Monday, May 6, 2013

Rav Bakshi-Doron: Required to get transplant from person with AIDS if no alternative

For full story see Srugim




Suck Your Child's Pacifier to Cut Allergy Risk

Medpage Today   Parents who suck on their child's pacifier to clean it may be inadvertently reducing that child's risk of developing allergies, researchers found.

At age 18 months, children born to parents who said they cleaned their child's pacifier with their mouths were less likely than those born to parents who cleaned the pacifier in other ways to have asthma (odds ratio 0.12, 95% CI 0.01 to 0.99) and eczema (OR 0.37, 95% CI 0.15 to 0.91), according to Bill Hesselmar, MD, PhD, of Queen Silvia Children's Hospital in Gothenburg, Sweden, and colleagues.

At age 36 months, the association remained for eczema (HR 0.51, 95% CI 0.26 to 0.98), but not for asthma, the researchers reported online in Pediatrics.

The findings suggest that the transfer of oral microbes from the parent to the infant could be responsible for modifying the allergy risk, and indeed, the make-up of the bacteria in the infants' saliva distinguished between those with parents who did and did not suck on their child's pacifier. [...]

Yair Lapid's Fascinating 20 minutes in the Knesset, Part 2 by RaP

Guest Post by RaP The media and PR repercussions from the by-now watershed appearance by Yair Lapid in the Knesset youtube are still being discussed and analyzed. The Charedi press is portraying it as a manifestation of doom and gloom and part of the new "decrees" that Charedim are being subjected to, even though not just Charedim but many other sectors will see cuts in funding. Lapid faced a torrent of attacks from the Ashkenazi Charedi Degel HaTorah faction Knesset party members, particularly Rabbis Gafni, Porush, Litzman and Eichler who are all very skilled debaters of the OLD  SCHOOL in their own right but somehow came across as the "losers" in the face-off with Lapid because they were not ready for the ambush he laid for them: A suave TV and media personality acting in the role of "ringmaster" who deliberately unleashes an act that he knows will unfold with screaming and shouting. Lapid junior does not ooze the evident anger and hostility of the old-timer Lapid senior who came across as a vengeful old man. Lapid the younger is your typical Israeli yuppie who are tired of the Charedim making demands of the Israeli nanny state. Western countries are all broke now, and Israel is headed in the same direction willy-nilly if it does not save itself now.

What the Degel HaTorah party members, and the other Charedim who are there, do not realize is that the role of the Knesset has changed. Just like the American political conventions, it is now all about theater and not substance, and the better showman aware of the best angles and prepared with the sharpest soundbites wins. Real deals are made off-camera behind closed doors, board-room style, but PUBLIC OPINION is always up for grabs. That is how Ronald Reagan buried Jimmy Carter, even though Carter had the reputedly genius IQ while the less sharp Reagan knew how to position himself in front of the camera and came equipped with his amusing catchy quotes and was the obvious master of how and when to deliver them with the most devastating effect AS THE TV CAMERAS WERE ROLLING.

Charedim MUST wake up to the new reality of what they are up against. PR people and kiruv type "salesmen" are now needed. Let's see Rabbis like Berel Wein (a former lawyer) or Uri Zohar (a former TV star) who WITH  WIT  AND  HUMOR know how to confront and deal with hostile questions that are meant to attack Yiddishkeit.

The recent news that the Sefardi Shas party will now be headed by Aryeh Deri, re-appointed by the Sefardi gedolim, is an indication that on some level there are expectations that "the good old days" can somehow be restored and the gravy train will somehow start rolling again. That is a strategic mistake. It's a new situation now that calls for new responses and so far the Charedi parties are falling back on old credos and personas to "get things done" but as the confrontation with Lapid shows, nothing will get done beyond tantrums and throwbacks to names from the past, to somehow bring back the "good old days"! But those days are gone now. They will not be back for a very long time. As they say, "that was then, this is now"!

Charedim will have to learn to STOP asking secular people, many of them are in fact NON-Jews Halachicaly, for financial bailouts. Charedim have enough numbers in Israel and enough leadership to begin to map out a strategy of INDEPENDENCE from the Chilonim. Just as the old Yishuv prior to 1948 while still under British Mandate rule, under occupation of a vast force of British soldiers and police, had to start to figure out how they would live independently without the British -- and secular Israeli Jews will have to learn, just as the British had to learn that they could never force the Jews to bend to their will by threats of military force or government decrees or even imprisonment of the Jewish leaders.

