defeat the Islamic extremists if we have the support of the moderate ones and this is why it is necessary to act intelligently."

The renovations are scheduled to resume next week after being suspended for the Sabbath, the Jewish day of rest, police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said.

At a meeting on Saturday, the Arab League described it as a "criminal attack" on the compound and urged the United Nations and the Middle East diplomatic Quartet to act to stop what it said was threatening efforts to revive the peace process.

Israel insists the works, expected to take months, pose no risk to the holy sites and will strengthen an access ramp for the "benefit and safety of visitors" after an earthquake and snowstorm damage in 2004.

The compound, whose fate is one of the most contentious issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, is where the second Palestinian uprising erupted in 2000 after a visit by then Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon.

In 1996, more than 80 people were killed in three days of Palestinian riots after then Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu opened a new entrance to a controversial archaeological tunnel near the holy sites.


Yaniv's commentary:

"At a meeting on Saturday, the Arab League described it as a "criminal attack" on the compound and urged the United Nations and the Middle East diplomatic Quartet to act to stop what it said was threatening efforts to revive the peace process."

The only crime here is the perpetuation of a lie which says that the Temple Mount does not rightfully belong to the State of Israel. Israel repairing an area of land that should be rightfully internationally recognized as its own is well within the bounds of what is legal. Further, I have been at southeastern corner of the Temple Mount where the Israeli government is repairing the bulge, and it is absolutely impossible to even consider that repair of that area of land that would threaten "Arab interests," which are malevolent towards Israel anyway. To situate you, the area of land is adjacent to a public street with cars whizzing by and is near a huge valley and mountain, known as the "Mount of Olives." Just like the Palestinian Authority Minister of Communications communicated to an excited audience of Palestinians that they planned the second intifada and that Ariel Sharon's visit to the Temple Mount in 200o was an excuse to start it, this talk of a "third intifada" is exactly the same thing. Here's the video of that.

The Palestinians want war, the Israeli's want to repair an area of land that could possibly damage the larger infrastructure of the Temple Mount area. If the water damage continues there, according to a tour guide I know who took me and my yeshiva to that site, the entire southeastern region of the wall could collapse, and that in turn, just so the Muslims know, would likely damage the Dome of the Rock, which is located nearby.

I hope Israel stays firm to this policy:

"Leaders of Israel's left-leaning Labour party called for the work on a stone ramp leading to the compound near Dung Gate to halt but others insisted that Muslim leaders would not dictate policy with street violence.

'There is no reason to yield the country to a handful of extremists from the Islamic movement who want to escalate the violence,' Public Security Minister Avi Dichter said."

This might give you an insight into the seemingly irrational behavior of Palestinian mobs:

"In the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Israeli troops arrested 30 Palestinians who were hurling rocks at Rachel's Tomb, an army spokesman said."

Rachel's Tomb is a on a hill overlooking the east side of Bethlehem, I've been there, and that site too has absolutely nothing to do with anything happening in Jerusalem, except for a desire to demonstrate violence on the part of Palestinians. To tie that into another example, when Israel pulled its citizens out of Gaza more than a year and a half ago, the Palestinians, whom were formerly screaming and shouting and killing Israeli's in order to make them leave, screamed and shouted and killed more Israeli's for them to come back! I commented on that in my previous blogs about the Gaza pullout. Why did they change their mind so quickly? Because the Palestinian national identity, which is really just a euphemism for an Arabist war tactic, realizes that Israeli cooperation with Palestinian demands means that the Palestinian "government" can make no more demands. With that realization, Palestinian attacks actually escalated in order for Israel to call off the pullout, come back to reign control over them, and then to be forced into negotiations where it could be suckered into giving back even more land. In Gaza, just like at Rachel's Tomb, legal Israeli land (a bit different from Gaza, which is considered to be "occupied"), the rock-hurdling has the intent of driving Jews away. The overall goal is, wherever Palestinians are successful in driving Jews out of, that place receives a status of "contested" and then opens up to "negotiations." Please note, Bethlehem has nothing to do with Jerusalem, it's basically an arbitrary site for Palestinians to attack, other than a strategic intifada tactic, i.e., "desperate man's invasion."

"'We have a full programme of protests for the coming weeks in order to stop the Israeli crimes against the Al-Aqsa mosque,' said the head of the Islamic movement in Israel, Sheikh Raed Salah, on Saturday."

Excuse me, how exactly is Israel's repair a crime on Al-Aqsa mosque?

"The prospect of further unrest loomed, with Muslim leaders warning that work near the site which Jews call the Temple Mount and is known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary could trigger a third intifada, or uprising."

It's not called the Temple Mount, it is the Temple Mount. It was the Temple Mount at least 700 hundred years before that mosque was erected. Doesn't anybody care about history?

The second paragraph said that it angered Muslims across the world! The truth is being exposed, it is Muslims, not Arabs, who feel effected by this - this is a religious conflict, not an Arab one, and it is sad that the majority of the world's Muslims feel obligated (and pressured) to support the "Palestinian cause" as if it were synonymous with the religion of Islam itself! For Heaven's sake, there are Orthodox Jews who oppose actions of the State of Israel, and a fringe group that rejects the existence of the State itself! Yet non-Arab Muslims feel it their duty to support "Palestine," an historically false entity. And of course, it's unacceptable for world Jewry to support Israel.

The only people who should be protesting are Israeli, and anyone who hates injustice.

I live twenty minutes away by bus from the site about which they are talking.

Zionism is the Main Cause of Anti-Semitism Throughout the World?

This picture appeared on the page of an intelligent, humorous, insightful, and compassionate individual on MySpace. -




If Zionism truly is the main cause of anti-Semitism throughout the world, why did it exist before Zionism?

The Pharaoh's hatred of the spiritual was easily manifested in the hatred of the Jews; they stood for understanding the depth of a person vs. the Egyptian understanding of the exaltation of the body, and so he tried to destroy them, all the Torah sources explain this. Did the Pharaoh hate them because they were Zionists or because of what they stood for? So my main question is, if Zionism truly is the main cause of anti-Semitism in the world, why did anti-Semitism exist before Zionism? What caused people who hated Jews to hate them before the State of Israel existed? And an even juicier question if you can connect the dots, why are there people who hate Jews after the State of Israel came to being? What's the only constant in this historical equation?

Phew! Now that I know that Zionism is really the cause for anti-Semitism in the world I can rest my conscious.

We also should wonder, is Zionism also the reason why the "Arabized" Janjaweed hate the African Sudanese? Or is it the reason why the Chinese oppressed the monks of Tibet? Is it why the early Americans basically killed off the Native Americans? Is it the reason why the Palestinians hate the Israeli's? Zionism is a form of nationalism; were the aforementioned groups driven to hatred due to nationalistic movements, or was there another reason that they hated those groups? Is Zionism the reason anti-Semites hate Jews, or perhaps is there another reason?

Think about it.

From African Royalty to Judaism -


“The café owner has been eavesdropping. Now he interrupts us. He wears a baseball cap with the letters USA, but his London accent gives him away. ‘I am a convert also,’ he says, ‘and we converts see things so much clearer than you confused Jews from birth. Perhaps there should be a special prayer in the morning where we thank God for having made us gentiles who had to convert .’”



*You can find the rest of the recording at www.youtube.com under the keywords "Rabbi Natan Gamedze," or "From African Royalty to Judaism." Enjoy!

Three Human Beings and One Suicide Bomber in Eilat Dead -

So I have an idea of how to settle this. What do you with a population in which there is a population who has turned death into victory and the rest of the population treats their death as victory as well? The answer is this; the murderers will never stop until they have a reason to stop, and they won't have a reason to stop until Palestinian society has a vested interest in stopping. Since the dead are seen as victors, it is the living that must feel the pressure and perhaps then they will put pressure on the terrorists to stop, because nothing else seems to work. So the idea is like this; for every suicide bomber, a few innocent families are expelled from either the home town of the bomber or somewhere where there is known terrorist activity. However, from a practical perspective it is probably impossible to expel only a few families (remember the Gaza Pullout - it would have been impossible there too to pull out only a few families), so a whole village or town would have to be expelled, and again, it's not impossible if we remember how it was done with the Jews in Gaza. The murderers target innocent Israeli civilian populations, so Israel has to target innocent civilian Palestinian populations; the key is that innocent Palestinians having absolutely nothing to do with terrorism feel the pressure, and then they will begin to agitate against the terrorists. This is what happened in Lebanon when Israel started bombing them; the innocents started resisting against Hezball-ah, and they stopped bombing Israel.

