JERUSALEM (AP) Jerusalem’s Hebrew University is using a $50 million gift from the foundation of a donor who was killed in 1999 to launch a new brain research center.
The $50 million donation from the Edmond J. Safra Philanthropic Foundation is the largest gift ever for research at an Israeli university, the university said.
Researchers at the center will work on developing treatments for neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, said Prof. Eilon Vaadia, director of the new center, but will also focus more broadly on the way stimuli such as sight and sound are translated into brain impulses.
Edmond J. Safra, a Jewish Lebanese billionaire who owned banks in the U.S., Europe and South America, was listed as one of Forbes’ richest men when he was killed in his Monte Carlo home in 1999. Safra was suffering from Parkinson’s disease, another neurodegenerative disorder, at the time of his death.
Ted Maher, a former Green Beret from Auburn, Maine, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for Safra’s death.
Officials put the total cost of building the center at $130 million. The university plans to raise the remaining money from alumni and other donors, and Vaadia said he expects it to be fully operational in about 10 years.
Israel is a relative newcomer to brain research, which is mostly centered in the U.S. and Europe, Vaadia said. But he said the country is gaining an international reputation for linking brain research with computer science and technology.
Safra’s widow, Lily, will attend a dedication ceremony for the center June 8, according to the university. The center will be called the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences.
The Safra Foundation has given millions to projects in Israel and elsewhere, including $30 million to Hebrew University in 2005 to establish the Edmond J. Safra campus near Israel’s parliament building.
Archive for May, 2009
Israeli university gets $50 million to study brain
May 31, 2009Nashville hotel cancels ‘Understanding Jihad in Israel, Europe and America.’ conference for safety concerns
May 31, 2009NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) A Nashville hotel is citing safety concerns for turning away a conference booked for this weekend that featured a controversial Dutch politician and filmmaker.
A group called New English Review signed a contract in January to use the Loews Vanderbilt Hotel for a two-day conference called “Understanding the Jihad in Israel, Europe and America.”
The Dutch politician Geert Wilders, whose 15-minute film, “Fitna,” has been called insulting to Muslims, was to be the keynote speaker. The film challenges radical Islam.
The hotel’s managing director, Tom Negri, told The Tennessean newspaper that they canceled the event for the safety and health of guests and employees, but he would not provide details about those concerns.
2 NYC synagogues to get $25,000 security upgrade grants
May 31, 2009NEW YORK (AP) The two synagogues targeted in a bombing plot this month will be able to improve their security thanks to federal grants.
Gov. David Paterson announced Sunday the Riverdale Temple and the Riverdale Jewish Center in the Bronx will each receive $25,000 to upgrade their security systems. The funds are coming from a federal program aimed at security for nonprofit organizations.
Paterson also sent a letter to Congress urging that program get more money in fiscal year 2010.
Four men have been accused of plotting to bomb the synagogues and shoot down military airplanes with missiles.
Williamsburg Residents: One Way Kent Ave Would Turn Wythe Ave Into A Highway
May 28, 2009
The Department of Transportation’s new plan, presented on Wednesday night, would turn the currently two-way, truck-heavy avenue into a one-way, northbound street — with a protected two-way bike lane on the waterfront side of the roadway.
The agency says its proposal — which could be implemented as early as July — would reduce speeding on Kent Avenue and restore more than 200 parking spaces and loading zones. The department’s bid to end the fighting over the bike lane that began six months ago when newly painted lanes replaced hundreds of badly needed parking spaces and truck loading zones on both sides of Kent Avenue.
The current proposal would divert southbound truck traffic off Kent Avenue at North 14th Street — where the one-way section of the thoroughfare would begin. The detoured trucks would turn south on Wythe Avenue for three blocks until North 11th Street, where signs would direct the trucks to veer east across the neighborhood towards an existing truck route on Union Avenue.
As a result, some inland Williamsburg residents — a new group of opponents in the tumultuous conflict over the bike lanes — fear that Wythe Avenue would become a big-rig highway.
“It’s mayhem!” said Williamsburg activist Stephanie Eisenberg, who was one of many residents at the crowded meeting to claim that truck traffic is a major quality of life concern in North Brooklyn. “With all of these new residential communities, how are you going to reactivate a truck route?”
