Yehuda Lave is an author, journalist, psychologist, rabbi, spiritual teacher, and coach, with degrees in business, psychology and Jewish Law. He works with people from all walks of life and helps them in their search for greater happiness, meaning, business advice on saving money, and spiritual engagement.
As expected, Pharoh refuses to listen to Moses' demand that he frees the children of Israel. G-d then begins a series of plagues upon Egypt and its inhabitants. First blood, then frogs, then lice. Each plague was harder and more damaging than the one which preceded it.
Before the forth plague, wild beasts, Moses meets Pharoh early in the morning on the shore of the Nile and warns him: "I will send upon you and your servants and your people and your houses wild beasts" (Exodus 8;17).
"And a swarm of wild beasts came into Pharoh's home" (Exodus 8;20).
All different kinds of wild beasts, both those who crawl and those who fly, joined together in war against Pharoh (Midrash Raba portion 11).
The crowns atop the letter "kaf" in the word "kaved" (heavy wild beasts) allude to the fact that there were three types of wild animals and birds (Divrei Kohelet).
While it is difficult to see some of the crowns in the attached picture, according to the book Tagi there should be three crowns atop the letter "kaf".
The Three Musketeers at the Kotel
New Israeli Tax Injects Sour Note for Sweet Drinks for new year
The Knesset Finance Committee has injected a sour note into the sale of sweetened drinks with the approval Tuesday of a new tax that will apply to nearly all the beverages on the market.
Sugared drinks, diet drinks and even natural juice will be taxed, beginning in January 2022.
The decision is likely to impact thousands of small business owners, restaurants and kiosks as well as larger supermarkets.
The goal, lawmakers say, is to reduce the public's heavy consumption of sweetened beverages and compel Israelis to switch to water in the battle against obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cardiovascular disease and dental caries.
Drinks sweetened with more than five grams of sugar per 100 milliliters (ml) will be taxed at one shekel ($0.32) per liter. Diet drinks and natural juice will be taxed somewhat less, at 70 agorot ($0.22) per liter.
Natural grape juice – consumed on the Sabbath each week and at every holiday for the initial blessing on each of two meals in nearly all Israeli Jewish households – will be exempt from the tax.
Lemon juice, which is used in cooking and at the table at least weekly and in many households – Jewish, Muslim and Christian – will likewise be exempt.
Israel plans 30-minute high-speed train from Haifa to Tel Aviv
Project to cost NIS 12 billion ($3.8 billion) • Another plan in works is connecting Beersheva to major points in country.
The interior of the Yitzhak Navon high-speed train station in Jerusalem, Dec. 18, 2019. Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90.Spread the word.
(December 14, 2021 / JNS) The National Infrastructure Planning Council announced on Monday that it has approved a project to build a high-speed rail connection between Haifa and Tel Aviv for a travel time of 30 minutes.
The project will cost NIS 12 billion ($3.8 billion).
Shlomi Heisler, chair of the planning council, said the project "will propel the entire Haifa metropolitan area forward, a fast and efficient electric train connection from the heart of the metropolis to the high-speed train network," reported The Times of Israel.
The time between Nahariya to Tel Aviv would be shortened to 54 minutes instead of the more than hour-and-a-half it currently takes.
Great theatre is about challenging how we think and encouraging us to fantasize about a world we aspire to.Willem Dafoe, Actor
A good film is when the price of the dinner, the theatre admission and the babysitter were worth it.
Alfred Hitchcock, Filmmaker
Theatre is immediate gratification.
Chita Rivera, Actress
The theatre, our theatre, comes from the Greeks.
Edward Bond, Playwright
Television is great but for me, as a performer, nothing compares to a live theatre show.
Bruce Forsyth, Actor
In the theatre the audience wants to be surprised - but by things that they expect.
Tristan Bernard, Playwright
If we don't reach out to make theatre affordable to the young generation, we will lose them all.