We dare not commit the double standard of saying that Palestinian lives are more valuable than Israeli lives; it is not right for one to do whatever it wants to the other while the other cannot defend itself. שלום Peace

Palestine; Islamic Never-Never Land -

"Palestine" has become idealized and fantasized in Muslim thought. However, this illusion is as thin as the veils that Muslim women wear in front of their eyes. Muhammad never spoke of an entity called "Palestine" and he never referred specifically to it, as something important to Islam.

(The first picture in this profile is an example. Quaint and beautiful, I must admit, but deceiving nonetheless.)

Actually, Jerusalem or the Land of Israel having any practical importance to the religion of Islam was not an opinion shared by Muhammad. After he died, indecision on who should be his heir arose in the Muslim world. His family (and their supporters) sought for it to say within the family, while other Muslims did not believe that rule should be dynastic and relegated to Muhammad's family. The Umayyad Dynasty based in Syria was one of several Muslim dynasties, and its leader, Umar, sought to collect power for his dynasty. The Muslms that supported Muhammad's family later became known as "Shi'a" Muslims, and those who believed that anyone could be the heir later became known as "Sunni."

During Muhammad's lifetime, he specifically stated the belief that the Prophet and Patriarch Abraham travelled to Mecca to sacrifice Ishmael, and also stated that the Torah's record of Abraham wanting to sacrifice Isaac was a Jewish fabrication. Since the sacrifice of Isaac, according to the Torah, was to take place in Jerusalem, Muhammad was entirely against the idea that Jerusalem have any importance in Islam, lest it become 'Judaized." Therefore, Mecca was the 1st important holy site and Medina was the 2nd.

Within Umar's Umayyad Dynasty was the city of Jerusalem, a holy site to Judaism and Christianity, and so he reasoned that he had to have a political project in order to gain power in that area of land. His idea was to "Islamicize" Jerusalem, i.e., to introduce its significance into the narrative of Islam. He took the verse from the Qur'an referring to Muhammad's Night Journey, which most likely up until that point referred to two separate mosques in Mecca and Medina, and applied it to the site of the (destroyed) Temple in Jerusalem. The verse refers to "the farthest mosque," in Arabic "al masjid al aqsa," and so he built a mosque in Jerusalem and named it "Al Masjid Al Aqsa," "the farthest mosque." There most likely was an outcry in the community of those Muslims who supported Muhammad's family's rule, but all was said and done after Muhammad had died and he was not there to resist the changes that Umar introduced into Islam. Eventually, the entirety of the Muslim world accepted the changes, even the Shi'as, who were loyal to Muhammad and his ideas and supported the next in leadership coming from his line. The Shi'a acceptance of Jerusalem's significance in Islam was to accept Umar's interpretation of the Qur'an, which involved a re-reading and alteration of the events of Muhammad's life.

It is important to understand that the relationship between Sunni and Shi'a Muslims was not in the least cordial after the dispute of leadership had arisen, and even today, despite the agreement on the significance of Jerusalem in Islam, there are certain lasting polemics between Sunni's and Shi'as. A book written in 1997 by Wilferd Madelung, named "The Succession to Muhammad," ( Cambridge University Press) states, "In face of the fake Umayyad claim to legitimate sovereignty in Islam as God's Vicegerents on earth, and in view of Umayyad treachery, arbitrary and divisive government, and vindictive retribution, they came to appreciate his (Ali) honesty, his unbending devotion to the reign of Islam, his deep personal loyalties, his equal treatment of all his supporters, and his generosity in forgiving his defeated enemies." A historical overview of the Shi'a-Sunni split can be found here. This is relevant because despite lasting disputes, sometimes, as shown, polemical and occasionally violent, there was agreement between them on the place of Jerusalem in Islam. The Muslim polemics against Judaism and Jews had the capability of overshadowing Muslim polemics against each other. The presence of an external religious enemy allowed Muslims to lay to rest disputes regarding Jerusalem's place in Islam, a gigantic issue, while other issues, arguably less dramatic in nature, remained alive. Further, the very fact that Shi'as believe Umar's change to be reflective of historical truth speaks only to the success of Umar's campaign and to nothing else. The fact is that by following him they neglect and deviate from the callings of the founder of Islam.

Nevertheless, Umar's changes had the psychological importance of attaching the verse to Jerusalem. Years later Umar built the golden-domed shrine to Muhammad on top of the Holy of Holies, the holiest section of the Temple. Its name, "the Dome of the Rock," refers to the rock on which Abraham was to sacrifice Isaac. Therefore, Jerusalem became the "third holiest site of Islam." Since then, Muslim interest in Jerusalem has spread to all of the Land of Israel, and the term "Palestine" is the latest manifestation of that wholly un-Islamic want for Israel. Muslim "love of Israel" is entirely un-Islamic, and "puritanical Muslims," those committed to the leadership of Muhammad and his founding of the religion of Islam, per the Mouth of All-ah, should at least be honest to his callings and not unknowingly loyal to the changes introduced by his opponent, Umar. The Sunni's too are living a lie by glorifying Jerusalem and the mosques there, which are buildings intended to be stumbling blocks to the Jews - there is no reason for those edifices other than politics, which Islam supposedly rejects.

Related Posts:

The Torah is not the Qur'an

G-d Always Chose the Younger Son

Will the Real Akediah Please Stand Up?

A Fire not Pleasing to All-h

G-d of Sameness

Jews and Muslims Clash

Ishmael/Ismail in the Bible and Qur'an

Monotheism is the Height of Human Evolution -

The evolutionary argument is that development occurs from a simple state to a more complex state. Not only that, but the inherent implication in the evolutionary argument is that when and if a species survives, its survival is due to its development of one or another beneficial characteristic. The point of this post is not to talk about whether evolution occurred or not, although the scientific record matches quite well with the Torah's, but rather to show how the peak of evolution is exemplified with monotheism.

A quick summary: G-d creates existence, the universe, Earth, life on Earth, and then Man. With Man He creates the ability to perceive Him. After Adam and Eve eat of the fruit, they no longer understand things to be "true" or "false" but rather "right" and "wrong," -- value judgments, and subjectivity becomes the prime directive of humanity's paradigm. This leads to humanity's creation and invention of all types of ideologies, which first manifested themselves as variant forms of polytheism, i.e., subjective forms of the Man-G-d relationship. Hundreds of years passed after the abatement of the flood before Abraham was successfully able to "re-piece" G-d's Existence together for the world. Abraham's true understanding of G-d, which culminated in a revelation, ended an era of unchallenged polytheism; it marked the end of a repeating cyclical process and the beginning of a generally ascending cycle. Therefore, once Man was really Man, which the Torah defines as a being with a soul (us), he ceased to go through physical evolutions and began to go through mental, intellectual, moral, and spiritual evolutions. Monotheism was the evolutionary peak of mental, intellectual, moral, and spiritual evolution - there was none higher and all were lower. As is, the "class GPA" of the world would rise due to this merited revelation; it would bring up the consciousness of the rest humanity.

Post-monotheism; Atheism

Can we not say that atheism is the logical conclusion of monotheism? If the process of one replacing many was a revelation of truth, can we not say that the process of none replacing one is a further development of truth? No, we cannot. The reason being is that atheism does not afford humanity something more than monotheism. Monotheism rejected the polytheisms of the day in favor of a theistic understanding that a unified reality, with the One G-d, was the only true one; this was synonymous with absolute morality. The polytheists also had somewhat developed systems of values, ethics, and morals, but they waiver in relation to their instable and changing gods. G-d is Stable and the system of values, ethics, and morality instructed by Him is unchanging. Atheism's system of values, ethics, and morals is non-existent, as is their god. The subjective idea of atheism is a world void of implicit and inherent truths and morals; rather, in that world, one must extract truth and morality from the surrounding culture, a compass incapable of such a task. Culture has no interest in truth, and therefore cannot define falsehood, and so convenience and inconvenience replace these items respectively. It is not a violation of any inherent truth of human value to murder people, rather it should not be done because it is invconvenient to live in a society where people are free to end the lives of others. A society so morally irresolute must resort to replacing "falsehood" with the word "incovenient." There are several people in society who are prepared to tolerate the inconvenience of killing people if that's all it really is. As society becomes more silent, the murderers (rapists, cheaters, corrupters, etc...) become more emboldened. As the void becomes larger, the behaviors that potentially fill it become more variant. What we see is, through atheism, a return to a polytheistic-like world. The only difference is that the murderers murder to please themselves, not the gods.

