text:
Mazeways: A to Z by Roxie Munro. Sterling (August 2007); ISBN 9781402737749; 48 pages
(Book Source: Copy from local library)
Munroe's mazes for each letter of the alphabet are highly detailed and visually interesting. Each maze takes the reader to a different location -- from an Airport or Garden to a Ranch or Waterfalls. The author provides directions on how to navigate through each letter maze. My daughter used her finger to follow the paths and enjoyed completing the tasks described. For instance, the letter L maze directions reads: "Enter through the LIBRARY door. Find the red Italian language book hidden on a shelf. Look up flights to Rome on the computer..." Several objects are also hidden in the pictures for children to find. The end pages give the correct solutions. This book would be perfect to use in conjunction with teaching the letters of the alphabet and older kids will enjoy trying to complete the maze puzzles on their own. Besides navigating the mazes, it's also fun to trace the large maze letters with your finger and use it like a tracer page for writing practice.
EcoMazes: 12 Earth Adventures by Roxie Munro. Sterling (April 2010); ISBN 9781402763939; 40 pages
(Book Source: Review copy from publisher)
What's it like where you live? In EcoMazes kids can explore many different places on the earth by following the nature mazes and learn about the different types of creatures and plants living there. The book features twelve ecosystem maze puzzles: Tropical Rainforest, Desert, Coral Reef, Alpine High Mountain, Arctic Polar, Wetlands, Tundra, Grasslands, Antarctic Polar, Savanna, Conifer Forest and Temperate Forest. The mazes vary in difficulty and younger kids will probably need a little help in solving puzzles. (We hit a rock trying to hike through the Alpine High Mountain and had to refer to the solution at the end of the book.) Along the way, kids can spot several animals native to each different environment -- Munro included over 350 different species. My daughter's favorite, the coral reef, shows divers swimming and trying to find their way back to the beach through clear blue water filled with seahorses, stingrays and other marine life. The detail in this book is incredible! I wonder how long it takes to illustrate just one of the mazes? The content provides a wonderful springboard for learning more about ecosystems and the animals that live there. Perfect choice for Earth Day and would work well as an entertaining supplement to environmental/ecological lessons and studies.
This week we tackled our biggest stART (story+art) project ever! After some research, we learned that our area is a mixture of Midwest oak savanna and tallgrass prairie. We decided to learn more about the ecosystem we live in by making our own large scale maze outdoors. We choose to create our own Midwest Oak Savanna maze. First, we laid out a small scale maze on a piece of paper. Guided by the sketch, I used sidewalk chalk to draw out the entire maze on our driveway. The kids helped fill in the maze by drawing grass, coloring in the water and by helping draw some of the animals.
Our ecosystem includes oak trees, tall grass, rocks, a stream, white-tailed deer, rabbits, snakes, turkeys, and a Red-headed woodpecker. We also choose to include a campground to illustrate how the animals and people live together in the same environment. The kids loved learning about the animals that live in our region and liked exploring the people-sized maze. They even decided to try navigating the maze by bike and push car!
Sterling Children's Books has graciously offered to giveaway a copy of EcoMazes:12 Earth Adventures to a Brimful Curiosities reader.
To enter, leave a comment relevant to this post.
• For contact purposes, if you are a non-blogger or your email is not accessible in your blog profile, please leave a valid email address within the comment section.Three ways to gain extra entries (Maximum total entries is 4; please leave a separate comment for each entry):
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A Mommy's Adventures hosts the "stART" meme (Story + Art) each week. Hope Is the Word hosts a Read Aloud Thursday link-up as well. I am an Amazon affiliate and may receive a very small commission for products purchased through my Amazon links. (View my full disclosure statement for more information about my reviews.)


text:
Gas vapour discharge lamp
The term 'discharge lamps' covers many of the lights we use today and the most common is the fluorescent light. Like all discharge lamps, light is created through the stimulation of atoms/molecules in a specific gas/metal vapour mix. Fluorescent lamps contain a mercury vapour suspended in either neon or argon gas. The mercury vapour is excited by electrons that are emitted from a cathode which converts this into a photon of light (usually in the UV and in narrow wavelength bands). This light then interacts with a coating on the inside of the glass envelope. This combination of fluorescent and phosphorescent material absorbs the UV light and then emits the broad spectrum we perceive as 'white light'.
Gas vapour discharge lamps are based on the same technology as fluorescent lamps but use higher pressures and higher power, allowing a far greater light output to be generated in a more efficient manner. They also use different gas/metal vapour mixtures that exhibit an extended spectral output that does not require any phosphorescent/fluorescent coatings inside the glass envelope. The most familiar type of high intensity discharge lamps is the xenon lamp, using xenon for light generation.
For vision applications, this type of light source is often used when a large amount of light is required over short periods of time, such as for strobing applications to freeze the motion on a fast moving production line. Other uses include situations where a very high light output is required over a large area as is sometimes the case in robotic applications.
Learn more:

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Original Trinity Hymnal, #644
Saviour, like a Shepherd lead us,
Much we need thy tend'rest care;
In thy pleasant pastures feed us,
For our use thy folds prepare:
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus,
Thou hast bought us, thine we are.
We are thine; do thou befriend us,
Be the Guardian of our way;
Keep thy flock, from sin defend us,
Seek us when we go astray:
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus,
Hear the children when they pray.
Thou hast promised to receive us,
Poor and sinful though we be;
Thou hast mercy to relieve us,
Grace to cleanse, and pow'r to free:
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus,
Let us early turn to thee.
Early let us seek thy favor;
Early let us do thy will;
Blessed Lord and only Saviour,
With thy love our bosoms fill
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus,
Thou hast loved us, love us still.
Page number: Blue 644, Right-Click Here to Download MIDI File


text:
Kamal Mansour - Monotype Typography Inc.
An early multilingual education in Cairo, Egypt, served to stimulate Kamal's curiosity about languages, alphabets, etymology, and typography. Kamal holds bachelor's and master's degrees in Computer Science from the University of California, as well as a Diploma in Product Design from Milan, Italy. In his studies, he has also delved into linguistics and a variety of languages. Before joining Monotype Typography in 1996 as Manager of Non-Latin Products, Kamal had worked in various areas of software for over 15 years, including fonts and keyboard software for lesser served languages. At Monotype, his responsibilities includes growing the library of non-Latin scripts, investigating potential products, in-house consulting, as well as assisting customers with font specifications. Kamal is especially fond of projects which bring together linguistics, computer technology, and design. When asked what her father does for a living, Kamal's daughter readily answers that 'he looks at alphabets a whole lot'. When not playing with his two young children, he can often be caught looking up word etymologies in dictionaries.
|When the world wants to talk, it speaks Unicode
International Unicode Conferences are organized by Global Meeting Services, Inc., (GMS).
GMS is pleased to be able to offer the International Unicode Conferences under an exclusive
license granted by the Unicode Consortium. All responsibility for conference finances and
operations is borne by GMS. The independent conference board serves solely at the pleasure
of GMS and is composed of volunteers active in Unicode and in international software
development. All inquiries regarding International Unicode Conferences should be addressed
to email@example.com.
Unicode and the Unicode logo are registered trademarks of Unicode, Inc. Used with permission.
28 October 1999, Webmaster


text:
Trance family take note! We'd like to introduce the five friends who will guide the forthcoming A State Of Trance 500 World Tour. These events have been created in order to give every continent its own unique character and you will receive them regularly from now on. Their first mission is to launch the new website of A State Of Trance 500.
Five friends
The characters symbolize the five different continents visited by the world tour. The first of them heads for Johannesburg (South Africa) where the A State Of Trance 500 World Tour kicks off. Another one goes to America to visit the annual Ultra Music Festival in Miami (USA). Further to the south, the Argentine people of Buenos Aires (ARG) will be welcoming the third friend with typical South American passion. Then there is the fourth one, making his appearance at the huge venue of the Brabanthallen in the Netherlands-based Den Bosch (NL). Finally, the fifth one has the honour of completing the World Tour by going deep down under to Sydney (AUS).
Together they connect the world with a network of music. Be prepared for five weeks of euphoria as we celebrate five weeks of a global state of trance!
New website
One of the first tasks of these heroes is to launch the new website, including the event page for A State Of Trance 500. Here you can find episodes, podcasts, the latest news, line-ups, info on ticket sales, venues and everything else you need to know to have a great night. Take a look at www.astateoftrance.com and learn more about the five editions of A State Of Trance 500.
All five editions will be broadcast live and for free at www.astateoftrance.com
This week Armin van Buuren presents the official anthem of A State of Trance 500 in the ASOT 496 episode.
To conclude, we have an important second announcement. For the A State Of Trance 500 show on the 9th of April in Den Bosch, an official warning goes out to all people who still are without a valid ticket. The line-up with 39 national and international names was announced recently, and the way it looks now the event will be sold out weeks in advance. Get your ticket now if you want to attend this massive happening! Click here for more details.
These are the official dates:
A State Of Trance 500
19th of March — South Africa, Johannesburg
27th of March — United States, Miami
2nd of April — Argentina, Buenos Aires
9th of April — Netherlands, Den Bosch
16th of April — Australia, Sydney


text:
Lovely Couple Cats Heart Crystal Pendant Jewelry Women Necklace Gift
Gender: Women
Shape: Lovely Cats, Heart
Material: Alloy, Crystal
Necklace Length: About 47cm/18.5inch
Weight: About 10g
Package Includes:
1 x Necklace
- Please allow 1-3CM differs due to manual measurement.
- Due to different producing batches, product details might be a little different. If you minding the difference, please buy it carefully.


text:
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State's Board of Trustees committee on Finance, Business and Capital Planning today (May 8) recommended for approval an interim maintenance and operating budget of nearly $4.43 billion. The full board will vote on the recommendation at its meeting on Friday (May 9).