“If the bike lanes are the tipping Lpoint, you should get rid of one of them,” she added.
Grand Street resident Tim Main agreed.
“Kent Avenue is a natural thoroughfare,” said Main, who called for two-way traffic on Kent and a one-way bike lane. “Closing it down to traffic in one direction would be like closing the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway in one direction.”
But Department of Transportation Deputy Commissioner David Woloch insisted that the current proposal is the best solution for the neighborhood’s cyclists, motorists and business owners.
“Right now we have a situation on Kent Avenue that is not working,” he said. “After a lot of thinking about it, we think this is the best plan and the only plan we can go forward with. There is not a perfect plan that is going to satisfy everybody. We think far and away this is the plan that has the most wins for everybody and the fewest losses.”
Some people at the crowded meeting agreed on the need for a two-way bike lane on the waterfront side of the street, which would become part of the proposed Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway, an uninterrupted cycling and walking path that would stretch from Greenpoint to Sunset Park.
“It defines the space so the community can anticipate and start to make room for [the Greenway],” said Greenway Director of Planning Milton Puryear. “It’s a much more informed approach.”
The new proposal has also found a surprising ally among factions of South Williamsburg’s Satmar community — groups that took early and aggressive stances against the Kent Avenue lanes when they were installed last fall.
“It’s the city and you’ve got to give and take,” said former bike lane opponent Leo Moskowitz. “If the bikers and the business owners are accommodated, it’s a win-win.”
http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/32/21/32_21_bm_kent_ave.html
Winner Of The Misaskim Sefer Torah: Reb Moishe Hershkowitz brother of BMG’s Reb Mordechai
May 28, 2009
The winner of the Misaskim Sefer Torah raffle is, Reb Moishe Hershkowitz from Brooklyn, the brother of Reb Mordechai Hershkowitz of BMG. The Lakewood Scoop was just notified by the Representative which sold the ticket and was told that …
http://thelakewoodscoop.blogspot.com/2009/05/and-winner-of-misaskim-sefer-torah-is.html
San Jose student reaches final of national Spelling Bee sorrectly spelling yiddish word ‘kichel’
May 28, 2009A San Jose middle school student is just a few correctly spelled words away from becoming the national spelling champion.
Ramya Auroprem, an eighth-grader at Joaquin Miller Middle School in West San Jose, correctly spelled “purlieu,” “kichel” and “senryu” this morning to reach the finals of the 82nd Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C.
Ramya, 13, and a handful of other gifted spellers will have outlasted a record 293 participants to reach tonight’s final, which will be broadcast nationally on ABC. The winner receives more than $40,000 in cash and prizes.
Ramya began the morning as one of 41 students hoping to survive three rounds, which are being televised live on ESPN, and reach tonight’s final. In the final round, Ramya was the first of 16 students in front of the microphone and correctly spelled “senryu,” a Japanese form of short poetry similar to haiku. She also correctly spelled “Kichel,” a yiddish word for a sweet pastry and “purlieu.”
Only five students were eliminated after the first round of the semifinals.
In San Jose, Ramya’s classmates at Miller Middle School are spending the morning balancing schoolwork with watching the spelling bee live on national TV. As Ramya’s turn to spell approaches, teachers spread the word and turn on the TV.
“Everybody is tense as she is spelling the word and break out in cheer as we hear that she has spelled it correctly,” Principal Richard Taylor said.
“It’s
very inspiring for all of the staff and students to really see somebody with a passion being successful on a national level. It makes us all very proud.”
Before competing in the nation’s capital, Ramya made her way through local and regional spelling competitions, Taylor said. Ramya won her school spelling contest, advanced through a written portion of the test at the University of California-Berkeley and took home the trophy at the regional competition in San Francisco.
In the preliminary rounds Wednesday, Ramya correctly spelled “purlieu” and “humorous.”
According to the spelling bee Web site, Ramya is fascinated by linguistics and is eager to learn new languages. She is fluent in Tamil, a language spoken in India, Sri Lanka and Singapore, and informally teaches Tamil to the children in her neighborhood. She is also currently studying French.