There is an even more striking similarity; in an atheistic world, the obsession with the gods is still current- it seems that the void of morality, ethics, and values has not filled the void of the human need for the spiritual, and so many, if not all, types of spirituality are in demand. For example: wicca, the simplistic and superficial revival of ancient polytheistic religions, mystical trinkets such as tarot cards, shopping aisle astrology, and pseudo-psychological dream books, and of course new age spirituality.

The difference however is that the polytheists actually believed in these things and to a degree developed and organized them; today's "pop polytheism" is entirely external and superficial, not able to touch on the core of the way polytheists actually viewed the world 3,000 years ago and more. As a result, godless ideologies, religions actually, have developed, many of them humanitarian and social in essence. Valiant and noble causes, such as saving the environment, eradicating war, toppling injustice, and bringing and end to sexual oppression, start where religion ends. The people involved in these activities are fully engaged and embracing of the ideology of whatever group they have joined to the point where it ignites the spirituality within them and they become full of motivation and elation; the result is a strange and diluted form of worship. The imprint of religion is apparent even in these in that a few people, usually leaders, are seen as patriarchs or matriarchs of the movement and the rest of the people are disciples. The cause becomes universal in scope and the person is ready to dedicate the whole of his being to it. The cause or the objective goal of grandeur itself becomes the god, the object of devotion. However, no such god really exists, no command other than some loosely-composed internal drive to make something in the world better or perhaps to leave behind a vestige of immorality, completely fueled by self-initiation, and devotion fails as quickly as the whim flails.

But atheism facilitates the emergence of real evil. At any moment that the void is so large that anything can fit inside, with so many unchallenged acts of immorality, that any given act of "super destruction" can occur, and the previously immoral relativists, now suddenly awake to the possibility that evil exists, challenge it. However, one cannot develop an internal and composite perspective on morality overnight, and those who challenge it too are the products of years, if not decades or generations, of loosened moral fiber. Therefore, their judgment has become skewed by years of exposure to the irresoluteness of their culture and they, like most people, even those opposite to them, have lost the right to be the champions or torch-bearers of any ethical or moral mantle. Further, why should any maniac heed the moral urgings of the populace when they previously consumed immorality like voracious wolves? Will they now be hypocritical? If they believe in nothing, then they have not the right, but the ability, to say nothing. In the end, only the monotheists have room to speak and only they have the power to resist anything, for it was they who warned against evil when the stakes were still low. It is better to listen to the war drums before they become soaked in blood.

Noachides Spreading the Word (of G-d) -

Isaiah's Suffering Servant

Amazing!

Philosophy of Atheism -

As a disclaimer, different people call themselves atheists for a variety of reasons. However, I am only focusing on one; the philosophical factor.

One can ask, "How can there be a philosophical factor to a paradigm that states overarching randomness of the universe?" There is indeed a very philosophical way to understand life and existence through the lens that everything, including human life, occurred through randomness; the main premise here is freedom to choose, but the real core of the premise is the freedom to choose anything. Atheism is a kind of liberation theology, from theism. If theism can be shown to establish fixed and absolute morals, then atheism is liberation from the establishment of fixed and absolute morals.

But there is an underlying logic to atheism, one which I reject, but yet which I feel at least holds some sort of intellectual spark. To understand it we can first divert our attention to monotheism, i.e., not one of the few forms of religion in which one god was selected out of a pantheon, but the true form of monotheism, where only one Divinity was understood as existing. When that form of monotheism (Judaism) came about, the polytheists likely considered it to be a radical, strange, and extreme form of belief, for what kind of strange Deity, Whom resides over everything, possibly exist? Most people probably considered it borderline lunacy and/or heresy; each nation and peoples were committed to their national gods, yet monotheism claimed that those gods in fact did not exist and that only "their G-d" existed, and that He was the G-d of all the nations - sounds a bit chutzpadik (audacious) if you are a polytheist, don't you think? Very loosely speaking, we can try to understand monotheism, in the eyes of polytheists, to be atheism, for it declares that those gods do not exist. In light of that it can be said to be similar to contemporary atheism, which declares that G-d does not exist, and many "theists" are bothered by that declaration, sometimes acting on an urge to label atheists lunatics and heretics.

I once heard an atheist say, "I just believe in one less god than you." This succintly sums up the way most atheists view atheism; just like monotheists rejected the gods and believed in One, atheists reject the One and believe in none - to them it is the same thing. In other words, a mere reduction of gods until arriving at zero accurately explains to an atheist the formation of polytheism to monotheism to atheism. Yet the pioneering spirit of monotheism, to atheists, is alive in atheism, for just like the monotheist was fighting against the illusions of polytheistic society, the atheist sees himself as fighting against the illusions of monotheistic society, which are primarily that G-d exists. They do not see atheism as a sin, not just because there is no Higher Authority on morality, but because they see themselves doing humanity a favor by fighting against the belief in a Divine Creator. To them, immorality, and even evil, is hinged upon belief in a Divine Creator.

I can understand the frustrating concerns of an atheist, in the case that I am speaking about the type who is concerned about humanity and truth (many so-called atheists are simply people lack the veracity to follow through on such inquisitive sojourns). The reason I think there is a parallel is because a similar tendency exists in Judaism itself. One can view monotheism as a type of machine designed with a built-in self-moderating mechanism; when the dial approaches one or another extreme, an alert is signaled and the components of the machine begin taking action returning the machine to a state of moderation. When monotheism is working properly, people can see this normalization process occurring. The type of atheists I mentioned, likely not home-grown on monotheism, are reacting in a very similar manner as is monotheism to the issues plaguing society; their desire is to calibrate society. Further, the parallel is even stronger when we consider that atheists link the issues of the day as being inherent to theism similarly to the way monotheists linked the issues of the day with polytheism. If theism can be rejected, the issues of the world will disappear with it - this is what atheists hold to be true.

The only problem with atheism, in light of this desire to do to tikkun (repair), is that they have an incomplete circuit. The purpose for the machine exists but there is no certified blueprint, and since this ingredient is missing, the moving parts of the machine do not know their role and cannot orchestrate themselves properly in order for the machine to actually do its job. They have preserved the purpose and goal of humanity, a (living) vestige of monotheism, but have rejected the blueprint and the responsibility that each piece has. The result is that each piece performs an individual task. The machine becomes nothing more than a clutter of sputtering pieces strewn about on a table, hopping and clanking and making noise, colliding with each other and completing nothing. The desire of this "type" of atheism might be to locate and achieve peace, harmony, and order - a noble goal - but all it ends up doing is creating war, strife, and chaos. The most ominous realization about this attempted machine is that its parts do not work in the way they were designed to work; they have grown and learned, and in doing so created new informational pathways, tweaking and changing the original blueprint. They continue to grow and deviate from their blueprint.

Tragedy in Palestinian Society -

* (This was a response to a ridiculous blog that was sent to me about a man's trip to the West Bank. I will post it here with his permission, but for the meanwhile, here's my response.)

This is a great video about this topic, and it's full of great Middle Eastern music too, very dramatic.

Let me think about what I wanted to say. Oh yes, how much could have the Arab countries in the Middle East done for the Palestinians to help remedy their undeniably "not fun" living conditions? Much. Rather than do that, however, they have chosen the path of "least resistance," which to the Palestinians translates as the path OF resistance. In other words, we have a case of tragic and inhuman neglect, and not to mention mistreatment, that is true, but Arab governments are guilty of this sin and crime by omission. Silence is agreement, I am sure you are familiar with this philosophy. Not only are the Arab governments and civilian societies SILENT towards what is happening to the Palestinians, they have an active part in egging it on through countless propaganda campaigns. Why, you ask? Because the Palestinians are fighting the battle of the Arabs for them. In a Middle East that is mostly Arab, the what we call "primitive" tribal desire to smite Israel, very unprogressive indeed, is a culturally accepted value. We Westerners don't understand that until we've been there; did you by chance catch a glimpse or two of that phenomenon while you were on your vacation in Palestine-land? This is how it works: Arab governments who have not yet fully accepted Israel, full of terrorist groups, send financial and emotional support to Palestinian groups jihading against Israel. The Palestinians then, less out of desperation and more out of sheer (perverted) ideology, carry out atrocities towards Jewish civilians, which they justify through, again, perverted Muslim religious ideals. One can even make the case that they are being honest to the intent of the verses they use, but that is another topic. In other words, the Palestinians serve as a weapon against Israel, yes, a group of people, an entire society created to fight off the existence of another society, with their own lives, by destroying other peoples' lives. Were Palestinian society actually to become affluent, the entire impetus to carry out their ideological Crusading campaign would become fruitless; like Bob Marley says in "Slave Driver," Them belly full but we hungry, a hungry man is an angry man." The Palestinians have been kept hungry for a specific reason, politics, and who have kept them hungry? Other Arab socieites. By far, Israel has done for to appease and satisfy them, physically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually, than any other government in the world. The Arab idea of "helping" them is giving them the ability to fight Israel more; I have been told this by a few Arabs in my days. The UNRWA also pumps money into Palestinian society, and again, it goes towards nothing good. Palestinians have also confessed to me that they know that the Arabs don't care about them - this entire frantic homicidal religious campaign was engineered from 1964 onwards - the Palestinians, sadly, were a composite society made up of pieces of the Lebanese, Egyptian, and primarily Jordanian Palestinian society with the intent of imposing on Israel the pre-1948 status quo.

