Book Reports for Rabbi School Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Book Reports for Rabbi School - Research Paper Example need for humans to be conversant with the conditions that face humanity; thus, devise strategies that will allow for the attainment of self-awareness and spiritual restoration in human beings (Buber, 2002). The book also gives details on various forms of rungs of life that eventually seek to arouse humans towards leading a righteous life. The work of Buber (2002) gives the lesson that human life needs to be driven by aims of existence. The author is keen to explain that humans needs to make sure that they realize the meaning of their times on earth. True life, therefore, involves the humans being devoted to their life in God if they have to understand what is required of their future life. I also learn that devotion to God is not complete on its own. One must love God’s creation, love their fellow beings, and it is through this deviation that one can be of great importance to their fellow men (Buber, 2002). True life is, therefore, not baseless, but includes the virtue of justice, righteousness, love and even devotion to the life’s wants. I also learnt that one ought to desist from activities that may led to evil and guilt, but make as much effort as possible to overcome the evils of life. Awareness of sin is also crucial to good life, since it helps humans overcome the challenges that they may encounte r in life (Buber, 2002). With contemporary rabbis being faced with lots of challenges, the book has major on me as a Modern Rabbi. First, I have learnt and decided not to mix the good and the bad. I choose to go with goodness since this virtue goes a long way towards attaining holiness. It is through doing good that purity, religious fervor and righteousness is achieved (Buber, 2002). As a modern rabbi, humility goes a long way. I believe that I am a servant and that I am in no way greater than others simply because I am a rabbi. In contrast, this work has led to service to God with humility and steadfastness that it required. The book has also seen to my great

Risk - de Havillands Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Risk - de Havillands - Essay Example Its jets had many advantage vis-Ã  -vis high speed, quieter and more comfortable interior, distinctive design etc. But management’s decision to launch its first commercial jet ‘Comet’ was fraught with many mistakes and lacked proper and comprehensive risk management plan. de Havilland management’s hurry to be the first to launch jet aircraft commercially was important because it saw the launch of Comet as setting of the standards for the aircraft industry. It also wrongly assumed that because it was leading aircraft company and known for its high performing designs, it could repeat its success in the commercial market also. The lack of proper research and its apathy for the security of the customers was key managerial issue that was overlooked or not properly researched. The development of new products need to be well research and well tested before bringing it to the people. Though de Havilland had introduced innovative changes in its commercial jet, Comet, the changes were not tested extensively and the jet was launched in hurry. The faulty design of the jet had resulted in three massive crashes which ultimately discredited the company in the eyes of its various stakeholders. The various perspectives of de Havilland case are important ingredients because they help to execute projects successfully. In the Havilland case, priorities were set wrongly. Passenger safety was overlooked in order to become the first one to set standards for aircraft industry. Moreover, the new designs were not tested and risks were not identified from different perspectives and outcome. This was a major blunder especially as it put to risks the lives of the people or its passengers. As a project manager, the case study helps to identify the flaws in the project. In the highly competitive business environment, while gaining leverage in the market greatly facilitates business outcome but sustaining the

Development Of Honorifics Within Cultures Cultural Studies Essay