“She really has an appreciation for language,” Taylor said. “Looking at all connections of languages is one of her great pleasures.”
http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_12468952?nclick_check=1
[Pictures] Crown Heights – Satmar – Lubavitch Wedding of NYPD’s first Chasidic Police Officer
May 28, 2009Satmar Wedding Goes Lubav 
NYPD’s first Chasidic Police Officer Yoeli Witriol is from Williamsburg. Ruchel Zahava Ruchlamer comes from a Litvish background in Teaneck. Their wedding Monday was Lubavitch.
By COLlive reporter
Photos by YossiPercia@COLlive.com
Yoeli Witriol was born and raised in the close-knit Satmar community in Williamsburg. Ruchel Zahava Ruchlamer comes from a Litvish background in Teaneck, New Jersey. Yet when it came to going down the aisle, they went all-out Lubavitch.
He proposed to her at the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s grave site in Queens, had the Chuppah at Lubavitch World Headquarters, 770 Eastern Parkway and the wedding celebration at the Razag Hall in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
That’s practically going the whole nine yards for Chabad couples. For Satmar, this was unheard of just a while back when they vocally (and even violently) opposed Chabad’s philosophy and engaging outreach.
But the bride wouldn’t have it any other way. She felt indebted to the Rebbe.
You see, after giving birth to two children, her parents were given the bad news that they couldn’t have any more children. For many years they hoped, and didn’t give up. One day they went to the Lubavitcher Rebbe for a blessing.
And Ruchel Zahava was born. When her mother was still in her hospital bed, a call came in from the Rebbe’s secretary.
The Rebbe had sent a message, blessing her with one more child. The mother, just after labor, laughed it off. “It’s a miracle I had this one,” she said.
Yet, another child was indeed born shortly afterwards.
1500 people attended the joyous wedding, with a large representation of the groom’s side. As NYPD’s first Chasidic Police Officer, many police personnel, clergy liaisons as well as Shomrim members from Boro Park, Williamsburg, Flatbush and Crown Heights came to wish the couple their best.
The Spinka Rebbe officiated the Chuppah, David Ross sang Baruch Habba as well as some dinner music. At the wedding, the Freilach Orchestra entertained with Levi Falkowitz with a surprise appearance from the young couple’s good friend Yossi Fraenkel.
Most Read Most Comments
On the left: Yossi Fraenkel, Jewish singer and the Chosson’s good friend
1
wow
impressive! lol!
(5/26/2009 3:25:36 PM)
2
Amazing!!
What a story! what a special couple
may you know only simcha all your life
(5/26/2009 3:39:57 PM)
3
nice young couple
By Lubavitch weddings the Chosson & Kallah don’t sit together. I thought the same was true by other Chassidim. Very interesting! More prospective business for the Razag.
Mazel Tov!
(5/26/2009 3:40:49 PM)
4
moshiach tzaiten!
(5/26/2009 3:42:20 PM)
5
moshe der g
in williamsburg thew choson and kalah leave the chupah holding hands in public
a fact
so sitting together nunu
(5/26/2009 3:43:51 PM)
6
Moshiach Times
Who would have beleived years ago that this would happen. Perahps we Lubavitchers can learn from them and get along.
(5/26/2009 3:45:40 PM)
7
picture #
How come no one is inquiring about who ppl are in certain pictures!?!??!?!??!
(5/26/2009 4:00:24 PM)
8
NYPD?
Is He NYPD?
(5/26/2009 4:10:35 PM)
9
Wishing the couple much happiness!!
(5/26/2009 4:20:07 PM)
10
LET US HAVE GUNS!
If someone without a criminal record can become a police officer and carry a gun….
So should any NY resident without a criminal background!
Criminals break the law and have guns anyway, but they are safe and sure from citziens defending themselves, since doing so with a gun is illegal!
So when seconds count the police is always MINUTES away.
Don’t just come to take a picture of our dead bodies, change the law and watch crime drop, like in all other states with right to carry laws.