This budget would support all Penn State operations and enterprises throughout the Commonwealth. The University adopts an interim budget each year so that it has an approved fiscal operating plan from the beginning of the fiscal year, July 1, until the University's Board of Trustees formally approves next year's actual budget.
Details on the current 2013-14 fiscal plan, which serves as a basis for this interim budget, can be found at http://budget.psu.edu online. The proposed 2014-15 budget plan was presented to Trustees in September last year, but requires an increase in support from the state.
No action on changes in tuition and necessary expense increases — including employee salaries, wages and benefits — will be taken until after the 2014-15 state appropriation is known and the University's budget plan has been reviewed and approved by the Board of Trustees in July. After receiving and analyzing the final state appropriation figures, the University will develop a specific and final budget for the 2014-15 fiscal year that addresses these and other line items.
The final 2014-15 Penn State budget is scheduled for presentation to the board for approval at its next meeting, scheduled for July 10-11 at Penn State Schuylkill.


text:
*** 10% OFF + FREE SHIPPING Within USA, COUPON CODE: 201721 MIN $40 ORDER*** ***To ensure expedited age verification, please use your Facebook e-mail address when checking out***
Frozen Hookah - 28" - Purple
1 item:
Never Harsh...Always Cool ! A revolutionary design in Hookahs. The Frozen Hookah Allows you to place your hookah base into the freezer for a an hour then to take it out and have it chill your hookah smoke for up to 4 hours! Much like a ice mug, it makes every hookah puff smoother and cooler. No need for an ice chamber now!
*The Frozen hookah is shipped from our new California warehouse, click here to view shipping times. The shipping times during checkout are not accurate, please view this chart to see the actual shipping time for this hookah Click Here
Comes in a black vinyl hookah case.
Item number
13.0 lbs
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text:
[Pages 162-163]
Rabbi Yaakov Kavi Schein,
Naftali Schein, Ramat Gan
Translated by Rabbi Mordecai Goldzweig
My grandfather Rabbi Yaakov Kavi Schein, Of Blessed Memory, a full fledged scholar in Torah and Poskim (religious legal decisions) served as Dayan and Teacher before Rabbi Avraham David Shpiegel, Of Blessed Memory and had many students who followed his path in Torah and Halacha, and even cited his halachic decisions many of which I still have in my possession. Included among them were my father Reb Yitzchak Schein, Of Blessed Memory, and Rabbi Avraham David Shpiegel, Of Blessed Memory. (later the Rabbi of the town).
[Photo p. 162 Caption states: Handwriting and signature of Our Rabbi the Dayan, Rabbi Yaakov Kavi Schein, Of Blessed Memory.]
I have been given an opportunity by means of this publication to preserve a representative example for the former residents of Rohatyn of a document by Rabbi Yaakov Kavi Schein, Of Blessed Memory, establishing a partnership that was written and signed in his clear script. He passed away in 1906. It therefore stands to reason that his brilliant student our townsman, Rabbi A. D. Shpiegel, Of Blessed Memory, would follow in his halachic footsteps. After all grandfather was his teacher down to the time he was ordained by the great rabbis Rabbi Meir Arik, Chief Dayan of Tarnów and the Great Gaon Rabbi Shalom Mordechai, Chief Dayan of Brzezany.
It was because of the encouragement that Rabbi Shpiegel received from my father, Reb Yitzchak Schein, Of Blessed Memory, that he persisted in his rabbinic studies which qualified him to occupy the position of my dear grandfather, Of-Blessed- Memory, and my father was able to realize the dream in which his friend and the student of Rabbi Kavi would fill the position of Rabbi Kavi.
[2 photos p. 163, one at top of page and one at bottom)
Caption photo at top of page states: Two of the sons and daughter, daughter-in-law and father-in-law of Reb Yehuda Tzvi Weiss, Of Blessed Memory. In the second row, on the right: Moshe Schein, grandson of Rabbi Yaakov Kavi Schein, Of Blessed Memory]
At this point it behooves us to remember his descendents who were murdered and slaughtered. These included his daughters, Mrs. Chana Jupiter and her husband Reb David Jupiter, their daughter Soshe Kaveh (their son died before the war), Manye, Leah and Avraham. I also wish to commemorate other close members of my family, my dear father Reb Yitzchak Schein, my dear mother Rivke Schein, my sister Manye Schein, my two brothers Moshe and Kavi Schein May their souls rest in peace as well as my uncle Reb Yehuda Zvi Weiss (the Reader of the Torah in the Main Synagogue and scholar in his own right), Leah, Elsa, Rivke, Meir (who died right before Rosh Hashana 5718 in London leaving a wife and daughter), Nachum and Joseph Weiss, May they all be eternally remembered and rest in peace.
[Caption photo at bottom of page states: Pessia Holler, Manye Jupiter and Leah Holler the grandchildren of Reb Chaim Jupiter; Yafa Reichbach and her friend]
[Pages 164-165]
Rabbi Alter Meir, Tel Aviv
Translated by Rabbi Mordecai Goldzweig
[(1 photo p. 164) (Picture of Rabbi Shpiegel, No caption)]
Our sages, Of Blessed Memory, state that when one is a talmid chochom (a serious student of the Torah) and his son learns the Torah, and his grandson does the same, then the Torah returns to its inn, i.e., the Torah remains within the family.
There was a great gap in time between Rabbi Spiegel and his ancestor four generations removed, the Gaon, Tzaddik and author of the Mirkevet Hamishne[1], Rabbi Adam, Of Blessed Memory. The rabbinic line in between was interrupted and the descendents of the Gaon and Tzaddik, to whom the Besht[2] came in order to fulfill the requirement of shimush talmid chochom (serving a sage), did not maintain the rabbinic line, preferring to remain simple ba-ale batim (respectable and learned members of the community). This was so until the appearance of the Rabbi of Rohatyn, Rabbi Avraham David Spiegel, who placed an olah (sacrifice) on the altarof public religious service, devoting himself completely to his calling and setting up his rabbinate at the level at which it had been during the time of his holy grandfather, Of Blessed Memory, the author of the Mirkevet Hamishne.
In addition to his greatness in Torah, he was very exacting in his personal behavior, a Hassid, as befits the descendents of the (author of ) Mirkevet Hamishne, and he therefore merited seeing his eldest son, Rabbi Yisrael, Of Blessed Memory, may his blood be avenged, being ordained a rabbi. He received his smichot (ordinations) from Rabbi Steinberg of Przemyslany, Rabbi Tziff of Lwów, and Rabbi Horowitz, the Chief Dayan of Stanislawów. His diligence in the study of the Torah was a password (model) among the rabbis of Galicia and, when he visited the Admor (the renowned rabbi) of Czortków on the holy days, he was greatly honored by the assembly and the Admor. He stood out with his fine manners and proper bearing never displaying his great knowledge ostentatiously or parading his pride in his family and its standing. He and his family perished in the Holocaust except for one son, Yehoshua Spiegel, who joined a halutz (pioneering) youth group and immigrated to Israel. His life, literally was saved by Israel.
The great scholars of the time of the author of Mirkevet Hamishne called him Rabbi Adam, because of his name, Avraham David Moshe, the acronym of which is A.D.M.[Tr1] As can be seen from his introduction to his book, he also refers to himself as Adam, and these are his words:
From the beginning of His daily loving work, when He established the foundations of the universe and the earth. [Compare Proverbs 8:29] Then He saw and He told it count, book and story [a play on words using the Hebrew root sfr --Compare Sefer Yetzira, the first chapter which deals with the creation of the universe]. He prepared it and examined it and brought it to Adam! [Adaptation of He brought her (Eve) to Adam, Genesis 2:22] For every man [from Kohelet 12; man = Adam] was created to accompaniment to this world. [Adapted from the interpretation of Kohelet in Talmud Brachot 6b: The entire world was created only as an accompaniment of this person] Is there among them one to recite this Torah [see Talmud Avodah Zara 2b].[Tr2]
He waged an ever increasing battle against those who followed Jacob Frank (Shri -The name of the wicked shall rot!), overcame them and drove them out of Rohatyn. This high level of zealousness also applied to his grandson, who was zealous for the Creator - to keep every custom, every tag, i.e. every iota of tradition, (tag is the term for the required decorations of the letters in the Torah). Under his direction the town served as an example to the rest of the world. May his memory be inscribed forever together with those of all the holy men and women who were murdered, slaughtered and strangled for the sanctity of Israel and the Land.
[(2 photo, p. 165)
(Top photo) Caption states: Yisrael Shpiegel, Of Blessed Memory
(Bottom photo) Caption states: Reb Itche Shpiegel and his family who were taken into captivity by the Russians in World War I and they are from the right: Pinye Shpiegel, Zushe Holtz, Nafatali Shpiegel, next to him the grand-daughter Ryfke Roter (the wife of Yehoshua Landoi), Reb Itche (Yitzchak) Shpiegel and the oldest son of Naftali, Moshe Shpiegel, who is presently in the U.S.]
|See History of Rohatyn by Dr. N.M. Gelber, footnote No. 65 back
|Abbreviation of Ba'al Shem Tov (literally Master of the Good Name), Israel B'al Shem Tov (1700-1760), founder of Hassidism. back
|Adam is spelled ADM in Hebrew. back
|This is a metaphoric text, which relies on a variety of religious texts for quotations, a not uncommon procedure, which is intended to indicate that the author, who terms himself Adam, considers his book to be an important contribution in the study of Torah, the text of which he was born to write. (All bracketed material in citation inserted by translator.) back
[Pages 166-169]
Ben Avraham-David, Tel Aviv
Translated by Rabbi Mordecai Goldzweig
During World War I the town was burned down. All the men were taken to the front, went to prison or ran away and went into hiding. To this there should be added the outbreak of plague in the town. My father was almost the only male left in town. Our house was not overlooked by the plague and it took my oldest brother Moshe. My father was forced to attend to his own son's burial because the town was left without a grave digger. The funeral had only women who listened to the pearls that came out of my father's mouth when he brought his son to burial on a wheelbarrow.
