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Think the race to the end – thanks to Bosch technology – Motorsport.com

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Danzig

The key to success in Formula E lies in energy efficiency. By cutting down on energy losses, the teams can focus on putting more power down on the road, helping find faster lap times with the same battery capacity and range. Bosch's electronic vehicle management system, with hardware and software components, has been specifically developed to make the difference in Formula E.

In Formula E, it's often only minimal advantages that mean the difference between victory and defeat.

Within the battleground of the all-electric single-seater championship, multiple components - for example, the chassis, battery, and tires - are all standard components that every team on the grid must run.

As that limits the amount of development that the manufacturers can perform, the race teams focus specifically on honing the powertrain in the pursuit of building a decisive advantage over the competition. The biggest advantage in electric racing is an optimally tuned motor and powertrain system that can deliver the right power at the right time, and with better efficiency over the race to ensure that less energy-saving is required.

To find that advantage, this is where Bosch brings all its engineering knowledge, its 120 years of expertise in motorsport, and its know-how from series production into play. Bosch has developed a vehicle control unit called MS 50.4P.

The vehicle control unit (VCU) is the brain of the vehicle. Along with numerous sensors, it not only provides relevant analysis data but also controls the optimum balance between energy efficiency and lap time.

Throughout the course of an E-Prix, the VCU collects data from the tires, battery, and powertrain. After receiving the data, it is the VCU's job to identify the limiting performance factor from within the car - for example, parameters such as battery temperature or the powertrains energy consumption. With the ability to build the picture across the race weekend, the VCU then calculates the optimal racing tactics.

It not only recommends when the driver should focus on regenerating energy but also ensures maximum energy recovery rates through improving the coordination between the electric and hydraulic brakes. In addition, it adapts the power applied to the drivetrain to the specific racing conditions and optimizes feedback to the driver.

With the help of this technology, the vehicle's energy management is dynamically adjusted to achieve the fastest possible lap time given a predefined amount of energy. In an ideal world, this time gain can make the difference against a team's competitors in the highly-charged world of Formula E.

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Think the race to the end - thanks to Bosch technology - Motorsport.com

CIOs’ 5-year plans for precision medicine and emerging technologies – Healthcare IT News

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Danzig

One of the next big shifts in patient care will be precision medicine will be"an emerging approach for disease treatment and prevention that takes into account individual variability in genes, environment and lifestyle for each person," as the Precision Medicine Initiative describes it.

For physicians and researchersthis means predicting more accurately which treatment and prevention strategies for a particular disease will work in particular groups of people.

This is completely different from the traditional one-size-fits-all approach, in which treatment and prevention strategies are developed for the average person, with less consideration for the differences between individuals.

What does this mean for healthcare and health IT? A lot of new challenges. Because precision medicine and genomics generate massive volumes of varied and granular data, new approaches to data storage and exchangeand new designs for electronic health records,for example, may be required. Physician education and patient communication are two other areas that will demand attention

Some advanced healthcare provider organizations, such as large academic medical centers,are already well-advanced in their precision medicine efforts. But most providers are still early in the journey, if they're attempting it at all. But many are preparing today for what many think will be the next step in the evolution of healthcare.

This story, focused on precision medicine and other emerging technologies, is the sixth and final installment in Healthcare IT News' feature series, "Health IT Investment: The Next Five Years."

The series offers interviews with primarily CIOs to learn from them the path forward through the priorities they set with their investments in six categories: AI and machine learning; interoperability; telehealth, connected health and remote patient monitoring; cybersecurity; electronic health records and population health; and precision medicine and other emerging technologies. Click here to access all the features.

The six health IT leaders discussing their plans for the next five years in this sixth and final installment in the series include:

Precision medicine has been an organizational priority for UPMC for more than a decade, and it has an ambitious vision of using it to provide better, more personalized care and improved outcomes for patients.

"Through these efforts, we aim to create new insights into the drivers of health and disease to allow the discovery of innovative therapies and models of care, while also lowering the cost of care by avoiding diagnostic delays and therapeutic dead ends," said Kleinz of UPMC.

"As one of the largest integrated healthcare delivery and insurance organizations, UPMC has the scale, capabilities and ambition to lead the discovery, assessment and clinical deployment of impactful precision medicine approaches," he continued.

Dr. Matthias J. Kleinz, UPMC Enterprises

"Our efforts are led by the Institute for Precision Medicine, which was established in 2014 in collaboration with our academic research partner, the University of Pittsburgh."

The mission for the institute is to accelerate translational and clinical research in precision medicine and to deliver the most advanced prediction and treatment of disease, tailored to an individual's unique circumstances, history and condition.

"In this context, we have and will continue to make significant investments in established molecular and genomic tests [and]emerging proteomic, metabolomic, and microbiome assay technology, and drive the discovery of highly personalized precision therapeutic approaches, including cell, gene and regenerative medicines," Kleinz explained.

Investment in deployment and development of novel technologies is an important pillar inunlocking the value of precision medicine.

UPMC has made a number of significant initial investments in the following areas, Kleinz noted, and is continuing to evaluate new opportunities:

"UPMC's leadership strongly supports this vision and already has invested heavily in the implementation of precision medicine," he said. "The appropriate use of precision medicine approaches benefits first and foremost our patients, but also supports our providers as they deliver care across the UPMC system.

"The tangible benefits are streamlined clinical workflows, improved patient outcomes, and the potential to optimize resource allocation and reduce the long-term cost of care," he continued.

"We are dedicated to continuing the aggressive rollout of precision medicine, both through internal efforts and increasingly through creative partnerships with industry, such as our partnership with proteomics company Somalogic."

Sanford Health believes precision medicine will be the future of healthcare, so it continues to make significant investments in this space.

"Leveraging machine learning and high computational power to analyze data sets containing genetic, clinical and socioeconomic data will not only help design the best personalized treatment for our patients, but also will help identify those patients or patient populations that would benefit most from early screening and interventions to prevent disease," said Hocks of Sanford Health.

Matt Hocks, Sanford Health

"Precision medicine will allow us to concentrate our efforts on prevention and early screening, diagnosis, and care that will help keep our patients healthy and thriving for generations to come," he added. "Cancer care and chronic disease management are burdensome to patients, communities and health systems. Concentrating resources to prevent these conditions will benefit us all."

Mobile health is an area of health IT that has been emerging in recent years. The same with remote patient monitoring, which has especially gained ground during the COVID-19 pandemic. Virginia Hospital Center is on top of both.

"Virginia Hospital Center does not view itself as cutting-edge when it comes to technology," Mistretta said. "It considers itself more of a fast, early adopter of new technology it believes may provide an advantage to its patients.

"We are extremely patient-focused, so many of our investments moving forward are going to be in that realm," he continued. "We will be investing in hospital-at-home and remote patient monitoring features in depth, along with other patient engagement functions to empower our population and maintain low-touch care to minimize costs."

Mike Mistretta, Virginia Hospital Center

Mobility is in demand by patients, so connecting through web and app technologies will be a high priority, he added.

"We need to make care convenient for patients and provide care on their terms," he observed. "In our Northern Virginia/D.C. market, we hear about this frequently due to traffic and distance considerations."

Thus the development of pilot programs like the organization's OB Connect, where patients followed for maternity care are issued home equipment, post resultsand are able to skip the office if everything is within expected limits. Mistretta believes this kind of technology will permeate the market.

"These types of technologies will be required to sustain significant growth for health systems," he said. "Combined with the effective use of data to produce appropriate metrics, we should be able to pinpoint more specific markets and what treatments produce more effective outcomes.

"It also is the only way we will be able to meet the significant demands that will be placed on the care system with the shortage of nursing and primary care resources predicted to hit in the coming years," he added. "We simply will not be able to continue to experience the same results and levels of treatment enjoyed today as the population grows and ages without providing increased care outside the walls of our traditional organizational structures."

Leadership buy-in on a different approach will take some time, but with successes along the way (and supporting data to reinforce), healthcare organizations will be able to achieve what will be needed, he said.

Providence pledged to invest $50 million over five years in health equity. Here is a recap of how it invested in year one.

Elsewhere, Moore is concerned with the internet of things.

"The internet of things is it it's smart devices," he said. "We may give our patients smart devices that sit in our care delivery environments, and have the telemetry information, and go into our big data model. Because that's how we're really going to make these machine learning and artificial intelligence models shine.

B.J. Moore, Providence

"We in healthcare say big data, but until you're working with streams of data, it's not really big data, it's just large data warehouses," he continued. "So getting that remote care delivery data is important, like a temperature four times a day, or real-time streaming of oxygen or heart data."

Moore believes the IoT and the streams of data it can provide are things healthcare executives should be talking about more. "It's all about data volumes: The bigger the volume, the better," he said.

Regenstrief is in the process of developing tools and processes to identify bias in algorithms to improve health equity, said Grannis of Regenstrief Institute.

"As AI becomes more ubiquitous, researchers, clinicians, health systems, industry, government and others must be wary of unintended consequences," he stated. "Our research scientists are working on best practices as well as novel analytical tools to regularly monitor for bias in algorithms, a process Regenstrief and CEO Dr. Peter Emb have coined "algorithmovigilance."

"Over the next five years, Regenstrief will be working with individuals and organizations around the world to implement," he added.

Dr. Shaun Grannis, Regenstrief Institute

Regenstrief also is investing in the broader ecosystem required to sustain advanced AI and machine learning methods. In the same way that clinical decision-makers, including physicians and other care providers, undergo regular training updates and certification due to healthcare's evolving nature and potential for bias, advanced algorithms will need frequent updates and certification to minimize bias and or errors, Grannis said.

Frameworks for overseeing algorithms and analytics are nascent.Developing and evaluating approaches to accurately and efficiently monitor AI and machine learning will become increasingly important in the future of healthcare analytics, he added.

"We also are investing in patient ergonomics the application of human factors,engineering and psychology to the design and evaluation of patient-facing technology to enhance delivery of healthcare," he explained.

