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About Me
- Rabbi Chaim Coffman
- Rabbi Coffman has helped people from all across the spectrum to prepare themselves properly for Orthodox Conversion to Judaism. His students admire his vast knowledge and appreciate his warm, personal attention and endearing sense of humor.
Welcome to Rabbi Chaim Coffman's Blog!
The conversion process can be a lengthy and daunting one to say the least and I want you to know that I am here to help you through it.
I have been teaching newcomers to Judaism for over a decade and over the last few years I have seen that conversion candidates really lack the support and knowledge they need to navigate the conversion process and successfully integrate into the Orthodox Jewish community.
I created my mentorship program in order to help make this whole experience as smooth and as painless as possible! (Can't do much about the growing pains, though ;)
Feel free to get to know me a little through the posts on my blog and visit the mentorship and syllabus page if you are interested in possible joining us.
I sincerely wish you all the best in your search for truth and spiritual growth.
Looking forward to meeting you,
Chaim Coffman
My Rebbe, Rav Moshe Sternbuch
Rav Sternbuch fully endorses me and supports my mentorship program.
He is the address for all of my halachic or hashkafic (practical and philosophical) questions that I or my students may have.
The articles are based on his weekly talks on the Torah portion that the Rav gives in Jerusalem in his kollel. As a member of the kollel I get first dibbs on the photocopies and I type them up for my blog so you can all benefit from the Rav's erudition and insight.
Ask the Raavad: Shailos uteshuvos with Rav Moshe Sternbuch
Question: If a military conflict arises involving Israel against the Palestinians or other Arab nations, what should we daven for?
Answer: During these turbulent times, one should daven for peace in all areas, both between Jews and non-Jews and between Jews and Jews, for there is no utensil that holds Divine blessing like peace.
Question: May one wear a gold watch, or wear a plastic cover on one's hat, in a public domain where there is no eruv?
Answer: According to the understanding of many Rishonim, most cities today have the status of a public domain, and one should be stringent. However, in a place where it is questionable if it has the status of a public domain, one may act leniently, as long as the custom is not to be stringent. In order to understand these rulings, we need to investigate the background issues behind these two questions.
Societal Change
Society is in a constant state of change. The world we live in and the way people act today is very different that it was in the times of Chazal. The poskim encapsulated this idea when they wrote, "Every question depends on the time and the place."
Two striking examples of this concept regard the halachos of carrying on Shabbos. In the times of Chazal, it was commonplace for women to take off their jewelry and show it to their friends. Based on this, Chazal decreed that a woman should not wear jewelry, lest she come to carry it in a public domain.
Today, most women do not take off their jewelry in the middle of the street and show it to others. Such an action would probably be considered strange. Based on this factor, the Rama rules that today woman may wear jewelry in a public domain.
Some Rishonim define a public domain based on whether the streets are 16 amos wide, while others require that a public domain must also have 600,000 people (Biur Halacha 34:7). While in the times of the Gemara many of the streets were narrow, and many towns were small, today many streets are wide and the populations of cities are large. Let us try and understand how these factors affect our two questions.
Gold Watches and Bracelets
Today, many men and women wear a gold or decorative watch as a type of jewelry. Based on this, the great gaon and tzaddik, Rav Yosef Tzvi Dushinsky, compares a watch to a bracelet, which is permitted to wear on one's arm. (Shulchan Aruch 303:15). Rav Dushinsky ruled that although it is praiseworthy not to wear a watch in a public domain on Shabbos, l'halacha it is permitted.
If we take a closer look at this issue, there is a strong argument to forbid wearing a watch on Shabbos. Since the primary purpose of the watch is to know the time and not to wear as an ornament, it is not clear that we can give a watch the status of a piece of jewelry or a garment. The Biur Halacha sees this as a reason to be stringent regarding watches (301:11)
Rav Moshe Feinistein (Igros Moshe, Orach Chaim 1:111) adopted the more stringent stand and forbade wearing a watch in a public domain. Since the reason to forbid wearing a watch is because it is not solely for looks, this halachah applies to men as well as women. However, since women wear jewelry for decorative purposes, they may be more lenient in regards to wearing other items such as rings and bracelets in a public domain on Shabbos.
A Hat on a Hat
Although it is forbidden to carry anything on Shabbos, it is permitted to wear clothing that befits one's body. Since one's body requires these garments, they are considered subordinate to one's body, and one is not considered to be carrying them. In this vein, the Ramam (301:36) permits one to wear a hat on top of another hat, i.e. a larger hat on top of a kipah, since the larger hat protects one's body more than the smaller one.
While the hat cover may not be considered subordinate to one's body, since it is made specifically for the hat, it is possible to view it as part of the garment. According to this understand, just like one is allowed to wear the hat, one could wear the cover as well. Some poskim take the more lenient understanding.
On the other hand, it is forbidden to wear a garment that is being worn for itzulei tinuf, i.e. to protect one's clothing from dirt. Clothing such as this does not protect one's body, and it is therefore considered carrying to wear it. A hat cover does not protect more of the body than the hat and should be considered itsulei tinuf, and both the Chazon Ish and Rav Moshe Feinstein (Igros Moshe, Orach Chaim 1:108-110) adopted this stringent opinion.
The Bottom Line
Following the above discussion, we may conclude as follows. Since the poskim dispute whether one may wear a watch or hat cover, in a place where the streets are 16 amos wide, and there are not 600,000 people, one should be stringent not to wear them. However, in a place where one of these factors is not present and it is questionable if it has the status of a public domain, one may act leniently regarding these issues.
It is important to add that Chazal have told us that in a place where the minhag is to be stringent, it is forbidden to be lenient in public, and the permissibility of wearing a watch and a hat cover is affected by the custom of each place. If one lives in a community where the accepted practice is not to wear these items, then one may not do so. Since determining these guidelines is extremely complex, each person should consult with his personal rov to clarify the halachic status of the place where he lives.
Bogus Conversions in the Israeli Army come to an End!!!!!!
Rabbis reach deal on IDF conversions
In order to prevent haredi protests, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef says convert who did not intend on observing mitzvot while undergoing conversion process will not be recognized as a Jew
Shas' spiritual leader, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, authorized a number of senior rabbis on Sunday to add clarifications on his behalf to his controversial ruling which legitimized conversions performed in the Israel Defense Forces.
The addition is said to be accepted by leaders of the Eda Haredit movement, including head of the Lithuanian Orthodox faction Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, who are expected to call off the mass protest against Rabbi Yosef planned for Wednesday.
According to the compromise – brokered by former Shas Chairman Aryeh Deri – Rabbi Yosef added a restriction to his ruling, stating that a convert who did not really intend on adopting a religious lifestyle while undergoing the conversion process would not be recognized as a Jew.
The compromise offers the Ashkenazi rabbis a way out from their aggressive and uncompromising statements in the past few days, while sparing an embarrassing mass protest against Rabbi Yosef and Chief Sephardic Rabbi Shlomo Amar, without any of the parties reneging on their original stances.
The converts, however, are in for greater difficulties following the agreement. The Ashkenazi haredi marriage registrars are expected to give them a hard time, trying to prove in any way possible that they did not really intend to observe mitzvot.
The Sephardic rabbis, Yosef's students, will argue that this can be proved only in very rare cases and that adopting a secular lifestyle – even shortly after the conversion process is completed – does not necessarily prove that the convert acted in a deceitful manner.
Sources close to Rabbi Yosef stressed that he was not reneging on his original ruling, just emphasizing it, and that his halachic stand is well known and has been published on various occasions in the past.
Deri to the rescue?
Former Minister Deri delved deeply into the matter on Thursday night. He formed a team of three senior haredi Sephardic rabbis – Rabbi Shalom Cohen, Rabbi Reuven Elbaz and Rabbi Moshe Tzedaka – who conducted the negotiations between the parties.
At first some of them appeared before the Eda Haredit court and Rabbi Elyashiv, and then presented the bones of contention to Rabbi Yosef, as raised in their meetings with the Ashkenazi rabbis.
On Sunday, after a meeting at his home with the mediating rabbis, Yosef authorized them to deliver the clarification of his ruling to leaders of the Eda Haredit movement, which represents a large section of the Ashkenazi Orthodox community.
Eda Haredit leader Rabbi Yitzchok Tuvia Weiss, who met with Rabbi Yosef's representatives along with Interior Minister Eli Yishai, said he accepted the solution to the crisis and that the protest would be officially canceled.
Ask the Raavad: Shailos U'teshuvos with Rav Moshe Sternbuch
Question: What is the controversy regarding conversion in Eretz Yisrael all about?
Answer: One of the most sensitive aspects of the Jewish religion is the area of geirus, conversion. Hashem gets great satisfaction when a righteous convert gives up everything in his previous life to join the Jewish people. However, Divine anger is stirred up when a non-Jew tries to join Klal Yisrael without any intention of keeping mitzvos.
During recent years, a million Russians have entered Eretz Yisrael, many of them non-Jews. In order to facilitate making these new immigrants Jewish, the government, together with the army and the rabbanut, set up a special bais din. Thousands have already converted, and tens of thousands are waiting to be accepted as Jews.
In truth, there is absolutely no validity to these bogus conversions. One of the most important parts of conversion is kabbolas mitzvos, accepting all of the 613 mitzvos upon oneself. We have investigated this situation thoroughly, and the vast majority of these new converts have no interest in keeping mitzvos and are only converting to gain rights as citizens of Israel. Furthermore, many of the so-called rabbis who are teaching these converts are Reform or completely non-religious and are teaching them kefirah (heresy).
Some of the religious rabbonim, backing these conversions cite the Rambam who states, "If bais din did not check the sincerity of a convert, or they did not inform him of the mitzvos and their punishments, and he nonetheless undergoes milah (circumcision) and tevilah (going to the mikveh) in front of three novice dayanim (rabbinical court judges), since he underwent milah and tevilah, we treat him as if he is no longer a non-Jew, until we can clarify his true intentions. Even if he reverts completely back to his non-Jewish ways, we treat him as a Yisrael mumar (a Jewish heretic) (Issurei Biah 13)."
At first glance, the words of the Rambam imply that as long as someone underwent milah and tevilah, we treat him like a Jew, even though we do not know if he accepted mitzvos upon himself.
In truth, anyone who explains the Rambam like this is guilty of megaleh ponim baTorah shelo kehilchasah, teaching warped explanations of Torah that are not the halachah. The Rambam is clearly referring to a person who is sincerely interested in converting for the sake of keeping mitzvos. Since the bais din involved was not made up of expert dayanim, they were not aware how one must thoroughly check the intentions of a convert before accepting him into the fold.
However, when bais din realizes from the outset that a candidate is not interested in accepting mitzvos upon himself, it is one hundred percent clear that even if tevilah and milah were performed, this person does not become even a safeik (doubtful) Jew. In regards to converts, the Torah writes, "Mishpat", which teaches us that conversion requires the authorization of a bais din that the conversion is sincere and that everything has been done according to halachah. The Rambam is merely stating that if a novice bais din forgot to check this issue, if they initially validated his sincerity, we must assume that he may be Jewish.
What is taking place with these false conversions is a churban (travesty). It is literally defiling the sanctity of the Jewish people. Since the time of the destruction of the Bais Hamikdash, the Jewish people have not experienced such a disaster. We are approaching a time when one Jew will not be able to marry another lest his family came from these phony conversions.
Today, the Jewish people in Israel are in great danger from the Arabs who surround us on all sides, and we are in desperate need of mercy from Above. Chazal tell us that the Shechinah rests on the Jewish people when we ensure that the lineage of the Jewish people is maintained. These improper converts are driving the Divine Presence away from us and banishing our source of protection from us.
