Breaking news: Netanyahu: Get the 3rd vaccine dose right now! and Israelis banned from travel to UK, Turkey, Georgia, Cyprus and Tomorrow is The 15th of Av: the holiday of Love and Rebirth and Magnificent building from Second Temple-period Jerusalem will be presented and The Delicious History of Ice Cream, since Ice cream is in the news! and What's My Line? - Steve McQueen; PANEL: Steve Allen, Helen Gurley Brown (Dec 18, 1966) and Asterix - The Twelve Tasks of Asterix - #8: Find Permit A 38 in "The Place That Sends You Mad" and The Portion of Vaetchanan Face to Face
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.
Opposition leader says after talking with Pfizer CEO and other experts that the over-50 population must receive a 3rd vaccine shot.
Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu spoke this week with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla on the need for additional coronavirus vaccines.
"In the last few days I spoke twice with my friend, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla," Netanyahu said in a video released Wednesday. "I also talked to other experts. I have come to the conclusion that the State of Israel must immediately order millions of vaccines and it must start immediately to give out the third vaccine dose to the adult population."
"This is the population, those over the age of 50, who are at risk, at risk for serious illness or death. And giving the third vaccine dose, not to 200,000 people, but to two million people, that is the only way to protect this population, the only way to protect the great success that we brought in making Israel the first country in the world to get out of the coronavirus pandemic," he said.
"Without a third vaccine dose, there is no effective way to protect human life and to maintain an open and growing economy. Therefore, I call on the government: act immediately and bring the third vaccine dose for Israel's citizens, right now. Vaccinate two million citizens in the coming days. You can vaccinate 200,000 people a day, and then it'll be done. It can be done, and it works.
"Every day that passes endangers the life and health of Israel's citizens. Therefore, I say to the government, stop dawdling," Netanyahu concluded.
Israelis banned from travel to UK, Turkey, Georgia, Cyprus
Israelis are now banned from visiting the UK, Georgia, Cyprus and Turkey, the coronavirus cabinet rules.
The four countries will join a growing list of places that Israelis may not fly to; if caught doing so they face a significant fine upon return. The decision will take effect next Friday.
Turkey and Cyprus are two of the most popular vacation destinations for Israelis.
Israelis are already banned from traveling to Russia, Mexico, South Africa, India, Argentina, Brazil, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Spain and Kyrgyzstan due to high COVID morbidity in those destinations.
The 15th of Av: Love and Rebirth
The Jewish mini-holiday of Tu B'Av
The 15th of Av is undoubtedly a most mysterious day. A search of the Shulchan Aruch (Code of Jewish Law) reveals no observances or customs for this date, except for the instruction that the Tachanun (confession of sins) and similar portions should be omitted from the daily prayers (as is the case with all festive dates), and that one should increase one's study of Torah, since the nights are beginning to grow longer, and "the night was created for study." And the Talmud tells us that many years ago the "daughters of Jerusalem would go dance in the vineyards" on the 15th of Av, and "whoever did not have a wife would go there" to find himself a bride.
And the Talmud considers this the greatest festival of the year, with Yom Kippur (!) a close second!
Indeed, the 15th of Av cannot but be a mystery. As the "full moon" of the tragic month of Av, it is the festival of the future redemption, and thus a day whose essence, by definition, is unknowable to our unredeemed selves.
Yet also the unknowable is also ours to seek and explore.
7 Joyous Events That Happened on the 15th of Av
1) The dancing maidens of Jerusalem
Said Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel: There were no greater festivals for Israel than the 15th of Av and Yom Kippur. On these days the daughters of Jerusalem would go out... and dance in the vineyards. And what would they say? "Young man, raise your eyes and see which you select for yourself..." (Talmud, Taanit 26b)
The Talmud goes on to list several joyous events which occurred on the 15th day of the month of Av:
2. The dying of the generation of the Exodus ceased.
Several months after the people of Israel were freed from Egyptian slavery, the incident of the spies demonstrated their unpreparedness for the task of conquering the land of Canaan and developing it as the Holy Land. G‑d decreed that that entire generation would die out in the desert, and that their children would enter the land in their stead (as recounted in Numbers 13 and 14). After 40 years of wandering through the wilderness, the dying finally ended, and a new generation of Jews stood ready to enter the Holy Land. It was the 15th of Av of the year 2487 from creation (1274 BCE).
As long as members of this doomed generation were still alive, G‑d didn't communicate with Moses in an affectionate manner. As soon as the last of these men died, once again G‑d lovingly communicated with Moses.
