Great Art (J surfability)

Dan Weinstein makes some neat-looking stuff! The Eshet Chayil in blue and white first caught my eye on facebook, led me to his site. If Little Steven's Underground Garage (a radio show) were a sukkah, Dan's art would line the walls.

Nashuva's / JTN's Kol Nidre Webcast

It's pretty cool. Still running.
Not traditional; contains kol isha, musical instruments, etc., but it reached lots of people who wouldn't otherwise have had any sort of YK shul experience, and that rocks. And Naomi Levy's pretty neat (it can be argued she is occasionally inappropriate, but I'm not one to knock her; outreach far outweighs inappropriate). Kind of makes me want to go to JTS.

L'Shanah Tovah!

or, as they say on the ranch, happy Jew year. :) 

love,

Sarah

re: heimish afrobeat (potential lyrics)

The world needs heimish afrobeat. Here are some words for music that has yet to be composed.

I'm drawing from Hillel, as discussed in R'Tzvi Hersh Weinreb's recent address to the DNC. This is Judaism 101; universal message is key.
http://www.ou.org/news/article/leader_of_orthodox_union_addresses_democratic_convention_interfaith_gatheri/

“V’ahavta le-rayacha kamocha.You should love your neighbor as yourself.”

“Ma da’alach sanei, lechavrach lo sa’aveid. That which is hateful to you do not do unto your neighbor.”

I've also seen it as this: Ma d'sani lakh, l'chavrakh al t'avid

What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow

Which one is it? I'm not sure. But here's an essay on Hillel and objectivism. (I am not familiar with the work of Ayn Rand; please refrain from throwing fruit at me.)

“Ki hem chayenu v’orech yameinu. Study is our life, the length of our days.”

“Tzadikim gemurim einam kovlim al horah elah mosifim ohr. The truly righteous do not bemoan ignorance; but they spread knowledge and wisdom.” -Rav Kook

------------------
I am also a big fan of

Im ein ani li, mi li?
If I am not for myself, who will be for me?

U'kh'she'ani l'atzmi, ma ani?
And once I am for myself, what am I?

V'im lo akhshav, eimatay?
And if not now, when?

(Hillel)

------------------
"Kamayim HaPanim al Panim, Kach Lev HaAdam" (just like water reflects a face, so too does the heart of mankind). Mishlei [Proverbs] (27:19)

And from the seder:
Ha lachma, ha lachma anya, di achalu, achalu avahatana, b'ara b'ara d'mitzrayim, b'ara b'ara d'mitzrayim. Kol dichfin yeitei v'yeichul, kol ditzrich yeitei v'yifsach. Hashata hacha, lashanah haba-ah b'arah d'yisrael. Hashata avdei, lashanah haba-ah b'nei chorin.
---------
Pirkei Avot is a veritable wellspring from which heimish afrobeat lyrics can be drawn.
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In the meantime ...

I bartered tuition for the next session of medical qigong by working the front desk at the sensei's practice. Getting ready for fall judo.

I enjoy working the front desk at a medical practice. I don't know much about quickbooks, but the rest of it is pretty cool. I could do that.

Still looking for a full-time gig. Have editing work lined up for this week (rosh hashanah notwithstanding). Happy to be here, happy to be alive.

Keeping the creative juices flowing, getting ready for 5769.

Keeping an eye on the child abuse thing. Terrible stuff. Florida was good; I want to go back. Donna the Buffalo continues to move me. Jeb's solo album is awesome. I've been playing it a lot.

Tons of good shows coming up in the NYC area; picking them carefully, due to budgetary constraints. This, too, shall pass.

Saw my doctor; he switched some stuff around and took good care of me. Got some acupuncture and plum blossom got rid of one issue. Taking an herbal formula for some boo boos that weren't going away, and they're finally healing; YAY!!

Did some laundry, doing some job hunting. It's all good. Realized I have a knack for digging guys who are more observant than I (currently) am. That's okay; if I were dug back, I could easily see me becoming more observant; kind of heading that way, anyway, without losing sight of my own message being more global than insular. Someone who's right for me will understand that tikkun olam doesn't mean living in a terrarium.