Chazal have already told us that we will be plagued with tragedies if we are flippant in our acceptance of converts (Yevamos 109b). The Gemara at the end of Maseches Kiddushin states that if we stand by quietly while such conversions take place, the Shechinah will depart from us and we will become susceptible to the attacks of the enemies around us.
In the near future, there will be a large demonstration in Yerushalayim against what is taking place. Jews living abroad should not think that they are absolved of their obligation to protest this atrocity because they are not living in Israel. If Hashem's anger is enflamed by what is taking place, the entire Jewish nation is in danger of falling prey to the hand of the nations around us.
Anyone who is quiet during this time should worry that he is included in what Chazal said: "Cursed is the one who does not lift up this Torah". On the other hand, anyone who takes actions to prevent these false conversions will be blessed and is deserving of great praise for their actions. We should strengthen the hands of all those who are involved with stopping these conversions, for the future of the Jewish people hinges on their actions.
Expressing Humility
Humble Measurements
All the measurements of the Aron, which contained the Torah, were half measurements (amosayim vocheitzei etc). This teaches us that limud haTorah requires ceaseless toil, and we must never be satisfied with the efforts invested in our learning, but must always aspire to reach ever greater levels. For this reason, the ultimate title awarded to any Jew is to be a talmid chochom (a Torah scholar) and not a chochom, since even someone who ahs acquired and absorbed much Torah must consider himself to be only a talmid of a chochom and not an actual chochom.
Humility is an essential trait for attaining any genuine madreigah (level) in Torah, and this may also be seen from the fact that the Aron, although surrounded by gold, was made of word. To the outside world, a talmid chochom must act the part of a chochom. His behavior must be impeccable and he must insist on kavod haTorah in the conduct of others. However, within himself, he must be like "wood" – utterly, humble and not claiming any credit for himself.
Give in order to Get
All the meforshim wonder about the Torah's phraseology at the beginning of Parshas Terumah. Why does it say, "that they take for Me an offering", instead of "that they give an offering to Me"? This teaches us that a person must be aware that whenever he gives away "his" possessions, he is not parting with anything belonging to himself, but is only transferring an object actually due to the recipient. For example, when we make a donation to an oni (a poor person) who is entitled to our maser kesafim (giving a 1/10 of our money to charity), we will be blessed in return with manifold blessings.
A donor must recognize that his donation is, in truth, the means for receiving blessings from Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Similarly, the Yisrael who gives matnos kehunah (those gifts given to the Kohen), is in turn, blessed by the kohanim: "So shall they put My name upon the Bnei Yisrael, and I will bless them". Therefore, so far from patting one's shoulder for his generosity, a person who parts with his property due to an obligation prescribed by the Torah should be grateful for the opportunities presented to him to receive Hashem's bounty in this way.
Educational Priorities
Chazal tell us that the two faces of the Keruvim were in the form of a young boy and a young girl. This teaches us that when the Kohen gadol goes into the Kodesh Hakodoshim (Holy of Holies) in the midst of his lofty thoughts, he must humbly remember to invest major efforts into the education of his children, including even his young children.
When the Brisker Rov zt"l was the rov of Brisk, he was very particular about the education of his children and put a lot of effort into investigating what they were doing, who their friends were, and so on. Some members of the community looked askance at his preoccupation with his children's education and told him that, as the rabbi of the city, it was his duty first and foremost to invest more time in meeting the city's many requirements. The Brisker Rov responded that the education of those children was more important to him than anything else in the world, and if they felt that this constituted an obstacle to the proper fulfillment of his rabbinical duties, he would be willing to resign his position.
Elevating the Mundane
In the Mishkan and the Bais Hamikdash, the mizbeiach (altar) was in the middle, with the Menorah to the south and the Shulchan (table) to the north. The Shulchan has to face the mizbeiach to demonstrate that we must eat lesheim Shomayim, to preserve our health in order to be able to serve Hashem properly. Similarly, we dip bread in salt every meal. Although there are reason al pi Kabbolah for this practice, we can understand it on a plain level too. Salt, on its own, is not considered a delicacy for most people, but when used to season other food, it becomes an essential component. So too, if we consume food merely in order to satisfy our appetite, it is not a worthy act per se, but if we eat with the requisite intentions, the food becomes an elevated vehicle for serving Hashem.
External Trappings
The light of the Menorah symbolizes the light of the Torah. The posuk says, "Its knobs and its flowers shall be of one piece with it". The Chasam Sofer sees this as an indication that the Torah is all-encompassing and does not need to be supplemented by knowledge from any external sources. At various stages of our history, some people felt the need to incorporate philosophy or other branches of non-Jewish wisdom into the Torah. This happened, for example, in Spain and Germany. In truth, however, anyone willing to dedicate himself exclusively to Torah will find even a "button" – i.e. external mundane wisdom – to be an integral part of the Torah itself, and will feel no need to have recourse to foreign sources to "supplement" the Torah.
Islamic Stirrings
This past week, we saw the movement which started in Tunisia spread to our most populous neighbor, Egypt, and even to Jordan. What started as a popular uprising has all the makings of becoming a veritable earthquake. The Zohar says that in the period leading up to the coming of Moshiach, the descendants of Yishmael will enjoy enormous power in the merit of the mitzvah of milah. Unfortunately, many of his descendants display immense dedication to their religion, and we must demonstrate at least as much mesirus nefesh in all aspects of Yiddishkeit.
We saw before that even in the Kodesh Hakodoshim, the Kohen Gadol was not to remain exclusively immersed in other worldly thoughts. The bells on his me'il cautioned him against any thoughts of his own righteousness in the holiest place. They served as a wake-up call to remind him not to remain silent in the face of any breaches against the Torah but rather to voice his vigorous protest against them.
When circumstances call for such protests, there is no place for either self-righteousness or humility. As for the so-called political situation, we are totally dependent on Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Based on a natural analysis of current events, there is no room for optimism at all and we may feel that we will inevitably be forced to endure calamities the likes of which we have not experienced since becoming a nation. However, if we come to the realization that salvation lies only with Hashem, and if we do whatever the Torah requires of us to stand up for kevod Shomayim (honoring the Kingdom of Heaven) Hashem will surely help us.
Ask the Raavad: Shailos Uteshuvos with Rav Moshe Sternbuch
The teshuvos are transcribed by Rabbi Daniel Yaakov Travis. Questions for Rav Sternbuch may be sent to Rabbi Travis at email@example.com
Question: How is one to react when he is saved miraculously from a matzav sakana (a life-threatening event)?
Answer: I experienced a chain of miracles last week, when I was saved a number of times from the hands of Arabs. Last Shabbos I recited Birkas Hagomel (the blessing for being saved from a dangerous situation) and made a seudos hoda'ah (a meal of thanksgiving)
Relating Miracles
The Zohar writes, "Hashem has great pleasure when Jews speak about the miracles of Yetzias Mitzrayim (the coming out of Egypt) on Pesach night. Hashem gathers all of the melachim (angels) in the Heavens so that they can listen to the recitation of these miracles. These angels praise Hashem for all of these miracles, and praise the righteousness of the Jewish people who celebrate the miracles that Hashem performed for them.
"Similarly, when an individual has a personal miracle, he should praise Hashem for the Providence he experienced. What benefit does Hashem receive from hearing about the miracles that He, Himself performed? One must nonetheless relate these miracles for these words ascend to the Heavens, and Hashem gathers all of the malachim to listen. When the heavenly assembly hears this story, they all praise Hashem, and there is great honor to Hashem both above and bellow" (Zohar, Parshas Bo)
The answer is that whenever we experience miracles, there is always a possibility to attribute it to tevah, natural circumstances. When we experience miracles and we relate the story and admit that everything was Hashem's Hand and nothing was a result of our own intelligence or coincidence, Hashem gets great pleasure that we rely solely on Him and nothing else. Even though angels generally have sufficient reason to prosecute us, when we speak about miracles, the tables turn and the malachim extol the praise of the Jewish people.
Saved from a Lynch
Last week, the 22nd of Shevat 5771, was the second yahrtzeit (anniversary of the death) of Rav Sternbuch's wife. One of the rov's sons and three of his grandsons were driving Rav Sternbuch to the bais hakevoros (graveyard) on Har Hazeisim (Mount of Olives). The GPS misdirected them and before they knew it, they were in an Arab village.
A group of Arabs started to hurl bricks at the car. One of the bricks broke the window and injured the driver. Although he was bleeding and crying in pain, the driver continued to drive and escape from the crowd.
A band of bloodthirsty Arabs ran after the car, but the injured driver kept going. He swerved onto a side road and managed to get away from the mob of Arabs. However, at that point, they had absolutely no idea where they were.
He continued to drive for about fifteen minutes until they came to an Arab garage. People there warned them that this was a dangerous place for them to be, but they decided that they were going to stop there and try to get help. They called the Israeli police, but the police told them that unless they could offer some identifying signs, they could not help them.
There was a small straw hut nearby, and an Arab came out and offered to help them. He invited them to his home for a drink, but Rav Sternbuch and his family refused and instead they asked this Arab if he could give them directions. The Sternbuchs got in touch with the police, and the Arab instructed the officers how to get to the place where they were situated.
Rav Sternbuch and his family waited for about twenty minutes, and finally the police arrived. Rav Sternbuch was then taken away in a police car back to Israeli territory. Eventually, Rav Sternbuch made it to the cemetery to say tefilllos (prayers) for the yahrtzeit and for the miraculous rescue from the hands of death.
Staying Strong Under Fire
Rav Sternbuch related that when the Arabs started to throw bricks at the car he did not even realize that anything unusual was taking place. He was so engrossed in learning that he did not notice what was happening. Only after they sped away from the Arab mob did Rav Sternbuch realize that they were under attack.
During the entire experience, Rav Sternbucvh was confident that he would get out alive. Klal Yisrael is in great need of rabbonim today to give p'sak halach and direction to the Jewish people, so Rav sternbuch understood that Hashem would take care of him and protect him from all danger.
Rav Sternbuch related that during the entire episode, he did not feel the slightest bit of fear. During World War II, Rav Sternbuch's rosh yeshiva, Rav Moshe Shneider, ingrained into their minds, "Every bomb and bullet has an address". If Hashem has not destined one's demise, it will not take place.
Rav Sternbuch added that during World War II, England was bombarded with rockets by the Nazis. Many people fled to bomb shelters, but Rav Shneider stayed in the bais medrash learning. Rav sternbuch followed the rosh yeshivah's example and continued to learn in the bais medrash during the attacks.
Thanking Hashem
On the Shabbos after the resuce from the Arabs, Rav Sternbuch recited Birkas Hagomel (the blessing for being saved from a dangerous situation). Afterward, he hosted a seudas hodo'ah at his home. Rav Sternbuch fulfilled the words of the Zohar by speaking about the miracles that had transpired.
After relating the miraculous rescue stories, Rav Sternbuch explained the deeper meaning of the Birkas Hagomel blessing. We say, "Who performs kindness for those who are chayavim (obligated). Who did good for me". Why do we refer to ourselves as chayavim and why do we finish off the bracha by repeating that Hashem "has done good for me"?
Everyone has transgressions and can be considered chayav. At times, Hashem punishes us for these sins by putting us in situations of danger and then miraculously rescuing us. This is what we mean when we say "Who performs kindness for those who are chaavim".
Although we survive the experience, the necessity for a miracle causes us to lose from our merit. How do we regain the merit that we lost? By reciting the story and the Hashgacha (Divine Providence) of what took place, we regain what was taken away.
After entering a situation of danger, we might have doubts about Hashem's kindness toward us. For this reason, we conclude the blessing with, "Who did good for me". We admit that Hashem's kindness is perfect and that everything that took place was only as a result of our actions.
The Medrash in Parshas Tzav says that when one brings a korban todah (a thanksgiving sacrifice), he offers Hashem honor on top of honor. The first honor is attributing one's salvation completely to Hashem. However, one adds even more honor to Hashem's Name if he also admits that he was deserving of that punishment and thanks Hashem for both chastising and rescuing him.
