Gender Labels: Men v. Women

Article: A YouTube video has gone viral -- getting over 20 million hits. It's an advertisement put out by Panteen (hair products) in the Philippines. It shows how men and women in the exact same scenarios are labeled differently: a man in a position of power is seen as the boss, while a woman is seen as bossy, etc. Some say the video is horrible and reinforces gender stereotypes; others say the video brings to consciousness how men and women are treated differently and should not be. Panteen claims the video is to break down barriers. Click here for the video.

Discussion:

• Watch/explain the video with your kids. Ask what they think the message is.
• Talk about gender roles and how they can be broken down. 

Christian Awakening in Israel

Article: Israel's demographics are majority Jews, minority Arab Palestinians. Within that minority, approximately 130,000 are Palestinian Christians, with a distinct identity dating back to the time of Jesus. Since Israel's founding, they have traditionally sided politically with the Arab Muslim population, refusing to serve in the IDF and being hostile to the State of Israel. However, a grassroots effort by some Christian Arabs is reversing this. They are looking around the Middle East and seeing the persecution of Christians all around them--in Syria, Tunisia, Iraq, Jordan, etc.--and seeing how they are prospering in Israel. The average Israeli Arab Christian has a higher education level than the average Israeli Jew, equal life expectancy, etc. This grassroots group is seeking to join the Knesset (Israeli parliament) and to encourage young Christian Arabs to join the army, Israel's main gateway to employment. Unfortunately, they are receiving threats from Arab Muslims, who call them traitors. But these Israeli Christians respond, "The Jewish State is good for us."

For full article, go here.

Fake Deaf Interpreter

Article: Last week, there a massive public memorial for Nelson Mandela, at which President Obama and others memorialized him. When President Obama (and others spoke), a deaf interpreter stood beside him on the podium and translated for the deaf audience. After the event, it came to light that the interpreter was a fake! He was pretending to do sign language but was actually making the whole thing up!

Discussion:

• We spoke about Nelson Mandela. What do you remember about him? 
• We learned about "con men" last week. What does this mean? How does it apply here? 
• Who is hurt/who missed out as a result of the this fake interpreter's actions? 
• Who could have been physically hurt? (The speakers! This guy could have been a terrorist!) 
• How should the interpreter be punished? Think creatively (make him learn real sign language?) 

Israeli Bus Driver Stops Terrorist Attack

Article: On Sunday in Bat Yam, Israel, a bus was driving its normal route. A passenger noticed a backpack by itself in the back of the bus and thought that seemed suspicious. He opened the backpack and saw wires and a pot. The passenger immediately notified the bus driver, who told all the passengers to get off right away and called the police. 10 minutes later, while the police were dealing with the situation, the bus and bomb exploded. No one was hurt except for one of the policemen, who was slightly injured.

Discussion:

• Discuss all the different people in the story who were courageous. 
• Discuss how the passenger and bus driver were very smart in how they reacted to the abandoned backpack. Discuss one thing the passenger probably should not have done (opened the backpack) and why. 
• Role play scenarios where something similar happens and what your kids should do (immediately inform an adult or policeman of suspicious packages). Everyone has the ability to save lives. 

Obituary: Edgar Bronfman Dies at age 84

Article: Edgar Bronfman passed away this weekend. A Canadian billionaire businessman who made his fortune from Seagram liquor, he was a major philanthropist to Jewish organizations and a tireless leader and advocate of Jewish causes. Bronfman was longtime president of the World Jewish Congress; he lobbied Soviet Russia to free Soviet Jews, and spearheaded the search for Jewish items looted by Nazis (even gold filings from Jewish teeth that ended up in Swiss banks). In 1999, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Clinton (the highest civilian honor in America) for his work ensuring basic rights for Jews around the world.

Discussion:

• Why did Bronfman receive the Congressional Medal of Honor? 
• A few weeks ago we discussed Jewish paintings hidden by a German since WWII that will now be returned to the Jewish owner. How did Bronfman help this cause? 
• If you had millions of dollars and could use your influence to make the world a better place, what would you do and how? How did Bronfman do it? 