The war dragged on for a long time and left its effects. One of those effects was that my father, the Rabbi, was drafted into the Austrian army. While he was in Vienna he went to see the Czortkówer Rebbe, the holy Rabbi Yisrael the son of Rabbi David Moshe Friedman, Of Blessed Memory, to obtain his advice on whether to desert from the army or not. The Rebbe suggested that he exchange his uniform for a silk capote to which he complied successfully. Before leaving Vienna he saw the Rebbe again and gave him a kvitel in which were included all of his children. When the Rebbe came to my name he stopped and said, Der Eibershter zul helfen - May it be the will of the One Above that Yehoshua Pinchas remain well. On the way back my father stopped in Stryj. Since their official rabbi was drafted the community implored my father to remain as their rabbi until their rabbi returned and so it came about that a long friendship was established between the two rabbis. From Stryj my father came home to Rohatyn and the first thing that he heard was that his son Yehoshua Pinchas had returned, as from the grave. My father asked me as to when this took place - when did I receive this special dispensation - and it turned out that it occurred while my father was visiting the Czortkówer Rebbe in Vienna. There is no question in my mind that this information gave added impetus to my father's becoming an even stronger Czortkówer hassid even though his father - my grandfather - Reb Itche Shpiegel, was a Boyaner hassid (also of the Ruzhiner dynasty).
He used to visit the Rebbe very often who would come yearly from Vienna to Czortków for Shavuos. Once he took me along so that the Rebbe could bless me before my bar-mitzvah.
When he returned to our charred town he had his work cut out for him. He had to raise the town from the rubble. The central synagogue had to be rebuilt since the walls were all that remained of the old one. He instituted lessons in Torah, established a Talmud-Torah for poor children, opened a subsidized kitchen and taught many children of meager means. When Rabbi Meir Shapira began his program of the Daf-Yomi (learning one sheet of Talmud a day) he instituted it in our town. He ordained many shochtim, gave money to Maot Hittim and Kimcha D'Pischa for Pesach, cleansed and made kosher the kitchen and its ovens for baking matzos, lectured on the Shabbos before Yom Kippur (Shabbos Shuva) on the importance of repentance, on Shabbos B'Reishis on the importance of learning Torah and on Polish Independence Day, he spoke in Polish, etc.
Father, father my teacher, my rabbi words fail me to describe you. You were beloved by all of your children for your pleasant manner and delicate approach to every young person. There wasn't a Shabbos or Holy Day or simply a joyous occasion that I do not remember your face appearing in the middle of our large family to celebrate and entertain in the proper fashion an example to all who saw us.
Shalosh Seudos (The Third Meal of the Shabbos)
Shalosh Seudos you went home after the prayers of Mincha (the second set of prayers during the afternoon of the Shabbos) together with your children and friends. The sun was setting. You washed your hands and sat down to the table. My father, the Rabbi, would serve everyone his portion and then begin to sing, Az b'yom ha-shevi-i nachtoh. Then he would sing Askina Seudosa according to the Stratyn melody after which he would ask those assembled to join in the singing of one of the zmiros. Mr. Welke Allerand would sing Dror Yikra. Reb Naftali Shpiegel (my father's brother) would sing Tzur Mishelo. My brother would sing, Yom zeh m'chubad and I sang Kel Mis-tater. When I reached the portion supplicating for redemption, my father would join me with greater emotion and repeat the words over and over until you could feel that tomorrow the prayer would be answered, and then it was all over. The lights came back on. The Shabbos was set away and we would leave with a Gutte Voch and we returned to the dark weekdays. If the end of Shabbos was like this can you imagine what the Shabbos and the oHHH
Holy Days were like
But the Life of Job Did Not Stop.
I was about seven years old when, as I remember, the Bolsheviks occupied Rohatyn. At that time we lived in the house that belonged to Turtletaub that was still left over after the war and was now housing several tens of people: Shimon and Tzipora Windrich and their children; Reb Alter Foist and his family; Avraham Yosef Ehrenberg and his family; Moshe Hochman with his family-they came to Israel (he is no longer alive); Rabbi Tzvi Katzman and my father and his family May they all rest in peace.
Our town Rohatyn was still showing the ravages of the last war. It had not yet taken stock of its losses both in people and property when the Bolsheviks burst in with a threat that, if by a certain day they did not receive a supply of tobacco, the rest of the town would go up in flames. The town was still charred by the previous fires. Panic seized the town - more evil times. The refugees had just returned from Vienna and other places of refuge and behold one problem leaves and another arrives in its place. The heads of the community came to my father and it was decided to turn for help to the residents already groaning under the effects of the times. The decision was that the demand would be fulfilled and tobacco brought directly to the Rabbi. My father dressed in his rabbinic robes and gathered up all of the children. Together with my father we dragged the tobacco. My father walked at the head to the home of Yulik Weidman in Babince. Upon approaching my father hid his long beard in his coat for fear they might cut it off as had already happened to him once before during World War I. We came and stationed ourselves in front of the gate. The area was covered with Bolsheviks lying on the grass barefoot and tattered who did not seem to possess anything other than rifles and bayonets. The gatekeeper looked at us in surprise a large assembly of young children dragging sacks and asked my father in Ukrainian, Where are you going? We brought the tobacco to the commander, was the answer. The gate was opened wide and the soldiers became happy. Enter! Come in!, the commander received my father graciously and gave him a chair next to him and pulled out my father's beard and stroked it. Wonderful, wonderful. Thank you for the tobacco. In the end he concluded, It's true that I frightened you so that you would fulfill my request, but I definitely did not intend to burn down this town. I am a Jew just like you and my heart is with you And so they separated politely. This pleasant surprise was a topic for repeated discussion among all the Jews of the town.
We had no sooner recovered from the first surprise and a second surprise of a very different nature took place. My mother died. Her name was Chana Toibe, Of Blessed Memory , the daughter of Reb Elisha Aharon Klarnet, a wholesale dealer of flour in his day, a full fledged scholar and a G-d fearing man - the pride of the family. And then my father's youngest child passed away, my brother Tzvi (named after my grandfather on my father's side) (Reb Hirsh Liebreich, Of Blessed Memory, who lived a long life, 92 years, ramrod straight and healthy to his last day).
My father was then forced to marry again. This time he married Chaytche (Chaya), my stepmother), the daughter of Rabbi Reuven Ginzburg, the rabbi of Chodorow, Of Blessed Memory, and the granddaughter of the illustrious Rabbi Yitzchak Meshulam, the Chief Rabbi of Lwow. Then six more children were born, one of whom died during the period of quiet and my father rebuilt his home and family. He filled his courtroom with books and his library made a fine impression on people who saw it, but this put him into debt over his head and he still had the expenses of raising nine young children.
The children grew up and arranged their lives according to their own views. My brother Yisrael, brilliant in halacha, was ordained a rabbi. My sister Chaytche wanted to go to Israel and started to make preparations to do so (something that was very difficult at the time to accomplish legally and therefore she planned to go illegally). My father forbade her to go illegally. I made plans to go to Israel and for this reason I learned printing which appealed to my father as it fulfilled in his eyes the maxim that a person should teach his children a trade. As a result, I am still tied to the Hebrew word. In February, 1938 I immigrated to Israel and was still able to ship a shipment of Etrogim during the period of peace and again under the Russian occupation. If my father, Of Blessed Memory, had remained alive, he would have discerned in this the finger of G-d - that I alone of all the members of our family should remain alive could only have been a result of the blessing of the Czortkówer Rebbe. And then there were my brothers and sisters who were younger than me - my sister Yuta, Of Blessed Memory , my brother Yaakov Meshulam (named after the Chief Rabbi of Lwów, Rabbi Yaakov Meshulam, Of Blessed Memory,) a very sharp and learned student of the Torah, my four sisters, Yente, Chana-Toibe, Reizel, Vitze-Ryfke all of whom met an untimely death. May their souls be gathered together in the treasury of life and their memories be blessed forever.
And I bereaved remain bereaved. (Genesis 43:14)
[(4 photos, p. 168)
(Upper right)(Caption states) Yitzchak (Izzie) and Tussia Shpiegel, the children of Malche and Pinye Shpiegel.
(Upper left)(Caption states) Rabbi Avraham David Shpiegel with his youngest son Yaakov Meshulam returning from the Mikve.
(Middle right)(Caption states) Attorney Shmuel Shpiegel with Paula (Schwartz)
(Bottom)(Caption states) Yuta, Chaytche, Yisrael and Yehoshua Shpiegel]
|Rabbi Avraham David Shpiegel, as opposed to Rabbi Shmuel Henna who was known as The Old Dayan back
[Pages 170-171]
Translated by Rabbi Mordecai Goldzweig
[1 photo p. 170 Caption states: On the day I left for Israel, 20 Adar 5698 (February 1938) My father the Rabbi, Of Blessed Memory, accompanied me to the train station and handed me a letter of farewell in his beautiful handwriting and rich style of Hebrew.]
With the Aid of the Alm-ty
The Second Day of the Week of the Portion of the Torah, These are the words which the Alm-ty commanded to perform (Va'Yakhel, Exodus 35:1), 20 Adar
Filled with blessings of the Alm-ty And Abraham is still standing before the Alm-ty to pour out his words standing and praying for his sons and daughters to merit raising the glory with satisfaction and honor and David commanded Yehoshua Pinchas his son on the day of his emigration to the Holy Land saying,
My dearest son! Behold you leave today to travel to the Land of the Deer (poetic term for Israel). Please remember your Creator and accept the responsibility of the Worship of the Heavenly Kingdom. Be sure to remember what I am commanding you today to follow the proper path and the way of the righteous. Be careful to guard yourself and be very careful to guard your soul, that your heart, will not, G-d forbid, be led astray from following the straight path. Remember your mother, the Rebbetzen, the lady Chana Toive, Of Blessed Memory, who gave her life to raise you for the sole purpose of following the Torah and doing good deeds. And when you will take it upon yourself to guard the Torah and the commandments and to carry out the commandment in all your ways know Him, you will enable her soul to rise (to the upper spiritual spheres) and commend you to The One Who Rests In The Heavens, and the Creator will then command a blessing of life that is true life upon you, and you will become strong and mature, rise upward and succeed wherever you turn and merit to bringing and receiving good tidings. From your father who prays and sighs from the wounds of time but looks forward to Heavenly pity and deliverance in the near future - a complete deliverance in which we will all soon merit going up to Zion in song.