The (Ir)Rational Response Squad - Opiate of the Asses -

Come on, with a name like that, you'd be irrational to think that nobody would have played on this earlier.

The (Ir)Rational Response Squad is a group that got its start on Youtube, and its focus is to have people "deny the Holy Spirit," which according to Christian belief, lands you in Hell. The point of this denial is to a) affirm the atheism of the testifier, and probably to interject themselves onto their fancified understanding of what Galileo and other "famous rejectors" have turned into by way of contemporary biases, and b) to show their belief that Christianity is false and that they have no fear of going to Hell.

A few criticisms by way of a rational believing monotheist Jew, if I may. a) I am not above saying that the majority of the people who "testify" in their denial of the Holy Spirit probably have not taken the time out of their busy lives to sit and ponder about just what exactly it means to believe in G-d. As it were, their philosophy on theism, to use the Rational Response Squad's key word, is probably painfully underdeveloped at least and embarrassingly humorous at worst. b) There is a certain contemporary pop-culture chicness associated with atheism, but like other philosofads that pop up and down like plastic beavers at miniature golf course, those ideas bubble loudly and neutralize softly. It reminds me of when I used to cook spaghetti in my pot on the oven; when the heat was turned on, the water would violently bubble and threaten to boil over the top, but when I would turn off the heat, the water would almost immediately lose its resolve and return to calmness. "Pathetic display of power," I thought, for such a loud noise. Perhaps those rebellious youth and well-seasoned anti-conformity elders have not taken into account that this particular wave in which they are surfing, which is more like a groove in the water, makes usage of the same mind-control for which they bash religion. Who says that the chemical, disaffectionately coined by (the Jew) Marx as "the opiate of the masses," inside the body does not work on atheists and those irresolute? Are they above biology and social human psychology? Does their pituitary gland cease to function when they cease believing in the existence of a Creator? The opiate is too of the asses. From what I've seen by speaking with several atheists, some have good thought-out questions, but more often than not, many of them simply suffer from an inability to make lasting moral demands of themselves, demands that would require an unchanging commitment were their peers and general society to shift directions. "Atheism" is and has been for a while now a philosophically-charged word for "confusion" and/or "agnosticism" and also perhaps "moral relativism," including the silver-haired intellectual elite on top of their mountain of colorful books. Go, go! Your disciples of mice are calling for you, you fat hungry cats. You will eat seven fat mice and still be skinny.

Polytheism or Ploytheism? -

Shavua tov and good week!

I just read an article from Yahoo about a group of Zeus-worshippers in Greece who want to revive the ancient Greek religion. According to the article, many of them chose worshipping Zeus because they do not like the Greek-Orthodox Church. Just talking about my own life here, but I always found that defining yourself by setting yourself in opposition to something never really worked that well. In other words, worshipping Zeus because you don't like the Greek Orthodox Church is not a reason to worship Zeus; if you are going to worship it, do it because you believe in it, not because you want to "stick it" to the Greek Orthodox Church.

One thing I'll never understand about polytheism is how the "faithful" get around the belief of other polytheists whom believe in other gods. Why exactly is Zeus the god of worship over Marduk (the chief Babylonian god) Rah, the head Egyptian god, or Buri, who in the Norse religion is the first god to exist? Why are the particular traits of each of those first gods associated with the creator god? Do not the individual traits of the gods, given that they differ from each other, not bother those who believe in them? Further, each religion is composed up of belief in many gods; which system is true system, or does truth not fit into the equation?

Anyway, I thought I would include a list of here of some of the choices of worship you had were you a polytheist. Here is a link to wikipedia list of probably most of the gods you could choose:

African

• Jeebo
• Jengu
• Mami Wata
• Waaq

[edit] Anglo-Saxon

• Eostre, goddess of spring
• Fríge, counterpart to the Norse Frigg. Friday comes from her name.
• Ingui Fréa, counterpart to the Norse Frey
• Seaxnéat, the founder of the Saxon race
• Thor, the same god as the Norse deity by the same name. Thursday comes from his name.
• Tiw, counterpart to the Norse Tyr. Tuesday comes from the name of this god.
• Wéland, counterpart to the Norse Volundr
• Wóden, counterpart to the Norse Odin. Wednesday comes from the name of this god.

[edit] Akan

• Brekyirihunuade
• Kwaku Ananse

[edit] Ashanti

• Anansi
• Asase Ya
• Bia
• Nyame

[edit] Australian Aboriginal

• Altjira
• Anjea
• Bagadjimbiri
• Baiame
• Bamapana
• Banaitja
• Bobbi-Bobbi
• Bunjil
• Daramulum
• Dilga
• Djanggawul
• Eingana
• Galeru
• Gnowee
• Julana
• Julunggul
• Karora
• Kidili
• Kunapipi
• Mangar-kunjer-kunja
• Numakulla
• Pundjel
• Ulanji
• Walo
• Wawalag
• Wuriupranili
• Yurlungur

[edit] Ayyavazhi

• Ayya Vaikundar - Triune God (see: Ayyavazhi Trinity)
• Sivan
• Nathan
• Thirumal
• Arumukan

[edit] Aztec

(See the much longer list at Aztec mythology)

• Chalchiuhtlicue - goddess of lakes and streams
• Cinteotl - god of maize
• Coyolxauhqui - goddess of the moon
• Ehecatl - the god of the wind
• Huehueteotl - an ancient god of the hearth, the fire of life
• Huitzilopochtli - god of the sun, fire, and war
• Ilamatecuhtli- goddess of the earth, death, and the milky way.
• Itztlacoliuhqui-Ixquimilli - god of hard stone
• Mayahuel - goddess of maguey
• Mictlantecuhtli - god of death
• Ometeotl - god/goddess of heaven
• Quetzalcoatl - god of the breath of life
• Tepeyollotl - god of earthquakes
• Tezcatlipoca - god of discord
• Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli - god of dawn
• Tlaloc - god of rain and lightning
• Toci - goddess of earth
• Tonacatecuhtli - god of food
• Xipe Totec - god of spring
• Xochipilli - flower god
• Xochiquetzal - love goddess

[edit] Bahá'í

• God, who has manifested himself in many prophets, such as:
  • Abraham
  • The Báb
  • Bahá'u'lláh
  • Buddha
  • Jesus
  • Krishna
  • Moses
  • Muhammad
  • Zoroaster

[edit] Baltic

• Bangputtis
• Diwas / Dievas
• Kurche
• Laima
• Melletele
• Potrimpos

[edit] Celtic

(See the much more complete lists at Celtic mythology and Celtic polytheism.}

• Abellio - god of apple trees
• Agrona - a British goddess of strife and war
• Alaunus/Fin - god of the sun, healing, and prophecy
• Ambisagrus - god of thunder and lightning
• Ancamna - a Gallo-Roman water goddess
• Andarta - a Gallic warrior goddess
• Anextiomarus - a British equivalent of Apollo
• Artio - goddess of the bear
• Aveta - goddess of female-fertility, childbirth and midwives, also associated with all fresh water.
• Belatu-Cadros - a British war god
• Belenus - "Shining One", associated with fire and healing
• Belisama - goddess connected with lakes and rivers, fire, crafts and light, consort of Belenus
• Borvo - deity was associated with mineral springs, hot springs and healing
• Brigit
• Brigantia
• Camma - hunting goddess
• Camulus - god of war
• Cernunos - horned nature god associated with produce and fertility
• Cissonius - equivalent of mercury, probably a god of trade and protector of travellers
• Cocidus - god of war, hunting, forests, groves and wild fields
• Condatis - associated with rivers and healing
• Coventina - goddess of wells and springs
• Dagda - supreme god of Irish mythology
• Damara - British fertility goddess
• Danu - a mother goddess
• Epona - goddess of horses, donkeys and mules
• Esus
• Fagus - god of beech trees
• Glanis - a Gallic healing god
• Grannus - god of the sun, healing and mineral springs
• Gwydion
• Loucetios - a war and thunder god
• Lugh
• Lyr
• Manannan mac Lir
• Maponos - god of youth
• Morrigan - war goddess
• Nantosuelta - goddess of fire and fertility
• Nemain - war goddess
• Nemetona - goddess of temples and sacred groves
• Nuadha
• Ogma - god of scholars, education, writing and eloquence
• Rhiannon - Goddess of the moon
• Robur - god of oak trees
• Rosmerta - goddess of fertility and abundance
• Rudianos - Gallic war god
• Segomo - Gallic war god
• Sirona - healing deity, associated with healing springs
• Smertios - Gallic war god
• Sucellus - Gallic god of agriculture, forests, and alcoholic drinks
• Sulis - deification of spring water
• Tamesis - goddess of water
• Taranis - god of thunder
• Toutatis

