Fleeing Violent Husbands Lands Afghan Women in Prison

Time Magazine

Gul Bibi pulls back her light blue scarf to reveal faded tribal tattoos and sad, almond eyes. She has not seen any of her three children, or other family members, for the five months she has languished in prison. Her "crime": running away from a husband who viciously beat her throughout their nine-year marriage, arranged by her parents when she was 16 to end a land dispute. She finally fled to Kabul from her home in eastern Khost province this summer, with a neighbor named Ajmal. They'd fallen in love and planned to get married, she explains, until her husband took several of his relatives hostage, demanding that she turn herself in to police. Her insistence that she never had sexual relations with her companion doesn't matter to an Afghan justice system that deems her desertion as tantamount to adultery. "It's difficult when a man and women really love each other here," says the 25-year-old ethnic Pasthun. "Now I'm trapped."

Most of the nearly 200 inmates at the Badam Bagh women's prison are runaways like Bibi, confined alongside a smaller number of murderers and drug traffickers. Many of the runaways were forced into marriage as teenagers, in some cases to men as much as three times their age, enduring regular beatings and verbal abuse from their husbands or in-laws. Some fled to be with other men; others simply to find peace. Most expected eventually to be caught and face the consequences, but their lives at home had become intolerable. "When a bird is sitting in a tree, if no one throws a stone it will not leave its nest," laments one sympathetic prison guard. "The same can be said of the women here." [...]

85% of non-chareidi Israelis cheat on partners

YNET

How loyal are you to your significant other? According to two recent surveys, the answer is not a lot. The surveys were ordered by law firm Azrielnet Israel, and show that 85% of non-haredi married Israelis have cheated on their spouses in the past, doing so in the present, or intend to do so in the future.

The first survey was carried out by Mutagim and revealed extreme results: 85% hadn't declared their complete loyalty to their partners. After the lawyers raised doubts as to the survey's authenticity, another survey was ordered, this time from Geocartographia – but the results were the same. [...]

Child abuse in Israel העונש לפדופיל החרדי: גירוש מתחומי העיר

Maariv

Maariv

העונש לפדופיל החרדי: גירוש מתחומי העיר
בנו של רב ידוע נחשד בביצוע מעשים מגונים בנערים אותם הדריך, אבל בישיבה העדיפו לטפל בכביסה המלוכלכת בבית ולא התלוננו במשטרה

 מקרים של חשדות כבדים למעשי פדופיליה מגיעים באופן כמעט אוטומטי לחקירת משטרה, אבל כשמדובר בבנו של רב חרדי בכיר וידוע בבני ברק, זה אינו מובן מאליו. הוריו של הצעיר, הנמצא בשנות ה-20 לחייו, דחפו אותו להתחתן ועודדו אותו לעבור לגור לשכונה חרדית בנתניה, שם הוא מצא עבודה כמדריך בישיבה.
 

RID - R. Yeshayah ben R. Mali of Trani,

From Bar Ilan Responsa Project

RID

R. Yeshayah ben R. Mali of Trani, one of the foremost Torah scholars in Italy, was born in Trani, Italy, ca. 1180. He is also known as R. Yeshaya di-Trani Ha-Zaken ("the Elder") or Ha-Rishon ("the first"), or by the acronym RiD, to distinguish him from R. Yeshaya di-Trani Ha-Sheni ("the second") or Ha-Acharon ("the later"), also known as RiAZ. R. Yeshayah studied in the yeshiva of R. Simcha of Speyer. He maintained close contact with the leading Torah scholars of Germany, and his responsa are quoted in Or Zarua, by his contemporary R. Yitzchak ben R. Moshe of Vienna. Together with R. Eliezer ben R. Shmuel of Verona, he founded a yeshiva in Trani, where the Tosafist methodology of Talmud study was employed. R. Yeshayah died ca. 1260.

 R. Yeshayah authored numerous works. These include Piskei Rid (published by Yad Ha-Rav Herzog in numerous volumes), a collection of halachic decisions arranged according to the order of the Talmud, hundreds of which are cited in the Beit Yosef and other poskim; Sefer Ha-Machria, first published in Livorno, 1779, which includes discussions of various complex halachic issues; responsa; a commentary on the Torah, and piyyutim.

 His best known work is Tosefot Rid, on 19 tractates of the Talmud. (The Tosefot Rid on tractates Yevamot, Ketubot, and Gittin are really Piskei Rid.) R. Yeshayah frequently quotes Rashi, referring to him as Ha-Moreh ("the teacher"). Moreover, many of the anonymous comments quoted by R. Yeshayah were taken from Rashi.
 

Computers That See You and Keep Watch Over You

NYTimes

Hundreds of correctional officers from prisons across America descended last spring on a shuttered penitentiary in West Virginia for annual training exercises.

