Opuscula If China owns Tnuva, Who controls quality?

 

I'm a little concerned about China's Bright Food Group becoming the major shareholder in Tnuva.

My concern is not strategic - others are worrying about that. My concerns revolve around

  (a) Tnuva's image

  (b) Tnuva's quality control

Those concerns go hand-in-hand.

In the Several States, Chinese products are known for being, at best, shoddy, and at worst, dangerous to health.

Time and time again Chinese products have had to be recalled.

  Dog food that sickens canines

  Drywall that emits corrosive gases

  Lead in paint of toys that often find their way into the mouths of small children

  Tires that fall apart

And those represent just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

We know the Chinese don't care about either quality or laws governing their products import into other countries.

This is NOT "anti-Communist" or "anti-China" rhetoric - Chinese products simply too often are dangerous.

What will this mean for Tnuva? (And Smithfield, the ham company recently acquired by Bright Food Group.)

If Tnuva (and Smithfield) products are made in Israel (and Virginia) and the quality assurance/quality remains in Israeli (American) hands and the product is simply exported to China (hopefully still under the manufacturers' supervision), then maybe its not so bad. I would be concerned that the product would be mishandled on the trip and go dangerously bad.

On the other hand, China now can control dairy product prices - via supply and demand - in Israel. It wasn't long ago that Israeli consumers went on strike against what they perceived to be over-priced products. The government stepped in and applied some pressure to resolve the matter. It won't have that leverage if the Chinese drive up the price of, say, cottage cheese, in Israel to subsidize its sale in China.

As a risk management practitioner, I would be against the sale; there are simply too many disadvantages to Tnuva and to the Israeli consumer.

If China wants to produce dairy products and put a Tnuva label on them, that presents a risk for Tnuva's reputation.

It's a done deal, Tnuva's majority stockholders - Brits - enjoy their profits from the sale and Tnuva is in jeopardy.

Opuscula GCC looks westward To counter Iran nukes

 

An item from the May 22 issue of The Israel Project (TIP) proved interesting, but left me with a "Why Morocco" question.

The item:

Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Tuesday conveyed a statement from a joint committee established by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates committing to confronting "regional challenges," the latest in what increasingly appear to be systematic moves by Riyadh to bolster its regional position opposite Iran. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) had already in late April formally invited Jordan and Morocco to integrate themselves into a conventional military alliance under which the Gulf states would trade aid and the new members would potentially provide 300,000 troops to collective efforts. Meanwhile Saudi prince Turki al-Faisal - a top figure in the country’s royal family and its former intelligence chief - went further, speculating that Gulf states would have to acquire "nuclear know-how" to offset Iran. AFP also read a new Saudi-UAE "supreme committee" against the backdrop of tensions between most Arab states, on the one hand, and Qatar, on the other. The wire bluntly assessed that "Qatar is accused of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood, to which Saudi Arabia and other Gulf monarchies have long been hostile." Tensions have recently been dampened by Qatari moves to return to the GCC fold, but many analysts take it as a given that the region remains divided between three overarching blocs: the Iranian camp that includes Syria and Hezbollah, the camp of America's traditional Arab allies plus Israel, and an axis composed of Turkey, Qatar, and various country-by-country Brotherhood groups. The Obama administration has faced sustained criticism for being insufficiently supportive of its traditional allies.

I can understand why the GCC would want to include Jordan in its military pact. Saudia and Jordan are neighbors, albeit Jordon is hardly more than a spot on the map when comparing land mass. (Jordon still is bigger than Israel, even with the "disputed territories.")

The distance between Rabat, Morocco and Riyadh Saudia Arabia is roughly 3300 miles or a little less than seven (7) hours flight time (at commercial jet speeds).

The Gulf Corporation Council is composed of six nations, alphabetically:

1. Bahrain
2. Kuwait
4. Sultanate of Oman
6. Qatar
8. Saudi Arabia (GCC Hq in Riyadh)
10. United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Population and wealth information at http://useconomy.about.com/od/worldeconomy/p/gcc.htm

All of the GCC members, and Jordan, are distant from Morocco. While all are politically similar in their distrust of Iran and its proxies, including the Muslim Brotherhood, it seems strange - if the GCC is looking for troops to come to its rescue, that it would ignore closer, more or less moderate, Arab states including Egypt, Libya, Tunis, and Algeria. The GCC also is ignoring perhaps potential, but questionable, allies Sudan and Yemen - which sits next to Oman.

