Jewish Traveler Saved Because He Chose to Keep Shabbat

Article: This week, a Malaysian airplane has disappeared. Everyone is looking for what happened to it. Amazingly, one of the people supposed to be on the flight was saved because he chose to keep Shabbat. Andrew was supposed to travel from Boston to Sydney, Hong Kong, Beijing, Vietnam and back to Australia. He was supposed to attend a conference in China on Saturday. His travel agent, a religious Jew, suggested changing his flight from Saturday to Friday, so he wouldn't travel on Shabbat. When Andrew refused, the travel agent told Andrew to rebook the flight himself. Andrew reconsidered and decided to observe the Shabbat, traveling Friday morning instead of Saturday. He asked the travel agent on recommendations of where to go for Shabbat in Beijing and the travel agent recommended Chabad. If he hadn't made this change, Andrew would have been on the flight that disappeared into the mountains. When he thanked the travel agent, the travel agent said "God and Shabbat were your life savers," not me. Or as a famous quote goes, "More than the Jews keep the Sabbath, the Sabbath keeps the Jews."

Girls Not Getting Equal Education Globally

Article: A recent report issued by UNESCO (the UN) has found that the Arab world is among the most unequal places when it comes to gender and education. For instance, it found that 100 million women were unable to read a single sentence. In the Arab world, only 60% of girls go to school, mainly for cultural reasons. If a family is poor and can only afford to send some of the kids, they will likely send the boys only because the boys are expected to work and make money for the family. In other areas, like Syria, where there is civil war, parents are less likely to let girls go to school and maybe get hurt by strange men running around the neighborhood (to parents: sexual abuse). Because fewer girls go to school, fewer women become teachers, when the Arab world is desperate for more female teachers. Iran and Turkey are ahead of most of the other Middle Eastern countries in this regard. To help things progress, some countries are giving stipends to families for sending their girls to school or providing scholarships or recruiting teachers to rural areas.




 

Government Acts as a Bully

Article: Lots of people like to take vacations on cruise ships. Part of the joy is all you do is show up; the ship organizes where you stop, where you tour, even what you eat. Some Israeli tourists were recently on a cruise going around the Mediterranean. When the Norwegian cruise line stopped at the Port of Tunis to visit Tunisia, Israeli tourists were denied the right to disembark from the ship by the Tunisian government. While the other tourists toured the city of Tunis, the Israelis had to stay on board. The cruise line claims they didn't know this would happen; the other Jewish passengers--not Israeli citizens--did disembark and didn't know the Israelis were being denied, since no public announcement was made.

Discussion

• How do you think the Israeli passengers felt? 
• What could the cruise ship have done differently to stop this and send a message? The cruise ship could have told the Tunisian government that if Israelis (i.e., one nationality) was being denied, no one would disembark and they would sail away. 
• Why would this have made a difference to Tunisia? (loss of revenue and future business) 

Nigeria and Israel Sign Bilateral Cooperation Deal

Article: This past weekend, Nigeria (have kids find on map) and Israel signed a Joint Declaration for Bilateral Cooperation on Agriculture. The purpose of this agreement is to help Nigeria learn from Israel's research-based technology-driven agricultural practices. Nigeria hopes that this will make food more secure and sustainable in Nigeria, boost productivity at all levels of the agricultural chain and improve knowledge about agriculture. It plans to pass information directly onto Nigerian farmers and businesspeople so they can put it to good use. Israel benefits because Nigeria is a large market for Israeli private sector companies. The two countries have cooperated for several decades.

Discussions:

• Describe how this deal helps both Israel and Nigeria.
• How do two countries sign a treaty/cooperation agreement? Go through the process on how this comes about. 
• What are examples of things Israel can teach Nigeria? (Drip irrigation techniques, how to treat crops using natural methods (like tumeric); how to do cross-pollination of crops to naturally get rid of pests without using pesticides, etc.)

Update to Gold Coin Current Event: Stolen??

Article: Last week, we did a current event about a California couple finding gold coins. [Ask kids to recall the story.] Well, there's an update: It turns out that the couple may not be lucky after all. The buried gold coins, valued at $10 million, may actually have been stolen from the US Government (The Mint) in 1900! According to a local newspaper, two facts about the coins -- their literal value of $27,000 and that they are mostly uncirculated coins in perfect condition, match the two details from a gold heist in 1900 from the San Francisco Mint! In particular, there is one coin in the mix that is extremely rare because it is a $20 gold piece without the words "In God We Trust" on it. Such a coin only existed at the SF Mint and never left it until the robbery. If this is all true, the couple would likely get a "finder's fee," but would have to return the coins.

Questions:

• If this is true, who do the coins belong to and why? Why don't they belong to the couple? 
• What will the US Government have to prove to get the coins back? 
• Why does it matter that one of the coins is missing the words "In God We Trust?" 
• What does "uncirculated" mean? Why is this a significant fact?  

Obituary: Alice Herz-Sommer, died at age 110, oldest living Pianist and Holocaust survivor

First, before today's current event, I want to post the best question from our current event discussion last night (recap: what is the best question a judge could ask to determine whether the parents or girl are telling the truth). Best question was: To the parents, have you changed your alarm system? Please feel free to email me or comment below on what was the best question from your discussion!

Today's Article: Alice Herz-Sommer died last week at 110. She was the oldest living pianist and Holocaust survivor. Her incredible story, made into a documentary, just won a 2014 Oscar for Best Short Documentary, "The Lady in Number 6." Click here for the movie's trailer.
Ms. Herz-Sommer was born in Prague. She had 4 siblings, including a twin sister and was known as Gigi. She began learning piano at age 6 was a notable concert pianist by age 16. Her family lost all their fortune in WWI and suffered great deprivation. She married Leopold Sommer, a violinist, had a son, and was quite happy, when the Holocaust came. Her husband died in Germany. She was imprisoned in Terezin with her 6 year old son. She survived in part because she was a pianist and played concerts at the camp. After the war, she moved to Israel and taught music, as well as performed. Her son, Raphael, became a virtuoso cellist. They moved together to London in 1986, where he performed and taught. He died at the age of 64. She lived the rest of her life in London, swam every day, attended philosophy classes, and attributed her long life to her optimism and music. (She said pessimists have too much tension in their bodies, so they die earlier). She said the most important lesson she learned in life is to know the difference between what is important and what is not important. She is survived by two grandsons, David and Ariel Sommer.

  

Paying for Kids? Do Parents Have a Responsibility?

Article: In New Jersey, a girl has moved out of her parents home and has sued her parents in court, demanding they pay for her private Catholic high school tuition, living and transportation costs, and put funds aside for her college fund. According to her parents, the girl moved out on her own, after refusing to do chores or keep curfew. She just wants her parents to pay her bills while she lives elsewhere and doesn't have to abide by their rules. The girl is living at her best friend's house. She claims her parents kicked her out when she turned 18. The girl is a senior honor student and cheerleader.

Discussion:

• Who do you think is right? Defend both the parents and the girl. 
• If you were the judge, what questions would you ask? What would you decide? What further evidence would you need?