That is why Charedim need to come up with plans to establish PR teams who understand what PUBLIC OPINION is and how to use the media and the CAMERA and not just rely on old-fashioned beis medrash style "debates between chavrusas" that are great for the milchamta shel Torah but comes across as a "barbaric" tactic when up against the super-cool Lapid, who is not even that heated up against religion, as he tells it, while the Charedim seem like they are the ones that hate everyone when they scream away in front of cameras that then broadcast it all over the net and the world.

See how Yair Lapid responds to his treatment in this article that he has published himself, it is VERY hard to refute what he has to say here:
http://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/opinions/thats-just-how-it-is-in-the-knesset/2013/05/01/0/

The Jewish Press: " 'That's Just How It Is In the Knesset'
Rabbi Gafni is a complex person. Most of the time in the plenum he acts haughty, but the moment he is away from the cameras he becomes a sweet, reasonable person.
By: Yair Lapid
(
Last week, a few minutes after my stormy exchange with haredi members of Knesset, I went to what we in the Knesset call the “back cafeteria.” It is not exactly a cafeteria but rather a lounge area behind the plenum where members of Knesset alone can enter.
There are couches and chairs, a smoking room, an espresso machine, and a large plasma TV that broadcasts the Knesset channel. This is the place where Knesset members can rest a little, gossip, close deals, and even develop friendships far from the public eye.

I took a coffee and sat with two fellow Yesh Atid MKs, Rena Frenkel and Yifat Kariv, who were still short of breath from the emotions that had just been unleashed in the plenum. After a minute, UTJ MK Rabbi Moshe Gafni, whom I had engaged in most of the debate, appeared next to us.

Gafni is a complex person. Most of the time in the plenum he acts haughty, attacking and shouting – a “hero of interruptions” who is equipped, as I mentioned from the podium, with a very strong pair of lungs that enable him to deafen you without a microphone.

But the moment he is away from the cameras he becomes a sweet, reasonable person whom you can come to agreements with regarding laws and committee work. In my eyes, and apparently in his as well, this is not duplicitous. When one is in the plenum, one is a representative of the public. When one is in the back cafeteria, one can be a human being.

“You are making a mistake, Rabbi Gafni,” I told him.

“Regarding what?” he asked.

“Regarding the debate.”

“Why?”

“Listen,” I said. “Tomorrow I am ascending the stage at the National Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv to give my first comprehensive speech as finance minister. I am going to present the principles of the economic policies I plan to present to the government, to provide details regarding my vision for Israeli society, and to explain for the first time the reforms the finance ministry is planning to pass in the Economic Arrangement Law. ”

“So what was the mistake?” Gafni asked.

“The mistake,” I answered, “is that from every perspective it would be better for me to present this speech in the Knesset. In my view, it is more democratic and more fitting that members of Knesset be the first to hear from the finance minister regarding his financial program rather than reading about it the next day in the newspaper.”
“You are very right,” said Gafni, “so why don’t you do that?”

“Because your faction won’t let me even complete the first sentence,” I said. “We both know precisely what will happen. I will start to speak, you will begin to scream, and I won’t succeed in explaining anything. An economic plan is complex and it deserves to have a real discourse and thoughtful dialogue based on facts and realities. I need twenty-five minutes to explain the budget and I don’t think it is too much to ask MKs to listen with seriousness and without interruptions for twenty-five minutes to something that will set the course for the country’s economy.

“If you would agree to give me this opportunity, I am prepared to sit afterward for six straight hours, to listen to your side regarding every detail in the budget, to take notes, and to look into every issue with seriousness and in good faith.”

“It doesn’t work that way,” said Gafni.

“Why not?”

“Because that’s just how it is in the Knesset.”

“What kind of answer is that? If that is so, then we need to change it.”
“It won’t work.”

“But don’t you agree with me,” I insisted, “that this is how it should work? That this will bring honor to the Knesset and to ourselves?”

“It could be,” Gafni said with hesitation.