[edit] Chinese Malaysian

List of Malaysian Chinese Gods:

• Na Tuk Kong / Na Tok Kong (Chinese: 拿督公)
• Celestial God Tnee Kong (Chinese : 天公)
• Earth God Teh Choo Kong, Tu Di Gong (Chinese: 土地公)
• Tua Pek Kong (Chinese: 大伯公)
• God of Prosperity Choy Sun Yeh / God of Fortune (Chinese: 财神)
• Kwan God Kwan Kong (Chinese: 關公)
• Kwan Yin Ma originated from Sanskrit Avalokiteśvara (Chinese: 觀世音), commonly known as the Goddess of Mercy.
• Matsu (goddess) (Chinese: 媽祖) is the Taoist Goddess of the Sea who protects fishermen and sailors.
• Di Zhu God (Chinese: 地主神) Lord of the Land Used.
• Gao Yao Chinese god of justice and judgement.

[edit] Christian

• The Trinity (The Triune God)
  • God the Father (Yahweh)
  • God the Son (Jesus, Logos)
  • God the Holy Spirit (Spirit of God)

[edit] Dacian

• Bendis
• Gebeleizis
• Zamolxis

[edit] Dahomey

• Agé
• Ayaba
• Da
• Gbadu
• Gleti
• Gu
• Lisa
• Loko
• Mawu
• Nana Buluku
• Sakpata
• Sogbo
• Xevioso
• Zinsi
• Zinsu

[edit] Discordian

• Eris

[edit] Efik

• Abassi
• Atai

[edit] Egyptian (Pharaonic)

• Amun - creator deity
• Anubis - divine embalmer and tomb-caretaker who watches over the dead
• Apep - Serpent of the Underworld, enemy of Ra
• The Aten - the embodiment of the Sun's rays in a brief, monotheistic interlude
• Atum - a creator deity, and the setting sun
• Bast, protector of the pharaoh, cat-bodied or cat-headed
• Bes - dwarfed semigod associated with protection of the household, particularly childbirth, and entertainment
• The four sons of Horus
• Geb - god of the Earth and first ruler of Egypt
• Hapy - god embodied by the Nile, and who represents life and fertility
• Hathor - Goddess of Love and Music
• Heget Goddess of Childbirth
• Horus the falcon-headed god, God of Pharaohs and Upper Egypt
• Imhotep God of wisdom, medicine and magic
• Isis - Goddess of Magic, sister of Nephthys
• Khepry - the scarab beetle, the embodiment of the dawn
• Khnum - a creator deity, god of the innundation
• Maahes - god of war
• Ma'at - personified concept of truth, balance, justice, and order
• Menhit - Goddess of war
• Mont - god of war
• Naunet - the primal waters
• Neith - goddess of war, then great mother goddess
• Nephthys - mother of Anubis
• Nut - goddess of heaven and the sky
• Osiris - god of the underworld, fertility and agricultural, possible father of Anubis
• Ptah - a creator deity, also god of crafts, possibly Men-Nefer (Memphis)
• Ra - the sun, possible father of Anubis, also a creator deity
• Sekhmet - goddess of destruction, particularly against demons of sickness
• Sobek - Crocodile God
• Set - god of storms, possible father of Anubis; later became god of evil, desert, also Lower Egypt
• Shu - embodiment of wind or air
• Taweret - goddess of pregnant women and protector at childbirth
• Tefnut - embodiment of rain, dew, clouds, and water-weather
• Thoth - god of the moon, drawing, writing, geometry, wisdom, medicine, music, astronomy, and magic
• Wepwawet

[edit] Estonian

• Peko - god of fertility, crops and brewing
• Pikne (lightning) - god of thunder
• Tharapita - god of war
• Vanemuine (the ancient one) - god of music (possibly a spurious later development)

[edit] Etruscan

• Alpan - a goddess of love (but usually identified with Persephone, not Aphrodite)
• Aplu - equated with Apollo
• Menrva - equivalent to the Greek Athene
• Nethuns - derived from Greek Poseidon
• Tinia - equivalent to Zeus
• Turan - the goddess usually identified with Aphrodite
• Uni - equivalent of Hera
• Voltumna - god of the Etruscan race, equivalent to the Roman Volturnus

[edit] Finnish

There are very few written documents about old Finnish religions; also the names of deities and practices of worship changed from place to place. The following is a summary of the most important and most widely worshipped deities.

• Ahti (or Ahto) - god of streams, lakes and sea
• Jumala - a physical idol (the name was later used for the Christian god)
• Loviatar - One of Tuoni's daughters. Goddess of pain.
• Mielikki - Tapio's wife
• Otso - son of a god, king of the forest, whose carnal form is the bear
• Pekko (or Peko) - god or goddess (the actual gender is obscure) of fields and agriculture
• Perkele - the devil (originally a Lithuanian deity, adopted into Finnish tradition at a late date)
• Rauni - Ukko's wife, goddess of fertility
• Tapio - god of forest and wild animals
• Tuonetar - The wife of Tuoni
• Tuoni - god of the underworld
• Ukko - god of heaven and thunder

[edit] Ancient Greek

Topics in Greek mythology
Gods Primordial gods and Titans Zeus and the Olympians Pan and the nymphs Apollo and Dionysus Sea-gods and Earth-gods
Heroes Heracles and his Labors Achilles and the Trojan War Odysseus and the Odyssey Jason and the Argonauts Perseus and the Gorgon Oedipus and Thebes Theseus and the Minotaur Triptolemus and the Eleusinian Mysteries
Related Satyrs, centaurs and dragons Ancient Greek religion

• Aphrodite - goddess of love and beauty, one of the twelve Olympians
• Apollo - god of poetry, music, the sun, and prophecy, and an Olympian
• Ares - god of violent war, an Olympian
• Artemis - goddess of the hunt, virginity, and childbirth, twin sister of Apollo, and an Olympian, often associated with the moon
• Athena - goddess of wisdom, defensive and strategic war, guardian-goddess of Athens, an Olympian
• Chaos - non-gendered primordial entity from which Gaia was created
• Cronus - leader of first generation of Titans, also a harvest deity
• Demeter - goddess of the harvest and of grain, mother of Persephone, an Olympian
• Dionysus - god of wine and sensual pleasures, took Hestia's place as an Olympian
• Eos - goddess of the dawn
• Eris - goddess of discord
• Eros - god of love
• Gaia - primordial goddess of earth, mother and grandmother of the first generation of Titans
• Hades - god of the underworld and material riches, brother of Zeus
• Hebe - wife of Heracles and goddess of youth
• Hekate - goddess of witchcraft, crossroads, and the harvest moon
• Hephaestus - god of smiths, an Olympian
• Hera - Queen of the Gods and Heaven, goddess of marriage, an Olympian
• Heracles - porter of Olympus, patron god of gymnasia and wrestling rings, god of strength
• Hermes - messenger of the gods and transporter of souls to the Underworld, an Olympian
• Hestia - goddess of the hearth, gave up seat at Olympus to Dionysus
• Hypnos - god of sleep
• Pan - god of shepherds and forests
• Persephone - daughter of Demeter, queen of the dead, also a grain-goddess
• Poseidon - god of the sea and earthquakes, an Olympian
• Selene - goddess of the moon
• Thanatos - god of death
• Ouranos - sky god and ancestor of many of the other gods
• Zeus - King of the Gods and god of the sky, air, and storms

See also: Demigods, the Dryads, the Fates, the Erinyes, the Graces, the Horae, the Muses, the Nymphs, the Pleiades, and the Titans.