Development Of Honorifics Within Cultures Cultural Studies Essay How does social hierarchy affect linguistic politeness and the development of honorifics within cultures. Japanese, Chinese English will be examined. Politeness is a cultural phenomenon. What is considered polite in one culture can be quite rude or just simply strange in another. An honorific on the other hand is a word, title or expression, which conveys politeness under certain cultural norms when addressing or referring to another person (Brown, 1987). In languages such as Chinese, honorifics operate under a self-denigration Maxim where one either elevates the other partys status and therefore conveying esteem or respect, and/or denigrating the self and thus elevating the relative status of a second or third person (Gu, 1990). To do otherwise is seen as being arrogant boasting, or self-conceited. In some languages such as Japanese, honorifics are also often used together with varying systems of honorific speech, which are grammatical or morphological ways of encoding the relative social status of speakers (Haugh et. al., 2003). Agha (1994) goes on to suggest individuals who use more honorifics are further educated and mature, a nd therefore, of higher social status. Thus it can be hypothesized that politeness is intrinsically intertwined with the speakers cultural understanding and subsequent social status. This paper will explore how social hierarchy affects politeness through the changing use of honorifics. Chinese, Japanese and English will be examined to gain a wider understanding of this phenomenon. The closest Chinese translation of politeness is à §Ã‚ ¤Ã‚ ¼ à ¨Ã‚ ²Ã…’, meaning polite appearance. à §Ã‚ ¤Ã‚ ¼ à ¨Ã‚ ²Ã…’ is derived from the archaic Chinese wordà §Ã‚ ¦Ã‚ ®Ãƒ §Ã‚ ¦Ã‚ ®. To have a better understanding of the modern conception of à §Ã‚ ¤Ã‚ ¼ à ¨Ã‚ ²Ã…’, it may be helpful to review the classical notion of à §Ã‚ ¦Ã‚ ®Ãƒ §Ã‚ ¦Ã‚ ® formulated by Confucius. Confucius lived at a time when there was constant war between feudal states, partly due to a rapidly deteriorating slavery system. The former aristocratic social hierarchy was shattered, and chaos practically reigned over the land. One of the measures Confucius advocated towards stability was to restore à §Ã‚ ¦Ã‚ ®Ãƒ §Ã‚ ¦Ã‚ ®. This à §Ã‚ ¦Ã‚ ®Ãƒ §Ã‚ ¦Ã‚ ® does not mean politeness; it refers to the social hierarchy and order of the slavery system of the Zhou Dynasty, which was regarded by Confucius as an ideal model of any society. In order to restore à §Ã‚ ¦Ã‚ ®Ãƒ §Ã‚ ¦Ã‚ ® it is necessary to à ¦Ã‚ ­  £Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ Ã‚  i.e. rectify names. To à ¦Ã‚ ­Ã‚ £Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ Ã‚  is to put each individual in his/her place in the web of relationships that create community, and behaving accordingly to his/her social position so as to ensure social harmony (Taylor, 2003; Warren, 1980). This is important because: if ming is not properly rectified, speech cannot be used appropriately; if speech is not used appropriately, nothing can be achieved; if nothing is achieved, li cannot be restored: if li is not restored, law and justice cannot be exercised: and if law and justice are not exercised, people will not know how to behave. (Confucius, zilu , quoted by Yang (1987)) Thus speech had to be used appropriately in accordance with the users status in the social hierarchy so thatà §Ã‚ ¦Ã‚ ®Ãƒ §Ã‚ ¦Ã‚ ®could be restored. For instance, a servant was required to call himself or herself à ¥Ã‚ ¥Ã‚ ´Ãƒ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚  (slave), while addressing his/her master as à ¥Ã‚ ¤Ãƒ ¤Ã‚ ºÃ‚ º (great man) or à ¤Ã‚ ¸Ã‚ »Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ ­Ã‚  (master). Deviation from this usage, in Confucius view, would disrupt the established social order, hence creating social chaos. An inferiors violation of this usage, at that time, would have been considered as being à §Ã…  Ã‚ ¯Ãƒ ¤Ã‚ ¸Ã…   (offending the superior). This was a serious breach of à §Ã‚ ¦Ã‚ ®Ãƒ §Ã‚ ¦Ã‚ ®which could result in the severe punishment of the offender (Gu, 1990). Since the founding of the Peoples Republic in 1949, the feudal system, which has overseen China for over 5000 years, was abolished. A new order of social structure, the communist system was adapted where ideologically, everyone is an equal. Politeness and its role in this new way of life among the people were drastically changed as the pre-existing social hierarchy was viciously torn down. Consequently, many classical terms, which sounded either too denigrative or elevative in the contemporary political