Kevin Spacey, Actor
All theatre is absurd.Eugene Ionesco, Playwright
When it is good, theatre takes a lot of beating both to watch and perform.Dan Stevens, Actor
Acting in the theatre is fun; acting in film is work.
Alec Baldwin, Actor
I don't mean to be oily, but critics are very much part of the theatre.
Diana Rigg, Actress
ALL ABOUT THE RAIN.
Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead.― Charles BukowskiPoet, novelist and short story writer
And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow. Gilbert K. ChestertonWriter Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish a man's growth without destroying his roots. Frank Howard ClarkS creenwriterI can see clearly now, the rain is gone.I can see all obstacles in my way. Johnny NashSinger-songwriter. I'm singing in the rain, just singing in the rain; What a wonderful feeling, I'm happy again. Arthur FreedLyricist and a Hollywoodfilm producer.
If you think it's going to rain, it will. Clint EastwoodActor, director, producer, composer and politician.
It will never rain roses: when we want to have more roses we must plant more trees. George EliotNovelist, journalist and translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era
Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby. Langston HughesPoet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. One can find so many pains when the rain is falling. John SteinbeckWriter. Rain is grace; rain is the sky descending to the earth; without rain, there would be no life. John UpdikeNovelist, poet, short story writer, art critic, and literary critic.
Save a boyfriend for a rainy day - and another, in case it doesn't rain. Mae WestActress, playwright, screenwriter and sex symbol. Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet. Roger MillerSinger, songwriter, musician and actor, whom THE SIEGEL SIDEBAR saw live in Vegas.
Thy fate is the common fate of all; Into each life some rain must fall.The best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain. Henry Wadsworth LongfellowPoet and educator. The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain. Dolly PartonSinger-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist. Vexed sailors cursed the rain, for which poor shepherds prayed in vain. Edmund WallerPoet and politician. W hen I was a kid, we never heard of smog, ozone depletion, acid rain, green house gasses. Dennis WeaverActor. Who am I that I have to sing under an umbrella?These people are my fans, and if they can stand in the rain to hear me sing, I can stand in the rain. Bobby DarinSinger, actor and musician You don't save a pitcher for tomorrow. Tomorrow it may rain. Leo DurocherBaseball manager. You pray for rain, you gotta deal with the mud too. That's a part of it. Denzel WashingtonActor, screenwriter, director and film producer.
Jewish construction worker punished for 'fighting for his life'
Jewish construction worker says he's on house arrest after being beaten in unprovoked attack by Arabs.
By World Israel News Staff
A Jewish construction worker who said he was the victim of antisemitic violence at a construction site in central Israel told Hebrew language media on Monday that he is being unfairly blamed by the police for the brawl, while the Arab perpetrators go unpunished.
Speaking to Radio 103FM, Hyman, one of the two Jewish construction workers attacked in Ra'anana last week, said he was being penalized for "fighting for my life."
According to Hyman's account, he and a Jewish colleague, Eden, were prevented from entering an elevator at the site by an Arab construction worker. "From there it escalated into a fight of 50 against two," he said.
By his estimation, a mob of some 50 men beat him and the other Jewish man at the site using "hammers, tools, iron bars, anything they could get in their hands to murder [us]," he recalled. He said that he heard the men yelling in Arabic to encourage others to attack "the Jews."
A foreman at the site eventually brandished a gun, which caused the attack to stop and the mob to disperse. Some Hebrew language reports indicate that the foreman fired into the air.
Hyman and Eden were wounded in the incident and taken to a local hospital. Because they were injured, they did not immediately file a complaint with the police – rather, Hyman says, the Arabs at the site reached the police first with their version of events.
After being released from the hospital, Hyman said the police informed him he was under house arrest, pending the results of the investigation. He said that he is the only person who is currently facing potential legal trouble for his involvement in the brawl.
"As far as I know, most of the Arabs who were there are still working at the site, the site asked six workers [not to return] and everyone else is there."
