Robert J. Lefkowitz, a Jewish physician and path-breaking biochemist from New York, has won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry jointly with Brian K. Kobilka, a researcher at California’s Stanford University.
http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/10/10/3108891/new-york-born-jewish-doctor-co-recipient-of-nobel-prize-in-chemistry
Lefkowitz told a news conference by telephone he was asleep when the phone call came from Sweden.
"I did not hear it - I must share with you that I wear earplugs to sleep. So my wife gave me an elbow. So there it was, a total shock and surprise," he said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/10/us-nobel-chemistry-idUSBRE8990EN20121010
One organization which is not asleep is Camera which alerted readers to Wall Street Journal's Creative Cartographers.
The Wall Street Journal seems to have jumped the gun a bit, drawing "Palestine" over the West Bank in a map accompanying a News Hub broadcast.
...This is not the first time that the Wall Street Journal has incorrectly used the term Palestine.
Read full article: http://blog.camera.org/archives/2012/10/wall_street_journal_maps_pales.html
You can see the labeling on the map at the 2:33 mark.
H/T Israel Matzav
10 Oct 2012
9 Oct 2012
The Nobel Prize
Serge Haroche, a French-Jewish physicist, has won the Nobel Prize in Physics jointly with David Wineland from the United States.
The Nobel Prize in Physics 2012 went to the scientists "for ground-breaking experimental methods that enable measuring and manipulation of individual quantum systems," the website of the Nobel Prize said.
According to the BBC, the pair developed solutions to pick, manipulate and measure photons and ions individually, allowing an insight into a microscopic world that was once just the province of scientific theory.
Haroche, who was born 68 years ago in Casablanca, Morocco, told Le Figaro that he "had a hard time understanding" the news when a representative of the Nobel Prize committee called him on his cellular phone to say he had won what is considered the highest form of recognition of scientific excellence.
Continue reading: http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/french-jewish-physicist-wins-nobel-prize-along-with-american-colleague-1.468913
A friend of mine shares the same surname as the esteemed physicist and her father is also from Morocco. I will call her soon to find out if she is related.
The Nobel Prize in Physics 2012 went to the scientists "for ground-breaking experimental methods that enable measuring and manipulation of individual quantum systems," the website of the Nobel Prize said.
According to the BBC, the pair developed solutions to pick, manipulate and measure photons and ions individually, allowing an insight into a microscopic world that was once just the province of scientific theory.
Haroche, who was born 68 years ago in Casablanca, Morocco, told Le Figaro that he "had a hard time understanding" the news when a representative of the Nobel Prize committee called him on his cellular phone to say he had won what is considered the highest form of recognition of scientific excellence.
Continue reading: http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/french-jewish-physicist-wins-nobel-prize-along-with-american-colleague-1.468913
A friend of mine shares the same surname as the esteemed physicist and her father is also from Morocco. I will call her soon to find out if she is related.
7 Oct 2012
Developing our potential
Matzav has an interesting article by Rav Zev Leff titled Rav Leff On Parshas Bereishis: Why is it “In the Beginning?”
Eretz Yisrael provides a setting where we can develop our potential to be a uniquely sanctified nation. (This, it should be noted, is the very antithesis of secular Zionism, which envisions Eretz Yisrael as a setting for us to develop at long last into a nation like all other nations.)
Read full article: http://matzav.com/rav-leff-on-parshas-bereishis-why-is-it-in-the-beginning-4
Jeffrey Folks writes about atheists in an article titled Prohibiting Cheerleaders the Free Exercise of Religion.
This, of course, was not what our Founders intended by the First Amendment "church and state" clause. What the clause prohibits is "the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." What atheist groups are attempting to do, with the full cooperation of Obama's Justice Department, is precisely what the Constitution disallows: the prohibition of religion expression. Had they intended to forbid the free exercise of religion, the Founders would not have justified independence on the basis of rights with which all men are "endowed by their Creator." Nor would they not have concluded the Declaration with "a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence." Nor would leaders like George Washington have invoked God dozens of times in their inaugural and farewell addresses to the American people.
Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/10/prohibiting_cheerleaders_the_free_exercise_of_religion.html#ixzz28clH00fJ
Early in the summer of 1952, after his first year of dental school at Emory University in Atlanta, Perry Brickman received a letter from the dean. It informed him that he had flunked out.
Mr. Brickman was mystified. He had been a B-plus student in biology as an Emory undergraduate and had earned early admission to dental school. He had never failed a course in his life.
Good Yom Tov!