Saudia, along with Jordan, must be concerned not only with Iran and its visions of nuclear domination of the area, but also of Syria and Hezbollah.

In truth, the best friend the GCC would wish for would be Israel, but if Israeli politicians are smart - and THAT IS HIGHLY QUESTIONABLE - they won't agree to any "boots on the ground" arrangements with the GCC or any other Arab state (including Egypt and Jordan). After all, Israel is alleged to "have the bomb" - something Saudi ever more desperately wants for its own protection.

What the GCC needs, and perhaps what it is seeking by courting Morocco, et al, is a "second strike" option. Given the Iranian crazies, the ayatollahs will strike without warning (or perhaps in conjunction with a North Korean attack on South Korea and maybe Japan); all the GCC can do is hope for retaliation to come from a distant state, e.g., Morocco.

The question the GCC states need to ask: will any of their Arab citizens want to defend "their" country that, after all, is only tribal land with artificial borders.

Opuscula When the world Hates you anyway

 

It seems that no matter what Israel does, the world rushes to castigate it.

Never mind that many of the attacks are simply untrue or unwarranted.

If Israel - or the Jews - do it, it's wrong.

So . . .

Maybe it's time we stopped worrying about what the world thinks.

Jews are forbidden to pray on the Temple Mount.

Solve the problem: Remove the Moslem Waqf from control of the site and station Israeli soldiers there to allow ALL people to visit and pray peacefully on the mount. (If certain rabbis want to prohibit their followers from access to the mount, let them, but don't deny access to anyone who wants to go up - peacefully.)

No more freedom for murderers - any murderers; not Jews, not non-Jews. Allow capital punishment for people who commit multiple murders.

Divide Israel into two states, with the non-Israel portion having unrestricted access to Jordan via a narrow corridor. The world will complain, but with the corridor, residents of the so-called Palestinian Authority would have access to an international airport (Amman) and access to the sea (Aqaba); two things they lack - and complain about - now. Arabs in the section of the "West Bank" who end up inside Israel would have the option: Accept Israeli citizenship with its benefits and burdens or move. Jews in the PA-assigned areas would be forced out - to Israel or elsewhere (since the PA has made it abundantly clear that "Palestine" will be free of Jews.) If the PA compensates Jews for their lands, then Israel must compensate Arabs for their lands; but if not, then not.

Reclaim Hebron. Abraham bought the cave and although the descendants of Ismael may have some minor claim with the Jews, the bodies buried in the cave are Jews, not Moslems. (There was no Islam at the time so how can Moslems claim ownership?)

Demand that Moslem sympathizers live in areas targeted by Islamist terrorists. Settle them in Sedrot and Ashdod, in Kiryat Arba and Metula. Better, place prisons in those areas to house terrorists and their sympathizers.

Build a wall - not just a fence, but a wall as the U.S. has done on its border with Mexico. Until the Moslems prove themselves ready to coexist with Israel, prevent any crossing of the border with the PA. If a PA citizen needs to travel, if a citizen needs medical care, let the citizen travel to Jordan. (In Aza, the citizens can travel to Egypt - if Egypt will allow them entry.)

Cut off all utilities to the PA. No more Israeli electricity - unless perhaps if paid in advance. No more Diesel fuel for PA generators; not more gasoline for PA cars.

It will be OK - the PA will have open borders with Jordan and Egypt, both of which can provide what Israel withholds.

If Israel is attacked by rocket fire from the PA, let Israel return the fire as indiscriminately as the PA rocketeers fire at Israel. If civilians are injured or killed . . . isn't that what the terrorists want, to injure of kill Israeli civilians? - too bad, "collateral damage."

We know that giving up territory will not satisfy the powers of the PA; getting Aza and its infrastructure proved that. (Israel must not make the same mistake with the Golan.)

No matter what Israel does, the world will condemn it so it might as well do what is in its own best interest.

Once the Moslem in the White House is gone, the U.S. may once again be Israel's friend . . . if Israel even needs the U.S. given its budding relationships with nuclear powers China and India.

Something to consider.