atmosphere, became obsolete. Examples of classical and contemporary denigrating and elevating honorifics from Gu (1990) include (Attachment 1) After the communist revolution, honorifics are only used for formal or volatile circumstances. Extreme honorifics such as the ones mentioned above are saved for TV shows and situations of extreme emphasis. A prime example of modern use of the self-denigration maxim is extracted from Gu (1990) below. (Attachment 2) Gu (1990) explains as thus: When M refers to Ss surname [I], he elevates it as precious surname, whereas in mentioning his own surname [4], he denigrates it by calling it worthless surname. S, on his part, though he does not denigrate his surname in response to As enquiry [2], denigrates instead himself as little brother (implicating that he is inferior to M). In his enquiry about Ms surname, on the other hand, S exhilarates it as respectable surname [3]. It is evident that the distance between self-denigration and other elevation was much larger in ancient China than that in modern China. Elevated honorifics are rarely used outside formal occasions; however the self-denigration maxim still underlines linguistic constructs in Chinese social interaction. The self-denigration maxim is also present in the Japanese politeness or teineisa known as rei. As the Japanese language was greatly influenced by Chinese, some parts copied directly such as the Kanji system, there are bound to be similarities pertaining to social hierarchy and its role in politeness. Rei is a Japanese version of the original Chinese à §Ã‚ ¦Ã‚ ®Ãƒ §Ã‚ ¦Ã‚ ®, however slightly diverged from the original concept. In spoken Japanese, with an honorific o-prefix, o-rei is commonly used in such expressions as o-rei wo suru (to do rei) meaning to express rei as an action; to give a gift to someone whom one is indebted to, or to bow (with no o-prefix). Also o-rei wo iu (to say rei) means to verbally express rei. It is often associated with using the arigatou thanking speech formula, and other speech formulae for apology, such as sumimasen, moushiwake arimasen (Ohashi, 2008). Before World War II, Japan was a Feudal society which placed extreme emphasis on class distinctions and social hierarchies. The variant factor which differentiated Japanese with Chinas changing attitude to politeness was the lack of a violent cultural revolution. Japans transition from a monarchy to the democracy it is today, saw little change in the populaces feelings towards social hierarchy. Therefore we see a broad array of honorific used for addressing or referring to people beyond that of the self-denigration maxim in everyday life. Third-person honorifics such as ore-sama and name+suffix referring to one-self are rarely used outside of popular culture. Commonly seen honorifics are generally gender-neutral and suffixed to first names as well as surnames. Some common affixual honorifics are as follows: Nominal(common): -san The minimal politeness necessary when there is a lack of familiarly between the speakers. Diminutive(common): -chan, -kun Where the addressee is usually that of a lower social status or has a close familiarity with the speaker. Elevative: -sama, -sempai, -sensei, -shi  ­Where the addressee is that or a higher social status or held in great respect by the speaker. Dropping the honorific referred to as yobisute implies a high degree of intimacy, however if used mistakenly or out of such boundaries, social backlash can occur as this is a serious breach of teineisa. Okamoto (1999) views the use of honorifics as determined by features of the context. Honorifics are commonly said to be used in reference to the relevant individual who is perceived as distant from the speaker. Other factors such as formality of the setting, means of communication and topic discussed, have also been noted to affect the use of honorifics and honorific speech. In Japanese, honorifics are also often used together with varying systems of honorific speech, by either grammatically or morphologically changing what is being said. This results in varying ways of saying the exact same thing albeit with varying levels of teineisa. For example, Haugh et al. (2003) illustrates the different ways of saying today is Saturday to varying circumstances below. (32a) (to a close friend) Kyoo wa doyoobi da. today Top Saturday Cop(NonPol) (32b) (to an acquaintance) Kyoo wa doyoobi desu. today Top Saturday