Sanctifying Hashem's Name
Rav Sternbuch's son, Rav Asher concluded the seudos hodayah with the following thoughts.
It is not by chance that these great miracles happened on the yahrtzeit of Rav Sternbuch's late wife, Rebbetzin Yaffa Sternbuch. It was in her great merit that the rov was able to have a great impact on the Jewish people (see introduction to A Voice in the Darkness)
One brazen individual made the following remark. Perhaps Rav Sternbuch was attacked by Arabs because of the rov's protest against the abominable parades in Yerushalyim, desecration of gravesites, conversion without a full acceptance of mitzvos, and other issues which Rav Sternbuch considers to be an affront to Hashem's honor. Maybe these protests had stirred up Divine wrath against the rov, chas veshalm (G-d forbid).
Rav Sternbuch replied that he was sure that he was saved from the hands of death because of his great concertn with Hashem's honor. Hashem allowed him the opportunity to once again sanctify the Divine Name through the miracles that took place and the great calmness that Rav Sternbuch had in reacting to them.
The seudas hodayah concluded with singing and rejoicing over the miraculous rescue. Rav sternbuch gave a bracha that just as he had been miraculously saved from the hands of enemies, so too, the entire Jewish people would be redeemed speedily, and we should soon witness the coming of the Moshiach, who will extricate us from the hands of all of our enemies. May it be Hashem's will that this event should be a harbinger for the speedy redemption quickly in our days.
Rav Sternbuch on Parshas Mishpatim
Beauty of the Jewish Home
Some people are extremely particular about kashrus. They spend a lot of money to ensure that mitzvos are observed behidur rav, and they are also provided the best education for their children, but their business affairs are not in line with Torah standards. After describing kabolas hatorah (the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai), the Torah immediately delineates the laws pertaining to interpersonal relationships. Similarly, Pirkei Avos, which deals exclusively with ethics, starts with Moshe kibel Torah misinai (Moses received the Torah from Mount Sinai). This teaches us that bein adom lechaveiro matters constitute an integral and vital part of the Torah, which must be observed that least as much as other parts of the Torah.
Taking a look at this week's parsha it is conspicuous how the Torah's laws differ fundamentally from man-made laws. In most legal systems a thief is liable to a fine or possibly imprisonment. By contrast, the Torah is mainly concerned with restitution of the stolen object, to such an extent that the thief eve has to sell himself in order to obtain money for repayment purposes. During his period of "slavery" the eved ivri's master is obliged to provide him with all the necessary comforts, and the eved is exposed to the beauty of a Torah way of life. This serves as a powerful lesson for anyone involved in kiruv (Jewish outreach) about how important it is to emphasize the beauty of family life in a Torah home.
Paternal Connections
The posuk talks about someone who smites his father or mother and about a person who curses his father or mother, but in between it refers to someone who steals a man, and sells him. Why did the Torah not put the prohibition against smiting a parent in juxtaposition to the prohibition of cursing a parent? On the face of it, these two similar prohibitions belong together. The Torah is telling us about the origins of this extreme case of a son cursing his father. In the absence of a close connection between a father and son, the father's influence over his child will decline, and the son will be exposed to outsiders seeking to convince him that his father belongs to the old generation and has no understanding of today's needs. The boy's heart will be "stolen"; he will start calling his father names, and will eventually curse him. IF we make it our priority to nurture a genuine connection with our children, then even if they go through difficult periods, they will never want to sever that bond with their parents.
Majority Rules?
The story is told that the King asked Rav Yonasan Eibshutz why the Jews are so adamant in adhering to their religion when their own law prescribes following the majority, and the majority of humanity does not follow the Jewish faith. Rav Yonasan responded that in a situation of doubt the majority is indeed decisive, but in the absence of doubt there is no need to apply the majority principle, and as Jews we do not harbor any doubts about our faith. This teaches u that a true believer is only one who faith is not subject to any doubts.
Angelic Empathy?
The Rambam asks why in this week's parasha the bnei yisroel agreed to be guided by malachim (angels) whereas after the chet haegel (sin of the golden calf), they begged not to be led by them. Before the chet haegel, when they were still on a high madreigo (level), surrounded on all sides by the anonei hakavod (clouds of glory) they did not mind angels being involved in leading them, but after they sinned, they wanted only Hashem Himself to lead them, because they felt that angels could not understand how anyone could sin against the Creator, and they would not serve as good defense counsel, since as far as angels are concerned any transgression against the Creator warrants immediate and sever punishment.
Rhyme or Reason
Rashi brings down that in addition to mitzvos such as kibud av v'em (honoring parents) and shabbos, we were also taught the halachos of para aduma (the red heifer) at Moro. It is easy to see the necessity for having to be taught hilchos shabbos, with which we were totally unfamiliar up to that point, but what reason could there be for our having to be taught the halachos of para aduma at such an early stage? This was meant to teach us that just like these halachos are incomprehensible, since the same object which is metaher temeim (purifying the impure) is also metame tehorim (impurifying the pure), so too is the whole Torah incomprehensible. We should not delude ourselves into thinking that we can gain a complete understanding of even apparently rational commandments such as honoring one's parents, because there are thousands of reasons for everything in the Torah, which are beyond our understanding. When the Rambam in Moreh Nevuchim provided reasons for commandments he did not mean to suggest that these were ultimate or absolute reasons, but only one of multitude of reasons. The more we delve into the profundity and complexity of the Torah, the more we realize how much we do not understand.
Unwanted Snare
"They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against Me, for you will serve their gods, for they will be a snare unto you". Unfortunately this pasuk is of great topical relvance. The Israeli Chief Rabbinate with the approval of the Shas party, is bring in non-Jewish idol worshippers from Ethiopia who claim descent from the avos hakedoshim (patriarchs) but do not keep any mitzvos. Furthermore, many thousands of non-Jewish Russian immigrants are already present in the country, and now, to add insult to injury, certain parties are eager to validate "army conversions", and declare non-Jews to be Jews. Accepting ol malchus shamayim (the yoke of heaven) is a prerequisite for the validity of any conversion. If a genuine convert subsequently become lax in mitzvah observance, he becomes a mumar (heretic) like any other born Jew acting the same way, but these thousands of soldiers did not even pretend ab initio that they wanted to observe any halaochos. We do not distinguish between Ashkenazim and Sefardim, but are only interested in the Torah. However, anyone who validates such "conversions" will indeed cause a schism, G-d forbid, between those who recognize them for marriage purposes and those who do not (i.e. all the poskim in Eretz Yisrael: see the announcement published last week).
Rav Sternbuch Shlita was miraculously saved from a fury of an Arab mob last Thursday, and benshed gomel (the prayer for being saved by a miracle) on Shabbos. At the Kiddush on Shabbos after davening, his son said that one impudent fellow had suggested that this incident happened because of the Rav's protests against the conversion scandal. The Rav responded that he believes he was saved in the merit of these protests.
Ask the Raavad – Shailos Uteshuvos with Rav Moshe Sternbuch
Question: Is it permitted to eat food that was touched by someone who did not wash their hands (negel vasser)in the morning?
Answer: The halachah is that one may eat the food after first washing it three times under the faucet, although the Vilna Gaon was stringent never to eat the food.
One Purim, the Vilna Gaon received an exquisite mishloach manos, consisting of choice apples and lemons. Rav Zalman of Volozin (brother of Rav Chaim of Volozhin) was at the table of the Gaon that Purim and dozed off during the meal. While he was sleeping, his hands touched some of the fruit in the basket.
When the Gaon saw what happened, he immediately ordered the apples and lemons to be chopped into small pieces and thrown into the toilet. He world not even permit the fruit to be sold to a non-Jew, lest he sell them afterwards to a Jew. The Vilna Gaon believed that food touched before one washes his hands presents the greatest spiritual danger (Tosefes Ma'ashe Rav 25).
As far as the halachah lemaaseh, the Mishnah Berurah (4:14) cites the Chaye Adam (2:2) who permits eating food that a Jew touched in the morning before washing his hands. Before consuming that food, it should be washed off three times. If we look deeper into this issue, we will see that eating food which has been touched with unwashed hands is far from a simple issue.
What is the Chayei Adam's proof to permit eating food touched before washing one's hands?
The Bais Yosef forbids doing shechitah using a reed, because amongst other reasons, the reed may be impure. He writes that according to this explanation, if one unknowingly performed shechitah with a reed, the meat would be permitted.
The proof that the Chaye Adam cites is far from conclusive. The tumah that is on a reed as a result of one touching it is not nearly as powerful as that which rests on a person's hands in the morning. Although the halachah states clearly that washing three times take this impurity off of one's hands in the morning, it is far from simple that washing three times will take it off of food.
Chazal imply that the tumah that rests on one's hands in the morning is more stringent and cannot be compared to other impurities. "If a person touches his eyes, nose, mouth, ears, or other orfices of his body in the morning before washing his hands, he should cut off his hands so that this should repeat itself. Touching these parts of his body can make him blind and deaf, and bring on other sicknesses. (Shabbos 108b)
The Zohar (cited by the Bais Yosef, Orach Chaim 4) also stresses that this impurity is more stringent than others. "When the neshama leaves a person's body, a spirit of impurity envelops a person's body…the water that one uses to remove this impurity is spiritually dangerous and can cause great harm." From the words of the Zohar, we see how destructive this impurity is.
The Rishonim also stress the great danger inherent in this impurity. In Hilchos Yom Kippur, the Bahag writes, "Shivta is the name of the spirit which rests on a person's hands at night. Eating food that a person touched before washing his hands causes great spiritual danger." When defining shivta, the Aruch cites the words of the Bahag as the halachah.
The Pri Megaidm emphasizes the severity of eating food which was touched with impure hands. "Eating such food is dangerous and we follow the principle that danger is more stringent than other prohibitions" (Mishbetzos Zaham 4:7) The Shelah (cited in Ketzos Hashulchan 2:7) adds that eating these food causes one's heart to become impure and that this will eventually lead a person to do aveiros (sins).
Based on the above, some seforim suggest that one should wash their children's hands even at a very young age. Although l'halacha one only needs to be stringent from the age of chinuch (education), some extremely righteous individuals start washing their children's hands from the time of their bris milah (circumcision).
Despite all the danger that such food poses, there is a way to understand why the halachah and minhag are so lenient. The Rama writes (2:7) that if one washed his hands in the morning without a utensil, the impurity will also be taken off. Since most people wash their hands upon waking up in the morning, one can rely on this washing together with the washing of the food to eat the food that was touched.
Another reason to be lenient regarding this halachah is based on the famous incident with Rav Avrohom ben Avrohom, was born to a family of gentile aristocracy yet decided to relinquish his status and become a righteous convert. His family, who was very devout in their religious beliefs, ordered him to renounce his Jewish faith or be burned at the stake. Rav Avrohom refused to compromise and chose to die al Kiddush Hashem (sanctifying G-d's name).
On the day that Rav Avrohom was executed, a great fire came out of the Me'oras Hamachpeilah in Chevron, where the avos (patriarchs) are buried. The Vilna Gaon explained that Rav Avrohom's act of dying while sanctifying Hashem's name caused the forces of impurity to be reduced drastically and, as a result, the tumah that rests on one's hands every morning upon awakening was also weakened (Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach as cited in Ishei Yisroel (2:17). Nonetheless, regarding food touched by someone who did not perform netilas yodayim beforehand, the Vilna Gaon ruled that even after the incident of Rav Avrohom ben Avrohom, one should not eat the food.
In conclusion, a person should take whatever precaution he can not to eat food that was touched before netilas yodayim. If the food was touched, tit should be washed under the tap three separate times.
Guarding the purity of the food that is placed in one's body ensure that a person will be spared from the spiritual harm that it could cause (taken from Teshuvos V'Hanhagos 1:1)