Describing the brawl as "traumatizing," Hyman said he had been in fear for his life during the incident and only fought back to defend himself.
"How does it make sense for a person to be attacked by an angry mob who wants to kill him, and he is the one who gets arrested for being targeted by the perpetrator?"
"It does not make sense, it just does not make sense. I came to file a complaint and I was told I couldn't, that the matter was already under investigation. Eden fought with [the police] and managed to file a complaint."
A manager at the site confirmed Hyman's version of events to Radio 103FM, saying that the event was not triggered by any wrongdoing or aggression on the part of the Jewish victims.
Adding that the men were not motivated by clan loyalty which would cause them to engage in such a disproportionately unfair fight, with tens of men against just two, he said "the only thing that united them was Arabs who could beat Jews."
"If someone had not been there with a gun, we would probably have been at the funeral today," he said.
Israel Produces First Working 3D-Printed Ear Implant
Technion and Sheba Medical Center researchers fabricated a biodegradable ear from a patient's own cells.
By Pesach Benson, United With Israel
Researchers at the Technion and Sheba Medical Center developed a functional and aesthetic innovation for people with congenitally deformed ears. The Israeli team predicts that this technology will also be applied to nasal reconstruction and other orthopaedic implants.
By using tissue engineering, 3D-printing techniques and the patient's own cells, the Israeli team was able to fabricate a biodegradable ear that will benefit children suffering from microtia, a birth defect that occurs when the external ear fails to develop normally.
Microtia has varying degrees of severity. In its mildest form, a child may have one ear that is noticeably smaller but still functional. But in most cases, it leads to ear canals that are extremely narrow or closed, misshapen ears and even a totally absent ear. As a result, children with microtia deal with hearing loss, which impacts their speech development. They may also be more susceptible to ear infections.
Microtia develops during the first trimester of pregnancy and occurs in 0.1 to 0.3 percent of births. In 90 percent of the cases, the birth defect only affects one ear.
Since the "bones" of the outer ear are actually flexible cartilage, doctors often treat microtia by reconstructing the ear, using costal cartilage harvested from the patient's chest. However, this method carries pain and discomfort for children, and risks further complications, so this procedure only takes place when a child is 10. Moreover, constructing an ear that is identical to the other ear requires a higher level of surgical skill.
The breakthrough was achieved through a collaborative project between Professor Shulamit Levenberg of the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering at the Technion and Dr. Shay Izhak Duvdevani, a senior physician in Otorhinolaryngology and Tissue Engineering at Sheba Medical Center.
The journal Biofabrication reported that the researchers applied new technologies for tissue engineering, developed in Prof. Levenberg's lab under the leadership of Dr. Shira Landau, to fabricate a biodegradable auricle scaffold that formed stable, custom-made neocartilage implants.
The unique scaffold, which allows for the formation of an aesthetic and stable auricle, is 3D-printed and based on a CT scan. It is biodegradable and forms chondrocytes – the cells responsible for cartilage formation – and mesenchymal stem cells. The scaffold has pores of varying sizes, allowing for cell attachment to form stable cartilage.
The researchers said the procedure can be done on children as young as six, mitigating the defect's impact on speech and psychology.
Prof. Levenberg predicted that "it will be possible to tailor our technology to other applications, such as nasal reconstruction and fabrication of various orthopedic implants."
See you Sunday bli neder Shabbat Shalom and happy secular New Year
Yehuda Lave is an author, journalist, psychologist, rabbi, spiritual teacher, and coach, with degrees in business, psychology and Jewish Law. He works with people from all walks of life and helps them in their search for greater happiness, meaning, business advice on saving money, and spiritual engagement.
Alan Dershowitz decries tributes to Desmond Tutu ----- Dershowitz blasts outpouring of love for the late Tutu, calling him a "rampant antisemite and bigot" who "minimized the Holocaust."
With tributes pouring in from around the world for Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who passed away at the age of 90, lawyer Alan Dershowitz used a recent interview to criticize the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who was known for taking part in South Africa's struggle against apartheid.