From the one who loves you greatly and closes with all blessings and the blessing, May the angels be commanded to guard you in all your ways.
Rabbi and Dayan Avraham David Shpiegel
Avraham David Shpiegel
Blessed Be the Name, The Day Before the Holy Shabbos, Portion of the Torah (Pinchas, Numbers 26:55), According to the names of the tribes of their fathers shall they inhereit..5698, Our Community Rohatyn, May it be rebuilt.
My beloved and dear son the joy of my life complete with virtues and fine traits, Yehoshua Pinchas, May his light shine, and to my future daughter-in-law, the important and honored Miss Hadassa, Tichye (May she be inscribed for life) - complete with virtues and fine traits, from a fine family.
I hereby agree in consonance with my dear and honored forthcoming relative of elevated family and of learned background, his honor Rabbi Avraham Bard, May his light shine, to set your wedding day, in a good and successful time, at the home of your uncle, the very important Rabbi Y. A. Birnbaum of Haifa, the 6th day of the week, on the Torah portion, (VaEtchanan) which says, ..that we will be careful to keep all of these commandments on the 15th of the month of Menachem Av, May it come to us for good.
Behold, I hereby welcome you with heartfelt blessings. May it be the will of the Creator that the marriage take place at a good and successful time. And you my children, take to heart what is written in the portion of the Torah, according to the names of their fathers shall they inherit, that as you enter your marriage accept upon yourselves the responsibility of the Torah and the fine details of its commandments as forever practiced by your illustrious ancestors, Of Blessed Memory, and especially you my dear son please remember how many prayers your mother, the Rebbetzin prayed when you were a child that she would be worthy of having children who followed the proper path and is still standing before the Creator in Gan Eden where she rests and pours forth her prayers before the Creator that at least this be her consolation for the loss of her best years, that her dear son who is marrying a daughter of a talmid chochom will take upon himself to follow all the fine details of the Torah and tradition. Therefore, make all efforts to eat kosher food, not to violate the Shabbos and the Yom Tov (Holy Days) and to immerse in a kosher mikve as is customary among religious Jewish women. And you Hadassa should make a point of reading the Korban Mincha siddur in the section called Mayan Tahor and other similar books. Everything you need to know about this matter is clearly and logically to be found there. And if you follow this path properly you will receive what is written in the portion of the week (Deuteronomy 5, 25) at the time of your marriage, which states, that we will be careful to keep all of these commandments according to the names of the tribes of their fathers which means, that you should take upon yourselves the responsibility of the Torah and the commandments according to the custom of your fathers and the custom of our holy and pure ancestors; then will you inherit in the end. Then you will inherit everything that is good, you will have a happy marriage and you will be blessed from the Source of All Blessings in everything, from everything, with everything for many long years to come; the marital union will be successful; your banner will rise; you will build a home faithful to the Creator and His Torah; and you will merit seeing fine generations that will bring joy to you, to your parents and to the whole family forever.
So says your father who blesses you with the blessing of Mazal Tov from the depths of his heart and concludes with much love and eternal love.
Avraham David Shpiegel
[Pages 172-175]
For about 25 years a generation - there was no official chief rabbi in Rohatyn - since Rabbi Aharon Levin, Of Blessed Memory, left to assume the position of Rabbi of Rzeszow. Just as a widow who loses her illustrious husband cannot easily find a second his equal and whose pride will not permit her to take just anyone, so too did the Jewish community of Rohatyn have difficulty in finding an acceptable new rabbi. Of course Rohatyn did not lose everything. It had two Dayanim: Rabbi Meir Shmuel Henna, Of Blessed Memory, known as the Old Dayan, and Rabbi Avraham David Shpiegel, Of Blessed Memory, known as the Young Dayan who provided most of its religious needs so that the lack of an official presiding chief rabbi was not particularly felt. The activities of the Young Dayan were particularly significant. Nevertheless, since the community had grown and replenished itself after the destruction of World War I the Jewish Community Council decided in 1932 to reinstate the glory of the rabbinate and when the candidacy of Rabbi Teumim for this position was presented it was seriously considered.
Why was he such an attractive candidate? Was it his name? His ancestry? They were no mean considerations - rabbis reaching back to the author of the Pri Megadim on Orach Chaim and Yoreh Deah on his father's side and on his mother's side Rabbi Yeshaye Horowitz, the Holy Sheloh. This alone was enough lineage that would suffice to elevate the standing of the community both to the outer world and to itself - a worthy compensation for fallen prestige.
However, that alone did not decide the choosing of Rabbi Teumim, Of Blessed Memory, as town rabbi. His sermon before a large crowd of admirers including his extended family made a very fine impression. There was a young rabbi, a second candidate, who spoke after him but only succeeded in emphasizing Rabbi Teumim's superior qualities. However, even this was not the deciding factor in the choice that was made.
He had a charismatic personality and a noble appearance comparable to an elegant etrog. A round full face was encircled by a short full blond beard. His appearance and speech reflected the certainty he felt about his purpose in life and his high forehead reflected the weightiness of his thought. He accompanied his speech with a winning smile and expressive graceful movement of his hands. He would look directly into your eyes and with his penetrating glance break down any barrier within your heart. His speech was a bit breathless yet he loved to talk and smile warmly and lovingly. If he felt that he had won you over to his views on the holy Torah or his ideas on the secular subjects that he was presenting he would smile broadly or laugh heartily if breathlessly, and gently take your hand and draw you close to him. However, once he stood up to leave these mannerisms would disappear and he would walk away dignified and tall with steps that were slow and majestic reflecting in his bearing Jewish internal and external authority.
When he dressed in a spodek (a round fur hat with a velvet center), bekeshe (light black coat) and shining boots, he reflected in his appearance a touch of the Polish aristocracy that had long since passed combined with the spirits of the generations of rabbinic leadership that went back to the Holy Sheloh and even further. On the other hand, when on Shabbos he drew his talis over his head covered by a kippa or walked out in his shtreimel, he seemed to have removed this outside glory and reflected inner greatness, as did the High Priest when he exchanged his golden garments for the white, wholly reflecting his inner personality.
It was his inner personality rich, deep and broad that was particularly attractive. There are people who make you aware of their greatness unexpectedly and thus capture your heart while there are others whose greatness you become aware of intuitively but cannot comprehend, and in order to verify your beliefs you draw close and quietly acquire some of their light and warmth. When this occurs you become aware of the fact that your earlier impressions were correct and in this way your soul is captured. Rabbi Teumim was charismatic in both senses; the more you demanded from his greatness the more it surprised you.
He was only 27 years old when he competed for the position of rabbi of the community in 1932 against his two competitors who were older than him. However, in view of his reputation the townspeople streamed to the synagogue to hear him speak. These included many who were not of the kind that frequented a synagogue; and it was this first sermon that concluded the decision. His sharp talmudic argument expressed clearly with quiet self confidence caused raised eyebrows among the scholars but left them with a feeling of satisfaction this was what they had hoped for but they were surprised when it actually appeared before them. (Later some of these scholars were proud to acknowledge the fact that they had not been able to follow all of what had been said). However, this same broad knowledge which expressed itself in the subject and structure of the sermon, also appeared in his use of scientific concepts and foreign expressions, surprising the academics in the audience by their unexpected accuracy. His later sermons continued to justify our expectations and we would leave the synagogue after a sermon proud of his greatness and pleasantly surprised by the constant new ways in which it was revealed to us.
All that he taught was G-d's Torah and the Torah was all that he taught. In his learned discourses on Shabbos Hagadol (the Shabbat before Pesach) and in the chastisements of Shabbos Shuva (the Shabbat before Yom Kippur), in the study of Talmud and in the explanations of the Torah, in religious law and story, and even in day to day conversation on philosophical or political matters, or on ceremonial national occasions when he spoke in brilliant Polish and expressed a wealth of ideas which even penetrated the closed hearts of the Polish officials in every way he lifted you into the aristocratic sphere from which he drew inspiration for his daily activities. His stability in the stormy reality in which we found ourselves was broader and more enlightening because it was based in the bright heavens of our eternal Torah, holy optimism which guides towards security on earth. The Torah which he studied and in which he was immersed became a total part of his being. This was felt in every word he uttered.
He was not a Zionist but nationalistic feelings were part of his religious thought. There were those who thought that this was because of his hassidic family background. Others felt that this was part of the neutral attitude cultivated historically by the rabbinate of Galicia. And there were those who felt that this was a sign of personal greatness which was not restrained by social convention. Shortly after he was accepted as rabbi, Reb Yosef Laks (the luminary of our community who was renowned for his discourses, poetry and prayer and who had spoken before the Community Council not long before that in favor of the Mizrachi) made a remark that, A Rabbi does not have to be a Zionist!, although he might be one, and he had no obligation to explicitly declare himself a Zionist whatever his feelings on the subject might be the feeling was that he was referring to our rabbi, that is to say that the rabbi should be judged on his own merits. If there had been any hesitations among the Zionists who comprised a majority of the community as to the choice of rabbi before the election, they were clearly shown to have been dissipated when they voted for him enthusiastically (even against his competitor who was a declared Zionist). After the election the Zionists continued to accept him as their rabbi, just as the various hassidim had accepted him as their rabbi.