Eretz Yisrael provides a setting where we can develop our potential to be a uniquely sanctified nation. (This, it should be noted, is the very antithesis of secular Zionism, which envisions Eretz Yisrael as a setting for us to develop at long last into a nation like all other nations.)
Read full article: http://matzav.com/rav-leff-on-parshas-bereishis-why-is-it-in-the-beginning-4
Jeffrey Folks writes about atheists in an article titled Prohibiting Cheerleaders the Free Exercise of Religion.
This, of course, was not what our Founders intended by the First Amendment "church and state" clause. What the clause prohibits is "the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." What atheist groups are attempting to do, with the full cooperation of Obama's Justice Department, is precisely what the Constitution disallows: the prohibition of religion expression. Had they intended to forbid the free exercise of religion, the Founders would not have justified independence on the basis of rights with which all men are "endowed by their Creator." Nor would they not have concluded the Declaration with "a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence." Nor would leaders like George Washington have invoked God dozens of times in their inaugural and farewell addresses to the American people.
Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/10/prohibiting_cheerleaders_the_free_exercise_of_religion.html#ixzz28clH00fJ
Early in the summer of 1952, after his first year of dental school at Emory University in Atlanta, Perry Brickman received a letter from the dean. It informed him that he had flunked out.
Mr. Brickman was mystified. He had been a B-plus student in biology as an Emory undergraduate and had earned early admission to dental school. He had never failed a course in his life.
Over the next few weeks of that summer, Mr. Brickman found out that three of his classmates had also been failed. All of them happened to be Jewish. Yet instead of fighting back, Mr. Brickman and his friends searched for other dental schools and swallowed a shame that lasted decades.
Continue reading: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/07/education/emory-confronts-legacy-of-bias-against-jews-in-dental-school.html?src=me&ref=generalGood Yom Tov!
Nazis in the news
Between 1933 and 1945, the Nazis seized an estimated 650,000 works of art, taking them from Jewish families and grabbing so-called “degenerate” art — including works by Picasso, Matisse, Chagall and van Gogh — off the walls of German museums. Many of the plundered paintings and other works were destroyed, but others were sold abroad with the cash going back to the Nazi war machine.
It took 50 years, but Jewish families thought they might finally receive some justice for this massive theft.
Continue reading: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/that_nazi_loot_art_is_mein_18eatpbSRGsvvvUlrDROII/0
The European Jewish Parliament (EJP) deplored the announced participation of Geneva’s Mayor, Remy Pagani, in the 4th session of the "Russell Tribunal on Palestine" which is taking place in New York on 6-8 October.
It took 50 years, but Jewish families thought they might finally receive some justice for this massive theft.
Continue reading: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/that_nazi_loot_art_is_mein_18eatpbSRGsvvvUlrDROII/0
The European Jewish Parliament (EJP) deplored the announced participation of Geneva’s Mayor, Remy Pagani, in the 4th session of the "Russell Tribunal on Palestine" which is taking place in New York on 6-8 October.
"His own support for
this mockery of justice is highly harmful to his credibility and to his city's
reputation," the Jewish body said in a statement on Friday.
The European Jewish
Parliament stressed that this year's Tribunal will be chaired by Stephane Hessel
who recently told German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that the Nazi
occupation was "relatively harmless" compared to the "Israeli occupation of
Palestine".
The EJP denounced the the so-called "Tribunal" whose sole purpose, it said, "is the demonisation and delegitimisation of the Jewish State of Israel."
Read full article: http://www.ejpress.org/article/62188
The EJP denounced the the so-called "Tribunal" whose sole purpose, it said, "is the demonisation and delegitimisation of the Jewish State of Israel."
Read full article: http://www.ejpress.org/article/62188
Hoshana
The following is an excerpt from a Torah thought by Rabbi Dr Raymond Apple.
The name Hoshana Rabbah is not Biblical; Num. 29:32 refers simply to “the 7th day”. Hoshana Rabbah means “the great Hoshana“; hoshana is a prayer for salvation, based on two words, hosha na, “please save”. The term hoshana is also applied to the bundles of willow twigs which are beaten until the leaves fall off; an early name for the festival was yom sh’vi’i shel aravah – “the 7th day of the willow”.
The link with willows is suggested by the prayers for rain said on Sukkot. Willows need adequate water, and according to the Mishnah this is the time of year when the Almighty decides whether the coming year will have enough rain.