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Early this morning, the Xbox One hit store shelves. With Sony's PlayStation 4 having launched on the 15th, that means both of the new game consoles are now available. Which should you buy?
I'm assuming for purposes of this argument that you're not the kind of insane gamer who has spent the last six months drooling over game trailers on YouTube, making sure their pre-order is going to be fulfilled on day one, and posting furious messages to internet forums defending the console of their choice. Once everybody's done lining up in the cold and sleeping in tents outside a Best Buy to make sure they have their new toy in hand, that's when it's time for everyone else to make their decisions.
Xbox One, PlayStation 4. They sure do look the same! A couple of big black rectangles. And it's important to remember that for the most part, they'll play the exact same games. The idea of the platform exclusive has all but gone extinct as games have become significantly more expensive to create. Unless Microsoft and Sony are going out and paying big bucks to keep a game off the other guy's platform, publishers are going to get their games into as many channels as possible. So if you mostly play games like Assassin's Creed, Madden or Call of Duty, the software libraries aren't going to be the deciding factor for you.
Videogames are my job and my life, so I don't make these decisions. I get everything. I even got a Japanese PlayStation Vita for some reason I can't figure out. But if I had to choose just one, I'd buy a PlayStation 4. It's cheaper ($400 vs. $500) and it has the kind of games I like – I much prefer Sony's exclusive games to Microsoft's. So there you go. That's what I'd do.
But you're not me. So that's not exactly the most helpful piece of data. There are all kinds of people out there, and depending on what your priorities are, the next-gen console you should go for will be different. Let's look at some common scenarios. And if none of these works for you, well, then I've got one more recommendation at the end that should work.
You Need the Most Power
PS4 and Xbox One are very similar pieces of hardware, but PlayStation 4's hardware has more power behind it. Now, if you're just looking at the exclusive game libraries and other features of these platforms and basing your decisions off that, this really doesn't matter: You're not going to not play a game because of the hypothetical possibility that it would look nicer on a platform on which it will never be available.
However, if you do see yourself playing mostly games by third-party software makers, the odds are good that the PlayStation 4 versions will always look as good as or better than the Xbox One's. This is being borne out in the launch lineups so far. Call of Duty Ghosts will only run at a native 720p resolution on Xbox One, but at a full 1080p on PS4. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag and Battlefield 4 will have similar resolution deficits, though not quite as pronounced.
"If it's running at 720p vs 1080p, you're going to notice the difference, by far," said a Ubisoft producer in a recent blog post. So if you're looking for the absolute prettiest graphics for your massive TV, buy a PS4.
You Love Shooters
And judging by the sales of first-person shooters, a fair few of you do. Based purely on what we can see in the near future, the Xbox One will have a decided advantage when it comes to the shootbang genre. First off, although Halo developer Bungie has split off from Microsoft and will be making multiplatform games, Halo itself remains an Xbox-only franchise and will not be switching teams anytime soon.
But it goes further than that: Respawn, the studio formed by many of the former leads from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare developer Infinity Ward, will be releasing its new shooter Titanfall exclusively on Xbox 360, Xbox One and Windows PC. And publisher Electronic Arts says it's not a timed deal – the game will simply never come out on PlayStation. I played Titanfall at Penny Arcade Expo and it was pretty awesome – you can wall-run straight up buildings and jump into gigantic robots to stomp around and cause massive damage. It could be the most serious threat to Call of Duty's dominance.
Add to that the fact that Call of Duty and Bungie's new game Destiny will be available on both platforms, and it's clear: If you're into shooters, buy Xbox One.
You Love Japanese Games
While Xbox platforms have done very well in the West, Microsoft has simply never been able to gain a foothold in Japan. However, the economics of the game industry have hit Japan as hard as anyone, and now many of the major blockbuster games coming from Japanese developers (what's left of them, anyway) often get released on both the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 simultaneously.
However, there are still plenty enough exceptions (the fabulous role-playing game Ni no Kuni was only on PS3, for example). I don't see the dynamics of the Japanese gaming market changing very much with Xbox One and PS4 on the way – it's quite likely that PS4 in Japan will end up with ten times the installed base of Xbox One, and de facto exclusives will come out of that. And of course, Sony also has its internal Japan Studio.
Both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One will be region-free1, meaning that if imported games come out before they come here (or not at all), you can play them on your box. But if you're looking for the system that will end up with the most exclusive games from Japan, buy a PS4.
You Still Have Cable
Still watching live TV, eh? That's cool, I do it too sometimes. One of the major differences between Xbox One and PlayStation 4 is that Xbox One wants to be in charge of your television channels. You can plug your cable box output into the back of the Xbox One, and then you can do all your TV watching using the Xbox.
It's not a perfect experience, as we noted in our review, but the advantages outweigh the downsides. You can use the Kinect voice commands to browse the listings and change the channel. Kinect can turn your TV on and off, raise and lower the volume, etc. And although you can't use Kinect to browse through your DVR (and Xbox One doesn't have DVR functionality of its own), you can use it to fast-forward and pause TV shows without picking up the remote, which is pretty sweet when you're watching TV while eating dinner, which is all the time.
You can even multitask, watching TV while playing a game.
If the thought of this makes you misty-eyed about the future (or if you just like the idea of your TV and game console sharing a single HDMI slot), and you don't have any particular attachment to either game library, buy an Xbox One.
You Want the Most for Your Money
Besides being $100 more expensive than PlayStation 4, Xbox One has another hidden cost: Most of its features are actually locked behind the $60-per-year Xbox Live Gold paywall. The TV guide, apps like Skype and Netflix, the Game DVR feature that lets you record and share clips, and of course online multiplayer gameplay – none of it will work unless you're paying Microsoft $60 a year.
Now, it's true that with PlayStation 4, Sony has locked multiplayer gameplay behind a similar paywall, the $50 per year PlayStation Plus. But of the major features, that's pretty much the only thing you have to pay for on PS4. If you buy the platform, you can use Netflix and other apps without paying. You can even broadcast your gameplay live to Twitch and Ustream without paying one red cent more to Sony.
So if you want to use media streaming, etc. with no subscription required (and don't expect to be doing much if any online multiplayer), buy a PS4.
You Don't Always Have Control of the TV
If you live alone or have your own gigantic television, you'll always be able to play your new next-gen console in peace no matter which you choose. But what if you're time-sharing a TV with roommates? Or children?
With PlayStation 4, you never have to go without. The Remote Play feature lets you play your PS4 content on the PlayStation Vita handheld. Get them both connected onto Wi-Fi and you can turn your PS4 on from standby mode, navigate the menu and play your game – all using the controls and the screen of the Vita. This is intended for use in the same house, with both machines on the same Wi-Fi network. But some users have found that they can play their games without much lag from 100 miles away, if the connections are good.
This goes down on the list of "features you never knew you needed until you had them." It's a major selling point of Nintendo's Wii U, which has a screen on its controller and thus doesn't need an extra piece of hardware to do off-TV play. It's not as perfect on PS4 as it is on Wii U, but reports are saying that it's good enough that you can always have access to your next-gen games even when the kids are watching a Dora the Explorer marathon on Saturday morning. If that sounds amazing to you, buy a PS4.
If You've Read All of This And You Still Don't Know
If you've gotten to this point and you still aren't sure whether you want a PS4 or an Xbox One, I think I know what advice to give you: Don't buy either.
I'm not saying you should never buy either. I'm saying that if the cool new features of these boxes aren't enough to sway you one way or the other, you might not be happy with either one at this point. I've been playing the exclusive launch games for both Xbox One and PlayStation 4, and neither library is very good right now. Sony's big launch game Knack is cute and pretty, but can get repetitive and a little boring. Microsoft's Ryse: Son of Rome is a rushed mess.
There's just nothing to really get excited about. And from third parties? Most of their big games are available, in slightly less pretty form, on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 – and I fully expect Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of major games to continue to be released over the next year or two as the industry cautiously transitions to the new consoles. Heck, even Titanfall will be on Xbox 360 as well as Xbox One.
So you have time to wait. The major third party games will keep coming out for the platform you already own, and first parties are still in all likelihood a year or more away from really getting their asses in gear and releasing some gotta-have-it exclusives that weren't rushed to make it out on day one. And at $400 and $500, there's a lot of room for those prices to drop before next Christmas. Not to mention the fact that a lot of promised features, like Twitch streaming on Xbox One, are still unreleased. If you don't want to pay to be a beta tester for everyone else, then don't.
For the time being, there's no shame in just letting the console wars happen without you. Then you can sort through the wreckage.
112:15 PM 11/22/13: The original version of this story was based on an outdated version of the Xbox One's region locking policy and has been corrected.