  

Target Website Hacked & a Jewish Flash Mob in Argentina

Article: Target has just discovered that its website was hacked between Nov. 27 (start of Black Friday weekend) and Dec 15. This means 40 million customers' information is in jeopardy: credit card information; passwords; names; etc. This is likely the largest successful cyber-hacking of a retailer in history. Customers are warned to check their credit cards and bank accounts for irregular activity; also to beware of emails soliciting them in upcoming days. Credit card companies have assured customers of zero-liability protection. The hackers have yet to be discovered; law enforcement is actively using forensics to locate them.

Video for fun: flash mob in Argentina dancing to Jewish yiddishe music.

Discussion:

• Two days ago, we spoke of a con-man and how police found him. How? (Fingerprints). Today's crime involves cyber fraud. This is a white collar crime. Discuss difference between cyber hacking v. in-store robbery. Who are the victims? How is it different? 
• Why is it harder for police to find these bad guys? What will they be charged with when found? (Stealing; fraud)
• What are ways of protecting yourself from online fraud? (Change your passwords frequently; never respond or click on emails from people you don't know)

New Discovery About Crocodiles

My son asked for a current event about animals tonight, so here goes:

Article: We've long known that other animals besides humans use tools. The discovery was first made about chimpanzees, then about birds and even some fish. But scientists have recently discovered that crocodiles and alligators also use tools. Here's how it works: in swamps, twigs are pretty scarce. During nest building season, birds fight over the few twigs to build their nest. They build the nests high up in trees to keep their chicks safe from snakes and other predators. Recently, it was discovered that crocodiles swim under twigs and become motionless. When a bird goes to get a twig, the crocodiles snatches them and eats them up. They use the twigs as props/tools to catch their prey. And they appear not to do this practice once nest building season is over.

Discussion:

• How do you think this practice first developed? Did one alligator discover it and the rest copied? 
• Speak about natural selection and how it works -- survival of the fittest

Jerusalem in Snow + Judge Jails Con Man in Charity Fraud Case

First, check out these pictures of Jerusalem in 3 feet of snow today: the biggest storm to hit Jerusalem in decades!

Article: The defendant names himself Bobby Thompson. Police say he is John Cody, a Harvard law grad. He apparently has several different identities. Yesterday, a judge sentenced him to a 28 year prison sentence and $6 million fine for his role in looting and defrauding the US Navy Veterans Association, a $100 million Navy veterans throughout 41 states. The police caught Thompson using military fingerprint records; when the police arrested Thompson, he had fake IDs and a suitcase with nearly a $1 million in cash.

Discussion:

• Thompson used to run a national charity foundation. He is going to jail for stealing from the charity. Most of the money will never be recovered. Name all the types of people and companies his actions have hurt. (Navy veterans; people who are hesitant to give to charity now; his organization, etc.)
• How did he probably steal this money and get away with it for so long? 
• How did police use fingerprints to locate him? Name other ways they could have done it. 
• Do you think his punishment fits the crime? 

Professors Association Endorses Boycott of Israel

Article: The American Studies Association, an association of American professors with roughly 5,000 members, voted today to boycott Israeli colleges and universities. This makes it the largest academic group in the U.S. to endorse such a boycott and move to isolate Israel, ostensibly for Israel's treatment of Palestinians. Only about a quarter of its members voted on the resolution. If effective (dependent on individual universities and colleges), no American school or academic group will collaborate with an Israeli institution. Individual Israelis can still lecture at American universities and do research but only as long as they forswear allegiance to Israeli government policies. The American Studies Association has not previously boycotted any other nation.

Discussion:

• Why are people who love Israel worried about this boycott? 
• Why is it wrong that the association, which does not boycott any other nation in the world (including Iran and Syria!), boycotts Israel for "human rights violations"? 
• If you were an Israeli professor, why would this make you worried? 
• What can be done about this? 