"Institute scientists are using user-centered design to create apps that help informal caregivers provide care for their loved ones with Alzheimer's and other chronic conditions. Other apps are exploring the benefits of specific diets and brain-stimulating games."

Babachicos of South Shore Health believes tools that assist patients with care navigation will allow for a more improved and directed patient experience.

"These tools combined with the next-generation call centers also known as patient access centers can be accessed 24/7 by patients looking for care options and direct patients to the right place at the right time for their care needs," she explained. "These patient access centers will use multichannel options such as text, voice and chat while allowing patients to perform many self-service functions, as well.

Cara Babachicos, South Shore Health

"These patient access centers might also be staffed by care navigators for a more human connection when necessary," she concluded. "The same centers could potentially deliver virtual visits/consults, as well as potentially manage patient medications and vitals for subscribed patients in the community."

Twitter:@SiwickiHealthITEmail the writer:bsiwicki@himss.orgHealthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.

Asures New Technology Integration With Certegy Helps Businesses Offer Secure, Convenient, and Lower-Fee Check Cashing for Unbanked Employees – Yahoo…

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Danzig

AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 24, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Asure Software, Inc., (Nasdaq: ASUR), a leading provider of cloud-based Human Capital Management (HCM) software solutions, today announced a new partnership with Certegy, a leading provider of payment and risk management technology for retailers and financial institutions.

Connecting Asures 80,000+ Payroll and HR business customers with Certegys Positive Pay program enables these businesses to now offer their unbanked employees more options when cashing their paper checks. In turn, this increases our business customers ability to retain and recruit employees.

Certegy's Positive Pay program enables quick approval for checks on record while preventing fraud. The information provided by check issuers is used to validate checks upon presentment at 100,000+ retailers throughout the US. This validation process greatly reduces risk for check cashing retailers, which allows these retailers to assess a lower check-cashing fee to customers of enrolled companies.

Certegys Positive Pay program protects check issuers from fraud while offering consumers hassle-free access to funds through a fast, frictionless check cashing experience.

Asures business customers benefit by reducing payroll fraud while concurrently allowing their unbanked employees to conveniently cash checks with lower fees.

Adding this secure payment integration to our technology suite is yet another innovation that powers the growth of our business customers. In todays marketplace, companies need every edge to onboard workers. Offering employees the ability to cash their checks with lower fees at over 100,000 locations is a distinct competitive advantage that our customers can leverage to win more workers, said Pat Goepel, Chairman and CEO of Asure.

About Certegy

Certegy is a leading provider of payment and risk management technology for retailers and financial institutions across North America. Certegys technology allows businesses to expand their payment mix with ACH payments, leveraging proprietary authorization systems, algorithms, and risk assessment decision-making platform to provide low risk, low-cost transactions via mobile, web, and point-of-sale. For over 60 years, Certegy has managed risk by staying at the forefront of payment innovation, using sophisticated proprietary technologies to process, verify, and warranty ACH and check transactions for more than 4,000 retailers, corporations, and financial institutions at more than 100,000 retail locations. To learn more, visit http://www.certegy.com.

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About Asure Software

Asure (Nasdaq: ASUR) is a leading provider of Human Capital Management (HCM) software solutions. We help small and mid-sized companies grow by assisting them in building better teams with skills to stay compliant with ever-changing federal, state, and local tax jurisdictions and labor laws, and better allocate cash so they can spend their financial capital on growing their business rather than back-office overhead expenses. Asures Human Capital Management suite, named Asure HCM, includes cloud-based Payroll, Tax Services, and Time & Attendance software as well as human resources (HR) services ranging from HR projects to completely outsourcing payroll and HR staff. We also offer these products and services through our network of reseller partners. Visit us at asuresoftware.com.

Investor Relations Contact

Randal RudniskiVice President, Investor Relations, Financial Planning & Analysis512-859-3562randal.rudniski@asuresoftware.com

Asures New Technology Integration With Certegy Helps Businesses Offer Secure, Convenient, and Lower-Fee Check Cashing for Unbanked Employees - Yahoo...

How The New 5G Technology Could Affect Air Travel – News On 6

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Danzig

The delayed 5G rollout [near airports] earlier this week made national headlines, and local experts are hoping to educate the public about why this is important for Oklahomans.

5G is a new technology that brings faster internet services and better connections.

AT&T and Verizon were planning to roll out this technology this past Wednesday but instead delayed it because of concern from the FAA that some of the signals from the 5G towers could cause interference.

"When you go to the airport, a lot of us go to WIFI and do our business and emails and so on," said OU-Tulsa professor Hazem Refai.

OU-Tulsa professor Dr. Hazem Refai said the biggest concern is that 5G would cause interference with the cockpit altitude controls of a plane.

Planes use a device called an altimeter to measure altitude based on the surrounding air pressure.

The 5G connection could disrupt the altimeter's functions, creating a dangerous situation for passengers.

"It becomes a safety issue," Refai said. "A big safety issue."

There are a number of new 5G towers in Tulsa, but Tulsa International Airport is not on the list of airports that could be affected.

We reached out to officials with the airport, and they say they haven't had any problems on their end but are aware of the situation.

Refai says he is just glad the airlines are taking the 5G interference threat seriously.

"I am relieved that at least were now breaking on and breaking the deployment around the airports.....looking into it more carefully to make sure that more interference could cause any catastrophic event around the airport," Refai said.

Refai says he hopes the delay will allow for more research to be done.

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How The New 5G Technology Could Affect Air Travel - News On 6

Global Nasal Drug Delivery Technology Market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 9.0% By 2032: Visiongain Research Inc – Yahoo Finance

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Danzig

Visiongain has published a new report entitled the Nasal Drug Delivery Technology Market Report 2022-2032. It includes profiles of Nasal Drug Delivery Technology and Forecasts Market Segment by Containers (Non-Pressurized Containers, Pressurized Containers) Market Segment by System, (Nasal Unidose Devices, Nasal Bi Dose Devices, Nasal Multi Dose Devices) Market Segment by Dosage Form, (Nasal Spray, Nasal Drops and Liquids, Nasal Gels, Nasal Powders, Other Dosage Form) Market Segment by End-User, (Hospitals, Home Health Care, Ambulatory Surgery Centre, Specialty Clinics, Vaccination Centres, Other End-User) Market Segment by Respiratory Diseases, (Allergic Rhinitis, Nasal Congestion, Asthma, Other Respiratory Diseases) Market Segment by Non-Respiratory Diseases, (Alzheimers, Cardiovascular, Neuropsychiatry Treatments, Other Non-Respiratory Diseases) PLUS COVID-19 Impact Analysis and Recovery Pattern Analysis (V-shaped, W-shaped, U-shaped, L-shaped) Profiles of Leading Companies, Region and Country.

The global nasal drug delivery technology market was valued at US$48,087 million in 2021 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 9.0% during the forecast period 2022-2032.

Download Exclusive Sample of Report @ https://www.visiongain.com/report/nasal-drug-delivery-market-2022/#download_sampe_div

What are the current market drivers?

The Need for Generic Inhalation and Nasal Spray Drugs Is Increasing Owing to Rise in Geriatric population

Over the next several years, more inhalers and nasal sprays are anticipated to enter the generic market. Individuals are expected to gravitate toward more generic products as more patients are diagnosed with restrictive respiratory disorders such as asthma and chronic obstructive lung disease, and overall health care remains expensive. The generic market forecast for prescription treatments for respiratory disorders is consistently encouraging, and the cheap cost of generic drugs provides significant potential for expansion in this lucrative business. In the coming years, there will be a surge in demand for these generic prescription drugs. The generic business as a whole has undergone tremendous expansion primarily due to patent expirations, which has opened new avenues for the generics versions. The inhalation and nasal medication spray markets, in particular, are expected to expand significantly.

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Growing Adoption of Nasal Spray Is Being Driven by The Development of Advanced Inhalation and Nasal Spray

The intranasal medication delivery method has provided potential possibilities for the administration of therapeutic drugs in recent decades. They are portable since they are battery-powered and do not require an external power source. Furthermore, dry powder inhalers spread medications in the form of dry particles. Nasal therapy is currently being used to treat chronic respiratory disorders such as COPD and asthma. Inhaled medicinal substances are commonly used to treat COPD, asthma, and other respiratory illnesses. Throughout COPD patients, dry powder nasal inhalers are used to maximize drug dispersion in the system while preventing toxicity.

How has COVID-19 had a significant negative impact on the Nasal Drug Delivery Technology Market?

COVID-19 pandemic reported a positive impact on Nasal Drug Delivery market since many patients preferred undertaking their chronic respiratory disease drug therapy from home thereby propelling the uptake of inhalers from home rather than hospital set ups or OPDs. Also, there was increased uptake of nasal inhalers for treatment of asthma, migraine and other psychological diseases. The pandemic compelled the patients to adopt user friendly modes of drug administration such as nasal drug delivery. Many intranasal drugs were introduced as prophylaxis against COVID-19 including nasal sprays made of povidone-iodine, nitric oxide, ethyl lauroyl arginate hydrochloride and many others. In addition, several pharmaceutical companies ventured into development of vaccines through nasal drug delivery technology and few of them are presently in clinical development phase of which two are live attenuated including one from Codagenix and Serum Institute of India and MV-014-212 from Meissa Vaccines. Moreover, there are two non-replicating viral vectors vaccines including BBV154 from Bharat Biotech International and PIV5-vectored vaccine from CyanVac. There is also one NDV vectored inactivated vaccine from Laboratorio AVi-Mex.

How this Report Will Benefit you?

Visiongains 658+ page report provides 368 tables and 366 charts/graphs. Our new study is suitable for anyone requiring commercial, in-depth analyses for the global nasal drug delivery technology market, along with detailed segment analysis in the market. Our new study will help you evaluate the overall global and regional market for Nasal Drug Delivery Technology. Get the financial analysis of the overall market and different segments including System, container, end-user and capture higher market share. We believe that high opportunity remains in this fast-growing nasal drug delivery technology market. See how to use the existing and upcoming opportunities in this market to gain revenue benefits in the near future. Moreover, the report would help you to improve your strategic decision-making, allowing you to frame growth strategies, reinforce the analysis of other market players, and maximise the productivity of the company.