Some officers played the role of prisoners, acting like gang members and stirring up trouble, including a mock riot. The latest in prison gear got a workout — body armor, shields, riot helmets, smoke bombs, gas masks. And, at this year’s drill, computers that could see the action.

Perched above the prison yard, five cameras tracked the play-acting prisoners, and artificial-intelligence software analyzed the images to recognize faces, gestures and patterns of group behavior. When two groups of inmates moved toward each other, the experimental computer system sent an alert — a text message — to a corrections officer that warned of a potential incident and gave the location. [...]

Brain Plasticity: This Year, Change Your Mind

NYTimes Dr. Oliver Sacks

NEW Year’s resolutions often have to do with eating more healthfully, going to the gym more, giving up sweets, losing weight — all admirable goals aimed at improving one’s physical health. Most people, though, do not realize that they can strengthen their brains in a similar way.

While some areas of the brain are hard-wired from birth or early childhood, other areas — especially in the cerebral cortex, which is central to higher cognitive powers like language and thought, as well as sensory and motor functions — can be, to a remarkable extent, rewired as we grow older. In fact, the brain has an astonishing ability to rebound from damage — even from something as devastating as the loss of sight or hearing. As a physician who treats patients with neurological conditions, I see this happen all the time. [...]

Ramchal - free-will is only to do mitzvos or sins

Ramchal (Maamar HaIkkarim 6): It important to know that man’s actions can be divided into two categories. The first category is that which is either good or bad because it is either a commandment or a sin. The second category are those actions which are neither inherently good or bad because they are not connected with a mitzva or sin. Concerning those actions which are connected to a mitzva or a sin – a man has total free﷓will and he is not forced in any way. In these matters G﷓d watches whether man observes His commandments and rewards or punishes him accordingly. However for those matters which are not connected to mitzva or sin – man is no different than other creatures in being influenced by environmental forces. He can be forced to act in a certain manner – whether it is to preserve mankind or to provide him with reward or punishment according to what he deserves. Thus G﷓d supervises everything, judges everything and makes necessary decrees…

Ponzi Scheme: Europe’s Young Grow Agitated Over Future Prospects

NYTimes

Francesca Esposito, 29 and exquisitely educated, helped win millions of euros in false disability and other lawsuits for her employer, a major Italian state agency. But one day last fall she quit, fed up with how surreal and ultimately sad it is to be young in Italy today.

It galled her that even with her competence and fluency in five languages, it was nearly impossible to land a paying job. Working as an unpaid trainee lawyer was bad enough, she thought, but doing it at Italy's social security administration seemed too much. She not only worked for free on behalf of the nation's elderly, who have generally crowded out the young for jobs, but her efforts there did not even apply to her own pension.

"It was absurd," said Ms. Esposito, a strong-willed woman with a healthy sense of outrage. [...]

Public Workers Facing Outrage as Budget Crises Grow

NYTimes

Ever since Marie Corfield’s confrontation with Gov. Chris Christie this fall over the state’s education cuts became a YouTube classic, she has received a stream of vituperative e-mails and Facebook postings.

“People I don’t even know are calling me horrible names,” said Ms. Corfield, an art teacher who had pleaded the case of struggling teachers. “The mantra is that the problem is the unions, the unions, the unions.”

Across the nation, a rising irritation with public employee unions is palpable, as a wounded economy has blown gaping holes in state, city and town budgets, and revealed that some public pension funds dangle perilously close to bankruptcy. In California, New York, Michigan and New Jersey, states where public unions wield much power and the culture historically tends to be pro-labor, even longtime liberal political leaders have demanded concessions — wage freezes, benefit cuts and tougher work rules. [...]

Blizzard of '10 Brooklyn

Weak-Kneed Willpower Faces Temptation’s Lure

NYTimes

If you want a little insurance to help keep those New Year's resolutions, you might consider turning to StickK.com. Started by two Yale professors and a graduate student in 2008, the Web site provides a binding contract to help you meet a particular goal, whether it is shedding pounds, quitting smoking or finishing Proust. Fail to live up to your end of the deal, and you have to pay a person or charity that you have designated in advance. You can even increase the incentive by choosing an anti-charity, a cause that you would normally oppose. Gun-control advocates, for example, could decide to forfeit their money to the National Rifle Association if they falter, while anti-abortion advocates might choose NARAL Pro-Choice America. [...]

Rabbi arrested on rape charges

YNET

A rabbi who runs a number of schools in northern Israel has been arrested on suspicion he sexually assaulted three minors, the court cleared for publication Friday.

Ynet has learned that the rabbi is suspected of raping a 14-year old girl and performing indecent acts on a boy of the same age, as well as sexually assaulting another girl, also 14.