There is a belief that God told Abraham that if his descendants are not forgiven on Rosh HaShanah, they will be forgiven on Yom Kippur; if they are not forgiven on Yom Kippur they will be forgiven on Hoshana Rabbah. This makes the 7th day of Sukkot our final chance of forgiveness during the month of Tishri. The Jerusalem Talmud (Rosh HaShanah 4:8) commenting on Isa. 58:2 (“They seek Me day by day”), says there are two days when people seek God – Rosh HaShanah and Hoshana Rabbah. http://www.oztorah.com/2008/10/hoshana-rabbah-the-unknown-quantity-festival/
A guten kvittel to all.
The name Hoshana Rabbah is not Biblical; Num. 29:32 refers simply to “the 7th day”. Hoshana Rabbah means “the great Hoshana“; hoshana is a prayer for salvation, based on two words, hosha na, “please save”. The term hoshana is also applied to the bundles of willow twigs which are beaten until the leaves fall off; an early name for the festival was yom sh’vi’i shel aravah – “the 7th day of the willow”.
The link with willows is suggested by the prayers for rain said on Sukkot. Willows need adequate water, and according to the Mishnah this is the time of year when the Almighty decides whether the coming year will have enough rain.
There is a belief that God told Abraham that if his descendants are not forgiven on Rosh HaShanah, they will be forgiven on Yom Kippur; if they are not forgiven on Yom Kippur they will be forgiven on Hoshana Rabbah. This makes the 7th day of Sukkot our final chance of forgiveness during the month of Tishri. The Jerusalem Talmud (Rosh HaShanah 4:8) commenting on Isa. 58:2 (“They seek Me day by day”), says there are two days when people seek God – Rosh HaShanah and Hoshana Rabbah. http://www.oztorah.com/2008/10/hoshana-rabbah-the-unknown-quantity-festival/
A guten kvittel to all.
6 Oct 2012
Trading gunfire
An Islamist suspected of a grenade attack on a Jewish market was shot and killed by police in the north-eastern city of Strasbourg on Saturday and 11 others detained in what prosecutors called a "vast anti-terrorist operation".
Elite police squads carried out simultaneous operations against a network of radical Islamists in the Paris region and in Strasbourg, Nice and Cannes early on Saturday.
The raids were connected to a September 19 incident in the Paris suburb of Sarcelles in which two men, including the suspect killed on Saturday, threw a grenade into a Jewish kosher supermarket, wounding one person and causing minor damage, said Paris prosecutor Francois Molins.
Elite police squads carried out simultaneous operations against a network of radical Islamists in the Paris region and in Strasbourg, Nice and Cannes early on Saturday.
The raids were connected to a September 19 incident in the Paris suburb of Sarcelles in which two men, including the suspect killed on Saturday, threw a grenade into a Jewish kosher supermarket, wounding one person and causing minor damage, said Paris prosecutor Francois Molins.
5 Oct 2012
Clouds of glory
The following is an excerpt from an email by Rabbi Eli Mansour.
The Misva to reside in a Succa for seven days and nights serves to commemorate the Ananeh Ha’kabod, the “clouds of glory” that encircled Beneh Yisrael as they traveled through the wilderness and provided miraculous protection from the harsh elements. (This follows the view of Rabbi Eliezer; Rabbi Akiba maintained that the Succa commemorates actual huts in which Beneh Yisrael dwelled during their sojourn through the wilderness.)
The question is asked, why is specifically the miracle of the Ananeh Ha’kabod deemed worthy of commemoration? During the period of desert travel, God sustained Beneh Yisrael with manna that fell from the heavens each morning, and with a supernatural well that accompanied them throughout their journeys and supplied water. Curiously, there is no Misva commemorating the miracles of the Manna and the well. Out of all the miracles that God performed for our ancestors in the desert, only the Ananeh Ha’kabod are commemorated through a special Misva. Why was this miracle singled out for commemoration?
Continue reading: http://www.dailyhalacha.com/WeeklyParasha.asp
The Misva to reside in a Succa for seven days and nights serves to commemorate the Ananeh Ha’kabod, the “clouds of glory” that encircled Beneh Yisrael as they traveled through the wilderness and provided miraculous protection from the harsh elements. (This follows the view of Rabbi Eliezer; Rabbi Akiba maintained that the Succa commemorates actual huts in which Beneh Yisrael dwelled during their sojourn through the wilderness.)