Opuscula War of words PRESS ON

 

Americans find it hard to comprehend: a government (Israel) threatening to shut down a free distribution newspaper to protect paid circulation newspapers - one in particular.

As a former newspaper printer, reporter, & editor, and as an Israeli who knows Israeli newspapers, I come down solidly on the side of the free distribution publication.

Newspaper Economics: Newspaper - ALL newspapers - make their money by selling advertisements.

In the U.S., the difference between a "shopper" - normally freely distributed - and a newspaper - normally paid distribution - is the ratio of advertising to news content; a shopper has no limits, a newspaper must have 30% or more news content, or so it was when I wielded a pica pole and blue pencil.

Full page advertisements to tiny 5 point classifieds; legals, those announcements required by governments and the legal system often make the difference between a publication's survival or its demise.

Been there, done that.

Advertising rates are determined by the publication's circulation; the greater the circulation, the more the publication can - and usually does - charge for advertising.

It costs a tad more to advertise in the New York Times than in does in Cocoa TODAY, never mind that the Cocoa FL newspaper is the progenitor of the national Today publication. (I'm partial to Cocoa TODAY since I was involved in creating its first edition. Great fun.)

Apparently, the publisher of Yedioth Aharonoth correctly feels his paper is threatened by the free-distribution Israel HaYom (Israel This day).

Yedioth Aharonoth's main competition, Ma'arive already ceased publication, leaving Israel with three dominant paid circulation dailies: Yedioth Aharonoth, now left-leaning HaAretz, and the English language Jerusalem (nee' Palestine) Post. The country no longer has - to the best of my knowledge - any "simple Hebrew" newspapers for new olim and students of the Hebrew language.

Yedioth Aharonoth is not without resources: it owns, among other properties, Ynet, a news and general content website as well as a popular cable tv channel.

With the demise of Ma'arive and before the arrival of Israel HaYom, Yedioth Aharonoth was the circulation leader of Hebrew language newspapers in Israel.

Israel HaYom now surpasses Yedioth Aharonoth's circulation.

Perhaps two undeclared reasons behind the owner of Yedioth Aharonoth's effort to stop Israel HaYom are

 *  Difference of political opinion; Yedioth Aharonoth is liberal to Israel HaYom's conservative and

 *  Ownership: Yedioth Aharonoth always has been owned by Israelis while Israel HaYom is owned by American Sheldon Adelson. Adelson is reportedly the world's 8th or 9th richest person with an estimated wealth of some US$40.8 billion.

Regardless of political perspective or owner's nationality (assuming it is in the host country's interests), it seems that Israel's politicians - if not Yedioth Aharonoth - should welcome Israel HaYom rather than attempt to create laws to restrict it.

But then Israel's politicians are no better than those in the U.S. who put self-interest ahead of the people they are supposed to represent.

As for me, I'd like to see a free liberal competitor to Israel HaYom's conservative perspective (actually I REALLY like to see an unbiased publication, but I think that's a thing of the past even in the U.S.). Both political positions are alive and well on-line, in English and Hebrew and, perhaps, other languages.

Opuscula Don't know Hebrew? Place blame on rabbi

 

It's a shame: Jews who can read - or recite by rote - prayers in Hebrew while having little or no concept of the words before them and coming out their mouths.

Worse are the ones who stand before the congregation as if they knew what they were saying.

Jews are not alone in this; some Greeks are equally ignorant of Greek.

In the "old days" of the Roman church, many Catholics heard, but failed to understand, Latin.

I once lived in Clearwater FL. My across-the-street neighbors were Greek, ergo my knowledge of Greek school. I grew up mostly in South Florida with its large population of Spanish speakers (Americans from Puerto Rico and Cubans who - like Israelis here today - intend to go back to their homeland "soon"); and I recall the language battles the Roman church officials encountered here. In the end, the Romans folded and allowed their services in non-Latin languages while the traditional Greeks and Jews rejected a language change.

Maybe the Roman church did the right thing.

But I don't think so.

I think knowing the language of the religion brings a pereson closer to the religion and lets the person get closer to the original intent.

It bothers me to have people who have little or no Hebrew understanding lead the prayers.

They don't know the meaning of the words; the punctuation likewise is ignored as meaningless. As with English, punctuation really is there for a purpose.