“So I want to challenge you,” I said. “Go to the members of the opposition and get them organized. Tell them the time has come to change the rules of the game and create a new discourse. We will establish a couple of hours without interruptions from the floor and I will listen to you and you will listen to me. Perhaps a dialogue will emerge that will make us better. Want to try?”

“I’ll get back to you,” Gafni said with a smile.

Of course he never got back to me, and it appears he won’t. What a shame. It could be different, and “that’s just how it is in the Knesset” is a weak excuse for us not to be able to restore the lost honor of our scarred parliament."

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Abuse case that rocked Lakewood goes to trial after 6 years

Asbury Park Press    In a tight-knit community of people accustomed to handling problems among themselves, one young boy bucked the trend.

He accused a Yeshiva teacher and camp counselor of molesting him, and when a religious council of Orthodox Jews failed to take action against the man, the boy and his family went to athe Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office for help.

Because they skirted religious protocols, the boy and his family were ostracized by their community. Some in the community even embarked on a campaign to get the boy and his father to drop the criminal charges.

And, a flier was circulated in Lakewood saying the boy’s father made a “mockery” of the Torah and committed a “terrible deed” by going to the secular authorities.

But the family stood its ground. Now, six years after the alleged abuse occurred, the man accused of molesting the boy is set to go on trial in a case that likely is to be closely watched by Lakewood’s Orthodox Jewish community.

Jury selection began Wednesday for the trial of Yosef Kolko, who was working as a camp counselor at Yachad, a summer camp at the Yeshiva Bais Hatorah School on Swarthmore Avenue in Lakewood when he met the victim. Kolko also was a teacher at Yeshiva Orchos Chaim in Lakewood.

Kolko, 39, of Geffen Drive in Lakewood is accused of sexually abusing the boy between September 2007 and February 2009, when the victim was 11 and 12 years old. Kolko is charged with aggravated sexual assault, attempted aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault and child endangerment.[...]

Saturday, May 4, 2013

Israeli doctors reverse stroke damage - after 20 years - with oxygen


The video described treatment done at at Assaf HaRofeh Medical Center located near Tel Aviv.

The following pages from their website should provide basic information. They say though that treatment requires referral by your doctor but they are involved in "medical tourism"


http://www.assafh.org/sites/en/Pages/default.aspx

http://www.hyperbaric-oxygen-info.com/hyperbaric-oxygen-info.html

http://www.hyperbaric-oxygen-info.com/assaf-harofeh.html

Friday, May 3, 2013

Rabbi Dr. Twerski: My Own Struggle with Low Self-Esteem

 This a related to the previous post Pandemic of low self-esteem in yeshivos
READ TRANSCRIPT

Why most sexual abuse is not reported - in all communities

YNet   "I understand why women are afraid of complaining and want to carry on with their lives peacefully. The journey I underwent after filing a sexual harassment complaint was torture by all means" says Sigal, 48, who was sexually harassed for months by one of her managers at work.  

The Emanuel Rosen case revealed many alleged sexual harassment testimonies, but no official complaints have been filed as of yet.

According to The Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel, since the case's breakout, there has been a sharp increase in complaints at the centers. Experts in the field agree that the law against sexual harassment in Israel is one of the most progressive in the world, but even the liberal legislation has not changed the reality in which only a minority of those harassed have the courage to complain. How could the situation be changed and victims aided and protected? [...]

Teens today are more materialistic but less interested in work - than teens of 30 years ago

Scientific American   [...] today’s adolescents seem to want more in the way of worldly goods than did teens 30 years ago, and they don’t really want to work for it.

That’s according to a study published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. [Jean M. Twenge and Tim Kasser, Generational Changes in Materialism and Work Centrality, 1976-2007: Associations With Temporal Changes in Societal Insecurity and Materialistic Role Modeling]

Lapid vs Gafni: Issur of Maaseh Shabbos by Rabbi Yair Hoffman

Five Towns Jewish Times   It was a bizarre exchange last Monday between Israel’s new finance minister, Yair Lapid, and Moshe Gafni, Member of Knesset for the Degel HaTorah party, who is now in the opposition. Gafni attacked Lapid for posting on Facebook on Shabbos. Lapid responded, “I’m entitled to send messages on Shabbat. I do not keep Shabbat. I don’t tell you what to do on Shabbat, you don’t tell me what to do on Shabbat. I don’t ask you, what does this say? I am entitled to post on Facebook whenever I want.” (The exchange can be found 17 minutes at youtube).