Cop(Pol) (32c) (to a guest on a formal occasion) Kyoo wa doyoobi degozaimasu. today Top Saturday Cop(SuperPol) (ibid: 415). The last sentence (32c) is what would be referred as keigo. To go a step further, we have three sub-categories of honorific speech: sonkeigo , respectful language; kensongo or kenjÃ…Â go, humble language; and teineigo, polite language. Below is a chart from Wikipedia which outlines the various morphological changes in words necessary for varying situations. (Attachment 3) To make a mistake in such complex mutilation of language is easy indeed! Due to the complexity of honorific speech, Agha (1994) even suggests individuals who use more honorifics are further educated and mature, and therefore, are of a higher social status. However, one must keep in mind, similar to the many archaic honorifics in Chinese, these specialized forms are rarely if ever used outside extremely formal or special circumstances. Agha (1994) further notes modern Japanese, especially the newer generations, seem to deemphasize hierarchy, where those in higher standing would use honorifics towards their subordinates. The author interprets such use of honorifics as an attempt to reduce the hierarchically defined distance by reciprocating respect. This phenomenon suggests a change in the ideology of honorifics that reflects ongoing social change in Japan. Modern English has a very few Honorifics, all of which are titles pre-fixing a persons name. This exhaustive list from Wikipedia is shown below Ms: default use for women regardless of marital status. Miss: for use by unmarried women only. Mrs: for use by married women only. Mr: for men. Master: for boys or very young men. Dr: a person who has obtained a doctorate, such as the Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) or Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) Rev: for Christian clergy Fr: for priests in Catholic and Orthodox Christianity, and some Anglican or Episcopalian groups The first four are simple variations of standard title. Master is uncommonly heard and the latter three examples are titles of profession. There is also no official honorific speech in modern English, the closest relative to that in Chinese and Japanese would be the languages used towards royalty in old English. The lack of honorifics can be attributed to drastic cultural aversion towards large gaps in the social hierarchy. Most leading western countries operate under some form of democracy, where wars were fought over to take power out of a single persons hands and spread equally to the populace. Regardless of how effective this is in practice, the people still perceive equality as paramount in social hierarchy; that the leader of state is just another person elected by the masses. This is in direct contradiction to thought prevalent in the past when Asian languages were being developed. The head of state, otherwise, emperor was usually symbolized as a divine being with a god-given right to rule. This is similar to European feudal thought towards monarchies; however one has to take into account the time it takes for languages to develop. Indeed if the English monarchy had a history as long as Chinas five thousand years, the western world today would be talking in flowery honorifics. Interestingly, in western culture, honorifics are more commonly used in religion, most notably Christianity. Every station in the Christian religion has an honorific, with the Pope associated with holiness at the pinnacle of the hierarchy. The development and contemporary usage of such honorifics can be attributed to the continual existence and popular belief of the Christian religion over the last two millennia. Ultimately politeness and honorifics reflect cultural values towards social hierarchies. Many of these systems operate under a self-denigration maxim, to do otherwise is seen as breaching etiquette and may have severe repercussions. Honorifics are also often used together with varying systems of honorific speech, many of which are obsolete in modern society. Not only is politeness intrinsically intertwined with the cultural values, but as discussed, it takes a long period where a stable social hierarchy with clearly distinguished levels exists for the continual development and use of honorifics. Nevertheless, politeness will always be integral to human nature and the manner or form of how we execute civility are fundamentally ever-changing.