Where are the market opportunities?

Emerging Opportunities for Nasal Devices

Nasal inhalation devices are subject to ongoing innovation by pharmaceutical firms and device partners to improve the care and support offered to patients, in addition to their intuitive design. In the case of emergency treatments, for example, training kits that closely mimic the real-life experience of administering a nasal spray have been designed with the goal of improving compliance and lowering mortality risk. Lock-out mechanisms on devices are also being developed to improve patient safety, while the introduction of laterally actuated nasal sprays gives more comfort and simplicity for some patient populations. Dose counters have long been recognised as aiding adherence, and fast technological advancements have expanded on this foundation to build an ecosystem of linked devices that encourage higher adherence in a more "active" way. Connected devices offer a powerful potential to create an ecosystem in which a pharmaceutical firm, a patient, and a healthcare practitioner are more intimately interwoven by monitoring, recording, and exchanging data on usage through the internet.

Nasal Drug Delivery Has Evolved into A Highly Versatile Method of Administration for Locally Acting and Systemic Drugs

Nasal drug delivery has grown into a very adaptable form of administration for locally acting and systemic medications, emergency dosages, and long-term illnesses, as well as prophylactic immunizations and breaking new ground in hard therapeutic areas. The fact that patient outcomes have been improved by providing medications and therapies in a fashion that is more accessible and acceptable to the patient, easing their access to the care they require, is at the heart of all of these different applications. Nasal administration is poised to play an ever-larger thanks to continuing innovation by pharmaceutical firms and their drug delivery partners.

Competitive Landscape

The major players operating in the nasal drug delivery technology market are Becton, Dickinson and Company, GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Johnson & Johnson, Merck & Co., Inc., Pfizer Inc., Novartis AG, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., AptarGroup, Inc., AstraZeneca PLC, Presspart Manufacturing, 3M Multinational Conglomerate, Consort Medical plc, Neurelis Inc., PendoPharm Inc., Naveh Pharma Ltd. , These major players operating in this market have adopted various strategies comprising M&A, investment in R&D, collaborations, partnerships, regional business expansion, and new product launch

Find quantitative and qualitative analyses with independent predictions. Receive information that only our report contains, staying informed with this invaluable business intelligence.

To access the data contained in this document please email contactus@visiongain.com

Information found nowhere elseWith our newly report title, you are less likely to fall behind in knowledge or miss out on opportunities. See how our work could benefit your research, analyses, and decisions. Visiongain's study is for everybody needing commercial analyses for the Nasal drug delivery technology market and leading companies. You will find data, trends and predictions.

Find more Visiongain research reports on Pharma Medical Devices; click on the following links:

Do you have any custom requirements we can help you with? Any need for a specific country, geo region, market segment or specific company information? Contact us today, we can discuss your needs and see how we can help: catherine.walker@visiongain.com

About Visiongain

Visiongain is one of the fastest growing and most innovative, independent, market intelligence around, the company publishes hundreds of market research reports which it adds to its extensive portfolio each year. These reports offer in-depth analysis across 18 industries worldwide. The reports cover a 10-year forecast, are hundreds of pages long, with in depth market analysis and valuable competitive intelligence data. Visiongain works across a range of vertical markets, which currently can influence one another, these markets include automotive, aviation, chemicals, cyber, defense, energy, food & drink, materials, packaging, pharmaceutical and utilities sectors. Our customized and syndicated market research reports mean that you can have a bespoke piece of market intelligence customized to your very own business needs.

Contact:

Catherine WalkerPR at Visiongain Inc.Tel: + 44 0207 336 6100USA Tel: + 1 718 682 4567EU Tel: + 353 1 695 0006Toll Free: 00-1-646-396-5129Email: catherine.walker@visiongain.comWeb: https://www.visiongain.comFollow Us: LinkedIn | Twitter

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Global Nasal Drug Delivery Technology Market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 9.0% By 2032: Visiongain Research Inc - Yahoo Finance

Reply to: ‘No direct evidence for the presence of Nubian Levallois technology and its association with Neanderthals at Shukbah Cave’ | Scientific…

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Danzig

We documented nine cores in plan, as well as multiple views of two cores in SI Fig.2 that visibly meet the four criteria set out by11, the parameters of which we used to identify the presence of Nubian Levallois technology in the Shukbah D assemblage. Hallinan and colleagues3 critique our predominant presentation of artefacts in plan (78%). Our approach is consistent with contemporary reporting of Nubian technology from Arabia by Usik and colleagues11, in the Levant by Goder-Goldberger and colleagues12,13, and in South Africa by Hallinan and Shaw14, where 6595% of cores are only illustrated in plan. The broadest range of definitions of Nubian Levallois technology share focus on description of flaking surface scar patterns1, which are best observed in plan.

Hallinan and colleagues3 assert both the distinct form of Nubian Levallois reduction and a consensus in the criteria for its definition, following Usik and colleagues11. This overlooks considerable debate in the literature1. Usik and colleagues11 identify discrete modes of preparation of the flaking surface for Type 1, 1/2, and 2 Nubian Levallois cores, that Crassard and Hilbert15 suggest unnecessarily formalises plasticity, given that cores examined today are static elements of a past dynamic system. Goder-Goldberger and colleagues12 highlight that a definition that maintains the distinctness of Nubian technology is critical to its use as an archaeological missing link12, yet Usik and colleagues11 indicate that as distal flaking surfaces become flatter Nubian cores can be seen as grading into bidirectional cores or recurrent cores, Hallinan & Shaw14 identify cores with Nubian affinity but not enough to confidently identify them as Nubian, and Rose and colleagues16 identify that there is overlap between Nubian Type 2 core preparation and some preferential point-producing Levallois reduction systems in the Levantine Mousterian. Given this broad recognition that Nubian Levallois technology can grade into other Levallois approaches, some appraisal must be made of how and where to divide this spectrum of variability, as well as why.

No comparative basis to identify the categories chosen to define Nubian Levallois technology are set out by Usik and colleagues11, nor do they demonstrate them to be discrete from other Levallois methods. For instance, it is not established that there is a discrete distribution of distal flaking surface angle of Nubian and other Levallois cores that can be simply divided at 120 degrees, and in practice this quantitative threshold is exceeded elsewhere by Hallinan and co-authors13,14 in identification of Nubian cores. Nevertheless, to answer the Hallinan and colleagues3 critique the distal ridge angles on ten cores from Shukbah D stored at UCL have been measured. The angles range from 83 to 120, with a mean of 102.4,meaning that they are consistent with the particular descriptions set out by Usik and colleagues11 and favoured by Hallinan and colleagues3. Likewise, Hallinan and Shaw14 identify the difficulty in applying the shape categories, arguing instead for the need for quantitative analyses, which again should be established through comparative study if argued to be distinct features of Nubian Levallois technology. This remarkable absence of comparative studies prohibits acceptance that Nubian Levallois technology is inherently discrete from other Levallois methods.

Hallinan and colleagues3 contest whether Nubian Levallois end products can be identified, although they are commonly identified in the recent literature. For instance, Rose and colleagues indicate that Nubian Levallois reduction results in the signature Nubian Levallois point16, Goder-Goldberger and colleagues indicate Other recognizable artifacts associated with the Nubian reduction sequence are the specific core shaping blades and the end-products12 and that "the Nubian flaking system is unique and includes identifiable cores, preparation blanks and end products"13, whilst Hallinan and Shaw identify Nubian products from "various reduction strategies including Type 2, 1/2 and, to a lesser extent, Type 1 Nubian methods" from an appraisal of dorsal scar patterns14. Indeed, the need for quantitative study between Nubian and other Levallois points was highlighted as a "major limitation in the study of Nubian technology"14. Our identification of Nubian Levallois products is comparable to that set out by Hallinan and Shaw14 and provides a testable hypotheses for further analyses: that the use of Nubian Levallois reduction schemes has no significant impact upon the key metric attributes we studied in comparison to other Levallois points.

Continue reading here:

Reply to: 'No direct evidence for the presence of Nubian Levallois technology and its association with Neanderthals at Shukbah Cave' | Scientific...

JD Technology plans Hong Kong IPO of up to $2 billion this year: report – TechNode

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Danzig

JD Technology, the financial technology arm of Chinese online retailer JD.com, is preparing an IPO that could raise between $1 billion and $2 billion in Hong Kong this year, IFR reported Monday.

Why it matters: JD Technologys expected listing is one of a number of long-awaited IPOs from Chinese vertical giants, including bike rental app Hello Inc. and podcast platform Ximalaya. The latter two suspended IPO procedures last year after the Didi cybersecurity review put a halt to the overseas listings of Chinese tech giants.

Details: The JD affiliate is discussing the listing with investment banks including Bank of America, CITIC Securities, and Haitong International, according to financial information provider Hithink Royal Flush Information.

Context: In 2013, JD spun off its financial technology services to form an independent fintech unit JD Finance, which operates a series of loan businesses and provides AI and blockchain-based financial services. JD Finance was renamed JD Digits in 2018 and then changed its name again in 2021 to JD Technology, as it diversified its business line to include cloud, artificial intelligence, and IoT offerings.

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JD Technology plans Hong Kong IPO of up to $2 billion this year: report - TechNode

Intel Vs. Micron Technology: Which Semiconductor Stock Is The Better Buy? – Seeking Alpha

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Danzig

MF3d/E+ via Getty Images

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) and Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) are both well-known computer chip manufacturers that have large followings on Seeking Alpha. Previous to this, I have written 21 articles on Intel and 20 on Micron.

Although operating in different chip areas, both INTC and MU build their own fabrication plants (FABS). Intel builds mainly CPU and CPU-related chips and Micron mainly memory chips.

Both companies have been around for decades with INTC being founded 53 years ago in 1968 and Micron 43 years ago in 1978. While Intel headquarters are in Silicon Valley at Santa Clara CA, MU was founded in and remains in potato country Boise, Idaho. One of MU's original investors was potato billionaire J. R. Simplot.