During a segment on Fox News, Dershowitz blasted the laudatory tributes to Tutu heard in recent days, saying that his views and statements about the Jewish community were problematic.
"The world is mourning Bishop Tutu, who just died the other day," Deshowitz said. "Can I remind the world that although he did some good things, a lot of good things on apartheid, the man was a rampant antisemite and bigot?"
He added: "The man minimized the Holocaust. The man compared Israel to Nazi Germany. When we're tearing statues of Jefferson and Lincoln and Washington, let's not build statues to a deeply, deeply flawed man like Bishop Tutu. Let's make sure that history remembers both the good he did and the awful bad he did as well."
Tutu "didn't talk about the Israel lobby, he talked about the Jewish lobby," Dershowitz told Newsweek.
"He minimized the suffering of Jews during the Holocaust," Dershowitz recalled. "He said that getting killed in gas chambers was an easy death compared to apartheid. He said that Jews claimed a monopoly on the Holocaust."
"He demanded that Jews forgive the Nazis for killing them," Dershowitz said, referring to Tutu's 1989 visit to Yad Vashem during which he called on Israelis to pray for the Nazis, according to the New York Times.
Charging that Tutu "encouraged others to have similar views and because he was so influential, he became the most influential antisemite of our time," Dershowitz went on to say that he thought it was wrong in the case of Tutu that "people say you shouldn't speak ill of the dead."
"The bottom line is that at a time when people are reckoning with the careers, of people with mixed legacies, whether it be Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, and others, we have to include in a reckoning of Tutu his evil, bigotry against Jews, which has existed for many, many, many years," he said.
They say...
"There is not such thing as bad weather. Only unsuitable clothing."
Alfred Wainwright, A Coast to Coast Walk
Ali Express says it will not serve Palestinians beginning in 2022
The reason for the move is commercial and not political: Palestinian mail authorities refuse to handle mail addressed to Israel, which many Palestinian shoppers put down as the destination country.
Ma, founder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, laughs during an event at the Tel Aviv University, Israel May 3, 2018
The Chinese e-commerce giant Alibabawill no longer allow Palestinian shoppers to make purchases on AliExpress.com, according to a text message that many buyers received from the company on Monday. The reason for the move is that the Palestinian Authority's mail services refuse to handle packages that have the word Israel in the address. Many Palestinians do not know this and write Israel rather than Palestine as the destination country, according to N12. Some buyers from the Chinese online fast-fashion retailer Shein reported receiving similar messages.
Alibaba calculated that the revenue from orders from Palestinian cities such as Jericho, Nablus, Ramallah, Hebron and Jenin does not justify the jumbled mail situation and therefore decided to completely halt its operations there.The Israel Post Authority said in response to a query by N12: A woman stands at the counter inside a Israel Post office in Jerusalem (credit: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun)"This is an announcement that is intended for residents of the Palestinian Authority and is related to package delivery arrangements between online trading companies abroad and the Palestinian Authority."
THE OLDEST VIDEO FOOTAGE OF JERUSALEM YOU WILL EVER SEE
Seeing any video footage of Jerusalem is always special. But when it is from over 100 years ago, it is well worth your time.
Video Footage of Jerusalem
Seeing video footage of Jerusalem from 1913 is unique. It can be hard to think that it existed then. But that is only a little over 100 years ago! Jerusalem has existed for thousands of years more than that!
Take a look at the life that existed. The people. The buildings. Some things you can recognize, and some things look completely different.
But the thing that is the same? The ancient feel. The old stones. Jerusalem. There are some things that never change about Jerusalem, and that is remarkable.