In the meantime, I think having a full-time gig will make me feel more able to date (maybe; the other half of me has long been ready to start a family). Slightly concerned re: the desire of a local to hook me back up with the past stopping a potential present from moving forward, but I know that's really bs and if someone likes someone, they do, period. We're not in high school, anymore.

There are some beautiful people in this world. I smile, when I think of them. I like it.

CDC: Sexual Abuse & Falling Prevention Guidelines

For Organizations
http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/dvp/PreventingChildAbuse.htm

contains link to: Preventing Child Sexual Abuse within Youth Serving Organizations: Getting Started On Policies and Procedures.


CDC published Child Maltreatment Surveillance: Uniform Definitions for Public Health and Recommended Data Elements.

While I'm at it, here's a link on Preventing Falls in Older Adults

Compilation of links re: child abuse / inappropriate physical contact from J Organizations

If I'm missing something, please add it as a comment or direct me to it and I'll edit this list. Thank you. The most up to date posts from R'Twerski appear here.

Torah Umesorah (click link above and scroll down to #27 for the rest of this post)

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USCJ

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Baltimore Rabbis

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NCSY

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A good comment from VIN that lays out some practical ideas on handling this. (scroll down past the initial part)

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Another very good comment on VIN

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And one more

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Train to recognize this stuff (online), also from a VIN comment

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Great words from Mikey in the comments on this article:

Stop pointing fingers at people who are trying to help -
A. point your finger at your telephone and call the Menahel or Rosh Yeshiva or Administrator of your kids yeshiva or day school.

B. Ask them what they are doing as per background checks of Rebbes and teachers

C. Ask them if they have fingerprinted and DNA cheek swabbed the Rebbe/Teacher

D. If the answer is not satisfactory get together with the other parents in your kids class/school and demand that action be taken - and yes you can change how the school/yeshiva operates

E. Worst case change which school/yeshiva your child attends - arrange a sit-in protest in the yeshiva/school - do something preventive

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sex offender registries in all states. people can make sure their children’s teachers aren’t on those lists.

Yitz Iz Neias

It's always nice when people are as kind as they are talented. Yitz is one of those people.
A write-up in VIN. The comments are nicer than the article. Go, Yitz!

The Jewish Star

I discovered it recently. I think it's pretty neat.
News from Long Island on the orthodox community.

Various Links re: abuse, prop 8

if you're not reading the comments, you're not really reading them.

On Sexual Abuse and Denial in the Community

Abuse Victim Sues Principal is working to eradicate child molestation from yeshivas and other non-public schools (below is copied and pasted from link above)

By Michael Orbach

Issue of Sept. 12, 2008

A Cedarhurst attorney, Elliot Pasik, who has made it his mission to combat child sexual abuse in the Jewish community, is representing a 23- year-old whose accusations have rocked the Satmar community of Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

As reported in The Jewish Week last week, Joel Engelman was 8 years old when, he said, the principal of the United Talmudic Academy in Williamsburg first summoned him to his office, seated him on his lap and began touching him.

This was the start of systematic abuse that allegedly continued several times a week for two months, ultimately destroying Engelman’s faith.

Engelman’s story, detailed in a lawsuit filed on Aug. 27, is one that is far too common in the Orthodox Jewish community, Pasik said.

Pasik and the Cedarhurst law firm of Gerald Ross filed suit on behalf of Engelman, listing the United Talmudic Academy (UTA), The Satmar Bungalow Colony and Avrohom Reichman, the former principal of UTA, as defendants. The suit alleges that between October and November of 1993, Reichman molested Engelman repeatedly.

Engelman confronted Reichman in April 2008, according to the suit, after hearing of similar abuse complaints made against him, and made one demand: that he leave his job in the UTA and never teach again. In exchange Engelman and his family would take no further action.

Satmar community officials became involved and after a negotiation, which included a polygraph test that Reichman failed, he left the school. But less than five months later, in August, Reichman was videotaped teaching in the Satmar Bungalow Colony, a children’s camp.

The lawsuit seeks damages based on the abuse that Engelman allegedly suffered at Reichman’s hands, the failure of the UTA to prevent said abuse, and finally, breach of oral contract by Reichman’s return to a teaching position. The suit also alleges that the Satmar officials were aware that the statue of limitations on the criminal prosecution of Reichman’s actions would expire when Engelman turned 23 in June and waited until then before returning Reichman to a teaching position. Engelman is suing the three defendants for $5 million.