He has denied the allegations, claiming they are the product of a conspiracy against him by the schools he heads.[...]

 

Rabbi Shafran’s Hechsher On Obama - latest response & counterresponse

What-we-know-about-obama

By Yoel Lorberbaum

In the latest issue of Ami Magazine, noted author Rabbi Avi Shafran wrote a piece ("Our Not-So-Humble Opinions") that is, in this author's opinion, mind-bogglingly deceptive in scope, breadth, and audacity in its portrayal of President Obama's record on Israel. It is rather shocking because generally Rabbi Shafran is a perceptive and on-the-mark columnist. The structure of this editorial, with due respect, seems to have been penned in the style of classic propaganda literature.

It is hoped that both the reader and Rabbi Shafran will forgive the sharp tone employed here, but it seems a necessity in light of the content of the op-ed—forewarned is forearmed. Generally, there are four components to have in mind when attempting this type of writing: [...]


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Rabbi Shafran's Reply in Five Towns Jewish Times

What We Think We Know But Don't

Last week's Five Towns Jewish Times featured an opinion piece that judged a recent essay of mine in Ami Magazine "mind-bogglingly deceptive" and that characterized me as assuming readers are "half-witted" and accused me of inflicting on them "slick propaganda" on behalf of President Obama and of "abandon[ing] Israel." The writer, going by the name of Yoel Lorberbaum, apologizes for his "sharp tone" which he laments is "a necessity in light of the content" of my article.

His apology is accepted—at least with regard to his tone. He didn't offer an apology for misleading readers, though, and so forgiveness on that front will have to remain in reserve for now.

What seemed to particularly exercise the writer was my "manipulation" of readers with a presentation of laudable moves by a president regarding Israel and religious rights before identifying the mover as our current commander-in-chief. That, Mr. Lorberbaum contends, is "the technique" of "tricking the reader," a "ruse" that enticed people to actually read further. I thought it was creative and effective writing. Propaganda, I suppose, is in the eye—no matter how jaundiced—of the beholder. [...]
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Five Towns Jewish Times

Rabbi Shafran's Hechsher on Obama

Written by Yoel Lorberbaum   

Before we get to an analysis of the "facts" as presented by Rabbi Avi Shafran concerning both the Obama administration's behind-the-scenes jousting regarding Israel and its general record on Israel, a short introduction may be in order.

Rabbi Shafran speaks of wisdom—of knowing what one does not know. When exploring wisdom, however, it behooves us to begin with what we do know. And what we do know is that in regard to Israel, the conversation is slowly but surely changing.

Those of us old enough to remember, recall a time when murderers of innocent children and civilians were not welcome in polite circles. No longer. Now they are welcomed with open arms. [...]

Rabbi Shafran's interpretation of Pres. Obama - Strikeout

Our Not-So-Humble Opinions By Rabbi Shafran

Miss the good old days?

When, that is, we had a President who refused to allow the US to participate in the UN’s Durban Review Conference because he believed Israel would be unfairly criticized.

A President who rejected the Goldstone report, and refused to participate in joint military exercises with Turkey when Ankara insisted Israel be excluded.

A President who asked Congress to approve a $205 million package to help Israel build a new anti-missile defense system. [...]

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Homerun or Strikeout: A Reply to Rabbi Shafran

Critique by Jonathan Rosenblum

Every columnist aspires to write — at least occasionally — something of such originality that he will be quickly distinguished from the common herd of scriveners. In that respect, “Our Not-So-Humble Opinions” by my erstwhile colleague and long-time friend Rabbi Avi Shafran, in which he attempts to defend the Middle East policies of the Obama administration, is a homerun.

The danger, however, of swinging for the fences is that one is more likely to strikeout. Sometimes the source of one’s originality lies in having said something so strikingly wrong that no one ever thought of it before. That, I will argue, is the case with Rabbi Shafran’s piece. Not that I expect to convince Avi, since I’m reasonably confident that he has read dozens of previous pieces of mine on this topic, without falling sway to the power of my arguments.

Indeed I suspect that I fall into the category of “intelligent and otherwise well-informed frum folks,” whom he considers somewhat deranged on the subject of the Obama administration’s policy to Israel. In that regard, I can only respond that at least I am in sync with the overwhelming majority of my fellow Israeli Jews, about 10% of whom view President Obama’s foreign policy as “pro-Israel” today, despite the great enthusiasm that greeted his election in Israel. My fellow Israelis and I could, admittedly, be wrong in our judgment, but I doubt it is because we are so much less well-informed than Rabbi Shafran. Since it is our lives on the line, we do try to keep reasonably up-to-date on shifts in American foreign policy. [...]