subset: commoncrawl


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An After School Portrait
- Coming Up with a Portrait Theme
- Preparing Ahead of Time
- The Main Light
- The Rim/Fill Light
- The Hair/Background Light
- The Stand-In
- Show Time
- Comparisons
Lighting Equipment
Now that the kids are back in school again, what better way to get great indoor portraits of your young student than with the Photoflex First Studio Portrait Kit.
With this affordable, easy-to-use lighting kit and a little know-how, you'll be able to come away with some truly captivating images. This lesson illustrates some basic lighting techniques you can use to capture images of loved ones that you'll treasure for years to come.
Topics Covered:
Coming Up with a Portrait Theme
For this lesson, I wanted to create a makeshift home studio for an after school portrait. The subject was my 4-year old son, Aidan, who's currently very interested in anything having to do with dinosaurs.
In light of this little man's quest for prehistoric knowledge, I decided to create a somewhat scholarly portrait of him, sitting in a grown-up chair, perusing the pages of his favorite dinosaur book. In framing up the shot, I decided to have the living room bookshelf in the background to lend an academic mood to the scene.
Preparing Ahead of Time
Anyone who's ever done a child portrait before knows that it's usually best to get all of your camera and lighting gear set up beforehand in order to take advantage of that small window of opportunity called "a child's patience." And that's exactly what I did here.
The Main Light
After positioning the chair where I wanted it, I set up my main light (First Studio light, Umbrella and LiteStand), positioned it to the right of the chair, plugged it into the wall, and turned it on. [Figures 1 and 2]
Figure 1
Figure 2
The Rim/Fill Light
Next, I added a rim/fill light on the opposite side of the chair, almost 180-degrees from the main light. I knew that I'd be making minor positioning adjustments to these lights once Aidan was in the chair, but for the time being, this was the general placement I wanted for the portrait. [Figures 3 and 4]
Figure 3
Figure 4
The Hair/Background Light
For a final touch, I decided to use another FirstStar head as a hair light/background light. The bookshelf really came in handy here, as it was a perfect surface for this third light head. To keep the light head stable, I mounted it to a Photoflex LS-2200 Background Stand. Once the light was angled where I wanted it, I plugged it in and turned it on. [Figure 5]
Figure 5
With all of the lights on now, my general lighting setup was complete. I had a soft main light to the right of the chair, a soft rim/fill light opposite from the main light, and a hard hair/background light positioned on the bookshelf.
In the setup shots below, can you see the hard light effects of the hair/background light on the chair and floor? [Figures 6 and 7]
Figure 6
Figure 7
The Stand-In
Right after I got the lights all set up, our cat, Gulliver, strolled in from the other room to see what was going on and promptly jumped up on the chair. I saw this as the perfect opportunity to get some "stand-in" test shots before Aidan got home from school. [Figure 8]
Figure 8
I grabbed the camera, zoomed in tight, and took a few shots while Gulliver pondered the sound of the camera shutter. Here's my favorite of the bunch. [Figure 9]
Figure 9
Show Time
Once Aidan got home from school, I had him put on a nice shirt and asked him to go grab his favorite dinosaur book. When he came back and sat down in the chair, this book kept him fairly well occupied as I took the following series of shots.
Before using the First Studio lights, I first took a quick point-and-shoot snapshot with the built-in flash activated for comparison purposes. With the camera set to Auto, I took my first shot. [Figures 10 and 11]
Figure 10
Figure 11
As you can see from the result, the lighting was less than desirable! It's a great example of how the lighting in a photograph makes all the difference!
Next, I swapped out the compact camera for a DSLR (pop-up flash deactivated) to try and capture a more natural looking result, starting with just the main First Studio light. With the White Balance set to Tungsten and the aperture and shutter speed manually set, I turned on the main light and took a shot. [Figures 12 and 13]
Figure 12
Figure 13
With just this one light, the improvement over the previous shot was tremendous. The light from the umbrella threw a soft, diffused light onto Aidan that was both directional and natural looking.
The left side of Aidan and his book, however, were fairly deep in shadow. So to brighten up these areas, I added the rim/fill light. I turned it on and moved it a little further forward to better fill in the shadows.
The nice thing about continuous lights like these is that you can see the effects of the lights as you move them, which can save considerable time when you're building a shot. Once this light was in place, I took another shot. [Figures 14 and 15]
Figure 14
Figure 15
Now the light was much more even and this second light also helped to illuminate the background somewhat.
For the final step, I turned on the overhead hair light and angled it so that it would illuminate both Aidan's hair and part of the floor behind him. [Figure 16]
Figure 16
Once everything was in place, I took a series of shots to try and capture Aidan "in the moment". [Figures 17 and 18]
Figure 17
Figure 18
As you can see from the results, the shots now had a real sense of dimension to them. The hair light really helped to separate Aidan from the background and added a more dynamic element to the scene.
This image ended up being my favorite of the bunch, as Aidan really looked engrossed in the illustrations of the dinosaurs. [Figure 19]
Figure 19
Upon reviewing the image further, however, I saw that my composition of the shot wasn't exactly as I wanted it. Specifically, at the bottom of the image, Aidan's feet get cut off, which makes for an awkward visual tension.
In such a case, cropping an image to be perfectly square can be the perfect solution, and that's exactly what I did here. Notice how this cropped version does not have the awkward visual tension of the original? [Figure 20]
Figure 20
To give you a sense of how far I'd come with the lighting, compare the first shot with the built-in flash against this most recent one. Figures 21 and 22]
Now which one would you rather have mounted in a picture frame?
Figure 21
Figure 22
After the shoot, it only took me a few minutes to pack up the lighting gear and set it against the wall. As you can see, you don't have to have a lot of lighting gear to create compelling indoor portraits! [Figure 23]
Figure 23
Keep in mind that the lighting configuration illustrated here is just one of many you can create with this easy-to-use lighting kit. Remember to experiment with your lighting setups and portrait themes, and above all, have fun!
Photographed and written by Ben Clay, Contributing Instructor for PhotoflexLightingSchool.com
Modeled by Aidan Clay
Lighting Equipment