Plagiarism and the Internet :: Cheating Education School Essays

Plagiarism and the Internet Copyright infringement, i.e., plagiarism is a crime that is occurring at epidemic rates in todayà °s society. Plagiarism can be found everywhere in this new age of technology. This is partially due to the fact that it is so easy to commit, as there are numerous resources on the Internet that people can use to pass off as their own work. However, it is also becoming easier to catch, as there are many sources on the web that work with people to catch those who are attempting to pass off other peoples ideas and words as their own. Today I decided to do a search on Yahoo about buying papers on the Internet. To my surprise over seven hundred thousand results came back with web sites where you could purchase a paper or essay of some sort. Although these web-sites all contain a disclaimer stating that under no circumstances should you try to pass their papers off as your own, the urge is just too hard to resist for some people. They see this as an easy way to get out of writing that paper they have been dreading working on even though it is illegal and these web sites state that you must site their web-site if you use any portion of the paper that they provided you with. Other people canà °t bring themselves to pay the money for a paper so they choose to simply cut and paste information from a web site with their topic into their own paper. Although there are many people that blatantly plagiarize, there are also some that do so unintentionally. It is easy to plagiarize if you dont know how to cite information in a paper properly. Countless amounts of people put quotes or the citation in the wrong place, which often results in plagiarism. This can also occur when a person does not properly paraphrase a statement that they got from a source. Therefore, it is quite easy to commit plagiarism whether you mean to or not. In this new decade of technology it is becoming easier for teachers and professors to catch plagiarizers, for example the web sites such as www.

Nelson Mandela’s Values Essay

It will be hard to believe if a person says â€Å"A man who served twenty seven years in prison, turned out to be one of the greatest presidents our world has seen†. Well this did actually happen and this former president is still living today. Nelson Mandela was born on July 18, 1918 in Transkei, South Africa, he was a leader of the anti-apartheid movement in the 1940s. Mandela was jailed for 27 years for acts of sabotage against the South African state, and shortly after his release from prison he led a multi-racial party for the first time ever in South Africa’s history. By doing this he was elected as the first black/democratic president of South Africa. Throughout his years as a president he has been widely regarded as a symbol of global peacemaking, and he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. His birthday, July 18, has been declared Mandela Day; a global celebration of his legacy. Mandela reached this success and earned the title of a world renowned leader with his values in leadership, standing up for what he believed in, that is in democratic process and his strong disapproval of injustice. Nelson Mandela valued leadership since his early days, considered by many as a revolutionary leader; he helped organize the fight against racism and apartheid in South Africa. (Brink). Mandela witnessed leadership at a young age when observing his guardian supervising tribal decision-making gatherings. Mandela’s guardian listened in silence for days, never voicing his opinion even after everyone’s opinion was heard. After everyone had spoken, his guardian guided the group to reach a consensus. Later, Mandela used this experience to mold his leadership style (Stengel). According to Stengel, Mandela recalled the following lesson regarding leadership from when he was a young cattle herder: â€Å"When you want to get a herd to move in a certain direction,† he said, â€Å"you stand at the back with a stick. Then a few of the more energetic cattle move to the front and the rest of the cattle follow. You are really guiding them from behind.† He paused before sayi ng with a smile, â€Å"That is how a leader should do his work†. Furthermore, Mandela’s strong value for leadership began with him displaying his ability to organize and lead others by helping to create the Youth League of African National Congress (ANCYL) which organized protests, boycotts, petitions, and strikes to end apartheid. Previously the African Nation Congress (ACN), ANCYL’s parent organization, had petitioned the government for years for  equality with little success. However, with increased success of the movement, the government increased violence toward nonviolent protesters and banned the ANC. Mandela and other leaders in the movement had to decide how to respond. In a risky decision, they concluded that nonviolence would no longer be effective and that the ANC needed to continue underground. These actions resulted in the imprisonment of Mandela and many ANC leaders, but this action helped to inspire others and to prepare the country for change (â€Å"Nelson Mandela, African National Congress (ANC), and South Africa.