The question is asked, why is specifically the miracle of the Ananeh Ha’kabod deemed worthy of commemoration? During the period of desert travel, God sustained Beneh Yisrael with manna that fell from the heavens each morning, and with a supernatural well that accompanied them throughout their journeys and supplied water. Curiously, there is no Misva commemorating the miracles of the Manna and the well. Out of all the miracles that God performed for our ancestors in the desert, only the Ananeh Ha’kabod are commemorated through a special Misva. Why was this miracle singled out for commemoration?
Continue reading: http://www.dailyhalacha.com/WeeklyParasha.asp
News from Newsmax
As Jews the world over recently finished fasting on Yom Kippur, Charlotte Libov asks Is Fasting the Secret to Mitt Romney’s Good Health?
Mormons often fast on the first Sunday of each month and donate the money they would have spent on food to the poor and needy.
“Fasting offers an array of health benefits,” says Chauncey Crandall, M.D., one of the nation’s top cardiologists. “Studies show that it works, and I recommend it.”
Read full article: http://www.newsmaxhealth.com/headline_health/Mitt_Romney_fasting/2012/10/03/478219.html?promo_code=EE9E-1&utm_source=jpost&utm_medium=nmwidget&utm_campaign=widgetphase1
Two suspects in the Sept. 11 killing of the U.S. ambassador to Libya American ambassador and three colleagues have been arrested at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport, Kanal D television reported Thursday.
The suspects, identified as Tunisians, were detained late Wednesday as they attempted to enter the country with fake passports, Kanal D said.
Read more: http://www.newsmax.com/newswidget/arrests-Tunisians-Stevens-killing/2012/10/04/id/458732?promo_code=EE9E-1&utm_source=jpost&utm_medium=nmwidget&utm_campaign=widgetphase1
Mormons often fast on the first Sunday of each month and donate the money they would have spent on food to the poor and needy.
“Fasting offers an array of health benefits,” says Chauncey Crandall, M.D., one of the nation’s top cardiologists. “Studies show that it works, and I recommend it.”
Read full article: http://www.newsmaxhealth.com/headline_health/Mitt_Romney_fasting/2012/10/03/478219.html?promo_code=EE9E-1&utm_source=jpost&utm_medium=nmwidget&utm_campaign=widgetphase1
Two suspects in the Sept. 11 killing of the U.S. ambassador to Libya American ambassador and three colleagues have been arrested at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport, Kanal D television reported Thursday.
The suspects, identified as Tunisians, were detained late Wednesday as they attempted to enter the country with fake passports, Kanal D said.
Read more: http://www.newsmax.com/newswidget/arrests-Tunisians-Stevens-killing/2012/10/04/id/458732?promo_code=EE9E-1&utm_source=jpost&utm_medium=nmwidget&utm_campaign=widgetphase1
Talking turkey and gobbledygook
This evening I came across an article by Herb Geduld about a supposed origin of the word "Turkey."
In describing King Solomon's fabulous wealth, the Bible (I Kings 10:22 and II Chronicle 9:21) speaks of a ship that Solomon had in Tarshish on the Spanish southern coast which brought "zahav, v'kesef, shenabim, v'kofim, v'TIKKUYIM." — Gold, silver, ivory, apes and peacocks — to his palaces.
...We now take an almost 2,500 year historical leap to 1492 and Columbus' discovery of America. Despite the fanciful speculation to the contrary, most historians now agree that there was only one person of known Jewish birth on Columbus' First Voyage, but he was a very significant one.
Luis de Torres, a Jew baptized shortly before Columbus' fleet sailed, was the interpreter of the expedition. He is described in Columbus' diaries as a man "who had been a Jew and knew Hebrew and Chaldean and a little Arabic," and Columbus brought him along in case he met the "grand Khan."
Luis de Torres did not meet Khan, but among the many wonders he and his exploration parties did discover was a large wild bird with a head and body very similar to the peacock. The male even had a feather display which, while not as spectacular, resembled the peacocks. De Torres, with his background of Biblical Hebrew but poor ornithological knowledge, called this bird a tukki, which over the centuries has been corrupted into our "turkey."
Read full article: http://www.jewishworldreview.com/herb/turkey.php3?printer_friendly
In a State Department Briefing this afternoon, Victoria Noland was posed the following question.
QUESTION: Can I talk Turkey?
Undoubtedly, the journalist wanted to pose a question about the country of Turkey but, after I read the question, the phrase "talking turkey" immediately sprung to my mind.
As most of our esteemed readers know, turkeys don't actually have the power of speech. "To talk turkey" means to speak plainly about a difficult or awkward subject ("Let's talk turkey about your credit history, shall we?").
http://ask.yahoo.com/20061122.html
After perusing the State Department Briefing transcript, I thought that perhaps Ms. Nuland should indeed "talk turkey" and speak plainly about awkward subjects asked of her. As a case in point, when she was asked about events that had transpired in Libya, she indeed did not give plain answers but spoke gobbledygook. Gobble. Gobble.