With the ongoing worldwide chip shortage continuing, both companies are in the midst of expansion efforts to meet the new demand.

In this article, we will compare the two to determine the best investment choice going forward.

Intel is certainly better known than MU. Who among us have not seen the ubiquitous badge "Intel Inside" dozens or hundreds of times over the last 30 years.

Intel

Micron, on the other hand, is not as well known to the public but would most likely be found "Inside" most of the computers that have "Intel Inside". Micron manufactures not only RAM (Random Access Memory, but ROM (Read Only Memory), SSD's (Solid State Drives) among many other memory devices.

Another difference that must be noted is just the sheer size of the two companies. Intel has 110,00 employees and revenue of $78 billion in the last 12 months while Micron's comparables are 40,000 employees and $30 billion in revenue. In terms of assets, Intel has $153 billion worth and Micron has $54 billion.

But perhaps most importantly, Micron's revenue since 2015 is shown to be cyclical while Intel's has increased every year.

Seeking Alpha and author

I have written about MU's cyclicality before "Micron Stock Forecast: Can It Hit $100? Yes The Next Cyclical High Is $120. ".

When you look at the two companies' financial metrics several items stand out in Intel's favor (red) vs Micron's (yellow).

The first item is the huge Gross Margin (56%) advantage Intel has compared to MU's 40%, although 40% is good too.

The next two are ratios. Intel is selling at a 10.7 PE ratio and a 13.4 FCF (Free Cash Flow) ratio compared to Micron's 15.1 and 27.9 respectively.

Thus strictly on a price basis, Intel looks considerably cheaper than Micron.

However, Micron has something rarely seen in large manufacturing companies: they have more cash than long-term debt. This gives Micron a rare negative Debt/EBITDA ratio.

Seeking Alpha and author

So strictly on a financial basis, you would have to say Intel looks stronger than Micron but that is also true of most companies when compared to Intel.

In a world of chip shortages, both Intel and Micron should do well in the future. From your doorbell and garage door opener to your laptop and car, to 5G and Quantum computers, chips will be needed everywhere.

If every one of the 7.4 billion humans on earth requires just 140 chips in his/her life that's a trillion new chips.

So chip manufacturers like Intel and Micron should both do well in the coming decade. If we look at the two companies stock price over the last 5 years we see something interesting - a big jump in price for MU beginning in late 2020 but not much for INTC. In the 5 year period shown in the chart MU is up an impressive 338% while Intel comes in at a sluggish 51% although INTC did pay another $5.90 in dividends.

Seeking Alpha

The reason for the price jump is easy to see if you look at Micron's revenue over that same period up 43% in less than 12 months.

Seeking Alpha and author

What the above chart shows is the cyclical nature of Micron's business with revenue up significantly then down in the most recent quarter. As an investor you should ask yourself is there another 40% jump in revenue likely in the near future?

When looking at the investment merits of Intel and Micron you need to consider where they are now compared to where they are going. The above charts show that Micron has done extremely well especially over the last 18 months. The question is can they continue the revenue growth at the same rate as shown above.

Intel, on the other hand, shows massive cash flows that should support future growth. But Intel is on a new path of building FABs and manufacturing chips for other third parties. Since the future looks like we will need chips in the trillions, this should provide Intel with a long-term very profitable revenue source.

In fact, Intel just announced that is going to build 2 FABs worth $20 billion in Columbus, OH. They may expand that to 8 FABs on 2,000 acres. So if 2 FABs cost $20 billion 8 FABs would probably cost $100 billion with inflation.

That is an investment league Micron cannot compete in.

Intel will also be involved in what are basically two large duopolies, X86 chips with Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) and third-party chip production with Taiwan Semiconductor Company (NYSE:TSM).

Then you have the political tailwinds encouraging chip manufacturing here at home as opposed to Asia especially China. That should benefit Intel immensely.

Combine all of those factors and Intel's much lower Price to Earnings ratio and Price to Free Cash Flow ratio and I think, at this time, Intel is the best investment choice especially if you have a 5 year or longer investment horizon.

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Intel Vs. Micron Technology: Which Semiconductor Stock Is The Better Buy? - Seeking Alpha

Amkor Technology to Announce Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2021 Financial Results on February 14, 2022 – Business Wire

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Danzig

TEMPE, Ariz.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Amkor Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMKR), a leading provider of semiconductor packaging and test services, will issue its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2021 after the close of trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on Monday, February 14, 2022.

Amkor management will host a conference call and webcast to review the results on Monday, February 14, 2022, at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET). To access the live audio webcast and the accompanying slide presentation, visit the Investor Relations section of Amkors website, located at ir.amkor.com. An archived replay of the webcast will be available after completion of the call. The live call can also be accessed by dialing 1-877-407-4019 or 1-201-689-8337.

About Amkor Technology, Inc.

Amkor Technology, Inc. is one of the worlds largest providers of outsourced semiconductor packaging and test services. Founded in 1968, Amkor pioneered the outsourcing of IC packaging and test services and is now a strategic manufacturing partner for the worlds leading semiconductor companies, foundries and electronics OEMs. Amkors operational base includes production facilities, product development centers and sales and support offices located in key electronics manufacturing regions in Asia, Europe and the USA. For more information, visit amkor.com.

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Amkor Technology to Announce Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2021 Financial Results on February 14, 2022 - Business Wire

Slowing job growth spreads to information technology – WTOP

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Danzig

The slowdown in hiring includes the otherwise high-paying, red-hot information technology industry.

The U.S. economy gained or regained just 199,000 jobs in December, down from 249,000 in November, according to the Department of Labor, marking the smallest monthly jobs gain in a year.

The slowdown in hiring includes the otherwise high-paying, red-hot information technology industry.

Alexandria, Virginia-based trade group TechServe Alliance reports the IT sector added just 2,000 jobs in December, little changed from the previous month. On a year-over-year basis, IT employment was up 2.72%, a growth of 142,800 professionals.

The IT sector ended 2021 with 5.39 million Americans working in the field.

We expect a continued slowdown in hiring with a flat employment growth rate in the IT and engineering sectors for some time to come, said Mark Roberts, CEO of TechServe Alliance, the national trade association of the IT and Engineering staffing and solutions industry.

With the tech unemployment rate dropping to 2%, it is clear the slowdown is more a function of companies struggling to find qualified talent, rather than a lack of demand, he said.

TechsServe recommends its members revisit compensation and benefits to make sure they are competitive, work with recruiters to adopt location-no-bar hiring policies, and update technology to increase a smooth remote work environment.

Below is a graph of TechServe Alliances IT Employment Index and Engineering Employment Index, dating back to late 2019:

Like WTOP on Facebook and follow WTOP on Twitter and Instagram to engage in conversation about this article and others.

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Slowing job growth spreads to information technology - WTOP

Global Sleep Technology Devices Market Analysis and Demand Report 2021-2030: Growing Awareness About Ill Effects of Untreated Sleep Apnea &…

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Danzig

DUBLIN, Jan. 24, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Sleep Tech Devices Market Research Report - Global Industry Analysis and Demand Forecast to 2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Growing at a 14.5% CAGR between 2020 and 2030, the global sleep tech devices market revenue is set to reach $49,984.7 million by 2030 from $12,888.4 million in 2020.

This is primarily attributed to the rising prevalence of sleep disorders, including insomnia, narcolepsy, restless leg syndrome, sleep apnea, and parasomnias, around the world. These issues can cast a shadow on personal safety, school and work performance, relationships, thinking, and mental health and lead to an increased body weight, diabetes, and even heart diseases.

Therefore, people who suffer from these issues are increasingly using a variety of sleep issue diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment devices at homes. Moreover, their usage is growing at hospitals, sleep labs, and clinics, where the number of patients seeking a diagnosis for their sleep disorders is surging. In terms of personal usage, their sales remain the highest among people aged below 45 years, as this population is more technically inclined than older ones.

Wearable devices are witnessing the higher demand as they have embedded microsensors that continuously track people's physiological behavior. The usage of these devices will grow the fastest for the management of sleep apnea, which, as per RT Magazine, has a global incidence of more than 900 million individuals.

North America has been the largest sleep tech devices market till now because of the rapid technological advancements, improving healthcare infrastructure, high prevalence of obesity, and increasing geriatric population.

Moreover, key regional market players are collaborating with well-known entities and individuals as a marketing strategy. For instance, Kryo Inc. is collaborating with Seattle Mariners and Cincinnati Reds, wherein the teams will use its OOLER sleep system to initiate deep sleep.

Device sales will increase the fastest in Asia-Pacific (APAC) due to the advancements in wearables' technology and booming number of elderly, especially in India and China.

Key players are launching new and improved products. For instance, the Samsung Galaxy Fit 2 fitness tracker was launched in September 2020; it allows one to track the number of steps, quality of sleep, and heart rate.

Although the sleep tech devices market was negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in the first two quarters of 2020, it has witnessed a resurgence since the lifting of lockdowns. The social and physical isolation and financial stress have given people many sleepless nights, which has augmented the use of instruments that can diagnose, monitor, and help in the management of sleep disorders.

Market Dynamics

Trends

Drivers

Restraints

Impact of COVID-19

Porter's Five Forces Analysis

The most-significant players in the sleep tech devices market are

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/et33hw

Media Contact:

Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [emailprotected]

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

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SOURCE Research and Markets

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Global Sleep Technology Devices Market Analysis and Demand Report 2021-2030: Growing Awareness About Ill Effects of Untreated Sleep Apnea &...

In Judaism, it’s often mother who knows best – The Jewish Star

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Danzig

By Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb

When I was young, I was an avid reader of novels. As Ive grown older, I have found myself more interested in good biographies, especially of great men, and I try to focus on what exactly made them great. Particularly, I try to discover the roles played by father and mother in the formation of these personalities.

Until relatively recently, Jewish tradition did not have many biographies of our heroes and heroines. Bible and Talmud contain much material about the lives of prophets, kings, and sages, but only occasionally give us a glimpse of the role that parental influences played in making them great.