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Blizzard Conditions Create Havoc, Cancellations Around Sioux Falls, South Dakota
UPDATE: I-90 westbound is now open between Sioux Falls and Salem. Although the road is open the South Dakota Department of Transportation advises that traveling will still be dangerous because of the conditions.
UPDATE: Bad accident on I-29 South at the Tea exit. Over a dozen vehicles involved according to multiple reports.
UPDATE: The Sioux Falls Police Department reported 70 accidents in the city from 7:30 a.m. until 4 p.m.
UPDATE: The National Weather service in Sioux Falls has issued a wind chill advisory which is in effect from midnight tonight to 10 am CST Friday.
Blizzard conditions with high winds and blowing snow will continue into early evening, then improve toward midnight. Lingering light snowfall will end. Wind chills will become dangerous by midnight.
UPDATE: The National Weather Service in Sioux Falls observed 2 inches of snowfall on Thursday along with the blizzard conditions.
Sustained northwest winds of 25 to 45 mph with gusts of 50 mph are expected. Areas of visibility near zero will slowly improve, but continue in open areas.
Decreasing wind chills will 20 below to 25 below zero late tonight and early Friday morning.
A blizzard warning means severe winter weather conditions are expected or occurring. Falling and blowing snow with strong winds and poor visibilities are likely. This will lead to whiteout conditions making travel extremely dangerous. Do not travel. If you must have a winter survival kit with you. If you get stranded stay with your vehicle.
A wind chill advisory is issued when a strong wind will combine with cold temperatures to create dangerously cold conditions for exposed skin. The wind will make it feel like it is 20 degrees below zero or colder for a period of several hours. Those planning to venture outdoors should dress warmly, making sure that all exposed skin is covered.
UPDATE: Very strong northwest winds will continue through the rest of this afternoon. Expect sustained winds of 35 to 45 mph, with gusts up to 60 mph. The winds will diminish during the late afternoon and early evening.
High wind warning remains in effect until 6 pm MST this evening. A high wind warning remains in effect until 6 pm MST this evening.
Northwest winds will be very strong through this afternoon. Winds northwest 35 to 45 mph with gusts up to 60 mph. Sudden wind gusts can cause drivers to lose control especially in lightweight or high profile vehicles. Strong winds can cause blowing dust or snow. Reduced visibility and flying debris.
Precautionary/preparedness actions. A high wind warning means 40 mph winds or gusts over 60 mph are expected or occurring.
UPDATE: The accident on Highway 11 SB just north of Harrisburg has been cleared. Visibility remains bad.
Blizzard warning remains in effect until 9:00 p.m. CST Thursday evening. Blizzard conditions with high winds and new snow are expected at times today. High winds and blizzard conditions will continue into the start of this evening.
Accumulations of 1 to 2 inches of new snow should accumulate. Wind and visibility, sustained northwest winds of 30 to 45 mph with gusts of 50 to 65 mph are expected. Areas of visibility near zero are expected at times today. The worst of the visibilities will occur in the scattered snow showers that are possible at any time through the day.
Decreasing wind chills will reach 10 below to 20 below zero this evening as colder air arrives.
A blizzard warning means severe winter weather conditions are expected or occurring. Falling and blowing snow with strong winds and poor visibilities are likely. This will lead to whiteout conditions making travel extremely dangerous. Do not travel. If you must have a winter survival kit with you. If you get stranded stay with your vehicle.
UPDATE: The National Weather Service in Rapid City has cancelled the winter weather advisory. The wind will continue to diminish through the rest of the afternoon which will greatly reduce any travel problems due to blowing snow. Therefore the winter weather advisory that was in effect for the Black Hills has been cancelled.
22 car pile up at mile marker 375 on I-90 west of Sioux Falls. Don't travel unless its an emergency! pic.twitter.com/V4nh9FG9ws #sdwx — Todd Heitkamp (@ToddHeitkamp) January 16, 2014
UPDATE: An accident has reported on Highway 11 SB just north of Harrisburg. Drivers should consider alternate routes.
UPDATE: The Lincoln High School vs. O'Gormon High School basketball game has been cancelled due to severe weather conditions. No word on make-up date.
UPDATE: I-90 Westbound Laverne, Minnesota to Sioux Falls is also closed. Visibility is good from Canton south.
According to reports, South Dakota officials are closing westbound I-90 from Sioux Falls to Salem.
Numerous accidents have been reported along this stretch of highway due to blizzard conditions throughout the state. Many of the accidents are blocking the highway.
The Sioux Falls Police Department is advising no travel in Sioux Falls until the wind subsides. Visibility is currently near zero with blowing snow, and scattered slippery spots are making travel treacherous. Winds should die down by early morning on Friday, and snow removal crews are out in full force, but street conditions are not favorable for travel at this time.
Officials say the highway will re-open when it is cleared.


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More investors are embracing ETFs and the proof is in the pudding.
In its latest update on the ETF marketplace, Vanguard reported that ETFs are gaining widespread investor acceptance in the U.S. and in other markets around the world.
The company noted that cash flow into Vanguard's lineup of 67 U.S.-based ETFs remains strong, with investors entrusting an ETF industry-leading $26 billion to the firm year-to-date through June 30, 2013.
Vanguard recently broadened its product line by introducing three bond ETFs: Vanguard Total International Bond ETF (BNDX), Vanguard Emerging Markets Government Bond ETF (VWOB), and Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities ETF (VTIP).
Vanguard also reported lower expense ratios on 56 ETFs over the past year, including reductions for some of its largest and most popular ETFs: the $55 billion Vanguard Emerging Markets ETF (from 0.20% to 0.18%) and the $31 billion Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (0.06% to 0.05%).
The Valley Forge, Penn.-based investment firm is the third-largest worldwide provider of ETFs and has global ETF assets of $281 billion as of June 30, 2013. Vanguard has been expanding its suite of products in the United States, Australia, Canada, and Europe, and has introduced its first ETF in Hong Kong.


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For many women speakers, it's a tough choice. If you say "yes," will you be harrassed, taken advantage of, or gain great publicity? Will your speaking gig "yes" turn into missed time with your kids or at important office meetings, or take from your vacation time? If you say "no," will you be invited back, stay safe but unknown, or miss a great opportunity that you'll regret? And with the dearth of women on conference programs, might we need to look more closely at the reasons women say "yes" and "no" when they are invited to speak?
Rhimes has a new book out, Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand In the Sun and Be Your Own Person, and I've been listening to her read the audiobook. Her sister challenged her to spend a year saying yes to things that were offered to her by pointing out, "You never say yes to anything," and Rhimes, an introvert, had an "aha" moment. Interviewer Terry Gross explored what she'd been saying "no" to, and public speaking is right on the list:
GROSS: Your book is about your year of saying yes because your sister told you that you don't say yes to things. You're always saying no. For example, what were some of the things you were saying no to that your sister thought you should be saying yes to?
RHIMES: It was almost everything. If I was invited to a movie premiere, if I was invited to a screening, if I was invited to a party, if I was invited to an award show, if I was invited to be on a talk show, if I was invited to give an interview, if I was invited to speak somewhere. It didn't really matter what the invitation was. Sometimes it would just be - an actor would invite me to dinner at their house. I would say, no. It was too much, like, the concept of being out there and socializing and getting out into the world was scary to me, I think. And I hadn't been doing it enough. And I hadn't been out enough. So I'd just been going to work and coming home. And you don't realize how much of a rut you get into. But after 10, 11 years, it becomes a real rut, and you suddenly don't even know how to get back out into the world.
GROSS: Was it because you were too busy or too uncomfortable?
RHIMES: I think it's both. I think, first, you're too busy, you know? At first, I was - I always say, like, you don't lose yourself all at once. You sort of do it, you know, like, one no at a time. You start to, you know, decline invitations 'cause you're working too hard. And then you start to decline them because you don't really know everybody that well, and everybody else seems to know everybody really well. And then you start to do it because you haven't been out in so long that you feel uncomfortable. And then you start to do it because being at home feels really good. And then you start to do it because you have no other reference point.I like that nuanced explanation, since a "no" when said to a speaking invitation typically isn't about just one thing. Later in the interview, she examines why saying "no" works so often. Again, it's entirely relevant to women considering public speaking opportunities:
RHIMES: Saying no really is saying yes to yourself. One of the things that I really had a difficult time with was the ability to say no and was the ability to have the difficult conversations that go with saying no. And figuring out a way to make it possible for me to stand up and advocate for myself in that way was very hard. I literally - I ended up writing myself a little script and putting it on a Post-it note and sticking it to the side of my computer and then reading it aloud whenever I had to give a very difficult no. But I also found it wildly freeing once I started doing it because once you start telling people no - and their reaction always tells you, A, who they are and, B, what situation you're in. You know, if you say no to somebody - you know, somebody asks you for a ton of money and you say no to them and they respond with vitriol and hatred, then you know exactly who they are now and what their relationship is to you. Everything's been defined, and everything's clear. And now you know where you stand. If you are in a negotiation and you say no, either they're going to back away or they're going to give - you know, they're going to give in. You know where you are, and you know where you stand. It becomes a very interesting tool to use, really. It allows you to see things in a different light. And I started thinking of it that way as opposed to thinking of it as something that was going to be dangerous or be hurtful or be scary to do.There's much more in the book about her fears about speaking, about catastrophizing before a speech, not writing the speech until just before the event, power posing for confidence, what it feels like right before you go on, and processing your fear. Rhimes's first example of facing a speaking fear involves all those details about her commencement speech at Dartmouth, in which she discusses her fears with the audience. (And in the audio version of her book, you'll hear the actual audio from the speech, a nice plus.) Here's how she ends that speech, with great advice for speakers:
And every single time you get a chance?If you like that quote, you can find a graphic version of it on our Pinterest board of great quotes by eloquent women.
Stand up in front of people.
Let them see you. Speak. Be heard.
Go ahead and have the dry mouth.
Let your heart beat so, so fast.
Watch everything move in slow motion.
So what?
You what?
You pass out, you die, you poop?
And this is really the only lesson you'll ever need to know ...
You take it in.
You breathe this rare air.
You feel alive.
You be yourself.
You truly finally always be yourself.
The book is a real-life look at what it really means to say no, and then yes, to everything--especially everything that makes you scared. In public speaking, I've advised you in both directions,with 7 specific times to turn down a speaking gig as well as urging you not to say "no" if you're wavering. I understand this dichotomy firsthand: I said "no" for two years straight to what turned out to be one of my favorite keynotes ever, finally realizing I needed to say "yes"--and I'm so glad I did. I also know there are many, many reasons women say "no" to speaking gigs, and those "no" votes go far beyond lack of confidence in many cases. But maybe it's time in the new year of 2016 to try your own "year of yes" when it comes to public speaking.
I have a proposal: If you're interested in talking about your "year of yes" specifically in public speaking, head over to The Eloquent Woman on Facebook. I'm starting a discussion there where you can ask questions, share successes, and encourage each other.
Want more inspiration from Rhimes? Check out one of the speeches she said "yes" to in our recent Famous Speech Friday post. It's also included in the book as a speech that fell near the end of her year of yes--and it challenged her in a new way.
Say yes to this stretch goal: I've got two small-group workshops coming up on Creating a TED-quality talk in Washington, DC, in January. Choose the January 14 workshop or the January 28 workshop. All you need to do is bring your one big idea for a talk in the style of TED. You'll learn how to plan, write, time, practice, and deliver it in a group limited to 5 people per workshop. Join us! Today is the last day to register.


