Thursday, October 7, 2010
Breaking the Silence: Sexual Abuse in the Jewish Community (Ktav)
YU Faculty
A decade after child sexual abuse in the Orthodox Jewish community came to public light, there is a nascent but historic transformation taking place on the issue. Communal leaders, rabbis, mental health professionals, parents, school administrators and teachers, and survivors are ready to fully engage in dialogue, as well as work together to develop and implement definitive intervention and prevention strategies. All they need is a blueprint to move forward.
Yeshiva University professor and nationally-prominent trauma psychologist Dr. David Pelcovitz, the Gwendolyn and Joseph Strauss Chair in Jewish Education at Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration and David Mandel, longtime chief executive officer of OHEL Children’s Home and Family Services, have created this road map. They are the editors of Breaking the Silence: Sexual Abuse in the Jewish Community (KTAV), the most comprehensive book on the issue. To be released October 2010, Breaking the Silence brings together for the first time the insights and experience of the professionals – psychologists, social workers, pediatricians, attorneys, educators and rabbis – who have been on the front lines dealing with the issue for years.
“The reality of sexual abuse in the Jewish community has necessitated a comprehensive nuts-and-bolts, hands-on guide for clinicians, community leaders, educators and parents outlining practical approaches to intervention and prevention,” said Dr. Pelcovitz. “This book is an essential resource for all those interested in learning how to better fulfill our responsibility to protect and nurture the next generation.” [...]
Parasitic worms cure autoimmune diseases?
Fox News
Tired of suffering from Crohn’s disease, Michael, a 31-year-old financial planner from New York City, turned to a last resort – an underground network of "worm pushers" in cyberspace.
Michael, who asked that his last name not be revealed, chose to undergo helminthic therapy – infecting himself with Necator Americanus, or microscopic hookworm larvae, in order to put his autoimmune disease into remission. Helminthic therapy, also called worm therapy, is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration, but it has seen significant success around the world. [,,,]
Tired of suffering from Crohn’s disease, Michael, a 31-year-old financial planner from New York City, turned to a last resort – an underground network of "worm pushers" in cyberspace.
Michael, who asked that his last name not be revealed, chose to undergo helminthic therapy – infecting himself with Necator Americanus, or microscopic hookworm larvae, in order to put his autoimmune disease into remission. Helminthic therapy, also called worm therapy, is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration, but it has seen significant success around the world. [,,,]
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Experiment in Nihilism: Suicide as ideology
Boston Globe
In the end, no one really knows what led Mitchell Heisman, an erudite, wry, handsome 35-year-old, to walk into Harvard Yard on the holiest day in his faith and fire one shot from a silver revolver into his right temple, on the top step of Memorial Church, where hundreds gathered to observe the Jewish Day of Atonement.
But if the 1,905-page suicide note he left is to be believed — a work he spent five years honing and that his family and others received in a posthumous e-mail after his suicide last Saturday morning on Yom Kippur — Heisman took his life as part of a philosophical exploration he called “an experiment in nihilism.’’
At the end of his note, a dense, scholarly work with 1,433 footnotes, a 20-page bibliography, and more than 1,700 references to God and 200 references to the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, Heisman sums up his experiment:
“Every word, every thought, and every emotion come back to one core problem: life is meaningless,’’ he wrote. “The experiment in nihilism is to seek out and expose every illusion and every myth, wherever it may lead, no matter what, even if it kills us.’’[...]
In the end, no one really knows what led Mitchell Heisman, an erudite, wry, handsome 35-year-old, to walk into Harvard Yard on the holiest day in his faith and fire one shot from a silver revolver into his right temple, on the top step of Memorial Church, where hundreds gathered to observe the Jewish Day of Atonement.
But if the 1,905-page suicide note he left is to be believed — a work he spent five years honing and that his family and others received in a posthumous e-mail after his suicide last Saturday morning on Yom Kippur — Heisman took his life as part of a philosophical exploration he called “an experiment in nihilism.’’