(5/26/2009 4:23:18 PM)
11
a friend
It was a great wedding
Shkoiach for bringing photos and the story
Tizku lmitzvos
(5/26/2009 4:41:59 PM)
12
wow
the most amazing part is 1. the fact that the kallah knows that she was born because of the bracha of the rebbe (lots of people who are the result of the rebbes brachos arent aware of it- parents are afraid to tell them, dont think its necessary to tell them etc.) and 2. she felt indebted to the rebbe; she realized the greatness of the rebbe, to the extent that she had her chuppah by 770!! amazing!
(5/26/2009 6:08:38 PM)
13
Mechitza
Chosson Kalla do not sit together a Mechitza is a
priority This was the first question the Rebbe would ask.
Let us look at strengthening Yiddishkeit,
Mazal and Berocho
(5/26/2009 6:27:15 PM)
14
tgeflygen!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!dor rishonim they probly had a luky numberrrrr 770 hashgucha proootis!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
go bcla
(5/26/2009 6:35:22 PM)
15
chana
Hi CHANA G
(5/26/2009 8:25:10 PM)
16
TO #5
Please don’t belittle a very important Minhag Yisroel. Do a little research before you make light of what is spoken about in Seforim. I have personally witnessed Rabbonim who saw that a Chosen and Kallah were a little shy and came over to put their hands together! It is not Minhag Chabad but those who do it are keeping a VERY IMPORTANT Minhag.
(5/26/2009 9:25:14 PM)
17
friend
Menootch good to see you on COL
(5/26/2009 11:55:35 PM)
18
ACHINOAM!!!!
The only familiar face..lol!
(5/26/2009 11:56:47 PM)
19
Chassidim do NOT sit together
Litvaks do.
The article mentions that she is from a litvishe background, hence the sitting together of the C & K.
(5/27/2009 12:59:02 AM)
20
Sitting Together
If you Lubavitchers are sooo narrow-minded and even think that Chassidishe choson and kallah sit together, I advise you all to keep your mouths shut. And if you want others to respect YOUR minhagim, then respect other areas’ minhagim (like choson and kallah walking out together of the Chupa)!
(5/27/2009 1:09:48 AM)
21
Just to stir things up
I am Lubavitch, grew up in Crown Heights, got married in Crown Heights and sat near my husband at our wedding……
(5/27/2009 1:21:57 AM)
22
Where was Commish Kelly?
Were there any other NYPD officers there? It’s an interesting crowd…Satmar, Lubavitch, non-Chassidim, everybody having a great time.
(5/27/2009 1:29:36 AM)
23
To #21
And therefore…..
And therefore we should all do the same???
(sarcasm)
What are you trying to prove?
(5/27/2009 2:44:29 AM)
24
Yehuda
At my wedding the mechitza went up to the table I sat on the mens side & my wife sat next to me on the womens side. Please show me where it says that the chosson & kallah do not sit together. It’s a choice & if that is what the kallah wants that is what happens. The Rebbe always took into consideration what the kallah’s thoughts were.
(5/27/2009 3:02:10 AM)
25
mazal tov
to 7
i dont think many satmars have internet….
but i always wondered: y do satmars trim their beards?????
as for sitting together, i really dont see any problem, as #5 said they even hold hands by satmar, so what u complaining abt sitting togethe
(5/27/2009 3:16:00 AM)
26
Mitsva Tanz?
Did they do it?
(5/27/2009 3:18:38 AM)
27
Trimming beards!
Satmarers do NOT trim their beards! In every community there are these few modern ones. Stop being so narrow-minded the whole lot of you, and dont state a fact on a community on a whole because of some individuals.
(5/27/2009 4:47:23 AM)
28
from Rabbi Glanz’ chief of staff
Mazal Tov Yoeli and Kalla….beautiful couple
(5/27/2009 5:12:49 AM)
29
Mazal Tov
Wishing the Kallah And Chosson much brocho v’hotzlocho, nachas from their yiddishe children and of course a life of true simcha and avodas Hashem.
(5/27/2009 5:22:00 AM)
30
ACINOAM!!