Moreover, members of the intelligentsia who had strayed from tradition, could also view him as their rabbi. This is illustrated by a story that is told about a lawyer who smoked in public on Shabbat. When his son became engaged and the engagement contract was being drawn up, he acquiesced to the modest request of the father of the bride that he stop smoking in public on Shabbat, only out of respect for the Rabbi who had said that this was his wish as well. Even non-Jewish intelligentsia, priests, judges and other academics stood in respect before him and listened carefully to his words when he spoke in their circles they too could find a way to call him rabbi.
Not only was he great but he was simple and modest. The Dayan Rabbi Shpiegel, who was much older than him and had been acting rabbi before him, served under him and was treated with friendship and great respect. The two honored Admorim (Rebbes) Rabbi Eliezer'l and Rabbi Shloimele were treated with veneration. In general, he behaved respectfully toward every person in our town. His home was a gathering place for sages and notables of the community, but it was also open wide to every townsman, and the flow of guests to his home became a new custom in the community. Just as the town was proud of its rabbi, so the rabbi was proud of his town. This can be shown by the fact that when he was offered a position as rabbi of Stryj, a much larger town which was able to offer a higher salary, he preferred to remain in our community, where his predecessors were rabbis of more worthy lineage and great renown in Torah. His salary was modest and even that could not always be paid at one time because of the constant shortage of money in the communal treasury. The Rebbetzin sometimes had the undignified task of returning again and again to collect parts of the Rabbi's salary. The Rabbi himself refused to accept money. The first time that someone offered him a gift in honor of a family occasion, as was customary, he explained that this was an unwitting offense to the Torah, although he personally was not offended, and it would be better if the gift were given to a charity fund to which they both agreed.
His words expressed his great love for all Jews and feeling of obligation towards them. They were not mere empty sayings but carefully and deeply thought out. One that I cannot forget took place when the new cemetery was opened that was located at a long distance from the town. The community had been forced by goyeshe trickery to close the old cemetery which was closer and there were those who suggested discontinuing the custom of carrying the litter on the shoulders, as practiced in the large cities. He said, If it is difficult to carry a litter, then it will be difficult to die! and they did not discontinue the custom. The cemetery was inaugurated with the burial of remnants of Torah scrolls that had been destroyed in World War I and that had been waiting for burial at the proper time. The rabbi was greatly upset during the proceedings and he called to his Holy Flock in heavy tones lamenting the fate of the destroyed Torah scrolls as well and his own fate to be the one to bury them. If I had known that I was destined to bury the Torah, I would not have presented myself to be the rabbi of your congregation. His purpose he felt was to increase and magnify Torah and not to bury it, G-d forbid.
The second shock was greater than the first. After seven years of fruitful activity in the town, World War II broke out with the contaminated witches' dance that completely uprooted all holiness. The defiled nails of Nazi bestiality, as well as its Ukrainian incarnation, had nothing to do with anything human. They trampled all that was holy and pure in our community as well as the saintly ones those who symbolized holiness. When he saw the abominable deeds of the collaborators among our brethren, G-d forbid, his spirit broke completely. The last words he uttered that were heard by survivors were: If G-d wills me to live after this holocaust, I will never again be a rabbi.
And there was no other rabbi
May their souls be gathered together in the treasury of life.
[Page 176]
Translated by Rabbi Mordecai Goldzweig
To a Former Inhabitant of our City
Rohatyn, Wednesday, Portion of the Torah Va'era, 25 Shvat, 5695 (January, 1935)
On this occasion it gives me great pleasure to express my congratulations and heartfelt wishes to you on your receiving a doctorate from Heidelberg College. May you rise and succeed in these endeavors on the altar of Torah scholarship. Your seat of honor will be established with the banner of achievement in the most important place in town, the place of Torah and recognition, and seeing this your parents will be happy.
Can I hide from you my friend that I have always held you in high esteem and now I would like you to do something for me. We have decided to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the birth of the Rambam, Of Blessed Memory. Therefore, towards this goal we chose a committee that would arrange all details of the celebration according to subject matter. Due to the fact that we are lacking in literary background and competent lecturers we are facing many difficulties and impediments in formulating our plans. Therefore, we would be interested and happy to have you appear before us in person because you have amassed a great amount of Jewish knowledge. However, since ability and wishes sometimes conflict with each other we would therefore appreciate your sending us a copy of an interesting lecture on the topic of the jubilee that you have written as a religious philosopher, or as a teacher, or on topics dealing with ethics or the like. Do I need to suggest topics to you? Think the matter over carefully and I will rely on your judgment. Unless I am mistaken there should be no problem in this since you have all the literary material necessary and I am quite certain that your lecture will be presented on a high level as is becoming to a man who combines both Torah and knowledge within himself. This will find high favor in the eyes of your father who is a member of the celebration committee and in the eyes of the Creator Above.
Mordechai Lippa Teumim
Chairman of the Committee
Needless to say the text of your lecture must be strictly in keeping with high religious standards.
[Page 177]
Translated by Rabbi Mordecai Goldzweig
Who was worthy to be in his presence
Who heard his voice and saw his person
How could one forget him
His sweet voice that reverberated in prayer
When he sang his musical compositions
And when he noted his deep comments on the margins of Talmudic volumes
And in his business dealings his knowledge floated
His writing ability could be discerned from letters to his colleagues
And his signature testified to his writing
That expressed friendship in the effectiveness of his poetry:
To a former resident of our town
I will sing to my friend in my name and yours
And at the beginning of the verse set your eyes
Please see the joy of my heart
[In Hebrew the initial letters of the next three stanzas form an acrostic of the name Yosef Laks HaKohen]
For a wise man is greater than a prophet
And a student such as you brings joy to his teacher
And in my eyes is filled with favor.
My heart rejoices in your raised prestige
And my bones rejoice in the happiness of your parents
The Primal Cause was in your behalf
Honor is placed upon your head.
You are worthy of honor and greatness
You my dear friend a man of excellence
The rays of your splendor will shine as fine porcelain
Your fate is to grow tall as the date palm and cedar.
Turn and listen and receive my blessing
For it stems from the depths of my heart
May He Who Resides in the Heavens bring success to your path
Satisfaction and pleasure will sate your ancestors.
Yosef Hakohen Laks
[Page 178]
Translated by Rabbi Mordecai Goldzweig
Reb Yehuda Sofer was a poor man who was born in Rohatyn, a hassid of the Bursztyner (from the Stratyn dynasty) and a father of five daughters, who followed the well known Reb Michel Sofer (scribe) and continued in his path. He was unable to support himself at his profession because many scribes such as he were forced to travel with their holy wares from town to town and were his serious competitors. Then too his customers had became fewer and fewer. As a result his wife, Freia, had to join him in earning a livelihood by baking her special home made bread that certain people liked and he was forced to join her in this task lessening his time in his regular profession. Gradually his hands became heavier and he could no longer continue as a full time sofer about which it is written, With his soul he brings his bread. However, he did not drop his profession completely and the townsmen used to invite Reb Yudel Sofer to check their tefillin and mezuzot. When his daughters grew up they helped to augment the income of the house. Unfortunately, when the time finally came to have a little satisfaction from them and they got married and bore children, the terrible war came and set an end to everything. He was killed by the German murderers together with his wife Freia, his son-in-law Aaron Gutman and Brunia and Motel their grandchildren, his married daughter Sarah with her two daughters, Tovah and Chava. Two married daughters, Esther and Gitel, are now in our country together with their children - the grandchildren of Reb Yosef Yehuda ben Michel Sofer.
[(2 photos. P. 178)
(Top Photo) Caption states: Yosef-Yehuda ben Michel (Sofer) and his family: Gitel and Moshe Mandelberg, Chava Blattner
(Lower photo) Caption states: Mordechai (Motel) Gutman (grandson), Esther Bloistein (Blattner), Tova Blattner and David Bloistein.]
[Page 179]
Translated by Rabbi Mordecai Goldzweig
Yerachmiel Schwartz was a maskil (member of the Enlightenment) that is, he spoke accurate Polish and had ties with the town authorities. Nevertheless, he could boast, I live with the goyim but I keep the Jewish commandments. He was quite a rich man from his sales of liquor and he had a monopoly on the sale of mead. I still remember when on the Seventh Day of Pesach if there was a lack of liquor at the gatherings by the Rebbe Reb Eliezer'l some of us boys would go to the house of Yerachmiel Schwartz, Of Blessed Memory, to obtain what was missing. He personally would come out into the yard, step into a structure that served as a small winery to the north of the Sokol and draw from whatever came to hand. He would also present a l'chaim to the boys smiling all the while his sweet smile that would spread across his Viennese white kaiser beard. His home was traditional and he was blessed with refined children who mingled with Jewish scholars and eventually married into their families. Yerachmiel Schwartz, Of Blessed Memory, was not a person who waited for people to come to him. On the contrary, he would take the initiative and joined those who were trying to help the community. He was one of the builders of the Czortkower Kloiz, a member of the town council as well as of the Jewish community council and an honorary member of the official judiciary. He served in these three capacities until the day he died. May his memory be blessed.
One of his descendents, his eldest daughter Ronia, survived and is now living in Israel. Her only son, Dr. Ezra Zohar, is a physician in the Israel Defense Forces.
[(1 photo, p. 179 Y.B.) (Picture of Yerachmiel Schwartz, No caption)]
[Pages 180-182]
Translated by Rabbi Mordecai Goldzweig
Is it possible to forget this couple, Yaakov and Sarah who were beloved and pleasant in their lifetime and in their death were not parted. They do not allow themselves to be forgotten. A youthful rhythm always beat within them; even in small day-to-day matters. This Jew who lived far from the Main Synagogue, in the neighborhood known as the new town, was accustomed to appear early in the morning every day in order to prepare whatever was needed for the worshippers at the Main Synagogue.
