Black & Jewish without contradiction

New York Times

In yeshivas, they are sometimes taunted as “monkeys” or with the Yiddish epithet for blacks. At synagogues and kosher restaurants, they engender blank stares. And dating can be awkward: their numbers are so small, friends will often share at least some romantic history with the same man or woman, and matchmakers always pair them with people with whom they have little in common beyond skin color.

They are African-Americans and Orthodox Jews, a rare cross-cultural hybrid that seems quintessentially Brooklyn, but received little notice until last week, after Yoseph Robinson, a Jamaican-born convert, was killed during a robbery attempt at the kosher liquor store where he worked. [...]

Shul janitor accused of abusing children

Jerusalem Post

A cleaner who worked in a synagogue was indicted by the Jerusalem District Court on Friday on charges of sexual abusing at the place of worship minors between the ages of eight and thirteen. The suspect has also been charged with sodomy and attempted sodomy.[...]

Rav Sternbuch - Evil Children

Illegal Immigrants - situation in Mexico

Wall Street Journal

This week's massacre of 72 Central and South American migrants in Mexico highlights a paradox the government here doesn't like to talk about: While it complains about the treatment of its own undocumented workers in the U.S., Mexico can be a far worse place to be an illegal migrant.

Mexican soldiers on Thursday fanned out near a remote ranch about 90 miles from the U.S. border where 58 men and 14 women from Honduras, El Salvador, Ecuador and Brazil were bound, blindfolded, lined up against a wall and executed.

A survivor told authorities that he and his fellow U.S.-bound migrants were kidnapped and told they would either have to pay a ransom or work as drug couriers and hit men, according to the Reforma newspaper. Authorities suspect the Zetas drug gang was behind the massacre.[...]

YU Conference on abuse - school & community

The problem of always doing something - hasmada

New York Times

Cellphones, which in the last few years have become full-fledged computers with high-speed Internet connections, let people relieve the tedium of exercising, the grocery store line, stoplights or lulls in the dinner conversation.

The technology makes the tiniest windows of time entertaining, and potentially productive. But scientists point to an unanticipated side effect: when people keep their brains busy with digital input, they are forfeiting downtime that could allow them to better learn and remember information, or come up with new ideas.[...]

Which Shul to choose

Five Towns Jewish Times

When one visits Israel, one often faces a quandary: Which shul should one daven at on Erev Shabbos? The choices are often between nusach Sephard and nusach Ashkenaz, or one where there is a Friday evening speaker or not. Should one daven at the more yeshivish minyan or the regular one? In this article, a third factor will be introduced which, at first, might seem to be not such a serious issue but after some analysis appears to be irrefutable.

But first some background. The Navi Yishayahu (58:13) tells us, “Vekarasa leShabbos Oneg—and you shall call the Sabbath a delight.” The Gemara in Psachim (68b) understands this as an obligation to take delight in Shabbos through good food and drink.[...]