Hey its Gittele Im so happy to see you – looking good :)
(5/27/2009 7:10:32 AM)
31
some of these chassidim have hadras panim
#12 the kallah is special to follow up on her miracle and to act on it and to make her wedding with the rebbe
#16 is quite interesting id never thought that real shalom bayis would be encouraged by rabbobim
i agree go razag! and yes we should have guns!
(5/27/2009 11:07:46 AM)
32
blessings to yoili!
(5/27/2009 11:08:56 AM)
33
to 21
fool!!
“lubavitch” are you???
and i’m a ‘tzaddick gomur’ and watch TV and am a wretched being that does the worst avairos
go ahead living your foolish FALSE life
it’s about time we listen to the guidelines the Rebbe has given us through that AND ONLY through that can we be true lubavitchers it’s about time the FFB’S who were ‘born in crownheights’ and are ‘lubavitchers’ and use that as an excuse to do what they want with the internet and much much more b/c lubavitch excepts everyone
someone must stand up and fight for the truth
THE REBBE IS IN CHARGE OF LUBAVITCH
(5/27/2009 11:54:25 AM)
34
to number 14:
GO B.C.L.A
should be bigger!!!!
(5/27/2009 2:19:05 PM)
35
HEY!
ACHII!!
(5/27/2009 2:46:01 PM)
36
Go Achi!! Go Achi!!
(5/27/2009 3:27:24 PM)
37
ppl are sooooo bored
to # 123456 ect…….who cares what you think ……. lol..
(5/27/2009 4:53:00 PM)
38
mazal tov
the chosson is a great guy, a true mentch.
(5/27/2009 6:02:48 PM)
39
Mazel Tov!!!
It was the most amazing wedding ever, the mitzva tantz topped it all off, the badchen Motty Illowitz was incredible!!! To Yoeli & Ruchy may u share a beautiful life together!!!
(5/27/2009 7:13:30 PM)
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Ramat Gan, Israel – Orthodox Jewish women rock band cater to women only
May 28, 2009RAMAT GAN, Israel (AP) – On a fog-filled stage, as the six women of the Ashira band rocked before their die-hard fans, a man entered the auditorium – and was promptly asked to leave.
The band has been playing together for three years, and the crowds have grown steadily in numbers. But the band has held fast to one golden rule: No men are allowed.
The band’s members are all Orthodox Jewish women, and guided by a rabbinical injunction that says it is immodest for a man to listen to a woman’s voice in song, they perform only before other women.
The band’s members say they are answering a dire need in the Orthodox Jewish community in Israel, where entertainment options for women are often limited. Orthodox communities sponsor activities like women’s-only lectures, swims, dancing or traditional music, but modern day rock is a novelty.
“There’s no other band that plays the way we play,” Pnina Weintraub, the band’s 24-year-old founder, said of Ashira’s blend of rock, blues and Irish-style folk songs. “It isn’t ‘girls’ music,’ but it is an alternative that allows girls to perform in a kosher and proper way.”
So Ashira has booked bars that lock out all men on nights they perform. Their Hebrew songs all revolve around biblical themes. Their forthcoming album will include a warning label against men opening the disc. Their business card says “with the help of God” in one corner and “for women only” on the other. They also decline to be videotaped because of the same religious modesty.
But Weintraub, who plays the violin for the sextet, says “the sky is the limit,” and hopes to branch out to draw giant crowds of women.
She said the band represents a “new genre,” and the chromosome-X crowd seems to appreciate it. By the end of their 90-minute gig at Bar-Ilan University, a religious-leaning university outside Tel Aviv, women in the audience were dancing, waving their arms over they heads and singing along to the words of the songs.
“Whoever invented rock did it for people to let loose,” Weintraub said. “It’s not just sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. Our music is very liberating, and that is very important for our community.”
The band also includes a lead singer, a drummer, a bassist, an electric guitarist and a flutist who is in her ninth month of pregnancy.
They are like the Dixie Chicks, with a major twist – the three married members of Ashira have their heads covered for modesty’s sake.
Ashira, Hebrew for “I will sing,” has composed eight original songs and performs covers for other Israeli songs. They prayed before taking the stage before some 150 fans.
“It is a new thing, a new concept,” said Navea Mashraki, a 29-year-old religious songwriter who came to Tuesday’s concert. “What we, as religious girls, have to do is bring something new without breaking tradition.”