At the end of his note, a dense, scholarly work with 1,433 footnotes, a 20-page bibliography, and more than 1,700 references to God and 200 references to the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, Heisman sums up his experiment:
“Every word, every thought, and every emotion come back to one core problem: life is meaningless,’’ he wrote. “The experiment in nihilism is to seek out and expose every illusion and every myth, wherever it may lead, no matter what, even if it kills us.’’[...]
Harvard Hillel: $780k embezzled by accountant
Boston Globe Sept 14, 2010
A Framingham man was sentenced to state prison Friday for stealing more than $780,000 from Harvard University’s Hillel House during five years as the accountant for the nonprofit’s books through a financial management firm, according to the attorney general’s office.
A Framingham man was sentenced to state prison Friday for stealing more than $780,000 from Harvard University’s Hillel House during five years as the accountant for the nonprofit’s books through a financial management firm, according to the attorney general’s office.
William O’Brien, 58, pleaded guilty in Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn Thursday to three counts of larceny over $250 and one count each of forgery and making false entries in corporate books.
He was sentenced to two to three years in state prison to be followed by 10 years of probation.
O’Brien also was ordered to pay $783,489 in restitution. He could not be reached for comment.
Judaism & Justice: Chief Rabbi Lord,Jonathan Sacks & Professor Michael Sandel.
The following link will bring you to the video presentation of Judaism and Justice: Judaism and Justice - A Conversation Between Chief Rabbi Lord
Jonathan Sacks and Professor Michael Sandel. http://hillel.harvard.edu/media/videos/1535
Jonathan Sacks and Professor Michael Sandel. http://hillel.harvard.edu/media/videos/1535
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Gay rights: Exclusion from common law rights
ynet
Same-sax couples suffer setback Tuesday: Beersheba Family Court Judge Yeshayahu Tischler ruled that the term "man and wife" will mean only one thing in the eyes of the law - "In my opinion, the only legitimate interoperation for this term is male and female," he said.
The ruling, which was given after a lengthy legal battle over the inheritance of an academic figure that passed away, negated several previous rulings recognizing long-term relationships between same-sex couples as equal to common law marriage, awarding partners the same legal rights. [...]
Same-sax couples suffer setback Tuesday: Beersheba Family Court Judge Yeshayahu Tischler ruled that the term "man and wife" will mean only one thing in the eyes of the law - "In my opinion, the only legitimate interoperation for this term is male and female," he said.
The ruling, which was given after a lengthy legal battle over the inheritance of an academic figure that passed away, negated several previous rulings recognizing long-term relationships between same-sex couples as equal to common law marriage, awarding partners the same legal rights. [...]
Monday, October 4, 2010
Comics & Jewish education
New York Times
For a quarter century, Jewish children have hungrily followed the kooky adventures of the Shpy, the adventurous hero of The Moshiach Times, a family-friendly magazine that is published six times a year in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn. (Think Highlights, but Jewish.)
With a closet full of disguises and more gadgets than 007, the Shpy volunteers his services when innocent people or ancient traditions are imperiled. He escapes from a giant Mixmaster when investigating a case of stolen hamantaschen, and thwarts a mysterious bee infestation that nearly spoils the fall holiday of Sukkot. In one installment, he invents a repellent to keep the sinister Yetzer Hora at bay, complete with a catchy slogan: “Let us Shpray.” (The softening of the S, when the Shpy shpeaks, so to speak, is meant to evoke Humphrey Bogart.) [...]
For a quarter century, Jewish children have hungrily followed the kooky adventures of the Shpy, the adventurous hero of The Moshiach Times, a family-friendly magazine that is published six times a year in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn. (Think Highlights, but Jewish.)
With a closet full of disguises and more gadgets than 007, the Shpy volunteers his services when innocent people or ancient traditions are imperiled. He escapes from a giant Mixmaster when investigating a case of stolen hamantaschen, and thwarts a mysterious bee infestation that nearly spoils the fall holiday of Sukkot. In one installment, he invents a repellent to keep the sinister Yetzer Hora at bay, complete with a catchy slogan: “Let us Shpray.” (The softening of the S, when the Shpy shpeaks, so to speak, is meant to evoke Humphrey Bogart.) [...]
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