[edit] Gnostic

• Aeons
• Archons
• Christ
• Sophia
• Yaldabaoth, Yao, Saklas, Samael, the Demiurge

[edit] Guarani

• Abaangui
• Jurupari
• Tupa

[edit] Hindu

• Brahman, the one and only (formless) supreme aspect of God. The Universe in Potential Static Energy.
• Adi - Shakti, the Female aspect of the Supreme Divine in Kinetic Dynamic Form.

• The Three Maha Shaktis (Super Powers) of the Universe or the Super Goddesses In Hinduism.
  • MahaSaraswati (Great Saraswati) - Universal Force of Creation
  • MahaLakshmi (Great Lakshmi) - Universal Force of Preservation
  • MahaKali (Great Kali) - Universal Force of Dissolution

• The Hindu Trinity:
  • Brahmâ, the creator
  • Vishnu, the sustainer
  • Shiva, the destroyer

• The Hindu Tridevi - Triple Goddess, the consorts of the Trinity
  • Saraswati - Hindu Goddess of Knowledge and Wisdom, Wife of Brahma
  • Lakshmi - Hindu Goddess of Wealth and Fertility, Wife of Vishnu
  • Parvati - Hindu Goddess of Power and Might, Wife of Shiva

• Vishnu
  • Avatars (Incarnations) of Vishnu
    • Matsya Avatar - Fish Incarnation
    • Kurma Avatar - Tortoise Incarnation
    • Varah Avatar - Boar Incarnation
    • Vaman Avatar - Dwarf Incarnation
    • Narasimha Avatar - Man-Lion Incarnation
    • Rama Avatar - Incarnation as the Epic King in Ramayana
    • Krishna Avatar - Incarnation as the Epic Prince in Maha Bharata
    • Buddha Avatar - Incarnation as Gautama Buddha, Founder of Buddhism
    • Kalki Avatar - The Avatar yet to come on the onset of Apocalypse

• • Other Deties Associated with Vishnu
    • Garuda- The Eagle Headed Deity who is the vehicle of Vishnu
    • Ananta or Shesha- The Infinite Serpent which is the Bed of Vishnu
    • Narada- The Divine Messenger of the Gods
    • Hanuman - Personified as a Monkey Headed Deity, God of Service and Devotion
    • Dattatreya - Shown with Three Heads, representing the Oneness with Brahma, Vishnu and Siva (Shiva) - He is Guru and God, worshipped by all sects
    • Hayagriva - He is shown with the head of a horse and is worshipped as the repository of all wisdom and knowledge

• Shiva
  • The Manifestations of Shiva
    • Nataraja - The Lord of Dance
    • Dakshinamurti - The Lord of the South - The Preceptor and Guru
    • Mahadeva - The Great God
    • Ardhanarishwar - The Androgynous God (Half Man and Half Woman)

• • Other Deties Assocciated with Shiva
    • Ganesh - Oldest Son of Shiva and the God of Prosperity, shown with an elephant head
    • Kartik or Skanda - The Second Son of Shiva, The God of War, Youth and Purity
    • Veer Bhadra - The Deity who Guards the Abode of Shiva
    • Nandi - The Bull which is the vehicle of Shiva
    • Ayyappa - Also called Manikantha, Sasta - son of Siva and Mohini, the feminine form of Vishnu
• Lakshmi
  • The Eight Forms of Lakshmi
    • Adi-Lakshmi
    • Vijay-Lakshmi
    • Vidya-Lakshmi
    • Dhana-Lakshmi
    • Dhanya-Lakshmi
    • Santan-Lakshmi
    • Dhairya-Lakshmi

• • Other Goddesses Associated with Lakshmi
  • Shri Devi- The Goddess of Beauty
  • Prithvi or Bhudevi - The Goddess of Earth
  • Alakshmi or Jyeshta Devi - The Contra Goddess of Misfortune

• Parvati
  • The Passive/Peaceful Manifestations of Parvati
    • Sati- Goddess of Marriage and Wedlock
    • Shashti - Goddess of Marriage and Childbirth
    • Annapurna - Goddess of Food and Nourishment
    • Lalita - Goddess of Beauty

• • The Warrior Manifestations of Parvati
    • Kali - The Goddess of Time and Death
      • The Ten Great Wisdom Manifestations of Kali
        • Kali - The Goddess as Time
        • Tara - The Goddess as Space
        • Chinnamasta - The Goddess as The Cycle of Life and Death
        • Bhuvaneshvari - The Goddess as Perfection
        • Tripura Sundari - The Goddess as the Most beautiful
        • Bhairavi - The Goddess as the Most frightful
        • Bagalamukhi - The Crane headed Goddess as upholder of Universal Order
        • Dhumavati - The Widowed Goddess as Chaos and Misery
        • Matangi - The Goddess as Leftovers and Salvage
        • Kamala - The Goddess as Perfection
    • Durga - The Goddess of Power and War
      • The Nine Manifestations of Durga
        • Shailaputri
        • Brahmacharini
        • Kushmanda
        • Skanda Mata
        • Katyani
        • Chandraghanta
        • Siddhi Dhatri
        • Maha Gauri
        • Kaal Ratri
    • Maya - The Goddess of Illusion and Mystery

• The Adityas
  • Indra - god of weather and war
  • Mitra - god of honesty, friendship and contracts
  • Ravi, Surya - the Sun gods
  • Varuna - god of the oceans and rivers
  • Yama - god of death

Some of the most important Devas:

• Agni - god of fire
• The Asura - Demons, Anti gods
• The Aswini - gods of sunrise and sunset
• Dyaus-pitar - ('Heaven-father') cognate of the Roman god Jupiter
• Ganesh - personified with the head of an elephant, god of wisdom, intelligence, education and prudence
• Parjanya - god of wind
• Parvati or Parvathi, wife of Shiva
• Prithivi - the Earth goddess
• Purusha - the Cosmic-Man
• The Rudras - the storm deities
• Soma - the lunar deity
• Ushas - The goddess of sunrise
• Vasus, the
• Vayu - god of wind
• The Visvedevas
  • Ishvara - One who gives prosperity.
  • Hari - One who destroys sins (obstacles on the way to Moksha (liberation from the cycles of birth-death-birth)).
  • Narayana - The final destination towards which all individual souls are travelling.

[edit] Igbo

• Aha Njoku
• Ala
• Chukwu

[edit] Incan

• Apo - mountain god
• Apocatquil - god of lightning
• Chasca - goddess of dawn, twilight, and Venus
• Coniraya - moon god
• Ekkeko - god of hearth and wealth
• Illapa - weather god
• Inti/Punchau - sun god
• Kon - god of rain and wind from the south
• Mama Allpa - multi-breasted fertility goddess
• Mama Cocha - goddess of sea and fish
• Mama Pacha - dragoness fertility goddess
• Mama Quilla - moon goddess
• Mama Zara - goddess of grain
• Manco Capac
• Pacha Kamaq - creator god
• Pariacaca - water god
• Supay - god of death
• Urcaguary - god of metal and jewels
• Viracocha
• Zaramama

[edit] Islamic

• Allah (God)

[edit] Isoko

• Cghene

[edit] Jehovah's Witnesses

• Jehovah

[edit] Judaic

• Adonai/Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh/El/Elohim/Shaddai/Shalom/Yah/YHWH/YHWH Tzevaot (God) ("YHWH" is often transliterated "Jehovah" or "Yahweh", but only by people outside of Jewish tradition: see the article Tetragrammaton for more details.)

[edit] Khoikhoi

• Gamab
• Heitsi-eibib
• Tsui'goab

[edit] Korean

• Dangun - the grandson of the god of heaven.
• Hwanin - the grandson of Hwang-gung, one of the Four Men of Heaven and considered a direct ancestor of the Korean people.