3. The tribes of Israel were permitted to intermarry.
In order to ensure the orderly division of the Holy Land between the twelve tribes of Israel, restrictions had been placed on marriages between members of two different tribes. A woman who had inherited tribal lands from her father was forbidden to marry out of her tribe, lest her children—members of their father's tribe—cause the transfer of land from one tribe to another by inheriting her estate (as recounted in Numbers 36). This ordinance was binding on the generation that conquered and settled the Holy Land; when the restriction was lifted, on the 15th of Av, the event was considered a cause for celebration and festivity.
4. The tribe of Benjamin was permitted to re-enter the community.
On this date the tribe of Benjamin, which had been excommunicated for its behavior in the incident of the "Concubine at Giv'ah," was readmitted into the community of Israel (as related in Judges 19–21). This occurred during the judgeship of Othniel ben Kenaz, who led the people of Israel in the years 2533–2573 from creation (1228–1188 BCE).
5. Hoshea ben Elah opened the roads to Jerusalem.
Upon the division of the Holy Land into two kingdoms following the death of King Solomon in the year 2964 from creation (797 BCE), Jeroboam ben Nebat, ruler of the breakaway northern kingdom of Israel, set up roadblocks to prevent his citizens from making the thrice-yearly pilgrimage to the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, capital of the southern kingdom of Judah. These were finally removed more than 200 years later by Hoshea ben Elah, the last king of the northern kingdom, on Av 15, 3187 (574 BCE).
6. The dead of Betar were allowed to be buried.
The fortress of Betar was the last holdout of the Bar Kochba rebellion. When Betar fell, on Av 9, 3893 (133 CE), Bar Kochba and many thousands of Jews were killed; the Romans massacred the survivors of the battle with great cruelty, and would not even allow the Jews to bury their dead. When the dead of Betar were finally brought to burial on Av 15, 3908 (148 CE), an additional blessing ("Hatov Vehameitiv") was added to the Grace After Meals in commemoration.
7. "The day of the breaking of the ax."
When the Holy Temple stood in Jerusalem, the annual cutting of firewood for the altar was concluded on the 15th of Av. The event was celebrated with feasting and rejoicing (as is the custom upon the conclusion of a holy endeavor), and included a ceremonial breaking of the axes, which gave the day its name.
As Moses continues to review the trials and tribulations experienced by the Children of Israel during their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, he describes one of the most astounding events ever experienced by man. "Face to face the Lord spoke with you (Deuteronomy 5;4)." Not by means of an agent or messenger but the Almighty Himself in all of His glory!
There are different situations of learning between a teacher and student. There are teachers who want to teach and students who aren't interested in learning. There are teachers who really are not interested in teaching and students who really want to learn. And then, of course, ideally there are teachers who are excited to teach and explain and inspire and students who are hungry to devour that which is taught.
It is the latter situation described above that Moses refers to when he describes the giving of the Torah to the Children of Israel at Mt. Sinai- The teacher (G-d Almighty) who is anxious to teach and the student (the Children of Israel) who are anxious to learn- "face to face".
The uniquely curved letters "pei" in the words "panim" (face) allude to this. (Baal Haturim, based on Tractate Sofrim)
The Western Wall Heritage Foundation and the Israel Antiquities Authority are enabling the public to view impressive new sections of one of one of the most magnificent public buildings uncovered from the Second Temple period. The discovery – the fruit of archaeological excavations recently conducted in the Western Wall Tunnels – will be part of the new route opened to visitors ahead of Rosh Chodesh Elul and Selichot (penitential prayers).
Part of the structure, to the west of Wilson's Arch and the Temple Mount, was discovered and documented by Charles Warren in the nineteenth century, followed by various archaeologists in the twentieth century. Now that its excavation is complete, we know that it contained two identical magnificent chambers with an elaborate fountain between them. The walls of the halls and the fountain were decorated with a sculpted cornice bearing pilasters (flat supporting pillars) topped with Corinthian capitals. The decorative style of the building is typical of opulent Second Temple-period architecture.
Mordechai Soli Eliav, Chairman of the Western Wall Heritage Foundation said, "It is exciting to reveal such a magnificent structure from the Second Temple period while we mourn the destruction of Jerusalem and pray for its restoration. These chambers are part of a new walk through the Western Wall Tunnels, where visitors will view fascinating finds and walk for the first time along the entire route among Second Temple-period remains that illustrate the complexity of Jewish life in Jerusalem between the Hasmonean and the Roman periods."
According to Dr. Shlomit Weksler-Bdolach, excavation director on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, "This is without doubt one of the most magnificent public building from the Second Temple period that has ever been uncovered outside the Temple Mount walls in Jerusalem. It was built in around 20–30 CE. The building, which apparently stood along a street leading up to the Temple Mount, was used for public functions – it may even have been the city council building where important dignitaries were received before entering the Temple compound and the Temple Mount."