Engelman’s case is the most recent child abuse scandal that has rocked the Jewish community.

“It says lo sa’amod al dam ray’echa. Do not stand upon the blood of your brother. It’s a chiyuv [obligation]; It’s what G-d wants us to do. It’s as much of a mitzvah as putting on tefillin, observing Shabbos, davening, or anything else,” Pasik said.

His goal is “eradicating the horror of child sexual abuse in our yeshivas and all religious and non-public schools in the state.”

And beyond the abuse itself is the outrage Pasik feels over the culture of silence around it that he has found in yeshivas:

“One would think that when it comes to protecting our children in the holiest places we would come together, but we’ve proven unable to do this… What would Rav Aron Kotler say to this? What would Rav Yoel Teitelbaum say?”

Engelman’s case provides another example of schools that Pasik feels have failed to take appropriate steps to protect their students.

“We’re seeing many laws limiting the places where convicted sex offenders can live. Here in the Jewish community, rabbis are still making the mistake of restoring sex offenders to classrooms,” he said. “There’s no cure for pedophilia. You don’t put a recovering alcoholic in a bar and you don’t put a sex offender in the vicinity of children.”

The reason why so many cases are cropping up in the Jewish community, Pasik maintains, is because of ignorance and obstinacy, and a leadership that is unaware of the true nature of child abuse. He also blames lax regulations in non-public schools. Fingerprinting and background checks are required for all employees in public schools and each teacher is a mandated reporter for abuse and neglect. The same is not true for New York State’s non-public schools, which together educate over half a million children.

The reason for the discrepancy, Pasik says, is that until recently private schools were thought to be capable of self-governing, a belief that in light of recent events, is no longer tenable.

“Unfortunately over the past four years we’ve seen proof that this attitude is badly misguided,” he continued. “We’ve seen a terrible clergy abuse problem afflicting both Catholic and Jewish institutions.”

Pasik says he approached both Agudath Israel and Torah U’Mesorah to take up self-governing laws like fingerprinting but was rejected. It was a disillusioning response and made Pasik consider a different road: government.

New York State Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) twice supported legislation Pasik proposed to require private schools to fingerprint and perform criminal background checks. It passed 60-1 in the senate but Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Lower Manhattan) twice refused to bring the bill to a vote, calling fingerprinting an unfunded mandates on private schools.

The problem of serial child abusers in the Jewish community, in Pasik’s mind, stems from amisinterpretation of the idea of teshuva, the Jewish concept of repentance.

“Many rabbis rely on teshuva when dealing with child molesters. What they fail to understand is that the concept should not be applied with a child molester returning to a classroom. The teshuva for a child molester is removing him from any close proximity to children. You don’t allow a child molester to do teshuva at the expense of young children. You don’t restore a Lanner; you don’t restore a Reichman; you don’t restore a Kolko to a classroom.”

Rabbi Benzion Twerski is a Borough Park-based psychologist and the head of a task force on child abuse recently formed by Brooklyn Assemblyman Dov Hikind. While not commenting on the Engelman case, citing unfamiliarity, Rabbi Twerski supported Pasik’s position on fingerprinting and background checks.

“The resistance to that actually bothers me because it’s an indication that there is what to hide,” Twerski said.

The Hikind taskforce is developing a protocol to deal with future abuse cases in the Jewish community.
“Developing policy is complicated,” Twerski explained. “It has to be sensitive to secular law, to Shulchan Aruch, and we’re not going to be doing anything irresponsible on either end. I’m not willing to do anything that the community won’t follow because then we’ll be where we are now. “

Pasik seemed to differ. “War has to be declared on child sex abuse,” he asserted. “You don’t win wars by treading water. You win wars by strong tough laws.”

However, both Twerski and Pasik agree on one thing.

“We have a system here that has not serviced us,” Twerski said. “Our mistakes were very costly ones.”
Pasik has been combating child abuse in the frum community for the last six years; he has encountered ignorance, naiveté, and in some cases, outright evil, he said, of which Joel’s case may be the latest installment. Asked if he was frustrated by the response of a community that is only now coming around, he almost laughed, before responding gruffly:

“Tzedek tzedek tirdof. Pursue justice and live.” He then added: “It will make you live.”

agudath i. supports background checks
from comments here: Nursery School Permit Plan Draws Outcry

By ELIZABETH SOLOMONT, Special to the Sun
April 25, 2007

http://www.nysun.com/new-york/nursery-school-permit-plan-draws-outcry/53196/

Several religious groups are fighting a health department proposal that for the first time would require permits for some faith-based nursery schools.