I'll admit my Hebrew is more than a little lacking; I never will be another Ben Yehuda (which probably is just as well since many Israelis would not understand Ben Yehuda's literary Hebrew - count me in that group).

I knew very few words of Hebrew when I went to Israel. "Gledah"¹ I knew, and I learned the word "Savlanute"² on the El Al taking me to the ulpan (Netzer Serini, Spring 1975).

I tried to learn Hebrew in Harrisburg PA. I flunked the once-a-week Beginning Hebrew course, although I still can remember Rutie and her family from the accompanying audio/video. Every time I hear a "ding-dong" doorbell I remember the classes.

The teacher was OK - others in the class at the JCC did OK - but I apparently lost my ear for languages long before I confronted Hebrew. (Somehow I acquired a smattering of German and Spanish - all by osmosis, I'm sure. My best friend in junior high, Bob Liotta, was Italian, but I never heard Italian in his home although he recalls his parents spoke Italian between themselves.)

The impetus for learning Hebrew was curiosity.

This was "pre-Internet-as-we-know-it" - a fast modem in 1975 would have been 300 bps, but aside from big corporations and research facilities, there were no computers to connect to the modems … or even acoustic couplers.

Since I lacked a computer and in any case had neither "Google" or "Dogpile" available to look up a word, I happily depended on BOOKS! - ink on paper.

Problem was, I couldn't READ books in Hebrew.

Bottom line: I was a poor student of Hebrew but I had to learn the language.

About this time a former Israel Foreign Office guy named Elizer Kroll came visiting my area looking for people to go to Israel to learn Hebrew and, maybe, make aliyah. Two weeks after we met I was on the flight to Israel.

MY POINT is that there are very few Jews who are unable to learn basic Hebrew; sufficient at least to get them started learning on their own. (Be careful of dictionaries; some of the definitions are "unusual" going either way : Hebrew to English and English to Hebrew.)

Young people - especially young people sent to Jewish (Hebrew) Day schools - should be able to grasp the meaning of the prayers. Young adults can try to learn on-line or via local Jewish organization or, if they can, go to Israel and live in an ulpan for half-a-year.

Ulpans are about the only place in Israel where not everyone wants to learn English. (All my ulpan friends were from what was then the USSR - many from the Ukraine. They didn't speak English; I didn't speak Russian so we had to use what rudimentary Hebrew we learned.)

If young Jews - male and female - today are unable to comprehend even basic Hebrew, blame the rabbis who allow boys to bar mitzvah by rote. Girls, more than boys, need a command of Hebrew to teach their children since the mother is a child's primary educator and influence.

I'm proud to report that my three-year-old grand-daughter is "three-year-old-proficient" in Hebrew and English. Her Hebrew already is better than mine, but I think I still have the upper hand in English; that may not be the case when she is four.

 

1. Gledah = ice cream
2. Savlanute = patience

Opuscula Keri: Sin of taking Someone for granted

 

R. Ben Hassan, Rabbi of Sephardic Bikur Holim in Seattle WA wrote about Treating Hashem with Keri, which he translates as to be treated with happenstance or nonchalance or to take something or someone for granted.

R. Hassan is concerned, correctly, with our relationship with HaShem, but I would posit that this sin of "keri" applies equally on a human-to-human basis.

Although Parashat Behukotai is history for this cycle, we still need to keep the sin of "keri" in mind as we deal with each other - in particular spouses, parents, and children, as well as people on whom we depend in our daily lives.

The rabbi's words, taken from the Va'ad Harabanim Of Greater Seattle Web site for Friday, May 16, 2014.

Parashat Behukotai - Treating Hashem with Keri

In Parashat Behukotai we have a long section of curses called the tochacha. The tochacha is a frightening list of curses that will happen to the Jewish People if we don't keep Hashem's commandments. The curses appear twice in the Torah once in this week's portion and once in Parashat Ki Tavo in Sefer Devarim.

The Ramban writes that the first set of curses were fulfilled with the destruction of the First Temple and the second curses came about with the destruction of the Second Temple. What is it exactly that causes Hashem to want to bring upon us such destruction? The Gemara in Masechet Yoma says the First Temple was destroyed because of the three cardinal sins - murder, sexual immorality and idolatry and the Second Temple was because of baseless hatred.