"Visitors to the site can now envisage the opulence of the place: the two side chambers served as ornate reception rooms and between them was a magnificent fountain with water gushing out from lead pipes incorporated in the midst of the Corinthian capitals protruding from the wall. The excavation also uncovered the original massive stone slabs with which the ancient building was paved. The archaeologists believe that the guest rooms, which were also used for dining, contained wooden reclining sofas that have not been preserved.
"Reclining dining rooms were common in the Greek, Hellenistic, and Roman worlds from the fifth century BCE to the third–fourth centuries CE. They are known in the archaeological record from private homes, palaces, temples, synagogue complexes and civilian compounds. Dining or feasting while reclining is mentioned as early as the Book of Amos – in the first half of the eighth century BCE – when the prophet rebukes the people of the Kingdoms of Judah and Israel.
"In the late Second Temple period, before the Temple's destruction, extensive changes made throughout the area included alterations to the building, which was divided into three separate chambers. In one of the chambers, a stepped pool was installed that was used as a ritual bath."
Shachar Puni, architect for the Israel Antiquities Authority's Conservation Department explained, "The new route provides a better understanding of the complex and important site known as the Western Wall Tunnels, while emphasizing the extent of this magnificent building. It creates a new visitors' route that passes through the building and leads to the spacious compound at the foot of Wilson's Arch (one of the bridges leading to the Temple Mount), which was also excavated by the Western Wall Heritage Foundation and the Israel Antiquities Authority. By making the route accessible and opening it to the public, visitors are introduced to one of the most fascinating and impressive sites in the Old City of Jerusalem."
Remains of the magnificent 2000-year-old building recently excavated and due to be opened to the public. Yaniv Berman, Israel Antiquities Authority
Remains of the magnificent 2000-year-old building recently excavated and due to be opened to the public. Yaniv Berman, Israel Antiquities Authority
Remains of the magnificent 2000-year-old building recently excavated and due to be opened to the public. Yaniv Berman, Israel Antiquities Authority
Stepped pool installed in one of the chambers in the late Second Temple period that served as a ritual bath. Yaniv Berman, Israel Antiquities Authority
Stepped pool installed in one of the chambers in the late Second Temple period that served as a ritual bath. Yaniv Berman, Israel Antiquities Authority
Remains of the magnificent building in the Western Wall Tunnels Yaniv Berman, Israel Antiquities Authority
Asterix - The Twelve Tasks of Asterix - #8: Find Permit A 38 in "The Place That Sends You Mad"
Find Permit A 38 in "The Place That Sends You Mad". A mind-numbing multi-storey building founded on bureaucracy and staffed by clinically unhelpful people who direct all their clients to other similarly unhelpful people elsewhere in the building. Obelix goes nearly insane after some time but Asterix eventually beats them at their own game by asking for an imaginary permit that nobody knows about, sending the place into disarray. Eventually Asterix is given Permit A 38 just to make him leave and stop causing trouble. HQ: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI5kwS...SHOW LESS
What's My Line? - Steve McQueen; PANEL: Steve Allen, Helen Gurley Brown (Dec 18, 1966)
MYSTERY GUEST: Steve McQueen PANEL: Steve Allen, Helen Gurley Brown, Arlene Francis, Bennett Cerf
The Delicious History of Ice Cream--Since Ice cream is in the news
Ice cream as we know it seems deceptively simple — a smooth, creamy treat many of us have enjoyed since childhood. In reality, it's a marvel of technology, science, and culinary innovation that has been evolving for a millennium or more. From its beginnings as a snow-cooled drink in Persia to a familiar scoop of frozen vanilla, ice cream has taken on many forms and flavors. Here's the story of how it all began.
In the Beginning, There Was Ice, Snow, and Science
According to ice cream expert Jeri Quinzio in her book Of Sugar and Snow: A History of Ice Cream Making, the ancestor of modern ice cream is sharbat, an iced drink still popular in Iran and other nearby areas. To make sharbat, shaved ice or snow is drenched in sugar syrup, historically flavored with lemons, rosewater, citrons, violets, or ambergris (an aromatic sperm whale secretion). Traders imported the idea of sharbat from Persia to Europe, as well as the sugar to sweeten it.