He remembered and carefully noted every Yahrzeit that had to be kept and reminded people of its date. He saw to it that there was liquor and pastries to eat with it on a table in the synagogue and he would always leave something over in the closed section of the Reader's table thus helping out anyone who had a yahrzeit but who might not have been able to prepare for it for any reason. I am not exaggerating when I say that the aroma coming from the Reader's table when Reb Yaakov Leiter, Of Blessed Memory, opened its door, tempted the lovers of liquor to draw closer to the person having a yahrzeit. At that time there was still no printing press in Rohatyn (Reb Chaim Shkolnik, Of-Blessed- Memory, opened his small press next to David Jupiter, Of Blessed Memory, in 1922). And who could print notices and announcements that had to be written? Reb Yaakov Leiter would print them in Assyrian script, the print of Torah scribes. His cleanliness and the cleanliness of his home was exemplary, and was symbolic of his inner self, neat and clean outwardly and inwardly.
He was a man who loved to talk and he spoke rapidly. If anyone made an announcement before kiddush Friday night or before reading the Torah Shabbos morning, only those who stood nearby could hear what was said and they would explain to the others that mimachenmodia (we are making an announcement) which sounded like one word but was meant to be the phrase mir machen modia etc.
He wore a Deitsche Kapel (a modern hat) and his curly silver peyot (side-locks) waved in the wind like little bottles. His suit of lustrous material was made to order and he wore short boots. You could depend on his watch like the clock in the train station. I remember when we used to take a break on Yom Kippur between the prayers of Mincha and Ne'ila which was the last opportunity to chat on the topics of the day, such as opinions of the various baalei-tefilot (the beginning chazan, the chazan for shacharis and the chazan for musaf) and the latest events. When it started to get dark they used to call out, Her Leiter, s'iz shpeit? (Mr Leiter, is it becoming late?) But Mr. Leiter would continue to talk. He would pull out his chain and gold watch and announce with finality: We still have two minutes. After one minute, he would walk over in his exact steps to the hall. Everyone knew that it was his watch that would decide and there was no argument about it. If the chazan for ne'ila appeared to be drawing out his melodies too long according to his taste, he would place his watch in front of the chazan and urge him to complete the prayers at the right moment with the saying L'shona ha-bo-oh b'Yerushalayim (Next year in Jerusalem).
[1 photo, p. 181Caption states: Yaakov and his wife Sara, in their old age, standing at the gate in Gan Shmuel.]
There was no happy occasion where he did not take part as one of the officials of the synagogue - the shames of the community. He would call out so-and-so the son of so-and-so has become engaged to so-and-so the daughter of so-and-so; and when the time of the wedding came the poles of the chupa (canopy) were waiting in his hands. He encouraged and carefully advised the parents of the bride and groom as to the proper procedures and the fine details to be followed at the chupa. He was the master of ceremonies at the chupa and he called out those who were be honored with making the various blessings. He brought the Ketuba (marriage contract) and accompanied the rabbis home after the ceremony. At a brit (circumcision) he would carefully watch the mohel, and if something seemed to be improper in his opinion he would quote the passage of the Sacrifice of Isaac, Do not stretch out your hand against the lad nor do anything to him.
I am reminded of a joke (that Leiter told) Reb Yosef Hakohen Laks, Of-Blessed- Memory, was a well known Ba'al Tefila (non-professional chazan) who was very popular in the community for his pleasant and strong voice and also because he was very learned and sharp in his studies. When he studied the Talmud or while he was teaching the Talmud and came to a fine point he more than once stopped to write a commentary in the margins with his particular interpretation of a passage that they were studying.
When he finished the prayers on Yom Kippur, a discussion would ensue in which there were differences of opinion as to who was the better chazan and the authorities would express their views. Some would say that Reb Moshe-Zushe, Of Blessed Memory, (a composer and chazan of Rohatyn) was the better chazan. Others would say it was Reb Mordechai-Shmuel Horshofsky, Of Blessed Memory, and still others liked Reb Yonatan Rappoport or someone else. Then Reb Yaakov Leiter would conclude: As far as I am concerned, Reb Yossel is a difficult ba'al tefilla and why? Because it is difficult to pick him up when he falls to the floor in the Avoda (the description of the role of High Priest on Yom Kippur during the Musaf prayers) .
After the High Holidays no one could replace him at plaiting palm leaves to house the myrtle and willow twigs. He was unequalled in this skill. And who would receive the etrogim from Israel? He did. He would merit his friends with the blessing upon the taking of a palm branch when he personally took out the choice etrog
Reb Yaakov and his wife were privileged in their later years to settle in the Land of Israel and to enjoy the fruits of our land. They made a fresh start in Kibbutz Gan Shmuel, where a new task awaited them: Reb Yaakov would print the names of the cows in the barn and his wife Sarah, Of Blessed Memory, would do embroidery and knit.
About such as they it is said: Beloved and pleasant in their lifetime and in their death they were not parted. They are buried in the cemetery of Kibbutz Gan Shmuel. May their souls be gathered together in the treasury of life.
[Page 182]
Tall Moshe
(Moshe Roher, of blessed memory)
By Y.P.S.
A very tall man with a long white beard, dressed in traditional Hasidic clothing, he was pious and honest his entire life. I no longer remember where his wife was. She had probably died years before. But he had children by her, each one living in foreign parts. As soon as he received notice from them, he would share the news with everyone in the Beit Midrash.
Always joyful, his face always radiated goodness. We, the young men of the house of study, knew him when he was already on in years and did not know what his business had been earlier. I remember him as the drummer in the Faust family band. His fingers struck the beat nimbly at weddings and other festive Jewish occasions. His drum was the cause of great joy.
He prayed in the new Beit Midrash where he used to favor all with a good pinch of snuff. As soon as he heard that someone wanted to recite a chapter of Psalms, he immediately made known his readiness to participate in the mitzvah. His hand would rise to his breast pocket from which he would remove his thick glasses with black frames and golden shafts. And he would murmur, What have I told you, Shieleh? 'Happy is the man that has not walked' if a man neither comes nor goes, he has no regrets. No?
Tall Moshe never walked the paths of the wicked. He was a good Jew.
[Pages 183-184]
Translated by Rabbi Mordecai Goldzweig
Reb Yudel Weidhof, Of Blessed Memory was an ordained rabbi who was among those who restored our city in the 1870's. He was a man who excelled in giving donations secretly. His store was well known throughout Galicia as a place that engaged in the import and export of sugar, tea, coffee etc. There was a time when his son Yaakov Weidhof was one of the largest merchants in Rohatyn. Yaakov was killed in the Holocaust together with his youngest son who was 31 years old when he died. His son Yitzchak is an engineer with Mekorot (Israel Water Company).
Avramche Horowitz Of Blessed Memory lived on the way down to the monastery. He was a loud and bitter Jew who sold lime. Due to his occupation his face was always pale, shriveled and wrinkled; the hair of his short beard appeared plucked because of it. Only once did I ever see his face light up. Reb Avramche, Of Blessed Memory, was childless and his wife was barren. When they grew older they decided to donate a Sefer Torah to the small synagogue in which they prayed and in this way establish an everlasting memorial to themselves. When the writing of the Torah was completed, it was carried in a grand procession through the town to the new synagogue accompanied by a band with dancing and singing of Give honor to the Torah. Avramche Horowitz and his wife, Of Blessed Memory, were honored by having him carrying the Torah. For the first time I saw his face light up with joy and become young again. May his memory be blessed.
Reb Ze'ev Steinmetz, Of Blessed Memory, was thick-bearded and heavy. He would hold a box of snuff in one hand and a heavy cane in the other. His concern was to provide the inhabitants of Rohatyn with fish for Shabbat. He had difficulty in supporting his family lovely sons and daughters most of whom succeeded in reaching the United States while he and two of his daughters were killed. May their souls be gathered together in the treasury of life.
His partner in the fish business, Yehoshua-Falik Shtraulicht, a Jew who was tall and heavyset, not only engaged in selling but also cared for the deceased he was an engraver of tombstones and was an assistant to Kopel Teich and his son Hirsh in this capacity. This was a profitable business since in the end everyone is in need of a gravestone. We also wish to remember their family: Yaakov and Uri Shtraulicht, Of Blessed Memory.
Akiva Wagschal and Elisha Teichman were very close friends and partners from the beginning, a gabai (synagogue manager) - he had all the problems of the synagogue on his shoulders. He was the one who prepared the barrel of beer for Simchas Torah at the rabbi's home and cheered everyone with his pleasant smile. He succeeded in visiting Israel during his lifetime when he went to see his two daughters who had settled there. The older one Mrs. Zuch, who is living here with her husband, is constantly active in the organization of the former inhabitants of Rohatyn. In this she is so like her mother, Tzirel Wagschal, Of Blessed Memory, a capable woman who devoted herself to the Zionistic activities sponsored by WIZO in Rohatyn. The younger daughter Salke recently passed away.
His partner, Elisha, used to finger his mustache while humming the melodies of Reb Moshe-Zushe. He was a ba'al tefila in the main synagogue every Shabbat. They and their families were refined people and they were killed in the Holocaust. May they rest in peace.
Reb Mordechai Kreizler was well to do, knowledgeable in Torah and general subjects, of tall and dignified appearance. He engaged in the sale of tobacco of all kinds. His son Shlomo had a stationery store that had a board on its front door on which the daily newspapers were displayed. Many of the inhabitants of Rohatyn would crowd around the board and its newspapers in order to read the daily news and his shop became a meeting place for those who were involved in communal matters and came up with ideas.
His second son continued his education and his daughter Chayke Kreisler became a doctor in our town. She was a good hearted woman.
Their memories have been kept in the hearts of all the former inhabitants of Rohatyn. May their souls be gathered together in the treasury of life.
Lipa Mandel was a cloth merchant. He was well to do, a General Zionist, and the Reader in the main synagogue. While vocalizing his readings of the Torah he would at times glance up at the ladies' balcony. He was a good parlor speaker, educated, a maskil but traditional in practices. He had a respectable position in the town and he and his family were active in Zionistic fund raising. May their memories forever remain.