In describing King Solomon's fabulous wealth, the Bible (I Kings 10:22 and II Chronicle 9:21) speaks of a ship that Solomon had in Tarshish on the Spanish southern coast which brought "zahav, v'kesef, shenabim, v'kofim, v'TIKKUYIM." — Gold, silver, ivory, apes and peacocks — to his palaces.
...We now take an almost 2,500 year historical leap to 1492 and Columbus' discovery of America. Despite the fanciful speculation to the contrary, most historians now agree that there was only one person of known Jewish birth on Columbus' First Voyage, but he was a very significant one.
Luis de Torres, a Jew baptized shortly before Columbus' fleet sailed, was the interpreter of the expedition. He is described in Columbus' diaries as a man "who had been a Jew and knew Hebrew and Chaldean and a little Arabic," and Columbus brought him along in case he met the "grand Khan."
Luis de Torres did not meet Khan, but among the many wonders he and his exploration parties did discover was a large wild bird with a head and body very similar to the peacock. The male even had a feather display which, while not as spectacular, resembled the peacocks. De Torres, with his background of Biblical Hebrew but poor ornithological knowledge, called this bird a tukki, which over the centuries has been corrupted into our "turkey."
Read full article: http://www.jewishworldreview.com/herb/turkey.php3?printer_friendly
In a State Department Briefing this afternoon, Victoria Noland was posed the following question.
QUESTION: Can I talk Turkey?
Undoubtedly, the journalist wanted to pose a question about the country of Turkey but, after I read the question, the phrase "talking turkey" immediately sprung to my mind.
As most of our esteemed readers know, turkeys don't actually have the power of speech. "To talk turkey" means to speak plainly about a difficult or awkward subject ("Let's talk turkey about your credit history, shall we?").
http://ask.yahoo.com/20061122.html
After perusing the State Department Briefing transcript, I thought that perhaps Ms. Nuland should indeed "talk turkey" and speak plainly about awkward subjects asked of her. As a case in point, when she was asked about events that had transpired in Libya, she indeed did not give plain answers but spoke gobbledygook. Gobble. Gobble.
4 Oct 2012
Closing one's eyes
It is outrageous that closing one's eyes or wearing a t-shirt can get some people into hot water.
The Jerusalem Police closed off the Temple Mount to Jews Thursday after receiving intelligence that Muslims intended to attack Jewish visitors there.
...After the Muslim prayers on Tuesday, Arabs began shouting "Allahu akbar" toward Jewish groups but police kept them from getting too close. On that day, police arrested Likud's Moshe Feiglin, who was questioned and later released.
Moshe Puah, whose father Michael Puah is Director of Feiglin's Jewish Leadership faction, was arrested for closing his eyes on the Mount. A policeman claimed that the act constituted prayer.
Read full article: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/160545
A high school teacher at Charles Carroll High School in Port Richmond, Philadelphia, is under investigation after allegedly ordering a student to remove a pro-Mitt Romney t-shirt. In addition to purportedly telling the female pupil to take off the clothing, the teacher also supposedly compared the shirt to a Ku Klux Klan outfit.
Continue reading: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/teacher-under-fire-for-allegedly-telling-student-to-remove-pro-romney-t-shirt-likening-it-to-kkk-clothing/
The Jerusalem Police closed off the Temple Mount to Jews Thursday after receiving intelligence that Muslims intended to attack Jewish visitors there.
...After the Muslim prayers on Tuesday, Arabs began shouting "Allahu akbar" toward Jewish groups but police kept them from getting too close. On that day, police arrested Likud's Moshe Feiglin, who was questioned and later released.
Moshe Puah, whose father Michael Puah is Director of Feiglin's Jewish Leadership faction, was arrested for closing his eyes on the Mount. A policeman claimed that the act constituted prayer.
Read full article: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/160545
A high school teacher at Charles Carroll High School in Port Richmond, Philadelphia, is under investigation after allegedly ordering a student to remove a pro-Mitt Romney t-shirt. In addition to purportedly telling the female pupil to take off the clothing, the teacher also supposedly compared the shirt to a Ku Klux Klan outfit.
Continue reading: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/teacher-under-fire-for-allegedly-telling-student-to-remove-pro-romney-t-shirt-likening-it-to-kkk-clothing/
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