But when we look at the curses there is no mention of these sins. Instead there is a phrase that appears 7 times and only in this week's portion. That word is keri which we can translate here to meaning to be treated with happenstance or nonchalance or to take something or someone for granted.

This by itself you might think is not such a big problem. But this world view can snowball into a man forgetting God and deluding himself into thinking that life is merely a series of coincidences. He believes that there is no divine hand guiding his personal existence or in the unfolding of world history. The conclusion of such an approach is atheism. Based on this life of coincidence, seeing a world without God is the first step toward an abandonment of all values.

As the Gemara in Masechet Shavuot says who is the most dangerous man? The atheist; even if he is moral he is dangerous because there is no basis for his morality. Today's moral atheist may become tomorrow's murderer. The Jews who no longer feels a connection with God can soon find themselves alienated from God to the extent that idolatry, sexual immorality and bloodshed not only were they no longer taboo but they had become the norm.

For us to stop the curses from ever happening, we must first treat Hashem with respect and treat every mitzvah with its proper care and attention. No matter how many mitzvot we do we must serve Hashem with proper devotion. That is why he took us out of Egypt not to be free to do what we want but rather free in order to serve him and do his mitzvot. May we all have the merit of seeing the Third Temple and to merit to serve Hashem with the proper devotion.

Opuscula Delayed Bar Mitzvah And mixed emotions

 

The headline on the Times of Israel article reads ‘Friends’ son stars in mall bar mitzvah.

The article goes on to tell how Julian, Lisa Kudrow's son, was "bar mitzvahed" in a shopping mall.

The article was based on an interview Kudrow, who is Jewish, had with Conan O'Brien.

I'm glad the boy, now 16, had a belated "semi-formal" bar mitzvah, but I am disappointed that the lad didn't know enough about Judaism to know he was automatically bar mitzvah at age 13-and-a-day when he performed his first mitzvah - maybe he honored his parents, that's always a good way to start a day.

I'm glad there was someone to ask the boy if he was Jewish.

I'm even happier (gladder?) that the boy acknowledged his Jewishness, apparently without reservation.

Finally, I delighted that the "someone" - probably a Chabadnik - helped Julian don a kippa and put on tefillin.

While I'm not unhappy that Kudrow and O'Brien turned the event into a comedy routine, with Kudrow calling it a "drive-by bar mitzvah" as if a gang of black hats swooped down on her unsuspecting son, I am unhappy that bar mitzvah apparently has become a verb.

When I knew even less Hebrew than I do now, I once argued that a telephone should be called a סך רחוך, the precise translation of the Greek "telephone."

Hebrew is a verb-based language and my Israeli-born and educated co-worker asked me if the telephone was called, as my dictionary claimed, סך רחוך, how could I make a verb from that? Sak Rahaktee? Saktee Rahak? I was disabused of the term סך רחוך for reference to telephones. For those who insist on knowing how the noun "telephone" can be "verbed," consider טלפנתי (I telephoned).

Bar mitzvah means "son of the commandment" (just one; if it were more the correct term for the occasion would be "bar mitzvot" indicating to my Edward Bear mind that performing a single mitzvah is enough to earn the title "son of" a mitzvah - again, honoring parents is a good mitzvah to perform.

Julian is a bar mitzvah, he was, since he was 13 years old and a day, a bar mitzvah, but Julian never was "bar mitzvahed."

I'm glad he was introduced, albeit at a late date, to tefillin (too bad he didn't don a tallit, but perhaps, unlike Sefardim, Chabad reserves the tallit until the boy - sorry, young man - stands under the huppa), but perhaps the tefillin's first impression will, in the end, be a lasting one and Julian soon will receive his own tefillin (and maybe a mezuzah for his door).

Good for Julian.

Good for the (probably) Chabadnik who introduced Julian to tefillin.

Good for Lisa Kudrow for not, as some Hollywood Jews might do, criticize her son for admitting he's a Jew.

There is hope.

Opuscula Even the poor Donate tzdekah

 

"Speak to the Levites and tell them: When you take from the Children of Israel the tithe that I have given to you from them as your inheritance, then you shall offer up from it a gift for G d, a tenth of the tenth"—B'Midbar/Numbers 18:26.