Learning Hebrew in America

Article: Recent studies have shown that few Americans know Hebrew. While 52% of American Jews know the Hebrew alphabet, only 10% can speak conversational Hebrew. Of those who attend Jewish day school, only 1/3 say they can speak Hebrew. This is a problem because assimilation in America is high and studies find that when someone knows a language, they feel more connected to that culture. Reasons for this gap are many: Jewish day school education costs a lot of money; many Hebrew teachers are simply Israelis without any training on how to teach; there isn't an emphasis in many day schools on learning to speak Hebrew. Solutions for this are many: a new organization, the Hebrew Language Council of North America, is trying to standardize Hebrew teaching and train uniformly Hebrew teachers. Camp Ramah (Nyack) is piloting a program that makes kids conversant after a summer. Many charter schools are trying to teach Hebrew language at more affordable prices than day schools.

Discussion:

• Why is it important for Jewish kids to know Hebrew? 
• If you know Hebrew, where are you likely to visit in your travels? (Israel) How will you feel when you speak to locals there? How does this help forge a Jewish identity? 
• Why is it hard to learn Hebrew in America? 
• What are ways to make learning Hebrew easier? 

just 52 percent of American Jews know the Hebrew alphabet and only 10 percent can carry on a conversation in Hebrew. Even among those who attended yeshiva or Jewish day school, the numbers are scarcely better, with only one-third saying they can converse in Hebrew. The number rises to 64 percent for those with 10 years or more of day school education.

NEW YORK (JTA) — For the first 3 1/2 weeks of the summer, one group of 5-year-olds at Ramah Day Camp in Nyack, N.Y., was “very quiet” as the children went about the typical camp activities, according to Amy Skopp Cooper, the camp’s director.

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But in the fourth week, the talking started — in Israeli-accented Hebrew.

By the end of the summer, evaluations revealed that most of the 20 children — all of whom had started out as Hebrew novices — “had gone up multiple levels” in their Hebrew proficiency, Cooper said.

The campers were participants in a pilot Hebrew immersion program at the Jewish day camp 25 miles north of Manhattan. And if leaders of a new group promoting Hebrew literacy have their way, those campers will soon be joined by many others.

The Hebrew Language Council of North America, which held its inaugural conference last month in New Jersey, aims to make Hebrew a more central part of American Jewish culture. Established by a partnership among several organizations including the World Zionist Organization and the Israeli Ministry of Education, the council is launching as growing numbers of Jewish educational programs are rethinking their approach to teaching Hebrew and as signs emerge of low Hebrew literacy among American Jews.

“Judaism is not just a religion, it’s a people,” said Arnee Winshall, CEO of Hebrew at the Center, one of the groups involved in starting the council. “We talk a lot about ‘Am Yisrael’ [the people of Israel], and a language is part of what distinguishes a people.”

Many Jewish educators consider Hebrew a core feature of Jewish identity building. But according to the Pew Research Center’s recent study of American Jewry, just 52 percent of American Jews know the Hebrew alphabet and only 10 percent can carry on a conversation in Hebrew. Even among those who attended yeshiva or Jewish day school, the numbers are scarcely better, with only one-third saying they can converse in Hebrew. The number rises to 64 percent for those with 10 years or more of day school education.

Experts variously attribute the low numbers to poor teaching, lack of clarity about why Hebrew language acquisition is important and the few opportunities to speak Hebrew in American Jewish life.

‘Unless you’re really committed, it’s not easy’

“We know many if not most day schools claim to be interested in [conversational] Hebrew proficiency, but the reality is they face limited time and unless you’re really committed, it’s not easy,” said Jonathan Woocher, president of the Lippman Kanfer Foundation for Living Torah and a longtime CEO of the now-shuttered Jewish Education Service of North America.

Day school directors face a “dilemma about where to put the emphasis and resources and how to deal with the fact that except for Israelis, there isn’t a community of active Hebrew speakers in America,” Woocher said.

The emergence in the past six years of publicly funded Hebrew charter schools may help change the equation. There are now 10 such schools in the United States teaching Hebrew language and Jewish culture, but like all public schools they are prohibited from teaching Jewish religion.