[edit] !Xũ

• Mantis
• Prishiboro

[edit] Lotuko

• Ajok

[edit] Latvian

• Auseklis
• Dēkla
• Dievs - a god (the name was later used for the Christian god)
• Jumis
• Kārta
• Laima
• Māra
• Pērkons
• Saule
• Ūsiņš

[edit] Lugbara

• Adroa
• Adroanzi

[edit] Lusitani

• Ares Lusitani
• Atégina
• Bandonga
• Bormanico
• Cariocecus
• Duberdicus
• Endovelicus
• Geleshus
• Mars Cariocecus
• Nabia
• Nantosvelta
• Runesocesius
• Sucellus
• Tongoenabiagus
• Trebaruna
• Turiacus

[edit] Maya

• Ahaw Kin - Sun God
• Bacabs - Gods of the 4 directions
• Balac - War God
• Balam - Protector God
• Bolon tza cab - Ruling God of All
• Chaac - Rain God
• Hunah Ku - Creator God
• Itzamna - Reptile Creator God
• Ix Chel - Moon Goddess
• Kukulcan - Feathered Serpent God
• Xbalanque - God of the Jaguar
• Xi Balba - God of the Death
• Yum Kaax - Corn God

[edit] Mesopotamian

Fertile Crescent myth series
Mesopotamian
Levantine
Arabian
Mesopotamia
Primordial beings
7 gods who decree
Demigods & heroes
Spirits & monsters
Tales from Babylon
The Great Gods
Adad · Ashnan Asaruludu · Enbilulu Enkimdu · Ereshkigal Inanna · Lahar Nanshe · Nergal Nidaba · Ningal Ninisinna · Ninkasi Ninlil · Ninurta Nusku · Uttu Annunaki

• Anshar - father of heaven
• Anu - the god of the highest heaven
• Apsu - the ruler of gods and underworld oceans
• Ashur - national god of the Assyrians, thought by the Assyrians to be king of the gods
• Damkina - Earth mother goddess
• Ea - god of wisdom
• Enlil - god of weather and storms
• Ereshkigal - Goddes of Darkness, Death, and Gloom
• Hadad - weather god
• Ishtar - goddess of love and one of the highest-ranking deities in Mesopotamian myth
• Kingu - husband of Tiamat
• Kishar - father of the earth
• Marduk - national god of the Babylonians, later thought to be king of the gods
• Mummu - god of mists
• Nabu - god of the scribal arts
• Nintu - mother of all gods
• Ninurta - god of war
• Nergal - god of war, disease, death and destruction; ruler of the underworld
• Shamash - god of the sun and of justice (Shapash in Ugaritic, Shamsa in Sumerian)
• Sin - moon god
• Tiamat - dragon goddess slain by Marduk

[edit] Mormonism

• The Trinity
  • Heavenly Father
  • Jesus Christ
  • The Holy Spirit

[edit] Native American

[edit] Abenaki

• Azeban - trickster
• Bmola - bird spirit
• Gluskab - kind protector of humanity
• Malsumis - cruel, evil god
• Tabaldak - the creator

[edit] Haida

• Gyhldeptis
• Lagua
• Nankil'slas
• Sin
• Ta'axet
• Tia

[edit] Ho-Chunk

• Kokopelli

[edit] Hopi

• Aholi
• Angwusnasomtaka
• Kokopelli
• Koyangwuti
• Muyingwa
• Taiowa

See also: kachina.

[edit] Huron

• Airesekui
• Heng
• Iosheka

[edit] Inuit

• Igaluk - lunar deity
• Nanook - master of bears
• Nerrivik - sea mother and food provider
• Pinga - goddess of the hunt, fertility, and medicine
• Sedna - sea goddess, ruler of the underworld
• Torngasoak - sky god

[edit] Iroquois

• Adekagagwaa
• Gaol
• Gendenwitha
• Gohone
• Hahgwehdaetgan
• Hahgwehdiyu
• Onatha

[edit] Kwakiutl

• Kewkwaxa'we

[edit] Lakota

• Canopus
• Haokah
• Whope
• Wi

[edit] Navajo

• Ahsonnutli
• Bikeh Hozho
• Estanatelhi
• Glispa
• Hasteoltoi
• Hastshehogan
• Tonenili
• Tsohanoai
• Yolkai Estasan

[edit] Pawnee

• Pah
• Shakuru
• Tirawa

[edit] Salish

• Amotken

[edit] Seneca

• Eagentci
• Hagones
• Hawenniyo
• Kaakwha

[edit] Norse

• Balder - god of beauty and light, slain by the trickery of Loki
• Bragi - god of bardic poetry
• Freyja - goddess of fertility
• Freyr - the brother of Freyja and a fertility god
• Frigg - goddess of marriage, household management, and love, Queen of Heaven, and wife of Odin
• Heimdall - god of the rainbow, a bridge to heaven. His job is to blow his horn if danger approaches.
• Hel - daughter of Loki and the giantess Angrboda, Queen of the Dead
• Hodur - brother of Balder and tricked by Loki to kill him
• Idunn - guardianess of the Apples of Youth that kept the gods young
• Loki - trickster-god, giant, blood-brother of Odin, will eventually lead the forces of evil against the gods in Ragnarok
• Niord - god of sailors and fertile seaside land
• Odin - king of the gods, god of wisdom and runes
• Sif - the wife of Thor
• Thor - god of war and storms, famous for his hammer, Mjolnir
• Tyr - god of war and glory

[edit] Pastafarian

• Flying Spaghetti Monster

[edit] Persian

• See the article: Persian deities

[edit] Philippine

• Amanikable - God of the sea.
• Amihan - North Wind.
• Anitan - Guardian of lightning.
• Anitun Tabu - Goddess of wind and rain.
• Apolake - God of war, guardian of the sun.
• Bakonawa - Lizard god, ruler of the underworld.
• Bathala - Supreme god of the ancient Tagalogs.
• Dian Masalanta - Goddess of love.
• Hukluban - Goddess of death.
• Idianale - Goddess of agriculture and husbandry.
• Ikapati - Goddess of fields, fertility, and lands.
• Kalinga - God of Thunder.
• Kan-Laon - Ancient Visayan god, king of time.
• Lalahon - Goddess of fire, volcanoes, and harvest.
• Manggagaway - Goddess of sickness.
• Mangkukulam - God of fire.
• Manisilat - God of broken homes.
• Maria Makiling - Protector of Mt. Makiling.
• Mayari/Bulan - Lunar goddess.
• Sitan - God of afterlife and the underworld.
• Tala - Goddess of the stars.
• Malakas - God of strength

[edit] Polynesian

[edit] Hawai'ian

• Atea
• Ina
• Kane Milohai
• Lono
• Maui
• Papa
• Pele

See also: Menehune.

[edit] Māori

• Haumia-tiketike - deity of uncultivated food, especially fern root
• Hine-nui-te-pō - deity of death
• Hine Tītama - deity of the dawn
• Hine Raumati - deity of the summer
• Papa-tū-ā-nuku - deity of the earth
• Rā - deity of the sun
• Ranginui - deity of the sky
• Rongo - deity of cultivated food
• Ruaumoko - deity of earthquakes
• Tāne Māhuta - deity of the forest and its creatures, man
• Tangaroa - deity of the sea and its creatures
• Tāwhiri-matea - deity of the weather, especially storms
• Tū Matauenga - deity of war
• Uenuku - deity of rainbows

[edit] Prussian

• Ukapirmas - the chief god, creator of the world
• Perkūns / Perkuno - the god of thunder
• Pikuls (Pickollo) - a god (in Christian times, he was vilified as the devil)
• Kaūks - a deity
• Swāikstiks / Suaixtix / Swaixtix - a deity
• Dēiwas - a god (in Christian times, the name was applied to the Christian god)

[edit] Pygmy

• Arebati
• Khonvoum
• Tore

[edit] Roman

(NB- this is very incomplete, as there are numerous personifications, etc. Greek equivalents, if there are any, will be on the page about the deity. Keep in mind that Flamens are high-ranking Roman priests, Flamen Majores being High Priests and Flamen Minores being Lesser Priests.)

