Jews have lost moral voice

Article by Shmuley Boteach in The Jewish Week

Once again Shmuley says it like it is.

"With the Democratic Party scrambling to discover how to reconnect with mainstream America, members of the Jewish community better ask themselves the same question...
"...for the Jewish community, religion is primarily about preserving a tradition and maintaining an ethnic heritage. Our issues are building synagogues rather than strengthening the family, and building Jewish day schools rather than promoting prayer in public schools."

UN resolution condemns anti-semitism

See the full Jerusalem Post article

Am I dreaming?

In a break with tradition, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution Monday condemning anti-Semitism as part of a broader resolution against religious intolerance... The resolution passed despite efforts by Arab countries to omit any references to anti-Jewish bigotry amid references to Islamophobia and Christianophobia.

In past years the annual U.N. resolution on religious intolerance has made no mention of anti-Semitism.

Orthodox Jewish singles issues

KOL - A Project of the Orthodox Caucus

This is a must read magazine supplement entirely devoted to the subject of orthodox Jewish singles, and containing many fascinating facts, opinions and insights.

Orthodox Jewish society is very marriage/family oriented - and rightly so. This 16-page collection deals with how this fact impacts on those who by chance or by choice are not members of the marrieds club. Are older singles really made as welcome in our homes and at our tables as they need to be?

One single writer describes the pain of going home for yomtov, when everyone else her age is discussing birth and diapers. She suggests: "Personally, having another single around for the holidays would make me feel less alone..." Now that doesn't sound too difficult to organise.

As regards the benefits of appropriate mixed socialising (OTTs beware) we are informed that "No less a Torah scholar than Rav Aharon Soloveichik met his future spouse at a wedding with mixed seating."

You can read the articles one by one online, but if you have a fast connection and Adobe Reader, the best thing is to download the whole PDF (click on the Download KOL in full link), print it out, and read it over Shabbos.

Chope for Chabad?

Jerusalem Post - Editor's Notes

Is Chabad outgrowing the belief that the dead Rebbe is the Messiah? This article claims that it is. I would like to believe this as I have many Chabad friends whom I greatly admire - and their Mashiach thing frankly bothers me.

An interesting comment by a Chabadnick quoted in the article is:

Unlike the modern Orthodox, "who seek to integrate with Western culture," and the haredim, "who seek to insulate themselves from it," Chabad "wants to engage."

I like that.

Poor editing/proofeading

Something that I have found increasingly irritating in modern journalism is the careless use of nearly-but-not-quite appropriate words by journalists, that are left uncorrected by copy editors.

Here are just a few immediately accessible examples cut-and-pasted quickly from today's Online Jerusalem Post:

Matthew Gutman, a senior journalist with the paper, writes: "Although Arafat did not have absolute support from the Palestinians during his lifetime, all criticisms were laid aside as the Palestinians paid ardent and tearful tribute to their deceased leader, raising him near legendary status." [J - Can legendary status be achieved in one day?]

Another, admittedly less well known journalist, writing about Arafat's brother, wote: "He quit his position as chairman of the Palestinian Red Crescent three years ago, but has served as honorable [J - honorary] chairman since [J - since then]."

In an article about El Al, the Israeli national airline, we were toldl: "Responding to the Post's request, El Al said Sunday that there is no nonkosher food on all [J - any] of its flights."

These were just examples quickly and effortlessly culled from today's online edition. Is anyone editing this stuff? Does anyone care?

Nanoflowers

This incredible "nanobouquet" is about one-thousandth the diameter of a human hair. It was the winning image in the Department of Engineering competition at Cambridge University in February 2004, and was taken with a scanning electron microscope (and colour modified using Adobe Photoshop) by PhD student Ghim Wei Ho.


Nano flower bouquet (Credit: Ghim Wei Ho)

To read more about Nanoflowers and Nanobouquets click here.

Brain grown in petri dish

CNN.com - 'Brain' in a dish flies flight simulator

The mind boggles.

Wife dumps Altzheimers husband in hospital

From The Times Online

The sad case of a disoriented man abandoned in a hospital by his wife, along with a note saying they could no longer look after him. The wife has aparently returned to Spain where they had been living for some years.

Meet Alzheimers

From The Sunday Times

A poignant accout of watching a close relative's personality gradually disappear.

As an aside on the same sad subject, a study of novelist Iris Murdoch's style revealed that her last novel, written before she was diagnosed with Alzheimers, had a considerably reduced vocabulary as compared to her previous works. Apparently she was already struggling with the onset of the disease, and abstract words are among the first to be lost.

Arafat Obituary by Shimon Peres

From The Times Online

Good riddance to the father of modern terrorism.

Though he can't bring himself to put it that bluntly, Shimon Peres does write an interesting summary of the life of fellow Nobel "Peace" Laureate, Yassar Arafat.