The schools are “forcing us to up our game,” said Rabbi Andrew Davids, head of Beit Rabban, a small, nondenominational Jewish day school in Manhattan now revamping its Hebrew curriculum in consultation with Winshall’s Hebrew at the Center, a six-year-old organization recently brought under the auspices of Middlebury College in Vermont.

‘We don’t want Hebrew to be the reason they leave’

Davids said four Beit Rabban families transferred their children to a new Hebrew charter school in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood this year. And while he recognizes his school can never compete with the free tuition of a charter school, Davids said he wants to make sure his school can offer a Hebrew program as good as the charter school.

“We don’t want Hebrew to be the reason they leave,” Davids said.

The new council joins a number of Hebrew teaching efforts that have been percolating for the past decade.

In addition to Ramah Nyack, several other Jewish camps have experimented with Hebrew immersion. In Chicago, a program called Moadon Kol Chadash (New Voice Lounge) offers Hebrew-immersion Jewish preschool. And seven suburban public high schools, with support from the Jewish nonprofit Shorashim, are offering Hebrew-language courses.

Hebrew at the Center (HATC), a 6-year-old organization that recently partnered with Middlebury College in Vermont to create the Middlebury-HATC Institute for the Advancement of Hebrew Language, has helped train teachers for many of the programs. The Middlebury-HATC Institute is launching master’s and doctoral programs to train Hebrew teachers and support scholarly research.

Most Hebrew teachers in the United States have had little formal training and many Jewish day schools recruit local Israelis

Until now, Winshall said, most Hebrew teachers in the United States have had little formal training and many Jewish day schools recruit local Israelis with little expertise in teaching language.

The Hebrew Language Council is planning to sponsor an annual three-day Hebrew language and Israeli culture conference; form a professional association for Hebrew teachers in North America; convene an online forum for sharing information about various Hebrew programs; and raise money for Hebrew education initiatives.

“We have to bring under one umbrella all the people who care about Hebrew,” said Simcha Leibovich, the World Zionist Organization representative in North America.

While Winshall knows of no studies showing the impact of Hebrew literacy on Jewish identity, she said there is significant research on how language mastery influences a sense of connection to the culture in which that language is spoken.

“When I spent a year-and-a-half in Israel, I had a different experience than my other American friends there who couldn’t speak Hebrew or could only function at the lowest level,” Winshall said. “I was invited to different things because people said they didn’t want to always worry about speaking English.”

Obituary: Nelson Mandela (1918-2013)

Sorry for not posting for a few days--I had a big work deadline to meet. 

Now let's get back to current events!

Article: Last week, Nelson Mandela passed away at age 95. Nelson Mandela is remembered for having guided South Africa from apartheid to a multi-racial democracy. He was buried in South Africa, in his ancestral village. Born July 18, 1918, he was the son of a leading man in his tribe, destined to be a great man in his tribe. Instead, he became a lawyer and decided to fight apartheid, advocating armed resistance to apartheid and forming an armed wing to do that. He was later imprisoned for plotting to overthrow the government and sentenced to life imprisonment. He was jailed for nearly 30 years, being freed when apartheid fell. He then became South Africa's first black president in 1994. In 1993, he received the Nobel Peace Prize. He made reconciliation a huge part of his presidency, bringing together the whites and black of South Africa. For instance, he created the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which investigated apartheid crimes and tried to heal wounds, providing a model for other countries. Unfortunately, Mandela's legacy is not a perfect one. He was anti-Israel, equating Israel with apartheid. For that, his record has a blemish.

Hezbollah Official Killed by Whom?

Article: A senior Hezbollah operative was gunned down by unknown gunmen as he got into his car in Beirut yesterday. Iran and Hezbollah blame Israel. The slain man, al-Laqqis, was a leader in developing Hezbollah's technological capabilities, in developing Hezbollah's aerial warfare, and in smuggling weapons to Gaza and Egypt (to be used against Israel). They claim Israel did it because it was a highly professional job--gunmen killed him at close range with a silent gun in front of his house.