The Levites are commanded to separate a tenth from the tithe that they receive from the Israelites, and to give it to the priest. This tithe is called Maaser min Ha'Maaser or Terumat Maaser.(http://tinyurl.com/l6o2qjw)

The cohenim and levi'im survived on the work of the Israel'im (as they do today sitting in yeshivot in Israel). The difference between now and then was that then the cohenim and levi'im had specific jobs to perform in the Temple, albeit on rotation due to their numbers.

It is interesting to watch as people give a small donation during the morning ויברך דויד (And David blessed) recitation.

In my Moroccan sedurim we are told to give three (3) coins; two together and the third by itself. The sedurim give no clue as to the coin's value against, say, the Temple shekel - just "three coins."

Others put a dollar (or more) into the box. Considering most of the money - coins and bills - comes from regulars, the larger denominations suggest a visitor or perhaps a regular observing a special occasion.

But almost everyone in the minyan contributes something - even pre-bar mitzvah boys who have very limited incomes; I don't see them asking their fathers for money to contribute.

Obviously three coins a day probably - G-d willing it won't - do not make up a tenth (tithe) of the person's annual income (after taxes), other donations to various organizations that assist the needy are expected.

Locally (Hollywood FL) we have a Jewish food bank - We Are One. As with most Jewish assistance organizations - note I am NOT writing "charity" since Judaism doesn't consider helping one's fellow "charity" but an "obligation"; tzdekah means "justice" not "charity" - We Are One has more demands than resources.

The bottom line, which can be derived from the Torah commandment, is that even people receiving assistance must give a portion of their share to help support others (even if it means in truth giving money to themselves).

Aside from the opportunity to perform a postitive mitzvah - commandment - we can gain the satisfaction of knowing we are doing our part for the community - even if it only is three coins-a-morning.

 

We Are One

We Are One web site: http://weareonecharity.org/about-food-bank-hollywood-fl/

Sun-Sentinel article on We Are One may be read at http://tinyurl.com/qjyebbg

Opuscula היקר Essence

 

This morning the rabbi's short dvar Torah centered around affixing a mezuzah (לקבע מזוזה).

The Ashkenazim do it on a slant.

The Sefardim and Mizrachim do it straight up.

Mostly, but not always.

היקר The important thing is that there is a mezuzah

Likewise the tallit.

Moroccan tradition - and I'm sure others - hold that the blessing on the tallit is recited and then the tallit is let fully out and placed over the head and down the back.

Some men, with a tradition other than Moroccan (not everyone can be so fortunate) fold the tallit in half or thirds, say the blessing and then drape the tallit over their head and shoulders for a moment before allowing it to fall open.

Some tzittzit are tied with 10+5+6+5 knots (representing one HaShem's names); others are tied with different combinations.

היקר - the important thing is that they don the tallit.

Ditto tefillin.

Aside from the Rashi-Tam issue - a Rashi-Tam issue allegedly is the reason the Ashkenazim slant their mezuzot; Rashi followed Sefardi tradition, Tam wanted the mezuzah to be horizontal, so to accommodate both grandfather and grandson, they affix the mezuzah on the slant - there are a multitude of correct ways to "lay" the hand tefillin.

But, היקר, the important thing is that tefillin are worn.

There also is debate about the head tefillin.

Are both hand and head tefillin necessary? Yes, unless for some reason one or the other cannot be worn - as examples, a bandaged head or the tefillin arm in a cast. In either case, whichever tefillin can be worn should be worn.

There is a debate among Sefardi and Mizrachi rabbis about when to say the blessings over the Shabat candles. Hakham Shalom Messas said to light, cover the eyes, then uncover the eyes and bless the Shabat lights. The late R. Ovadia Yosef said bless and then light on the theory that blessings should proceed actions.

היקר that the Shabat candles are lit.

There are supposed to be 613 commandments - things we are to do and things we are to avoid doing. (I've never counted them, but the rabbis say …)

Can anyone comply with all 613 mitzvot (commandments)? Impossible,

Even if you live in Israel it's impossible.

Some commandments are for cohenim (priests) only; some for levi'im only.

Some only can be performed by a man; others only by a woman. (Some can be performed by either in the absence of the other, e.g. Shabat and Hanukah candles.)

היקר - the important thing is that each of us try to perform as many mitzvot as we are able, and when we can, to add to the number.