Reb Yoel Fisher was a nice Jew, sensitive and active in all public affairs in our town. He was a strong Zionist but was careful to keep Jewish tradition. He was the Reader in the new synagogue and was careful to follow the Ta'amei Hamikra (notation) when he read the Torah. He supported himself by selling shoes. He was fair minded and a man of ideals who tried to get along with people. (Incidentally, his son Dr. Ben-Nun lives in Israel and is a member of the Hebrew Language Committee while his sister, Dr. Golda Fisher, visited Israel recently.
[Photo p. 184 Caption states: Reb Yoel Fisher, Ania (his daughter) and Esther (his wife)]
[Pages 185-186]
(The First Hebrew Teacher of Rohatyn)
by Y.P. S. as told by his wife Matilda Soferman
Translated by Rabbi Mordecai Goldzweig
The plaques engraved with the names of Raphael and Matilda Soferman still remain in their place. There is quiet all around and the apartment seems to be mourning Soferman the educator who passed away.
I called - and there was Matilda the wife of the deceased standing before me herself. She invited me in without knowing who I was and without asking what brought me here. Before me stood a woman of about 80 years old. Her face bespoke dignity and she addressed me in a polished Hebrew.
Yes, what did you want? I answered, I am sorry to trouble you. I came with a twofold task one, to recall the memories of your husband as the first Hebrew teacher in Rohatyn and two, to describe the town itself of those days. We wish to memorialize them in the Yizkor Book of Rohatyn and its Surrounding Areas. We would be very interested to share your memories with the survivors of the town in Israel and the Diaspora. Gladly, I will try, Matilda answered and immediately came to the point and this is the essence of what she said:
We arrived in Rohatyn in 1906 where my deceased husband, Raphael Soferman, became the first Hebrew teacher in the first Hebrew school in Rohatyn. The school opened with only two classes and an enrollment of 100 students in all. My husband taught there 4-1/2 years and I taught about half a year less. In this school students reached a high level of achievement not only in Hebrew but also in Bible, History, Grammar and Literature as well.
In time it also presented plays that were spoken in Hebrew of nationalistic and Zionistic content. You mustn't forget that the Zionists were already a majority in the community. The members of the Jewish community council were Shalom Meltzer, Sender Margolis, Yerachmiel Schwartz, Alter Weidman, and others. Rohatyn had a Zionist union, Hatechia whose outstanding participants included: Chuna Wachman, Pinye Shpiegel, the son of Rudy the Watchmaker (I can't remember his name), Dolar, Drucks, Wagschal, Mandel, Zlateks, Leiter and others.
Most of the people of that generation were very religious but you could already feel the effect of the generation of maskilim arising and becoming stronger. The youth went to Polish school in the morning and in the afternoon to the Jewish school maintained by the community that was Zionistically inclined and from whom the Hebrew teacher received his salary. Those who wanted to complete their high school education had to go to Lwów, Stanislawów or Sambor.
Soferman's helper was the teacher Reiter, and when they added another class, they added another teacher, Rochenboim. The teacher Hirsch was once a student in that school (and now lives in the U.S.).
[1 photo, p. 186 Caption states: Raphael Soferman (the first Hebrew teacher)]
The deserters from the army who escaped from Russia and crossed the border illegally came to live in our town where they learned Hebrew very well and became teachers. After Rohatyn we went to Brody where we stayed for 1-1/2 years. We came to Israel in 1912. Then my husband founded a Hebrew school in Tzfat where he was the principal for two years. Afterwards the family moved to Jerusalem where my husband become a teacher in the Seminary for Kindergarten Teachers and in a Girls' School. Four years later we moved to Tel Aviv where he became a teacher of History and Tanach in the upper grades of the Herzlia Gymnasium. He taught there until he reached the age of 70.
His oldest daughter, Dr. Sharona Soferman-Binyamini, is now a teacher of History and Tanach in the Herzlia Gymnasium. His son, Dr. Nadav Soferman, became a well known gynecologist in Tel Aviv. Another son, Amnon Soferman, is a cartographer.
Dr. Gelber commemorated the deceased educator Soferman in his book Mothers of Israel and there you will find his picture. Dr Gelber also commemorated him in his Book of Brody. Soferman passed away of cancer on 13 Iyar 5716 (1956) at the age of 77. May his memory be blessed!
[2 photos, p. 187
(Top photos)Caption states: Kindergarten in Rohatyn
(Bottom photo)Caption states: The Hebrew teacher Edelstein with his students in the Hebrew school of Rohatyn]
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for verification.
JewishGen is not responsible for inaccuracies or omissions in the original work and cannot rewrite or edit the text to correct inaccuracies and/or omissions.
Our mission is to produce a translation of the original work and we cannot verify the accuracy of statements or alter facts cited.
Rogatin (Rohatyn), Ukraine Yizkor Book Project JewishGen Home Page
Copyright © 1999-2019 by JewishGen, Inc.
Updated 15 Dec 2005 by LA


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text: Article | 21 August 2013 | Article by Project Manager Ole Højriis Kristensen. Possibly the best in Denmark Ole Højriis Kristensen optimises everything he touches. As an agile project manager, he is a real geek when it comes to automating Scrum processes. Here he tells ConsultantNews about an award-winning intelligent Scrum board he developed in a project for Vodafone. The Scrum Master's most important task is to remove impediments for the team. For some, the most bumps in the road lie in the coordination with the business representative, but in my experience, the greatest challenge is much closer at hand. The tools the developers are given to work with are often themselves a barrier to reaching the team's full potential. The Scrum board is a good example of a potential impediment. You build a wallboard with stories on cards to give everyone an overview of what has to be done, but the wallboard often becomes outdated and ignored because no one has time to update it. Only the digital project management tool is updated. That does not make the wallboard's original purpose less important – the big picture is always useful. We in the IT business are fortunate in that we can create our own tools as part of the job. We can mould and adapt the systems we work with, as we wish, so they fit our working methods perfectly. The problem is that too few of us have realised this. I was Scrum Master at Vodafone in 2010. We had several different project management tools that we rummaged around in to find the stories we were supposed to be working on. At the same time, we were supposed to make sure our colleagues in England and Ukraine could keep up with what we were doing. I created a large Scrum board to gain an overview. Every day, I took pictures of the board and sent them to our colleagues abroad. The effort to keep an eye on what had happened in the digital project management tools and then move the paper cards around soon became a huge chore. If we were to be able to work efficiently, and if I as the Scrum Master was going to avoid being buried in paperwork and reporting, there was no way around it: We had to build our own tool. The idea to cobble together a physical/digital Scrum board came when I first set up a webcam and then a projector in front of the board so I would not have to take pictures of it every day. It took a couple of months from the initial thought to the finished tool that could be used daily. But we continued developing it. For example, sitting around drinking a Friday evening pint, it struck us that it would be nice if the system could talk. It was our own tool and we were free to do whatever we wanted with it, whatever worked for us. It did not have to be beautiful, it just had to work – and that fact had a huge impact on creativity. The result was a tool that could do everything. It could communicate effectively to the members of the team what they were supposed to be working on by means of automatically printed cards on a physical whiteboard. The developers could move the cards around and swipe their avatars to move stories and assign them to themselves in our digital project management tools. The board tweets progress updates in the sprint to our designers in London and our testers in Ukraine. It also took care of producing builds for our test environment as soon as a story was finished. And it read aloud messages from team members who were delayed. It could do everything we needed. It was an ugly pile of PHP hacks and duct tape, but it worked. And it has attracted a great deal of interest. I have described the digital Scrum board at conferences and have been interviewed for various blogs. The Board even won the Ultimate Wallboard contest run by Atlassian, which sells the Jira project management tool, among else. But almost every time I talk about the tool, I hear the same question: 'Where can I buy one just like it?' The answer is you can't and you never will be able to. Our board worked because we built it ourselves. We saw a problem and we solved it. We thought there was something wrong with the process, so we changed it. To me, that is the essence of agile development. This process is not right for everybody – and if you keep trying to push square pegs into round holes, you end up with a mediocre solution to a far too important challenge. A typical Scrum team is usually professional and relatively expensive to run. But when companies are happy to splash out on company massage schemes and Artesian spring water in the canteen, developers should also be allowed to take a time-out from the job to build their own tools – tools that are tailor-made and so much more efficient than existing tools. The only problem is this happens far too rarely. As for me, I drive a car with an automatic transmission. Why is that relevant? Because I look at agile development teams much the way I look at my car. I have no need to micromanage how the gears should move. I assume that a group of highly paid German engineers are better at that than I am. As long as I can control the direction and speed, I have no need to concern myself with the details under the bonnet. Likewise, I wish more businesses would give their developers the freedom to decide for themselves how they want to work and which tools they want to work with. As long as we can agree on a common goal, it should be up to the individual teams to figure out how they can attain the goal in the best and fastest way. Intelligent Scrum board time-lapse video. The intelligentScrum board Our digital Scrum board was built over an ordinary white board that was divided into columns, or 'swim lanes', that represented the various stages through which a story could progress. There was an RFID reader at the bottom of each swim lane, which was connected to a computer behind the board. There was a little receipt printer under the board and a box of plastic pockets. Every time a new story was added or updated, the printer spat out a new card. The card was placed into a pocket containing an RFID touch tag and then placed on the board. When a developer started a task, he moved the matching task card over to the next swim lane and swiped it past the RFID reader. The reader updated the system behind the board. The developer then swiped his avatar alongside the task card to assign himself to a task. This action was also reflected in the project management tool behind the board. A projector was mounted in front of the board which constantly showed the burndown chart and other details about how the project was progressing. It also wrote upcoming deadlines directly below the board and listed the meetings various team members had on the day. In addition to updating the digital project management tool, the board also sent tweets of all updates, including a current picture of the person responsible for the update. When team members sent emails to the board, a Goo-gle Translate voice read the messages aloud, and the tool simultaneously sent printouts to team members who were not onsite when the message was read. In this way, we made sure that notifications about delayed colleagues reached the entire team without having to have an email program open and interrupting your work. The whole thing was controlled by an unholy PHP hack on a server somewhere in the US. I would rather not say how I got permission to access the systems in the world's biggest telecom company. FACTS:Ole Højriis Kristensen's intelligent Scrum board won the title The Ultimate Wallboard in a contest arranged by Atlassian, the company behind the Jira project management tool. One of the experts on the contest panel had this to say about it: 'The integration of physical elements (RFID tagging, projection, printing) with the virtual/technology elements is incredible.' < Back to newsroom Latest news CC: Migrating Mainframe Source Code to Git 23 September 2020 Consultant's Corner: Freelance is freedom 09 September 2020 Consultant's Corner: Robotic Process Automation 25 August 2020 ProData Consult wins DSB tender 01 July 2020


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Raiffeisen: third-largest banking group in Switzerland
Our cooperative's long-standing mission is to reach our goals better, together.