• Acis - river god near the Etna, son of Faunus and the nymph Symaethis
• Aesculapius - god of health and medicine
• Apollo - god of the sun, poetry, music, and oracles, and an Olympian
• Aurora - goddess of the dawn
• Bacchus - god of wine and sensual pleasures, not considered an Olympian by the Romans
• Bellona - war goddess
• Caelus -god of the sky
• Carmenta - goddess of childbirth and prophecy, and assigned a Flamen Minore
• Ceres - goddess of the harvest and mother of Proserpina, and an Olympian, and assigned a Flamen Minore
• Consus - chthonic god protecting grain storage
• Cupid - god of love and son of Mars and Venus
• Cybele - earth mother
• Diana - goddess of the hunt, the moon, virginity, and childbirth, twin sister of Apollo and an Olympian
• Discordia - goddess of discord
• Faunus - god of flocks
• Febris - goddess who prevented fever and malaria
• Flora - goddess of flowers, and assigned a Flamen Minore
• Fortuna -goddess of fortune
• Hercules - god of strength
• Hespera - goddess of dusk
• Hora - Quirinus' wife
• Janus - two-headed god of beginnings and endings and of doors
• Juno - Queen of the Gods and goddess of matrimony, and an Olympian
• Jupiter - King of the Gods and the storm, air, and sky god, and an Olympian, and assigned a Flamen Majore
• Juturna- goddess of springs
• Juventas - god of youth
• Libitina - goddess of the underworld
• Lucina - goddess of childbirth
• Luna- moon goddess
• Lupercus - god of shepherds
• Mars - god of war and father of Romulus, the founder of Rome, and an Olympian, and assigned a Flamen Majore
• Mercury - messenger of the gods and bearer of souls to the underworld, and an Olympian
• Minerva - goddess of wisdom and war, and an Olympian
• Morpheus - god of dreams
• Nemesis - goddess of revenge
• Neptune - god of the sea, earthquakes, and horses, and an Olympian
• Orcus - a god of the underworld and punisher of broken oaths
• Pluto - King of the Dead
• Poena - goddess of punishment
• Pomona - goddess of fruit trees, and assigned a Flamen Minore.
• Portunes- god of keys, doors, and livestock, he was assigned a Flamen Minore.
• Priapus - god of fertility
• Proserpina - Queen of the Dead and a grain-goddess
• Quirinus - Romulus, the founder of Rome, was deified as Quirinus after his death. Quirinus was a war god and a god of the Roman people and state, and was assigned a Flamen Majore.
• Silvanus - tutelary spirit of woods
• Sol Invictus - sun god
• Somnus - god of sleep
• Suadela- goddess of persuasion
• Terminus - the rustic god of boundaries
• Trivia - goddess of magic
• Venus - goddess of love and beauty, mother of the hero Aeneas, and an Olympian
• Vesta - goddess of the hearth and the Roman state, and an Olympian.
• Victoria - goddess of victory
• Volturnus- a god of water, was assigned a Flamen Minore.
• Voluptas - goddess of pleasure
• Vulcan - god of the forge, fire, and blacksmiths, and an Olympian, and assigned a Flamen Minore

[edit] Deified emperors

Each deified emperor was assigned a Flamen Majore. Please add more, as this section is incomplete:

• Julius Caesar
• Augustus
• Claudius
• Vespasian
• Titus
• Nerva
• Trajan
• Hadrian
• Antoninus Pius
• Lucius Verus
• Marcus Aurelius
• Pertinax
• Commodus
• Septimius Severus
• Geta
• Caracalla
• Severus Alexander
• Gordian I, II, III
• Philip I, II
• Traianus Decius
• Herennius Etruscus
• Valerian I
• Piso Frugi
• Gallienus
• Victorinus
• Claudius II
• Aurelian
• Probus
• Carus
• Numerian
• Maximian I
• Diocletian
• Constantius I
• Maximian II
• Constantine
• Constans
• ConstantiusII
• Julian II
• Jovian
• Valentinian I
• Valens
• Gratian
• Valentinian II
• Theodosius I
• Arcadius
• Constantius III
• Theodosius II
• Valentinian III
• Leo I, II
• Anastasius

[edit] Sardinian

Sardinian deities, mainly referred to in the age of Nuragici people, are partly derived from Phoenician ones.

• Janas - Goddesses of death
• Maymon - God of Hades
• Panas - Goddesses of reproduction (women dead in childbirth)
• Thanit - Goddess of Earth and fertility

[edit] Semitic pagan

Ancient Southwest Asian deities
Levantine deities
Adonis | Anat | Asherah | Ashima | Astarte | Atargatis | Ba'al | Berith | Dagon | Derceto | El | Elyon | Eshmun | Hadad | Kothar | Mot | Qetesh | Resheph | Shalim | Yarikh | Yam
Mesopotamian deities
Adad | Amurru | An/Anu | Anshar | Asshur | Abzu/Apsu | Enki/Ea | Enlil | Ereshkigal | Inanna/Ishtar | Kingu | Kishar | Lahmu & Lahamu | Lilith | Marduk | Mummu | Nabu | Nammu | Nanna/Sin | Nergal | Ninhursag/Damkina | Ninlil | Tiamat | Utu/Shamash
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• Abzu/Apsu
• Adad
• Adonis
• Amurru
• An/Anu
• Anat
• Anshar | Asshur
• Asherah
• Astarte
• Beelzebub
• Baʿal/Hadad
• Dagon
• El
• Enki/Ea
• Enlil
• Ereshkigal
• Inanna/Ishtar
• Kingu | Kishar
• Lahmu & Lahamu
• Marduk
• Mot
• Mummu
• Nabu
• Nammu
• Nanna/Sin
• Nergal
• Ninhursag/Damkina
• Ninlil
• Tiamat
• Utu/Shamash
• Yaw

[edit] Gods of Ur of the Chaldeans (only appearing in the LDS Book of Abraham)

• Elkenah
• Libnah
• Mahmackrah
• Korash

See also: Judaism and Islam, Levantine mythology, and Book of Abraham.

[edit] Shinto

• Aji-Suki-Taka-Hiko-Ne - god of thunder
• Amaterasu - sun goddess
• Ama-no-Uzume - fertility goddess
• Amatsu Mikaboshi - god of evil
• Chimata-No-Kami - god of crossroads, highways and footpaths
• Ho-Musubi - god of fire
• Inari (mythology) - god of rice
• Izanagi - creator god
• Izanami - creator goddess
• Kagu-tsuchi - god of fire
• Kura-Okami - god of rain
• Nai-No-Kami - god of earthquakes
• O-Kuni-Nushi - god of sorcery and medicine
• O-Wata-Tsu-Mi - god of the sea
• Sengen-Sama - goddess of the Mt. Fujiyama
• Seven Gods of Fortune
  • Benzai-ten or Benten - goddess of money, eloquent persuasion, and knowledge
  • Bishamon-ten - god of happiness and war
  • Daikoku-ten
  • Ebisu (also spelled Yebisu)
  • Fukurokuju
  • Hotei-osho
  • Jurojin
• Shina-To-Be - goddess of wind
• Shina-Tsu-Hiko - god of wind
• Sojobo - king of the tengu
• Susanoo - god of storms and thunder, snakes and farming.
• Taka-Okami - god of rain
• Take-Mikazuchi - god of thunder
• Tengu - minor trickster deities
• Tsukuyomi - god of the moon
• Uke-Mochi - goddess of food
• Wakahiru-Me - goddess of the dawn sun

See also: Kami, List of divinities in Japanese mythology.

[edit] Sikhism

• Waheguru.

[edit] Slavic

• Belobog - god of light and sun (speculative)
• Berstuk - evil god of the forest
• Cislobog - moon goddess
• Crnobog - god of woe (speculative)
• Dajbog - sun god
• Dziewona - equivalent of Diana
• Flins - god of death
• Hors - god of the winter sun
• Jarilo - god of vegetation, fertility, spring, and associated with war and harvest
• Juthrbog - moon god
• Karewit - protector of the town of Korzenica
• Lada and Lado
• Marowit - god of nightmares
• Perun - god of thunder and lightning
• Podaga - weather god, and god of fishing, hunting and farming
• Porewit - god of law, order and judgement
• Radegast (god) - possibly a god of hospitality, fertility and crops
• Rugiwit -
• Sieba - fertility and love goddess
• Siebog - god of love and marriage
• Stribog - god and spirit of the winds, sky and air
• Svarog - god of fire
• Svetovid - god of war, fertility and abundance
• Triglav - three-headed god
• Veles - god of earth, waters, and the underworld
• Zirnitra - dragon god of sorcery

[edit] Sumerian

• An
• Enki
• Enlil
• Inanna
• Nammu
• Nanna
• Ninhursag
• Ninlil
• Sin
• Utu

See also Annuna and Mesopotamian deities for a more complete list.

[edit] Thracian

• Zibelthiurdos

[edit] Tumbuka

• Chiuta

[edit] Ugarit

• ‘Anat - war goddess
• Athirat - mother goddess
• ‘Athtart - goddess of fertility
• Dagon - god of earth
• El - the father god and head
• Haddu - commonly titled Ba‘l, a rain god and storm god.
• Mot - the god of death
• Yam - the god of the sea

Note: Ugarit gives the earliest and fullest snapshot of Canaanite religion and northwest Semitic religion.

[edit] Wiccan

• The God (also known as the Horned God, the Great God, the Great Father, the Sky father, the Lord, etc)
• The Goddess (also known as the Great Mother, the Triple Goddess, the Earth Mother, the Lady, etc)

[edit] Yoruba

• Aja
• Aje
• Egungun-oya
• Eshu
• Oba
• Obatala
• Odùduwà
• Oloddumare
• Olokun
• Olorun
• Orunmila
• Oshun
• Oshunmare
• Oya
• Shakpana
• Shango
• Yansan
• Yemaja

[edit] Zoroastrian

• Ahura Mazda

I think that there are a couple of hundred deities listed here, and hopefully I've made it easy for you to research them and find out which one you want to worship.