I recently came across a passage in a book by a man I admire, Rabbi Yitzchak Yaakov Reines (1839-1915). He was the head of a very innovativeyeshivain Lida, Lithuania, and was one of the founders of the Mizrachi Religious Zionist movement. He was a prolific writer, and one of his works is entitledNod Shel Demaot (A Flask of Tears).

In this book, Rav Reines writes about the important role that mothers play in the development of their children. He emphasizes the role of the mother in the development of the Torah scholar. He argues that the mothers feminine intuition and maternal compassion, together with the fathers teaching, motivates and informs the budding Jewish leader.

The sources of his thesis include a verse from this weeks Torah portion, Yitro(Exodus18:1-20:23), in which we read that the L-rd called to Moses from the mountain and said, Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob and declare to the children of Israel. You shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. (ibid19:3-6).

The Midrash explains that the house of Jacob refers to women and the children of Israel to men. Both men and women must be involved if we are to become a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

Why the women? asks the Midrash, and answers, Because they are the ones who can inspire their children to walk in the ways of Torah.

Rav Reines adduces another biblical verse to make his point. He refers to the words in the very first chapter of theBook ofProverbs, in which King Solomon offers this good counsel: My son, heed the discipline (mussar) of your father, and do not forsake the instruction (Torah) of your mother (Proverbs1:8).

From this verse, it seems that the mothers message may be even more important for the childs guidance than that of his father. After all, father merely admonishes the child with words of discipline, whereas mother imparts nothing less than the instruction of the Torah itself.

Then comes thetour de forceof Rav Reines essay, the biographical analysis of a great Talmudic sage, Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya. The student ofPirkei Avot will recognize his name from a passage in Chapter Two of that work where we read of the five disciples of Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai.

They are enumerated, and the praises of each of them are recounted. Of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya, we learn, Ashrei yoladeto (happy is she who gave birth to him). Of all the outstanding disciples, only Rabbi Yehoshuas mother is brought into the picture. What special role did she play in his life that earned her honorable mention?

Rav Reines responds by relating an important story of which most of us are sadly ignorant. Recorded inBereshit Rabba 64:10, it tells of a time, not long after the destruction of the Second Temple, when the Roman rulers decided to allow the Jewish people to rebuild the Temple. Preliminary preparations were already under way for that glorious opportunity when theKutim, usually identified with the Samaritan sect, confounded those plans. They maligned the Jews to the Romans and accused them of disloyalty. The permission to rebuild was revoked.

Having come so close to realizing this impossible dream, the Jews gathered in the valley of Beit Rimon with violent rebellion in their hearts. They clamored to march forth and rebuild the Temple in defiance of the Romans decree.

However, the more responsible leaders knew that such a provocation would meet with disastrous consequences. They sought for a respected figure, sufficiently wise and sufficiently persuasive, to calm the tempers of the masses and to quell the mutiny. They chose Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya for the task.

The Midrash quotes Rabbi Yehoshuas address in full detail. He used a fable as the basis of his argument:

A lion had just devoured its prey, but a bone of his victim was stuck in his throat. The lion offered a reward to anyone who would volunteer to insert his hand into his mouth to remove the bone. The stork volunteered, and thrust its long neck into the lions mouth and extracted the bone.

When the stork demanded his reward, the lion retorted, Your reward is that you can forevermore boast that you had thrust your head into a lions mouth and lived to tell the tale. Your survival is sufficient reward. So, too, argued Rabbi Yehoshua, our survival is our reward. We must surrender the hope of rebuilding our Temple in the interests of our national continuity. There are times when grandiose dreams must be foresworn so that survival can be assured.

Rav Reines argues that this combination of cleverness and insight into the minds of men was the result of his mothers upbringing. The ability to calm explosive tempers and sooth raging emotions is something that Rabbi Yehoshua learned from his mother.

He was chosen for this vital role in Jewish history because the other leaders knew of his talents, and perhaps even knew that their source was to be traced back to his mother, of whom none other than Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai had exclaimed, Happy is she who gave birth to him.

This wonderful insight of Rav Reines is important for all of us to remember, particularly those of us who are raising children. Psychologists have long stressed the vital roles that mothers play in child development. In our religion, we put much stress on the fathers role in teaching Torah to his children. But we often underestimate, and indeed sometimes even forget, the role of the mother.

Our tradition urges us to embrace the role of the mother not just in the childs physical and emotional development, but in his or her spiritual and religious growth as well.

We would do well to remember that Rav Reines is simply expanding upon G-ds own edict to Moses at the very inception of our history: Speak to the house of Jacob! Speak to the women as well as to the men.

Mothers, at least as much as fathers, are essential if we are to create a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

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In Judaism, it's often mother who knows best - The Jewish Star

A Word of Torah: Why the Giving of the Torah is a Turning Point in History Detroit Jewish News – The Jewish News

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Danzig

What are the key turning points in history? What are the events that changed the world beyond recognition and whose impact was felt by everyone, everywhere? You could talk about the invention of the electric light bulb or Gutenbergs printing press. You could mention the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, which set off World War I and led to World War II, or the French and American Revolutions, or the fall of the Berlin Wall. More recent examples could be 9/11 or the 2008 recession or the invention of the internet.

But, in this weeks parshah, Yitro, we encounter historys single biggest turning point, a moment that changed everything, for everyone, forever: the giving of the Torah by God to Moses and the Jewish people at Mount Sinai. From this moment onward, nothing would be the same. The Torah had entered the world.

But, what is the Torah really? And why is its impact so powerful and far-reaching? We know that the Torah comprises 613 distinct commandments the mitzvot but what is their meaning and purpose?

The starting point is to understand that the Torahs total focus is the human being. This is expressed most vividly in the Talmud (Shabbat 88b), which records how, when Moses ascended Mount Sinai to receive the Torah from God, the angels vehemently protested, asking how God could consider giving away His most treasured possession the Torah to a creature of flesh and blood. God told Moses to answer the angels, and Moses proceeded to list the Ten Commandments: I am the Lord your God, Who took you out of Egypt; Honor your father and your mother; Dont murder; Dont steal; Dont commit adultery.

Do you have a father and mother? Moses asked the angels. Have you been enslaved in Egypt? Have you passion or jealousy or greed, or any evil inclination? In so doing, Moses clearly demonstrated that the Torah was intended for human beings. Or, put another way, human beings are created in order to fulfil the mitzvot of the Torah.

But, how do the mitzvot work?

The Torah calls the first human being Adam, which comes from the Hebrew word adama, meaning earth or ground. What is the connection between the two? The Maharal explains that humans are similar to the ground in one essential respect: They are both pure potential.

Whether or not a piece of land will produce fruit depends on what is done with it. Even the most fertile piece of land will not produce fruit if it is left to lie fallow; it needs to be ploughed, fertilized and cultivated. So, too, the human being is pure potential, and to live a fruitful, productive life requires great and continuous efforts.

We arrive in this world as pure potential and, through the process of life, we actualize that potential. And its up to us. We have been given free choice to turn that potential into personal growth and spiritual greatness, into becoming refined, elevated, moral and holy but we can also choose to squander it and simply let it lie dormant.

The Maharal (Tiferet Yisrael, chapters 6-8) says the 613 mitzvot are a blueprint for us to create ourselves to access and actualize our Godly potential. The mitzvot have been specifically designed by our Creator to catalyze our latent spiritual energy. At its heart, this process of self-actualization of converting potential into actuality through performing the mitzvot is an act of sublime creativity.

What are the mechanics here? How exactly do the mitzvot unleash our Divine potential? The Maharal explains that the mitzvot have been formulated by the Creator of everything, and therefore have the spiritual energy to develop the full potential of the human being.

There is a natural bridge between Torah and the soul. With every new mitzvah we perform, we create a corresponding extra dimension within our soul. In essence, by living in tune with Torah, we live in tune with our soul; by living a true Torah life, we nurture and expand our spiritual selves.

Living in harmony with the soul brings with it a deep sense of spiritual connection and tranquility of spirit. Indeed, the Midrash says the union between body and soul is fraught with tension. These two constituent parts of the human being come from different worlds and have different needs.

The Midrash illustrates this with the analogy of a marriage between a farmer and a princess; the farmer brings the princess all the produce from the field that is so precious to him, but which is meaningless to her. So, too, the body brings the soul all the physical pleasures of this world, but the soul remains empty and unsatisfied. The soul originates from the palace of God and requires the goods of the spiritual world to feel satisfied and fulfilled. It requires a life of meaning and good deeds, and a connection to God, which the Torah provides. This is what gives us satisfaction and pleasure at a deep level.

There are many ways to demonstrate this. For example, weve all experienced the warm glow of satisfaction that comes from giving to others. A recent research project conducted by Michael Norton of Harvard Business School found that, regardless of income level, those people who spent money on others reported greater happiness, while those who spent more on themselves did not.

On the other end of the spectrum, there is the feeling of guilt the deep sense of spiritual unease we experience when we do things that are not in harmony with the soul.

Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman, known as the Ramban, explores another way the mitzvot are catalysts to unleash the full potential of a person. He emphasizes that the mitzvot are not for Gods benefit, even though He commanded us to perform them. He says God gave us the mitzvot for our own sakes to mold us into better people.

According to the Ramban, each mitzvah refines us in a particular way. He gives the example of the mitzvah to send away the mother bird before taking the chicks or the eggs from the nest, and how this helps us cultivate the quality of compassion.

He also refers to the mitzvot of commemorating the great miracles of Jewish history. These are not, he says, for glorifying God, but rather for our own sake, so we should understand and appreciate these formative moments of our people, and so we can reinforce our faith and clarify our worldview.

According to this, the mitzvot are a comprehensive program of thought and action designed by God to help us become wise, compassionate, refined, loving, idealistic, giving, courageous, spiritual, ethical and holy. To help us become better people in every conceivable way.

So, from the moment in history when we received the Torah, life would never be the same. From that moment on, we had a blueprint for how to live life, how to love life and how to fulfill our awesome potential.

Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein, who has a PhD. in Human Rights Law, is the chief rabbi of South Africa. This article first appeared on aish.com.