«What one person cannot achieve, can be achieved
by many.»
Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen (1818 – 1888), founder of Raiffeisen cooperatives
Raiffeisen Banks
3.8 million
1.9 million
Cooperative members
Nr. 1
Swiss retails bank
Nr. 1
mortgage provider
Deposit Rating
16.5 %
CET1 Ratio
7.6 %
Leverage Ratio
Senior unsecured
debt rating
The Raiffeisen Group is the leading Swiss retail bank. The third largest force in the Swiss banking sector services roughly half of the Swiss population. 1.9 million Cooperative members are co-owner of their Raiffeisen bank. The Raiffeisen Group is present at 861 locations throughout Switzerland. The 229 legally autonomous cooperative Raiffeisen banks are amalgamated into Raiffeisen Switzerland Cooperative, which is the strategic leader of the entire Raiffeisen Group. Through group companies, partnerships and participations, Raiffeisen offers private individuals and corporate clients the full range of products and services. As of 31.12.2018, the Raiffeisen Group had CHF 196 billion in assets under management and CHF 188 billion in loans to clients. The market share in the mortgage business amounts to 17.6 percent. Total assets are CHF 225 billion.


text:
Royals Down Astros 4-2
HOUSTON (AP) - Rookie Yordano Ventura threw seven solid innings for first major league win to lift the Kansas City Royals to a 4-2 victory over the Houston Astros on Tuesday night.
Omar Infante homered and drove in two runs for the Royals.
Ventura (1-0), an elite prospect with a 100 mph fastball, allowed four hits and one earned run with seven strikeouts in seven innings - both career highs - in his fifth major league start.
Infante had a solo shot in the first inning off Lucas Harrell (0-3) and added an RBI in the third inning as the Royals found some offense after managing just five runs combined as they were swept in a weekend series at Minnesota.
Eric Hosmer and Billy Butler had an RBI each for Kansas City and Lorenzo Cain had a pair of hits for his fourth multi-hit game this season.


text: iPod touch A8 chip, 8MP iSight camera, 5 stunning colors iPod touch is the perfect way to carry your music collection in your pocket. With the iTunes Store — the world's largest music catalog — you can load up your iPod touch with your favorite songs. And thanks to iCloud, everything you purchase through the iTunes Store is automatically available on all your devices for free. To enhance your music experience even more, Apple Music is available on your iPod touch, right in the Music app. A powerful A8 chip. A stunning Retina display. An incredibly portable design. Whether you like fast-paced action, amazingly detailed strategy games, or beautifully intricate puzzles, iPod touch offers the ultimate mobile gaming experience. iPod touch features an Apple-designed A8 chip built on 64-bit architecture. This desktop-class chip features GPU performance up to 10 times faster than the previous-generation iPod touch — so the graphics in your favorite games are more responsive and look more vivid than ever before — and CPU performance is up to six times faster. And you get the same great battery life, with up to 40 hours of music and 8 hours of video playback To get the greatest graphics performance out of the A8 chip and iOS 8, we created Metal — a new technology that allows developers to design highly immersive console-style games. Metal is optimized to let the CPU and GPU work together to deliver detailed graphics and complex visual effects. So every imaginary world feels more realistic. The M8 motion coprocessor continually measures physical motion from advanced sensors, including a gyroscope and accelerometer. Offloading this work from the A8 chip to the M8 improves power efficiency. The M8 also provides accurate fitness tracking information, such as steps and distance, right to the Health app. iPod touch has a 4-inch Retina display, so all your fun has a beautiful canvas. Your hairpin car-racing turns, your dance party playlist, your friends' photos — everything is sharp, vivid, and lifelike. And the display is a perfect widescreen fit for your HD movies and TV shows. iPod touch features a new 8-megapixel iSight camera and an improved FaceTime HD camera, so you can take some of the most stunning photos and videos you've ever captured. These new cameras come with features like slo-mo and burst mode, as well as better noise reduction and improved face detection. And with iCloud Photo Library, you can easily access, edit, and share your photos on all your devices. Slow down life's fastest moments. The slo-mo feature lets you shoot HD video at 120 fps in 720p. You can even record and then select the portion you want to slow down. Burst mode helps you take great self and group portraits by continuously capturing 10 photos per second. iPod touch analyzes every shot in real time, comparing sharpness and clarity and even detecting when someone's eyes are closed. Then iPod touch suggests individual photos or a sequence of photos that you might like best. iOS 8 is packed with features to get the most out of your iPod touch. Now you can add your voice and video to text messages, quickly make amazing edits to your photos, and keep track of your health. Typing is also easier thanks to predictive text capability. And developers have deeper access and more tools to create even more amazing apps iPod touch comes with iOS 8 and a collection of powerful built-in apps. Send unlimited texts with iMessage over Wi-Fi. See your friend's every expression with a FaceTime video call. Post a photo directly to Facebook or Twitter. Or browse your favorite sites with Safari. Send free messages over Wi-Fi to anyone on an iPod touch, iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Take a photo or video and send it without leaving Messages. Share locations and links. Name your group chats, and mute or leave the conversation whenever you like Connect through social networking apps that help you keep up with the people you care about. And with Game Center, you can see your friends' high scores, achievements, and challenge them to one of the thousands of games available on the App Store Instagram gives you a simple way to capture and share the world's moments. Transform your everyday photos and videos with filters and share them with your family and friends Now up to six family members can share purchases from iTunes, iBooks, and the App Store without sharing accounts. So you can give your favorite people access to all your favorite things. Family Sharing makes it easy for family members to share photo albums, calendars, and even their location. You can even create Apple IDs for children under 13 years old so they can participate, too. Parents can require children to ask permission before making purchases, as well as limit which websites can be accessed in Safari iPod touch includes the latest in wireless technologies. When you're connected to a Wi-Fi network, you can make FaceTime calls, send messages, post photos, and download your favorite games and music. And with new support for 802.11ac, you'll experience up to 3x faster Wi-Fi speeds than with 802.11n. iPod touch also supports Bluetooth 4.1 technology, so you can connect a pair of headphones for listening to your favorite tunes or a game controller for racking up a new high score Whether it's a great pair of headphones, a Bluetooth-controlled race car, or a protective case that doubles as a fashion statement, there's an accessory that complements iPod touch perfectly Size and Weight Height: 4.86 inches (123.4 mm) Width: 2.31 inches (58.6 mm) Depth: 0.24 inch (6.1 mm) Weight: 3.10 ounces (88 grams) Retina display 4-inch (diagonal) widescreen display with Multi-Touch IPS technology 1136-by-640-pixel resolution at 326 ppi 800:1 contrast ratio (typical) 500 cd/m2 max brightness (typical) Fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating iSight Camera 8MP iSight camera Autofocus ƒ/2.4 aperture Five-element lens Hybrid IR filter Backside illumination Improved face detection Exposure control Panorama (up to 43MP) Burst mode Tap to focus Photo geotagging over Wi-Fi Timer mode Video Recording 1080p HD video recording (30 fps) Tap to focus while recording Slo-mo video (120 fps) Time-lapse video Cinematic video stabilization Improved face detection 3x zoom Video geotagging over Wi-Fi FaceTime HD Camera 1.2MP photos ƒ/2.2 aperture 720p HD video recording Backside illumination sensor Auto HDR for photos and videos Improved face detection Burst mode Exposure control Timer mode Wireless 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi‑Fi Bluetooth 4.1 wireless technology Maps: Location-based service3 Audio Playback Frequency response: 20Hz to 20,000Hz Audio formats supported: AAC (8 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Store), HE-AAC, MP3 (8 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, 4, Audible Enhanced Audio, AAX, and AAX+), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV User-configurable maximum volume limit TV and Video AirPlay Mirroring and video out to Apple TV (2nd and 3rd generation) Video mirroring and video out support: Up to 1080p through Lightning Digital AV Adapter and Lightning to VGA Adapter (adapters sold separately) H.264 video up to 1080p, 30 frames per second, Main Profile level 4.1 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats MPEG-4 video up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps per channel, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats Motion JPEG (M-JPEG) up to 35 Mbps, 1280 by 720 pixels, 30 frames per second, audio in ulaw, PCM stereo audio in .avi file format Input and Output Lightning connector Stereo headphone minijack Built-in speaker Microphone Power and Battery5 Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery Music playback time: Up to 40 hours Video playback time: Up to 8 hours Charging times: Fast charge in about 2 hours (80% capacity), full charge in about 4 hours iOS 8 includes •AirDrop •AirPlay •CarPlay •Control Center •Family Sharing •iCloud Drive •Multitasking •Notification Center •QuickType keyboard •Siri •Spotlight Search


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This is a big day for Motorola, huh? This Is My Next has new details and screens for the Atrix's upcoming successor. Most importantly, their source reports it to have a lovely 4.3-inch qHD screen, an 8MP camera, and 8GB of on-board storage.
It's also, of course, going to have Motorola's Webtop interface. And yes. It'll have 4G. THIS might be your Android phone of choice by the time it comes out. [This Is My Next]