Representatives of the Catholic Archdiocese of New York and Agudath Israel of America, among others, voiced their concerns at a public hearing April 19 on the health department's proposed amendments to article 47 of the city's health code, which regulates child care services.

The measures, which officials said were designed to improve child safety, would require about 500 nursery programs to obtain city permits, meet certain education standards among teachers, and conduct criminal background checks on their employees for the first time. Currently, religious preschool programs that are attached to elementary schools are exempt from permit requirements, thanks to their longstanding "No Permit Required" status.

Advocates have said the proposals are in line with efforts the past few years to improve safety at child care centers. Opponents have said the changes would place undue financial burden on them and possibly force some of them to close.

"The concept of permitting is offensive to us because the permit process encompasses many things that relate to what actually takes place in the religious classroom," an executive vice president of Agudath Israel, David Zweibel, said. "Who is fit to be a teacher? How many students can there be in the classroom? Things that go to the autonomy of the educational experience, which to us in the religious community is a matter of religious freedom."

Acknowledging the opposition, the health department a day before the public hearing announced an extension of the public comment period through July 30 in an effort to work with the community, officials said. "We are considering all comments very carefully and think important points have been made. This is precisely what the comment period is for," a spokesman for the department, Andrew Tucker, said.

At last week's hearing, City Council Member David Yassky, who represents parts of Brooklyn, joined religious advocates in voicing concern over the proposed changes. "The First Amendment protects religious institutions against overregulation by the government. The Department of Health simply should not be regulating religious education," he said.

What is wrong with people?!

This also has me pretty steamed, but is completely unrelated: California's Proposition 8
If a gay couple wants to have their reception in a kosher catering hall that's part of a shul, I think that's nice that they want to serve kosher food to their guests. It's not like the shuls have to host the weddings.

Profk Rocks

She does.
and so does Nad-Ned.

Marooned in the Midwest

totally cracked me up tonight.
Thank you, whoever you are. :)

New Spearhead Album

You can stream it on imeem.

Snoopy Jobby Job (hunt continues), Music Ban, Agunot

Neat piece here: http://hirhurim.blogspot.com/2008/09/careers-and-professions.html

RE: the bannage
I got the google news alert on the music ban 'cause Lipa's name was in it. Frum Satire's post on it links to a couple of really good posts on the topic, notably Y-Love's and the one at Wolfish Musings (Wolfish Musings rocks, btw).

RE: agunah
Big cheers to Jameel for this post on getting tough on agunah. What was most surprising to me is that there are some women who won't grant their husbands gets. To me, this is equally reprehensible, and these women should be pursued with equal "that's not cool/stop it" as men.

dan l'caf zechut (rockin' pirkei w/badass gents)

A neat piece by David and friends.

The Oath of Assaf & Yochanan (jmed content)

an interesting read, for sure. He was a medical scholar.
From: Sefer ha-Refuot, The Book of Medicines

Nice email from a former colleague

(Names are changed for her privacy; she and I shared an office. We didn't always get agree about everything, but there was always mutual respect.)

Sarah,

When I arrived at the office yesterday morning, (our supervisor) told me that you had been let go.

My immediate reaction was an unrelenting sadness – sad because of the position that you are now in – sad because I had lost my (not always) silent partner.

Professionally and personally you have nurtured me in countless ways:

In areas that I was unfamiliar with I always knew that I could turn around and ask your advice – whether it would be how to find some important information on the Internet – the meaning or correct use of a word – the correct approach to answering a “[first name of publisher] question”.

I am a healthier, more productive and kinder person for having known you. Because of you [her acupuncturist/my East Asian medicine mentor and sensei] and [her flute teacher, with whom I connected her] are a part of my life – because of you I learned how to be kind to my cat. I am a better person in so many ways for having known you and I sincerely appreciate and will always be grateful for your influence on me.

I am here – if I can help – just ask.