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Difference between revisions of "RMF/Roadmap"
(→i12.05 (May 2012))
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Revision as of 06:02, 14 June 2012
General Considerations
- We want to graduate from incubation by the end of 2012
- We use Git Flow for now, but will switch to a new process before graduating from incubation, to support multiple release branches (Eike)
- CDO has tooling for API evolution, we should look into employing it before graduating.
Use Cases
The use cases identified for RMF are documented here.
Upcoming Integration Builds
There will be an integration build every two month. Here we document what is included in these builds:
- Bugzilla issues are provided in the form of a Bugzilla query against the given Integration Milestone
- For non-trivial features that require a specification, a link to the corresponding Wiki page is provided.
i12.05 (May 2012)
- Bugzilla query of included issues
- Feature: Better documentation RMF/Documentation_Guideline (Owner: Lukas)
- Feature: Importer
RMF/ImportReqIF Import (Owner: Mark/Andreas)
Past Integration Builds
i12.03 (March 2012)
Bugzilla query of included issues
i12.01 (January 20th, 2012)
- First binary built as Eclipse Project
- The following bugs will be resolved:
pror.org core-9.0.0 (October 8th 2011)
core-9.0.0 was the last release before the code base was migrated to the Eclipse Foundation.


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Hiroo Onoda, an Imperial Japanese Army officer who remained at his jungle post on an island in the Philippines for 29 years, refusing to believe that World War II was over, and returned to a hero's welcome in the all but unrecognizable Japan of 1974, died on Thursday in Tokyo. He was 91.
His death, at a hospital there, was announced by the Japanese government.
Caught in a time warp, Mr. Onoda, a second lieutenant, was one of the war's last holdouts: a soldier who believed that the emperor was a deity and the war a sacred mission; who survived on bananas and coconuts and sometimes killed villagers he assumed were enemies; who finally went home to the lotus land of paper and wood which turned out to be a futuristic world of skyscrapers, television, jet planes and pollution and atomic destruction.
Japanese history and literature are replete with heroes who have remained loyal to a cause, especially if it is lost or hopeless, and Lieutenant Onoda, a small, wiry man of dignified manner and military bearing, seemed to many like a samurai of old, ultimately offering his sword as a gesture of surrender to President Ferdinand E. Marcos of the Philippines, who returned it to him.
And his homecoming, with roaring crowds, celebratory parades and speeches by public officials, stirred his nation with a pride that many Japanese had found lacking in the postwar years of rising prosperity and materialism. His ordeal of deprivation may have seemed a pointless waste to much of the world, but in Japan it was a moving reminder of the redemptive qualities of duty and perseverance.
It happened with a simple command. As he related in a memoir after he went home, Lieutenant Onoda's last order in early 1945 was to stay and fight. Loyal to a military code that taught that death was preferable to surrender, he remained behind on Lubang Island, 93 miles southwest of Manila, when Japanese forces withdrew in the face of an American invasion.
After Japan surrendered, that September, thousands of Japanese soldiers were scattered across China, Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific. Many stragglers were captured or went home, while hundreds went into hiding rather than surrender or commit suicide. Many died of starvation or sickness. A few survivors refused to believe the dropped leaflets and radio announcements saying the war had been lost.
Lieutenant Onoda, an intelligence officer trained in guerrilla tactics, and three enlisted men with him found leaflets proclaiming the war's end, but believed they were enemy propaganda. They built bamboo huts, pilfered rice and other food from a village and killed cows for meat; they were tormented by tropical heat, rats and mosquitoes, and they patched their uniforms and kept their rifles in working order.
Considering themselves to be at war, they evaded American and Filipino search parties and attacked islanders they took to be enemy guerrillas; about 30 inhabitants were killed in skirmishes with the Japanese over the years. One of the enlisted men surrendered to Filipino forces in 1950, and two others were shot dead, one in 1954 and another in 1972, by island police officers searching for the renegades.
The last holdout, Lieutenant Onoda, officially declared dead in 1959, was found by Norio Suzuki, a student searching for him, in 1974. The lieutenant rejected Mr. Suzuki's pleas to go home, insisting he was still awaiting orders. Mr. Suzuki returned with photographs, and the Japanese government sent a delegation, including the lieutenant's brother and his former commander, to relieve him of duty formally.
"I am sorry I have disturbed you for so long a time," Lieutenant Onoda told his brother, Toshiro.
In Manila, the lieutenant, wearing his tattered uniform, presented his sword to President Marcos, who pardoned him for crimes committed while he thought he was at war.
He was already a national hero when he arrived in Tokyo, met by his aging parents and huge flag-waving crowds. More than patriotism or admiration for his grit, his jungle saga, which had dominated the news in Japan for days, evoked waves of nostalgia and melancholy. The 52-year-old soldier — a ghost from the past in a new blue suit, close-cropped military haircut and wispy mustache and chin whiskers — spoke earnestly of duty, and seemed to personify a devotion to traditional values that many Japanese thought had been lost.
"I was fortunate that I could devote myself to my duty in my young and vigorous years," he said. Asked what had been on his mind all that time in the jungle, he said, "Nothing but accomplishing my duty."
In an editorial, The Mainichi Shimbun, a leading Tokyo newspaper, said: "To this soldier, duty took precedence over personal sentiments. Onoda has shown us that there is much more in life than just material affluence and selfish pursuits. There is the spiritual aspect, something we may have forgotten."
After his national welcome in Japan, Mr. Onoda was examined by doctors, who found him in amazingly good condition. He was given a military pension and signed a $160,000 contract for a ghostwritten memoir, "No Surrender: My-Thirty Year War." As his story went global in books, articles and documentaries, he tried to lead a normal life.
He went dancing, took driving lessons and traveled up and down the Japanese islands. But he found himself a stranger in a strange land, disillusioned with materialism and overwhelmed by changes. "There are so many tall buildings and automobiles in Tokyo," he said. "Television might be convenient, but it has no influence on my life here."
In 1975 he moved to a Japanese colony in São Paulo, Brazil, where he raised cattle. The following year he married Machie Onuku, a Japanese tea-ceremony teacher. The couple returned to Japan in 1984 and founded the Onoda Nature School, a survival-skills youth camp. Mr. Onoda revisited Lubang, the site of his long holdout, in 1996 and gave $10,000 to a school there. In recent years he lived in Japan and in Brazil, where he was made an honorary citizen in 2010.
Hiroo Onoda was born on March 19, 1922, in Kainan, Wakayama, in central Japan, one of seven children of Tanejiro and Tamae Onoda. At 17 he went to work for a trading company in Wuhan, China, which Japanese forces had occupied in 1938. In 1942 he joined the Japanese Army, was singled out for special training and attended the Nakano School, the army's training center for intelligence officers. He studied guerrilla warfare, philosophy, history, martial arts, propaganda and covert operations.
It was in late December 1944 that he arrived on Lubang, a strategic island 16 miles long and 6 miles wide on the southwestern approach to Manila Bay and the island of Corregidor. His orders were to sabotage harbor installations and an airstrip to disrupt a coming American invasion. But superior officers on the island superseded those orders to focus on preparations for a Japanese evacuation.
When American forces landed on Feb. 28, 1945, and the last Japanese fled or were killed, Maj. Yoshimi Taniguchi gave Lieutenant Onoda his final orders, to stand and fight. "It may take three years, it may take five, but whatever happens we'll come back for you," the major promised.
Twenty-nine years later, the retired major, by then a bookseller, returned to Lubang at Tokyo's request to fulfill his promise. Japan had lost the war, he said, and the lieutenant was relieved of duty. The ragged soldier saluted and wept.


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Miscellaneous thoughts about miscellaneous matters
It doesnt do much good to blame persons or groups for social changes, and that is certainly true in the present political climate. There are plenty of reasons why the political and economic landscapes became what they are now, and it partly happened during a period when boomers dominated to political and economic worlds, but it started and most of the damage was done earlier, and some of the present situation is just negative aspects of good things. Even the neo-NAZI aspects of Trumps political


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The BBC has renewed Doctor Who for an eighth season, the company announced in conjunction with Saturday's Season 7 finale.
"The show's lead writer and executive producer, Steven Moffat, has revealed he's already plotting a brand new run of adventures for the Doctor," according to an announcement on the BBC's website.
Doctor Who finale explains the Impossible Girl and introduces a new face
But fans won't have to wait until Season 8 kicks off to see more of the Doctor. The show will celebrate its 50th anniversary on Nov. 23 with a 3D special featuring current and former stars Matt Smith, Jenna-Louise Coleman, David Tennant, Billie Piper, John Hurt and more.
Later this year, the BBC will also air An Adventure in Space and Time, a movie that examines the history and creation of Doctor Who. And the show will also continue the annual tradition of airing a Christmas special around the holidays, according to the BBC.