Quotes about Jerusalem
Here are some quotes about Jerusalem that really puts the indescribable into words (Courtesy of jpost):
"For three thousand years, Jerusalem has been the center of Jewish hope and longing. No other city has played such a dominant role in the history, culture, religion and consciousness of a people as has Jerusalem in the life of Jewry and Judaism. Throughout centuries of exile, Jerusalem remained alive in the hearts of Jews everywhere as the focal point of Jewish history, the symbol of ancient glory, spiritual fulfillment and modern renewal. This heart and soul of the Jewish people engenders the thought that if you want one simple word to symbolize all of Jewish history, that word would be 'Jerusalem.'" – Teddy Kollek
"In the din and tumult of the age, the still small voice of Jerusalem remains our only music." – Israel Zangwill
"Without Jerusalem, the land of Israel is as a body without a soul." – Elhanan Leib Lewinsky
"The view of Jerusalem is the history of the world; it is more, it is the history of earth and of heaven." – Benjamin Disraeli
"Jerusalem is a port city on the shore of eternity." – Yehuda Amichai
Celebrating Jerusalem
Although there is a specific day to celebrate the reunification of Jerusalem, Jerusalem is one of those cities that can and should be celebrated every day.
And hopefully one day soon, we will celebrate the complete rebuilding of the holiest city in the world.
Salvador Dali's bizarre sleep technique increases creativity - study
Researchers investigated if Salvador Dali's unconventional sleep technique actually increases creativity and inspiration. They proved that it may well work for you too.
By WALLA! Published:
SALVADOR DALI always cut an imposing figure.(photo credit: ROGER HIGGINS)AdvertisementRenowned surrealist Salvador Dali had an unusual method of getting inspired. When he decided to take a nap on his chair after a long day of thinking about liquid watches and swans reflected in elephants (themes in his paintings) he would take a bunch of keys in his hand, place it on the edge of his chair and nod off in a light sleep. There was a metal tray on the floor and when he would really fall asleep, the keys would fall out of his hand, hit the tray with a loud noise and wake him up.Like American inventor Thomas Edison, who used the same technique, Dali believed that sleeping this way gave him a creative boost. As soon as the object hit the tray, he would wake up and return to work. Many people think he was talented, but researchers only recently tested whether this technique will work even on people who aren't similarly gifted. The Health & Wellness portal is presented in collaboration withSamson Assuta Ashdod University Hospital >>Surprisingly, they found it works.
In a study published in Science Advances, the research team said that they distributed mathematical problems to participants, each of which had a hidden rule that if found could solve the problem "almost immediately." After failing to solve the problems, participants were divided into three groups before trying again to solve the problem: people who stayed awake, people who were allowed to sink into a shallow sleep phase of non-rapid eye movements (known as N1) for more than 30 seconds and those who were permitted to drift deeper into sleep for at least 30 seconds.Participants again tried to solve the problems to try to find the hidden rule. Researchers found that participants who spent at least 15 seconds in N1 tripled their chances of finding the hidden rule, implying increased creative thinking, than those who remained awake during the break. Eighty-three percent of people who entered the N1 sleep cycle were able to identify the rule compared to only 30% of the awake group."Here, we show that joint brain activity in the twilight zone between sleep and wakefulness (non-rapid sleep in eye movement phase 1 or N1) ignites creative sparks," the authors stated, adding that "we believe N1 provides an ideal cocktail for creativity."
However, if they reached deeper sleep levels known as N2, monitored experimentally using an electroencephalogram, the effect passed. The authors added that these results show that an incubation period, which is a short period of N1, has a significant effect on insight. But the beneficial effect disappears when people fall into a deeper sleep.Researchers claim that Dali and Edison's technique is easy to do because people just need to hold a simple object. They added that anyone who wants to be creative should try the technique.Further research is needed on why the technique works, but the team says that N1 is accompanied by involuntary, spontaneous, dreamlike movements which creatively combine the last awake experiences by tying them with loosely related memories.They add that these hypnotic experiences can be seen as an exaggerated version of awake spontaneous thoughts (wandering thoughts), which foster the creation of new ideas.Therefore, if you can deal with the frustration of an annoying sudden end to a brief nap, try this technique and see if it boosts your creative spirit.
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