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A Word of Torah: Why the Giving of the Torah is a Turning Point in History Detroit Jewish News - The Jewish News

The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk ambitious, daring, encyclopaedic – The Calvert Journal

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Danzig

My work fell somewhere between the archaeology of glueing together broken vessels and the building of a complex model ship, Tokarczuk has said of her writing. Indeed, the glue that binds these dug-up fragments together is squeezed through Tokarczuks sprawling imagination and its here her writing appears freer, less constrained by historical fidelity. Take this spine-tingling opening to one chapter: Every now and then, God wearies of his own luminous silence, and infinity starts to make him a little bit sick. Elsewhere, waves make their way across the golden fields of crops that stretch out past the horizon, and it looks as though the whole earth, soft and gold, were sighing. This is Tokarczuk at her most lyrical and beguiling, reminiscent of her 2019 novel Drive your Plow over the Bones of the Dead and 2018 Booker Prize-winning work, Flights.

With frequent digressions and tangents, plot marches forward to the beat of Frank and his heretical sects peregrinations across Europe. As he traverses the Ottoman and Habsburg empires and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth facing persecution, imprisonment, and plague his notoriety swells with hearsay and village gossip: one account tells of how Frank triggered a lightning storm simply by shouting into the sky while another recalls that, upon his arrival, cows gave birth to twins with strange colourations and chickens laid eggs with multiple yolks. To many Rabbis, his religious beliefs which mix Judaism, Christianity and Islam, denounce the Talmud and promote sexual promiscuity are outrageous. To others, his outlandish antics are proof he is the reincarnation of the 17th-century Kabbalist Sabbatai Tzvi and has come to lead the people out of misery. Poverty-stricken in Europes hinterlands, the masses want miracles, signs, shooting stars. They dont really understand Franks feverish diatribes, but because he is tall, handsome, and dressed like a Turk, he seems exceptional. In this sense, Frank resembles a modern-day populist leader skilled in the art of deception, a polarising figure whose stock is simultaneously up and down depending on who is asked.

Set across five decades, The Books of Jacob covers a lot of ground. Philosophically, Tokarzcuk interweaves arguments on Kabbalah, eschatology, antisemitism, ethics, and mysticism to name a few, expressing the simmering energy of the Enlightment period across Europe. This is embodied most directly by Father Chmielowski, vicar forane of Rohatyn, a real-life figure who created Polands first encyclopaedia, entitled New Athens. Just imagine, he says, everything at hand, in every library, noblemans and peasants. All of mankinds knowledge collected in one place. That The Books of Jacob opens with Father Chmielowskis quest for totality, is perhaps a wry nod to the books own Herculean intentions.

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The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk ambitious, daring, encyclopaedic - The Calvert Journal

DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS INAUGURATE THE CONGRESSIONAL CAUCUS FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF TORAH VALUES – PRNewswire

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Danzig

Championed by Rabbi Dovid Hofstedter, Founder of Dirshu, the largest Torah organization in the world, Members of the US House of Representatives met to support the Caucus launch, and discuss ongoing issues of concern to Jews in the United States, Canada and around the world.

In his address to the Congressmen/Congresswomen, Rabbi Hofstedter who is based in Toronto, Canada, outlined the issues on which the Caucus will focus:

Dirshu, is an Orthodox Jewish International organization founded in 1997 in Toronto by Rabbi Dovid Hofstedter, the son of Holocaust survivors.It includes 200,000+ supporters dedicated to the study of Jewish texts, sponsoring Torah lectures and offering financial incentives to individuals and groups to learn and master Talmud, Halakha and Mussar texts. Dirshu operates in 26 countries on five continents with its US headquarters in New Jersey.

Congressman and Co-Chair Bacon said, "The purpose of this Caucus is to pledge our friendship to our Jewish friends, our brothers and sisters. We are 100% standing with you against antisemitism in any form. I don't care where it comes from left or right."

Congressman and Co-Chair Cuellar said, "This Caucus is going to be so important in a bipartisan way. We have to be able to have the strength so we know what's good, what's bad, what's moral and what's not moral."

Speaking in Washington to the Members in attendance, Rabbi Hofstedter said, "Torah values have been under attack for many years basic values such as the deep respect for religion, for human dignity, honesty, integrity, self-sacrifice, charity, compassion and empathy. These values are the foundation of the USA. As Members of Congress, your attendance and participation here demonstrates your personal commitment to supporting Jewish values and to promoting unity. I feel a deep sense of encouragement about what lies ahead and I intend on conveying your messages of encouragement to all members of our organization in your respective districts. We at Dirshu look forward to working together in the months and years to come, to ensure that freedom of religion is never abridged, and that never again, in fact, remains just that Never Again."

The attending Members of Congress were asked "to continue to be more clear and forceful in their condemnation of antisemitic acts especially in light of the increased number of hate crimes against Jews." Congressional districts represented included Florida, Nebraska, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Texas and Wisconsin.

Rabbi Hofstedter added, "We appreciate and continue to rely on the support of the United States and the benevolence of its government to protect Jewish people when we have been the subject of persecution and under attack. Let us celebrate the inauguration of this Caucus as we embrace its principles and strive energetically and bravely to ensure freedom of religion and religious education, even in the most challenging of times. Let us battle, together, against antisemitism. Let us fight to restore human dignity and advanced Torah values in America and throughout the world. Doing so, we should always be mindful of the Torah values as embodied in the Declaration of Independence with the firm reliance of the protection of divine providence."

NEWS MEDIA CONTACT:

David Eisenstadttcgpr[emailprotected](C) 1-416-561-5751

SOURCE Dirshu

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DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS INAUGURATE THE CONGRESSIONAL CAUCUS FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF TORAH VALUES - PRNewswire

Tragedy of Colleyville: Remaining a people of kindness in a world that often isn’t – The Times of Israel

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Danzig

This week, we averted one tragedy, but we experienced another. Thank God, that Colleyville did not end like Pittsburgh. We averted tragedy in that none of the hostages from Congregation Beth Israel of Colleyville were killed and all managed to escape from their eleven-hour nightmare in the synagogue this past Shabbat. At the same time, this latest antisemitic attack in a Jewish house of worship has only reinforced the fact that when we come to a synagogue to pray, whether on Shabbat or not, we are placing ourselves at a certain risk of harm. Some of us may have been lulled with the passage of time to think that we neednt be so cautious anymore when coming to shul. Colleyville was a wake-up call to the ongoing need for security precautions, and we recognize how fortunate we were that this instance of terror did not cost the life of a single worshipper.

However, the tragedy of Colleyville is that it also forces synagogues to revisit a core mission, that of chesed, acts of kindness. Mr. Akram, the terrorist, was allowed into the synagogue as an act of kindness. Rabbi Cytron-Walker, the Rabbi of the synagogue, said that he had let the stranger in before Shabbat services that morning. It was an unusually cold day in North Texas, and the rabbi thought that he was just coming in to get warm. The tragedy of Colleyville is that we may not be able to do that anymore.

I remember that when I was studying in Yeshiva in Israel thirty years ago and I wanted to travel with a friend to France on the way back to the United States, we found a book that contained the names and contact information of families all over the world who were happy to host orthodox Jewish young adults like us for Shabbat. There were no security precautions to get invited for Shabbat. We simply wrote a letter to a family in France and we received a favorable response a few weeks later and we stayed with this family for Shabbat. After all, that is the beauty of the Torah community throughout the world. We all extend ourselves to help the stranger, because he or she is not really a stranger. We all are related to each other. We all are one large family. We all are connected to each other even if we live on opposite corners of the world and even if we have never met.

The Talmud Yerushalmi in Masechet Nedarim develops this idea in explaining how we can fulfill the challenging command of vahavta lreiacha kamocha, of loving our friend like ourselves. Because in fact, doesnt that seem like too high a standard to achieve? The Yerushalmi explains this requirement with the following parable. If someone is holding a knife with his right hand and accidentally cuts his left hand with the knife, will the left hand now pick up a knife and in an act of revenge, cut the right hand? Obviously not. They are part of the same person. That is the basis for the mitzvah of loving our friend. Why should we love our friend? Because kamocha, because he or she is really connected to us. We both are connected to the same entity, which is Am Yisrael, the nation of Israel. As an extension of this concept, we all come from a common ancestor. We care about every individual, imitating the description of God as being rachamav al kol maasav, merciful upon all of His works. The Gemara in Yevamot states that one of the distinguishing marks of the Jew is that he is merciful and another distinguishing mark is that he performs acts of kindness. This is who we are. Kindness is a value that lies right at our core.

But then what do we do if we are too scared to be ourselves anymore and to engage in certain acts of kindness anymore? What if security considerations do not permit us to simply open our doors to a stranger who needs a place to eat, to escape from the cold, or just to find a friendly face. I teach a Mitzvot bein adam lachavero course to high school students and when we studied the topic of the mitzvah of hachnasat orchim, of inviting guests, I provided my students with three scenarios and asked what they would do under the circumstances. The first situation is that someone called you in the middle of the week and wanted to spend Shabbat in your community. What would you do? I think in that scenario we easily can ask the person to send references, like the Rabbi of the community where the person davens, if thats possible, so that we can verify that it is safe to host the person. But what if someone calls you on Friday evening right before Shabbat begins and says that she is stuck on the road and your town is the nearest town because she cant make it home for Shabbat. She wants to spend Shabbat in your community and there is no time to get references. What would you do then? We discussed that maybe we cannot host her because we cant verify her credentials but we can direct her to a nearby hotel where she can stay without violating Shabbat and, if need be, provide funding for the hotel if the person cant afford it. But what if someone shows up on Friday night in your community and theres no hotel nearby. Do we offer the person a place to stay? How do we balance the mitzvah of hachnasat orchim with security considerations?