The band insists it strictly abides by Jewish law, and has faced a surprised, but not disapproving, reaction from their strait-laced community.
“I would feel uncomfortable performing before men,” said Inbar Presser, 22, the band’s bassist. “I’m glad we can provide a venue for girls to come and sing and dance freely.”
United Hatzalah: Just in Time; Complex MCI; Hatzolah Gets Palestinian Cell Coverage
May 28, 2009|
Just in Time
United Hatzlalah regional coordinator Shimshon Grossberger works hard for the people of the Beitar Illit/Gush Etzion region. Part of that work, in concert with United Hatzalah senior staff, entails ensuring that his team has all of the latest lifesaving equipment available. When the Uru Achim organization donated medical equipment throught the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia around the same time that Mordechai Margolis of Baltimore MD did, it was decided that this equipment would go to upgrade the entire Beitar Illit division. In a brief but moving ceremony last Thursday evening the equipment was dedicated. One of the speakers mentioned the ‘paramedics prayer’ – “May the need for this equipment not arise but should it arise may the equipment be there”. Not 8 hours later, early Friday morning, the second half of the prayer came into play. Medic Shraga Hoffman who was assigned one of the defibrillators received the alert <<< Car accident, Shraga quickly set up the defibrillator, briefly halted the medics administering CPR, attached the leads and had the machine analyze the existing heart rhythm. <SHOCK ADVISED> the mechanical voice chimed in. With the press of a button a jolt of electricity coursed the wires of the defibrillator into the fibrillating heart muscle.
When United Hatzalah medics went to visit the man in the hospital they were pleased to see him repsonsive with his loving family at his side. Medics explained that the lifegiving current that emanated from the defibrillator actually came from the East Coast of the United States from a group of individuals who may not have been aware of how quickly their donation would save a life. Click here to dedicate lifesaving equipment. |
Complex MCI It was a classic case of inter-agency cooperation during an MCI. A building under construction in the village of Nalin collapsed. There were an unknown number of casualties.
United Hatzalah medics from the Still an MCI by anyone’s standards but something that could be handled on a district level but no need to activate regional mutual aid plans. United Hatzalah medics were praised for helping optimize care for those in need while preventing the jeopardizing of care for others who might have been affected by a large turnout. The actual rescue efforts entailed a significant IDF/police presence securing the area, the Home F
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Route 60, Unconscious adult male>>>. Upon arriving Shraga noticed the conspicuous absent of any vehicles at the scene of the alleged car accident. Rapidly sizing up the scene which included a nearby bicycle Shraga realized that the 60 year-old man was probably riding the bicycle when he suffered a heart attack. 
A passing IDF medical unit joined in the battle to save this man’s life. When the paramedics from the ambulance arrived they continued treatment and evacuated the man to the hospital for further treatment. The man’s pulse and spontaneous respirations returned but he was not out of the woods yet. 
The elite Home Front Command Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team was called up. A mutual aid call was initially sent out to both Jerusalem and Tel Aviv districts as the village was roughly equidistant from each city and somewhat off the beaten path. 
highly active Modiin Illit region were among the first to arrive. They quickly downgraded the scope of the incident to the “under 20 category”. 
ront Command USAR team searching for, locating and extricating casualties, uniting the patchwork of emergency medical units to handle the triage, treatment and evacuation.Cellular Communication for all
The last item I want to share with you is simply one of creative thinking when the only consideration is saving lives. It was when responding to yet another late night car accident when United Hatzalah Binyamin District Coordinator Eliezer Heiman found himself once again in a situation when he 
was unable to reach other units or the command center due to cellular reception difficulties in the beautiful but rugged mountainous and wadi strewn Binyamin region.
Eliezer noticed that Arabs in passing vehicles didn’t have such communication difficulties. Upon further technical inquiries Eliezer discovered that while cellular coverage was spotty for the Israeli-based providers the Jawwal cellular phone service had significant presence in the area. By signing up for the their service and inserting their SIM card into his standard issue cell phone when needed Eliezer would be able to ensure that critical communications would be reliable at all times, in all places.