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I have always said that bloggers love lists.
And I have also always said that David Letterman, and the overdone "bits" on his late night talk show, is/are not funny. The only regular feature on his show that consistently provides any degree of humor is the Top Ten List.
So let me provide a list of the top ten facts, not necessarily in any order, that THE WANDERING TAX PRO blog continually tries to get across to readers, especially for new visitors.
(1) The current members of Congress are idiots. Like any nonproductive employees they should be "fired" and replaced.
(2) The purpose of the federal income tax is to raise money to run the government, and nothing else. The US Tax Code should not be used to distribute social welfare or other government benefits or to redistribute income.
(3) The current Tax Code is a "mucking fess". It needs to be rewritten from scratch to be simpler and fairer.
(4) Refundable tax credits are bad. They are magnets for tax fraud.
(5) Despite popular public, and journalist, misconceptions, a CPA is not automatically a 1040 expert merely by virtue of possessing the initials. Just because someone has the initials CPA after his/her name does not mean that he/she knows his/her arse from a hole in the ground when it comes to 1040 preparation.
(6) The tax preparation services of fast-food tax preparation chains like that of Henry and Richard "ain't cheap", or even reasonable, especially when compared to the quality of the service provided. It is like paying gourmet restaurant prices for a Big Mac.
(7) Refund Anticipation Loans (RALs) are bad. Tax return preparers, and preparation services, should not be allowed offer them.
(8) No tax preparation software is a substitute for knowledge of the Tax Code. And no tax preparation software is a substitute for the services of a trained tax professional.
(9) CPAs, attorneys, and supervised employees who want to prepare federal individual income tax returns for compensation should not be exempt from the RTRP initial competency test or the annual CPE in taxation requirement.
(10) The Internal Revenue Service must permit a grandfathering exemption from the RTRP competency test for veteran tax preparers.


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Show notes:
http://aliceproject.wordpress.com/ (Alice Project)
Geek of the WeeK
Alice , Bob and Cheryl had our favorite conversation, the Horizon Report 2010! This is such a good report to provide the vision and checks and balances for our practice. The chat room was rocking too. Thanks for joining us. Let us know what your take is on the Horizon Report.
"Geek of the Week" Links for 2010-02-04
ben n ben talk with Matt Montagne and his student Natalie about Gator Radio. Thanks to Matt for streaming, this show rocks!
the ben N ben website
Join SEEDLINGS as we speak with our guests Karen Abbott from Maine and Bill Rakosnik from Georgia, two veteran teachers who share with us how they prepare for parent teacher conferences, tips to make everyone feel comfortable, ideas on what to do when the conference goes south. The questions from the chat room and the suggestions are must haves for any teacher new to the field and veteran teachers looking to reflect on their practice.
Geek of the Week:
Richard's Site: Free Technology for Teachers
Richard's Site: Free Technology for Teachers


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At least six people were killed and more than 30 others were injured today when a suicide bomber detonated an explosive device onboard a bus in the southern Russian city of Volgograd. What appears to be the blast was captured on a driver's dash cam video below.
Please note that while the video is not explicitly gory, it does capture a crime that resulted in the loss of human life.
The BBC reports that the suicide bomber was believed to be a female member of the Islamic insurgency in Dagestan in the North Caucasus.
The region has seen a rise in such attacks in recent years which have resulted in hundreds of deaths; more are expected as the 2014 Winter Olympic Games near.
From the BBC story:
Our correspondent says that all buses in Volgograd have been ordered back to their depots to be searched for any sign of explosives.
One man whose daughter survived the explosion told Moscow Echo radio: "It was a powerful explosion - a huge blast. There were lots of students on the bus."
More on this as we get it.
Hat tip to NYC Jim/Photo via AP


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Last night I managed to gobble up this new little book in one sitting! It's described as a literary "amuse-bouche" – a single bite-sized hors d'oeurve. A tasty little treat, perfect for stuffing – a stocking not a turkey, that is!
Cornelius and Betty O'Leary take a trip of a lifetime to Ireland, the land of their roots. But as so often is the case, the trip becomes very different from what they had imagined. The nostalgia soon begins to fade when the luggage gets lost and it doesn't stop there, calamity and mayhem ensue in proportion to Fatty's size. McCall Smith's priceless sense of humour is pitched just right in this little volume. But he also grapples with an aspect of the immigrant experience. Going back often doesn't match the dear memories of the 'old country' or live up to the family folklore.
Recently I heard this author speak at Daunt Books in London, which is happily now becoming a yearly event for me! When he reads from his books and talks about his characters, with tears running down his cheeks (and all of ours) from laughing, you realize how much he loves his writing. This book is not part of any series and joins his other 'stand alone' books. Incidentally, another recent book of his, is a modern day rewrite of Jane Austen's Emma.
Emma by Alexander McCall Smith


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You can see many variations of collars/necklaces in the stores. Made from pearls, buttons or lace. Here are two versions that are really easy to create:
The Peter Pan collar with buttons.
As you've seen I really love buttons, it's one of my favorite things to decorate with. When I found this easy pattern for a collar on one of the Swedish web-shops for fabric, Stoff och Stil, I knew I wanted to add buttons. I had a stash of green buttons I could use.
I sewed the collar in green scrap fabric, added a matching bias binding and then it was time for the buttons. A perfect tool for that is one of my favorite feet, Button Foot with Placement Tool. It holds the button nicely in place while sewing it with the Automatic Button Sewing Stitch (B1:16 on Designer Diamond deLuxe).
The white collar is embroidered and from the collection #177 Fashion Illusions , a collection with different elements you can add to a garment like belts, pockets, collars and bows etc.
Have fun!
Kram Carina
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Thread: Teen tied to tree overnight dies
Results 1 to 8 of 8
#1 Teen tied to tree overnight dies
06-13-2008, 11:43 PMMacclesfield, N.C. A 13-year-old boy who was tied to a tree two nights this week died Thursday, and his father and stepmother have been charged with murder, authorities said Friday.
- Join Date
- May 2008
- Posts
- 3,421
Brice Brian McMillan, 41, and Sandra Elizabeth McMillan, 36, both of 1110 Felton Farm Road in Macclesfield, have been charged with first-degree murder and felony child abuse. They were being held Friday in the Edgecombe County Detention Center without bond.
Deputies were called to the Felton Farm Road residence Thursday afternoon to assist paramedics with an unresponsive teen. The boy's father told deputies he had tied the teen to a tree outside the home Tuesday night because he was being disobedient and other disciplinary actions had failed.
The father said he untied the boy Wednesday morning and allowed him back into the house, but he was tied to the tree a second time that night when he started acting up again. The boy remained tied up until his stepmother found him unconscious at about 4:30 p.m. Thursday, authorities said.
The father was performing CPR on the teen when paramedics arrived at the house, said John Dwight Jefferson, of the Pinetops Rescue Squad.
The teen, who was identified as Tyler Gene McMillan, was in cardiac arrest and was taken to Heritage Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Jefferson said.
Another story that just makes me shake my head.
I refuse to post MY suggestions as to how these "parents" should be punished... because it is excessively violent.
And lethal.
A 13-year old that is disrespectful and does not respond to other disciplines??
This is a simple case of parents that have no parenting skills, no creativity, no imagination, and a serious problem dealing with the harsh reality of children.
They should not be allowed to keep any of their children.
And they should never see the outside of a prison again.
Sorry... I get a little... upset when I read stories like this.
Excuse me while I go hug my children.
Blessed Be.
Social Order at the expense of Liberty is hardly a bargain - Marquis de Sade
VeprGuest06-14-2008, 12:32 PM
They must have tied him up awfully tight to kill him. If the tree did not work what was next, burying him up to his neck?
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- Join Date
- May 2008
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- no-man's land in Texas
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My 14 yo makes me angry at times, but I would never do anything to harm him.
Both parents should be tied up in a bear enclosure and left alone for two days.
edit to add:
Edgecombe County Sheriff James Knight said the boy's wrists and ankles were bound with plastic ties and that he was also tied to the tree with some other material. Although a rope was seen dangling from a tree in the yard outside the house Friday, he wouldn't confirm whether that was used to tie the boy.
Investigators found bruises on the boy's wrists and ankles, Knight said, declining to comment on whether other marks were found on his body.
Last edited by Teetop; 06-14-2008 at 12:58 PM. Reason: add info from article.
|« Previous Thread | Next Thread »


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I'm off to another long day of meetings, but at least I begin inspired by Julia 'badass' Gillard. This is so awesome.
Please. Someone tell Barack Obama to sit down and watch this speech a few dozen times until he realizes that this is the tone he must take in his debates with Romney. Gillard not only addresses endemic misogyny, but rebukes Tony Abbott for the actions of his whole party: "Has he taken any responsibility for the conduct of other members of his party?"


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The 500 km "Route of Democracy" lets visitors explore the historic roots of today's German government and the liberation movement from the time of the French Revolution to the age of Metternich up to the present day. It runs through southwest Germany from Frankfurt am Main to Lörrach in the Basel region.
Since its birth in 1848/49, the path of democracy in Germany has been far from easy. The "Route of Democracy" is not a reference to specific individual locations, but rather to the birthplace of German democracy as a whole. Here in the southwest, democracy only began with the adoption of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany in the 20th century.
No easy path
The path of the first German democrats was full of obstacles, division and bitter moments as well as liberating ones. The Hambach Festival in May 1832, to which many women were also invited, the Baden Constitution, the National Assembly in St. Paul's Church in Frankfurt, the former Dalberg Court in Mainz, the scene of a treason trial in 1850: all these and many others are sites that commemorate the sacrifices made by "the friends of the constitution", Friedrich Hecker, Gustav Struve, Karl Drais, Franz Sigel, Philipp J. Siebenpfeiffer and supporters of German democracy.
Authentic locations, memorials and museums
Travellers along the "Route of Democracy" will set out on a journey to the birthplace of German democracy and will discover exciting episodes in history, engaging personalities and magnificent sites long the way. They will also hear sensational stories and revolutionary songs, and will learn something about Germany, democracy and the arduous road to freedom.
Food, drink and democratic thought
Fine wines, drinkable beers and delicious regional specialties are not to be missed, so much so that even revolutionaries partook of them themselves at one time. And as is still the case for people now, the pubs and inns were their favourite haunts.
Length: approximately 550 km
Theme: freedom and German democracy
Frankfurt: St. Paul's Church (Paulskirche)
Karlsruhe: history of democracy, Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof)
Lörrach: border town, Three-Countries Museum (Dreiländermuseum)
Mannheim: castle, birthplace of the democratic workers' movement
Neustadt/Weinstraße: castle, Hambach Festival
Offenburg: tour of the Salmen building
Philippsburg: the "Zum Weinberg" and "Zum Einhorn" historic inns
Rastatt: Bundesfestung fortress, castle, memorial
Sinsheim: birthplace of Franz Sigel, historical "Zum Schwarzen Bären" inn, museum
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