In 2014, Rabbi Akiva Males, then the Rabbi of Harrisburg, Pennsylvanias orthodox shul, wrote an opinion piece in the OUs Jewish Action magazine, when he reflected on this tension. He cited a discussion in the Talmud that resonated with him in this context. The Mishnah in Yoma teaches us that prior to Yom Kippur, the elder Kohanim compelled the Kohen Gadol who would perform the Yom Kippur service to take an oath of allegiance, that he would not deviate from the traditional method of performing the service. The Mishna concludes that after the oath, both the elder Kohanim and the Kohen Gadol would weep. The Talmud explains that the Kohen Gadol would weep for having been suspected of possibly deviating from the Yom Kippur service and the elder Kohanim would weep for having suspected that a potentially innocent person would deviate from the Yom Kippur service.

This is the tension that Rabbi Males faced and this is the tension that we increasingly face in this world where there is a need for heightened security. If a needy individual comes to our synagogue asking for help, must we now ask for references every time before letting the person in? If so, we must cry for suspecting the individual and the needy individual must cry for being suspected. How somber we must be when we realize that practical and legitimate fears for our safety obstruct our ability to actualize our true nature as kind and giving people. Unfortunately, the near tragedy of this past Shabbat will further force us not just to re-evaluate our security for how to protect ourselves, but it will also force us to re-evaluate how we engage in a core value of our mission, which is a mission of chesed. And that is a real tragedy.

Jonathan Muskat is the Rabbi of the Young Israel of Oceanside.

Read the original here:

Tragedy of Colleyville: Remaining a people of kindness in a world that often isn't - The Times of Israel

Is Pig Heart Transplantation Halal and Kosher? | Ejaz Naqvi MD – Patheos

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Danzig

(Dr Muhammad Mohiuddins interview on University of Marylands website).

Earlier this month, a team of surgeons from the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) in Baltimore made history by transplanting a genetically modified pig heart into David Bennett, a 57-year-old patient with a bad heart. This led to a lot of enthusiasm medical community and gives hope to millions of people around the world who wait for organ transplants for years, often dying without getting one.

This has also resulted in religious outcry by many, especially among the Jews and Muslims, who consider pigs as unclean, and are prohibited from consuming pork products. For Muslims, the thought of even touching a pig is often met with contempt. Often times Muslims would engage in many prohibited acts such as premarital sex and drinking alcohol but pork is always a no-no even for the non-observing Muslims.

Dr. Muhammad Mohiuddin, a graduate of Dow Medical College at Karachi, Pakistan is a Professor of Surgery and Director of the Cardiac Xenotransplantation Program, and his team at UMSOM made history by doing the first ever pig-to-human heart transplantation. He was also part of the surgery team that has worked for decades on researching the genetic manipulation of the pig organs to avoid human rejection. He and his team also developed an immune-suppressing drug procedure to help ensure the host body did not reject the pig hearts. Dr. Bartley Griffith, director of the Cardiac and Lung Transplant Programs at that institution was one of the main surgeons who performed the transplant surgery.

David Bennett, who had irregular heart beat, was not a viable candidate for the heart transplant. The pig heart he received had 10 genetic modifications, including the removal of four pig genes and the addition of six human genes to ensure the organ does not get rejected.

So far it is reported to be working fine without any rejection attempts by his body. This has far reaching implication in the field of organ transplantation and is welcome news for millions of people who are waiting for a heart, liver, kidney, pancreas or other organs.

But is getting a pigs heart not forbidden for Muslims and Jews?

The prohibition to eat pork is clear and unambiguous in the Quran and the Old Testament.

He has only forbidden you what dies of itself, and blood, and flesh of swine, and that over which any other (name) than (that of) Allah has been invoked; but whoever is driven to necessity, not desiring, nor exceeding the limit, no sin shall be upon him; surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. The Quran 2:173

Leviticus chapter 11 details what types of animals are allowed and what types are forbidden.

Of all the land animals, these are the ones you may use for food. You may eat any animal that has completely split hooves and chews the cud. Leviticus 3-4

It goes on to name many animals that cannot be consumed for food, including the pigs.

The pig has evenly split hooves but does not chew the cud, so it is unclean. You may not eat the meat of these animals or even touch their carcasses. They are ceremonially unclean for you. Leviticus 8-9

Therefore, the pig heart, even if genetically modified would be considered non-halal and non-kosher, right? Wrong.

Let me start by a disclaimer: I am not an Islamic jurist or an expert on Islamic law or Fiqh. But a review of the verses from the Quran makes it rather clear, as far as I am concerned. Why is getting a pigs heart halal and kosher? Lets dig a little deeper. I would hate to speak for my Jewish cousins but the same rules and exceptions also seem to apply for them, as noted below.

Even though eating the flesh of swine is prohibited, there are exceptions, like in so many of the religious rulings.

Say: I do not find in that which has been revealed to me anything forbidden for an eater to eat of except that it be what has died of itself, or blood poured forth, or flesh of swine for that surely is unclean or that which is a transgression, other than (the name of) Allah having been invoked on it; but whoever is driven to necessity, not desiring nor exceeding the limit, then surely your Lord is Forgiving, Merciful. The Quran 6:145

Forbidden to you is that which dies of itself, and blood, and flesh of swine, and that on which any other name than that of Allah has been invoked, and the strangled (animal) and that beaten to death, and that killed by a fall and that killed by being smitten with the horn, and that which wild beasts have eaten, except what you slaughter, and what is sacrificed on stones set up (for idols) and that you divide by the arrows; that is a transgression. This day have those who disbelieve despaired of your religion, so fear them not, and fear Me. This day have I perfected for you your religion and completed My favor on you and chosen for you Islam as a religion; but whoever is compelled by hunger, not inclining willfully to sin, then surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. The Quran 5:3

First of all, getting a pigs heart transplanted in your body is not the same as eating pork. Secondly, as the verses above show, even eating the pork is allowed when you are compelled and have no other choice to survive. Life is considered precious and sacred and one must do everything in his/her power to protect it.

And then the following verse really makes the point even more clear, though not in direct relation to eating pork.

For this reason did We prescribe to the children of Israel that whoever slays a soul, unless it be for manslaughter or for mischief in the land, it is as though he slew all humanity; and whoever saves a life it is as though he saved all humanity; and certainly Our messengers came to them with clear arguments, but even after that many of them certainly act extravagantly in the land. The Quran 5:32

The command to the Israelites mentioned above can be found in Talmud.

Therefore the man was created singly, to teach that he who destroys one soul of a human being, the Scripture considers him as if he should destroy a whole world, and him who saves one soul ofIsrael, the Scripture considers him as if he should save a whole World. (Babylonian Talmud- Mishnah, Sanhedrin 4:5)

In other words, if you are using pig to save a life, you are saving all of humanity! You put the Qurans verses quoted above giving an exemption in case of hardship, and verse 5:32 (and the corresponding passage from Mishnah) together and you will get the answer yourself. But to be clear, I am not suggesting or recommending that it is OK for Muslims (or Jews) to eat pork or use pig products under normal, non life threatening situations or other conditions without the hardship, when other alternatives are available. As a a matter of full disclosure, I do not eat or consume pork products myself.

But in Davids case, it was necessary to get the heart, albeit from a pig, to save a life.And there are/will be many situations where there is no good alternative to save a life.

So kudos to Dr Muhammad Mohiuddin and Dr Griffith for their groundbreaking work.

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Is Pig Heart Transplantation Halal and Kosher? | Ejaz Naqvi MD - Patheos

Rabbi Cytron-Walker described as ‘menschy guy’ by area rabbis – Cleveland Jewish News

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Danzig

Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, spoke of love and gratitude at a Jan. 17 healing service showing a familiar quality to Ohio rabbis who knew him in his youth, as a rabbinical student and today.

In Texas, Rabbi Daniel Utley told the Cleveland Jewish News Jan. 17 that he and Dallas-area clergy hope to reach out to Cytron-Walker, whom he said is well-respected and has helped build Congregation Beth Israel.

It was really special to see how Rabbi Cytron-Walkers efforts saved lives and defused the situation as best as possible, said Utley, the associate rabbi of Temple Emanu-El in Dallas, and who grew up in Beachwood. Weve all been very proud to see that. We know what a wonderful man he is and what a wonderful rabbi he is. ... I can imagine his ability as a pastoral caregiver were put to work and his training was put to work throughout the day.

On Jan. 15, Cytron-Walker allowed a man into Congregation Beth Israel prior to the beginning of Shabbat services because it had been a particularly cold day in North Texas and he served him a cup of tea, according to media reports. Services were being livestreamed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The man, Malik Faisal Akram, ended up holding the rabbi and three congregants hostage for more than 10 hours.

One hostage was freed in late afternoon and the others escaped after the hostage-taker told the men to kneel, according to The New York Times. Thats when Cytron-Walker threw a chair at him and the three remaining hostages ran outside to safety.

Cytron-Walker received his rabbinical ordination in 2006 and a masters in Hebrew letters in 2005 from Hebrew Union CollegeJewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati. As a student, he served congregations in Ishpeming, Mich., Fort Walton Beach, Fla., and Cincinnati. During his time at HUC-JIR, he received multiple awards for his service to the community, along with an award for leadership from QESHET: A Network of LGBT Reform rabbis, according to his bio on his synagogues website.

On Jan. 17, Cytron-Walker spoke at the healing service at Whites Chapel United Methodist Church in Southlake, Texas.

There, he thanked all who had reached out to him and to the congregation since the ordeal.

Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker speaks of love and gratitude at a healing service Jan. 17 at Whites Chapel United Methodist Church in Southlake, Texas. There were 32,000 views on Facebook as of Jan. 18.

I have led or helped to lead too many of these services; I have mourned at too many vigils for Jews, for Muslims, for Christians and more, so many more, people, he said. And I am so grateful, so unbelievably grateful, that we are tonight unlike every other service like this that I have done tonight we will not be saying our traditional prayer for mourning, that no one will be saying Kaddish Yatom for me or for any of us, the Mourners Kaddish, this evening.

Thank G-d. Thank G-d. It could have been so much worse and I am overflowing, truly overflowing, with gratitude, he said.

Cytron-Walker thanked those in the sanctuary, a sanctuary far larger than the one at his synagogue, he said, and he thanked those who watched online, which numbered 32,000 as of the following day.