Luv

[her name]

So I emailed her back, thanking her for her note and asking her how I might word some of what I did for her, professionally, on my resume. She replied:

Don’t limit yourself to just Software research.

What I found amazing about you – and I counted on -- was your ability to find anything on the Web – to input the most precise search query which would return only the most relevant sites.

Please use me as a reference since I am the head of the web department at [where I worked].

Seeking Additional Employment

Tight economy = I was let go, last week. I've got 10 years of experience (mostly in editorial, a few years in marketing) in trade magazines publishing. I'm not opposed to a career change. If my wallet were bottomless, I'd just go to school full time and become an acupuncturist in three years. But I need health insurance, so I need a position that will offer me that. I love copy editing -- my brain is wired for it, some people are quite aware of that, and I hope to have some freelance work headed my way in the weeks ahead.

In the meantime -- have brains, will travel (and half-asleep right now, pardon me). Challenges welcome. I need to tweak my resume; I'll take care of that this week. Things will work out for the best, in the long run.

I certainly wouldn't mind working someplace shabbos-friendly, but it would have to be a really cool job if it were the kind that would require me to wear a skirt every day. (By cool, I mean something challenging.)

sb

Observations of Shabbos

I was cranky all day because I really wanted to take a shower. Feeling dirty doesn't bring me closer to God. It makes me want to pass out until it is over. Other than that, it was very nice. What's the deal with taking a shower on Shabbos? No hot water, but cold water's fine? If so, I totally would've taken a cold shower, earlier today. Best thing about shabbos being over was taking a shower. I like being clean.

If you add a peeled, chopped zucchini to your potato kugel recipe, it makes the kugel extra wonderful. I see no reason not to substitute the oil in potato kugel recipes with applesauce. But that's coming from someone who made up an applesauce noodle kugel recipe.

I love my family.

Thank you, Richard Mikuls (RIP/BDE; I just found out)

A Moment For Richard Mikuls

Lost a wonderful friend

Valley's renowned guitarist dies at 56
Bruce Fessier • The Desert Sun • June 11, 2008

Richard Mikuls, who played with legends of the music world, had a
heart attack

Richard Mikuls, who reigned as the Coachella Valley's guitar king in
the early 1990s, died Monday at an Ironwood Country Club condo in Palm
Desert.

Mikuls, who had been in poor health for years, died of a heart attack.
He was 56.

Mikuls had been touring and recording for five years with Peter Tork
of the Monkees. Before that, he was the lead guitarist in a band that
pioneered the unplugged concept in the Coachella Valley called
Unplugged, the Band. Led by John Stanley King, it was named the
valley's favorite band two years in a row by Desert Sun readers.

Randy Hewitson, owner of Musicians Outlet in Palm Desert and a rhythm
guitarist in that band, said Mikuls had been in demand in Los Angeles
since he was 17. That's when blues great Albert Collins had to get him
off the stage of the Roxie nightclub because "the union man is
coming."

But, even while playing regularly in L.A. studio sessions, Mikuls
would drive to the Coachella Valley once or twice a week to play with
Unplugged.

"He was, in my opinion, the best guitar player I've ever heard in my
life," Hewitson said. "It was unbelievable when he played. There'd be
guy groupies - four or five guys who would be standing in front of him
to watch him play."

His friend Tim Riley of L.A. said Eric Clapton once heard him play in
Palm Springs and exclaimed, "This man could teach me blues guitar all
over again."

Mikuls grew up in the Palos Verdes area and played in his teens with
jazz guitar great Lee Ritenour.

He went on to play with Rufus featuring Chaka Khan, Donny Hathaway,
Freddie Hubbard, B.B. King, James Moody, Stan Getz, Chuck Berry, Sly
Stone, Quincy Jones, Ray Charles, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis and
the Pointer Sisters.

Mikuls recorded two solo CDs, "Evil Secret Agent" and "Blow and Go."
He also made a compilation CD, "Songs from The Boneyard," and a DVD of
his art work.

A life celebration for Mikuls is planned from 1 to 4 p.m. June 21 at
CopyKatz, 200 S. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs.

Mikuls is survived by his mother, Barbara Mikuls of Hemet; two
daughters, Melody Garrard of La Quinta and Carrie Mikuls of Hemet; and
a sister, Carole Mikuls of Hemet.

Videos of Richard playing.

Bloggers post about Richard.