†).After more than twenty years in prison, Mandela decided it was time to take matters into his own hands. He realized that, as a leader, it was time to take a drastic step, and he met with the South African president in order to discuss his release and his desire to s witch the nation to a democracy. Mandela was successful, and upon his release he was elected the first democratic leader of South Africa (Brink). Mandela always stood up for what he believed in; he was never fazed by an opponent. Mandela’s value of believing in the democratic process is an example. Even though many did not always agree with this idea, he believed it was the right way forward (Johnson). He was at first unsuccessful with his pursuits, this included the time when he tried during his imprisonment to have prisoners to be addressed more respectfully by guards, and also later when he attempted to have the national voting age lowered to 14 (Stengel). But slowly he established his foundation of democracy and people were finally drawn to it (Stengel). Throughout his battle against apartheid and helping to bring democracy to South Africa, Mandela adopted a democratic leadership style (Johnson).And according to Johnson â€Å"Democratic leaders set policies through group discussion and decision, encourag ing and helping group members to interact, requesting the cooperation of others† and this was exactly what Mandela did (Johnson). Mandela’s other key value that supported his leadership and democratic style was his strong disapproval for injustice. Mandela never tolerated injustice; he believed that justice was the only path to success. For instance, when Mandela got to Robin Island where he was to be imprisoned, he was told to jog to the prison gate. He firmly refused and started a hunger strike with other inmates to condemn the condition they were living in. This worked out in their favor and the conditions improved (Hume). This example highlights Mandela’s value for denouncing injustice and  oppression. Nonetheless, Mandela believed Consensus to be the superior decision making process to build commitment and motivation in group members toward group objectives. Using Consensus meant that justice would be served at its best when making a decision and Mandela fully supported this process (Johnson). Ultimately, Nelson Mandela is viewed as a revolutionary leader for his ability to empower and motivate others using his strong regard for consensus and the democratic process. His stance for promoting justice and peace has been hailed across the world. He led South Africa from a white supremacist country to being the first democratic nation in Africa. With these values Nelson Mandela reached the ultimate success in the eyes of everyone. Work cited Brink, Andre. â€Å"Nelson Mandela.† Time. Time, 13 Apr. 1998. Web. 25 Nov. 2012. . Hume, Tim. â€Å"Digital Mandela Archive Spreads Message of Social Justice.† CNN. Cable News Network, 28 Mar. 2008. Web. 24 Nov. 2012. l. Johnson, Caleb. â€Å"A Leader’s Nest† New York Times [New York] 1993: Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 23 Nov. 2012. . â€Å"Nelson Mandela, African National Congress (ANC), and South Africa.† Cold War Museum. The Cold War Museum, 17 May 2009. Web. 25 Nov. 2012. . Stengel, Richard. â€Å"Mandela: His 8 Lessons of Leadership.† Time. Time, 09 July 2008. Web. 24 Nov. 2012. .

Abraham Lincoln: Issued the Emancipation Proclamation Essay

Many may say eh made things worse, but i beg to argue. Abraham Lincoln is the reason for the civil war people say, but look where it got us! The union won, and the slaves are free. During the Civil war (1861-1865) many actions occurred. When Lincoln was elected President in 1861 South Carolina seceded followed by 6 other sates, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. Four other states threatened to secede as well. Then a month after the 7 seceded they formed a Government. Later on March 4th when Lincoln was elected he said that he didn’t want to take away slavery from the states that already had slavery existing and common in their state. He also said that he would not deal or except secession either. Fort Sumter started the Civil war. See more: Is the Importance of being earnest a satirical play essay Lincoln was sending supplies to Fort Sumter and told them before hand so they would be aware. When they got there South Carolina feared a trick, so they said they would take the supplies then surrender, but his offer was not taken, and thats when the first shot was fired. April 12, 1861 the Civil War had begun. On January 27th, 1862 Lincoln allowed the Union to launch unified aggressive action against the Confederacy. January 1863 Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation that freed the slaves in the states that were still in rebellion on January 1st 1863. The Gettysburg Battlefield was dedicated as a national cemetery, this was a huge war. Over 54 thousand soldiers were killed. The south wasn’t strong enough, and the North succeeded. On April 7th 1865 General Grant called upon General Lee to surrender. Lee sent home his troops and the Civil War ended. Many battles were fought and the Union won over the Confederate. On April 14th President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. John was obsessed with avenging the Confederate defeat.