Seemingly, Moshe Gafni wished to score some political points with his constituency by pointing out that Lapid had posted on Facebook on Shabbos. In a sense, Gafni may be benefiting from Lapid’s Facebook post on Shabbos. The question is whether what MK Gafni did is halachically permitted. He must have seen the Lapid post in order to use it against him. Does this constitute benefiting from the by-product of a Shabbos violation—something called “maaseh Shabbos”?

To answer this question, we will begin with a general overview of maaseh Shabbos and then apply it specifically to the case of Gafni and Lapid.

The term “maaseh Shabbos” is, unfortunately, not one that is well known in Torah-observant circles, but it is a concept with enormous halachic ramifications. Literally, it means the by-products of Shabbos violation. If someone had, chas v’shalom, violated Shabbos by cooking, sewing, carrying, or planting, what is the halachic status of the product of his Shabbos violation? May it be used by him? What about by others? Does it make a difference if he actually did it for the others as well? If so, is it forever forbidden to them? [...]

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Meir Dascalowitz gets 5 years for assault in mikve

NY Daily News      A man who sexually assaulted a Brooklyn boy in a Jewish bath house was sentenced to five years in prison Wednesday after hearing his unforgiving victim blame him for ruining his life.

 Meir Dascalowitz, 29, had pleaded guilty to abusing the boy beginning when he was 12 and continuing for about a year. But before his sentencing, he got a chance to hear the impact of his repulsive acts.

"I will never forgive to you for the things you did to me," the now 17-year-old boy wrote in a letter read in Brooklyn Supreme Court. "You ruined my life."

"I have been hurt and this hurt will continue throughout my life," the victim continued, revealing that he had been kicked out of school and lost friends after reporting the abuse to authorities. [...]

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Free-Rider Problem - Collateral damage of receiving free services

Guest Post by David Held (Learned at Ner Israel and Yeshivas Beis Yisroel when it was in Bayit Vegan and is an alumnus of Georgetown University Law Center.  He lives in a suburb of New York City with his family.  His parents have been members of Beth Jacob in Atlanta for over 40 years and he considers himself most influenced by R’ Emanuel Feldman of Beth Jacob, R’ Ezra Neuberger of Ner Israel and several talmidim of Rav Wolbe with whom he came into contact when learning in Israel. ]  
This is an important article, addressing an issue which is largely ignored within the Orthodox community. Despite the multiple justifications for the free services that the government or our community provides for those who can't afford it or don't have income from choice - there is a decided price that comes with the free services. This is a discussion of the price - spiritually, psychological and community unity.

Proposal to condition funding of public schools according to amount of violence

Maariv
התגובה החרדית לדרישה החילונית לתקצוב מוסדות החינוך החרדי בהתאם לשעות לימודי הליבה בבתי הספר: הצעת חוק חדשה של ח״כ מאיר פרוש תתנה את תקציב בתי הספר החילונים בהתאם לרמת האלימות בבתי הספר. 
כוונת התוכנית שהגיש פרוש, לדבריו, היא להביא למיגור האלימות של תלמידי בתי הספר.

בהצעת החוק נכתב כי התקציב המועבר לבתי הספר על ידי משרדי הממשלה והרשויות ייקבע על פי מדרג האלימות הקיימת על ידי תלמידי בית הספר. כך, ככל שתהיה יותר אלימות כך ייפחת התקציב העומד לרשות בית הספר, עד כדי ביטול מוחלט של תקציב בית הספר.  

לדברי ח"כ פרוש, האלימות ההולכת וגוברת בקרב תלמידי בתי הספר הפכה זה מכבר לבעיה חברתית. "אצל כל המומחים העוסקים בחקר האלימות בקרב תלמידים שוררת תמימות דעים שתמונת המצב המצטיירת מהממצאים היא קשה ומדאיגה", אמר.
עוד הוסיף כי העובדה שמערכת החינוך מתקשה לטפל בבעיות האלימות בצורה אפקטיבית, הביאה אותו להגיש הצעת חוק, לפיה בתי הספר יתוקצבו על פי המדרג האלימות של תלמידי בית הספר. ״המטרה היא  לעודד ולתמרץ את המנהלים והמורים להילחם בתופעה ולהביא בהכרח לצמצום האלימות בבתי הספר ומחוצה לו".