I have seen a number of Jews who decided to "become religious." In their enthusiasm they try to take on all the mitzvoth at once.

Then they find out that it's too big a load for a novice to handle.

היקר, the important thing is that they start with mitzvot they can manage. Maybe walk to and from services on Shabat morning, but still do other things they did before. It's tough for smokers - I know, I used to be one - but seeing that tobacco can be avoided for 25 hours, after a few Shabatot maybe it can be avoided for two then three then … days in a row until the smoker is a former smoker. (Caveat: That does NOT mean there won't be an occasional desire to smoke, but consider the health and financial benefits gained by not smoking.) Friday night candles and kiddish Friday night and Shabat. Bless the children. No, it doesn't have to be in Hebrew.

For what it's worth, this scrivener thinks Bet Shamai was correct more often than not, but I think even R. Shamai himself would agree that in the end.
היקר, the important thing is to perform the mitzvoth according to your tradition.

היקר

Opuscula Of ovens & refrigerators

 

According to the rabbis:

 *   Unless an oven is heating, it cannot be opened on Shabat

But

 *   There apparently is no restriction on opening a refrigerator door even with the motor off.

The Torah tells us not to make a fire of the Shabat.

The rabbis tell us we are not allowed to increase or decrease an exiting fire on Shabat. That includes moving a fire - which is forbidden - to an area where it will be effected by the elements.

As with most things, there are exceptions to the rules. They are several; check with your sources for the exceptions.

To put a fence around the fence around the Torah law, the latter rabbis decided that if you turned on an oven before Shabat to keep food warm, in order to remove the food, the oven had to be heating when the door was opened.

Their reasoning was that when the door is open, heated air from the oven escapes and cooler air from the kitchen enters the oven, thereby causing the temperature to drop to a point where the oven's thermostat causes the oven to start heating. In other words, the action in the end causes the fire (heat) to be increased, and increasing/decreasing a fire is forbidden.

If the oven is electric powered, the heating element(s) must be glowing before the oven door is opened.

I once had a Shabat meal with a rabbi who was very particular about this issue.

Although I am not an engineer, I am a logical person.

I asked the rabbi if he waited until he heard the refrigerator motor come on before he allowed the refrigerator door to be opened.

Not necessary, he replied.

But, I countered, it's the same thing.

Open the refrigerator door and

 *   cold escapes from the unit while

 *   warm kitchen air enters into the unit

In the end causing the thermostat to cause the motor to come on to cool the insider of the refrigerator.

It's not the same thing the rabbi told me.

He, too, was not an engineer, but a basic understanding of air movement and heat transfer suggests that indeed it IS the same thing, the only difference is the temperature of the air in the exchange.

I am neither a rabbi nor an engineer, and I don't play either on tv.

If anyone can show me that it's OK to open a refrigerator on Shabat sans concern that the motor is/is not operating while the same does NOT apply to an oven, please let me know.

yohanon dot glenn at gmail dot com

Opuscula Hebrew comprehension Not on school curriculum?

 

I don't want to tar all Jewish (day) schools with a broad brush, but . . .

Where I make minyan we have several boys (past bar mitzvah) who can
* read Hebrew
* pronounce Hebrew
but have NO IDEA what the Hebrew words mean. They are upper grade students at an yeshiva school.

We also have two other boys, one home schooled and the other on-line schooled who DO
* read Hebrew
* pronounce Hebrew correctly
and SPEAK Hebrew intelligently; one speaks Hebrew better than English, but he's good at English, too.

What does that say about Hebrew language education in the U.S.

Truth in blogging: I went to Israel solely to learn Hebrew. The fact that after six months in a kibbutz ulpan (intensive Hebrew language course) I only was able to separate syllables into words caused me to stay longer. In the end, I stayed, got a job (actually, two), found a wife, and had a son.

I am not a Hebrew speaker on the level of Ben Yehuda; nor even at Ben Gurion's level (Ben Gurion and "dik-duk" {grammar} often were at odds), but I developed - and maintain - a "survival level" Hebrew.

I'm a  s_l_o_w  reader, but I usually can isolate a shoresh (word root) and, given the word's context, figure out what the writer intended. Rather than an American Express card, I never leave home without my Megiddo dictionary and my 501 Hebrew Verbs paperback.