Discussion:

• We spoke about Hezbollah in the last two weeks. What do you remember about the discussion? (It was the current event about Nasrallah's body armor and bodyguards). 
• What do you remember about who Hezbollah is and who funds them? (Terrorists; bad guys; Iran)
• If Israel did this, why did they do it and why won't Israel admit it? Why does Iran/Hezbollah blame Israel? 
• If Israel did this, how was this highly dangerous for the Israeli soldiers who killed al-Laqqis an? How do they escape from Lebanon now? 

Haredi Israeli Boy Imprisoned for Evading Army Draft

Article: You may recall that in past current events, we discussed how the Tal Law in Israel has been abolished, which used to grant a blanket deferment for all Haredi boys from serving in the Israeli army; it was part of a historical compromise between Prime Minister Ben Gurion and the ultra-orthodox at Israel's founding. Since the law's nullification, haredi boys have started to be drafted. This week, an Israeli boy, Moshe from Petach Tikvah Yeshiva, was drafted into the Israeli army. He ignored several conscription notices. So this week, the Israeli army imprisoned him for 14 days. In response 700 haredi men staged peaceful demonstrations outside the prison.

Discussion:

• Memory question: what do you remember about the Tal Law in Israel/about haredi Israeli boys being drafted into the army. 
• What is a peaceful demonstration v. non-peaceful. Can think of examples of current non-peaceful demonstrations we've spoken about? (Egypt, Iran, Syria)
• Why was Moshe put into prison? What does it mean to "set an example?" 
• What do you think should happen to haredi boys regarding army service? 

2003 Blackout: lessons Learned

Article: In 2003, there was a surprise blackout across much of northeast America and Canada, shutting down the power grid. The immediate concern was people stranded in elevators in skyscrapers and underground in the subways. Everyone was told to get home however they can. In New York, people walked miles home or hitched rides with "good Samaritans." Random people took on the job of manning intersections, acting as traffic lights, and directing traffic. It took 29 hours for the power to get back on. 11 ppl died and cost $6 billion dollars in losses. It's now thought that the blackout was caused by an undetected and overworked power line, which hit a tree; this put too much pressure on other power lines and eventually led to a power grid shutdown.

Personal take: This blackout occurred 3 days after I got married, while I was living in NY. We were supposed to have a "shevah brachot" that night at a friend's apartment. Instead, we walked home from work (miles away) and the shevah brachot became a candles-only BBQ on the rooftop of a friend's apartment building. The city was eerily black that night and everyone, surprisingly, was really helpful to each other.

Discussion:

• What is a power grid? (Look outside and find one; note the wires connecting grid to grid)
• What does it mean to be a good Samaritan? How are ways one can be a good Samaritan in a crisis?
• Who is responsible for the blackout crisis? (The power co that didn't tree trim the trees around the original power line, though they weren't fined until years later)
• What can we learn from the blackout? (They now try to have government accountability for power companie.s) We still don't know why the power grid was so powerful. Now we try to stop blackouts before they start by monitoring the systems.

People Cheating and Riding the Subway for Free?

Article: We have a subway/light-rail line in LA; some of you may even have ridden on it. One problem with it is that at some stations, it is easy to get on the train without paying. At some stations, there are no turnstiles or gates; it is easy to enter without paying. It relies almost entirely on the honor system now. This could mean a loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars a month in lost revenue to the city. Another problem is that there is free transfers between rail-link systems, meaning that the city has to keep turnstiles unlocked to accommodate the transfers. The majority of stations won't lock their turnstiles because the stations are too small to accommodate turnstiles or they would sit too close to tracks. Metro contracts with the police department for security and to inspect for fares. But adding gates will cost $3.1 million, which would be made up in 7 years.

Discussion:

• Have you ever been on a subway? If so, how do you pay? How do you get on the train? 
• What does honor code mean? How does that apply in this article? How does it work at school? 
• Why are the biggest problems facing LA in this article?