Abused Children May Get Unique Form of PTSD


Child abuse scars not just the brain and body, but, according to the latest research, but may leave its mark on genes as well.

The research, which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests that abused children who develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may experience a biologically distinct form of the disorder from PTSD caused by other types of trauma later in life. [...]

“In PTSD with a history of child abuse, we found a 12-fold higher [level] of epigenetic changes,” says Mehta.  In contrast, people who experienced trauma later in life showed genetic effects that tended to be short-lived, and did not permanently alter the function of the genes. [...]

Monday, April 29, 2013

Stealing in order to help others - is it permitted?

In a previous Post  I mentioned the view of Rav Elchonon Wasserman that the prohibitions regarding bein adam l'chavero only apply where the act is destructive and meant to harm. He learns this from the Rambam (Hilchos Chovel 5:1) which states that hitting another is only prohibited if done derech nitzoiyon (strife or vanquishing). He says this rule applies not only to hitting but lashon harah and hatred.

A significant problem with making this sweeping generalization comes in the area of theft. Can a person steal something for a joke or with intent to pay - without any desire to harm the victim? More relevant to the issue of education - can a teacher or parent take away a student or child's possession - for the sake of chinuch or to prevent sin? Can you take away a neighbor's computer to prevent him/her from using the internet? Can you take away someone smartphone solely because you think it is for the person's benefit not to have it - even if you don't pay for it?

Rabbi Yehuda Hertzl Henkin (Techumin Volume 8) has a long article on this and concludes that despite being a common practice - there is no justification for taking things from another person against their will. 
Bava Metzia (61b):Why did the Torah (Vayikra 19:11) need to explicitly prohibit stealing [since  we learn the prohibition of causing financial loss from ribis and fraud while the prohibition of stealing in the Ten Commandments refers to kidnapping a person – Rashi]? The answer is as it was taught: One cannot steal just to aggravate [Rashi] another nor can one steal even if he intended to repay double for it [because he wants to give the victim something but he knows he won’t accept and therefore he uses stealing as a pretext to give him money – Rashi].
Rabbeinu Yonah (Shaarei Teshuva 3:85):  Do not steal or suppress or lie (Vayikra 19:11). Our Sages (Bava Metzia 61b) state that “not stealing” means if it it is only to upset the person. In other words a person should not say I will steal his possession in order to upset him and I will take while he is watchin and I will warn him that he needs to be more careful in watching his possession and then I will return it to him. Similarly it is prohibited to steal possessions from another’s house and use them and then return them. Nor should you secretly take your own possessions from a thief after they were stolen so that you don’t look like a thief. 
An apparently refutation of this is in the following gemora - but the Meiri says it is not a problem
Bava Basra(16a): Rava asked the meaning of “The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me...(Job 29:13)....This verse alludes to the fact that Job used to steal the fields of orphans [and the orphans were convinced that they had lost the land – Rashi] and he would improve the fields and then give them back.
Meiri (Bava Basra 16a):  There are sins which are done with good intentions and nevertheless they are not permitted. But this seems to be contradicted by this gemora where Job is praised because he would steal land from the poor and orphans and improve it and then return it. That is because Job was well known as such a tzadik – that even though he didn’t explain this reason – every knew that was his intent in taking the land. The gemora describes this as theft only as a general term of taking property of others – but according to my understanding it did not mean to say it was a sinful taking of the land. ... We can see from these cases that even when a person intends to do good and that should permit the act – nevertheless we are told that good intent is not enough to permit stealing in any form even if it is public knowledge what you are doing. That is because this gemora explicitly said not to steal even if you intend to pay back double. This requires further clarification. Nevertheless even the great Rabbis indicated that it is prohibited. Nevertheless the major difficulty has been removed regarding Job.
[I will be adding sources to this post regarding this serious exception to Rav Wasserman's assertion and possibly other exceptions.]