By the way, for anyone wanting to understand how Hebrew works, to meet Hebrew's "Seven Families" of verb construction, 501 Hebrew Verbs is the book to buy. When I bought my first copy, in 1975, there were only 201 Hebrew verbs, "fully conjugated," and the book was appropriately titled. The 501 Hebrew Verbs not only offers more verbs - Hebrew is a verb-based language - but it also includes example sentences, with English translations!

I am most assuredly NOT a teacher; that's a talent I totally lack,

I am, however, a parent and my children have at least a basic command of Hebrew. My daughter now speaks Hebrew much better than I - 'course she lives, studies, works, and is raising our grand-daughter in Israel. In truth, my 3-year-old grand-daughter has a better vocabulary than this scrivener.

I know, first hand, that if you don't use it you lose it. That applies to many things, including a foreign language.

Unfortunately, it seems as if the students in the yeshiva schools don't have Hebrew vocabulary/comprehension to lose.

The children I know who attend the yeshiva school don't comprehend Aramaic - the language of the Talmud - either.

Young children are language sponges. We had a woman from Romania who came to the ulpan with her gan (kindergarten)-age daughter. Neither knew an א from a ת at the beginning of the 6-month course. After a few weeks playing with kibbutz children at the gan, her vocabulary/comprehension was better than most of ours after six months.

I don't know why children who attend Jewish day schools can't comprehend at least a basic Hebrew, something more than שבת שלום.

To paraphrase a line from My Fair Lady - I'm not sure if it appeared in Pygmalion - Why can't the Jews speak our language?.

 

501 Hebrew Verbs, S. Bolozky, Barron's Educational Series, Inc., ISBN13: 978-0-8120-9468-9

Change passwords often - frequently, too

Opuscula The Holocaust Never happened

 

And the world is flat

 

A Times of Israel article heded US school backtracks after asking if Holocaust was real tells that eighth-graders in the San Bernardino County district were assigned to do some research and write an essay explaining whether they believed the Holocaust was a real historical event or a political scheme to influence public emotion and gain.

The original assignment gave students three source materials to work off of, including one which called gassings a hoax. The other two resources were not provided in the article.

Most, albeit not all, of the commenters thought the school's project was abominable, atrocious. How dare anyone challenge the Holocaust, the Shoah?

No one said the students had to deny the Shoah occurred.

The problem is that so many people didn't want to even consider other opinions.

If you ignore other opinions and follow blindly that is popular, if your opinion ever is challenged, you won't know how to defend your position.

Granted, the assignment reeks of maliciousness. The assigning teacher's name is Syeda Jafri; her boss, the school superintendent is named Mohammad Z. Islam.

One commenter suggested that an 8th grader was too young to be exposed to such an assignment; eighth graders are too young to examine opinions and come to reasonable - that is to say, what adults want the children to believe - decisions. Eighth graders are, after all, typically between 13 and 15 years old.

For a Jewish boy, when he's 13 years and a day he automatically becomes of age for religious responsibility. (No one expects him to act like an adult, just as no one expects some adults to behave as children; none-the-less, the child IS expected to have, and use, some cognitive abilities.)

Children normally don't live in a vacuum; if parents or surrogate parents are not available, there are peers.

We expose our children to sundry medical maladies when we see that they are protected against a myriad of diseases. I, personally, fail to see the difference in protecting our children from medical maladies or from Holocaust denial, anti-Semitism, or any other thoughts we deem offensive.

It is unfortunate that there are people who deny that the Holocaust occurred. It is unfortunate that people deny what Europeans did to the peoples they conquered (including the Indians of the Americas) or what the Muslims did to non-Muslims in countries they invaded and enslaved. But people DO deny history all the time, and those who suffered must challenged these denials.

The only way to challenge the denials, to debate and to convince, is to understand what the deniers are proclaiming and to respond with sound, factual, well considered arguments.

Hiding our collective head in the sand makes deniers of us - we deny the possibility that someone has a position that offends us, and in the process we lack the ability to respond to the claim.

Let the eighth graders study the Holocaust and learn what the deniers are claiming, then counter those claims with facts. In the case of the Holocaust, there is no absence of proof.

The Holocaust didn't happen, and the world is flat.