Happy Passover!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Passover! 

This will be my last blog entry until just after Passover. 

I'll resume on Tuesday, May 6. 

Check in again in May for new current events!

Until then, here's two new Fountainhead videos for Passover; one of them is even interactive!

Dayenu and (the interactive one) Escape from Egypt

Enjoy and Pesach Sameach!

Israel Company Helps Save People from a Tsunami in Chile!

Article: In 2011, an Israeli company, eVigilo, won an international bid to create an emergency system in Chile to notify people. Last week, it paid off. An earthquake hit Chile, creating a tsunami. The government was able to send text messages to millions of Chileans within seconds, using eVigilo's system, telling them of the approaching Tsunami and warning them to leave their homes. As a result, millions were ok. In contrast, in 2010, before such a system, 560 people were killed in Chile from a earthquake/tsunami that they weren't warned about in time. The company is also installing uses such systems in Singapore, Azerbaijan, Austria, Belgium and Israel, sending text messages to populations in specific locations due to emergency situations.
Question: think of where you live. What is an example of how this could be useful in your community?

 

The $45 Million Viola

Article: A Stradivari viola, the most expensive instrument in the world, is up for sale this spring at auction house Sotheby's, for $45 million! If it sells for that price, it will surpass all previous records for musical instrument sales. A previous Stradivari violin sold in 2011 for $15.9 million. Reasons the viola is so valuable: while Stradivari made 600 violins, only 10 of his violas have survived; Stradivari's work is considered at its best between 1700 and 1720, when this viola was made;  its one of the best Stradivaris preserved in instance; one of the most famous violinists of the 20th century played it for over 25 years, Peter Schidlof of the Amadeus Quartet in England. Even so, it is a very high price and will likely fall into private hands. If that happens, the viola may never be seen again. (Kids: why?) The auction will be a closed--so bidders won't know how much other bidders are bidding for. How much do you think the winning price will be?

To hear what the $45 million viola sounds like, click here.

Should Anti-Israel Groups Get to Walk in NY's Israel Day Parade?

NOTE: My daughter has expressed interest in posting comments on the current events we do, similar to the "comments" section after regular news articles on the web. So I've encouraged her to post in the "Comments Box" below my blog entries. Please feel free to encourage your kids to post comments or opinions as well in the Comments Box, as a safe place for them to begin experimenting with being part of a global news community. 

Article: Every year in the spring, New York shuts down its leading avenue, 5th Avenue, and holds an Israel Day Parade. Schools and synagogues from all over the area come to march in the parade and show support for Israel. Thousands come out to march and cheer. This year, a leading Sephardi Rabbi in New York, Rabbi Abadie, has written to the JCRC, the group organizing the parade, stating that the Sephardic congregations will all pull out of the parade unless Jewish groups that support the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement (BDS) are barred from marching. According to his reasoning, groups that are calling for the dismantling of Israel should not be allowed to march in a parade supporting Israel. As evidence, he points to one of the groups, such as the New Israel Fund, which he claims openly funds anti-Israel activity and boycotts. So far the JCRC hasn't responded. Should anti-Israel Jewish groups be allowed to march in the Israel Day parade? Argue for/against each position. 

Click here for a video of last year's Israel day parade to get a sense of the scene.  

Supreme Court Changes Campaign Finance Limits

Article: This week, a divided Supreme Court ruled on the legal limits of campaign contributions. (Kids: what does "campaign contributions" mean?) Until now, there have been two kinds of limits on campaign contributions: (1) the max amount you can give to a candidate, political party or political action committee during an election season and (2) in an election cycle, you can donate no more than $48,600 to all candidates combined and no more than $74,600 to all political parties and political action committees combined. A businessman disputed this second type, saying it interfered with his first amendment right to give to as many political candidates he wanted. The Court agreed, saying that the right to campaign contributions is a basic democratic right protected by the first amendment. The only type of restrictions Congress can make is if the contribution is a type of bribery, a direct exchange of money for an official service.
Kids: pretend you're the lawyers. Argue each side. Who do you think should have won?

River Returns to the Desert

As we discussed a few weeks ago, California is in the severest droughts we have had in 500 years. Israel also suffers from drought issues. Yet recent desert storms in Israel's Negev have created something miraculous--a riverbed, once dry, has now been brought back to life. Watch this video gone viral, of water returning and making a river where it was once dry. It has already gotten half a million views!

To discuss:

• For religious Jews, what blessing do we say between Sukkot and Pesach to bring water to Israel? How has it worked for the Negev this year? 
• Notice the color of the river in the video. Why is it that color? 
• Why is water so important to us? What do we need it for? 

Israel Solar Panel Robots!

Article: Israel has been enjoying cheap natural gas for the first time in its existence, thanks to major gas finds in the Mediterranean Sea adjoining Israel. But last week, Israel also got a boost in solar energy. (Question for Kids: what is solar energy? How does it work?) At Kibbutz Ketura, they have created the world's first solar energy production facility what is cleaned by 100 Israel-made robots! Every night, the robots brush and clean the hundreds of solar panels. The solar panels are important because they generate millions of hours of electricity per year. However, cleaning them is a big deal and have been a reason people have been hesitant to install them. Solar panels not only attract sun but dust; the dust alone can reduce the solar panels' effectiveness by up to 35%. In the past, cleaning them could take up to 5 days, and used up a lot of water. But the robots use microfiber, can clean much faster, and can be programmed to clean as a team or individually. Now Israel's Knesset, parliament, is planning on installing solar panels on its roof to generate all the power it needs in a project called, "Green Knesset."