But it took a scientific discovery to turn this frosty drink into ice cream. In the mid-16th century, scientists discovered that mixing salt or saltpeter (potassium nitrate) with ice lowered the freezing temperature of water from its usual 32 degrees to almost zero degrees. Culinary savants quickly realized that this super cold ice-and-salt slurry could be used to freeze other liquids. The first ice cream maker was called a sorbetiere: a pewter bucket set in a second, larger bucket packed with ice and salt in between. The pewter bucket was filled with an ice cream base; a servant or enslaved person had to constantly agitate the pewter bucket in the ice, using a lid with a handle to rotate the inner bucket in its bath of below-freezing ice water. Occasionally, they removed the top and stirred the freezing cream with a wooden paddle called a spaddle. Two to four hours later, the ice cream was finished.
Sharbat was the earliest substance to go into the sorbetiere to be frozen. In Italy, the word sharbat became the word sorbetti, and in the rest of Europe, sorbet and sherbet, terms that were applied to any kind of early frozen dessert in a variety of languages before they got to English. Freezing sharbat was a lucky discovery, since the sugar in the mixture would have kept the results pleasantly pliable. (Sugar molecules disrupt water molecules and prevent them from freezing solid.) A careful balance of sugar to water, as well as constant agitation of the ingredients while they freeze, creates a frozen — but creamy and scoopable — sorbet.
Many of the first ice cream flavors were developed in Italy, particularly around Naples, and the first ice cream recipes were published in Italian in 1692. Lo scalco alla moderna, or The Modern Steward includes the first recipe for chocolate ice cream. The book also included fruit and nut ice cream flavors, like lemon, citron, and pumpkin. Beverages were some of the first things frozen into ice cream, so drinks such as tea, coffee, and chocolate were among the earliest ice cream flavors.
Soon, European chefs began to freeze custard pie fillings made with eggs and milk or whipped cream. Food historian Ivan Day discovered the earliest known recipe for ice cream in the mid-1660s handwritten recipe book of Lady Anne Fanshawe. Fanshawe's husband was a British delegate to the Spanish court, and Lady Fanshawe saw ice cream made in Spain. In the recipe for "Icey Cream" that she documented, the ice cream is flavored with mace (part of the nutmeg fruit), orange flower water, or ambergris.
Other early flavors of ice cream include musk (a glandular secretion of a species of deer), saffron, pumpernickel bread, bay leaves, and crumbled cookies. However, according to Quinzio, the cookies were used to flavor the ice cream and then sieved out. Seventeenth-century Europeans wanted smooth ice creams only; chunky textures à la Ben & Jerrys wouldn't be in vogue until the 20th century.
Ice cream's place on the President's table did a lot to popularize the dessert in the early United States, but within a few decades, American flavors had expanded far beyond vanilla. The earliest ice cream recipes published in America — in The Virginia Housewife in 1824 — include almond, coconut, citron, and "oyster cream," a frozen oyster soup.
Because making ice cream was so time-consuming and laborious, the ability to serve it was initially a sign of extreme wealth. Fortunately, two innovations in the 19th century made ice cream available to all. Inventor Nancy Johnson created the crank ice cream maker in Philadelphia in 1843. It was not only more efficient than the sorbetiere (the user turned a crank to operate a paddle inside) but also delivered a more consistently smooth and creamy product. The American ice industry also rapidly expanded after a horse-drawn ice cutter was invented that sped up the process of harvesting ice from lakes.
These technological advancements spurred the opening of ice cream parlors, one of the few places in the 19th century where men and women were allowed to go on a date without a chaperone. Naturally, these parlors became wildly popular. According to food historian Tonya Hopkins, many of these earliest confectionaries were founded or supplied by Black caterers and confectioners in and around Philadelphia. Examples include Augustus Jackson, a former chef to Presidents and a Philadelphia native, who perfected the egg-free "Philadelphia Style" ice cream that remains the most popular in America today.
Around the same time, ice cream also became a cheap and common street food, often sold by Italian immigrants from Naples — the same area where many ice cream recipes originated. According to Quinzio, these vendors made "Hokey Pokey," a slang word for squares of firm ice cream wrapped in paper. An 1885 reference to these bricks describe them as being tri-colored, with three different flavors: pistachio, vanilla, and strawberry, for the colors of the Italian flag. This style of ice cream came to be called "Neapolitan," after the vendors' homeland.
Today, ice cream makers often pull inspiration from the past. That may mean reviving a classic ice cream parlor vibe like The Franklin Fountain in Philadelphia or Ices Plain & Fancy in St. Louis; or offering flavors such as wild Squid Ink from the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory in New York City or Honey Bleu Cheese at Sweet Republic in Phoenix, Arizona. Perhaps one day, we'll once again see orange flower water or ambergris ice cream being scooped for adventurous ice cream fans — but for now, you can't go wrong with vanilla. Just remember to thank Thomas Jefferson.
See you on Sunday, bli neder Shabbat shalom
Enjoy tomorrow, our Jewish Valantine day staring tonight