Cytron-Walker grew up in Lansing, Mich. Rabbi Robert N. Nosanchuk at Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple in Beachwood met Cytron-Walker when Cytron-Walker was a fifth grader. Nosanchuk was his youth group adviser while in college in East Lansing, Mich., and knows Cytron-Walker and his mother, Nosanchuk told his congregation in a Jan. 15 email, in which he expressed prayers for the safety of the hostages. Cytron-Walker graduated from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

At the healing service, Cytron-Walker quoted the Talmud that a person who saves one life, saves a world.

When terrible things happen to me and you feel it, thats empathy, he said. Thats compassion. And thats what enables us to see each other in spite of all our differences. It enables us to see each other as human beings, as infinitely valuable because every person, every world is infinitely valuable.

He also spoke of the importance of reaching across divides to make friends.

Because heres the thing, if we live that value we might have a lot more friends that we disagree with, a lot more friends that we dont see eye to eye with, but well have a lot fewer enemies.

Quoting Martin Luther King Jr. on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, he said, Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.

He also said viewing each person as of infinite value, Thats on each and every one of us to work on.

Hazan Jeffrey S. Weber leads Olam Chesed Yebaneh at a healing service Jan. 17.

Rabbi Rick Kellner, spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Tikvah in Worthington, a Columbus suburb, said he met Cytron-Walker when both were first-year rabbinical students at HUC-JIRs Jerusalem campus. Kellner then attended the Los Angeles campus and Cytron-Walker headed to the Cincinnati campus.

Kellner told the CJN Jan. 18 that Cytron-Walker is loving, kind and calm. He said he has seen Cytron-Walker at Central Conference of American Rabbis conventions and that he looks forward to his conversations with him.

He leads with his heart, Kellner said. He leads with his soul.

Kellner said Cytron-Walker is giving and heartfelt and deeply intuitive about the world around us.

At the healing service, Cytron-Walker spoke to his congregation.

To my CBI (Congregation Beth Israel) family, I wish I had a magic wand, he said. I wish I could take away all of our pain and struggle. I know that this violation of our spiritual home was traumatic for each and every one of us, and not just us. And the road ahead, this is going to be a process.

However, he said, Like any journey, we will take the next step.

We will comfort each other, and we will lean on each other, and we will understand that each of us will respond in our own way and we will have patience with each other even when we get on each others nerves I can hope, he said. It will take time, but we will heal together. Together, all of us, we will heal together.

The healing service included readings by past presidents of Congregation Beth Israel and songs led by cantors. It closed with the song, Olam Chesed Yibaneh, written by Rabbi Menachem Creditor. It includes the lyrics, If we build this world from love, then G-d will build this world from love.

Rabbi Josh Brown of Temple Israel in Bath Township, who attended HUC-JIR, said he met Cytron-Walker in Cincinnati because Cytron-Walker had been assigned to help lead orientation for incoming rabbinical students.

I have always known Charlie to be deeply committed to learning, to justice and to smiling a lot, Brown wrote his congregants in a Jan. 16 email. He is best described as a pure mensch. Thank G-d the world will continue to benefit from his shining light and the lives of the other hostages who survived yesterdays attack.

Brown told the CJN Jan. 18, I remember him, I think, much like he presented himself at the vigil last night. ... I remember him as being a very smart, justice-oriented, happy, menschy guy.

He said Cytron-Walker presented himself authentically.

I think what we saw from the leadership at the pulpit these last few days and on the interviews has been very much what I remember of him, Brown said.

Utley said his congregation has a healing service Jan. 21 and that prayers for Congregation Beth Israel and Cytron-Walker will be included in that previously scheduled service.

Were trying to encourage people that the response to these situations is to be prepared, make sure our physical security is upright and ... ready to respond, but also that our spiritual path is strong, he said. If we step out and step forward in the Jewish community and continue building vibrant Jewish lives together, thats our best response to antisemitism, to hatred of all kinds.

Cytron-Walkers first post on Facebook following the situation was one of gratitude: I am thankful and filled with appreciation for / All of the vigils and prayers and love and support, / All of the law enforcement and first responders who cared for us, / All of the security training that helped save us. / I am grateful for my family. / I am grateful for the CBI Community, the Jewish Community, the Human Community. / I am grateful that we made it out. / I am grateful to be alive.

More here:

Rabbi Cytron-Walker described as 'menschy guy' by area rabbis - Cleveland Jewish News

Garbage, vandalism taking a toll on parks around the Las Vegas valley – KLAS – 8 News Now

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Danzig

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) From litter to lack of upkeep and vandalism, some residents are concerned and have reached out to 8 News Now about maintenance at parks across the valley.

At Jaycee Park near Eastern and Sahara, we saw just a sample of the problems at parks around the valley.

What we found might surprise you: garbage, broken glass, damaged playgrounds, graffiti and dirty tables.

Elena Ledoux is a mom of a 9-year-old. She frequents many valley parks. She is noticing more problems recently. Parks are not as clean as they used to be.

Ledoux says it doesnt matter what area of town, or who runs each park. There is a lot of graffiti and debris.

Shelby McCulley, mom of a 10-year-old, said she agrees.

It doesnt matter what park you go to, youre going to find vagrants. Youre going to find trash. And they need to be more attentive, especially for our children, McCulley said. She has lived in Las Vegas for more than five years.

Both mothers say they would like to see all playgrounds being inspected and sanitized once a week.

If you find a problem at a park, report it.

Some parks do have numbers posted. If you cant find the number, reach out to your city of the county. They can also tell you if its a park run by an HOA.

We reached out to some of the people who maintain parks in the valley. Heres what they had to say:

All Clark County parks are cleaned daily. This includes trash pickup, graffiti removal and cleaning the restrooms.

Also, every County park has at least one sign that includes a non-emergency phone number and email address that park patrons may use to tell us about any issues or concerns at the park.

Park patrons may also submit concerns or requests at https://clarkcountynv.gov/fixit.

The city always appreciates heads up from residents, and they can report park maintenance issues through the city website at the report a problem link: https://www.lasvegasnevada.gov/Government/Departments/Operations-Maintenance/Report-A-Problem, by calling 702-229-PLAY or by reaching out via the citys social media channels.

In addition, the city has many park and neighborhood cleanups with city staff working with community partners and neighbors to clean. We also have the pack in pack out program at Floyd Lamb Park at Tule Springs where we encourage visitors to remove all the trash they bring with them into the park. We are even trying the new craze of plogging jogging and picking up trash at the same time. We have an event coming up that I have attached.

The City of Henderson takes great pride in its award-winning park system. Our Parks and Recreation Department works diligently to maintain all 68 parks throughout the city. If residents see any acts of vandalism or unsanitary conditions, they can easily submit their concerns online at contacthenderson.com. Should residents witness active vandalism, we encourage them to contact the police through the non-emergency line at 3-1-1.

The City of Henderson appreciates our communitys vigilance as we work together to keep our parks a safe and fun place for all.

The City of North Las Vegas is investing in its parks, and the results are showing. Outside Magazine named North Las Vegas one of its 2021 20 Most Livable Towns and Cities in America, placing in the top 10 thanks in large part to our parks and trails system. In 2021 alone, the City opened an all-new Hartke Parkin downtown North Las Vegas, which was relocated to accommodateconstruction of a new school, and spent over $2 million on upgrades to Cheyenne Sports Complex, Sandstone Park and Seastrand Park, with more than $3 million in additional upgrades coming to Cheyenne this year. Other projects are underway as well, and the City plans to provide various upgrades to all 33 of our parks in the coming years.

As for any concerns, park users can make a report bydownloading the Contact North Las Vegas app on their favorite mobile device, or by visiting the Citys website and selecting Report a Problem under the Quick Links section at the top of the page.

Original post:

Garbage, vandalism taking a toll on parks around the Las Vegas valley - KLAS - 8 News Now

Book your reservation now for NoMad Library in Las Vegas – Lasvegasmagazine

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Danzig

A big part of dining on the Las Vegas Strip is the dining room itself. Your surroundings can have an enormous effect on the overall experience, and thats absolutely the case at NoMad Library. The name says it all: Its a large, four-walled room, populated by books which were collected from a wide variety of sources (including the David & Peggy Rockefeller Auction). All the books have been arranged by color (reds on one side, blues on the other) for a pleasant visual contrast, and all can be plucked from the shelves for reading enjoyment.

Adding to the relaxing feel of this space are the seating arrangements themselves. Red leather banquettes are extremely comfortable, and soft lighting from chandeliers only enhances the ambience. Add in amazing service and you have an experience youll be recommending to all your family and friends.

And we havent even gotten to the menu yet! Make sure to start your evening with one of the signature cocktails, from the Runyon Canyon (a tiki-ish delight made with Elyx vodka, vermouth di Torino, amontillado sherry, cranberries and lime) to the Gentlemens Exchange (a variation on the Manhattan with rye, Suze, Foro Amaro, vermouth Di Torino, coffee, absinthe and Angostura bitters).

The menu is loaded with tempting choices, but we definitely recommend the NoMad roast chicken, so succulent and flavorful, stuffed with foie gras, black truffle and brioche. Pair it with sides such as the dessert-like honeynut squash, served with sage and lemon ricotta, and Ridiculous mac and cheese, smothered with lobster and black truffle.

If youre in a seafood mood, few restaurants do branzino better. This version is served with grilled whole baby leeks, tomatillos and poblano peppers. Meat lovers will definitely want to try the American wagyu prime rib for two, rubbed with porcini and black garlic and served with horseradish cream, sauce bordelaise and pommes aligot.

NoMad Las Vegas, 702.730.7000

Click here for your free subscription to the weekly digital edition of Las Vegas Magazine, your guide to everything to do, hear, see and experience in Southern Nevada. In addition to the latest edition emailed to every week, youll find plenty of great, money-saving offers from some of the most exciting attractions, restaurants, properties and more! And Las Vegas Magazine is full of informative content such as restaurants to visit, cocktails to sip and attractions to enjoy.

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Book your reservation now for NoMad Library in Las Vegas - Lasvegasmagazine

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